Using PowerShell to create a custom reference for Azure PowerShell cmdlets and parameters

I was looking into the list of Azure PowerShell cmdlets and I could not find a page with all cmdlets and parameters in a single list. There are individual pages for each cmdlet on TechNet, but not all cmdlets in one page. There is a list of all cmdlets in one page, but that does … Continue reading Using PowerShell to create a custom reference for Azure PowerShell cmdlets and parameters →

Migrating File Servers from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2012 R2

Introduction If you have SMB File Servers running Windows Server 2003, you are probably already aware that the extended support for that OS will end on July 14, 2015. You can read more about this at: http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/archive/2014/08/26/best-practices-for-windows-server-2003-end-of-support-migration.aspx. If you're still using Windows Server 2003, you should be planning your migration to a newer version … Continue reading Migrating File Servers from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2012 R2 →

Testing Windows Server and the Scale-Out File Server – What should your lab look like?

With the release of Windows Server Technical Preview, a common question comes to the surface again. What kind of lab hardware do I need to play with it? Ideally, you would get one of those new Cloud Platform System (CPS) racks with a 32-node Hyper-V cluster, a 4-node Scale-Out File Server and 4 JBODs … Continue reading Testing Windows Server and the Scale-Out File Server – What should your lab look like? →

SmbStorageTier.ps1: A simple way to pin files to tiers in Scale-Out File Servers

Storage Spaces Tiering Storage Spaces has an interesting new feature introduced in Windows Server 2012 R2: you can create a single space using different types of disk (typically HDDs and SSDs) and it will automatically move hot data to the fast tier and cold data to the slow tier. You can read more … Continue reading SmbStorageTier.ps1: A simple way to pin files to tiers in Scale-Out File Servers →

DiskSpd, PowerShell and storage performance: measuring IOPs, throughput and latency for both local disks and SMB file shares

1. Introduction I have been doing storage-related demos and publishing blogs with some storage performance numbers for a while, and I commonly get questions such as “How do you run these tests?” or “What tools do you use to generate IOs for your demos?”. While it’s always best to use a real workload … Continue reading DiskSpd, PowerShell and storage performance: measuring IOPs, throughput and latency for both local disks and SMB file shares →

Adding Storage Performance to the Test-StorageHealth.ps1 script

A few weeks ago, I published a script to the TechNet Script Center that gathers health and capacity information for a Windows Server 2012 R2 storage cluster. This script checks a number of components, including clustering, storage spaces, SMB file shares and core storage. You can get more details at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2014/07/27/powershell-script-for-storage-cluster-health-test-published-to-the-technet-script-center.aspx From the beginning, … Continue reading Adding Storage Performance to the Test-StorageHealth.ps1 script →

Understanding the files collected by the Test-StorageHealth.ps1 PowerShell script

I recently published a PowerShell script to check the health and capacity of a Storage Cluster based on Windows Server 2012 R2 Scale-Out File Servers. You can find details about this script (including the download link) in this blog post: PowerShell script for Storage Cluster Health Test published to the TechNet Script Center. This script, … Continue reading Understanding the files collected by the Test-StorageHealth.ps1 PowerShell script →

SMB3 PowerShell changes in Windows Server 2012 R2: SMB1 can now be completely removed

Introduction Windows Server 2012 R2 introduced a new version of SMB. Technically it’s SMB version 3.02, but we continue to call it just SMB3. The main changes are described at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831474.aspx. With this new release, we made a few changes in SMB PowerShell to support the new scenarios and features. This includes a few new … Continue reading SMB3 PowerShell changes in Windows Server 2012 R2: SMB1 can now be completely removed →

SMB3 PowerShell changes in Windows Server 2012 R2: SMB Delegation

SMB3 PowerShell changes in Windows Server 2012 R2: SMB Multi-instance