Tag: SMB

Windows Server 2012 R2: Which version of the SMB protocol (SMB 1.0, SMB 2.0, SMB 2.1, SMB 3.0 or SMB 3.02) are you using?

Note: This blog post is a Windows Server 2012 R2 update on a previous version focused on Windows Server 2012.   1. Introduction With the release of Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, I am frequently asked about how older versions of Windows will behave when connecting to or from these new versions. Upgrading … Continue reading Windows Server 2012 R2: Which version of the SMB protocol (SMB 1.0, SMB 2.0, SMB 2.1, SMB 3.0 or SMB 3.02) are you using? →

Raw notes from the Storage Developers Conference (SDC 2013)

This blog post is a compilation of my raw notes from SNIA’s SDC 2013 (Storage Developers Conference).Notes and disclaimers: These notes were typed during the talks and they may include typos and my own misinterpretations. Text in the bullets under each talk are quotes from the speaker or text from the speaker slides, not my personal … Continue reading Raw notes from the Storage Developers Conference (SDC 2013) →

Iron Networks shows a complete private cloud pod at MMS 2013 with Windows Server 2012 (Storage Spaces, SMB3, Hyper-V) and System Center 2012 SP1

I was visiting the expo area at MMS 2013 earlier today and saw that Iron Networks was showing a private cloud pod there, complete with a set of well-matched layers of compute, storage and networking. They were demonstrating several of the latest capabilities in Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012 SP1, including: Shared SAS … Continue reading Iron Networks shows a complete private cloud pod at MMS 2013 with Windows Server 2012 (Storage Spaces, SMB3, Hyper-V) and System Center 2012 SP1 →

MMS 2013 Demo: Hyper-V over SMB at high throughput with SMB Direct and SMB Multichannel

Overview   I delivered a demo of Hyper-V over SMB this week at MMS 2013 that’s an evolution of a demo I did back in the Windows Server 2012 launch and also via a TechNet Radio session. Back then I showed a two physical servers running a SQLIO simulation. One played the role of the … Continue reading MMS 2013 Demo: Hyper-V over SMB at high throughput with SMB Direct and SMB Multichannel →

Slides for the Instructor-Led Lab on Windows Server 2012 Storage from MMS 2013

I delivered an instructor-led lab on Windows Server 2012 Storage at MMS 2013 yesterday (4/8), with a repeat scheduled for tomorrow (4/10) at 2:45 PM. You can find the details on this lab at http://www.2013mms.com/topic/details/WS-IL303 I used a few slides to comment on the contents of the lab, with an overview on the capabilities covered … Continue reading Slides for the Instructor-Led Lab on Windows Server 2012 Storage from MMS 2013 →

Q and A: I only have two NICs on my Hyper-V host. Should I team them or not?

Question via e-mail: I am using blade servers for my Hyper-V cluster and I can only have two NICs per blade in this configuration. I am considering two options on how to configure the NICs: 1)      Use one NIC for internal network and one NIC for external network, connected to the virtual switch2)      Team the two NICs … Continue reading Q and A: I only have two NICs on my Hyper-V host. Should I team them or not? →

Q and A: Can I use SMB3 storage without RDMA?

Question received via e-mail: Is it practical use SMB3 storage without RDMA or do we have a use case for production rather than development or test?I thought RDMA would be essential for production deployment of Hyper-V SMB storage. Answer:RDMA is not a requirement for the Hyper-V over SMB scenario.The most important things that RDMA can give … Continue reading Q and A: Can I use SMB3 storage without RDMA? →

Q and A: Is it possible to run SMB Direct from within a VM?

Question received via blog mail: Jose- I picked up a couple ConnectX-2 adapters and a cable off of ebay for cheap (about $300 for everything) to test out SMB Direct.  I followed your blog "Deploying Windows Server 2012 with SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and the Mellanox ConnectX-2/ConnectX-3 using InfiniBand – Step by Step" and … Continue reading Q and A: Is it possible to run SMB Direct from within a VM? →

Increasing Availability – The REAP Principles (Redundancy, Entanglement, Awareness and Persistence)

Introduction   Increasing availability is a key concern with computer systems. With all the consolidation and virtualization efforts under way, you need to make sure your services are always up and running, even when some components fail. However, it’s usually hard to understand the details of what it takes to make systems highly available (or … Continue reading Increasing Availability – The REAP Principles (Redundancy, Entanglement, Awareness and Persistence) →