NetApp Storage Best Practices for Microsoft Virtualization, also known as TR-3702, has been updated for the release of Hyper-V R2 and SCVMM 2008 R2.

In addition to updating the old sections to match the new technology, we have also added new sections covering the following areas:

• Hyper-V Server Networking Considerations
• Hyper-V Cluster Networking Considerations
• Hyper-V Server Storage Provisioning
• Virtual Machine Storage Provisioning
• NetApp FlexClones and Snapshot technology
• Backup and Recovery
• Disaster Recovery and High Availability

 All in all, about 50-60 additional pages were added over the previous version, now containing not just best practices, but additional content provided to educate the reader on how and why we established some of our best practices. I have received lots of great feedback on this document so far, mostly because it’s packed with everything that folks have been asking for to help them with their Hyper-V deployments. The only gaps that exist (in my opinion) cover Storage Layout Recommendations and MetroCluster. I have started a blog series on NetApp Storage Layout for Hyper-V and my team recently released a new Solutions Guide for Microsoft Applications virtualized using Hyper-V and deployed for High Availability with NetApp MetroCluster (TR-3804), which one of my team members blogged about recently here. Many of the recommendations provided in the blog series on Storage Layout, as well as findings from our work on the Solutions Guide and Reference Architectures using Hyper-V and MetroCluster, will be incorporated into the next version of TR-3702 (v3.1) due out sometime February 2010.

But that’s not all – TR-3702’s sibling document, the NetApp Implementation Guide for Microsoft Virtualization (TR-3733), has been updated as well. 

While TR-3702 is focused on just providing guidelines and best practices for integrated architectures and implementations of Microsoft® Hyper-V with NetApp® storage solutions, TR-3733 is focused on providing step-by-step guidance on deploying Microsoft® Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) with NetApp® storage solutions. Therefore, we have included not just step-by-step directions, but screen shots as well on many of the processes to assist newcomers to NetApp, Hyper-V, and SCVMM with deploying an integrated solution. All of the step-by-step guidance follows the best practices established in TR-3702 and most of the best practices are represented. There are some gaps, but I am working to cover those in upcoming blog posts for the month of December, as well as working them into the next version of TR-3733 (v3.1), which should be published in February sometime.

Physical overview of the hardware:

StarWind Free

Great product to build your own ISCSI based SAN. It is compatible with Server 2003 Clustering and supports SCSI-3 Persistent reservation bit.

StarWind Free is an iSCSI Target that converts any Windows server into a SAN in less than 10 minutes.  This is a fully functional product at no cost. 

• Large 2 TB storage capacity
• Unlimited number of connections
• Virtualization environment support for VMware, Hyper-V, XenServer, Virtual Iron
• Enhances VMware environments by enabling VMotion, VMware HA, DRS and VCB
• Supports Windows server clustering for any application including SQL Server, Exchange, SharePoint

More info @: http://www.starwindsoftware.com/free

R2: Clustering Resources for Windows Server 2008 R2

• Blog Guide: Deploying Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV)
• Blog Guide: Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV): Disk Ownership
• Blog Guide: PowerShell for Network Load Balancing (NLB) in Windows Server 2008 R2
• Blog Guide: PowerShell for Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008 R2
• Blog Guide: Live Migration Traffic
• Blog Guide: How to manually defrag or ChkDisk a CSV disk
• TechNet Guide: Using Live Migration in Windows Server 2008 R2
• TechNet Guide: What’s new in R2 Clustering
• Webcast: Innovating High Availability with Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV)
• Webcast: Failover Clustering Feature Roadmap in WS08 R2
• Webcast: Windows Server 2008 R2 Live Migration
• Webcast: Clustering in a Virtual World
• Website: Clustering Forum (2008 R2)
• Whitepaper: Windows Server 2008 R2 & Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 – Hyper-V Live Migration Overview & Architecture

 Pingback from: http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/archive/2009/04/20/9557017.aspx

I’m currently designing a SQL Cluster at a customer site. With Microsoft SQL Server 2008 some new features and requirements comes in place. Below some useful SQL Server 2008 links that gave me a good overview,

Failover Cluster Step-by-Step Guide: Configuring the Quorum in a Failover Cluster: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770620.aspx

A failover cluster is a group of independent computers that work together to increase the availability of applications and services. The clustered servers (called nodes) are connected by physical cables and by software. If one of the cluster nodes fails, another node begins to provide service (a process known as failover). Users experience a minimum of disruptions in service.

Getting Started with SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189134.aspx

SQL Server failover clustering provides high-availability support for an entire SQL Server instance. SQL Server failover clusters are built on top of Windows Server failover clusters. To create a SQL Server failover cluster, you need to first create the underlying Windows Server failover cluster.

IPD Guide: Microsoft SQL Server 2008: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/B/C/5BC966BC-47D8-41DF-95F2-FA9A2D816258/SQL%20Server%202008.zip

This guide, when used in conjunction with product documentation, will help companies confidently plan the implementation of a SQL Server 2008 infrastructure. It addresses fundamental tasks to help the reader identify which SQL Server roles will be needed as well as to determine the infrastructure’s components, server placement, and the fault-tolerance configuration to meet necessary requirements.

Microsoft SQL Server Best Practices: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc966412.aspx

Running Microsoft SQL Server 2008 in Hyper-V: Running SQL Server 2008 in a Hyper-V Environment – Best Practices and Performance Recommendations.

Six Failover Clustering Benefits Realized from Migrating to SQL Server 2008:

• Author: Joseph Sack
• Technical Reviewer: Burzin Patel, Juergen Thomas, Lindsey Allen, Justin Erickson

SQL Server 2008 failover clustering introduces several supportability, reliability, and availability improvements. The following list details the more significant and immediate benefits of making the move to SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering.

Full story here: http://sqlcat.com/top10lists/archive/2008/11/20/six-failover-clustering-benefits-realized-from-migrating-to-sql-server-2008.aspx

• General resources
• Core Server
• Exchange Server
• File Server
• Hyper-V
• Multi Site clustering
• Network loadbalancing
• SQL Server

  Read the rest of this entry »