Virtualization Frequently Asked Questions, Tips, and TricksJanssen JonesVirtual Machine MVPIndiana University

SESSION CODE: VIR403

Today’s Agenda

Brief Overview of IU AIT Virtualization Implementation“Extreme” Live Migration DemoVirtualization FAQs, Tips, and Tricks!

TroubleshootingBest PracticesArchitecture considerationsScripting (if time permits)

Q&APLEASE submit an evaluation for this session

About Indiana University

One of the largest state university systems in the United StatesNine campus locations serving 100,000 students

IU Auxiliary IT EnvironmentProvides service to the Halls of Residence, Dining Services, Parking Operations, IU Auditorium, IMU Hotel and Conference Center and moreInfrastructure Team - Staff of six

1,100 clients -200 servers (95% virtual)Services provided by Infrastructure Team include:

File and Print, WSUS, Antivirus, FTP, Web, App, DB, etc.Standard Gold Images, Client Software Deployment and Patching, Client Firewalls, Login Scripts/GPOs, etc.LOB apps for Hotel, Halls of Residence, Dining, Parking, etc.

Key Virtualization Projects – 2009Hardware, Presentation, and Application Virtualization

Full implementation of Hyper-V R2 with LM and CSVSetup of multiple RemoteApp (RDS) serversDeployment of App-V to our desktopsDeployment of App-V to our RDS serversDisaster Recovery Planning

Key Virtualization Projects – 2010Hardware, Presentation, and Application Virtualization

Disaster Recovery ImplementationMulti-site clusters!Live Migration between two cities with minimal perceived downtime (about a 1 second blip)Using Compellent LiveVolume to facilitate the storage abstraction

Live Migration Between Two Cities

DEMO

Virtualization FAQs, Tips, and Tricks Areas of Focus

TroubleshootingBest PracticesArchitecture considerationsScripting

TroubleshootingBIOS/firmware/driver settings and updates

Be wary of C-States w/ Nehalem until everything is ironed outWorkaround 1: disable C-States in BIOS Workaround 2: disable C-States in the registryWorkaround 3: enable High Performance in OShttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/975530

Watch out for firmware and driver updates (DRAC/iLO, network)Side effects can be delayed bugchecks, which may not appear for a day

Watch out for BIOS updatesSide effects can be wiped network configs

Document network settings before an updateDoubly validate all settings after an update

TroubleshootingHyper-V: Network Adapter disabled, Event ID 4 Netsvc, miniport reset

Guest Network Outage in some heavy load scenarios Two separate hotfixes (one specific to W2K3 VMs)

KB979409 is for the Hyper-V servers themselves.KB981836 is installed on the Hyper-V server which will create a new set of Integration Components (i.e. vmguest.iso) and then the ICs will need to be updated in the W2K3 VMs.

More discussion on the Hyper-V Technet forums

TroubleshootingCommon Issues – Hyper-V

Server CoreCommon commands – netsh, mpclaim, ocsetup, oclist, etc.Helper applications – nvspbind, Core Configurator, CCCA lot of information at the Server Core blog (link at end)

Network ConfigurationNon-routable IP addresses and certificate revocation

TroubleshootingCommon Issues – Clustering

Validate!Hyper-V Virtual Network SwitchCluster Shared VolumesNetwork Binding OrderNetBIOS lookup on CSV network

TroubleshootingCommon Issues – Virtual Machine Manager

“Unsupported Cluster Configuration”“Missing” VMs (links at end of deck)

Export/Remove Host Cluster/Re-add Host Cluster/Import Watch out for pending reboot flag if re-adding! (link at end of deck)Directly edit the DB to clean things up with the least amount of work

Best PracticesHyper-V Clustering

Validate, validate, validate.When clustering, *ALWAYS* edit VM network settings from FC Manager, or make sure to refresh the VM config from the FC UI.Verify that your network priority for LM and CSV is set properly.When using CSV, make sure to transfer files to/from the coordinator node. When using CSV, disable NetBIOS on the CSV network.

Setting Network Priority and Bindings

DEMO

Best Practices How many VMs per CSV, and how many CSVs?

This topic is a controversial one!Main answer: it depends… But on what?Redirected IO during backups– software vs hardware VSS providerDo IOPS come into play?Is it “traditional storage” or “virtual storage”?Management considerations should be a primary factor.Potential starting point – 1 or 2 CSVs per nodePotential starting point – the “square root method”Test, validate, benchmark, and form your own opinion.

Best PracticesSnapshots and Checkpoints

In general, avoid snapshots/checkpoints (they are the same thing but show up differently) in production.If you use them, use them sparingly, and only if you know what you’re doing (e.g. validate a patch, then merge or rollback).Active Directory Password issues for computer accountAVHD size and merge times can be greater than you’d expect.

Best PracticesDynamic Disks versus Fixed Disks

Dynamic disks are now *usually* OK in production, but do have a performance impact (even if minimal). For critical high IO workloads, used fixed disks.For normal IO workloads, dynamic disks can offer disk savings.Run a couple benchmarks if it’s a high IO workload and/or you’re concerned.WS08_R2_VHD_Performance_WhitePaper.docx link at end of deck.

Best Practices Hyper-V Parent Pagefile

This topic is a controversial one!Two Purposes of the Pagefile

Paging virtual memoryCrash Dumps

Most parent partitions won’t use more than 1-2GB RAMMost kernel dumps won’t take more than 4GB RAMNot, Microsoft guidance, but informal guidance among MVPs: Pagefiles should generally be left on automatic, but can usually be set to around 4-8GB if you need the disk space, and are aware of the possible repercussions.

Common Architecture Questions

Should I use gold image snapshots?Dynamic VHD, Fixed VHD, Pass-Through Disks, or iSCSI?How will I back up? Do I need full DR and replication?Will I use blades? How many of CPUs and NICs, and how much memory?What about dynamic memory?

Scripting Four Common Ways to Create a VM

Create a VM from scratch and mount an installation ISOA lot more effort, but required for a new OS setup

Use a “sysprepped” VHD from the VMM libraryLittle effort, but extra space used on SAN - scriptable

Use a template from the VMM library Least effort, but extra space used on SAN - scriptable

Use a SAN snapshot copy of a gold imageLess space (initially) used on SANNot directly supported from VMM consoleIs scriptable (with some work)

Scripting an HA VM From a Replay1. Create a cloned LUN from the gold image snapshot2. Map the new LUN to each node on the cluster3. Rescan for new disks on each cluster node4. Bring the disk online on one cluster node5. Temporarily assign a drive letter for ease of use6. Clean up disk signature, volume serial, folder, and VHD7. Remove the temporary drive letter8. Add the disk to clustered storage9. Create the VM configuration file (can use VMM)10. Make the VM highly available

Scripting Demo

DEMO

Q&A

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Related ContentBreakout Sessions:

VIR322 - Hyper-V backup deep dive: a look under the hoodVIR303 - Disaster Recovery by Stretching Hyper-V Clusters across Sites

Interactive Session:VIR09-INT - Virtualization Round Table Discussion

Hands-on Lab:VIR07-HOL - Introduction to Hyper-V R2

Visit the Virtualization TLC area located in the orange area to see product demos and speak with experts.

LinksVHD performance benchmarking whitepaper

http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/7/7/0778C0BB-5281-4390-92CD-EC138A18F2F9/WS08_R2_VHD_Performance_WhitePaper.docx

SCVMM missing VMs – saving the metadatahttp://blogs.technet.com/m2/archive/2010/04/16/saving-and-re-applying-the-virtual-machine-metadata-in-vmm.aspx

SCVMM Hyper-V pending reboot flag checkerhttp://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/virtualmachinemgrclustering/thread/a3b7a8d0-28dd-406a-8ccb-cf0cd613f666

SCVMM missing VMs – cleaning up the DBhttp://blogs.technet.com/m2/archive/2010/04/16/removing-missing-vms-from-the-vmm-administrator-console.aspx

LinksServer Core blog

http://blogs.technet.com/server_core/Supporting Virtual Machine Manager in the Enterprise

http://blogs.technet.com/mbriggs/default.aspxChuck Timon’s Failover Clustering Networking posts

http://blogs.technet.com/askcore/archive/2010/02/12/windows-server-2008-failover-clusters-networking-part-1.aspx

CSV coordinator node informationhttp://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/archive/2009/12/09/9934381.aspx

Microsoft Virtualizationhttp://www.microsoft.com/virtualization

© 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to

be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.

JUNE 7-10, 2010 | NEW ORLEANS, LA