Blog

I will be speaking at the //build/ conference next month

Just a short post to share that I will be speaking at the BUILD conference next month. The conference will happen in Anaheim-CA, from 9/13 to 9/16. You can read more at the official site: http://www.buildwindows.com. The full agenda is not published yet, but you will be able to see details (like title and abstract) when it … Continue reading I will be speaking at the //build/ conference next month →

TechEd 2011 demo install step-by-step (Hyper-V, AD, DNS, iSCSI Target, File Server Cluster, SQL Server over SMB2)

1. Introduction 1.1. Overview As I explained in a previous blog post, I delivered a presentation this week as part of the Microsoft TechEd 2011 event. The presentation was titled “Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation - Technology Update”. It included two demos that showed several Windows Server 2008 R2 features and also a … Continue reading TechEd 2011 demo install step-by-step (Hyper-V, AD, DNS, iSCSI Target, File Server Cluster, SQL Server over SMB2) →

TechEd 2011 Session WSV317: Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation – Technology Update

This week at TechEd 2011 I will be delivering a presentation about “Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation - Technology Update”. If you’re attending the conference in Atlanta-GA, this is session WSV317 on Wednesday at 10:15 AM, plus a repeat on Thursday also at 10:15 AM. The presentation is divided into 5 main topics:  Overview … Continue reading TechEd 2011 Session WSV317: Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation – Technology Update →

File Server Team sessions at TechEd 2011 this week

If you're attending TechEd 2011 this week, here are sessions from the File Server team: WSV313 - Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 for Application Storage, Diskless Boot, and More!Speaker(s): Jian (Jane) YanTuesday, May 17 at 5:00 PM, room: B101 http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/WSV313 WSV317 - Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation: Technology UpdateSpeaker: Jose BarretoWednesday, 5/18 at … Continue reading File Server Team sessions at TechEd 2011 this week →

Diskless server boot using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target and a regular network card

The new Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 is commonly deployed to provide data storage for servers that boot from a local hard drive. However, there are interesting cost savings and management advantages in deploying servers that have no local disk at all and get their syste and boot volumes from the iSCSI target. The iSCSI … Continue reading Diskless server boot using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target and a regular network card →

Using 4k sector and advanced format drives in Windows. HotFix and support info for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7

If you work with storage, you probably already heard about the “4K Sector Drives”, “Advanced Format Drives” and “512e drives”. These new “4K sector drives” abandon the traditional use of 512 bytes per sector in favor of a new structure that uses 4096 bytes. The migration to the new formats is eased by the use … Continue reading Using 4k sector and advanced format drives in Windows. HotFix and support info for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 →

FSCT test results detail the performance of Windows Server 2008 R2 File Server configurations – 23,000 users with 192 spindles

1. Introduction The File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) is a free download from Microsoft that helps you determine the capacity of a specific file server configuration (running Windows or any operating system that implements the SMB or SMB2 protocols). It simulates a specific set of operations (the “Home Folders” workload) being executed by a large … Continue reading FSCT test results detail the performance of Windows Server 2008 R2 File Server configurations – 23,000 users with 192 spindles →

Updated iSCSI Initiator Users Guide for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

We just got an updated version of the “iSCSI Initiator Users Guide for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2“ posted on the Microsoft Download Center by Bruce Langworthy, the iSCSI Initiator PM.  Here’s a summary of the contents of this 82-page Word document: ·         Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Step-by-Step Guide·         Understanding Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Features and … Continue reading Updated iSCSI Initiator Users Guide for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 →

Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 for Windows Server 2008 R2 available for public download

Introduction For the last few years, I’ve been blogging about the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target and its many uses related to Windows Server Failover Clustering, Hyper-V and other server scenarios. Today, Microsoft has made this software publicly available to all users of Windows Server 2008 R2. The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target has been available for … Continue reading Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 for Windows Server 2008 R2 available for public download →

File Server improvements from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 R2. 8 items for 8 years…

Introduction The File Server team often talks to customers about file server migration and file server consolidation projects. Many times, these are customers running Windows Server 2003 that can point to a number of issues they wanted fixed. In most cases, those issues have been identified and corrected in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server … Continue reading File Server improvements from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 R2. 8 items for 8 years… →