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DevTeach Conference Sessions

Feb 13

Posted by Anil Desai in Databases / SQL Server, Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | 1 Comment

I’m going to be speaking at the DevTeach Conference in Toronto, Canada.  The conference runs from May 12 – 16, 2008.  I’ll be giving two presentations on virtualization and one on SQL Server.  Here are the topics and descriptions:

Evaluating Virtualization Tools and Technologies

There’s far more than one way to implement virtualization. For example, Microsoft has several different products which are designed to help solve organizations’ largest IT challenges. This presentation will cover information about presentation virtualization (Citrix and Windows Terminal Services), application virtualization (Virtuzzo and Microsoft SoftGrid), and server virtualization (including products from VMware, Microsoft, and other vendors). The goal is to help IT professionals determine the best solution(s) for implementing virtualization in their environments.

Windows Server 2008’s Hyper-V: Inside and Out

One of the most compelling features of Windows Server 2008 is its completely new virtualization feature. This presentation will provide details related to the architecture of Hyper-V and what it means to IT departments. Details related to deploying and managing VMs will be presented, with a focus on virtual hard disk and virtual network management. Attendees will also learn how to automate virtualization using WMI and Windows PowerShell.

SQL Server Data Protection and High Availability

SQL Server includes numerous features for protecting important data and ensuring high-availability. This presentation will provide live demonstrations of implementing backup and recovery plans, log-shipping, database mirroring, Fail-Over clusters and database snapshots. The presentation includes recommendations for choosing the best approach given a set of requirements. Presentation scripts and sample code will also be made available.

You can also find more details on the dozens of other presentation topics on the DevTeach Sessions page.

Using Google Trends and Zeitgeist

Jan 21

Posted by Anil Desai in IT Tips, Virtualization | No Comments

One of the most interesting things about our reliance on search engines is the ability to see what others are looking for.  Google, for one, provides numerous tools for monitoring search patterns and other details.  I have been aware of Google Trends for quite a while, but only recently started using it for doing some searches.  The site allows you to enter one or more search terms and provides you with graphs related to the results.  Following is a chart from the results of a comparison of searches for the popular terms virtualization, enterprise management, and storage management.

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I chose these terms as a simple example of the information that’s available.  In addition to trend information on the number of searches, you can find the source by region/city India and Singapore seem to be really interested in these IT topics), coordination with information about news on the various topics, and a graph of news references over time.  You can also click on a region to drill-down on source locations or limit the years of analysis. 

You could try entering your own name or your blog site, but keep in mind that terms have to be pretty high before the service will return results.  My major complaint with the site is that the y-axis of the graph does not show any scale.  Rather, it just depicts "Search Volume".  I’m sure this is done for competitive reasons, and it’s a reasonable trade-off for the free information.

Of course, stat-junkies would love to see summary information to get their finger on the pulse of the world (according to search terms).  Google Zeitgeist provides just that: Year-end summaries and breakdowns of interesting topics.

Keep in mind that the type of information you can extract from search term statistics can sometimes be misleading.  For example, I’ll bet that people rarely search for the terms "Oracle" and "Microsoft" vs. just going to the respective vendors’ sites directly.  Then again, searches for the term "Google" seem fairly high based on Google Trends results.  Overall, features like this make for some interesting observations.  I primarily use Google, but I’m interested in hearing from readers: What other online statistics services am I missing?

Creating VMs with Hyper-V

Jan 17

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

If you’re itching to get your hands (or at least your eyes) on Hyper-V, you can read more about the process of using it’s new management tools from a SearchServerVirtualiztion.com tip I recently wrote.  The article is available for free (registration might be required).  From the introduction to Creating Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines:

Can you think of a better past time than to start working (or playing) with some upcoming beta software? OK, I can too, but it still beats most aspects of getting back to the daily grind. If you have already installed Hyper-V on a compatible machine, you can get started with creating and configuring new virtual machines (VMs). I’ll present the steps required to configure the server and to create and import VMs.

Also, check out my upcoming screencasts on the same topics.

Evaluating Virtualization Management Solutions: Free eBook Chapter

Jan 11

Posted by Anil Desai in Best Practices, Management | 1 Comment

The tenth and final chapter of my eBook, the Definitive Guide to Virtual Platform Management is now available for free download (registration is required).  The complete eBook, available as a single PDF, should be available sometime in the near future.  The chapter focuses on details that IT professionals should keep in mind when looking for tools to manage virtualization.  From the introduction:

IT organizations are often aware of the fact that costs associated with managing new technology can far outweigh the initial deployment costs. Virtualization is no exception. Although the ability to run multiple isolated workloads on the same hardware can provide immediate cost savings and benefits throughout the environment, the associated administration tasks involve significant time and effort.

Throughout the previous chapters, I have covered a wide array of practices and recommendations for gaining and retaining control over virtualized environments. The primary challenge is that properly managing an environment that contains dozens (if not hundreds) of virtual machines can be very difficult. When these tasks are performed manually, IT organizations must absorb significant costs.

Fortunately, there’s a better way—through the use of virtualization-aware enterprise automation solutions much of the work can be simplified or even eliminated. With the proliferation of virtual machine technology, literally dozens of products are available for meeting these needs. The focus of this chapter is on presenting factors that should be considered when evaluating these solutions. I’ll present details related to the overall goals of virtualization management, along with specific features IT organizations should look for in products that will help manage their mixed virtual and physical infrastructures.

I hope readers find the entire guide to be useful.  Feel free to leave questions and comments here.

Tools for Managing Virtualization

Jan 8

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Policies | No Comments

While virtualization technology certainly helps reduce some of the most important problems for IT organizations, there’s a potential downside.  Many organizations have found that they’re ill-equipped to manage the dozens or hundreds of VMs that tend to pop-up once virtualization software has been deployed.  Some of these deployments circumvent IT, while others just slip in under the radar.  For example, VMs that are only occasionally powered on or that are not connected to external networks can be overlooked entirely.  When they’re brought online, they’re often out-of-date with respect to patches.

Megan Santosus recently interviewed me for her SearchServerVirtualization.com article, Does virtualization need special management tools?  From the article:

If server virtualization has a dark side, it may be virtual machine (VM) sprawl. The principal problem created by sprawl is that IT administrators can’t certify that all deployed VMs meet an organization’s policies and procedures just as they would certify physical servers. "Deploying VMs at many organizations circumvents the standard processes for deploying physical servers," noted SearchServerVirtualization.com contributor Anil Desai.

The main idea is that virtualization-aware tools are a must for organizations that must maintain control of their production deployments.  Embotics is one of many organizations that has understood that need and has developed products that are focused on virtual environments.  For more details, see the White Paper that I wrote for Embotics, titled Controlling VM Sprawl: Best Practices for Maintaining Control of Virtualized Infrastructures.

Free Microsoft Learning Course on Hyper-V

Jan 4

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

The Microsoft eLearning web site includes a wide variety of different online training courses.  I have used many of these to keep up-to-date with new releases and product features.  Best of all, there are many courses that are available for free.  One such course is Clinic 5935: Introducing Server Virtualization in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (RC0). 

While the naming and terminology of the Hyper-V feature uses some outdated terms, all of the major technical information should still be accurate.  This is a good place to start with Microsoft’s E-Learning and to lean about Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization products.  Thanks’s to virtualization.info for the link.

Understanding Hyper-V Drivers

Jan 3

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

One of the more challenging aspects of getting up to speed about Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology is that of understanding enlightenments and integration components (ICs).  The terms are new, as is the underlying technology.  A recent blog post from the MSDN Blogs site helps explain the concepts.  The post is titled Hyper-V: Integration Components and Enlightenments and does what it promises.  A few block diagrams and images would be helpful. 

Hyper-V is currently available in beta form and will be supported on Windows Server 2008 later this year, but it’s never too early to start learning about its architecture.  You can expect more information to become available as the product gets closer to its final stages.

Managing Virtualization with System Center Virtual Machine Manager

Dec 28

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Microsoft System Center, Microsoft Virtual Server | 2 Comments

If you have used the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 platform, there’s a good chance that you find its default web-based management tools to be lacking.  If you’re running one or a few virtualization host servers, the admin tools can certainly get the job done.  But what if you’re deploying dozens or hundreds of VMs every month.  In order to manage these systems, you’ll need to invest in some virtualization-aware software.  Microsoft’s System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) is one such product.

If you have even heard of the product, you might be wondering about its capabilities, its architecture, and how you can get started with it.  The January, 2008 issue of Microsoft TechNet Magazine includes an article titled Real Control with Virtual Machine Manager 2007.   From the article’s introduction:

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 is a new solution that provides a consolidated interface for managing your entire virtual infrastructure. Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) can manage existing Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 installations, and it can also install Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 on new virtual machine (VM) hosts. With VMM, the traditional Virtual Server 2005 administrative tasks can now be performed far more efficiently through a centralized interface, with management access across multiple Virtual Server installations.

In addition, VMM brings new capabilities to Virtual Server, including Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) conversions, Virtual-to-Virtual (V2V) conversion of VMware Virtual Machine Disk Format (VMDK) disks to Virtual Server Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs), and rapid VM deployments from templates and pre-configured VHDs via a centralized library of virtual infrastructure objects.

In the following pages, I’ll explore VMM and the powerful set of features it provides to IT administrators. I will then look at the requirements and steps for creating a VMM installation. Finally, I’ll take a deeper dive into a handful of the more exciting features of VMM and leave you with some helpful tips on getting started.

Microsoft is fairly ambitious with the SCVMM product.  In addition to its current features, future updates will be able to manage VMware and Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology (the new virtualization layer that will be included with Windows Server 2008).  See the article and Microsoft’s site for more details.

Virtual Strategy Magazine: Comparing Virtualization Approaches

Dec 20

Posted by Anil Desai in Best Practices, Management, Systems Admin, Virtualization | No Comments

Virtual Strategy Magazine has published my latest article: Comparing Virtualization Approaches. The article examines the various approaches to virtualization, including presentation-, application-, and server/hardware-level virtualization.  The following diagram provides a brief overview of the approaches and their details.

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The overall idea is that organizations have a wide array of choices in deciding how to isolate and consolidate their workloads.  The challenges is picking the right tool for the job.

Virtualization Trends: Predictions

Dec 20

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Virtualization | No Comments

The SearchServerVirtualization.com has a new post that offers an interesting and thought-provoking topic: What does the future hold for virtualization?  The post, Thoughts on the ‘top five’ trends in virtualization includes editor Hannah Drake’s take on the subject.  I chimed in with my responses:

It’s always fun to make predictions about the future. I’ll join in with a few of mine:

1) Desktop Virtualization/VDI deployments remain limited: Like “thin-client” computing before it, the idea of virtualizing entire desktop environments will fail to gain traction. Certainly, companies are doing this now. But, I think the potential drawbacks won’t be addressed quickly enough (if ever), and other solutions will help address security and manageability issues. Most importantly, though: What does everyone else think?

2) Other forms of virtualization gain traction: Presentation- and application-level virtualization will become much more common, and IT organizations will find that they have many different ways to address potential management issues.

3) Server Virtualization technology will start to become commoditized: Already, numerous companies provide useful Hypervisors and virtualization layers. It’s a cool technology, but many vendors have figured out how to do it. Moving forward, the real challenge will be in managing VM deployments, implementing backups and DR, HA, and dealing with storage issues. The virtualization layer will be considered the “foundation”, whereas management tools will receive the focus.

4) Virtualization Knowledge: For most IT people, managing basic virtualization functions will become a standard job function (like performing backups). There’s nothing shocking there. As virtual platforms get easier to manage, most organizations will need only a few “experts” (such as those that have the VCP certification) to work on design and troubleshooting. The rest of the IT crowd will adapt on their own. This might not be ideal, but I don’t see the VCP certification being as popular as the MCSE c. 1996 – 2000.

Some of this might be going against conventional “wisdom” (and aggressive marketing), but these wouldn’t be very useful predictions if I stayed with the safe bets. It will certainly be interesting to see how things pan out.

I have certainly been in IT long enough to see many fads come and go.  I have also seen many genuinely good ideas become part of standard IT best practices.  It’s probably safe to say that server virtualization fits in the latter camp.  But, there’s still a lot of hype out there, and it’s good to keep things in perspective.

There’s probably a lot more to predict, so I’d be interested in hearing readers’ opinions: What are some other predictions, and what do you think I got wrong?

Embotics White Paper: Controlling VM Sprawl

Dec 19

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Policies | No Comments

whitepapersI recently wrote a technical best practices White Paper for Embotics, Inc.  It’s titled Controlling VM Sprawl: Best Practices for Maintaining Control of Virtualized Infrastructures, and is available for free download (registration is required).   The content defines and addresses the issue of "VM Sprawl" – the rapid proliferation of virtual machines that many environments are experiencing.  While virtualization technology can provide numerous benefits in just about all areas of an IT organization’s operations, many people have let issues like security, policies, and processes slide.  Here’s an excerpt from the introduction:

Many IT solutions tend to solve important business and technical problems in ways that can create management-related concerns. Virtualization is no exception. While organizations and their IT staff have quickly realized the many benefits of implementing virtualization, the challenge of controlling virtual infrastructures is one that is often overlooked.

Often, the benefits of virtualization start to become overshadowed by issues of security, administration, and configuration management. The primary cause is often referred to as “VM Sprawl” – the proliferation of virtual machines without adequate IT control. Organizations must recognize that virtual machines are different from their physical ones and the systems and controls that are in place to manage their physical environment may not work well in the virtual one.

In this White Paper, I will discuss the sources of VM sprawl, the dangers inherent in it and present best practices to address these issues. Finally, I will discuss the importance of automated virtualization management solutions. The goal of this white paper is to allow organizations to realize the many benefits of virtualization technology while still maintaining control of their environment.

Download the White Paper and feel free to leave me some feedback!

Information Week Article: Addressing the Challenge of VM Sprawl

Dec 19

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Policies | No Comments

I was recently interviewed by Charles Babcock from Information Week for his article, Virtual Machine Sprawl Will Challenge IT Management Skills.  The interview was based on the content of a a White Paper I wrote for Embotics, Inc., a provider of virtualization management solution.  The paper is titled Controlling VM Sprawl: Best Practices for Maintaining Control of Virtualized Infrastructures, and is available for free download (registration required).  I’ll post more about the White Paper in an other blog entry.  From the Information Week article:

Many IT managers don’t know how many virtual machines they’re running and whether they’re secure, says virtualization expert Anil Desai.

…

Software developers like to use virtual machines because they can cheaply mimic a target environment.

Testers like virtual machines because they can test more combinations of new software with parts of the infrastructure in virtual machines.

Department heads like virtual appliances — applications teamed up with an operating system in virtual machine-ready file format — because they can be downloaded off the Internet, tried out, and pressed into service immediately, without the usual delays.

And each of these examples illustrates how virtualizing the enterprise leads to uncontrolled, virtual machine sprawl, with IT managers not knowing how many virtual machines they’re running, where they’re running, whether they’re offline and stored away, or whether they are secure.

The article raises awareness of the problem of "VM sprawl" – the rapid proliferation of virtual machines, often with little or no IT oversight.  The article and the White Paper provide some best practices for gaining (or regaining) control of virtual machines through policies and processes.  Feel free to leave comments about your own VM management horror stories (and, better yet, solutions)!

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Solution Accelerator (Beta)

Dec 18

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Systems Admin, Virtualization | No Comments

The goal of the Microsoft Solution Accelerator team is to ease the design and deployment of infrastructures based on Microsoft products.  Earlier this year, I authored guides in their Infrastructure Planning and Design Series (see Microsoft Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) Guides Available for details).

In keeping with the same goal, a new beta version of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator is available for download from Microsoft Connect.  The description from the download site:

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Solution Accelerator is an integrated platform with tools and guidance that make it easier for you to assess your current IT infrastructure and determine the right Microsoft technologies for your IT needs. It offers easy inventory, powerful assessment and actionable recommendations for Windows Server 2008, Windows Server Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, Terminal Services, SoftGrid, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, Windows Vista, and 2007 Microsoft Office. The popular Windows Vista Hardware Assessment readiness tool will be integrated into this platform.
…

Target Audience

  • Customers: IT Architects, Infrastructure Specialists and Desktop/Application Administrators.
  • Partners: System Integrators, Value-Added Partners and IT Consultants in the Enterprise and Midmarket

Key Benefits

  • Quick Assessment of Your Existing infrastructure and assets
  • Adaptive Guidance and Actionable Proposals that provide specific recommendations that will help simplify your planning and deployment of Microsoft technologies
  • One-Stop Shop for All Your Planning (or Pre-Sales) Needs

The good news is that this is a completely agent-less method of automatically analyzing your entire environment.  The product generates detailed reports that would be tedious and error-prone to create manually.

Overall, the idea is to help organizations determine how best to deploy Microsoft’s virtualization technologies.  If you’re currently considering an expanded virtualization deployment, this tool can help you make better decisions about your infrastructure needs.  Give it a shot, and send feedback to the development team to improve the final version!

The Hyper-V Beta is Now Available

Dec 13

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

  • Update (03/27/2019): Though I generally don’t update old posts, I recently found a useful guide for those that might be interested in more up-to-date information on Windows Server and Hyper-V.  Please see Stephen Coopers, “Ultimate Guide to Windows Server” as an alternate resource.

The Windows Server Division Blog announces the availability of a beta version of Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology.  Hyper-V was formerly known as “Viridian” and later “Windows Server Virtualization (WSv)”.  Previous releases were known as Consumer Technology Preview (CTP) versions.  Generally, beta products have a higher level of quality.  To get the preview version, you’ll need to download the appropriate version of Windows Server 2008 RC1 from the Windows Server Evaluation site.  Note that you can only install the product on Windows Server 2008 Enterprise running on an x64 hardware platform.  Here are some useful links:

Overall, you can expect to see a lot more information on the product (some from me) in the near future.

Understanding Microsoft’s Hyper-V Architecture

Dec 12

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

This article was first published on SearchServerVirtualization.com. 

I recently wrote an introductory article focusing on the architecture of Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology.  From the article’s introduction:

Many IT people like to live on the cutting edge, even if it means we might need to purchase some bandages for the datacenter. Advanced is virtualization are commonplace, and it’s generally worthwhile to find out what’s coming out in the not-too-distant future. Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization product – now called Hyper-V – features a completely new virtualization architecture. Hyper-V (formerly known as “Viridian” and Windows Server Virtualization (WSv)), will be made available as a component of the Windows Server 2008 platform.

You can access the entire article on SearchServerVirtualization.com. 

Note: Some of this content has been superceded with the release of Microsoft’s Hyper-V Beta (see more recent postings in the Hyper-V category for details).