Month: April 2011

My Talk TechNet Experience

I’ve just wrapped up my guest appearance on the Microsoft Talk TechNet webcast.  It was a really interesting afternoon for me.

The show follows the model of a USA sports radio show – luckily I am a Niners fan (as was discussed) so my podcast subscriptions feature such content and it’s what’s on the dial when I rent a car in the USA.  Some hosts drive conversation on a topic, and the moderator/producer takes questions from online/phone callers.  The guest provides some expertise on a topic.

The guys, Michael, Keith, and Matt were really nice.  I called in 30 minutes before it started to do the sound check and briefing.  The show started and it’s very loose and relaxed.  There’s a bit of banter to get things going, just like in sports radio.  And we got into it: things I see a lot, public/private cloud, why Hyper-V, and so on.

Thanks to the TechNet folks for inviting me on, and for giving me the opportunity to plug Mastering Hyper-V Deployment.  And thank you too to those who tuned in and contributed.  The hour absolutely flew past. That’s always a sign that I’ve had fun.  Those who’ve had the “Aidan Finn Experience” know that it’s hard to shut me up when I get started.  It felt like 15 minutes to me.  I’d strongly recommend it to any experts/MVPs that get the opportunity to be a guest.

Edit #1:

It’s just been tweeted that my session with Talk TechNet will be posted online later this week.

Slide deck – Private Cloud Academy: Backup and DPM 2010

Here’s the slide deck I presented at the Microsoft Ireland/System Dynamics Private Cloud Academy event on how to design Hyper-V cluster shared volumes (CSV) for backup and use System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2010 to backup virtualised workloads.  Like the previous sessions, it was a very demo-centric 3 hour event.

Slide Deck – Private Cloud Academy: Managing Hyper-V

Here is the presentation that I gave a few months ago at the Microsoft Ireland/System Dynamics Private Cloud Academy event in Dublin.  It focused on how to manage Hyper-V using System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM/VMM) 2008 R2 and System Center Operations Manager (SCOM/OpsMgr) 2007.

Mobile Device War – It’s Like the 1980s All Over Again

I was a Commodore 64 boy.  I had friends who had the Amstrad 464 machine (the one with the tape drive built in).  I also knew people with a Spectrum 48.  Those were some bitter rivalries.  But it was nothing like the next generation of machines.  Atari ST owners (like me) gloated about our faster 3D graphics over the Commodore Amiga folks.  The Commodore machine had that built in MIDI interface (making it the darling of the music crowd) but that maths coprocessor was seen as a bottleneck in the gaming magazines.  We both looked on at the amazing Acorn Archimedes hardware specs but it cost a fortune and had only a few games available.  You can forget Linux VS Windows or VMware VS Hyper-V!

And it’s all starting again.  iPhone VS Andriod with WP7 trying to get involved, and Blackberry clinging onto its government/corporate market.  Android seems to be taking the lead in device sales, but Apple still has the best quality ecosystem.  Amazon could have a big say in the Android world with their App Market (note Apple are suing them over the use of that term, even though Steve Jobs used to throw “App Store” around like an insult).  The IDC talk about 2-3 years down the road is doubted by the stock markets: they’re critical of corporate leadership and are shying away from Microsoft/Nokia stock.  Check their stock prices over the last few years.

Where things are really interesting is the tablet.  Apple cannot make the iPad2 fast enough to meet demand.  The only reason their sales this year of those devices is “disappointing” is because there is a huge order backlog.  Apple are making money as if they were printing it.  Android powered devices are popping up all over.  Samsung make some interesting machines and the Motorola Xoom is a hot device for geeks right now.  Microsoft are a non-factor with Windows 7, despite what some employees have to say.  Windows 8 on ARM processor tablets could be a whole other story.  If Microsoft can get the interface right (and they have a foundation in WP7) then they can bring compatibility, integration, and manageability to the tablet in the business market.  Amazon are another one to watch.  It’s known that they are building an Android tablet.  Maybe it’s a new Kindle and maybe not.  But they could suddenly rival Apple in no time at all.  Look at how many people own Kindles.  You see them on the bus/train/plane as often as you see an iPad.  Imagine if they ran Android.  And now throw in Amazon’s App Store and their unrivalled access to content and delivery … do they suddenly become the best ecosystem out there?

So who will be the Commodore 64 of the tablet wars, offering the best package?  Who will be the just as popular but less capable Spectrum 48?  And who will be the red-headed stepchild Amstrad 464 that you were disappointed to find when you opened your Christmas present wrapping?

Updated: How to Build a Hyper-V Cluster Using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target v3.3 – MPIO

My whitepaper on How to Build a Hyper-V Cluster Using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target v3.3 proved to be popular, getting over 500 downloads, thanks to many of you linking, retweeting, and so on.

At the time, a TechNet page stated that MPIO would not be supported with iSCSI initiators that were members of a failover cluster.  I quoted that page, and I excluded MPIO from the setup.  This revelation disappointed a lot of people. 

Hans Vredevoort (clustering MVP) contacted some of the storage folks in Microsoft to discuss the MPIO/cluster member initiators issue. It turns out that the Microsoft page in question was incorrect. It used to be true, but the v3.3 Software Target does support iSCSI initiators that are members of a cluster. The document has been updated with this note, but I have not added configuration steps for MPIO.

KB2494016: Stop Error 0x0000007a Occurs on a Virtual Machine

Another hotfix for Hyper-V.  The title is “Stop error 0x0000007a occurs on a virtual machine that is running on a Windows Server 2008 R2-based failover cluster with a cluster shared volume, and the state of the CSV is switched to redirected access”.

“Consider the following scenario:

  • You enable the cluster shared volume (CSV) feature on a Windows Server 2008 R2-based failover cluster.
  • You create a virtual machine on the CSV on a cluster node.
  • You start the virtual machine on the cluster node.
  • You move the CSV owner to another cluster node, and you change the state of CSV to redirected access.
  • The connection that is used for redirected access is switched to another connection when one of the following scenarios occurs:
    • The cable for local area network (LAN) is disconnected.
    • The related network adapter is disabled.
    • The connection is switched by using Failover Cluster Manager.

In this scenario, you receive a Stop error message that resembles the following in the virtual machine:

STOP 0x0000007a ( parameter1 , parameter2 , parameter3 , parameter4 )
KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR”.

Note

  • The parameters in this Stop error message vary, depending on the configuration of the computer.
  • Not all "0x0000007a" Stop error messages are caused by this issue.
  • You may also receive other Stop error messages when this issue occurs. For example, you may receive a "0x0000004F" Stop error message”.

Intel Sandy Bridge Processors Require W2008 R2 SP1 for Hyper-V

If you plan to run Hyper-V on machines that have Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs then you will need to deploy Service Pack 1, either in the form of the add-on or integrated build for Windows Server 2008 R2 or Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.  That’s according to a Microsoft blog written by “Blauge”.

This is because of a new AVX instruction in the CPU.  It seems that a VM will fail to start on a host with this CPU type without SP1.  You’ll get this error:

<VM Name> could not initialize

The fix is to install SP1.

According to Wikipedia, the AVX “instruction set is an advanced form of SSE and is suited for floating-point-intensive applications.  The two-operand instruction limit is increased to three operands, and advanced data rearrangement functions are included.  New features include mask loads, data permutes, increased register efficiency and use of parallel loads, as well as smaller code size.  The AVX instruction provides up to double peak FLOPS performance compared to using SSE4 instructions on CPUs”.  That’s Martian to me, to be honest, but it sounds like more CPU horsepower.

KB2531907: Validate SCSI Device Vital Product Data (VPD) test fails after you install W2008 R2 SP1

This one is a continuation on yesterday’s post.  Microsoft did post KB2531907 on the net – and that’s a good thing.  I’d recommend this patch becomes a part of your standard build for Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 failover clusters.  Test before you deploy.

“Consider the following scenario:

  • You configure a failover cluster that has three or more nodes that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1).
  • You have cluster disks that are configured in groups other than the Available Storage group or that are used for Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV).
  • These disks are online when you run the Validate SCSI Device Vital Product Data (VPD) test or the List Potential Cluster Disks storage validation test.

In this scenario, the Validate SCSI Device Vital Product Data (VPD) test fails. Additionally, you receive an error message that resembles the following:

 

Failed to get SCSI page 83h VPD descriptors for cluster disk <number> from <node name> status 2

The List Potential Cluster Disks storage validation test may display a warning message that resembles the following:

Disk with identifier <value> has a Persistent Reservation on it. The disk might be part of some other cluster. Removing the disk from validation set.

The following hotfix resolves an issue in which the storage test runs on disks that are online and incorrectly not in the Available Storage group.

The error and warning messages that are mentioned in the “Symptoms” section may also occur because of other issues such as storage problems or an incorrect configuration. Therefore, you should investigate other events, check the storage configuration, or contact your storage vendor if this issue still occurs after you install the following hotfix”.

Microsoft Exam Prices Going Up In Some Countries

Microsoft just announced that some regions/exams will undergo price increases come July 1st (August 1st for India).

I checked the Irish price, and it remains unchanged at €140 or £124.40.  I was asked to check the UK price.  It’s going up from £88 to £99.  Wait; the UK price is still going to be £25.40 cheaper?  Hmm, something smells rotten to me.  It isn’t a tax difference.  Sounds awful like the Office365 pricing issue I blogged about recently.