Tag: Windows 2008 R2

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

My Configuration is a Fresh new Windows 2008 R2 machine Ready to create a 4 node cluster. When I run the Cluster validation Process it was all OK just create my cluster name With a IP and no storage. I did this in Powershell and it failed Why ? access Denied on creating the cluster .

What is wrong ?

Step One : Cluster Validation Reports all fine no major errors here.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

Could it be a GPO that meshup my install ? <> NO

Firewall / other local settings <> NO

In powershell “admin mode” I did create a cluster / error creating cluster access denied.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

Event logging : there are special eventlogs for clustering So I checked them.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

So It looks OK no errors <> Dive Deeper.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

The Cluster service successfully formed the failover cluster ‘ClusterName’.

So I can create the Cluster but after that I rolls back Whay ?

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

The cluster service has been stopped and set as disabled as part of cluster node cleanup.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

So Access is denied Event ID 4657 I could use http://www.bing.com but there must be a hint to solve this.

There is also a Event ID 6 kerberos issues ? MaxTokenSize OK checked the register on this server. NO MaxTokenSize there.

Do I need this key ? Well I checked the Key for my domain account that I used for creating this cluster and yes It is member of 700 Groups

Who need this kind of Groups this is Windows 2008 R2 beyond the Kerberos ticket eh yeh but your Domain controller is still a windows 2003 x32 Box. 

So I put in the MaxTokenSize key rebooted and created the cluster. Case solved.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\Kerberos\Parameters]

"MaxTokenSize"=dword:000186a0

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

My Configuration is a Fresh new Windows 2008 R2 machine Ready to create a 4 node cluster. When I run the Cluster validation Process it was all OK just create my cluster name With a IP and no storage. I did this in Powershell and it failed Why ? access Denied on creating the cluster .

What is wrong ?

Step One : Cluster Validation Reports all fine no major errors here.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

Could it be a GPO that meshup my install ? <> NO

Firewall / other local settings <> NO

In powershell “admin mode” I did create a cluster / error creating cluster access denied.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

Event logging : there are special eventlogs for clustering So I checked them.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

So It looks OK no errors <> Dive Deeper.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

The Cluster service successfully formed the failover cluster ‘ClusterName’.

So I can create the Cluster but after that I rolls back Whay ?

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

The cluster service has been stopped and set as disabled as part of cluster node cleanup.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

So Access is denied Event ID 4657 I could use http://www.bing.com but there must be a hint to solve this.

There is also a Event ID 6 kerberos issues ? MaxTokenSize OK checked the register on this server. NO MaxTokenSize there.

Do I need this key ? Well I checked the Key for my domain account that I used for creating this cluster and yes It is member of 700 Groups

Who need this kind of Groups this is Windows 2008 R2 beyond the Kerberos ticket eh yeh but your Domain controller is still a windows 2003 x32 Box. 

So I put in the MaxTokenSize key rebooted and created the cluster. Case solved.

Cluster Validation Create Cluster access is denied

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlLsaKerberosParameters]

"MaxTokenSize"=dword:000186a0

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Windows Live Tags: Cluster,Validation,Create,Beta,Configuration,Fresh,Windows,machine,Ready,Powershell,Step,Reports,Could,Firewall,mode,Event,Dive,Deeper,service,ClusterName,back,Whay,part,hint,issues,MaxTokenSize,Groups,Kerberos,ticket,Domain,Case,Registry,Editor,Version,HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,SYSTEM,CurrentControlSet,Control,Parameters,node,errors

Cluster Shared Volumes change metric configuration with powershell only !

 

How do I change the metric off my cluster shared volumes network ?

Well If you don’t want to use the autometric then you need to change it but where can I change it.

About CSV :

When you enable Cluster Shared Volumes, the failover cluster automatically chooses the network that appears to be the best for CSV communication. However, you can designate the network by using the cluster network property, Metric. The lowest Metric value designates the network for CSV and internal cluster communication. The second lowest value designates the network for live migration, if live migration is used (you can also designate the network for live migration by using the failover cluster snap-in).

When the cluster sets the Metric value automatically, it uses increments of 100. For networks that do not have a default gateway setting (private networks), it sets the value to 1000 or greater. For networks that have a default gateway setting, it sets the value to 10000 or greater. Therefore, for your preferred CSV network, choose a value lower than 1000, and give it the lowest metric value of all your networks.

 

Another property, called AutoMetric, uses true and false values to track whether Metric is being controlled automatically by the cluster or has been manually defined.

 

To set the Metric value for a network, use the Windows PowerShell cmdlet Get-ClusterNetwork as described in the following procedure. For more information about the cmdlet, see Get-ClusterNetwork (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=143787).

To designate a network for Cluster Shared Volumes

  1. On a node in the cluster, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Windows PowerShell Modules. (If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Yes.)

  2. To identify the networks used by a failover cluster and the properties of each network, type the following:

    Get-ClusterNetwork | ft Name, Metric, AutoMetric, Role

    A table of cluster networks and their properties appears (ft is the alias for the Format-Table cmdlet). For the Role property, 1 represents a private cluster network and 3 represents a mixed cluster network (public plus private).

  3. To change the Metric setting to 900 for the network named Cluster Network 1, type the following:

    ( Get-ClusterNetwork "Cluster Network 1" ).Metric = 900

    noteNote

    The AutoMetric setting changes from True to False after you manually change the Metric setting. This tells you that the cluster is not automatically assigning a Metric setting. If you want the cluster to start automatically assigning the Metric setting again for the network named Cluster Network 1, type the following:

    ( Get-ClusterNetwork "Cluster Network 1" ).AutoMetric = $true

  4. To review the network properties, repeat step 2.

MaxUserPort – what it is, what it does, when it's important

 

Recently I run in to the MAXUserPort issue I binged again to see if there are other bloggers that have this fixed.  I saw a good post from Tristan Kingston ( I could not find my own post ;-(

Source :http://blogs.technet.com/b/tristank/archive/2008/03/11/maxuserport-what-it-is-what-it-does-when-it-s-important.aspx

 

MaxUserPort controls "outbound" TCP connections

MaxUserPort is used to limit the number of dynamic ports available to TCP/IP applications.

It’s never going to be an issue affecting inbound connections. MaxUserPort is not the right answer if you think you have an inbound connection problem.

(I don’t know why, I just know it is. Probably something to do with constraining resource use on 16MB machines, or something.)

To further simplify: it’s typically going to limit the number of outbound sockets that can be created. Note: that’s really a big fat generalization, but it’s one that works in 99% of cases.

If an application asks for the next available socket (a socket is a combination of an IP address and a port number), it’ll come from the ephemeral port range allowed by MaxUserPort. Typically, these "next available" sockets are used for outbound connections.

The default range for MaxUserPort is from 1024-5000, but the possible range is up to 65534.

When You Fiddle MaxUserPort

So, why would you change MaxUserPort?

In the web server context (equally applicable to other application servers), you’d usually need to look at MaxUserPort when:

– your server process is communicating with some type of other system (like a back-end database, or any TCP-based application server – quite often http web servers)

And:

– you are not using socket pooling, and/or

– your request model is something like one request = one outbound TCP connection (or more!)

In this type of scenario, you can run out of ephemeral ports (between 1024 and MaxUserPort) very quickly, and the problem will scale with the load applied to the system, particularly if a socket is acquired and abandoned with every request.

When a socket is abandoned, it’ll take two minutes to fall back into the pool.

Discussions about how the design could scale better if it reused sockets rather than pooling tend to be unwelcome when the users are screaming that the app is slow, or hung, or whatever, so at this point, you’d have established that new request threads are hung waiting on an available socket, and just turn up MaxUserPort to 65534.

What Next? TcpTimedWaitDelay, natch

Once MaxUserPort is at 65534, it’s still possible for the rate of port use to exceed the rate at which they’re being returned to the pool! You’ve bought yourself some headroom, though.

So how do you return connections to the pool faster?

Glad you asked: you start tweaking TcpTimedWaitDelay.

By default, a connection can’t be reused for 2 times the Maximum Segment Lifetime (MSL), which works out to 4 minutes, or so the docs claim, but according to The Lore O’ The Group here, we reckon it’s actually just the TcpTimedWaitDelay value, no doubling of anything.

TcpTimedWaitDelay lets you set a value for the Time_Wait timeout manually.

As a quick aside: the value you specify has to take retransmissions into account – a client could still be transferring data from a server when a FIN is sent by the server, and the client then gets TcpTimedWaitDelay seconds to get all the bits it wants. This could be sucky in, for example, a flaky dial-up networking scenario, or, say, New Zealand, if the client needs to retransmit a whole lot… and it’s sloooow. (and this is a global option, as far as I remember).

30 seconds is a nice, round number that either quarters or eighths (depending on who you ask – we say quarter for now) the time before a socket is reusable (without the programmer doing anything special (say, SO_REUSEADDR)).

If you’ve had to do this, at this point, you should be thinking seriously about the architecture – will this scale to whatever load requirements you have?

The maths is straightforward:

If each connection is reusable after a minimum of N (TcpTimedWaitDelay) seconds
and you are creating more than X (MaxUserPort) connections in an N second period…

Your app is going to spend time "waiting" on socket availability…

Which is what techy types call "blocking" or "hanging". Nice*!

Fun* KB Articles:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319502/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328476

MaxUserPort – what it is, what it does, when it’s important

 

Recently I run in to the MAXUserPort issue I binged again to see if there are other bloggers that have this fixed.  I saw a good post from Tristan Kingston ( I could not find my own post ;-(

Source :http://blogs.technet.com/b/tristank/archive/2008/03/11/maxuserport-what-it-is-what-it-does-when-it-s-important.aspx

 

MaxUserPort controls "outbound" TCP connections

MaxUserPort is used to limit the number of dynamic ports available to TCP/IP applications.

It’s never going to be an issue affecting inbound connections. MaxUserPort is not the right answer if you think you have an inbound connection problem.

(I don’t know why, I just know it is. Probably something to do with constraining resource use on 16MB machines, or something.)

To further simplify: it’s typically going to limit the number of outbound sockets that can be created. Note: that’s really a big fat generalization, but it’s one that works in 99% of cases.

If an application asks for the next available socket (a socket is a combination of an IP address and a port number), it’ll come from the ephemeral port range allowed by MaxUserPort. Typically, these "next available" sockets are used for outbound connections.

The default range for MaxUserPort is from 1024-5000, but the possible range is up to 65534.

When You Fiddle MaxUserPort

So, why would you change MaxUserPort?

In the web server context (equally applicable to other application servers), you’d usually need to look at MaxUserPort when:

– your server process is communicating with some type of other system (like a back-end database, or any TCP-based application server – quite often http web servers)

And:

– you are not using socket pooling, and/or

– your request model is something like one request = one outbound TCP connection (or more!)

In this type of scenario, you can run out of ephemeral ports (between 1024 and MaxUserPort) very quickly, and the problem will scale with the load applied to the system, particularly if a socket is acquired and abandoned with every request.

When a socket is abandoned, it’ll take two minutes to fall back into the pool.

Discussions about how the design could scale better if it reused sockets rather than pooling tend to be unwelcome when the users are screaming that the app is slow, or hung, or whatever, so at this point, you’d have established that new request threads are hung waiting on an available socket, and just turn up MaxUserPort to 65534.

What Next? TcpTimedWaitDelay, natch

Once MaxUserPort is at 65534, it’s still possible for the rate of port use to exceed the rate at which they’re being returned to the pool! You’ve bought yourself some headroom, though.

So how do you return connections to the pool faster?

Glad you asked: you start tweaking TcpTimedWaitDelay.

By default, a connection can’t be reused for 2 times the Maximum Segment Lifetime (MSL), which works out to 4 minutes, or so the docs claim, but according to The Lore O’ The Group here, we reckon it’s actually just the TcpTimedWaitDelay value, no doubling of anything.

TcpTimedWaitDelay lets you set a value for the Time_Wait timeout manually.

As a quick aside: the value you specify has to take retransmissions into account – a client could still be transferring data from a server when a FIN is sent by the server, and the client then gets TcpTimedWaitDelay seconds to get all the bits it wants. This could be sucky in, for example, a flaky dial-up networking scenario, or, say, New Zealand, if the client needs to retransmit a whole lot… and it’s sloooow. (and this is a global option, as far as I remember).

30 seconds is a nice, round number that either quarters or eighths (depending on who you ask – we say quarter for now) the time before a socket is reusable (without the programmer doing anything special (say, SO_REUSEADDR)).

If you’ve had to do this, at this point, you should be thinking seriously about the architecture – will this scale to whatever load requirements you have?

The maths is straightforward:

If each connection is reusable after a minimum of N (TcpTimedWaitDelay) seconds
and you are creating more than X (MaxUserPort) connections in an N second period…

Your app is going to spend time "waiting" on socket availability…

Which is what techy types call "blocking" or "hanging". Nice*!

Fun* KB Articles:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319502/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328476

Last day For Windows 2003

After today there is no mainstream support for windows 2003. So get your servers ready for windows 2008 R2 .There is still the extended Support. But the OS is 7 years old, almost every product that is older than 7 years need a replacement. think about your home desktop,TV,dishwasher etc the Extended support end at 14-07-2015

Sure you can wait till the NEXT version of windows in 201x. But can you wait ?, can you ? ,are you sure ? What about the security and all the benefits of windows 2008R2 you want to skip this? maybe now but I’m sure by the end of this year you need windows 2008R2 if you want to keep up with the market.

Do you still use IE6 ? no you are running the latest version because the security is better. And what about the migration/adoption time in your organization ? .

Think Proactive ! if you have software assurance you are already paying for the windows 2008R2 release so why not upgrading. Our company always waits for the service pack , well there is a service/feature pack it is still in beta but it brings new stuff for windows 2008R2 play with it and get ready and avoid a forced migration because you need some app that is only running on windows 2008R2.

Below are several links to the Windows 2008R2 resources.

 

 

Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center

 
Support for Windows 2003 ends on July 13, 2010!

The Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center is a starting point for planning your migration strategy from Windows 2000 to Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

For more information please see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy.

Planning and AssessingMigrating Server RolesMigrating SQL ServerNetworking Server RolesSmall Business ServerClient MigrationApplication CompatibilityAsk the CommunityAssisted Support

Planning and Assessing

Planning and Assessing a Migration or Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2

A direct upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2008 R2 is not supported. The resources below provide information about migration paths.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Product Home Page
Visit the Windows Server Home Page for product information, trial software, purchasing options, technical resources, case studies and more.

Windows Server 2008 R2 System Requirements
Before upgrading your system from Windows 2000 to Windows 2008 R2, be sure your hardware meets the Windows Server 2008 R2 system requirements. Assuming your hardware meets the requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2, upgrading is a two-step process. You must first upgrade your system to Windows Server 2003 SP2 (or later) and then upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Upgrade Paths
This document outlines supported and unsupported upgrade paths for editions of the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system.

Assessment and Planning Toolkit for Windows Server 2008 R2
The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is a powerful inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely assess IT environments for various platform migrations and virtualization without the use of any software agents. NOTE: The oldest operating system supported by this tool is Windows Server 2003 SP2.

Windows Server Migration Tools
Administrators can use Windows Server Migration Tools to migrate server roles, features, operating system settings, and other data and shares to computers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2. NOTE: The oldest operating system supported by this tool is Windows Server 2003 SP2.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Deprecated Features
This document provides is a list of deprecated features and functionalities in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and is intended for IT professionals who are updating operating systems in a commercial environment.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 (MDT 2010) provides a common console with the comprehensive tools and guidance needed to efficiently manage deployment of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Planning and Assessing a Migration or Upgrade to Windows 7

 

 

Download SP1 Beta Today

SP1 Beta Overview

The Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Betas are concurrent releases that we’ve packaged together in a single download for a more streamlined and cost effective deployment.  Businesses can begin realizing the advancements of the Windows Server platform for virtualization through two key features:  Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.

Dynamic Memory Overview

“We found that we could increase the number of virtual machines per Hyper-V server by 25 to 50 percent with Dynamic Memory. For some Hyper-V servers, we even went from 4 to 7 virtual machines—a 75 percent increase!”
-  David Feng, IT Director, Sporton International

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V introduces a new feature, called Dynamic Memory, in the Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta releases.  It allows customers to achieve increased density when they’re consolidating physical servers into a virtual realm, providing them with predictable performance and linear scalability.  With Dynamic Memory, IT administrators are able to pool available memory on a physical host and then dynamically dole that memory out to virtual machines running on the host, based on current workload needs.
For a technical overview of the new Dynamic Memory feature, download the Dynamic Memory Technical Overview whitepaper.    

RemoteFX Overview

“We save 70 to 80 hours each month by delivering classes remotely using RemoteFX in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. At our billing rate of $250 an hour, that’s more than $200,000 a year.”
– Rand Morimoto, President, Convergent Computing

RemoteFX, a key feature of Remote Desktop Services (RDS) lets IT administrators deliver a rich graphics experience to end-users through virtualized desktops.  Using new protocol enhancements between Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, end users can now access virtual machines on a wide variety of target devices and still get a rich graphics experience with server-side graphics processing. 
Learn more about RemoteFX and download the Remote Desktop Services Datasheet. 

Last day For Windows 2003

After today there is no mainstream support for windows 2003. So get your servers ready for windows 2008 R2 .There is still the extended Support. But the OS is 7 years old, almost every product that is older than 7 years need a replacement. think about your home desktop,TV,dishwasher etc the Extended support end at 14-07-2015

Sure you can wait till the NEXT version of windows in 201x. But can you wait ?, can you ? ,are you sure ? What about the security and all the benefits of windows 2008R2 you want to skip this? maybe now but I’m sure by the end of this year you need windows 2008R2 if you want to keep up with the market.

Do you still use IE6 ? no you are running the latest version because the security is better. And what about the migration/adoption time in your organization ? .

Think Proactive ! if you have software assurance you are already paying for the windows 2008R2 release so why not upgrading. Our company always waits for the service pack , well there is a service/feature pack it is still in beta but it brings new stuff for windows 2008R2 play with it and get ready and avoid a forced migration because you need some app that is only running on windows 2008R2.

Below are several links to the Windows 2008R2 resources.

 

 

Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center

 
Support for Windows 2003 ends on July 13, 2010!

The Windows 2000 End-of-Support Solution Center is a starting point for planning your migration strategy from Windows 2000 to Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

For more information please see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy.

Planning and AssessingMigrating Server RolesMigrating SQL ServerNetworking Server RolesSmall Business ServerClient MigrationApplication CompatibilityAsk the CommunityAssisted Support

Planning and Assessing

Planning and Assessing a Migration or Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2

A direct upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2008 R2 is not supported. The resources below provide information about migration paths.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Product Home Page
Visit the Windows Server Home Page for product information, trial software, purchasing options, technical resources, case studies and more.

Windows Server 2008 R2 System Requirements
Before upgrading your system from Windows 2000 to Windows 2008 R2, be sure your hardware meets the Windows Server 2008 R2 system requirements. Assuming your hardware meets the requirements for Windows Server 2008 R2, upgrading is a two-step process. You must first upgrade your system to Windows Server 2003 SP2 (or later) and then upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Upgrade Paths
This document outlines supported and unsupported upgrade paths for editions of the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system.

Assessment and Planning Toolkit for Windows Server 2008 R2
The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is a powerful inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely assess IT environments for various platform migrations and virtualization without the use of any software agents. NOTE: The oldest operating system supported by this tool is Windows Server 2003 SP2.

Windows Server Migration Tools
Administrators can use Windows Server Migration Tools to migrate server roles, features, operating system settings, and other data and shares to computers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2. NOTE: The oldest operating system supported by this tool is Windows Server 2003 SP2.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Deprecated Features
This document provides is a list of deprecated features and functionalities in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and is intended for IT professionals who are updating operating systems in a commercial environment.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 (MDT 2010) provides a common console with the comprehensive tools and guidance needed to efficiently manage deployment of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Planning and Assessing a Migration or Upgrade to Windows 7

 

 

Download SP1 Beta Today

SP1 Beta Overview

The Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Betas are concurrent releases that we’ve packaged together in a single download for a more streamlined and cost effective deployment.  Businesses can begin realizing the advancements of the Windows Server platform for virtualization through two key features:  Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.

Dynamic Memory Overview

“We found that we could increase the number of virtual machines per Hyper-V server by 25 to 50 percent with Dynamic Memory. For some Hyper-V servers, we even went from 4 to 7 virtual machines—a 75 percent increase!”
–  David Feng, IT Director, Sporton International

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V introduces a new feature, called Dynamic Memory, in the Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta releases.  It allows customers to achieve increased density when they’re consolidating physical servers into a virtual realm, providing them with predictable performance and linear scalability.  With Dynamic Memory, IT administrators are able to pool available memory on a physical host and then dynamically dole that memory out to virtual machines running on the host, based on current workload needs.
For a technical overview of the new Dynamic Memory feature, download the Dynamic Memory Technical Overview whitepaper.    

RemoteFX Overview

“We save 70 to 80 hours each month by delivering classes remotely using RemoteFX in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. At our billing rate of $250 an hour, that’s more than $200,000 a year.”
– Rand Morimoto, President, Convergent Computing

RemoteFX, a key feature of Remote Desktop Services (RDS) lets IT administrators deliver a rich graphics experience to end-users through virtualized desktops.  Using new protocol enhancements between Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, end users can now access virtual machines on a wide variety of target devices and still get a rich graphics experience with server-side graphics processing. 
Learn more about RemoteFX and download the Remote Desktop Services Datasheet. 

Fix for KB976902 What is this update

Windows 2008 R2 SP1 is now in beta and on the web are the first leaked beta builds but remember you don’t know if the source is OK.

just wait for a few day’s weeks for the real thing. below is a quoted post from the windows server blog and an installation overview but one question is there what is this update 976902 and why is it not online.

NOW it is online

Article ID: 976902 – Last Review: January 25, 2011 – Revision: 5.0

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976902

Update information

Updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 installation software are included in this update. The installation software is the component that handles the installation and the removal of software updates, language packs, optional Windows features, and service packs. This update is necessary to successfully install and to remove any service packs to all versions of Windows 7 and on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to install this update on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this update.

Update replacement information

This update does not replace any other previously released updates.

Update removal information

You cannot remove this update. 

Update information

Updates to the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 installation software are included in this update. The installation software is the component that handles the installation and the removal of software updates, language packs, optional Windows features, and service packs. This update is necessary to successfully install and to remove any service packs to all versions of Windows 7 and on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to install this update on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this update.

Update replacement information

This update does not replace any other previously released updates.

Update removal information

You cannot remove this update.Building on our commitment to provide customers with

Building on our commitment to provide customers with the right technologies to virtualize their IT environments, today we’re announcing that the public beta of Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 will be released by the end of July. We’ve posted on the contents of SP1 before, but the beta release will be the first time you’ll be able to actually get your mitts on the new code. In case you missed our earlier post, here’s a recap:

SP1 will be a joint release for both Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. From the server side, we’ve included two key new features:

Dynamic memory is an enhancement to Hyper-V in R2 and allows IT administrators to pool all the memory available on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to virtual machines running on that host as necessary. That means based on changes in workload, your VMs will be able to receive new memory allocations without a service interruption. For a deeper look at Dynamic Memory check here.

RemoteFX is the latest addition to Microsoft’s desktop virtualization stack. Using this new feature in Windows Server 2008 R2, you’ll be able to deliver an even richer and more user-transparent desktop virtualization experience. RemoteFX functions independently of any graphics stack and supports any screen content, including rich content like Silverlight or Flash. It also enhances the end-user’s hardware experience with support for USB redirection. Because it uses virtualized graphics resources, RemoteFX works on a wide array of target devices, which means you can deploy it over both thick and thin client hosts and a wide variety of network configurations. For some more information on RemoteFX check here.

Source :http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2010/06/07/coming-soon-windows-server-2008-r2-sp1-beta.aspx

But if you have the bits you can install the beta it is an easy setup Next , Next and I agree 😉

image  And you are ready to go with the hyper-v dynamic memory and more.

But you can also use the Windows update Server for this.

image image image

First you see an update K976902 but what is this update If you look in the XML you see the KB from the support site but no info there infact the page is not there . In time the page will be there I guess.

<> File overview

assembly xmlns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3″ manifestVersion=”1.0″ description=”Fix for KB976902″ displayName=”default” company=”Microsoft Corporation” copyright=”Microsoft Corporation” supportInformation=”http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=976902″ creationTimeStamp=”2010-06-04T05:04:12Z” lastUpdateTimeStamp=”2010-06-04T05:04:12Z”>
    <assemblyIdentity name=”Package_for_KB976902″ version=”6.1.1.16562″ language=”neutral” processorArchitecture=”amd64″ publicKeyToken=”31bf3856ad364e35″/>
    <package identifier=”KB976902″ applicabilityEvaluation=”deep” releaseType=”Update” restart=”possible” selfUpdate=”true” permanence=”permanent” psfName=”Windows6.1-KB976902-x64.psf”>

image  If you look in the windowsupdate.log you see this

<> Windows update.log

2010-07-05    09:30:36:805    1000    7c0    Report    REPORT EVENT: {2BC8037A-D5AA-4992-B902-8A2A6D4DB23A}    2010-07-05 09:30:05:652+0200    1    183    101    {7599B82A-8F9A-4ADA-9D0E-7DABCAA87B9D}    101    0    AutomaticUpdates    Success    Content Install    Installation Successful: Windows successfully installed the following update: Update for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-based Systems (KB976902)
2010-07-05    09:30:36:805    1000    714    AU    >>##  RESUMED  ## AU: Search for updates [CallId = {B8821183-1838-42A8-978F-23676C3B9B41}]
20

image image image

image image image

So tested the deployment of SP1 manual or with WSUS no problem there.

But make sure your source is correct do not use leaked files you never know who changed the files.

Virtual Machine Density Flexibility in Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering

Recently Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering has changed the support statement for the maximum number of Virtual Machines (VMs) that can be hosted on a failover cluster from 64 VMs per node to 1,000 VMs per cluster.  This article reflects the new policy in Hyper-V: Using Hyper-V and Failover Clustering.

Supporting 1000 VMs will enable increased flexibility to utilize hardware that has the capacity to host more VMs per physical server while maintaining the high availability and management components that Failover Clustering provides. 

Number of Nodes in Cluster

Max Number of VMs per Node

Average Number of VMs per active Node

Max # VMs in Cluster

2 Nodes (1 active + 1 failover)

384

384

384

3 Nodes (2 active + 1 failover)

384

384

768

4 Nodes (3 active + 1 failover)

384

333

1000

5 Nodes (4 active + 1 failover)

384

250

1000

6 Nodes (5 active + 1 failover)

384

200

1000

7 Nodes (6 active + 1 failover)

384

166

1000

8 Nodes (7 active + 1 failover)

384

142

1000

9 Nodes (8 active + 1 failover)

384

125

1000

10 Nodes (9 active + 1 failover)

384

111

1000

11 Nodes (10 active + 1 failover)

384

100

1000

12 Nodes (11 active + 1 failover)

384

90

1000

13 Nodes (12 active + 1 failover)

384

83

1000

14 Nodes (13 active + 1 failover)

384

76

1000

15 Nodes (14 active + 1 failover)

384

71

1000

16 Nodes (15 active + 1 failover)

384

66

1000

 

Note: There is no requirement to have a node without any VMs allocated as a “passive node”.  All nodes can host VMs and have the equivalent to 1 node of capacity unallocated (total, across all the nodes) to allow for placement of VMs if a node fails or is taken out of active cluster membership for activities like patching or performing maintenance. 

It is important to perform proper capacity planning that takes into consideration the capabilities of the hardware and storage to host VMs, and the total resources that the individual VMs require, while still having enough reserve capacity to host VMs in the event of a node failure to prevent memory over commitment.  The same base guidance of Hyper-V configuration and limits of a maximum number of VMs supported per physical server still apply.  This currently states that no node can host more than 384 running VMs at any given time, and that the hardware scalability should not exceed 4 virtual processors per VM and no more than 8 virtual processors per logical processor.  Review this Technet article on VM limits and requirements: Requirements and Limits for Virtual Machines in Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Is there a hotfix or service pack required to have this new limit? 

a. No, this support policy change based on extra testing we have performed to verify that the cluster retains its ability to health detect and failover VMs with these densities.  There are no changes or updates required.

2. 64 VMs per node on a 16 node cluster equals 1024 VMs, so aren’t you actually decreasing the density for a 16 node cluster? 

a. No, the previous policy was to have 64 VMs per node in addition to one nodes equivalent of reserve capacity, which is 15 nodes x 64 VMs which equals 960 with the spare capacity of a passive node.  This policy slightly increases the density for a 16 node cluster an
d the density for an 8 node cluster is more than twice and a 4 node cluster more than 4-times as high as before.

3. Does this include Windows Server 2008 clusters?

a.  This change is only for Windows Server 2008 R2 clusters.

4. Why did you make this change?

a. We are responding to our customers’ requests to have flexibility in the number of nodes and the number of VMs that can be hosted.  For VMs running workloads that have relatively small demand of VM and storage resources, customers would like to place more VMs on each server to maximize their investiments and lower the management costs.  Other customers want the flexibility of having more nodes and fewer VMs. 

5. Does this mean I can go and put 250 VMs on my old hardware?

a. Understanding the resources that your hardware can provide and the requirements of your VMs is still the most important thing in identifying the capacity of your cluster or the specific Hyper-V servers.    Available RAM and CPU resources are relatively easy to calculate, but another important part of the equation is capacity of the SAN/Storage.  Not just how many GB or TB of data it can store, but can it handle the I/O demands with reasonable performance?  1000 VMs can potentially produce a significant amount of I/O demand, and the exact amount will depend on what is running inside the VMs.  Monitoring the storage performance is important to understand the capacity of the solution.

Source :http://blogs.msdn.com/b/clustering/archive/2010/06/28/10031803.aspx

Virtual Machine Density Flexibility in Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering

Recently Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Clustering has changed the support statement for the maximum number of Virtual Machines (VMs) that can be hosted on a failover cluster from 64 VMs per node to 1,000 VMs per cluster.  This article reflects the new policy in Hyper-V: Using Hyper-V and Failover Clustering.

Supporting 1000 VMs will enable increased flexibility to utilize hardware that has the capacity to host more VMs per physical server while maintaining the high availability and management components that Failover Clustering provides. 

Number of Nodes in Cluster

Max Number of VMs per Node

Average Number of VMs per active Node

Max # VMs in Cluster

2 Nodes (1 active + 1 failover)

384

384

384

3 Nodes (2 active + 1 failover)

384

384

768

4 Nodes (3 active + 1 failover)

384

333

1000

5 Nodes (4 active + 1 failover)

384

250

1000

6 Nodes (5 active + 1 failover)

384

200

1000

7 Nodes (6 active + 1 failover)

384

166

1000

8 Nodes (7 active + 1 failover)

384

142

1000

9 Nodes (8 active + 1 failover)

384

125

1000

10 Nodes (9 active + 1 failover)

384

111

1000

11 Nodes (10 active + 1 failover)

384

100

1000

12 Nodes (11 active + 1 failover)

384

90

1000

13 Nodes (12 active + 1 failover)

384

83

1000

14 Nodes (13 active + 1 failover)

384

76

1000

15 Nodes (14 active + 1 failover)

384

71

1000

16 Nodes (15 active + 1 failover)

384

66

1000

 

Note: There is no requirement to have a node without any VMs allocated as a “passive node”.  All nodes can host VMs and have the equivalent to 1 node of capacity unallocated (total, across all the nodes) to allow for placement of VMs if a node fails or is taken out of active cluster membership for activities like patching or performing maintenance. 

It is important to perform proper capacity planning that takes into consideration the capabilities of the hardware and storage to host VMs, and the total resources that the individual VMs require, while still having enough reserve capacity to host VMs in the event of a node failure to prevent memory over commitment.  The same base guidance of Hyper-V configuration and limits of a maximum number of VMs supported per physical server still apply.  This currently states that no node can host more than 384 running VMs at any given time, and that the hardware scalability should not exceed 4 virtual processors per VM and no more than 8 virtual processors per logical processor.  Review this Technet article on VM limits and requirements: Requirements and Limits for Virtual Machines in Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Is there a hotfix or service pack required to have this new limit? 

a. No, this support policy change based on extra testing we have performed to verify that the cluster retains its ability to health detect and failover VMs with these densities.  There are no changes or updates required.

2. 64 VMs per node on a 16 node cluster equals 1024 VMs, so aren’t you actually decreasing the density for a 16 node cluster? 

a. No, the previous policy was to have 64 VMs per node in addition to one nodes equivalent of reserve capacity, which is 15 nodes x 64 VMs which equals 960 with the spare capacity of a passive node.  This policy slightly increases the density for a 16 node cluster and the density for an 8 node cluster is more than twice and a 4 node cluster more than 4-times as high as before.

3. Does this include Windows Server 2008 clusters?

a.  This change is only for Windows Server 2008 R2 clusters.

4. Why did you make this change?

a. We are responding to our customers’ requests to have flexibility in the number of nodes and the number of VMs that can be hosted.  For VMs running workloads that have relatively small demand of VM and storage resources, customers would like to place more VMs on each server to maximize their investiments and lower the management costs.  Other customers want the flexibility of having more nodes and fewer VMs. 

5. Does this mean I can go and put 250 VMs on my old hardware?

a. Understanding the resources that your hardware can provide and the requirements of your VMs is still the most important thing in identifying the capacity of your cluster or the specific Hyper-V servers.    Available RAM and CPU resources are relatively easy to calculate, but another important part of the equation is capacity of the SAN/Storage.  Not just how many GB or TB of data it can store, but can it handle the I/O demands with reasonable performance?  1000 VMs can potentially produce a significant amount of I/O demand, and the exact amount will depend on what is running inside the VMs.  Monitoring the storage performance is important to understand the capacity of the solution.

Source :http://blogs.msdn.com/b/clustering/archive/2010/06/28/10031803.aspx

Microsoft sends invitations to testers for Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 SP1

 

You are receiving this invitation based on the quality of feedback you have provided on previous Windows programs and the Microsoft Windows release team would like you to participate in the Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) release program, to be available shortly, as announced at the Microsoft’s TechEd conference.

Accepting this invitation will allow you to access pre-release versions of the Service Pack for the purposes of validating the release readiness. We highly value your past feedback and know we can count on you again to help us build a great new version of Windows!

The SP1 release version is not available quite yet but we need to assemble a great team of program peers early so you are ready to go when we are! If you accept this invitation you’ll be notified when the release version becomes available.

What you will get if you choose to participate

• Early access to downloadable Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 releases
• Access to private newsgroups to share information about the release with other program peers and with Microsoft staff
• The ability to report bugs and track their status
• An opportunity to help us build a better Windows by validating the release readiness

What we will ask of you if you choose to participate

• Download and install Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 on at least one PC each
• File bugs if you encounter them as well as respond to surveys as you can.
• Validation we are seeking
o Set-up and installation
o Application Experience/Compatibility
o Device Experience/Compatibility
• We ask that you actively participate in discussions on the newsgroups and share your opinions with us and others

 

Read more : zdnet.com

Microsoft sends invitations to testers for Windows 7, Server 2008 R2 SP1

 

You are receiving this invitation based on the quality of feedback you have provided on previous Windows programs and the Microsoft Windows release team would like you to participate in the Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) release program, to be available shortly, as announced at the Microsoft’s TechEd conference.

Accepting this invitation will allow you to access pre-release versions of the Service Pack for the purposes of validating the release readiness. We highly value your past feedback and know we can count on you again to help us build a great new version of Windows!

The SP1 release version is not available quite yet but we need to assemble a great team of program peers early so you are ready to go when we are! If you accept this invitation you’ll be notified when the release version becomes available.

What you will get if you choose to participate

• Early access to downloadable Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 releases
• Access to private newsgroups to share information about the release with other program peers and with Microsoft staff
• The ability to report bugs and track their status
• An opportunity to help us build a better Windows by validating the release readiness

What we will ask of you if you choose to participate

• Download and install Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 on at least one PC each
• File bugs if you encounter them as well as respond to surveys as you can.
• Validation we are seeking
o Set-up and installation
o Application Experience/Compatibility
o Device Experience/Compatibility
• We ask that you actively participate in discussions on the newsgroups and share your opinions with us and others

 

Read more : zdnet.com

Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager

RDCMan manages multiple remote desktop connections

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4603c621-6de7-4ccb-9f51-d53dc7e48047&displaylang=en

RDCMan manages multiple remote desktop connections. It is useful for managing server labs where you need regular access to each machine such as automated checkin systems and data centers. It is similar to the built-in MMC Remote Desktops snap-in, but more flexible.

The installation is very easy.

image image image image

I love first install errors smile_devil It is my Pc that is the problem not the application I hope.

image

So now that the installation is completed we are ready to go.

I use visionapp all the time and I like this very much.

image  First we must make a group that holds the Servers

Now that we have a Group we can import Servers or add a server.

image image

But the first time you may want to add a bulk with a text file or with a wildcard. in this case a # the bad thing you can only add one wildcard.

image image  image

So now I have imported my servers I want to create groups “domain name” Role or add subgroup

image  Now I can’t add servers to the DC group I can only add servers to the RODC Group. In vissionapp I can do this.

Overall It is like visionapp but RDCman is only at the beginning no add in for external applications or the server in folder thing like above.

And I must say the TAB view in the top off the screen is nice now you have to scroll down to click your server, but If you have lots of open RDP sessions the most active sessions are on top if you use the sorting

image

SO if you don’t want to pay for a RDP management tool this RDCman is the tool you want easy to use and to manage. No problems with NLA on windows 2008 R2

A cool thing is that you can connect to group and Logoff to group 😉

In may case I run it to 100 RDP sessions got again a nice error and the RDCman went down.

clip_image001

So Will I use it ? : YES

Is it better than Vissionapp ? : NO

It is Free so give the tool a test ride if you don’t use any tool now it is great Get it here :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4603c621-6de7-4ccb-9f51-d53dc7e48047&displaylang=en

Change printer driver in a windows 2008 R2 Cluster

 

How to change a printer driver in a windows 2008 R2 cluster.

If you are running a Windows Server 2008 R2 print cluster GET THIS HOTFIX!  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976571

Now that you want to change a printer driver in you current windows 2008 R2 cluster we need to go to the Failover Cluster Manager

Go to the Printer Services & app then choose manage printer

clip_image002 clip_image004 

Now that we opened the printer manager we can add the drivers,ports,options.

clip_image006 clip_image008 clip_image010

We can do add the new printer driver or remove a driver.

clip_image012 clip_image014 clip_image016

But the best way is go to your printer and choose properties  in the advanced tab check the new driver button.

clip_image018 Pick a new driver or if the driver is already installed in the driver tab you can pick the driver from the pull down list.

clip_image020 clip_image022

Now that We use a new driver we are ready to go but remember in some cases word templates uses printer predefined printer settings or alignment settings that may change if you use a new driver. 

Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager

RDCMan manages multiple remote desktop connections

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4603c621-6de7-4ccb-9f51-d53dc7e48047&displaylang=en

RDCMan manages multiple remote desktop connections. It is useful for managing server labs where you need regular access to each machine such as automated checkin systems and data centers. It is similar to the built-in MMC Remote Desktops snap-in, but more flexible.

The installation is very easy.

image image image image

I love first install errors smile_devil It is my Pc that is the problem not the application I hope.

image

So now that the installation is completed we are ready to go.

I use visionapp all the time and I like this very much.

image  First we must make a group that holds the Servers

Now that we have a Group we can import Servers or add a server.

image image

But the first time you may want to add a bulk with a text file or with a wildcard. in this case a # the bad thing you can only add one wildcard.

image image  image

So now I have imported my servers I want to create groups “domain name” Role or add subgroup

image  Now I can’t add servers to the DC group I can only add servers to the RODC Group. In vissionapp I can do this.

Overall It is like visionapp but RDCman is only at the beginning no add in for external applications or the server in folder thing like above.

And I must say the TAB view in the top off the screen is nice now you have to scroll down to click your server, but If you have lots of open RDP sessions the most active sessions are on top if you use the sorting

image

SO if you don’t want to pay for a RDP management tool this RDCman is the tool you want easy to use and to manage. No problems with NLA on windows 2008 R2

A cool thing is that you can connect to group and Logoff to group 😉

In may case I run it to 100 RDP sessions got again a nice error and the RDCman went down.

clip_image001

So Will I use it ? : YES

Is it better than Vissionapp ? : NO

It is Free so give the tool a test ride if you don’t use any tool now it is great Get it here :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4603c621-6de7-4ccb-9f51-d53dc7e48047&displaylang=en