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Microsoft recently announced the availability of the P2V tool for desktop migration to address some of the issues face by customers. Most of the customers are reluctant to move to Windows 7 due to the application issues despite many solutions offered by Microsoft to address those problems. Some of the solutions they have been using is MED-V and APP-V which doesn’t address the problem of al audience.

With the P2V Migration tool (beta) with Software Assurance allows the users to simply convert their existing Windows XP environment into virtualize mode and run inside seamlessly inside Windows 7. During this conversion you’ll be able to preserve the existing domain membership, trusts and policies. This will be a great time saving for system administrators. User can use his existing legacy application, IE 6 and other programs inside Windows XP and still interact with Windows 7.

You can download the beta version of the software along with documentation from below mention link,

(https://connect.microsoft.com/site14/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=30989)

Some of the key benefits from this tool is reducing the time frame to deploy Windows 7 in your organization. Most of the companies has allocated time to test the legacy application with Windows 7 and try to troubleshoot them. This will increase the timeline for customers not to use the new benefits in the new OS which can help them to improve the productivity.  Thanks to this tool you can move ahead with your deployment timelines accordingly and still spend some time on R&D.

In order to use this software you need to comply as follows,

1.       You need to have Microsoft Software Assurance Pack purchased and it is in valid period.

2.       You can’t take a Windows XP image from a Windows OEM machine and transfer that image to Windows 7. (OEM license are not transferable)

3.       You need to have Volume License to carry out this task.

I do hope Microsoft will come up with more flexible legal methods to address this when customers see the significant advantage on this tool.

Virtualization has been IT industry hot topic and it will be as it is until next few years. Good news is most of the fortune companies already adopted into it and others are following it. Along with every solution there will be new problems and concerns and Virtualization is no difference over there. In this article we’re going to look into some of the common pitfalls and drawback on virtualization protections and how to avoid them.

One of the main issues for the network admins is losing the control of virtual machine creation and keeping a track of it. Few years back we used to allocate physical server for each and every major service and we can identify them easily. Things have been drastically change when it comes to virtualization due to the flexibility of creating Virtual machines. In virtualization world we call this as “VM Sprawl” This out of control issue is a major issue when it comes to Virtual machines backup as well. So one key factor is to have a clear idea of your virtualization environment and tracking every VPC to identify which servers are critical.

Do I backup data inside the Virtual machine or do I backup the entire VHD files along with the host backup? Most of the traditional backup software has given concern of host level backup and we need to rethink of applying such solution to virtualization environment. This is simply due to the technical maturity as well as licensing cost.  There will be scenarios having entire guest machine backup will be acceptable (Eg: Application server) but in certain cases you’ll need to install an agent to virtual PC itself and backup data if you require individual item restore (Eg: File server, E-mail server…etc) So you’ll always need to check with your backup software vendor about their software capability. Good news is Microsoft DPM, Symantec NetBackup, Backup Exec, CA Arcserve are now mature enough for this. (There will be lot more solutions, but I’m simply cannot test them all J ) Simply most of the backup software allow full backup of VHD and granular level restore from that file. This will greatly eliminate the backup window growth.

Which media to use in Backup? Tape or Disk? Industry is moving toward to disk based backup methods considering the speedy backup and recovery window times. But if companies have already invested on Tape solutions the best way is to have a balance with both methods. Having disk based backup initially and then moving data to tape drives for archival purpose. What you should really do is to formulate a disk and tape strategy based on data management objectives and policies.  A few considerations:

• Recovery time objectives. (RTO)/Recovery Point Objectives (RPO).  Disk is typically faster for recovery.
• Archiving requirements.  Tape is the most common archive medium.
• Service Level Agreements (SLAs).  What is IT obligated to deliver to customers?
• Existing hardware investments, as well as budget.

Apart from that you should consider about data de-duplication technologies which help you to reduce the storage requirements for your backup. Virtualization has given itself more advantages to companies and same time some challenges to the administrators. Most of these challenges cannot be addressed by traditional solutions hence new innovative solutions need to be considered.

Much awaited and discussed Windows Phone 7 version has been released for manufactures (RTM) by Microsoft. This is one of the Microsoft major milestone since Microsoft believe future will more focus into mobile platform.

Despite of this release will have to enter to the battle ground with major players like Android OS and Apple IOS. Despite of that Microsoft have some cool integration tools for seamless connectivity with their rest app platform which will make this as a ideal platform for business users.

More news can be found over here and here. In depth review has been carried out by Engadget web site.

As per the news consumers can get their hands into this product end of this year. So let’s keep our fingers crossed for this

In the initial stage of the HYPER-V there has been lot of buzz about how to backup the HYPER-V  guest in the host server. the options has been vary from installing third party backup agent to the guest virtual pc’s individually and getting the backup or install the agent to the host server and get the backup.

If you’re a average Joe using the Windows backup software then Microsoft has a series of instructions how you can configure the system to backup the HYPER-V guest pc’s. The issue has been is playing around the windows registry and it seems to be too much hassle for some users, and there is a prone for mistakes.

Microsoft has adopt an option called “Fix-it” which basically provide a pre created script which runs on your server and will carry out the necessary changes. I’m happy to say they have give a script under the “Fix-it” category for this as well. You can read the entire kb article here and get the script download and apply to your system. I would say this saves lots of time for a beginner who is moving into HYPER-V environment in their production network.

This is one of the requirement I came across when I got to know I’m stuck without a remote desktop to a server in their network when I wanted to troubleshoot an issue. I have already had the access to the DC thanks to a third party software but forgot to enable the remote desktop feature in the other servers!

Anyway the answer I found it within the Group Policy by enabling 2 settings. I thought of sharing that information with you all.

always make sure your servers are group by creating necessary OU’s. This is not a rule but a best practice I follow, so it makes life easier. Once that part is completed go to the GPMC,

Make sure to highlight the correct OU and create a new GPO, in my case I’ve named it as “Remote access policy” after that edit the policy in the following settings,

Computer Configuration ---> Administrative Templates ---> Windows Components ---> Terminal Services ---> Terminal Server ---> Connections and after that enable the GPO setting name as “ Allow users to connect remotely using Terminal services”

After that you need to enable an exception through the Windows firewall to allow the RDP connections. For that edit the GPO name as “ Allow inbound Remote Desktop exceptions” Path goes as follows,

Computer Configuration ---> Administrative template ---> Network ---> Network Connections ---> Windows Firewall ---> Domain Profile

That’s all from the Group Policy side. After that you can await until Group Policy get refresh at the target machines side according to default time period. Well that time is between every 90 –120 minutes and we don’t want to wait that long right what we need to find out is a  way to refresh the group policy in the remote machines from our console. For that we have few ways we can execute the group policy in the remote machine. but now my focus will be going for two programs.  One is use a utility called “PsExec” developed by Mark Russinovich. You can download it from here.  This is as far as I concern one of the easiest method to do without any scripting.

Download the tool and extract it to the %systemroot% it’s much easier when you to the CMD typing.

Now switching back to the remote PC we can have a look into the GPO effectiveness,

And that is what I called “Happy Day “

Second method is by using a software called “SPECOPS GPUPDATE” developed by SPECOPS software company. the best thing is the above mention software utility is free. It directly integrate with the Active Directory and you can update the target OU’s within the ADCU console itself!

For this demonstration I went ahead and installed the software to the AD. This software requires Windows Power Shell and as well as .Net Framework. make sure you have open the necessary firewall ports as well.

As you can see you can select “Gpupdate” and silently execute the Power Shell command or select the options called “ Specops Gpupdate” which open nice GUI. Under the GUI apart from executing the GPO’s you have few other options as well. Once you select the Gpupdate option you’ll be greeted with few screen and finally the progress screen,

As you can see both software offers flexibility for us to excutue the GP update remotely to the network pc’s where as SPECOPS GPUPDATE has gone the extra mile to offer more features. If you need more features on the SPECOPS you can check on the SPECOPS GPUPDATE Pro version.

So next time when you’re stuck it’s always better to keep these 2 software in your toolbox.

I’m happy to inform I’ve been selected and award the MVP award by Microsoft! My main subjects has been server virtualization and server clustering. Most of my activities and blogs are related to the HYPER-V though I have a strong attraction to clustering due to the close relationship between 2 technologies most of the time.

I’m focusing more on integrating third party solutions with HYPER-V and providing comprehensive solutions to customers. (Eg: Complete DR solutions using HYPER-V with Double Take)

Hats off for everyone who has been supportive for me and encourage on my activities.

After the main buzz of the server virtualization the next key thing in the industry is Desktop virtualization or else known as VDI. Some of the enterprise companies looking at this solution as a way to increase their hardware life cycle and for some it is a method to tightly control the access point for their central data access. Never the less this is a important technology for the Service partners as well.

To have a better idea of how to size this solution for customers using HYPER-V  and Windows 2008 R2 connection broker Microsoft has released the new capacity planning document.

named as “Remote Desktop Virtualization host Capacity Planning in Windows Server 2008 R2”. You can get a copy of this article from here.

dynamic memory allocation, 3-D graphical experience for remote users via Remote FX and preparation for Cloud computing are few of the major promises to come along with it. In an opening-day keynote speech at Microsoft Corp.’s Tech•Ed 2010 North America conference they has release the official note saying public can expect this service pack on end of the July. Stay tune for this and see what experiment you can experience.

I would be more happy to see the Dynamic memory allocation feature which will allow the VPC to dynamically borrow the memory from other VPC’s when they’re under utilized.

If you’re interested in knowing more detail on HYPER-V information under the hood then you’ll find the following poster is for you. Apart from techies even pre sales can find this as useful explaining their customers how exactly HYPER-V  function in various scenarios.

This poster has clearly define with 8 sections namely as,

During my work and forum searching i found out below tools are more valuable for virtualization server admins and whoever interested in this technology.

1. VHD TOOL – Really cool piece of software which allows you to create VHD files very fast plus do repair on VHD files when things go wrong. It has many features and you can find the other users comments and how this tool save their life.

2. The Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool – If you are managing a virtual environment then you should have virtual server templates power down for sometime and maybe even production servers you created for R&D. when you bring them online due to lack of critical patches you introduce new security breach condition to your network.

So here we have the answer from Microsoft itself for the issue, Microsoft's Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool. Currently in Version 2.1, this solution accelerator integrates System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) with Windows Server Update Services or ConfigMgr patching infrastructure to automatically wake up dormant virtual machines, trigger a software-update cycle, shut down VMs and return them to a library.

3. StarWind V2V Converter – There are lot of tools to do the P2V, V2V and Microsoft also itself has software under SCVMM. But this software is is free of cost and do convert VMware and Citrix virtual images. StarWind company is very familiar for most of us as a provider of free ISCSI target software (http://www.starwindsoftware.com/free) . (Personally I prefer that piece of software)

4. HYPER-V  Performance monitoring – Virtualization is all about performance management and resource management for most of us. But one key issue is monitoring each virtula pc performance with given Microsoft tools are painful. Sometimes there are time we don’t get the accurate details real-time (though not relevant all the time :) )

Anyway I found out Tim Managan's HyperV_Mon is more useful on this job. This tool lines up the performance metrics across multiple virtual machines to provide a graphical representation of performance. The result is a single view of everything you need to keep tabs on a virtual environment.

Ps: You’ll find more tools on the given web link above on his web site.

There will be more tools out apart from which I found useful and shared over here. I gladly welcome if others find more useful tools and share the information with the community.

One of my colleague brought a question for me which was interesting to consider and do some solution lookup. His requirement is to assign virtual pc’s to selected users and and only allow them to see the necassary virtual pc’s assigned to them. Of course this seems to be an easy task under the SCVMM but things didn’t went as smooth as I try to explain him when it comes to practical world :)

Below is the steps we carried out first,

1. Assign a user account certain rights under the SCVMM – Under this I have taken one domain user account and then assign the particular user with the relevant permissions.

Select the actions user can carry out in the VPC. In this scenario I have kept him all the action which is possible under SCVMM console.

2. In order to make this VPC visible in his Self User Portal I had to give owenership of this VPC to relevant user,

Once that part is completed, our selected user can see the relevant VPC under his SCVMM.

All are fine when we ran into next issue. What is this user is absent and we need to do some maintenance or overlook this VPC for a troubleshooting purpose? VPC ownership can be given for only one user at a time so another use won’t see this VPC under his Self Service Portal. Finally we managed to solve the problem by assigning the ownership of the VPC’s to a GROUP instead of user accounts. Funny this remind me the fundamentals of the Windows ACL. (Accounts into Groups and then provide Permission to that)

Same theory we managed to apply over here as follows,

First create a relevant service level groups in the Active Directory database, and then add the relevant user.

Move to SCVMM server and under the Administration section add the Group and provide the same permission provided as above for a single user,

next under the Virtual Machines section select each VPC and select the group we created as the owner.

Once that completed and log in using one of the user account in that group we’ll be able to see the virtual Pc’s assigned to particular Group,

In a scenario when the relevant users does not exist Administrator still have the privilege of logging in and do the necessary modifications to VPC’s. Even though it would be ideal if we can have the option of assigning permission for each VPC and still allow other users to access the same VPC though User Portal.

I have been missing the blogging opportunity for few weeks. Apart from that very less interesting stories existed in the virtualization world for me :)

Anyway talking about the VDI technology Microsoft has been very keen and see a strong future in that. When it comes to VDI first thing it comes to our mind it Terminal Server. Again Citrix comes into the picture as the strong competitor product. But today we’re going to talk about MS and Citrix sitting on the same table and shaking hands. Citrix has been very strong in Terminal Server technology and wanted to be in the virtualization technology picture as well.

Citrix XenDesktop is one of the key application when it comes to VDI solutions. But again Microsoft have been leading with their own solutions on VDI as well. Combining with Windows 7 as a VDI solution it has been successful. Anyway XenDesktop itself have few secrets to use itself when used in low bandwidth situation. This join venture has been a big hit for VMWare as well and that is what both giants wanted to do as well :)

Now for our tetchiest fans there is a ZenDesktop on HYPER-V  sizing guide can be fond over here. Apart from some really good stuff about these two technologies can be found at Paul Wilson’s section in Citrix. Paul has been long time engineer working @ Citirx and specialize in VDI solution. You can visit the relevant web page from here.

So is VDI for everyone? From  my understanding point of view VDI will not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But considering with the emerging cloud computing option in Asian market this would be a good method to be considered for SME market segment as well.

This is something i have seen in the tech forums and as well as tried by myself. So it would be ideal to share this knowledge with others to get benefited.

one fundamental rule in computer world is security vs productivity balance. Running SQL on a domain controller will expose the AD for too many issues. Following information has been abstracted from various online resources.

For security reasons, Microsoft recommends that you do not install SQL Server 2008 on a domain controller. SQL Server Setup will not block installation on a computer that is a domain controller, but the following limitations apply:
-On Windows Server 2003, SQL Server services can run under a domain account or a local system account.
-You cannot run SQL Server services on a domain controller under a local service account or a network service account. (This is the key issues I had to face)
-After SQL Server is installed on a computer, you cannot change the computer from a domain member to a domain controller. You must uninstall SQL Server before you change the host computer to a domain controller.
-After SQL Server is installed on a computer, you cannot change the computer from a domain controller to a domain member. You must uninstall SQL Server before you change the host computer to a domain member.
-SQL Server failover cluster instances are not supported where cluster nodes are domain controllers.
-SQL Server is not supported on a read-only domain controller.

I do hope these information will helpful when you’ve been requested to carry out a SQL setup on a DC :)

Got my hands into the long awaited apple iTouch yesterday. This is 32 GB version. Even though they have 3rd generation iTouch on 8 GB it’s entire design is on 2nd generation. As a technical point of view, first thing I did is upgrade the firmware :) Well tough to say what kind of improvement has it made since I barely test it even for few hours. So far I’m loving all the features in it specially the wifi access availability and the mail access. Apart from that I really like the idea of voice memos. Even though this is introduced as MP3 player I think it has the essential tools for day to day work.

One disappointment is missing of the camera. I really wish Apple would have consider that into this device since it is a essential part. Let’s put it this way, so far they have given all the utilities you can imagine of and even given the apps to edit pictures even but missing the camera! But again before moving to this I did some web research and found of lots of positive feedback on it.

I didn’t went for Microsoft Zune due to the limited apps available in the internet when I did the research. But guess MS will find a way to overcome that very soon. Saying that here goes a another member to the Apple iPod community :)

With the introduction of Windows 2008 Cluster service Microsoft has made the clustering as easy as it can for a system administrators. I’ve been blogging about Windows 2008 clustering on my blog and various other third party software you can use to accommodate the clustering. Once the Microsoft released MS Storage server for the TechNet subscribers I have been using that software frequently. Apart from that I found out StarWind software also providing good solutions as well.

Last month I got the opportunity to demonstrate the Windows 2008 clustering and it’s new capability to the IT Pro community with live demonstration. Too bad I forgot to get some picture on that event :( You can download the presentation I have created for that session from here.

This month I have received an invitation from the SQL community group to conduct a session about SQL cluster creation. Special thanks goes for the SQL community MVP’s for giving me the opportunity.

In that session I present about the MSCS (Microsoft Cluster Service) and the new features in the windows 2008 R2 cluster. Apart from that we went ahead of doing a live demo on SQL cluster creation. It too nearly 1.5 hours for the entire demo since I ran everything from singe machine!

Never the less it very exciting session since I got to interact with the SQL community members. Apart from that participant had various questions about the cluster creation since most of them are database developers and some of them have already work on SQL cluster 2005.

One thing I briefly went talk about is the cluster migration from SQL 2005 cluster to SQL 2008. Forum members can download the presentation from www.sqlserveruniverse.com.

Apart from that we went and discuss about various technical setup and configurations you need give attention during the cluster creation and how to do basic level troubleshooting steps.

SQL MVP Dinesh Asanka presenting the SQL session,

forum members who won prizes,