May 2008 Archives

In this video from one of the Heroes Happen Here launch events, David de Backer talks about the different virtualization technologies that are included into the Windows Server 2008 platform.

It covers applications for virtualization technology, features of Hyper-V and demos of how to do some simple virtualization-enabled tasks like snapshots of virtual machines.

The video runs a little over 48 minutes, so grab some lunch, put on your headphones and enjoy. And you're going to need Silverlight.

Thanks to Arlindo Alves for the tip.

 

The Microsoft Consulting Services Infrastructure Team in Ireland has a post on a very useful feature of Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Services: the read-only domain controller (RODC). It's especially useful if your network has branch offices or other edge sites.

The Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) is primarily targeted toward branch offices or edge sites. RODC doesn’t store any passwords, by default. That way, if the RODC is compromised, then an administrator doesn’t have to worry about someone gaining access to the entire network using the information stored on that server. This addresses the lack of security that can occur at branch offices. So the threat to the Active Directory is drastically reduced.

The post lists five easy steps that, once completed, allow you to deploy RODCs in a Windows Server 2003 Active Directory environment.

For a step-by-step guide to RODCs, check out TechNet's article on the topic.

Tony Soper did an eight-minute podcast with Brandon Baker, Senior Dev Lead on the Hyper-V team to discuss best practices for virtualization security. This is chock full of practical advice, like reducing your attack surface by using the Windows Server 2008 core OS on your host and not running any applications or unnecessary services on it.

Download the podcast.

As a special treat, you can also download a copy of the Brandon's Blackhat presentation called "Windows Server Virtualization and the Windows Hypervisor: Background and Architecture Reference."

Microsoft is walking the walk and talking the talk when it comes to Hyper-V. While the product isn't ready for most customers to be deploying it on a live, high-traffic Web site, Microsoft has migrated MSDN and TechNet to virtual machines.

There is a full report from Microsoft available for download (assuming you can open a .docx file extension).

If you're into diagrams, the set-up looks something like this:

As opposed to Windows Server 2003, that is.

Mark Garcia, a Unified Communications and SharePoint product specialist at Microsoft, tackled this question in his blog recently because it's a question he's being asked on a regular basis by customers (which in his case are educational institutions). He came up with six reasons:

• Higher reliability
• Multi-subnet clustering and other clustering enhancements
• Networking improvements
• IIS 7.0 improvements
• Easier deployments
• No upgrading at a later point

You can read the details on each of the reasons, and see screenshots that illustrate them in the original blog post.

Richard Adhikari has the story on InternetNews.com today that Hyper-V RC1 is out there and waiting for you. There are some caveats, however, so you'll want to read the story and pay attention to the details. Like this one:

Microsoft warned that Hyper-V RC 1 is not compatible with the current beta release of System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008, and that users who are testing SCVMM should continue doing so with Hyper-V RC 0, the previous release.

That's not a huge deal, according to Enterprise Strategy Group analyst Mark Bowker:

Bowker said SCVMM's inability to work with Hyper-V RC 1 won't matter to enterprise IT, which won't be purchasing either product for at least six months. By then, "the two will synch up and be on the same page," he added.

Rakesh Malhotra has more about this disconnect between System Center Virtual Machine Manager and Hyper-V on his blog:

Needless to say, we're working on a patch and plan to fully support RC1 and I'll update everyone on time lines once we have them nailed. Our goal is to make an update available within a couple of weeks once we get a chance to fix some of the breaking bugs and re-test a bunch of our functionality. Rest assured that our test team is on top of this

As for Linux support, the InternetNews article mentions that Hyper-V supports Novell SUSE Linux, but suggests Linspire could be added to the list sometime in the future.

Can you tell we're getting close to Hyper-V shipping later this summer? There's been plenty of blog posts and articles about Hyper-V as people play around with its features and kick its virtual tires in the lab. This one comes courtesy of Gavin McShera with Microsoft Ireland: How to create a Windows Server 2008 Cluster within Hyper-V using simulated iSCSI storage.

Familiar with Virtual Server 2005 and shared disks for creating virtual clusters? Well it's different with Hyper-V.  The shared disk option is no longer available (which I did not know when I started testing).  You have to use iSCSI instead. Here is a step by step method for creating a fail-over cluster within Hyper-V.  It's a cheap way of setting up a test lab.  n this post I use StarWind to simulate iSCSI storage.

You might want to familiarize yourself with the storage options available for Hyper-V before you start to follow along. By the end of the post you should have a simple two-node cluster up and running using simulated iSCSI storage.

The company, as you may have guessed, is called Microsoft. And there are some new materials you can download to see how Microsoft used Windows Server 2008 and a number of security-related technologies to secure its network as part of its Secure Anywhere Access Initiative.

The information is available as a whitepaper, a Webcast, or a PowerPoint.

I went with the whitepaper, which is divided into the following sections:

• Business Benefits
• An overview of the Microsoft security environment
• Planning
• Deployment
• Lessons learned and best practices

From the Executive Summary:

The technologies involved feature improvements made with Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. Techniques using IPsec detailed in this paper can also be implemented with Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP, and you can gain additional benefits with the inclusion of Windows Firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Server 2003 SP1. However, the improvements made with Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista are compelling and present opportunities for significant additions to the security environment.

One of the new features in Windows Server 2008 is Storage Explorer. It's designed to help users understand how their server SAN storage is configured. Here's a full explanation from the Windows Server 2008 site:

Administrators can gain a complete view of their storage infrastructure by using Storage Explorer. This MMC snap-in uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes to generate a tree-structure of all the components with the storage area network (SAN), including fabrics, platforms, storage devices, and logical unit numbers (LUNs).

Jose Barreto did an all-consuming blog post on The Basics of Windows Server 2008 Storage Explorer that discusses using Storage Explorer with FC SANs and iSCSI SANs, known issues, and more. It's a very good overview, complete with screenshots.

James Maguire is one of my favorite Internet.com editors. He's always writing about something interesting and relevant on the Datamation site. This week he reports on a bright spot in a relatively flat IT job market: virtualization.

He spoke with Tom Silver, a senior VP at Dice:

He notes that there are currently about 1,500 virtualization-related jobs on Dice – still a small amount of the total 90,000 – yet this figure is a whopping 40 percent higher than six months ago. Most of these jobs call for VMware experience, yet as Microsoft launches its virtualization tool Hyper-V later this year, and Citrix’s virtualization offering gains market share, it’s likely that job demand will grow.

According to IDC, the virtualization market will grow to $11.7 billion in 2011, a figure that includes everything from hardware to consulting to training. Something to keep in mind as you pick up some Hyper-V skills.

By the way, James and Datamation team launched a new design of the Datamation site this week. Datamation began as a print product back in 1957. If Web sites were given names like "the Old Gray Lady," Datamation would certainly be deserving.

Terminal Services come in handy when you need to deploy or maintain software in an enterprise environment, or when you have to make applications available to branch offices. You can read all the details in the Terminal Services Overview on TechNet.

As you might expect, there are changes to the Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008, and you can catch a summary of those changes on TechNet.

But if you're more of a visual person, there are four videos from the Terminal Services Team that discuss some of the changes in Windows Server 2008. They also give you a chance to meet some members of the Terminal Servcies Team and see demos of the product.

• Video No. 1 takes a look at the new Terminal Services features in Windows Server 2008
• Video No. 2 explains the TS Gateway and RemoteApp publishing
• Video No. 3 explores the multi-user kernel
• Video No. 4 examines the TS Gateway, TS Web Access and publishing.

By now you're more than aware that Network Access Protection is an important feature of Windows Server 2008. If you're still not sure what it's all about, then here's a quick summary from the Intro to Network Access Protection paper:

NAP allows network administrators to define granular levels of network access based on who a client is, the groups to which the client belongs, and the degree to which that client is compliant with corporate governance policy. If a client is not compliant, NAP provides a mechanism to automatically bring the client back into compliance and then dynamically increase its level of network access.

The Network Access Protection team turned its blog over to Mark Foust, a Windows Server Networking Technical Specialist working down in Tampa, Fla., yesterday for a review of seven things you may not have considered about NAP.

I'll rundown the seven points here, but for the details you'll have to check out Mark's blog post.

1. NAP enforces minimum consistency levels, not maximum security
2. NAP doesn’t care much about your user login
3. NAP’s greatest initial advantage is REPORTING
4. NAP should not be viewed as a forklift type of upgrade or enforcement mechanism.
5. NAP will highlight your weak operational issues.
6. You will need to make some exceptions for NAP
7. NAP will become a foundational part of your infrastructure
   

Also of NAP interest: NAP FAQs.

James O'Neill used his blog on Friday to discuss the three most common questions he's asked about Hyper-V. These include details on the ship date, comparing Hyper-V features to VMware, and how users can go about moving virtual machines from Virtual PC, Virtual Server, pre-release Hyper-V, or VMware.

As for the ship date, James say it is looking good for Aug. 3, and he thinks they can beat that. As for comparing features and moving virtual machines, you'll want to read the entire post. We've already discussed Hyper-V Quick Migration vs. VMware Live Migration, and we've already talked about upgrading Hyper-V to the release candidate from the beta.

Also on the Hyper-V front, there is a Knowledge Base article on "Virtual machines that were created on the beta version of the Hyper-V role do not start after the Hyper-V role is updated to a later version."

And finally, also now available for download is a Step-by-Step Guide for Testing Hyper-V and Failover Clustering.

Dave Northey is a Microsoft IT Pro Evangelist working in Ireland, where his job title leads to some confusion ("evangelist" is still considered a religious title in Ireland; software title, not so much). Dave gets to work with as many of the 72,000 Irish IT professionals as he can. He explains his role as someone who gets to learn new stuff and talk to people about it ("the best job in IT," as he calls it).  He considers himself a Principal Systems Engineer.

Q: You were present for several launch events for Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008. What do the attendees at the events seem most interested in? What are they talking about?

A: I owned the Windows Server track and as such didn't get to see any of the other sessions (which was a shame). Within the Windows sessions, the interest was pretty much for everything we showed. But if I had to call out a few of the highlights, I'd say Hyper-V, Terminal Services, Failover Clustering, and NAP. Most people I spoke to were talking about when they were going to deploy. I don't think there'll be anyone waiting for the first service pack this time (you didn't need to wait for SP1 for Windows Server 2003 or 2000 either -- but that's the perception we have to get over).

Q: You did a number of posts on your blog called "Thoughts from the field" where you published people's first impressions of Windows Server 2008. Did anyone talk about changes and features that gave them concerns? Or if they liked the way certain features worked in Windows Server 2003 better?

A: The idea behind my "Thoughts from the field" was simply to highlight local references -- to get local IT Pros to talk about their experiences (I've started doing a few more recently -- they're just not called anything in particular).  Concerns? To be honest, no, there weren't any. Everything that's in both Windows Server 2008 and 2003 is easier to do in 2008.  Most of the new features in Windows Server 2008 are talking directly at business issues, so they resonate well -- e.g. how do I secure my network?  Answer = NAP.

Q: Hyper-V is clearly a big deal for Microsoft. From the people you've spoken to at the events and people you correspond with, do you have a sense of how many are using virtualization now, or exploring its use? For those that haven't jumped into virtualization, what is holding them back?

A: Most people I speak to are looking at virtualization in some form or another. Those looking at Hyper-V are probably already using a competitor's product (i.e., they already know and understand what server virtualization is all about and the benefits they can get from it) and most of them are planning to move away from the competition over to us. They're just waiting for us to ship (as am I). Those that are not looking are just waiting to see what happens. If the numbers are right (that only 5 percent of all servers are virtualized today), then there's 95 percent of the market to play for, and if you could get a free solution from Microsoft, then why would you look anywhere else?  These people are also waiting for us to ship!

Q: Finally, if you could change one thing about Windows Server 2008, say for a future version, what would it be?

A: Oh, that's easy -- make it even more modular.  Let me start with a Server Core install and layer on the functionality I want -- all the way up to a Full install (I don't think we should have two completely different installation options).

Yung Chou has a graphical guide to setting up event subscription with task scheduling on his blog.

Event subscription has been one of the most requested server features by sys admins. Combined with task scheduling, this is a cost-effective and customizable tool to get a consolidated view of monitored activities and events in target servers, and timely issue alerts.

Just follow the screenshots Yung posted, and you're ready to go.

What type of person goes to a launch event for Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008? Videos from Matt Hester's blog give us an idea. Matt and Keith Combs recorded videos with some attendees at the launch event in Dallas earlier in the Heroes Happen Here tour.

Watch the videos and you'll see the attendees are the parents of young soccer players, developers, and Microsoft MVPs. In short, they are people just like you. This is one of those opportunities to be an IT voyeur and hear about the products that other people in technology are using and the type of projects they are working on.

As for the events, there is just under a month left in the tour and there are literally events remaining in every corner of the United States. You can see the upcoming event schedule and register by clicking here.

Learn more about Windows Server while on the road, while commuting, or while you're doing something else on your computer and want to listen to Windows Server 2008 podcasts. There are four Windows Server 2008 podcasts available from TechNet:

1. Bill Staples on Windows Server 2008 Web and Application Platforms
2. Bob Visse on the Benefits of Windows Server 2008 Features
3. Bryon Surace on Windows Server Virtualization Scenarios and Architecture
4. Iain McDonald on Windows Server 2008 Fundamentals

Also available as podcasts are the audio from some of the 24 Hours of Windows Server 2008 Webcasts.

Retailers, to name one vertical, and banking institutions are jumping into the virtualization pool, according to surveys from KRC Research that Microsoft released this week.

The survey also showed that the majority (58 percent) of large, tier-one banks are already implementing virtualization across multiple aspects of their IT infrastructures, including application (61 percent), networking (54 percent), machine operating systems (48 percent) and presentation (27 percent).

And for the retailers:

Specifically the survey found that nearly half of the participating retailers (49 percent) are employing one form of virtualization within their store locations based on cost savings, while 46 percent are seeking to better respond to issues and failures of applications and systems, and 43 percent chose virtualization solutions to help them save space.

I went and tracked down a few other virtualization surveys so you can get an idea what people are doing in the space.

• Forrester Research, Dec. 2007, "More than a third of enterprise IT shops have implemented x86 server virtualization, and nearly two-thirds expect to do so by 2009."

• Rackspace (PDF), Aug. 2007, "57 percent of survey respondents use virtualization internally; and 72 percent
  would host mission-critical applications on a virtualization platform."

• CIO, Jan. 2008, "...a desire for better disaster recovery plans drives many CIOs to adopt virtualized servers."

It would be bankrupt, according to a new McKinsey study released yesterday at the Green Enterprise Computing Symposium in Orlando. And why is that?

...computer servers are used at only 6 percent of their capacity on average, while data center facilities as a whole are used at 56 percent of peak performance.

The study, sponsored by the Uptime Institute, also found that by 2020 data centers will surpass the airline industry (speaking of bankruptcies) as the world's biggest producer of greenhouse pollutants.

William Forest, the lead McKinsey consultant on the report, suggests data centers may go retro to help fix the problem:

In the old mainframe days, data centers were far more efficient but inflexible. In modern data centers, which use standardized technology from the personal computer industry, things are flexible but uncontrolled. One answer, Mr. Forrest said, is to bring some of the mainframe-style management disciplines to modern data centers.

The report proposes a metric called CADE, for Corporate Average Data Efficiency to help track efficiency. It would be modeled on the miles-per-gallon ratings used for cars.