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Updated Links on Windows Server 2012 R2 File Server and SMB 3.02

In this post, I'm providing a reference to the most relevant content related to Windows Server 2012 R2 that is related to the File Server, the SMB 3.02 features and its associated scenarios like Hyper-V over SMB and SQL Server over SMB. This is what some like to call a "Survival Guide" for SMB 3.02. … Continue reading Updated Links on Windows Server 2012 R2 File Server and SMB 3.02 →

Demo details for my TechEd 2014 presentation on File Server Networking

During my TechEd 2014 presentation on File Server Networking for a Private Cloud Storage Infrastructure in Windows Server 2012 R2, I did a demo showing a Scale-Out File Server Cluster. The demo consisted of showing the networking details of this cluster, looking both from the cluster perspective and the client side. I was asked after … Continue reading Demo details for my TechEd 2014 presentation on File Server Networking →

Building your schedule for TechEd 2014? Here are some Storage-related sessions!

  TechEd NorthAmerica 2014 is just a few weeks away and it’s a sold-out event now. If you’re attending and you haven’t yet started building your schedule, you can consider yourself officially late. 🙂 If you’re focused on Private Cloud Storage and High Availability, let me suggest a few Breakout Sessions, Instructor-Led Labs (ILL) and … Continue reading Building your schedule for TechEd 2014? Here are some Storage-related sessions! →

PowerShell tips for building objects with custom properties and special formatting

  I’ve been building a number of scripts that query information using PowerShell. To create those, I used some PowerShell tricks to make the output look just like I wanted. This post is a compilation of these tricks. The first few tricks are simple, but they grow increasingly complex towards the end. The examples here … Continue reading PowerShell tips for building objects with custom properties and special formatting →

Step-by-Step for Mirrored Storage Spaces Resiliency using PowerShell

 0 - Overview  This blog post is a walkthrough of the resiliency offered by Storage Spaces when using mirrored spaces.For this exercise we have a single virtual machine with multiple data disks used to create the spaces.The idea is to simulate a number of different failure and recovery scenarios, reviewing the behavior.It includes the procedure … Continue reading Step-by-Step for Mirrored Storage Spaces Resiliency using PowerShell →

Deploying a Windows Server 2012 R2 Scale-Out File Server Cluster using Azure VMs

0) Overview In this document, I am sharing the steps I used to create a Windows Server 2012 R2 Scale-Out File Server Cluster environment using only Azure VMs, for demo, test or development purposes. This includes a few important tips and tricks to install Active Directory and Windows Server Failover Clustering in an Azure VM … Continue reading Deploying a Windows Server 2012 R2 Scale-Out File Server Cluster using Azure VMs →

TechEd 2014: File Server Networking for a Private Cloud Storage Infrastructure

Just a reminder that I will be delivering a session at TechEd 2014 in Houston, Texas. Here are the details:   Code   DCIM-B337 Title   File Server Networking for a Private Cloud Storage Infrastructure in Windows Server 2012 R2 Date   Tuesday, May 13 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM Track   Datacenter and Infrastructure … Continue reading TechEd 2014: File Server Networking for a Private Cloud Storage Infrastructure →

SMB Direct and RDMA performance demo from TechEd (includes summary, PowerShell scripts and links)

IMPORTANT NOTE:SQLIO has been deprecated, as shown at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sql_server_team/archive/2015/12/11/sqlio-disk-subsystem-benchmark-tool-is-being-retired.aspx DiskSpd is the suitable replacement for SQLIO. You can find details on that at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2014/10/13/diskspd-powershell-and-storage-performance-measuring-iops-throughput-and-latency-for-both-local-disks-and-smb-file-shares.aspx ---------------- Overview   My last TechEd demo showed some interesting performance data for SMB3 over RDMA (SMB Direct), including the latest small IO improvements in Windows Server 2012 R2. Since I … Continue reading SMB Direct and RDMA performance demo from TechEd (includes summary, PowerShell scripts and links) →

Detailed guides for Windows Server 2012 R2 Private Cloud Storage (using SMB3 File Servers, Cluster Shared Volumes and Storage Spaces)

There is a new set of TechNet pages covering how to design and deploy a Private Cloud Storage solution using Windows Server 2012 R2 technologies. This includes the detailed description of a complete rack-sized solution using Hyper-V Cluster, SMB3 Scale-Out File Server Clusters, Cluster Shared Volumes and Storage Spaces   1) Provide cost-effective storage for … Continue reading Detailed guides for Windows Server 2012 R2 Private Cloud Storage (using SMB3 File Servers, Cluster Shared Volumes and Storage Spaces) →