Windows Server 2012 Beta Scale-Out File Server for SQL Server 2012 – Step-by-step Installation

IMPORTANT: This blog post is now obsolete. For the latest version of this content, please visit:http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2012/08/23/windows-server-2012-scale-out-file-server-for-sql-server-2012-step-by-step-installation.aspx 1. Introduction 1.1. Overview In this document, I am sharing all the steps I used to create a Windows Server 2012 Beta demo, so you can experiment with some of the new technologies yourself. You only need … Continue reading Windows Server 2012 Beta Scale-Out File Server for SQL Server 2012 – Step-by-step Installation →

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 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… →

Mapping Cluster.exe Commands to Windows PowerShell Cmdlets for Failover Clusters – Extended Edition

While many of the Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) administrators have moved from the old CLUSTER.EXE command-line to the new PowerShell interface, I know at least a few holdouts out there. It’s probably the fact that they have used the old CLI since the early days of Microsoft Cluster Services (MSCS), combined with the fact … Continue reading Mapping Cluster.exe Commands to Windows PowerShell Cmdlets for Failover Clusters – Extended Edition →

Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 is now available!

It's a pleasure to let you know that Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 (which includes the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3) has been released to manufacturing (RTM). Scott M. Johnson (Program Manager in the File Server Team) has just shared via a blog post that the product is on its way to the OEMs and … Continue reading Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 is now available! →

Multiple names for one computer – Consolidate your SMB file servers without breaking UNC paths

Overview This blog post covers a few different ways to consolidate multiple SMB file servers and keep exposing the consolidated file shares under the old share paths. Scenario Let’s say you currently have 3 file servers named file1.contoso.local, file2.contoso.local and file3.contoso.local and you want to consolidate them into a single Windows Server computer called cfile.contoso.local. … Continue reading Multiple names for one computer – Consolidate your SMB file servers without breaking UNC paths →

Configuring Failover Clusters with Windows Storage Server 2008

The Windows Storage Server Team just released a new 30-page white paper on "Configuring Failover Clusters with Windows Storage Server 2008". This paper will guide you through the process of configuring the networks, domains and clustering features, including performance recommendations for a pair of Windows Storage Server 2008 appliances hosting a File Server or a Microsoft … Continue reading Configuring Failover Clusters with Windows Storage Server 2008 →

SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering

Here are some notes on “SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering” I took while attending an advanced class on SQL Server taught by Greg Low (from http://sqlblog.com/blogs/greg_low/ and http://www.sqldownunder.com/). Please note that, although these notes were taken during the class, I might have added some of my own (mis)interpretation :-). Always check your facts on Books … Continue reading SQL Server 2008 Failover Clustering →

SQL Server 2008 Database Mirroring

Here are some notes on “SQL Server 2008 Database Mirroring” I took while attending an advanced class on SQL Server taught by Greg Low (from http://sqlblog.com/blogs/greg_low/ and http://www.sqldownunder.com/). Please note that, although these notes were taken during the class, I might have added some of my own (mis)interpretation :-). Always check your facts on Books … Continue reading SQL Server 2008 Database Mirroring →