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.

I’m Attending The 2013 MVP Global Summit

Well, that time of the year is getting closer again. It’s something different, unique and somewhat exclusive. It’s the 2013 MVP Global Summit!

For this summit MVPs from all over the world converge on Bellevue/Redmond near Seattle. The summit takes place on and around the Microsoft campus. To discuss their favorite & most important MSFT technologies in depth amongst each other and with Microsoft staff.

I have the good fortune of being able to attend again this year. I have to express my thanks to our top management for this . This is very valuable to both me and my employers. It’s also fun to discuss the technology you work with amongst so many like minded people in the same business. The amount of knowledge sharing, insights and ideas around Redmond creates a stimulating buzz and I loved every moment of it last year. I met many great professionals and interesting people with whom, from breakfast till after dinner drinks, we had a truckload of interesting discussions. It’s a bit of a geek fest.

So I’m looking forward to all this and also to meeting up again with some MSFT employees and professionals from the Seattle area I got to know last time.

The MVP summit is also a good time to pass feedback from others on to Microsoft as well. You’re not in the drivers seat when it comes to the direction Windows and Hyper-V will take. However, you cannot have your opinions taken into consideration unless you let them be be heard. So, please feel free to share any remarks, feedback, feature requests you’d like to the virtualization, cluster, storage, file share, network, etc. product teams to know. You can post them in the comments for all to see. To shy to post it publicly? You can send me a e-mail via the contact form on my blog or direct message me via @workinghardinit on twitter.

Now the entire summit is under NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) but that doesn’t mean it’s a pure diplomatic mission. We all love the technology, that is for sure, but we also  pass along the bad and the ugly next to the good. It’s not marketing or indoctrination,if it was MVPs would not spend the time an money to attend.

That’s where the words “independent” and real world” comes into play. We’re not a bunch of fan boys. The communication is both ways and I think that make this event extra valuable to both parties. I’m looking forward to the 2013 MVP Summit and I have a lot of feedback and questions based on using Windows Server 2012 and Hyper-V in real live.

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?

What New Years Gift For IT Professionals? The Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Installation And Configuration Guide!

Aidan Finn, Damian Flynn, Patrick Lownds and Michel Luescher wrote a reference work about Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V.

I kindly suggest that you add this to your professional library as soon as possible. Unless you’re part of our IT Pro team, who’ll find a couple of copies on their desk as soon as Amazon can deliver them, you’ll need to ask Santa Claus to bring you one. If Santa Claus doesn’t like you, buy it yourself. For the help you’ll get out of this it’s a steal. You see, I know the authors and a reviser (Hans Vredevoort). And I assure you, reading what these guys have to tell on this subject is truly standing on the shoulders of giants .  Reading this book allows you to tap into their collective brainpower and knowledge on this subject, which is extensive. These guys are part of the Hyper-V community and they live in this stuff!

So if you want to learn about Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V fast and effectively grab this book (pre order it here on Amazon). It’s full of guidance, explanations, examples and scripts to get you going in the right direction from the moment you start working with Hyper-V. This is a career boosting (and protecting) guide for all of us to leverage.

Thank you guys!

I’m Presenting at the Technical Experts Conference 2012 Europe

I’ll be speaking at the Technical Experts Conference 2012 Europe in Barcelona on Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V and it’s storage and network related improvements and promising new features. Some of you might know that I’m a Microsoft MVP in the Virtual Machine Expertise (i.e. Hyper-V), but these sessions are not marketing or vapor ware. Being an MVP is about sharing knowledge and experiences with you. I’m are early adopter in production from the day the RTM bits became available and we’re already reaping the benefits of those features, so it’s more than just lab work and theory.

I won’t be there alone, as my friends, colleagues and fellow MVPs Aidan Finn (@joe_elway), Carsten Rachfahl (@hypervserver) and Hans Vredevoort (@hvredevoort) will be there as well to present and share their knowledge, which is extensive, I assure you. It’s great to have the chance to come together again and talk about our technology passions.

You can find an overview of the session agenda here

So I hope you can join us for an interesting conference and interactive event where we can discuss your challenges and ways to address them. Trust me when I say that talking to other customers and technologist is a great way to learn, understand the needs and find opportunities. We learn a lot from presenting and talking to you. I’ve attended a lot of conferences in my career now and I still find them valuable. The return on investment for my employers has been great. Motivated and skilled employees can save a business 10 fold the cost spent to keep them that way.

Haven’t heard of TEC  before?

Neither did I before a couple of years, but by good fortune I had the opportunity to attend as a delegate and found it very worth while in both content and networking opportunities. As it turns out The Experts Conference Europe 2012 (TEC) has been running for over a decade now and it delivers level 400 sessions on core Microsoft technologies. It focuses on Active Directory and Identity, Exchange, Virtualization and User Workspace Management.

TEC Europe is held at the Hotel Rey Carlos in Barcelona from 22-24 October 2012. Quest , as an alliance partner of Microsoft, welcomes program management, product management, development staff from Redmond and a number of field team members to the event every year to support the training requirements of its users. This means two things: It’s a valuable event and, I admit, I’m honored to be invited to speak at this event.

Budgets are tight

A great tip. Quest is offering a discount rate of 850 Euro to delegates who register by 21 September! You can get a discount code for registration by sending an email to TEC2012@quest.com

Overview Community Speaking Engagements

Below you’ll find a short overview of my speaking engagements in coming months. I encourage everyone to attend the smaller and often les expensive or even free events as they provide a fast way to get up to speed with new technologies. Everyone is welcome and we’re all there to learn. The sessions I’ll be presenting are on are about Windows Server 2012 & Hyper-V, but that should not be a surprise.

TechNet BeLux – The Belgian Windows Server 2012 Launch Event – Antwerp, October 3rd 2012

On October 3rd I’ll be presenting a session at the Windows Server 2012 Launch Event in the Windows Server 2012 Track. That session is called “Hyper-V over SMB: Remote File Storage Support in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V”.You can register here for this event which is free and open to all.

 

Presenting at the Technical Experts Conference 2012 Europe – Barcelona, October 22nd-24th 2012

I’ll be speaking at the Technical Experts Conference 2012 Europe in Barcelona on Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V and it’s storage related improvements and great new features. Being an MVP is about sharing knowledge and experiences with you so I’ll join up again I won’t be there alone, as my friends, colleagues and fellow MVPs Aidan Finn (@joe_elway), Carsten Rachfahl (@hypervserver) and Hans Vredevoort (@hvredevoort) will be there as well to present and share their knowledge, which I extensive, I assure you. It’s great to have the chance to come together and talk about our technology passions.

 

Experts2Experts Virtualization Conference (E2EVC) – Hamburg, November 2nd-4th 2012

In joining up with my fellow MVPs Alex Jushin (@e2evc), Aidan Finn (@joe_elway), Carsten Rachfahl (@hypervserver) and Hans Vredevoort (@hvredevoort) to present a master class on Sunday November 4th. Unfortunately this event has already sold out. Click on the link in the title to find out more about E2EVC. It’s a great way to meet up with fellow technologists and learn from each other. Ronnie, Jeff, Florian, Udo … it will be good to see you there! I’m looking forward to it  

 

Dell Storage Forum Paris 2012 – Paris, November 14th 2012

On November the 14th I’ll be in Paris, joining the DELL “Fluid Forward Think Tank” at Dell Storage Forum Paris 2012 for an open conversation on our wishes, needs, ideas on the future of storage & technology in our businesses. That might make for an interesting discussion with others from the industry and it provides for a real good way learn from other people their experiences and challenges.

Very Educational Microsoft TechEd 2012

Hello from TechEd 2012 Europe at the RAI in Amsterdam. I’ve been extremely busy attending sessions, talking to Microsoft employees and vendor engineers. We’ve had some very interesting discussions and I learned a lot and clarified even more. TechEd has once more proven to be an excellent investment of time and I have been able to get a lot of face time with the right people. To me this is important because that helps me tremendously when designing solutions. Sorry for the low quality pictures.

Bob Combs on stage at the TechEd Europe 2012  educating us on NIC Teaming

You know my mantra “options, options options” as this is what gets you a way out of a pinch. However a lot of options also mean you need to make decisions, and not just when dealing with issues but also at design time. Knowledge and understanding is what help to make the correct of the best decision fast. Attending this conference with its tremendous networking opportunities provides for a very nice and effective setting for passionate discussions and deep dives into scenarios. Challenging vendors, interacting with peers, throwing ideas out there and deep diving into the possibilities and drawbacks with each other is great and helps a lot to understand technologies better. You have to thrown what you have learned out there and discuss it to test your understanding of the subject. Don’t be afraid to do so. We all don’t know things, get stuff wrong, etc. Don’t let  fear stop you from interacting with your peers.

Ben Armstrong in action on Live Storage Migration

It is also great to meet up with my community buddies from all over the word again and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to attend these conferences. For me personally these are priceless and the value to my employers/clients is considerable. There is a tsunami of new technology in the Windows Server 2012 stack and learning to put these into context is both fun and useful. These are very interesting times in the Microsoft Infrastructure ecosystem so life is good!

Answer to Brad at TechEd Europe 2012 Keynote: Pessimists & Tad Don’t like Windows Server 2012

Brad is on stage for the opening keynote asking if the glass is half full or half empty. Well it depends on where you are in the ecosystem. For us the glass is half full and filling up fast.

Some people nag me about the fact that Windows Server 2012 is so different and that it’s wrong to turn the world upside down. Yes, it is different and new in many ways.  There are also many improvements to features that already exist. There is a lot to learn and understand. Why are some people so pessimistic?

Ever since I got my hands on the BUILD Developer Preview bits I have personally invested a lot of my time in Windows Server 2012. With the beta that only increased. Why? Well, that’s the way forward, because that’s where the improvements are. We can’t do tomorrows jobs and meet tomorrows demands with yesterdays technology.

The picture above is basically the pessimists view of the world. Enjoy your cupper but I’m not joining you. Windows Server 2012 rocks and it’s going to do a whole lot for our industry and businesses. But wait a minute, I do understand why Tad is so pessimistic. But that’s about the future of vLimited and being stuck in the past. Listen Tad, you’d better empty that cup because this is where vLimited becomes history rather than write it.

Does that mean I’ll be throwing away Windows 2008 R2? Nope. I expect to deal a lot with it in the next few years but I’m not going to build future infrastructure on the previous version. I will introduce Windows Server 2012 where and when we benefit from it. For me that is from day one the bits RTM. The benefits are so overwhelming we’d hurt ourselves by not doing it. Your mileage may vary. But don’t get stuck in the past  Here’s a link to your escape pod: Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter Solution Accelerator I’m happy it’s here. That’s what people are asking me more and more about, how to move to Hyper-V.

But what’s with the negativism of some? Sure people are still running Windows Server 2000/2003. Sometimes for good reasons, often for (very) bad ones. Are some going to go through all this again with people clinging to Windows2008 R2? No doubt. Been there, seen it. Very predictable. Is Windows Server 2012 going to fail?  No way.  And what I’m seeing in Windows Server 2012 is great technology. Will it be perfect? No. I already have feature requests for vNext . But this is pushing the ball forward, this is ambitious in the best sense of that word.  There will be bugs, there will be challenges and hiccups. That’s part of the business and the realities of life.  But look at all what’s available in there. Don’t just read some industry press articles. Did you test it your self already? Did you do any clustering? Tested all the new functionality in Hyper-V? The innovations in Live Migration options and networking? Looked at the amount of PowerShell support in there? Notice the improvements in Active Directory, DHCP and other core infrastructure services? Have you used Windows Server 2012 at all yet? You didn’t look at SMB 3.0 and all the storage improvements in there did you? Go talk to Jeff Woolsey, he’s passionate about it and for good reasons. Put in some effort, live a little, get out of your comfort zone and you’ll be going places. Don’t be a pessimist. Think positive or you’ll end up like Tad who was the joke of the party at MMS2012

Experience Days by TechNet BeLux

As a Microsoft MEET member and MVP, I’d like to invite you all to attend the Microsoft “Experience Days”.

There are several tracks at the Experience Days from which you can choose. The complete track information can be found at here.

There are two tracks that are especially of interest to IP Pros: The Best of Microsoft Management Summit (MMS 2012) and Experience Windows Server 2012.

The Best of Microsoft Management Summit (MMS 2012)

During The Best of Microsoft Management Summit (MMS 2012), we will provide you with the best possible opportunity to learn about what’s new in System Center 2012. Led by experts who attended MMS 2012 in Las Vegas, you can expect in-depth sessions on infrastructure management, service delivery & automation, application management, desktop & device management.
Discover the full program

Experience Windows Server 2012

At Experience Windows Server 2012 day you will discover how Windows Server is going beyond virtualization by scaling and securing workload, how it will enable the modern work style by giving people access to information and data regardless of the infrastructure, network, device or application they use to access it. And you will discover the power of many servers with the simplicity of one by efficiently managing infrastructure while maximizing uptime and minimizing failures and downtime.

Join us and learn more about:

New Hyper-V Virtualization Platform

What’s new in Active Directory

Storage and Management Improvements

Clustering Improvements

Plus much more…   

Discover the full program

Hyper-V

I’ll be talking on June 7^th at 15:00 – 16:00 about Windows Server 2012 Storage Evolved For Hyper-V in the Experience Windows Server 2012 track:

Windows Server 2012 is a very storage centric version. We’ll cover the changes, improvements and additions to Windows Server 2012 storage capabilities and their impact on Hyper-V. We talk about the enhancements with the new virtual disk format (VHDX), offloaded data transfer (ODX), TRIM/UNMAP, large sector disks and the new storage options for Hyper-V including Storage Spaces, ReFS, Bitlocker, CSV 2.0, NTFS online scan/repair and SMB 3.0 file storage and what the latter means for Live Migration & Storage Options for Hyper-V

Virtualization with Windows Server 2012 with Hyper-V is simply the best, bar none. If you watched Brad Anderson’s MMS 2012 Keynotes you know what’s coming and that he encouraged you to take the lead in all this. Well here’s you chance. If you agree that there is war on for talent, you also know and understand that knowledge will give you opportunities and choices. Invest in your future and as such in addressing and solving the business needs of your both clients and businesses. We all know it takes a serious effort in combination with a sustained commitment to become and stay competent in ICT. The TechNet BeLux team & the community is there to help you cultivate your talent and gain the knowledge you need.

 

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

Here’s a quick overview of my speaking engagements in the next two months. I encourage everyone to attend the smaller and often les expensive or even free events as they provide a fast way to get up to speed with new technologies. Don’t be shy. Everyone is welcome and we’re all there to learn. It will not surprise you that all the sessions I’ll be presenting are on Windows Server 2012 & Hyper-V.

Experts2Experts Virtualization Conference (E2EVC) –Vienna 2012

I’ll be doing a session on Saturday 26th on the advanced networking features in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V. At this small scale conference interactive “chalk & talk” sessions never stop. They just go on and on at breakfast, lunch, dinner, the bar until we need to get some sleep to repeat this process the day after. If you’re very lucky there might still be an spot open for which you can register.

Continued Education Day for IT Coordinators & Teachers in Education

At the end of May I’ll be presenting a session on what’s new in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V targeted at this audience. I’m convinced that the combination of the tremendous licensing efforts Microsoft does in education and simply the best virtualization & cloud platform in existence, will provide them with the right solution to get the job done.

TechNet BeLux - Experience Days

On June 7th I’ll be presenting a session at the “Experience Days”. That session is called “Windows Server 2012 Storage Evolved For Hyper-V” in the Experience Windows Server 2012 track. You can register here for this track or, if you think another track is more of interest to you go to the links above to register for those. All tracks are free and open to all.

More to come

During the summer I’ll be doing a large storage migration project. That means I’ll be getting my hands on SMI-S support for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 and ODX to use with Windows Sever 2012 & Hyper-V.  So I’ll be putting my money where my mouth is so to speak.  I’m looking forward to that for the learning experience alone and it’s time to find me my “No, I will not fix your computer” T-shirt as I won’t have time for that . But rest assured, I will share my experiences through blogging, tweets, presentations & with my fellow community members for all man kind.