MVUG Blog

Implementing Hyper-V in the Branch

Recently I have been considering Branch Office architecture designs and this has led me to have a number of discussions around what that Branch Office architecture might look like.

There are a number of areas to consider but this particular article focuses on the platform and running either the R2 release of Hyper-V or maybe better still the R2 release of Hyper-V Server in the Branch.

My initial research concluded that there are three main Branch Office architecture designs:

·         A single independent host that offers no high availability.

·         Two or more independent hosts where increased availability is provided through storage mirroring.

·         Two or more hosts where high availability is provided through Windows Failover Clustering.

A single independent host

A single independent host offers no high availability and so it is best suited if the majority of services running at the Branch are either also available at a regional HQ or available at the corporate data centre.

This way, users at the Branch do not experience a loss of service, although the quality of service may be impacted. Issues to consider:

1.     How will patching at the host level occur?

2.     How will the host be backed up?

3.     Remote management.

Two or more independent hosts with storage mirroring

Where a single independent host does not meet availability requirements but where Windows Failover Cluster is considered overkill or maybe too complex for the organisation to implement, two or more independent hosts with storage mirroring may provide the answer.

One of the benefits here is that there is no need to necessarily implement shared storage e.g. iSCSI or Fibre Channel SAN. Direct Attached Storage would work equally as well in this situation.

The issue of patching the host is mitigated by the ability to easily replicate and run virtual machines on either host. Issues to consider:

1.     How will the host be backed up?

2.     Remote management.

A two node cluster

A two node cluster offers all the benefits of the previous model. However there is a requirement for some shared storage in this instance. The potential perceived complexity of this solution may outweigh the benefits for some organisations. Issues still to consider:

1.     How will the host be backed up?

2.     Remote management.

Webcast (9th July) Microsoft and Citrix Virtualising Together

Join Microsoft and Citrix for this 45 minute webinar where the key of features of Hyper-V will be explained by Microsoft experts. Following this Citrix will explain the benefits of a joint Hyper-V and Essentials for Hyper-V solution.
Finally you will learn how this joint solution benefits you as a partner and how you can engage with Microsoft and Citrix going forward.

Register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/728434433

Patrick Lownds

Virtual Machine Reporting Capability in MAP 4.0

After writing the following article on the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 4.0 beta http://www.mvug.co.uk/blogs/mvugblog/archive/2009/06/24/microsoft-assessment-and-planning-toolkit-4-0-beta.aspx I wanted to further understand one of the NEW features “Virtual Machine Reporting Capabilities” and so I managed to get the opportunity to communicate with Kingsley Daniel the Microsoft PM for this feature.

MAP 4.0 supports discovery and inventory of virtualization technologies, both Microsoft and VMware, deployed in an IT infrastructure.  The results of virtual machine inventory are presented within the MAP UI or can be generated in a new report, VM report. The following are the key highlights of VM reporting capability in MAP 4.0:

Patrick Lownds