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Hyper-V Backup software : Altaro
In January I was contacted by David Vella, CEO of Altaro to provide some feedback about a new Hyper-V backup software.
Altaro Hyper-V Backups works on Windows 2008 R2 (all editions, including core installation) and should be installed on the Hyper-V Host, not within the guest.
Yesterday, I receive a beta copy to test and I will post here my feedback, later. Anyway, my collegue MVP Hans Vredevoort post a good review in his blog with Femi Adegoke help.
For Hans Vredevoort review
http://www.hyper-v.nu/archives/hvredevoort/2011/05/altaro-hyper-v-backup-review/
Interested ? Here http://www.altaro.com/hyper-v-backup/ you can download the installation. The install size is only 14 Mb in size.
Validate SCSI Device Vital Product Data (VPD) test fails after you install W2008 R2 SP1
If you found this error :” Failed to get SCSI page 83h VPD descriptors for cluster disk
<number> from <node name> status 2″ after applying SP1 to your W2008R2 cluster, Microsoft has released a fix for it.
The List Potential Cluster Disks storage validation test may display a warning message that resembles the following: “Disk with identifier <value> has a Persistent Reservation on it. The disk might be part of some other cluster. Removing the disk from validation set”
The hotfix resolves an issue in which the storage test incorrectly runs on disks that are online and not in the Available Storage group.
More details:
You configure a failover cluster that has three or more nodes that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1).
You have cluster disks that are configured in groups other than the Available Storage group or that are used for Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV).
These disks are online when you run the Validate SCSI Device Vital Product Data (VPD) test or the List Potential Cluster Disks storage validation test
More info : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2531907
Window 7 as Guest OS for VDI : Max Virtual Processors Supported
Looking to implement a VDI scenario with Windows 7 as the guest with a 12:1 (VP:LP) ratio ? With the launch of the SP1 for W2008R2, Microsof increased the maximum number of running virtual processors (VP) per logical processor (LP) from 8:1 to 12:1 when running Windows 7 as the guest operating system for VDI deployments
Formula : (Number of processors) * (Number of cores) * (Number of threads per core) * 12
Virtual Processor to Logical Processor2 Ratio & Totals
|
Physical |
Cores per |
Threads per |
Max Virtual Processors |
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
96 |
|
2 |
4 |
2 |
192 |
|
2 |
6 |
2 |
288 |
|
2 |
8 |
2 |
384 |
|
4 |
2 |
2 |
192 |
|
4 |
4 |
2 |
384 |
|
4 |
6 |
2 |
512 |
|
4 |
8 |
2 |
512 |
1Remember that Hyper-V R2 supports up to a maximum of up to 512 virtual processors per server so while the math exceeds 512, they hit the maximum of 512 running virtual processors per server.
2A logical processor can be a core or thread depending on the physical processor.
- If a core provides a single thread (a 1:1 relationship), then a logical processor = core.
- If a core provides two threads per core (a 2:1 relationship), then each thread is a logical
processor.
More info :
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee405267%28WS.10%29.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualization/archive/2011/04/25/hyper-v-vm-density-vp-lp-ratio-cores-and-threads.aspx
SCVMM 2008 Ports and Protocols
SCVMM 2008, SCVMM 2008 R2 and SCVMM 2008 R2 SP1 default ports :
| Connection type | Protocol | Default port | Where to change the port setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| VMM server to VMM agent on Windows Server–based host (control) | WS-Management | 80 | at VMM setup, registry |
| VMM server to VMM agent on Windows Server–based host (file transfers) |
HTTPS (using BITS) | 443 (Maximum value: 32768) | Registry |
| VMM server to remote Microsoft SQL Server database | TDS | 1433 | Registry |
| VMM server to P2V source agent | DCOM | 135 | Registry |
| VMM Administrator Console to VMM server | WCF | 8100 | at VMM setup, registry |
| VMM Self-Service Portal Web server to VMM server | WCF | 8100 | at VMM setup |
| VMM Self-Service Portal to VMM self-service Web server | HTTPS | 443 | at VMM setup |
| VMM library server to hosts | BITS | 443 (Maximum value: 32768) | at VMM setup, registry |
| VMM host-to-host file transfer | BITS | 443* (Maximum value: 32768)
* VMM 2008 R2 : port 30443 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971816) |
Registry |
| VMRC connection to Virtual Server host | VMRC | 5900 | VMM Administrator Console, registry |
| VMConnect (RDP) to Hyper-V hosts | RDP | 2179 | VMM Administrator Console, registry |
| Remote Desktop to virtual machines | RDP | 3389 | Registry |
| VMware Web Services communication | HTTPS | 443 | VMM Administrator Console, registry |
| SFTP file transfer from VMWare ESX Server 3.0 and VMware ESX Server 3.5 hosts |
SFTP | 22 | Registry |
| SFTP file transfer from VMM server to VMWare ESX Server 3i hosts | HTTPS | 443 | Registry |
More info : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc764268.aspx
SCVMM 2012 Management ports and protocols. Detailed
Here are the list of ports/protocols for the new SCVMM 2012.
| From | To | Protocol | Default port |
Where to change port setting |
| VMM management server | P2V source agent (control channel) |
DCOM | 135 | |
| Load Balancer | HTTP/HTTPS | 80/443 | Load balancer configuration provider | |
| WSUS server (data channel) | HTTP/HTTPS | 80/8530 (non-SSL), 443/8531 (with SSL) |
These ports are the IIS port binding with WSUS. They cannot be changed from VMM. | |
| WSUS server (control channel) | HTTP/HTTPS | 80/8530 (non-SSL), 443/8531 (with SSL) |
These ports are the IIS port binding with WSUS. They cannot be changed from VMM. | |
| VMM agent on Windows Server–based host (data channel for file transfers) |
HTTPS (using BITS) |
443 (Maximum value: 32768) |
||
| Citrix XenServer host (customization data channel) |
iSCSI | 3260 | On XenServer in transfer VM | |
| XenServer host (control channel) | HTTPS | 5989 | On XenServer host in: /opt/cimserver/cimserver_planned.conf | |
| remote Microsoft SQL Server database | TDS | 1433 | ||
| VMM agent on Windows Server–based host (control channel) |
WS-Management | 5985 | VMM setup | |
| VMM agent on Windows Server–based host (control channel – SSL) |
WS-Management | 5986 | ||
| in-guest agent (VMM to virtual machine control channel) |
WS-Management | 5985 | ||
| Storage Management Service | WMI | Local call |
||
| Cluster PowerShell interface | PowerShell | n/a | ||
| P2V source agent (data channel) | BITS | User-Defined | P2V cmdlet option | |
| VMM library server | hosts file transfer |
BITS | 443 (Maximum value: 32768) |
VMM setup |
| VMM host-to-host file transfer | BITS | 443 (Maximum value: 32768) |
||
| VMM Self-Service Portal | VMM Self-Service Portal web server |
HTTPS | 443 | VMM setup |
| VMM Self-Service Portal web server | VMM management server |
WCF | 8100 | VMM setup |
| Console connections (RDP) | virtual machines through Hyper-V hosts (VMConnect) |
RDP | 2179 | VMM console |
| Remote Desktop | virtual machines |
RDP | 3389 | On the virtual machine |
| VMM console | VMM management server |
WCF | 8100 | VMM setup |
| VMM management server (HTTPS) | WCF | 8101 | VMM setup | |
| VMM management server (NET.TCP) | WCF | 8102 | VMM setup | |
| VMM management server (HTTP) | WCF | 8103 | VMM setup | |
| Windows PE agent | VMM management server (control channel) |
WCF | 8101 | VMM setup |
| VMM management server (time sync) | WCF | 8103 | VMM setup | |
| WDS provider | VMM management server |
WCF | 8102 | VMM setup |
| Storage Management Service | SMI-S Provider | CIM-XML | Provider-specific port |
|
| VMM management server | VMware ESX Server 3i hosts |
HTTPS | 443 | |
Others
| Connection Type | Protocol | Default port | Where to change port setting |
| OOB Connection – SMASH over WS-Man | HTTPS | 443 | On BMC |
| OOB Connection IPMI | IPMI | 623 | On BMC |
|
BITS port for VMM transfers (data channel)
|
BITS | 443 | VMM setup |
| VMware ESX Server 3.0 and VMware ESX Server 3.5 hosts | SFTP | 22 | |
| VMware Web Services communication |
HTTPS | 443 | VMM console |
Note: When you install the VMM management server you can assign some of the ports that it will use for communications and file transfers between the VMM components.
24 Hours in the Cloud : Live on June 1st
The GITCA “24 Hours in the Cloud” round-the-world virtual event focusing on Cloud Computing is scheduled for June 1st. The speakers will be available via twitter to answer questions . Please visit http://sp.GITCA.org/sites/24Hours to find out more.
This is a very important community project and GITCA, supported by Microsoft, is acting as the enabler. So this is the community helping the community which is the way it should be. We have a great selection of presentations from experienced speakers from around the world. Please go to http://sp.gitca.org/sites/24hours/ugpages/FinalSpeakers.aspx to
view the list of speakers and http://sp.gitca.org/sites/24hours/ugpages/FinalSessions.aspx to view the list of sessions.
The first session, keynote by Doug Terry of Microsoft Research, will start at 9am Pacific Daylight
Time [UTC -7]. Please note the start time was incorrectly shown as UTC-8 in previous messages. The event can be accessed via http://vepexp.microsoft.com/24hitc which will go live on June 1st.
CentOS now have official support as guest VM in Hyper-V
Effective immediately, Microsoft will support Windows Server2008 R2 Hyper-V to run CentOS.
CentOS is a popular Linux distribution for Hosters, and this was the number one requirement for interoperability that we heard from that community.
This development will enable MS Hosting partners to consolidate their mixed Windows + Linux infrastructure on Windows Server Hyper-V; reducing cost and complexity, while betting on an enterprise class virtualization platform. .
How will support work?
Call Microsoft CSS. Support will cover installation issues as well as configuration issues.
What version of the Linux Integration Services support CentOS?
The existing Hyper-V Linux Integration Services for Linux Version 2.1 support CentOS. The following features are included in the Hyper-V Linux Integration Services 2.1 release:
· Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP) Support: Supported Linux distributions can use up to 4 virtual processors (VP) per virtual machine.
· Driver support for synthetic devices: Linux Integration Services supports the synthetic network controller and the synthetic storage controller that were developed specifically for Hyper-V.
· Fastpath Boot Support for Hyper-V: Boot devices take advantage of the block Virtualization Service Client (VSC) to provide enhanced performance.
· Timesync: The clock inside the virtual machine will remain synchronized with the clock on the host.
· Integrated Shutdown: Virtual machines running Linux can be gracefully shut down from either Hyper-V Manager or System Center Virtual Machine Manager.
· Heartbeat: Allows the host to detect whether the guest is running and responsive.
· Pluggable Time Source: A pluggable clock source module is included to provide a more accurate time source to the guest.
The Linux Integration Services are available via the Microsoft Download Center here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=eee39325-898b-4522-9b4c-f4b5b9b64551
From Wikipedia:
CentOS is a community-supported, mainly free software operating system based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). It exists to provide a free enterprise class computing platform and strives to maintain 100% binary compatibility with its upstream distribution. CentOS stands for Community ENTerprise Operating System.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux is available only through a paid subscription service that provides access to software updates and varying levels of technical support. The product is largely composed of software packages distributed under either an open source or a free software license and the source code for these packages is made public by Red Hat.
CentOS developers use Red Hat’s source code to create a final product very similar to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat’s branding and logos are changed because Red Hat does not allow them to be redistributed.
CentOS is available free of charge. Technical support is primarily provided by the community via official mailing lists, web forums, and chat rooms. The project is not affiliated with Red Hat and thus receives no financial or logistical support from the company; instead, the CentOS Project relies on donations from users and organizational sponsors.
Hyper-V R2 and right numbers of physical NIC’s
When it comes to network configuration, be sure to provide the right number of physical network adapters on Hyper-V servers. Failure to configure enough network connections can make it appear as though you have a storage problem, particularly when using iSCSI.
Recommendation for network configuration ( number of dedicated Physical Nic’s ):
- 1 for Management. Microsoft recommends a dedicated network adapter for Hyper-V server management.
- At least 1 for Virtual machines. Virtual network configurations of the external type require a minimum of one network adapter.
- 2 for SCSI. Microsoft recommends that IP storage communication have a dedicated network, so one adapter is required and two or more are necessary to support multipathing.
- At least 1 for Failover cluster. Windows® failover cluster requires a private network.
- 1 for Live migration. This new Hyper-V R2 feature supports the migration of running virtual machines between Hyper-V servers. Microsoft recommends configuring a dedicated physical network adapter for live migration traffic. This network should be separate from the network for private communication between the cluster nodes, from the network for the virtual machine, and from the network for storage
- 1 for Cluster shared volumes. Microsoft recommends a dedicated network to support the communications traffic created by this new Hyper-V R2 feature. In the network adapter properties, Client for Microsoft Networks and File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks must be enabled to support SMB
Some interesting notes when comparing FC with iSCSI:
- iSCSI and FC delivered comparable throughput performance irrespective of the load on the system.
- iSCSI used approximately 3-5 percentage points more Hyper-V R2 CPU resources than FC to achieve comparable performance.
For information about the network traffic that can occur on a network used for Cluster Shared Volumes, see “Understanding redirected I/O mode in CSV communciation” in Requirements for Using Cluster Shared Volumes in a Failover Cluster in Windows Server 2008 R2 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182153).
For more information on the network used for CSV communication, see Managing the network used for Cluster Shared Volumes.
It’s not recommend that you do use the same network adapter for virtual machine access and management.
If you are limited by the number of network adapters, you should configure a virtual local area network (VLAN) to isolate traffic. VLAN recommendations include 802.1q and 802.p.
Hyper-V : Virtual Hard Disks. Benefits of Fixed disks
When creating a Virtual Machine, you can select to use either virtual hard disks or physical disks that are directly attached to a virtual machine.
My personal advise and what I have seen from Microsoft folks is to always use FIXED DISK for production environment, even with the release of Windows Server 2008 R2, which one of the enhancements was the improved performance of dynamic VHD files.
The explanation and benetifts for that is simple:
1. Almost the same performance as passthroug disks
2. Portability : you can move/copy the VHD
3. Backup : you can backup at the VHD level and better, using DPM you can restore at ITEM level ( how cools is that! )
4.You can have Snapshots
5. The fixed sized VHD performance has been on-par with the physical disk since Windows Server 2008/Hyper-V
If you use pass-through disks you lose all of the benefits of VHD files such as portability, snap-shotting and thin provisioning. Considering these trade-offs, using pass-through disks should really only be considered if you require a disk that is greater than 2 TB in size or if your application is I/O bound and you really could benefit from another .1 ms shaved off your average response time.
Disks Summary table:
| Storage Container | Pros | Cons |
| Pass-through DisK |
|
|
| Fixed sized VHD |
|
|
| Dynamically expanding or
Differencing VHD
|
|
|
SCVMM 2008 R2 SP1 : available for download. Support for DM and Remote FX
With support for new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
- Dynamic Memory: Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V supports Dynamic Memory enabling customers to better utilize the memory resources of a Hyper-V host. VMM 2008 R2 SP1 allows administrators to create and deploy Virtual Machines onto Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V hosts and will report on the memory currently in use for these VMs where Dynamic Memory is enabled. Using Dynamic Memory for supported VMs allows for more efficient utilization of memory, with consistent performance, and higher consolidation ratios.
- Microsoft RemoteFX: Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 introduces a new set of end user experience enhancements with Microsoft RemoteFX. VMM 2008 R2 SP1 allows administrators to create and deploy Virtual Machines with RemoteFX enabled to qualified Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V hosts. This enables a rich, local-like desktop environment over the network.
Recommended Books
System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine
System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 Cookbook
Cloudtidings.com 