Today i took the 70-669 exam to become Windows Server 2008 R2 Desktop Configuration Technology Specialist, it was a little hard in some areas cause some of the questions was on MED-V that i have not so much experience in, but APP-V and Presentation virtualization was a bit easier. As always with the exams, read the question thoroughly and think about what they want and then look at the answers.

On tuesday i took the 70-693 PRO exam. and last year i took the 70-659 so now i am MCITP: Virtualization Administrator.

here is a graph of the path to become MCITP: Virtualization Administrator:

I have worked quite a lot with Hyper-V and System Center products and to study for the Desktop Virtualization i found this page and also used a free ebook to read, there are lots of free information on the internet and also some courses. The post that i wrote about earlier this month about the Microsoft Jumpstart videos also gives good information.

i have been teaching this 10215A on Addskills that is the course for Implementing and Managing server virtualization and i can recommend it for interested technicians that want to get to know the Microsoft virtualization technologies on server and presentation.

The course 10324A for Implementing and managing Desktop virtualization is quite new and i have not looked at it yet and as far as i know, no course centers offer it as of today at least not in Sweden.

Good luck in taking the exams! With the Second shot that Prometic offers at least some of the preasure is off your back to succeed the first time 🙂 although i have never had to use it …

I found a blog post about the 5Nine Manager for Hyper-V, the cool part about this tool is that it can be run on the Server Core installation and provide a GUI for management of the Hyper-V role and the virtual machines. If for example your host has problems and has network connectivity issues this tool can be handy and use to for example check the eventlog on the core server. It is developed on the Hyper-V public API´s and coded in .Net. The best part is that it is free, there is a 99 $ licensed edition where you also in Core can access the virtual machines console and configure hyper-v networking, but the free version is enough when in troubleshooting a failing host.

Features and Benefits:

• Hyper-V Management – 5nine Manager for Hyper-V allows managing virtual machines, virtual hard disks and networks on both local and remote Hyper-V servers. Use 5nine Manager for Hyper-V to manage Hyper-V on Windows 2008 R2 core and Hyper-V Sever installations without resorting to remote management via the Microsoft Hyper-V Manager or Virtual Machine Manager Server. 5nine Manager for Hyper-V can also be used to administer Hyper-V R2 hosts joined to a domain that is managed by a guest operating system, thus overcoming cyclic dependency issues.
• Network Management – 5nine Manager for Hyper-V provides comprehensive virtual network management as well as the management of virtual connections and bindings. Use 5nine Manager for Hyper-V to troubleshoot and fix network connections and related problems that cannot be fixed via remote management. 5nine Manager for Hyper-V Virtual Network Manager also allows reviewing and editing virtual network ports used by the virtual network interfaces and guests.
• Secure your Hyper-V Hosts – 5nine Manager for Hyper-V does not extend a potential attack surface on managed Hyper-V servers and does not install or require any additional components.
• Simple and Easy to Use – 5nine Manager for Hyper-V offers a simple and easy to use User Interface that is familiar to most of Windows 2008 Server users. In addition to this, 5nine Manager for Hyper-V further simplifies the administration tasks on Windows 2008 core installations and Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 by providing a Graphical User Interface for file system views and operations.
• Maximize Host Performance – 5nine Manager for Hyper-V has a small memory footprint and does not consume any resources on managed Hyper-V servers when it is not running.
• Follow Best Practices – 5nine Manager for Hyper-V is a valuable tool for managing the virtualization stack on production environments that are utilizing Windows 2008 R2 Server core installations according to Microsoft Best Practices as well as the Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.

Today i have been helping a customer with their Hyper-V R2 Cluster and patching it with the hotfix for westmere processor. one strange issue was that we found two of the blades reporting only 36 GB RAM, while the others correctly showed 72 GB RAM. As it was another consultant that was responsible for assembling the servers we first thought that they had missed to put in all DIMMs, when we loooked in the servers all slots where filled? And when we put it back in the chassi and powered on the server correctly showed 72 GB RAM! really strange.

after boot:

i used the following powershell commands in VMM powershell console to get the memory for the cluster nodes:

Get-VMHostCluster -name cluster01
Get-VMHost -VMHostCluster $VMCluster | ft Name, TotalMemory

If this happens again we will report it to the HP Support, (Edit) it happend again now..  it seems to be related to a reboot of the hosts 🙁

On Technet Edge there is a couple of videos for Virtualization admins to learn more about how Microsoft Virtualization solution works.

It is a very good way to get up to speed what Microsoft has to offer and that it is a competitive solution!

from the jumpstart site:

About this Jump Start series:

The “Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals” Jump Start is specially tailored for VMware and Microsoft virtualization technology pros. This cutting-edge course features expert instruction and real-world demonstrations of Hyper-V, many components of the System Center Suite, including VMM 2012, and a myriad of VDI solutions. This course is designed for Data Center Managers, IT Professionals, IT Decision Makers, Network Administrators, Storage/Infrastructure Administrators & Architects. Expert IT infrastructure consultant, Corey Hynes, and Microsoft Technical Evangelist, Symon Perriman, leveraged an engaging “team teaching” approach which makes the class as entertaining as it is educational.

Click here to watch the complete video series

• Virtualization Jump Start (01): Virtualization Overview
• Virtualization Jump Start (02): Differentiating Microsoft & VMware
• Virtualization Jump Start (03a): Hyper-V Deployment Options & Architecture | Part 1
• Virtualization Jump Start (03b): Hyper-V Deployment Options & Architecture | Part 2
• Virtualization Jump Start (04): High-Availability & Clustering
• Virtualization Jump Start (05): System Center Suite Overview with focus on DPM
• Virtualization Jump Start (06): Automation with Opalis, Service Manager & PowerShell
• Virtualization Jump Start (07): System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012
• Virtualization Jump Start (08): Private Cloud Solutions, Architecture & VMM Self-Service Portal 2.0
• Virtualization Jump Start (09): Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Architecture | Part 1
• Virtualization Jump Start (10): Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Architecture | Part 2
• Virtualization Jump Start (11): v-Alliance Solution Overview
• Virtualization Jump Start (12): Application Delivery for VDI

Hi

on one of the blogs i am following, Adian Finn, he has a post about a new hotfix from Microsoft that has come out regarding a problem with Hyper-V clusters and CSV volumes in redirected mode, read more at this link and get the hotfix

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:

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.

Hi

Have been playing a little with powershell and SCVMM2012 and with these simple lines i add 64 SCSI vhd drives á 4 GB each and then delete them all while the VM is running

$VM = Get-VM -Name "VMc2test"

for ($i=0;$i -le 63;$i++){

$vhdfilename = "vhdtest" + $i
New-VirtualDiskDrive -VM $VM -Dynamic -Filename $vhdfilename -sCSI -Size 4000 -Bus 0 -LUN $i
}

and to delete them

$vhds = @(Get-VirtualDiskDrive -VM vmc2test | where {$_.BusType -match "SCSI"})

foreach ($vhd in $vhds){

Remove-VirtualDiskDrive -VirtualDiskDrive $vhd

}

and why did i select the ones that had SCSI in the remove part, well the system vhd where the OS resides is on the IDE controller so i can safely assume that the OS will still be accessible, as some of you already know in Hyper-V the boot volume must reside on a IDE controller for the VM to boot.