Lightning Fast Fixed VHDX File Creation Speed With ReFS on Windows Server 2016

Posted on August 27, 2015 by workinghardinit

In this blog post we’re going to take a quick look at the lightning fast fixed VHDX file creation speed with ReFS on Windows Server 2016. We’ll compare it to creating fixed VHDX files On NTFS with a SAN that supports ODX. Both the NTFS and the CSV volume are CSV disk in a Hyper-V cluster and the test is run on the same node. The ODX cabale SAN is a Dell Compellent with Storage Center 6.5.20.

We create on a selection of fixed VHDX files sizes (50GB, 100GB, 500GB and 1TB) on NTFS volume Windows Server 2016 host You can see the quite excellent results in file creation speeds with ODX.

These results are very good (DELL Compellent always did a great job implementing ODX) and the time to create a 1TB fixed VHDX is just over 5 seconds consistently. Impressive by any standard I would say! When we start using CSVs we can see that times double for the larger VHDX sizes but still +/- 12seconds for a 1TB disk is impressive by any standard. There is little difference whether the node where the script runs owns the CSV or not.

Can things be more impressive? Let’s do the same exercise on a ReFS volume on a Windows Server 2016 host. Same server, same SAN with ODX enabled but note that ReFS does not even support ODX, so it cannot be leveraged.

No matter what the file size of our fixed VHDX files they are created in just over 1 second consistently. This is very impressive.

When we use a CVS LUN we still see the same impressive results. On CSV LUNS not owned by the node where we execute the test script we see a creation time of 2 seconds for VHDX sizes of 1TB. Still lightning fast.

If you do not have a SAN that supports ODX you can see why ReFS might become a very attractive choice for the file system for your Hyper-V virtual machine data volumes in Windows Server 2016. I can see why they mentioned it as the preferred option for Storage Spaces Direct. Do note that ReFS does not support deduplication and/or UNMAP (I see no dedupe support yet for virtual server workloads on the horizon either yet?). If you move large amounts of data around ODX does provide significant assistance with this. So with ReFS go for a large SSD tier. Flash only without deduplication or erasure coding might be cost prohibitive I’m afraid.

But let this not put you off ReFS. It has many benefits in combination with storage spaces and these new VHDX operation capabilities just add to that. So for many environments with commodity based storage this has become an even more interesting choice.

The Hitch Hikers Guide to Hyper-V Administration: Don’t Panic

Posted on August 24, 2015 by workinghardinit

Not all information you might see or is presented to you is valid. You need to check, that’s the prime reason we have the “trust but verify” mantra in IT. If you don’t you might start trouble shooting a ghost issue. An example of this are GUI issues, such as when you leave the Hyper-V Manager GUI open for way to long and the information goes stale in the cache.

The below screen shot is what caused some diligent admins to start trouble shooting a non existent problem. The figured that the VMs were left in a locked state due to backups failing. But hey, all backups had run and succeeded?! So they searched and found KB article 2964439 Hyper-V virtual machine backup leaves the VM in a locked state. When they wanted to install the hotfix it failed stating it was not applicable to their system.

At that moment they considered killing the VMMS.exe service and/or failing over the nodes. While preparing for that they’d logged in to all nodes, only to see the issue not present there. That made ‘m think and step back for a while.

In this case it’s just a quirk with the Hyper-V manager that is left open way to long. Right click the host and refresh or close the GUI and reopen it is all that’s needed to see the real information.

So slow down before you start trouble shooting & recovering form a “ghost” problem. It may cause real issues. The lesson here is you should not go into the “Action Jackson” mode. You can move swift and efficient but the ability to execute does not constitute just speed it doing what’s needed when and when needed. Here ends the lesson Smile

Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview Version 3 Cluster Upgrades

Posted on August 20, 2015 by workinghardinit

I was eagerly awaiting the release of Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 for further experimenting and testing and August 19th 2015was the big day with a truck load of announcements and press releases including the arrival of TPv3 which also made containers publicly available for testing to all of us.

After a swift download II set out upgrading the labs, both PC hardware based and enterprise grade server hardware. I always test out the less wise things as well just to kick the tires and test behavior left and right.

As always I tested some in place upgrades just to see how well that goes before doing clean installs . Not recommend in production but hey,Testing is good. At first all networking seem to be OK but it wasn’t. So I ended up with doing clean installs which are advisable, even more so with non production versions of the OS. The product is not finished yet! This is also the supported way of doing a new cluster build. The end result is a lab at home on PC hardware and an enterprise grade lab to work with in the datacenter. Busy times ahead.

For help on what’s new in this build go here What’s New in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 and good luck on your Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview Version 3 cluster upgrades!

Happy testing!

Find and Update Your KMS Service Host Key To Activate Windows 10

Posted on August 12, 2015 by workinghardinit

I have done a series of blog post on preparing your KMS environment for Windows 10 activation. You should be set to go but the final step you need to take is update the KMS Service Host Key. That means that in a corporate environment you’ll need to get your KMS Service updated so you can active the Windows 10 clients.

This one has tripped up some people when it comes to finding it. So we’ll address that here is as well.

Please note that only Windows Server 2012 (R2) or Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 can act as KMS Service Hosts.

Preparations

On the Volume License Servicing Center you cannot only get the bits but also the MAK and KMS keys. Normally you’d go directly to Downloads and Keys, filter down to what you’re looking for and find your KMS host key over there.That works for the Windows clients as before. But you cannot find and updated KMS Service key right now for Windows Server, that will probably work again when Windows Server 2016 goes RTM.

But for now you need to get the key by using a bit of a different path than you’re used to. Got to Licenses and select Relationship Summary

Navigate to the correct license id and click it to open the details of your license. There you select Product Keys

In the list of keys under that license you’ll find the KMS keey you need under product key for the product Windows Srv 2012R2 DataCtr/Std KMS for Windows 10

The Windows 10 KMS client keys are listed publicly by Microsoft. They are the keys of clients that activate against a KMS server. If you have you volume licensing media that’s normally the one in box with the client. You can read more in my blog Windows 10 KMS Client Setup Keys. If you don’t want or cannot use a KM you’ll need to use MAK keys on the clients. These are found on the Volume License Servicing Center as well when you have a valid license.

You also need to have installed an update on your KMS Service hosts. You can read all about that in my blog post KB3058168: Update that enables Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 KMS hosts to activate Windows 10 If you don’t install this update registering a Windows 10 KMS key will throw an error:

0xc004f015: The Software Licensing Service reported that the license is not installed.
SL_E_PRODUCT_SKU_NOT_INSTALLED

So grab the hotfix if it isn’t installed via Windows Update, WSUS etc. and install it from an elevated command prompt. Just follow the instructions and you’ll be fine Smile

Upgrading the KMS Service Host Key

It goes without saying that we’ll need to update the KMS Service Host key or we’ll see error 0xC004F015:

0xc004f042 – SL_E_VL_KEY_MANAGEMENT_SERVICE_ID_MISMATCH
he Software Licensing Service determined that the specified Key Management Service (KMS) cannot be used.

This is also described in KB 3086418 Error 0xC004F015 while activating Windows 10 Enterprise using Windows Server 2012 R2 KMS Host

We take a look at our current situation by running slmgr.vbs /dlv which show us a Wk212R2 KMS Service host which can activate all servers & clients up to Windows 8.1/ Windows Server 2012 R2.

Uninstall the current please use an elevated command prompt Winking smile

Now you can install the new Windows Srv 2012R2 DataCtr/Std KMS for Windows 10 key. If you run in to any issues here, restarting the KMS Service can help ((“net stop sppsvc” and “net start sppsvc“) . Try that first.

slmgr.vbs /ipk PIRAT-ESARE-NOTGE-TTING-AKEY!

Be patient, it’s not instantaneous.

Fall you wannabe pirates out there, that’s not a real key. As far as you are concerned this is the Navy Winking smile . If you’re, looking for illegal keys, cracks, keygens, activators or dodgy KMS virtual machines and such this is not the place!

Show what’s up and running now by running slmgr.vbs /dlv again and as you can see we’re in business to activate all our Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 10 machines as well as all lower versions down to Windows Server 2008 an Windows Vista.

So we’re ready to roll out Windows 10 now via MDT and have our KMS server activate them.

Working Hard In IT

My view on IT from the trenches

Category Archives: IT Pro