VM /ETC

Archive for the ‘MS VMM’ Category

Edwin Yuen, Microsoft Virtualization Team Senior Technical Product Manager, has introduced Hyper-V’s latest feature closely emulating VMware’s virtual infrastructure enterprise product offerings. Quick Storage Migration (QSM) is being added to System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2008 R2. SCVMM 2008 R2 Release Canidate was recently released to the public. Hyper-V’s final release was integrated in Windows Server 2008 SP2.

Quoting Yuen’s post on the Microsoft Virtualization Team Blog titled System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 – Quick Storage Migration, here are some high level notes about QSM:

• QSM enables the migration of a VM not only between storage locations but also from one SAN to another
• QSM relies on Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)
• QSM can move the virtual disks of a running virtual machine independent of storage protocols (iSCSI, FC) or storage type (local, DAS, SAN), with minimal downtime
• QSM will not be available on the free Hyper-V Server 2008 version and requires Microsoft’s Virtual Machine Manager (VMM)
• Quick Storage Migration is included with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 both in the Enterprise Edition and the Workgroup Edition
• A VM can remain running for the almost the entire duration of the transfer of its virtual disks from one storage location to another. The post estimates the VM downtime to be under 1 minute in most cases assuming W2K8 R2.
• The VM is put into save-state (Hyper-V snapshot) for a brief interval to migrate its memory state and associated differencing disks.

Yuen’s post provides a feature comparison table of QSM versus VMware’s Storage Vmotion. The following is a screen shot of the table. Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft has announced two new training and certification programs that align with their new virtualization products. In the news release Climbing the Ladder of Success with Microsoft Certification: New training and certification programs help IT professionals develop mastery of Microsoft technologies, Microsoft hints at the availability of the new certifications.

“… Jim Clark, senior product planner, and Per Farny, director of advanced training and certification, will be at Microsoft Tech-Ed 2008 in Orlando, Fla., this week to unveil two new training and certification programs from Microsoft Learning. Scheduled to begin later this year, the programs are designed to prime the pipeline of skilled workers and help companies maximize their technology investments.”

A general outline of how the curriculum will be be delivered is also discussed.

“The virtualization training will be delivered in a variety of virtual, distance learning, and instructor-led options that focus on the fundamentals of virtualization, the underlying principles of virtualization architecture and the specifics of Microsoft’s technology.”

In this same release Microsoft also announced Read the rest of this entry »

The Offline Virtual Machine Serving Tool appears to be Microsoft’s equivalent to VMware’s Update Manger for ESX – in some capacity. The Solution Accelerator tool schedules and automates updates of virtual machines that are not normally powered on in your virtual infrastructure. The tool powers up the VMs allowing them to receive updates such as antivirus definitions, security updates and patches. Unlike ESX 3.5′s Update Manager, the tool only manages the offline VM updates. Server 2008, Hyper-V, and running VM updates will be handled via WSUS and normal Windows Update processes.

The Executive Overview page provides some more information: Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft:

Server 2008 looks promising for virtualization. Comes in a command line only desktop ideal for VI – can be managed remotely via Virtual Machine Manager

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 is the MS version of Vc2 and more:

• Can consolidate physical servers to VMs (P2V) and import other VMs (V2V)
  • uses VSS to create new VM without interrupting source server – nice! ( I have done this on occasion manually)
  • can convert VMware VMs
• Intelligent workload placement
  • MS calls feature “Intelligent Placement” – imagine that!
  • analyzes both VM and host workload along with business rules to determine placement
• Rapid deployment and migration of VMs
  • can deploy and manage multiple VMs across multiple hosts
• Central library
  • vm disks
  • iso files
  • templates
• Reports and performance monitoring
  • use SQL server and SQL Reporting Services