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Why What’s New Matters
● The new features and technologies that follow are a part of the licensing you already pay for.
● Management tools similar to the ones you already know
● They matter because they can make your infrastructure more reliable and resiliant.
Overview
Server 2012 Changes● ReFS● GUI Changes● NIC Teaming● DHCP Failover● Storage Spaces
Hyper V 3.0 Changes● Virtual Switch
Infrastructure● Shared-Nothing
Live Migrations● Hyper V Replicas
ReFS
Under the Hood of Server 2012
ReFS● New file system in Server 2012
● Proactive protection against corruption
● The disk stays Online during repair● Say “Goodbye” to Chkdsk● Works with storage pools
(more on those later)Tip: Does not work for boot drives or native SQL volumes
screenshot of a volume formatted with REFS
GUI is now a “Feature”
Under the Hood of Server 2012
GUI is now just an add-on● Unlike previous versions, the GUI can be
added or removed at will.● Multiple GUI levels.● RSATs allow you to manage tools with
GUIs from your desktop instead of server.
Server Core
sconfig on Server Core
Minimum GUI
Native NIC Teaming
Under the Hood of Server 2012
Native NIC Teaming● Teaming that is officially supported by
MS● Not dependent on manufacturer or speed
of NICS● Allows for active aggregation or failover● Abstracts your VMs from physical network
hardware
Screenshots of NIC Team Configuration
Screenshots of NIC Team Configuration
Screenshots of NIC Team Configuration
DHCP FailOver
Under the Hood of Server 2012
DHCP Failover Clustering● Entire DHCP scopes active on each server● Eliminates the issue of “split scope”
servers running out of addresses● Reservations sync between servers● Failover is seamless. Secondary server
assumes all responsibility if primary fails.Tip: Does Not work with BOOTPTip: Easiest to set-up from scratch in 2012
Scope Properties: Failover Tab
Storage Spaces
Under the Hood of Server 2012
Storage Spaces● JBOD performance that rivals that of
SANs...at a fraction of the cost.● Utilize commodity hardware for storage● Abstract physical disks from storage
volumes● Eliminates “cap” on SSD performance on
traditional RAID controllers● Thin Provision ● ReFS Auto Rebuild if detected corruption
Storage Costs for Common Storage Solutions
SAN Performance vs Storage Spaces
Hyper-V 3.0
What’s New in Server 2012?
Hyper-V 3.0● Let’s start a quick demo. This will show
off some of the features that we are going to talk about...Or it will fail miserably.
Virtual Switches
Hyper-V 3.0 on Server 2012
Virtual Switch Infrastructure● Microsoft now supports Converged
Network infrastructure● VLANs tagged on virtual adapters;
connectivity stays with VM when migrating
● No need for separate adapters for each VM
● When VS is built on a NIC Team, all VMs have redundant network connections*
This is installed as part of Hyper-V. You access it from Hyper-V manager.
Shared-NothingLive Migrations
Hyper-V 3.0 on Server 2012
Shared Nothing Live Migrations● VMs can be moved to new hosts with zero
downtime● Utilizes Local Storage or SMB shares● New hardware for Polaris database? No
problem!● How’s that Demo going?
Hyper-V Replicas
Hyper-V 3.0 on Server 2012
Hyper-V Replicas● VM Replicas are stored on another host
for failover● Greatly reduces RPO and RTO for
hardware failure● Replica can be on-site or remote● Failover is a manual process, but can be
done in just seconds
Replication Health of Production Database
Hyper-V 3.0 on Server 2012
Hyper-V VM settings● QoS can be set on NICs and on Storage*● NUMA can be passed on to VM
Helpful Tip: Enable NumLock on VM BIOS, set stop action to “Shut Down” instead of “Pause”
● New features in 2012 (R2) can help improve Scalability, Reliability, and Resiliency
● The new features are easy to implement● Microsoft’s Developments for Azure
infrastructure have translated into a great benefit for all users of Windows Server 2012
●
For Further Information
Technet Blogshttp://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/Channel 9 (MSDN videos)http://channel9.msdn.com/Tags/windows+server+2012Adian Finn, Microsoft MVPhttp://www.aidanfinn.com/[email protected]
