Microsoft Virtualization In Depth

Microsoft Windows Server Virtualization (WSV) Community Technology Preview (CTP) is now included in the Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate 0 (RC0) release!  If you want to learn more about the Windows Server 2008 RC0 release, you can read this press release.

If you are participating in the Windows Server 2008 beta program, you can get the download now from the Microsoft Connect site. If not, then start checking the public Windows Server 2008 download site to get your hands on the WSV CTP, as it will be posted very soon. If you want to learn more about Microsoft WSV, you can also check out this Channel 9 video in which Jeff Woolsey, Sr. Program Manager in the Windows Server Virtualization team, explains the WSV Hypervisor.

In contrast to Virtual Server 2005 R2 which runs above an operating system, WSV is a Hypervisor solution because it loads and runs directly above the hardware level. This implementation is also commonly referred to as a “bare metal virtualization.”

Although you can download both x86 and x64 versions of Windows Server 2008, you will need a server with a 64-bit Intel VT or AMD-V hardware architecture to run WSV. Intel VT and AMD-V add two new processor modes which are needed by WSV: one for execution of the Hypervisor, which now moves to a new ring (sometimes referred to as Ring -1), and another mode for execution of the guest operating system, which is now fully in Ring 0.

John Howard, another Sr. Program Manager in the Windows Server Virtualization team, provides a quick look at how to install WSV.

Ready, Set, Test!

Check out the links below to download a slew of new Microsoft virtualization-related cookbooks that can assist you in understanding, deploying, and managing Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 in a variety of scenarios and in conjunction with System Center Virtual Machine Manager and System Center Data Protection Manager.

Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 and Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager

The goal of this cookbook is to provide the steps and guidance necessary for you to successfully install and configure Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager. You may then create and manage virtual machines, and perform P2V migration.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.SCVMM_FINAL.doc

Backup and Recovery using Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 and Acronis® True Image 9.1 Enterprise Edition

The goal of this cookbook is to guide you through installing Acronis server imaging solutions for workgroups and installing Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. The cookbook covers creating a virtual machine (to serve as a standby for recovery) and restoring the contents of a server representing your production workload to the waiting virtual machine.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.VS_Acronis_FINAL.doc

Microsoft® System Center Data Protection Manager 2007, Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1, and Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager

The scenario presented in this cookbook will take you through the steps necessary to install Virtual Server and SCVMM, and then convert a workload to a virtual machine. This cookbook also includes the steps necessary to install DPM and to back up a running virtual machine, as well as information about monitoring and reporting using DPM.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.SCVMM_DPM_FINAL.doc

Quick Migration with Virtual Server Host Clustering Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise Edition & Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1

This cookbook describes a simple configuration in which you use Virtual Server 2005 R2 to configure one guest operating system, and configure a server cluster that has two servers (nodes). With this configuration, you can migrate workloads easily from one node to the other

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.Quick_Migration_FINAL.doc

Terminal Server running on virtual machines using Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1

In this cookbook we will install Terminal Server on a virtual machine and access the terminal server remotely. We will also show how to install Remote Desktop Web Connection and how to configure Windows® Firewall to allow remote clients to access the terminal server.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.Terminal%20Services%20Presentation%20Virtualization_Final.doc

Hosted Backup and Recovery Solutions for Service Providers using DPM and VS

This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience providing data backup and recovery to customers as a hosted solution using Virtual Server and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007

http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/0/4/5049f4b0-7ad1-4f34-8018-ef96af052a2c/Deployment_Cookbook.DPM_hosted_solution_FINAL.docx

Simple Offsite Backup and Recovery of virtual machines using DPM and VS

This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for backing up and restoring virtual machines running in an offsite location using Virtual Server and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/4/0/240c1b94-d2ed-45b6-b821-9d8cd792c22b/Deployment_Cookbook.DPM_offsite_backup_FINAL.doc

Simple Onsite Backup and Recovery of virtual machines using DPM and VS

This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for backing up and restoring running virtual machines using Virtual Server and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007

http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/b/d/fbd28458-c41c-4414-b530-869af4e49014/Deployment_Cookbook.DPM_onsite_backup_FINAL.doc

High Availability with VS and WS03R2 Enterprise Server Clustering

This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for implementing high availability of server workloads using Windows Server 2003 Server Clustering and Virtual Server using Intel-based hardware.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/9/e/49e943a6-060b-4a1b-89eb-3962b748d200/Deployment_Cookbook.Host_Clustering_FINAL.doc

Application Isolation and Operation in BO Using VS

This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for isolating and operating applications on separate virtual machines in branch offices using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1, in an Intel-based hardware environment for regulatory compliance and improved legacy workload performance.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/d/b/4db13d05-f000-46c9-9767-5d07b3ad8609/Deployment_Cookbook.VS_branch_office_FINAL.doc

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Thought this might be useful to people trying to create Ubuntu Server 7.04 VMs using Virtual Server 2005 R2 and differencing disks. A blog reader reported having problems getting the virtual Ethernet network card to work after creating a new VM running Ubuntu Server 7.04 based on a differencing drive from a well-performing VM. Basically, the virtual Ethernet network card was not initializing, so he was left with a VM that could not communicate on the network.

Being curious about this problem, I decided to look into it and see what might be going on. After creating a Ubuntu Server 7.04 VM and using its VHD as the parent disk for a new VM based on a differencing disk, the problem was exactly as reported...the virtual Ethernet network card would not initialize in the differencing disk-based VM. Because it intuitively seemed like it might be a MAC address conflict, the easiest first test was to reset the MAC address of the differencing disk-based VM to the MAC address assigned to the original Ubuntu Server 7.04 VM. Sure enough, once this step was performed and the differencing disk-based VM was restarted, the Ethernet network card initialized and network was functional again.

In one of the Ubuntu forums, there is an older entry (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/udev/+bug/31188/comments/6) that describes a part of the Ubuntu installation process specific to the identification of networking cards. Basically, it appears that network cards with loaded drivers have the MAC address of each written to the /etc/iftab file of the installed system. Quoting directly from the Ubuntu forum entry, the /etc/iftab file contains the following type of information:

eth0 mac 01:23:45:67:89:ab
eth1 mac 99:88:77:66:55:44

In my test case, when the new Ubuntu Server 7.04 VM was created using a differencing drive, and a new, dynamic MAC address was assigned to the virtual Ethernet network card, the data contained in the /etc/iftab file was not updated and networking was not functional. Once the /etc/iftab data was manually updated with the new, dynamic MAC address assigned by Virtual Server 2005 R2, and the VM was restarted, the virtual Ethernet network card initialized and networking was restored.

If you intend to create differencing disk-based Ubuntu Server 7.04 VMs, you might want to set a static MAC address for these type of VMs. This will prevent a recurrence of the problem if you need to migrate or load balance differencing disk-based Ubuntu VMs between Virtual Server 2005 R2 hosts.

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System Center Virtual Machine Manager was released late last week. Read the SCVMM release announcement! Then, try it!

Amazon has the book in stock now!

You can find more details about the book at http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/10622.aspx.

The table of contents and sample chapters can be downloaded from: http://vscommunity.com/files/default.aspx.

Email vs2005r2rk@hotmail.com if you have any questions about the book!