Best of MMS 2013 – SCUG Belgium

Earlier this month I attended MMS2013 in Las Vegas. Today the Belgian System Center Community let’s us know about a live event “Best of MMS” they organize in order to share in-depth System center knowledge/presentations along with their impressions.

No one les than Wally Mead, the Senior Program Manager for System Center Configuration Manager who’s perhaps better know as The Godfather of Configuration Manger, will be joining the event. Wally is presenting twice along side the Belgian SCUG members, many of which belong to Microsoft Extended Experts Team (MEET) and/or are MVPs in Enterprise Client Management, Cloud & Datacenter & Virtual machine.

Grab a seat for "Best of MMS 2013” right here on Eventbrite

You can find the (non final) agenda on the SCUGBE web site http://scug.be/events/2013/04/27/best-of-mms-19062013/. As you can see I have an early morning session at 09.15  – 10.15 on “Availability Strategies for a Resilient Private Cloud”. This provides the foundation for a high to continuous available private cloud my fellow speakers will be presenting on.

There will be opportunities to network, talk shop, learn and last but not least to win a TechEd Europe 2013 ticket in a lottery!

SMB 3.0 Multichannel Auto Configuration In Action With RDMA / SMB Direct

Most of you might remember this slide by Jose Barreto on SMB Multichannel  Auto Configuration in one of his many presentations:

• Auto configuration looks at NIC type/speed => Same NICs are used for RDMA/Multichannel (doesn’t mix 10Gbps/1Gbps, RDMA/non-RDMA)
• Let the algorithms work before you decide to intervene
• Choose adapters wisely for their function

You can fine tune things if and when needed (only do this when this is really the case) but let’s look at this feature in action.

So let’s look at this in real life. For this test we have 2 * X520 DA 10Gbps ports using 10.10.180.8X/24 IP addresses and 2 * Mellanox  10Gbps RDMA adaptors with 10.10.180.9X/24 IP addresses. No teaming involved just multiple NIC ports. Do not that these IP addresses are on different subnet than the LAN of the servers. Basically only the servers can communicate over them, they don’t have a gateway, no DNS servers and are as such not registered in DNS either (live is easy for simple file sharing).

Let’s try and copy a 50Gbps fixed VHDX file from server1 to server2 using the DNS name of the target host (pixelated), meaning it will resolve to that host via DNS and use the LAN IP address 10.10.100.92/16 (the host name is greyed out). In the below screenshot you see that the two RDMA capable cards are put into action. The servers are not using  the 1Gbps LAN connection. Multichannel looked at the options:

• A 1Gbps RSS capable Link
• Two 10Gbps RSS capable Links
• Two 10Gbps RDMA capable links

Multichannel concluded the RDMA card is the best one available and as we have two of those it use both. In other words it works just like described.

Even if we try to bypass DNS and we copy the files explicitly via the IP address (10.10.180.84)  assigned to the Intel X520 DA cards Multichannel intelligence detects that it has two better cards  that provide RDMA available and as you can see it uses the same NICs  as in the demo before.  Nifty isn’t it

 

If you want to see the other NICs in action we can disable the Mellanox card and than Multichannel will choose the two X520 DA cards. That’s fine for testing but in real life you need a better solution when you need to manually define what NICs can be used. This is done using PowerShell (take a look at Jose Barrto’s blog The basics of SMB PowerShell, a feature of Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0  for more info).

New-SmbMultichannelConstraint –ServerName SERVER2 –InterfaceAlias “SLOT 6 Port 1”, “SLOT 6 Port 2”

This tells a server it can only use these two NICs which in this example are the two Intel X520 DA 10Gbps cards to access Server2. So basically you configure/tell the client what to use for SMB 3.0 traffic to a certain server. Note the difference in send/receive traffic between RDMA/Native 10Gbps.

On Server1, the client you see this:

On Server2, the server you see this:

Which is indeed the constraint set up as we can verify with:

Get-SmbMultichannelConstraint

We’re done playing so let’s clean up all the constraints:

Get-SmbMultichannelConstraint | Remove-SmbMultichannelConstraint

Seeing this technology it’s now up to the storage industry to provide the needed  capacity and IOPS I a lot more affordable way. Storage Spaces have knocked on your door, that was the wake up call . In an environment where we throw lots of data around we just love SMB 3.0

PowerShell: Monitoring DrainStatus of a Hyper-V Host & The Time Limited Value of Information In Beta & RC Era Blogs

I was writing some small PowerShell scripts to kick pause and resume Hyper-V cluster hosts and I wanted to monitor the progress of draining the virtual machines of the node when pausing it. I found this nice blog about Draining Nodes for Planned Maintenance with Windows Server 2012 discussing this subject and providing us with the properties to do just that.

It seems we have two common properties at our disposal: NodeDrainStatus and NodeDrainTarget.

So I set to work but I just didn’t manage to get those properties to be read. It was like they didn’t exist. So I pinged Jeff Wouters who happens to use PowerShell for just about anything and asked him if it was me being stupid and missing the obvious. Well it turned out to be missing the obvious for sure as those properties do no exist. Jeff told me to double check using:

Get-ClusterNode MyNode -cluster MyCluster | Select-Object -Property *

Guess what, it’s not NodeDrainStatus and NodeDrainTarget but DrainStatus and DrainTarget.

What put me off here was the following example in the same blog post:

Get-ClusterResourceType "Virtual Machine" | Get-ClusterParameter NodeDrainMoveTypeThreshold

That should have been a dead give away. As we’ve been using MoveTypeTresHold a lot the recent months and there is no NodeDrain in that value either. But it just didn’t register. By the way you don’t need to create the property either is exists. I guess this code was valid with some version (Beta?) but not anymore. You can just get en set the property like this

Get-ClusterResourceType “Virtual Machine” -Cluster MyCluster | Get-ClusterParameter MoveTypeThreshold

Get-ClusterResourceType “Virtual Machine” -Cluster MyCluster | Set-ClusterParameter MoveTypeThreshold 2000

So lessons learned. Trust but verify .  Don’t forget that a lot of things in IT have a time limited value. Make sure that to look at the date of what you’re reading and about what pre RTM version of the product the information is relevant to.

To conclude here’s the PowerShell snippet I used to monitor the draining process.

Suspend-clusternode –Name crusader -Cluster warrior -Drain

Do
{
    Write-Host (get-clusternode –Name “crusader” -Cluster warrior).DrainStatus -ForegroundColor Magenta    
    Sleep 1
}
until ((get-clusternode –Name “crusader” -Cluster warrior).DrainStatus -ne "InProgress")

If ((get-clusternode –Name “crusader” -Cluster warrior).DrainStatus -eq "Completed")
{
    Write-Host (get-clusternode –Name “crusader” -Cluster warrior).DrainStatus -ForegroundColor Green
}

Which outputs

My Impressions on Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cookbook

Having read Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Cookbook I can safely say that if you need get up to speed with Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 this is a great book for this purpose.

Having met Leandro Carvalho that’s not a surprise. What is pretty impressive is how he managed to get all you need to know to get going inside of one book that you can still lift with one hand. Now this is not going to make you a veteran Hyper-V enterprise architect over the weekend but it will help you get a well set up and functional Hyper-V environment running, monitored and protected. If you are already familiar with Hyper-V form previous Windows versions this book will also get you up to speed on a lot of the most important new features and improvements.

Now a mere 305 pages are not enough to go into depth on every subject but this book will make a fine learning tool to set up a lab and take your first Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V servers / clusters into production. It also tackles some of the more intimidating stuff to some people like in place upgrades of Hyper-V clusters and disaster recovery. Details like CSV cache, Port ACL and their significance in the new Hyper-V version are not forgotten. I like that attention to detail. Knowing the vastness of what’s new in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V I’m impressed at how well organized and effective the information is presented. So if you need to get started with Hyper-V, do it here with this book. It will make for a fine foundation to build on and move on to investigate the numerous network configurations, the VHDX format, SMB 3.0 goodness etc.

Heading Towards The 2013 Global MVP Summit

Hello people, I’m making my way to Seattle at the moment to attend the 2013 Global MVP Summit. I’m really looking forward to this as I have a lot of feedback and questions on using Windows Server 2012 and Hyper-V in real live. That and the fact that we’ll get to discuss all this amongst each other and with the product teams. There are not many opportunities where you get to meet up with so many enthusiastic subject matter experts from all over the world.

Last month I checked my Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) papers and made sure my passport was valid.  So after packing my bag it’s now traveling time as I need to get myself to SEATAC. One of these below works just fine for that purpose I know from experience. While awaiting boarding time I’ve parked myself in LHR. If it’s anything like last year this could be considered a long-haul MVP flight .

I’m eager to meet up with friends and acquaintances again to talk shop and some fun. So Hyper-V, Cluster, Storage, Network PMs … my fellow MVPs and I are on our way. See you all very soon!

My TechDays 2013 Agenda Recommendations

As you all know by know the TechDays 2013  are approaching fast.  I have mentioned this before. There is still time to secure yourself a seat and attend this event. People for far and away are coming over for this so why not you?

You’ll gain insights into a lot of new technologies. You can decide to go deep or broad or any combination of these two options. The idea is that you can return to your desk and have a better understanding of Windows Server 2012, Hyper-V, Windows 8, System Center and what a private cloud can do for you and your business.

I know several speakers and they are aiming to offer you some practical knowledge so you can get a head start with these technologies. Understanding the concepts about and the principles behind sometimes abstract subjects is important. This is also true for a healthy mix of real life experiences, tips on how to get thing working and what to look out for. I hope the local community speakers can help you out there. But to do so you need to show up . Sure you can watch on line sessions and download presentations. But consider being able to talk to the speakers and experts at the Microsoft boot, to have the opportunity to sit down for a talk about real live experiences and openly discuss your needs and concerns. No, it’s not free consultancy, it’s talking amongst peers who are often dealing with the same issues as you are which can help you decide what routes to explore further.

The complete agenda is available on line here.

Tuesday 5 March

Register for the track of your choice here. Hard choice between the security track and Exchange 2013 but I’m leaning towards the latter. Scott Schnoll & Michael Van Horenbeeck (Belgian MEET member and MVP for Exchange) are presenting.

Wednesday 6 March

08:45 – 10:15

This slot is easy, grab the keynote to set the tone for the TechDays.

IT Pro Keynote

10:45 – 12:00

Systems Center user and ready for Windows Server 2012? Attend  Vijay Tewari’s session.

What’s new System Center 2012 SP1, VMM

13:00 – 14:15 & 14:30 – 15:45

Easy choice. Windows 8 is not weird or hard to learn at all.For the small effort of educating yourself on this subject by attending these two sessions by a very knowledgeable MVP and great presenter Tom Decaluwé, you’re ahead of the pack, reaping the benefits while ignoring the drama.

Windows 8 Client Part 1 "The OS internals for IT-Pro’s"

Windows 8 Client Part 2 "The Application internals for IT-Pro’s"

16:15 – 17:30

I’m torn here. Chris Jackson is the guru on this subject and if you’re still running on XP and need to move to Windows 8 or even Windows 7 attend his session and learn how to thrive and not just survive such an project!
App Compat for Nerds

Hyper-V is very dear to me and it’s an interesting subject so if you are using or considering to use Hyper-V go listen to Bryon Surace and learn why dynamic memory is a lot more & better than over commitment!

Hyper-V Dynamic Memory in Depth

17:45 – 19:00

This is a Inovativ (Kenny Buntinx, Dieter Wijckmans, Kurt Van Hoecke) tidal wave of knowledge it seems with a twist of Mike Resseler (always a good thing)

What’s new and improved in Service Pack 1 for the System Center 2012 suite

19:00 – 21:00

Grab the people you think could help your with that question burning inside your head. Don’t be shy! Mingle amongst your peers and engage in some tech talks.

Ask the Experts and Networking

Thursday 7 March

09:00 – 10:15

Start of the day with a true scholar and gain knowledge & understanding on Active Directory in Windows Server 2012. If you were not awake yet, you will be 5 minutes into this session as John Craddock knows how to captivate an audience.

What’s new in Windows Server 2012 Active Directory?

10:45 – 12:00

If you’re going to deploy SCVMM 2012 SP1 you absolutely have to attend this session. Really, I mean it! Vijay Tewari presenting.

Network Management in System Center 2012 SP1 – VMM

13:00 – 14:15

You need it, you want it, you love it in Windows 2012. What? PowerShell of cause and Kurt Roggen will show you why.

The Power of PowerShell: Advanced

14:30 – 15:45

Some of the great additions to the capabilities of virtualization in Windows Server 2012 evolves around the support Active Directory. Better & saver than ever with a lot less fine print. Join Wim Henderyckx & Benjamin Logist.

Forbidden fruits of Active Directory – Cloning, snapshotting, virtualization

16:15 – 17:30

You’ll just have to understand that for practical reasons I have to kind of attend my own session. It’s the nature of presenting.

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Networking Evolved

A New Year and it came with a Microsoft MVP Renewal for 2013

I’m a January 1st MVP. That means that on the 1st January I get an e-mail that brings news of a renewal or not … so apart from celebrating the new year relaxing a bit we also keep an eye on our inbox. This is what arrived just now:

Dear Didier van Hoye,
Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2013 Microsoft® MVP Award! This award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others. We appreciate your outstanding contributions in Virtual Machine technical communities during the past year.
The Microsoft MVP Award provides us the unique opportunity to celebrate and honor your significant contributions and say "Thank you for your technical leadership."

Mike Hickman
Director
Community Engagement
Microsoft

Great news to start the new year with. While you get the MVP reward for contributions over the past year to the community I must say that being active in the community is a very rewarding endeavor in itself. For my job I need to figure out a lot of things and I like to share them, including my mistakes, for the benefit of all. Sharing means communication, which leads to questions and discussions that help all of us gain a better knowledge of how things work. It’s not one way traffic. They say there is no better way to learn a subject that to teach it or write a book on it. I think that holds true. Heck, “just” doing a presentation on one subject helps. There’s a constant stream of new capabilities and options that can be leveraged to achieve our goals and being able to discuss these with so many experts from different environments makes a lot of difference in wrapping our heads around it all.

It also helps me be better at my job. So it also helps my employers. In that respect I have very good bosses. They invest in their people without hesitation. They don’t fear the possibility that we might leave for greener pastures. Instead they focus on getting the best out of us and support this actively. Pretty smart and we all gain something from this, as this makes for a very nice green pasture to stay on and they get knowledgeable, motivated employees.

I’m very happy and I’m looking forward to seeing many of my fellow MVPs in Redmond in February for the 2013 MVP Global Summit. Last year’s summit was very educational. It was also a blast to meet so many people in real life for the very first time and talk shop. Thank you all for the opportunities, the challenges and the continuous learning journey.

To conclude I wish all my community buddies and readers a wonderful and happy 2013!

Join Us For The VKernel (Dell) VIRTu Alley Online Symposium

VIRTu Alley Online Symposium

vKernel (now part of DELL) is kicking of 2013  with the VIRTu Alley Online Symposium. It runs over two days and focuses on virtualization and cloud management.

When

VIRTu Alley takes place on Tuesday, January 15th from 10:00 – 13:00 EST and on Wednesday, January 16th from 10:00-13:30 EST. Don’t forget it’s EST. Meaning that you need to add 5 hours if you’re in GMT (Dublin) or 6 Hours if you’re in GMT +1 (Brussels)

Where

From the comfort of your office & home 

Agenda

Go to the Virtu Alley web page and have a look at the agenda for both days. you’ll see they’ve mananged to line up some great speakers. Some of them I know personally. Aidan Finn and Damian Flynn (MVP and published authors) are both presenting on day 2 just like myself. Aidan on what’s new & improved in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V and Damian on Network virtualization. I will be speaking on Advanced Hyper-V Maintenance with Cluster Aware Updating.

It’s Free

The event itself if free but you do need to register for each day on which you want to attend sessions.

• Register for day 1
• Register for day 2

See you there!

I’m Presenting At The Belgian TechDays 2013

A little end of year news flash for you all. I already mentioned the contribution the local Belgian MVPs and MEET members are making to the TechDays in 2013 and now I can tell you I’m joining them for a presentation as well on March 7th in the 16:15-16:30 time slot . In the talk Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Networking Evolved I’ll be discussing some of the network improvements in Windows Server 2012. Some are very well known others a bit less but they all work together to make Windows Server 2012 a very capable operating system that’s future proof.

Hyper-V benefits from a range of new features introduced across the entire network stack in Windows Server 2012. Some of these are native networking improvements in the operating system itself. Others leverage technology that requires supported Network Adapters & Switches that benefits Hyper-V hosts and the virtual machines that run on top of it. Come and see how even the most demanding workloads can now be virtualized without sacrificing performance, reliability, security or scalability. These features vary from easy & transparent, with almost zero configuration, to complex, requiring more design and implementation considerations. Join me for an overview of these network improvements, how they work and what they can do for your business.

We’ve been running Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V in production since August & September 2012. So we put our money where our mouth is. If you hurry up and register before the end of the year you can still get the early bird price.

Your company cannot lose here. You gain insight & knowledge, your employer gets a well prepared and motivated employee. How’s that for a nice new years gift?

2012 Was A Great Year, 2013 Looks Great

Well the end of 2012 is approaching fast and we’re about to dim the lights a bit for the festivities. 2012 was a great and action packed year.

Being awarded with the MVP title turned out to be an awesome experience. The MVP summit, the frequent interactions with colleagues and Microsoft employees, … I learnt so much form that and them that I feel privileged to be part of that ecosystem. It makes me feel I stand on the shoulders of giants. We teamed up informally and delivered some top notch sessions on Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, learning again form each other and the questions and feedback of our audience. I met a lot of people and “networked” all over the planet.

Locally I Belgium my involvement in MEET offered me to some new opportunities like public speaking and introduced me to some great an knowledgeable experts while helping put and sharing knowledge. Thanks Arlindo!

Then there was my team, that bunch of great, smart, hardworking people who make a big difference in job appreciation. This year has had its challenges, but they’re a real crew alright. They were also there at crunch time, standing tall and saving a business. Twice for good measure.

We deployed a new storage infrastructure (DELL, Compellent), rolled out Windows Server 2012, transitioned our clusters, got  backup hardware in place etc. All this as part of an ever to deliver more value at less cost. We still have a lot to do. Not just operational but also optimizing ROI, TCO and seeing where we can replace products and software that fails to deliver value for money. Trust me, telling me that your solution is best of breed, industry leader doesn’t cut it. In this economy even less so, you deliver value and keep delivering value or the bell tolls for thee. 2013 is shaping up to be yet another a busy and interesting year.

It looks like we’ll learn a lot, work a lot, an have fun doing so. I feel truly fortunate to be able to have a good, interesting job that I enjoy.  So let’s go for another great year in 2013 . I whish you all the very best for 2013!