September 17, 2013 at 14:50The cloud grows and matures - or the latest System Center Vitrual Machine Manager 2012 R2
Greetings, my friends and colleagues!
The next fiery work week is gaining momentum today (despite the far from fiery weather outside the window) ...
And I take advantage of this, I decided to devote you to the secret details of the new products of such a cloudy System Center 2012 R2 - Virtual Machine Manger ...
I really, really want to talk about VMM's new products, and I’ll probably start with one of the most interesting and complex topics in VMM - that is, from networks ...
Actually, to be honest and straightforward, almost all the new products that appeared in 2012 R2 aimed at implementing new mechanisms that appeared in Windows Server 2012 R2, and, as a result of this, at working and deploying guest clusters. This implies the fact of the emergence of management and assignment of guest IP addresses for deployed VMs and services on top of them using the VMM itself ... K
Of course, no one talks about fully integrating similar IPAM mechanisms into VMM itself, it’s just that the server with the installed IPAM role is added to VMM as an infrastructure component - thus, technically, a third-party server takes over the management and allocation function, but the management itself comes from the VMM console.
Figure 1. Adding an IPAM server as an infrastructure component in VMM 2012 R2.
Another interesting point in the field of networks, which will be interesting primarily to hosters. Now you can create site-to-site gateways with support for NVGRE mechanisms ( N etwork V irtualization using G eneric R outing Encapsulation. Thus, it is now possible to create and take into account tenants not only with private infrastructures, but also create virtualized networks for tenants with many different gateways and direct Internet access using NAT mechanisms ( N etwork A ddress T ranslation).
Those. based on the ideology of NVGRE mechanisms, we get greater scalability and reliability when using adapters that support this technology. Well, the BYOIP approach here also fits quite well - you can save the existing VLAN configuration and transfer it to the VMM-based cloud.
Well, for starters, we added support for integration with the access level switch in our cloud to networks (or integration with TOR ( Top O f R ack switch). Support for the expandable Hyper-V switch now fully reaches VMM, so that everything is now transparent and convenient.
It will probably be very logical to move a little from data networks to other networks, namely to SAN networks and issues of managing and providing storage. If we talk directly about changes in the field of SAN infrastructure, then there is support for virtual Fiber Channel, the ability to manage zones and, which logically follows from the above, the ability to create ready-made virtual machines with virtual HBA adapters with connection to the SAN network via FC channels.
Also CPU unloading mechanism and the server by using industrial storage enabled ODX ( O ffloaded D ata T ransfer) are now available for transfer and migration through VMM - that is good.
Figure 2. Support for fast copying based on compression and ODX mechanisms in VMM 2012 R2
Support for a shared VHDX disk is perhaps the most interesting feature that appeared in Windows Server 2012 R2 and now successfully reaches Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2 itself - though there is one subtlety : In order to create guest clusters with a common storage, then this virtual disk must be located on the general clustered storage, i.e. take any VHDX-drive with a location in a local folder and make it shared so far we will not succeed, but as it seems to me personally this is a matter of time ...
Well, do not forget that with the advent of Windows Server 2012 R2 we can use WS2012R2 itself as a platform for reliable and scalable storage, so now we can do bare-metal deployment of not only virtualization hosts, but also scalable file servers (Scale- out File Server) - and as a result, there is support for managing Storage Spaces mechanisms, which are responsible for creating storage for VMs and services.
It is also worth noting the support for new virtual machine replication mechanisms that came from Windows Server 2012 R2 - this way we can also talk about support for cloud-based replication scripts.
Well, in the end I’ll tell you a little about the new products in the virtual machines themselves, and in the clouds that are present in our VMM'e.
The first thing that personally pleased me was the support of differential disks for virtual machines. This allows more efficient use of storage and space for VMs, as well as speeding up and typing the deployment processes of VMs and services (Ah VDI, VDI !!! Approx. Author) ...
In general, the script is cool, especially if you put the parent disk on the SSD, and the child ones - already at a slower pace (and cheaper) ...
Figure 3. Support of differential disks for VMs in VMM 2012 R2.
Support for cloning VMs to live - also got from the server brother and also allows you to export VMs from a specific image without stopping its operation, with zero downtime.
The ability to change the size of a VHDX disk on the fly without stopping the VM and services is also available, both for WIndows and Linux-VM as guest OSs.
Support for compression during live migration is also available for SCVMM 2012 R2, and the introduction of a modified API for transferring files to Hyper-V has led to the possibility of copying and moving files inside the VM from the VMM console even if the latter has no network connection (which was previously the only one way to transfer the file inside the VM).
Support for service templates from different VMs (mixed service, Linux + Windows) is now also held in high esteem and respect by VMM, that services and VMKs can now be deployed from templates and not think about which OS will be inside the VM for the service ...
And finally, it remains for me to add that the counters in Management Packs have been updated and now allow us to measure the consumption of resources and calculate the cost of consuming a service based on its location and real resource utilization, which was very lacking before.
Well, colleagues, this is my brief overview of the innovations that appeared in System Center 2012 R2 - Virtual Machine Manager has come to an end.
It remains only to add a link to download the preview system center of the second release (R2):
technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dn205295
Well, and Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview (For those who have access to TechNet / MSDN subscriptions - Already have the opportunity to download the RTM version):
technet.microsoft.com/ru-ru/evalcenter/dn205286
Until we meet again, don’t freeze and don’t get sick!
Fireman
George A. Gadzhiev
The next fiery work week is gaining momentum today (despite the far from fiery weather outside the window) ...
And I take advantage of this, I decided to devote you to the secret details of the new products of such a cloudy System Center 2012 R2 - Virtual Machine Manger ...
Network news
I really, really want to talk about VMM's new products, and I’ll probably start with one of the most interesting and complex topics in VMM - that is, from networks ...
Actually, to be honest and straightforward, almost all the new products that appeared in 2012 R2 aimed at implementing new mechanisms that appeared in Windows Server 2012 R2, and, as a result of this, at working and deploying guest clusters. This implies the fact of the emergence of management and assignment of guest IP addresses for deployed VMs and services on top of them using the VMM itself ... K
Of course, no one talks about fully integrating similar IPAM mechanisms into VMM itself, it’s just that the server with the installed IPAM role is added to VMM as an infrastructure component - thus, technically, a third-party server takes over the management and allocation function, but the management itself comes from the VMM console.
Figure 1. Adding an IPAM server as an infrastructure component in VMM 2012 R2.
Another interesting point in the field of networks, which will be interesting primarily to hosters. Now you can create site-to-site gateways with support for NVGRE mechanisms ( N etwork V irtualization using G eneric R outing Encapsulation. Thus, it is now possible to create and take into account tenants not only with private infrastructures, but also create virtualized networks for tenants with many different gateways and direct Internet access using NAT mechanisms ( N etwork A ddress T ranslation).
Those. based on the ideology of NVGRE mechanisms, we get greater scalability and reliability when using adapters that support this technology. Well, the BYOIP approach here also fits quite well - you can save the existing VLAN configuration and transfer it to the VMM-based cloud.
Well, for starters, we added support for integration with the access level switch in our cloud to networks (or integration with TOR ( Top O f R ack switch). Support for the expandable Hyper-V switch now fully reaches VMM, so that everything is now transparent and convenient.
Data Warehouses and more
It will probably be very logical to move a little from data networks to other networks, namely to SAN networks and issues of managing and providing storage. If we talk directly about changes in the field of SAN infrastructure, then there is support for virtual Fiber Channel, the ability to manage zones and, which logically follows from the above, the ability to create ready-made virtual machines with virtual HBA adapters with connection to the SAN network via FC channels.
Also CPU unloading mechanism and the server by using industrial storage enabled ODX ( O ffloaded D ata T ransfer) are now available for transfer and migration through VMM - that is good.
Figure 2. Support for fast copying based on compression and ODX mechanisms in VMM 2012 R2
Support for a shared VHDX disk is perhaps the most interesting feature that appeared in Windows Server 2012 R2 and now successfully reaches Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2 itself - though there is one subtlety : In order to create guest clusters with a common storage, then this virtual disk must be located on the general clustered storage, i.e. take any VHDX-drive with a location in a local folder and make it shared so far we will not succeed, but as it seems to me personally this is a matter of time ...
Well, do not forget that with the advent of Windows Server 2012 R2 we can use WS2012R2 itself as a platform for reliable and scalable storage, so now we can do bare-metal deployment of not only virtualization hosts, but also scalable file servers (Scale- out File Server) - and as a result, there is support for managing Storage Spaces mechanisms, which are responsible for creating storage for VMs and services.
It is also worth noting the support for new virtual machine replication mechanisms that came from Windows Server 2012 R2 - this way we can also talk about support for cloud-based replication scripts.
Clouds and Virtual
Well, in the end I’ll tell you a little about the new products in the virtual machines themselves, and in the clouds that are present in our VMM'e.
The first thing that personally pleased me was the support of differential disks for virtual machines. This allows more efficient use of storage and space for VMs, as well as speeding up and typing the deployment processes of VMs and services (Ah VDI, VDI !!! Approx. Author) ...
In general, the script is cool, especially if you put the parent disk on the SSD, and the child ones - already at a slower pace (and cheaper) ...
Figure 3. Support of differential disks for VMs in VMM 2012 R2.
Support for cloning VMs to live - also got from the server brother and also allows you to export VMs from a specific image without stopping its operation, with zero downtime.
The ability to change the size of a VHDX disk on the fly without stopping the VM and services is also available, both for WIndows and Linux-VM as guest OSs.
Support for compression during live migration is also available for SCVMM 2012 R2, and the introduction of a modified API for transferring files to Hyper-V has led to the possibility of copying and moving files inside the VM from the VMM console even if the latter has no network connection (which was previously the only one way to transfer the file inside the VM).
Support for service templates from different VMs (mixed service, Linux + Windows) is now also held in high esteem and respect by VMM, that services and VMKs can now be deployed from templates and not think about which OS will be inside the VM for the service ...
And finally, it remains for me to add that the counters in Management Packs have been updated and now allow us to measure the consumption of resources and calculate the cost of consuming a service based on its location and real resource utilization, which was very lacking before.
Well, colleagues, this is my brief overview of the innovations that appeared in System Center 2012 R2 - Virtual Machine Manager has come to an end.
It remains only to add a link to download the preview system center of the second release (R2):
technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dn205295
Well, and Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview (For those who have access to TechNet / MSDN subscriptions - Already have the opportunity to download the RTM version):
technet.microsoft.com/ru-ru/evalcenter/dn205286
Until we meet again, don’t freeze and don’t get sick!
Fireman
George A. Gadzhiev