Month: September 2011

LUN configuration best practices to boost virtual machine performance #VMware

Posted on by stevemiles70

LUN configuration best practices to boost virtual machine performance.

Advanced virtual machine (VM) storage options can improve performance, but their benefits will go only so far if your physical logical unit numbers (LUNs) are not configured with best practices in mind.
Only when a LUN configuration meets the needs of your VM workloads can you significantly improve virtual machine performance. When it comes to LUN configuration, hardware choices, I/O optimization and VM placement are all important considerations……

#VMware #ESXi and #ESX Architectures Compared – Understand the differences

Posted on by stevemiles70

…Like its predecessor ESX, ESXi is a “bare-metal” hypervisor, meaning it installs directly on top of the physical server and partitions it into multiple virtual machines that can run simultaneously, sharing the physical resources of the underlying server. VMware introduced ESXi in 2007 to deliver industry-leading performance and scalability while setting a new bar for reliability, security and hypervisor management efficiency.

So how isESXi different from ESX? While both architectures use the same kernel to deliver virtualization capabilities, the ESX architecture also contains a Linux operating system (OS), called “Service Console,” that is used to perform local management tasks such as executing scripts or installing third party agents. The Service Console has been removed from ESXi, drastically reducing the hypervisor code-base footprint (less than 150MB vs. ESX’s 2GB) and completing the ongoing trend of migrating management functionality from the local command line interface to remote management tools.

http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/esxi-and-esx/compare.html

VMware ESX Architecture. In the original ESX architecture, the virtualization kernel (referred to as the vmkernel) is augmented with a management partition known as the console operating system (also known as COS or service console). The primary purpose of the Console OS is to provide a management interface into the host. Various VMware management agents are deployed in the Console OS, along with other infrastructure service agents (e.g. name service, time service, logging, etc). In this architecture, many customers deploy other agents from 3rd parties to provide particular functionality, such as hardware monitoring and system management. Furthermore, individual admin users log into the Console OS to run configuration and diagnostic commands and scripts.

VMware ESXi Architecture. In the ESXi architecture, the Console OS has been removed and all of the VMware agents run directly on the vmkernel. Infrastructure services are provided natively through modules included with the vmkernel. Other authorized 3rd party modules , such as hardware drivers and hardware monitoring components, can run in vmkernel as well. Only modules that have been digitally signed by VMware are allowed on the system, creating a tightly locked-down architecture. Preventing arbitrary code from running on the ESXi host greatly improves the security of the system.

Recommended Reading: #vSphere5 Clustering Technical Deepdive #VMware #HA #DRS #StorageDRS

Posted on by stevemiles70

Recommended Reading…

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2011/07/12/hot-of-the-press-vsphere-5-0-clustering-technical-deepdive/

After months of hard work the moment is finally there, the release of our new book: vSphere 5.0 Clustering Technical Deepdive! When we started working, or better said, planning an update of the book we never realized the amount of work required. Be aware that this is not a minor update. This book covers HA (full rewrite as HA has been rewritten for 5.0), DRS (mostly rewritten to focus on resource management) and Storage DRS (new!). Besides these three major pillars we also decided to add what we call supporting deepdives. The supporting deepdives added are: vMotion, Storage vMotion, Storage I/O Control and EVC. This resulted in roughly 50% more content (totaling 348 pages) than the previous book, also worth noting that every single diagram has been recreated and are they cool or what?

VMware vSphere 5.0 Clustering Technical Deepdive zooms in on three key components of every VMware based infrastructure and is by no means a “how to” guide. It covers the basic steps needed to create a vSphere HA and DRS cluster and to implement Storage DRS. Even more important, it explains the concepts and mechanisms behind HA, DRS and Storage DRS which will enable you to make well educated decisions. This book will take you in to the trenches of HA, DRS and Storage DRS and will give you the tools to understand and implement e.g. HA admission control policies, DRS resource pools, Datastore Clusters and resource allocation settings. On top of that each section contains basic design principles that can be used for designing, implementing or improving VMware infrastructures and fundamental supporting features like vMotion, Storage I/O Control and much more are described in detail for the very first time.

This book is also the ultimate guide to be prepared for any HA, DRS or Storage DRS related question or case study that might be presented during VMware VCDX, VCP and or VCAP exams

Sept Technet Live Webcasts: #Lync Edge & HA/Resilience Deep Dives

Posted on by stevemiles70

TechNet Webcast: Deep Dive: Lync Server 2010 Edge Servers (Level 300)

Understanding the details about how to set up and deploy edge servers is a key feature to allow the customer investment to include users–domain members, partners in a federated infrastructure, and customers–outside of the internal network in the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 experience. Edge servers provide external user connections to the Lync Server platform using the Lync 2010 client not leveraging a VPN connection. In this webcast, we discuss edge server deployment topologies, the Lync Server Planning Tool, and best practices for configuring edge servers. At the end of this webcast, you will be better prepared to answer customer questions and to plan and implement an edge server infrastructure for Lync Server 2010.

TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Lync 2010 High Availability and Resiliency (Level 300)

In this webcast, we explore the new high availability and resiliency offerings from Microsoft Lync Server 2010. These offerings include branch office resiliency, data center resiliency, intrasite high availability architecture, and capabilities for instant messaging, conferencing, and voice workloads.

Polycom DMA and Lync Integration @jdscher #Polycom #DMA #RMX #Lync

Posted on by stevemiles70

Courtesy of Jeff Schertz http://twitter.com/#!/jdscher

http://blog.schertz.name/2011/08/polycom-dma-and-lync-integration/

Polycom DMA and Lync Integration
August 30, 2011 by Jeff Schertz

The past video conferencing integration articles have primarily discussed the Real-time Media eXperience (RMX) platform, but the Distributed Media Application (DMA) also supports direct integration with OCS and Lync and is the preferred SIP path when both devices exist in an environment.

Out-of-the-box DMA integration instructions are included in the Polycom UC Deployment Guide for Microsoft Environments document, but the steps shown don’t address the scenario where an RMX is already integrated in the network and DMA is being introduced. The documented approach would be to simply define DMA as another Application Pool and define a new route for video calls.

But there is a simpler way to approach adding DMA into an environment where there is already a functional RMX integrated into Lync. The premise is that SIP signaling will primarily be directed to the DMA instead of the RMX for the chosen routing domain, yet signaling and certificate-based TLS signaling will still be supported for the RMX. As the RMX should typically remain a Trusted Application to support certain integration features or outbound SIP calling into Lync then it would not be a good approach to simply replace the RMX configuration with the DMA information.

Calling ScenariosBefore addressing the configuration steps it is important to take a step back and understand the various call routing scenarios that are available with RMX and DMA integration with Lync Server.

* Lync Video Call to RMX
* Lync Video Call to DMA
* Lync Video Call to a Registered Virtual Meeting Room
* Lync Inbound Video Call from an RMX

…Read the full article here,with topology diagrams here… http://blog.schertz.name/2011/08/polycom-dma-and-lync-integration/

Microsoft #Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Voice Deployment Guide #UC #SIP #VoIP

Posted on by stevemiles70

Overview
 
This download contains two documents:

•Deploying Enterprise Voice at Central sites guides you through the process of deploying voice over IP (VoIP for Lync Server 2010 in a central site.
•Deploying Branch Sites guides you through the process of deploying survivable branch office appliance or branch office servers for branch office resiliency.

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=4816

 

Microsoft will support #multi-tenant #hosting on #Exchange SP2 Enterprise @implementcom #Ensim #Parallels #HMC

Posted on by stevemiles70

Courtesy of Steve Schwartz @ implement.com

Microsoft will support multi-tenant hosting on Exchange SP2 Enterprise
There is a new blog entry on Microsoft’s plan to support hosters using Exchange SP2 Enterprise.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2011/08/30/exchange-server-2010-sp2-and-support-for-hosting-exchange.aspx

With the release of Exchange Server 2010 SP2 later this year, we will add a new feature known as Address Book Policies. Following this addition, hosters who wish to deploy the standard on-premises configuration of Exchange and use ABP will be supported.

As you may have read in a recent post over on the Exchange Partner Marketing blog, our view on whether to host Exchange using Hosting Mode or the standard on-premises configuration is changing in response to feedback we’ve had from both hosters and customers. We recognize that the Hosting Mode configuration of Exchange we released as part of SP1 provides a more robust multi-tenant solution, but lacks some of the features available in the standard on-premises configuration. Many of these are key features which customers are asking for, like Exchange Unified Messaging. We want to enable our hosting partners to offer the same rich feature set that our on-premises customers are used to. As such, with the release of SP2 for Exchange Server 2010, we intend to broaden our support stance to include hosting the on-premises configuration of Exchange in a multi-tenant environment.

To be eligible for support, hosters will need to adhere to a few configuration guidelines; a framework we will publish in conjunction with SP2. The framework will outline the configuration challenges of hosting Exchange in a multi-tenant environment which need to be solved, and provide general direction for developing solutions in the most supportable way. Let’s consider a couple of examples:

  • As I mentioned earlier, the Address Book Policy feature is a key reason that we will be able to support hosters using the on-premises configuration if they are using SP2. The framework will specify that directory segmentation should be done using Address Book Policies, not by a series of Allow/Deny ACE’s on Address List objects.
  • For provisioning, the framework will specify that the creation of objects (such as a tenant organization or a mailbox) in Active Directory and Exchange should use our standard built-in tools, PowerShell cmdlets, and documented APIs. Code should not be written to create objects directly in Active Directory or Exchange, bypassing these standard tools.

An automation vendor or a hoster, should they choose to, will be able to build their own automation tools using this framework. The easiest and quickest route to support for most hosters, though, will likely be through engaging with a hosting automation vendor whose solution adheres to the guidelines. In order to help service providers quickly find the right automation software, in the SP2 timeframe we will publish a list of solutions which follow the framework (and thus are eligible for support). These solutions will be validated by Microsoft in much the same way that we currently validate load balancing solutions. I’ll hasten to add that this will not be a formal certification process, but instead will be an assurance to our customers that we have worked with the vendor and are satisfied that it conforms to the framework.

So, what does this mean for you today if you want to use the on-premises configuration of Exchange to host mailboxes for your customers in a multi-tenant environment?\

 

  • If you need to deploy prior to SP2, we recommend that you work with an automation vendor and use their solution. Your vendor of choice will be your only source of support. Your vendor will hopefully have plans to update their solution for SP2 per the soon-to-be-published framework, at which time you will have a path to being supported by Microsoft once you’ve upgraded your infrastructure.
  • If you plan to deploy post SP2, and you intend to use an automation solution from an automation vendor, you should ensure your chosen vendor is working with us to validate their solution and deploy when that solution is ready.
  • If you plan on building your own solution using the standard on-premises configuration of Exchange, you should consider waiting for SP2 to ship and then develop your solution following the framework to ensure you receive the best level of support from Microsoft.