Hyper-V over SMB – Sample Configurations

This post describes a few different Hyper-V over SMB sample configurations with increasing levels of availability. Not all configurations are recommended for production deployment, since some do not provide continuous availability. The goal of the post is to show how one can add redundancy, Storage Spaces and Failover Clustering in different ways to provide additional fault … Continue reading Hyper-V over SMB – Sample Configurations →

Sample PowerShell Scripts for Storage Spaces, standalone Hyper-V over SMB and SQLIO testing

These are some PowerShell snippets to configure a specific set of systems for Hyper-V over SMB testing.Posting it here mainly for my own reference, but maybe someone else out there is configuring a server with 48 disks split into 6 pools of 8 disks.These systems do not support SES (SCSI Enclosure Services) so I could … Continue reading Sample PowerShell Scripts for Storage Spaces, standalone Hyper-V over SMB and SQLIO testing →

Is accessing files via a loopback share the same as using a local path?

Question from a user (paraphrased): When we access a local file via loopback UNC path, is this the same as accessing via the local path? I mean, is "C:myfoldera.txt" equal to "myservermysharea.txt" or I'll be using TCP/IP in any way?Answer from SMB developer: When accessing files over loopback, the initial connect and the metadata operations … Continue reading Is accessing files via a loopback share the same as using a local path? →

Windows Server 2012 File Server Tip: Disable 8.3 Naming (and strip those short names too)

This has been a performance tip for File Servers for some time now: disable short names. There are big performance savings in disabling 8.3 naming and also for removing existing short names on a volume. Here’s a diagram from a presentation I delivered last year: The old “8dot3 naming” convention has been obsolete for a … Continue reading Windows Server 2012 File Server Tip: Disable 8.3 Naming (and strip those short names too) →

Talks at SNW Fall 2012 in October will cover SMB Direct, Hyper-V over SMB and SMB 3.0

I have three presentations lined up for the ComputerWorld/SNIA SNW Fall 2012 Conference, scheduled for October 16-19, 2012 in Santa Clara, California. Here are the details for each one, taken from the official event web site.Industry Perspective: High Throughput File Servers with SMB Direct, Using the Three Flavors of RDMA network adapters Wednesday, 10/17/2012, 11:40 … Continue reading Talks at SNW Fall 2012 in October will cover SMB Direct, Hyper-V over SMB and SMB 3.0 →

The built-in SMB PowerShell aliases in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8

1 – Overview Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 introduced a new set of PowerShell cmdlets to manage File Servers and File Shares. If you're not familiar with them, I would recommend reviewing my blog on The Basics of SMB PowerShell. With the rule that cmdlets have to be written in a way that … Continue reading The built-in SMB PowerShell aliases in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 →

Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 – VSS for SMB File Shares

There is a new blog post by Claus Joergensen, a Principal Program Manager in the File Server team, that covers the "VSS for SMB File Shares" feature in Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0. Claus covers many details on using VSS for SMB File Shares to create backups, including several scenarios using Hyper-V and step-by-step instructions for … Continue reading Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 – VSS for SMB File Shares →

The basics of SMB Multichannel, a feature of Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0

1. Introduction Windows Server 2012 includes a new feature called SMB Multichannel, part of the SMB 3.0 protocol, which increases the network performance and availability for File Servers. 1.1. Benefits SMB Multichannel allows file servers to use multiple network connections simultaneously and provides the following capabilities: Increased throughput. The file server can simultaneously transmit … Continue reading The basics of SMB Multichannel, a feature of Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 →

The basics of SMB PowerShell, a feature of Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0

1. Overview 1.1. Introduction Windows Server 2012 provides Windows PowerShell cmdlets and WMI objects to manage SMB File Servers and SMB File Shares. These new tools are aimed at both System Administrator and Developers. 1.2. Benefits SMB PowerShell cmdlets allow an IT Administrator to Use the PowerShell command line to manage and monitor File Servers … Continue reading The basics of SMB PowerShell, a feature of Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 →

Episode 20 of “From End to Edge and Beyond” covers SMB Encryption in Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0

A quick blog post to highlight that I participated in an episode of “From End to Edge and Beyond”, recorded during TechEd North America 2012 with Tom Shinder and Yuri Diogenes. This show is focused on security, so the main focus was on the new SMB Encryption feature in Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0. We discussed … Continue reading Episode 20 of “From End to Edge and Beyond” covers SMB Encryption in Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 →