Category Archives: Hyper-V

Altaro Hyper-V Backup 3.5 Supports Windows 2012

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Altaro is one of the first backup vendors to support Windows Server 2012 with release of Hyper-V Backup v3.5. It has few that can match that speed to market and then we’re talking the likes of CommVault who Altaro can teach some lessons left and right (I should know, I’m a long time CommVault customer and whilst a great product they should really address some issues, hire a GUI developer is one, get decent information and accessible support is another, we won’t even mention pricing Winking smile).

With Altaro Hyper-V Backup v3.5. we get full support Windows Server 2012. That is CSV 2.0, VSS backups of SMB 3.0  etc. As an early adaptor I can appreciate the speed and time to market of a backup product. I do not like 3rd party vendors keeping me back of getting the most of Volume License software assurance so these things matter to me when selecting products.

Check out htttp://www.altaro.com/hyper-v-backup/ for more information. Some of their customers are enough to make you look at their solution. At least it made me do so => Harvard University, Max-Planck Institute, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Princeton University, US Geological Survey, … etc. (I’m a scientist by training so yes these customers appeal to me Smile) .

Disclaimer: No I did not ever accept any offer for sponsorship from any vendor, even if asked, just because I wanted to make sure you know who’s story I’m telling.

Windows Server 2012 Is Launched

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It’s 17:00 hours here in Belgium (GMT+1, summer time) and Windows Server 2012 has been officially launched today world wide! The world wide launch event can be followed on line here so join in.

This is huge. Anyone who has been watching the virtualization & private cloud area of endeavor knows what this release means. I’m an early adopter and spent the day bringing another 2 Hyper-V cluster on line for our transition to Windows Server 2012 (UEFI boot).

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We are running it it production with great success.

This version is a game changer and it means a lot to us all en our customers. This is a very capable Operating System that puts to rest any doubts whether Windows will work in any environment imaginable. Sure, the competition will mark it as insignificant but that’s FUD. From this year on with Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V the tables have turned. As of this year vLimited is stopped in it’s tracks, this is the year where they will loose ground and Hyper-V will lead. If nothing else customers tied in to them will benefit from this competition, but I hope they do more than just that Winking smile

Get ready for your future and invest in skills and knowledge. Start your learning journey here with events the Belgian community is contributing towards.It’s impressive what the community does to share knowledge and I’m proud to be part of that. I’m also honored to have had to opportunity to talk to so many Microsoft employees at many occasions, including the MVP Summit.

Intel X520 Series NIC on Windows 2012 With Hyper-V Enabled Port Flapping Issue

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When you install Windows Server 2012 RTM to a server with X520 series NIC cards you’ll notice that there is a native driver available and the performance of that driver is fantastic. It’s really impressive to see.

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That’s great news but I’ve noticed an issue in RTM that I already dealt with in the release candidate.

The moment you install Hyper- V some of the X520 NIC ports can start flapping (connected/disconnected).  You’ll see the sequence below endlessly on one port, sometimes more.

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As you can imagine this ruins the party in Hyper-V networking an bit too much for comfort Confused smile But it can be fixed. The root cause for this I do not know but it is driver related. The same thing happened in the release candidate. But now things are easier to fix. Navigate to the Intel Site to download their freshly released driver for the X520 series on Windows Server 2012 and install it (you don’t need to install the extra software with Advanced Network Services => native Windows NIC teaming has arrived). After that the flapping will be gone.

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Hope this helps some folks out!

Windows Server 2012 Bits Available for Download for Volume Licensing Customers

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A long awaited day has arrived. The bits of Windows Server 2012 RTM are available to us. Ever since the BUILD conference in September 2011 a lot of us have been diving into this version with enthusiasm and amazement for what’s in the product. As a matter of fact I’ve “sold” projects based on Windows Server 2012 internally since October 2011 because we were that impressed with what we saw.

  • Grab the bits on the Microsoft Volume Licensing site (from August 16th onwards). I whish I could tell you it’s also on TechNet or MSDN but no joy there so far.

So we’ve been pouring over the product and the information available, gradually gaining a better understanding of what it can do for us and our businesses. That meant building labs, testing scenarios, presenting on the subject at various occasions.  There was also a lot of thinking, dreaming and discussing ideas and options about what we can do this version of Windows. It has been very busy for the past 11 months but I’m also very happy to have had the opportunity to attend several summits and conferences where I met up with colleague, fellow MVPs, MSFT employees who all shared the enthusiasm for this release and what it means for Hyper-V and the Private/Hybrid Cloud.

 

So to all of them, ladies & gentlemen, my on line community buddies form all over this planet, it’s been a blast Smile. They have been very helpful in all this as have been al the Microsoft employees who’ve answered and discussed all the questions/ideas we threw at them. I would like to thank all of them for their time, their patience and the opportunities given to us. I can offer those guys & galls just one reward: the fact that from day one we are taking this in production and gradually will do so for all our infrastructure systems and so on. It’s a no brainer when you’ve worked with the RC and seen what Windows Server 2012 can do. And no, I’m not forgetting Windows 8. SMB 3.0 & Direct Access and Windows to go alone make that a sweet proposition, but I got those bits already.

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Well, the downloads are running and the installation of our first production Hyper-V Cluster and infrastructure servers can start as soon as that’s finished (we’ll lead Brad, we’ll lead Winking smile). After some initial tests these will be taken into service and that last feedback will provide us with the go or no go for the rest of our infrastructure. The speed & completeness of our move depends partially on how fast System Center 2012 SP1 brings support for Windows Server 2012.

So future blog posts and my next presentations will spiced with some real life production experience with the RTM bits. May all your roll outs be smooth ones!