2012? What’s New in Server - Build your own...

What’s New in Server 2012?Alex Graham

Central Library Consortiumagraham@clcohio.org

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/Me!agraham@clcohio.org