Hyper-V Amigos Showcast Episode 8: Storage Replica in a Stretched Cluster

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We finally go to make a next “Hyper-V Amigos Showcast”, due to very busy schedules we had to postpone this a couple of times. But we made it! In this Episode (the 8th one) Carsten and I show one application of a new great feature in Windows Server vNext: Storage Replication. This allows us to replicate a volume between two storage systems without caring what that storage system is as long a you have windows volumes on it. Replication can be synchronous or asynchronous and there are multiple scenarios in which to use this.

Here we focus on trying out replication between two clusters or in a stretched cluster scenario. I have already made a video demonstrating server to server replication. In this showcast we demonstrate  the Stretched Cluster scenario (and troubleshoot our own lab).

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More info is available here:

Enjoy and see you next time!

Azure Done Well Means Hybrid Done Right

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If you think that a hybrid cloud means you need to deploy SCVMM & WAP you’re wrong. It does mean that you need to make sure that you give yourself the best possible conditions to make your cloud a success and an asset in the biggest possible number of all scenarios that might apply or come up.

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Cool you say, I hear you, but what does that mean in real life? Well it means you should stop playing games and get serious. Which translates into the following.

Connectivity

A 200Mbps is the absolute minimum for the SMB market. You need at least that for Office 365 Suite, if you want happy customers that is. Scale based on the number of users and usage but remember you’ll pinch at least a 100Mbps of that for a VPN to Azure.

Get a VPN already!

Or better still, take the gloves off and go for Express Route. Extend your business network to your cloud and be done with all the hacks, workarounds, limitations, tedious & creative yet finicky "solutions" to get thing done. I guess it beats living with the limitations but it will only get you that far.

Any country or business that isn’t investing in FC to the home & cheap affordable data connectivity to the businesses is actively destroying long term opportunity for some dubious short term gain.

So without further ado, life is to short to do hybrid cloud without. It opens up great scenarios that will allow you to get all the comforts of on premise in your Azure data center such as …

Extend AD  & ADFS into Azure

Get that AD & ADFS into the cloud people! What? Yes, do it. That’s what that good solid VPN between Azure and on premises or better still, Express Route enables. Just turn it into just another site of your business.  But one with some fascinating capabilities. DirSync or better Azure Active Directory Sync will only get you that far and mostly in a SAAS(PAAS) ecosystem. Once you’ve done that the world is your oyster!

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Conclusion

So don’t be afraid. Just do it!  People I have my home lab and it’s AD connected to my azure cloud via VPN! That’s me the guy that works for his money and pays his own bills. So what are you as a business waiting for?

But wait Didier, isn’t AD going away, why would I not wait for the cloud to be 100% perfect for all I do? Well, just get started today and take it from there. You’ll enjoy the journey if you do it smart and right!

“Your cloud, your terms”. Well that’s true.  But that’s not a given, you’ll need to put in some effort. You have to determine what your terms are and what your cloud should look like. If you don’t you’ll end up in a bad state. If you have good IT staff, you should be OK. If they could handle your development environment & run your data center chances are good they’ll be able to handle “cloud”. Really.

Consultants? Sure, but get really good ones or you’ll get sold to. There’s a lot of churning and selling going on. Don’t get taken for a ride. I know a bunch of really good ones. How do I determine this? One rule … would I hire them Winking smile

Video Interview On Rolling Cluster Upgrades in Windows Server vNext

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Carsten Rachfahl from Rachfahl IT-Solutions (quite possibly  Germany’s leading Hyper-V, Storage Spaces & Private cloud consultancy) and I got together in Berlin last November at the Microsoft Technical Summit 2014. Between presenting (I delivered What’s new in Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2012 R2), workshops, interviews we found some time to do a video interview.

We discussed a very welcome new capability in Windows Server vNext: “Rolling cluster updates” or “Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade” in Windows Server Technical Preview as Microsoft calls it. I blogged about this rather soon after the release of the Technical Preview First experiences with a rolling cluster upgrade of a lab Hyper-V Cluster (Technical Preview).

Videointerview with Didier Van Hoye about Rolling Cluster Upgrade Thumb1

We’ve been able to do rolling updates of Windows NLB for a long time and we’ve been asking for that same capability in Windows Failover Clustering for many years and now, it’s finally coming! And yes, as you will notice we like that a lot!

You need to realize that making the transition form one version to another as smooth, easy and risk free as possible is of great value to the customer as it enables them to upgrade faster and get the benefits of their investment quicker. For Microsoft it means they can have more people move to more modern environments faster which helps with support and delivering value in a secure and modern environment.

At the end we also joke around a bit about DevOps and how this is just as set of training wheels on the road to true site resilience engineering. All fun and all good. Enjoy!

Microsoft Ignite calling Thinkers, Doers and Pioneers. Yes, that’s me within my ecosystem!

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I know that some people tend to see conferences as a waste of time and money. Going to the wrong conferences will do that yes. So is attending for the wrong reasons or in the wrong way.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. A conference is hard work, fun sure, but hard & lots of work. Don’t expect to go home with a custom magic strategy & implementation plan Winking smile for all your IT needs. Much has been written by many community buddies and myself  on this subject. Here’s a short reading list for you (and there a dozens more) on how to do it well.

But if you pick your conferences, make sure you plan and take the time to network and talk with industry experts, vendors, colleagues & fellow MVPs who you only get to sit down with at such events it can be a tremendously valuable experience. You network gain insights, get to pitch your ideas and views with some of the best and brightest … very stimulating and rewarding!

In my neck of the IT woods it’s a place I want to go an talk shop too the group of people mentioned above. Let me know if you’re attending, it’s always good to meet up.