70-659 Vouchers Giveaway!

May 14, 2012 10 Comments

Hey folks my friends at TekSource Corporate Learning (www.teksource.ca) in Toronto have told me that they have just received nine (9) more vouchers for the 70-659 exam (TS: Microsoft Windows Server 2008: Server Virtualization).  Knowing that so many of you were disappointed when Ruth (Technology Advisor, Microsoft Canada) announced that she was out of them, I thought I would take this opportunity to offer them up to you.

Now, there are some pre-conditions:

  1. First priority is going to go to members of the IT Pro Toronto Virtual Study Group (or any other affiliated study group from across the country).  They have done the work, and many were under the impression that we had promised them vouchers.
  2. Second priority will go to people who have attended any session that I have led or participated in.  That means a user group event, IT Pro Boot Camp, Tae Kwon Do class, Summit, anything… as long as I was there and recognized as a presenter or proctor.
  3. Third priority goes to Canadian IT Pros.  I know I support the community worldwide, but my first priority for this program has to go to Canada.  They are not geo-locked, but I will be checking! :)
  4. You have to schedule and take the exam before May 31, 2012.

So with that being said, if you want a voucher I need for you to do two things:

  1. Comment on this blog article to the effect of ‘I want a voucher! I want to get certified!’
  2. If you are a member of one of the study groups, send me an e-mail letting me know which one, who the leader is, and when it ended (or is scheduled to end).  That will of course put you to the front of the line.
  3. If you are not a member of one of the study groups let me know which session you attended.
  4. If you did not attend one of my sessions let me know where in Canada you live… and work or study!
  5. Check your e-mail!  If you don’t get an e-mail then I am sorry, you didn’t get it.

That’s it folks.  I will ask one more thing though… Commit to writing the exam before May 31.  If for any reason you cannot I do not want to see any of these vouchers (value: $150 US Dollars!) wasted.  Also please let me know how you did!  I am always very interested in the success of my students and readers!

Good luck… both with the contest and the exam!

Filed under Certifications, Certs, Hyper-V, IT Pro, Virtualization

Virtualizing your Domain Controllers

April 26, 2012 7 Comments

I am asked all the time what the best practices are for domain controllers in a virtualized environment.  There are several that I will call out, but let’s begin with the simplest rule.

You should never have ONE domain controller.

This rule is not only true in virtualized environments, it is always true.  If you are too small to have a domain that is fine, but if you have a domain you should have two DCs.  If you run Windows Small Business Server that rule is just as true – join a second server to the domain and promote it.  YES IT DOES WORK, please don’t argue it again! Smile

You can absolutely virtualize your domain controllers.

I hear this question from people all of the time… and the reality is that there is nothing wrong with virtualizing your DCs.  If the main concern is the Time Synchronization issue, then there is a simple answer for that.  Your Active Directory domain resources will not be able to authenticate if the time is off by more than 300 seconds (5 minutes).  However that skew is from the domain, and not your wrist watch.  If your radio says it is 3:15pm and your domain says that it is 10:38am, the only thing that matters is that your network resources think that it is between 10:34 and 10:42. 

In simple terms, if one time resource is off it is bad… if ALL of your time resources are off, it’s not.  This theory may fall down with external resources – I have noticed that Twitter (or at least many Twitter clients) are sticklers for time, and if you are off then you will not be able to authenticate.  Lync can also be an issue, and I am sure there are dozens of other externally provided services that will cause issues.  However internally as long as your client and your server have the same wrong time, you’ll be fine.

So with that being said, my tendency is to select one domain controller and configure it to synchronize with an external time server.  I will then create a GPO in my domains to use that server as the authoritative time source for the entire network.  That prevents all manner of things from going wrong if you find the time is off.

Your Domain Controllers should be just that… and not much else!

Your DC should not be a file server, database server, media server, deployment server, update server… there are only three services that my domain controllers generally perform: Active Directory Domain Services, Domain Naming Service (DNS) server, and Distributed Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers.  In my networks these three services go together nearly all of the time.  I don’t know of any good reason to put anything else on a domain controller, and every time someone says ‘Well what about…THIS?’ I disagree.

Of course, sometimes you don’t have a choice… Windows Small Business Server is a good example of that, but as you have likely heard me say before, SBS out of the box forces you to break a lot of rules that are simply not meant to be broken.  If you ever hear me discuss it I have said there are ways to make it more palatable… but that does not change the facts.  This is one reason I always tell my classes that it is easier for an enterprise administrator to adapt to small business IT than it is the reverse… the good habits of the enterprise admin will never hurt the SBS (although they may be considered overkill); some of the habits of small business IT Pros can, conversely, do serious damage to the enterprise IT environment.

Don’t P2V your domain controllers.

This rule is not as clear-cut as the others, but calls on some of them.  I do not believe in performing physical to virtual (P2V) migrations of domain controllers.  If an organization does have a physical domain controller that they would like to retire, I feel the following is a much safer and cleaner practice:

  1. Before you begin (as much as 10-14 days in advance) I will reconfigure the DHCP scope on the server in question to shorten the address length from whatever is currently in place (by default 8 days) to 1 hour.  This will prevent or at least minimize problems later on.
  2. When you are ready, create a new virtual machine and install the operating system.  Make sure you patch it to the most recent service pack, and apply all applicable critical and security patches.
  3. Join the new server to the domain, and promote it to domain controller.  Assuming you are on Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (which you should be by now!) you need to install the Active Directory Domain Services role, but the dcpromo.exe command will do that for you.
  4. After the server reboots, it will begin to synchronize with the Active Directory.  Remember, since AD is a distributed database, when you add a new server to the mix it will simply (over a period of time directly related to the size of your organization, factoring for network bandwidth issues) receive a complete copy of the AD that will be identical (upon completion) to the original server.  DNS will do the same thing, as long as you a) install the DNS role when you promote the server, and b) your DNS Zones are configured as Active Directory Integrated.
  5. Install and configure the DHCP Server role in the new domain controller.  If you have room to grow with your IP addresses I would recommend creating a completely different scope, but if you are tight then creating an overlapping scope will only cause very temporary headaches, most of which will be mitigated by doing this switchover during off-peak hours.  Remember to copy any reservations from the original server, especially when you have devices (such as printers) that require specific addresses.  Also, do not forget to verify that all of your Scope Options are properly configured.
  6. Stop the DHCP Server service on the original server (net stop “DHCP Server”).  Again, If your scopes are overlapping be sure to do this during off-peak hours.
  7. If the physical box held any of the Flexible Single Master Operations (FSMO) roles then you should transfer them to the new server, or to another domain controller in the organization.  If you forget to do this they can later be seized, but this is the easiest and least intrusive way of doing it.
  8. You can leave your source DC on for a week or two, but after a day or so I would usually power it down; don’t reformat it or throw it out just yet, but at this point you are ready to go!

One of the rules of P2V Migrations is GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out.  In other words, any legacy issues you may have had previously – whether it’s clutter, breaks, bugs, or whatnot – goes with you.  With the distributed database replication model of Active Directory you get to start fresh, with all of your data. 

This method is also a great way of upgrading a DC from Windows Server 2003 to Server 2008 R2 – rather than do an in-place upgrade, you can simply do the side-by-side virtualization dance.  It won’t change your schema or upgrade your Domain (or Forest) Function Level, although if it is the first 2008 R2 domain controller in your domain you will have to run a couple of scripts to prepare the domain by running the following commands:

(On the server that holds the Schema Master FSMO role): adprep /forestprep

(On the server that holds the Infrastructure Operations Master FSMO role): adprep /domainprep /gpprep

That’s about it… as I mentioned, there may be exceptions if your DC is doing something that (according to my guidelines) it is not supposed to be doing, but then again this may be a great opportunity for you to step in line with best practices and separate other roles from the domain controller.

No go forth and virtualize your Active Directory Domain Controllers!

Filed under Active Directory, Domain Controllers, FSMO Roles, Virtualization Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Let’s Get Real: Virtualization Talk on TechNet Radio

April 19, 2012 Leave a comment

Last month I sat down with John Weston for another TechNet Radio segment.  John is a Senior IT Pro Evangelist with Microsoft (South Central District).  He and I have a lot of things in common, the newest of which is that we are both VMware Certified Professionals on vSphere 5.  We were discussing it and realized that Microsoft has been making incredible process with their virtualization and Private Cloud story, but that VMware was still at the head of the pack, and to deny that would be folly.

One of the reasons we both became VCPs was so that instead of spouting the Microsoft company line about the competition, we would have the credentials and credibility to discuss the comparison, and that VMware professionals would know that we had taken the time to learn their platform before saying we are just as good.

It is amazing that we can say that.  However I just spent a week in the beta teach of one of the new Private Cloud classes at Microsoft, and my excitement about our manageability strategy is redoubled.  Knowing what is coming next – Hyper-V v3.0 with Windows Server 2012 – makes me shiver with anticipation about teaching these classes, because Microsoft is simply going to leapfrog the competition in the virtualization space.

You can listen to our conversation here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/technet-radio-community-corner-microsoft-private-cloud-vs-vmware-with-microsoft-mvp-mitch-garvis.aspx . We discuss the Private Cloud, and if virtualization is the cloud or if it is simply a component of it.  We also discuss all sorts of other topics – John and I always have a great conversation when we get together, and I think it’s pretty entertaining.  We hope you do to!

Filed under Private Cloud, System Center, TechNet Radio, Virtualization

Saskatoon IT Virtualization Boot Camp–Day 1

March 30, 2012 1 Comment

I don’t know why I always poo-poo Saskatoon, because I always have a great time when I am here.  However this week I expected would be a bit rough… I arrived in Saskatoon on Thursday fighting a terrible head cold which I had brought with me from Montreal.  I used no fewer than 40 tissues during my user group presentation, much to the amusement of the great and vibrant audience of nearly 40 IT Pros.

When I showed up at the Saskatoon Business College at 8:30 in the morning, ready to set up for a 10:00am start.  I had a healthy dose of Benylin (non-drowsy formula), Cold-FX, lozenges, and decaffeinated tea bags.  One eager attendee (who had won a great prize at the UG meeting!) actually got here before us, and helped us to set up the room.  We got the room set up, and within a few minutes the room started to fill up.

We had a great time, and the Challenge was exciting right through the end, with three teams heading into the last challenge of the day with fewer than 5 points separating them.  However the prizes weren’t as important as the knowledge – a lot of people learned a lot about Microsoft Virtualization, iSCSI SANs, Failover Clustering, and more.  They worked as teams, nine teams working as cohesive units with the hopes of winning the prize, but with the certainty that they were learning about technologies they hadn’t previously played with.

Of course we also discussed Server 8 – very briefly – and topics such as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), and all sorts of other fun side-topics.  We had decent lunch, a few laughs, and a lot of fun.

Tomorrow is another day… we will start with 10 new teams, fresh and ready to learn, compete, and bond.  I love working with community… so much better than working alone! –M

Filed under Boot Camp, Hyper-V, Microsoft Canada, Saskatoon, Virtualization

Desktop Virtualization Debate!

March 14, 2012 1 Comment

I’ll be there… will you?  VDI is important, and this session from Citrix and Microsoft is a must see for you if you are thinking about it! -M

REAL TALK FEATURING CITRIX AND MICROSOFT
Live, uncensored and truly unplugged discussion of the merits of desktop virtualization.

March 20, 2012  |  2:00pm – 3:15pm EST

Click HERE to register!

You’ve seen the "Wow" of desktop virtualization now learn the "How", and more importantly, "Why"!

Join Citrix and Microsoft for this open forum and hear from a former IT executive as he puts the Citrix and Microsoft team on the spot. You will see first-hand the unedited and uncensored realities of this technology. Hear about the benefits, best practices and ultimate payoff of implementing desktop virtualization.
Attend and find out:

  • Who is best suited for desktop virtualization
  • What you need to know when migrating
    to Windows 7

Why it’s important to consider the Microsoft and Citrix solution

Filed under Citrix, Microsoft, VDI, Virtualization

Windows Server 8: Busting the limits in Hyper-V, and comparing the numbers to VMware vSphere 5.0

March 9, 2012 4 Comments

It’s here! Ok, what I should say is that it’s BETA edition is here! Windows Server 8 is going to be a game changer for all sorts of reasons. However for those people who have been saying that Hyper-V is not ready for prime-time (it has been for a while) the new limits are going to make a lot of people reevaluate that position.

1Terabyte of RAM per Virtual Machine

The previous limitation of 64 gigabytes per virtual machine did not limit most workloads, but there are certainly cases for some servers that do need it. I don’t think you are going to see a lot of virtual machines running the full terabyte anytime soon… but being able to break the 64GB barrier is nice! VMware went the same way in vSphere 5, whereas their previous limit was 255GB (nearly 4 times that of Hyper-V) they quadrupled that. (vSphere 5.0: same)

160 Logical Processors per Host

The 160 LPs (includes cores, hyper-threads) is going to keep coming up as long as Intel and AMD keep putting more cores onto a CPU, and more CPUs onto the board. VMware went the same way, up to 160 LPs. (vSphere 5: same)

1024 Virtual Machines per Host

With a previous limitation of 384 VMs per host I used to wonder who really needed that. However when taking into account how much RAM can go into a host (2TBs) that is a lot of room for a lot of workloads. Add to that the fact that CPUs are more powerful than ever (Thanks to Moore’s Law) and any respectable datacentre stores their virtual machines on external storage, we are in a place where it makes sense to put more and more. With that being said, it is not likely that companies are going to run that high density under normal conditions, but when planning a failover environment you can now plan for fewer failover hosts (if necessary). VMware also boosted their limitations, previously at 320 VMs per host, they increased their limit: (vSphere 5: 512 VMs per host)

64 Nodes per Cluster

For all of those who have badmouthed Microsoft clustering over the years (I am one of them) Failover Cluster Services in Windows Server 2008 / R2 was a breath of fresh air. What was previously daunting and scary was made friendly and useable, and now it is not uncommon to see small business customers implementing failover clustering (see Busting the Myth: You cannot cluster Windows Small Business Server) in environments that were previously too small for it to be cost efficient. In Server 8 Microsoft has increased the maximum number of nodes in a cluster from 16 to 64, which is huge for datacentre environments that really need that scale. VMware has also increased their number, but not to the same level. (vSphere 5: 32 nodes per cluster)

4000 Virtual Machines per Cluster

by my math, if you can have up to 1024 virtual machines per host, and up to 64 nodes in a cluster, the theory should be that you could support up to 32,768 virtual machines in the cluster that would support up to half of the hosts failing simultaneously before you max out your resources. Obviously someone on the product team knows something that I don’t (probably several somethings) and caps it to 4000 VMs per cluster, a 75% increase over the previous iteration, which was capped at 1000. This is a huge lead over VMware, whose limits have not been increased over vSphere 4.1 (vSphere 5: 1000 virtual machines per cluster)

32 virtual CPUs per Virtual Machine

Here is where Microsoft has really hit a home run. previous versions of Hyper-V limited your virtual CPUs to four. kicking this up to 32 shoots way past VMware’s previous version, and matches their current limits. If you have virtual machines that require huge processing capacity you can go as high as you want… with the limiting factor being your physical hardware (you cannot assign more virtual CPUs than you have physical cores, including hyper-threading). This will be another game changer and will go a long way to proving the enterprise-readiness of Hyper-V. (vSphere 5 limit: same)

64 Terabytes per Virtual Hard Drive

Advantage: Microsoft… in a huge way. With the previous limit of two terabytes per VHD file, the new and improved VHDX file format shoots through the ceiling and will support much larger volumes. While most of us have no need for volumes this large, there are customers who have been using either pass-through disks (or RDMs or extents in VMware) to support large database files. VMware’s VMDK files will still be limited to 2TB, but can be expanded to 64TB using extents (which I am not a fan of). As well, they also offer support for 64TB volumes in Raw Device Maps, but in Physical Compatibility Mode only. (vSphere 5: 2TB)

Other Features

There are too many new features to mention, and over the next few months I will be writing about these and more in more detail. Both Microsoft and VMware have added support for UEFI boot systems; VMware is offering a better graphical experience in your virtual machines that now support Aero graphic capabilities in Windows 7; Microsoft’s RemoteFX is going to be huge… but there isn’t much I am currently allowed to say about it, except for the fact that you are going to like your VDI experience going forward with Windows Server 8!

There is a lot more to say, but I do not want to flirt with my NDA. If you are an IT Pro it is time for you to download the bits for Windows 8 beta, install it, play with it, and get used to it. You are going to noticed a huge difference over 2008, and if you don’t fall in love with it, I will give you a money-back guarantee (yes, the beta is free).

The future of Windows Server Virtualization is BRIGHT… and for the proponents of VMware who feel that nobody will ever touch them, I look forward to seeing the two sides push each other to make the experience better and more powerful, because that way it is the IT shops – the administrators, the IT Pros – who really win!

Filed under Hyper-V, Virtualization, VMware, Windows 8, Windows Server 8

The Great Debate: Virtualization Experts Butt Heads

March 8, 2012 Leave a comment

On March 5th ZDNet hosted an on-line debate between two industry experts on server virtualization (http://www.zdnet.com/debate/hyper-v-or-vmware/6348000). Jason Perlow (cleanly on the Hyper-V side) and Ken Hess (squarely and religiously in the VMware corner) are both recognized industry experts for whom I have a great deal of respect.  I did not watch the debate live, but I have read the transcript (available at the link listed) and am surprised by a few of the responses, which I would like to address here.

While most of you know, I would like to clarify my position for the sake of transparency: While I am certified in both Hyper-V and VMware technologies, my bread and butter is Microsoft; I have lived in that space for most of my career, and am a Virtual Partner Technology Advisor (Core I/O) with Microsoft Canada.  With that being said, all of my virtualization certifications are up to date (MCITP: Virtualization Administrator 2008 R2, VMware Certified Professional 5) on both technologies. 

I do not have a bad word to say about vSphere 5.  VMware has another winning technology on their hands in my opinion.  Where I feel they have fallen short is in their pricing model.  As Hyper-V Server and the System Center suite keep closing the gap technologically, I would have expected VMware to take the threat seriously, sharpen their pencils, and lower the costs of licensing (and supporting) their solutions.  Instead in July they announced their new Memory Allocation pricing model, which is costing companies more and not less without deploying any new solutions.  A colleague was telling me recently that their customer had been advised by VMware (not by a Partner, but by VMware proper) to build servers with more and more memory, and to build their VM environment based on that model because of course the CPUs were the only cost.  Three months later the new pricing model was announced, and their licensing jumped from $18,000 per year to $96,000.  It is stories like these that are making many VMware shops reevaluate their positions, and start to consider Hyper-V as a real alternative.

Having read the debate transcript through and through a number of times, as well as the comments, My position on one thing has been reaffirmed: Having the debate with proponents of VMware is akin to trying to debate religion with a zealot.  I have the greatest respect for Ken, who has proven himself a superior IT professional.  However many of his arguments are telling that he is so vehemently pro-VMware that he has not bothered to do his homework on Microsoft, and does not seem to have done his homework for this debate.  To wit:

“Microsoft has a chance to claim a small percentage of the market’s growth over the next few years but will never encroach on VMware’s pole position.”

It sounds to me like Ken is drinking the VMware Kool-Aid… “We are the best, always will be, and nobody could ever catch us.” Oh Hare, I would like to introduce you to the turtle.

“Microsoft’s Hyper-V is basically an attempt to enter a committed market.”

I am sure that Microsoft hopes that VMware continues to think this way… if they continue to jack up their prices as if their customers just don’t have a choice, they will eventually realize that customers (and yes Ken, even the CxOs who make the decision and measure potential downtime in the cost of a product) that Hyper-V is as good as we have been saying, and that they are already paying for it with their license for Windows Server… and most of these companies also have System Center running, so why wouldn’t they look at a more cost-effective solution to do the same thing?

“if you’re a Microsoft fan, you have to admit that you’ll probably wait until the Windows Server 8 R2 version and a couple of service packs before you take the plunge for anything production-oriented. If you don’t, then you haven’t learned any lessons in the past two decades.”

While I understand that older versions of the operating system did release with some bugs (notice vSphere U1, U2) the legacy mindset that you still have to wait until R2 SP1 is just folly.  Windows Server 2008 was as solid as any OS on the market, and the services packs and R2 releases have just made t better.  If VMware is banking on people holding out for another eighteen months after RTM of Windows Server 8 then I would remind them that hey… even if that were true (it isn’t) Server 2008 R2 SP1 is out now, and has been for a year – and is considered the most stable operating system on the planet.  If people are not going to Server 8 then watch out for the ones who VMware is angering with their Memory Tax who will go to that platform.

“I know that Microsoft touts their new Hyper-V as a "free" solution but it isn’t free. You still have to buy the license for the base operating system from Microsoft.”

Aside from the fact that VMware shops that use Windows Server in their environments also have to buy the license for the base operating system, I would point out (as Jason did) that Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 is a free platform (equivalent to ESXi) that does more for free… For the features that VMware touts as necessary (vMotion, High Availability, monitoring, DRS, DPM) you have to buy the appropriate license of vCenter Server, PLUS the vMotion (etc…) licenses per ESXi host.  All of those are available for free with Hyper-V Server (Live Migration, Failover Clustering, monitoring, CPU Core Parking).

(In response to the question: How easy is it to migrate from a Vmware infrastructure to a Hyper-V infrastructure? “I’ve never done it nor do I know anyone who has. My guess is that currently, you’d have to reconstruct all of your virtual machines in Hyper-V. “

Here’s why you should never come to a debate unprepared.  System Center Virtual Machine Manager (current version as well as the soon to be released VMM 2012) has the ability to easily and seamlessly manage ESX and ESXi hosts through vCenter Server allowing a company who wishes to begin the migration process to do so without ripping and replacing existing infrastructure, and without having to manage and monitor two separate environments during the transition (which can take several years if necessary).  While the old VMware hosts are retired, rather than purchasing licenses for new servers they can deploy new Hyper-V Servers, and the heterogeneous environment can be fully managed from the single VMM console. 

While VMM does offer the option to perform V2V (virtual to virtual) conversions and migrations from VMware to Hyper-V seamlessly and easily (and without standalone tools, as is required in vCenter Server), it is not necessary to do so – you can use the single console to manage your complete environment until all of your ESX hosts are retired.

“from a hardware point-of-view, you’ll probably have to upgrade your hardware to run Hyper-V. Yes, even Server Core. Think of the Celsius to Fahrenheit temperature conversion formula when you think of converting from VMware to Hyper-V; double your current hardware requirements and add 32.”

Ken is sure that to migrate a host from ESXi to Hyper-V you would have to upgrade the hardware, and in most cases that is simply not true – the Hyper-V hypervisor may use slightly more resources than ESXi, but not nearly enough to require new hardware.  In fact, one of the advantages of Hyper-V is that it is based on the Windows kernel… in other words, if your hardware works with Windows, it will almost certainly support Hyper-V.  For datacentre admins that may not be a big issue – like most IT Pros I am a huge proponent of deploying server-grade hardware that is tested and approved… but how does a novice get started out learning Hyper-V? They install it on a workstation or a laptop, play with it, break it, and fix it.  VMware simply does not allow you to do this, and novices – even seasoned IT Pros who want to learn the product – have a great deal of trouble starting out.

I have been saying for years that IT should not be a religion… it should be about using the best tool for the job, and that means being willing to listen to alternatives and keeping an open mind that sometimes the solution you have been using for years may no longer be the smartest one.  That is why I bought a Macbook Pro a couple of years ago… it is why I learned Active Directory when Novell Netware was still the world leader… and it is why I started learning Hyper-V, after so many years working with VMware.  Don’t get me wrong… For three years after I started playing with Active Directory I still ran both AD and Netware… and to this day I am still consulting on and teaching both vCenter and Hyper-V (as well as maintaining my certifications).  The world changes – now people can get fired for buying IBM… I no longer adore my 64, and Hyper-V is a player in the Server Virtualization market… if you don’t believe me, check out the Gartner Magic Quadrant.  Those who embrace it will be well equipped to give their customers the proper balanced advice.  Those who deny it will be like all of my friends who collected CNE (Certified Novell Engineer) ribbons because Windows networking would never take off.

Filed under ESXi, Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, Virtualization, VMware

Ottawa & the NCR… Let’s Get Virtual!

February 11, 2012 4 Comments

If you are an IT Pro in the National Capital Reason, we have an event for you!  On Friday, February 17th and again on Saturday, February 18th Microsoft Canada’s Evangelism team is bringing the IT Virtualization Boot Camp to you!

Damir Bersenic and I will be hosting the event, for two days of geeking out… we will be building a virtualization environment from scratch, including full failover and Live Migration capabilities, and all in one day!

The format is fun and exciting, with teams of four participants competing for cash prizes!  The cost is $25, all of which goes directly to your local user group which, in turn, helps you!

For more information and to register visit the Canadian IT Pro Connection at http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2012/02/06/hands-on-with-private-cloud-technology-it-virtualization-boot-camp-dates-for-ottawa-amp-calgary.aspx.  I look forward to seeing you in Ottawa in February!

Filed under Hyper-V, Microsoft Canada, Microsoft Virtualization, Virtualization

CanIT! (Pro)

January 30, 2012 Leave a comment

For years I have followed, worked with, and looked to the IT Evangelism team at Microsoft Canada for guidance and direction.  My first encounter with them probably dates back to 2003 (before there was an actual team), but I really started to get to know them in 2005.  When Rick Claus came to speak to the GUMSNET user group about virtualization in November, 2004 I saw him behind the podium at Microsoft Canada as a behemoth (and he is not nearly tall enough to be that), and as I got to know the other members of the team – past, present, and future – I always admired the passion they had for what they discussed, along with (obviously) a deep knowledge of the technologies they discussed.

Last week Rick Claus, the ‘Team Elder’ as it were, announced that he has moved on.  He is still an IT Evangelist for Microsoft, but he has moved down to Redmond and is now working for Corp.  I wish him well, and know that while we will miss him in Canada he will be a great addition to the team in Redmond.

Meanwhile back in Canada I am currently doing a lot of work with the Evangelism team on their Virtualization Boot Camp tour, and was thrilled that Damir asked to re-post two of my articles from this site there.  They are:

What’s a Layer 1 or Layer 2 Hypervisor and Where Does Hyper-V Fit in?

and

Virtualization Infrastructure: Which platform is right for you?

I am currently in the process of writing another article which I hope to cross-post shortly.  Keep your eyes peeled to both these sites for great information that will help you grow as an IT Professional!  Also watch both sites for news about other cities where the Virtualization Boot Camp will be showing up… they are a great opportunity for you to learn virtualization, win cash prizes, and support your local user group community!

Filed under IT Pro, Microsoft Canada, Microsoft Virtualization, Virtualization

Hey Vancouver IT Pros!

January 26, 2012 Leave a comment

If you are an IT Pro in Vancouver, we have an event for you!  On Friday, February 10th and again on Saturday, February 11th Microsoft Canada’s Evangelism team is bringing the IT Virtualization Boot Camp to you!

Damir Bersenic will be hosting the event, and I will be his trusty sidekick for two days of geeking out… we will be building a virtualization environment from scratch, including full failover and Live Migration capabilities, and all in one day!

The format is fun and exciting, with teams of four participants competing for cash prizes!  The cost is $25, all of which goes directly to your local user group which, in turn, helps you!

For more information and to register visit the Canadian IT Pro Connection at http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2012/01/26/hey-vancouver-it-pros-it-virtualization-boot-camps-are-coming-to-your-city-feb-10-amp-11.aspx.  I look forward to seeing you in Vancouver in February!

Filed under Boot Camp, Hyper-V, Microsoft Canada, Virtualization

Another Full House at the Microsoft Canada Virtualization Boot Camp Challenge!

January 23, 2012 2 Comments

A real full house with Ruth tweeting in the back!

Damir Bersenic is rocking the house at the second Virtualization Boot Camp Challenge…

Filed under Microsoft Canada, Microsoft Virtualization, Virtualization

Virtualization Lessons–Both Positive and Negative!

January 21, 2012 Leave a comment

As I sit in the back of the room for Microsoft Canada’s Virtualization Boot Camp Challenge today I see that the lab environments that we are providing to the attendees actually mimics the setup I use for my Virtual Partner Technology Advisor (vPTA) sessions.  As such, I am seeing a lot of potential for attendees to learn a lot of great technologies, but there are a few lessons that they should know.  I outlined these in an article last year called ‘vPTA: What NOT to take away from my 1-day virtualization training.’  I will urge all of the attendees (as well as all of you!) to click on the link and read the article. While a lot of the practices we use are fine for a test/lab environment, you should be aware of them before you try to implement them in your production environment!

I have written a bunch of other articles that are pertinent to the discussion… here are just some of those links:

How to get a head start on the NEW Management and Virtualization Competency

Layer 1 or Layer 2 Hypervisor? A common misconception of Hyper-V, and a brief explanation of the Parent Partition

Virtualization Infrastructure: Which platform is right for you?

Microsoft Virtualization Learning Resources

Hyper-V Training – 10215AE is now available in E-Learning!

Real Help in A Virtual World

Busting the Myth: You cannot cluster Windows Small Business Server

A follow-up to my article on configuring iSCSI initiator in Server Core & Hyper-V Server

A brief response to the vSphere 5 vs. Hyper-V question…

Gartner agrees with me… Hyper-V is for real!

Do you have your Virtcerts?

MCITP: Virtualization Administrator 2008 R2 (and other R2 Virt Certs)

Filed under Microsoft Canada, Microsoft Virtualization, Virtualization Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Advances in Technology: It is vital to stay current, even when remembering the past.

January 20, 2012 3 Comments

I guess I am on another one of these kicks… traveling back down memory lane.  I dug up this article from the archives, and I remember sitting down to write it the first time I ever checked into a hotel in Redmond, Washington.  What is more fun about this article is that it took me down memory lane back in 2006, and then discusses (briefly) my first forays into Server Virtualization, a technology that I could not have known then would not only change the industry, but my life and career.  I made a few minor corrections for style and grammar, but the message is intact, down to the invitation to my first ever User Group presentation on Virtualization!  I hope you enjoy it too.

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As I settled into my hotel last night I could not help but think back on my travel experiences of the past few years, especially as pertains to Information Technology.

I have done a bit of traveling since I moved to Montreal (nearly ten years ago!).  The first thing that I notice is the power of the computers.  I remember the Gateway 80486/66 laptop that I brought with me in 1996 which, at the time, I thought was quite powerful.  Although I had eventually upgraded it to Windows 95, when I bought it second-hand it came equipped with Windows 3.1, and when I wanted to get onto the Internet I had to either wait a week for my ISP (Actcom) to mail me three floppy disks to configure TCP/IP with Trumpet Winsock, or I could connect to their server (with a 33,600bps modem) and download the three disks.  Of course I had to wait for them to send me the disks with Mosaic before I could surf the net.  In the interim I sufficed with chatting… which consisted of using Internet Relay Chat (IRC) in a text window.

So let’s review… in 1996 it took about six hours of downloading and then a week of waiting before I could actually connect to the Internet, for about the equivalent of $40 per month.  Because of the local phone company rules it cost me about five cents per minute to stay connected.  If I left the city in which I lived and wanted to connect it would cost me long distance charges… plus the nickel per minute.  This was all for the privilege of connecting at 33,600bps.

Last night I checked into my hotel after a long flight.  I was in a city I had never been to (Redmond, WA) in a state I was last in when I was a teenager.  I was tired and jet-lagged, and anticipated the backlog of new e-mails that awaited me since my layover in Toronto (there were 27).  I got into my hotel room, opened my computer into Windows Vista, and within about a minute I was connected to the net at speeds that could not be achieved in 1996 if we connected two computers to each other via a cable.  Without any configuration (save for the Marriott home page asking if I wanted a firewalled or non-firewalled link) I was on-line, and my e-mails were happily downloading.

As IT Professionals it is our job to stay up to date with the newest technologies.  It is not sufficient for us to be working on five year old technology when we are trying to service our clients and their needs.  It is not good enough for us to read up on a technology in order to sell it and maintain it, it is vital that we use it on a day-to-day basis so that we can get to know the ins and outs of them.  That goes equally for desktop operating systems and servers.

Of course we cannot all afford the latest technology, and running multiple servers to run each version of Server would take up too much space.  That is why I am proud to be presenting Virtual Server 2005 R2 at our meeting on April 20th.  I will go through the steps to plan and configure it not only for production environments, but for your test labs too.  Come on down, meet your peers, have a doughnut, and learn what’s new in virtual technology.  You’ll be glad you did!

See you in April!

Filed under archive, IT Pro, Virtualization

IT Virtualization Boot Camp

January 20, 2012 2 Comments

Hey folks!  The IT Professionals Community of Greater Toronto and Microsoft Canada are getting together to bring you this amazing opportunity!  This Saturday (January 21st) and next Monday (January 23rd) we are doing a full-day Virtualization Boot Camp!  The cost is only $25, with Damir Bersenic (Senior IT Pro Advisor, Microsoft Canada) leading the way with a lot of input and guidance from yours truly.  It is really an event that you should NOT miss… come learn how to make Hyper-V work for you, along with all of the components of Windows 2008 R2 and the System Center family!  Don’t miss it… sign up today, and come say hi to me when you are there! -M

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Want to get hands-on with Microsoft’s Virtualization technologies including Hyper-V?  Interested in configuring a highly-available virtualization infrastructure?  Have you wondered how to configure and use an iSCSI-based storage server?  Curious how Windows Failover Clustering can help you get a good night’s sleep?  If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you need to be at the IT Virtualization Boot Camp.

The IT Virtualization Boot Camp provides a fun and collaborative environment where you will get hands-on experience to:

  • Prepare your Windows Server-based computers for virtualization
  • Configure iSCSI storage targets
  • Create Windows Failover Clusters
  • Make virtual machines highly available with Hyper-V and enable Live Migration to hot-migrate running workloads between hosts with no loss in client connectivity
  • Integrate non-Microsoft virtual machines into your cluster
  • See how Windows Failover Clustering can help to make dealing with hardware failure easier

When: Saturday January 21, 2012 http://itvbc20120121.eventbrite.ca

Monday January 23, 2012.  http://itvbc20120123.eventbrite.ca

Session starts at 10am and ends at 4pm.

Registration and snacks begin at 9:30am.  Lunch will be provided.

Where: Microsoft Canada, 1950 Meadowvale Blvd, Mississauga, ON

Please park in the event parking lot and enter through the Event entrance.

Cost:                $25. Proceeds from this event will help benefit your user group.

Filed under IT Pro, IT Pro Toronto, Microsoft Canada, Microsoft Virtualization, Virtualization

How to get a head start on the NEW Management and Virtualization Competency

January 6, 2012 1 Comment

Normally when I find an interesting and relevant article I will retweet it or possibly post a link to it here.  However since so many of my Microsoft Partners and students have either achieved or are striving to achieve the MPN Virtualization Competency, I asked Eric Ligman for permission to re-publish his very clear article here, in its entirety.  Thanks Eric! –Mitch

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By Eric Ligman, Microsoft

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As you may have heard, in May 2012, we will be combining two of the existing Microsoft Partner Network competencies (Systems Management and Virtualization) into a new unified competency (Management and Virtualization). As a Microsoft partner, these two areas are huge business opportunities and now you have the chance to get ahead of the game by moving into the new Management and Virtualization competency before we bring it to market in May 2012. That’s right! You don’t need to wait until May to work towards achieving the new Management and Virtualization competency and below I’ll show you how you can get started right now.

Why should you get into the Management and Virtualization competency? Well, outside of the big business opportunity that Systems Management and Virtualization offer, here are just some of the additional advantages:

  • Attaining the Management and Virtualization competency gives you the opportunity to differentiate your business by delivering a new breed of Private Cloud, Management and Virtualization solutions
  • Get access to relevant updates,resources, tools, and training for Microsoft management and virtualization technologies
  • Attaining a gold Management and Virtualization competency qualifies you to earn substantial channel benefits through programs like the Management and Virtualization Solution Incentive Program (SIP) and the Private Cloud, Management and Virtualization Deployment Planning Services (PVDPS)

So can you qualify for the new Management and Virtualization competency? Let me show you:

Are you a partner with an existing Systems Management competency or Virtualization competency?

If so, then I have some good news for you. After the merge of the two existing competencies and launch of the new Management and Virtualization competency (scheduled for May 2012), all active Systems Management and/or Virtualization competency partners will automatically get transferred into the new competency. So if you already have one of those competencies and it is active after the merge in May 2012, your path is pretty simple, you’re in. Smile One thing to note, when you come up for renewal of your competency after May 2012, you will have to meet the new competency requirements to renew into the Management and Virtualization competency.

After May 2012, if you want to obtain the new Management and Virtualization competency:

Here are the requirements for both the silver and gold competencies (these also apply to any partner looking to renew their competency after the merge):

Silver Competency Gold Competency

Certification Requirements
One person has passed one of these exams:

  • Exam 70-400: TS: SC Operations Manager 2007,Configuring
  • Exam 70-401: TS: SC Configuration Manager 2007,Configuring
  • Exam 70-658: TS: SC Data Protection Manager 2007, Configuring.

AND

One person has passed one of these exams:

  • Exam 70-659: TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization
  • Exam 70-669: TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Desktop Virtualization.

Certification Requirements
Four unique persons have each passed the following exams:

  • Exam 70-693: Pro: Windows Server 2008 R2,
    Virtualization Administrator

AND

  • Exam 70-400: TS: SC Operations Manager 2007, Configuring OR Exam 70-401: TS: SC Configuration Manager 2007, Configuring

AND

  • Exam 70-659: TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization OR Exam 70-669: TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Desktop Virtualization.

Business Assessments

  • Licensing: One person has passed the Microsoft licensing overview assessment.
  • Sales: One person has passed the Microsoft Sales Specialist Management and Virtualization assessment.

Business Assessments

  • Licensing: One person has passed the Microsoft licensing overview assessment.
  • Sales: Two persons have passed the Microsoft Sales Specialist Management and Virtualization assessment.

Customer Evidence Requirements

  • Submit three customer references that showcase design and implementation of a solution using System Center and Virtualization

Customer Evidence Requirements

  • Submit five customer references that showcase design and implementation of a solution using System Center and Virtualization
  • Each reference must feature a project that your organization has completed within the past 12 months and will be verified with your customer

Partners who do NOT have a Systems Management or Virtualization competency today but want to get the new Management and Virtualization competency:

Good news for you! You do not have to wait to get the new competency because all partners have the unique opportunity to meet these requirements for either the silver or gold competency and then contact their local Regional Service Center. The Regional Service Center will confirm your credentials and place you into either the Systems Management or Virtualization competency. Then, when the new requirements go into effect, you will automatically transition into the new Management and Virtualization competency.

We have a document posted on the Microsoft Partner Network portal that you can download and has full details around the new merged competency, the requirements, the migration paths, and more, so you might want to grab that to look through as well.

Did you find this information helpful? If so, you may want to make sure you are utilizing all of the areas I share information online, such as: my Facebook page, my Twitter account, my Linkedin account, and my blog. Plus, you can now get all of the latest Microsoft Partner Information right on your phone!

Filed under Microsoft Partner Network, Microsoft Virtualization, Partner Training, System Center, Virtualization

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