Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 – Understanding how SMB Transparent Failover makes file shares continuously available

There is a new blog post by Claus Joergensen, a Principal Program Manager in the File Server team, that covers the SMB Transparent Failover feature in Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0. Claus covers all the details about making file shares continuously available, including step-by-step instructions using both PowerShell and GUI tools. Here’s an outline of … Continue reading Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0 – Understanding how SMB Transparent Failover makes file shares continuously available →

Microsoft Partners showcase solutions related to Windows Server 2012 at TechEd 2012 North America

The Microsoft TechEd 2012 North America conference is happening this week in Orlando, FL. As part of that event, a number of partners are showing their hardware and/or software at the exhibit area called the TechExpo. I have spent some time there and took a few pictures of a few partners that have solutions related … Continue reading Microsoft Partners showcase solutions related to Windows Server 2012 at TechEd 2012 North America →

Analyzing Storage Performance using the Windows Performance Analysis ToolKit (WPT)

Robert Smith (Platforms Field Engineer) has recently posted a new blog that cover one important area of Windows performance that few people understand well. In his blog post he talks about how to use Windows Performance Toolkit (WPT) in general and the XPerf tool in particular. Xperf.exe is the command line tool used to start, stop, … Continue reading Analyzing Storage Performance using the Windows Performance Analysis ToolKit (WPT) →

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 →

Using Windows PowerShell to run old command line tools (and their weirdest parameters)

Introduction For a while now, I have let go of the old CMD.EXE command line and moved over to POWERSHELL.EXE for good. As you probably know, you can run any old command from the new Windows PowerShell. However, there are times when the name or the syntax of old tools might create issues. But it can … Continue reading Using Windows PowerShell to run old command line tools (and their weirdest parameters) →

SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference – SDC 2011 content (slides and videos) now available for download, including SMB 2.2 details

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) hosted the 8th Storage Developer Conference (SDC) in the Hyatt Regency in beautiful Santa Clara, CA (Silicon Valley) earlier this year. As usual, Microsoft was the underwriter of the CIFS/SMB/SMB2 PlugFest, which was co-located with the SDC event. For developers working with storage-related technologies, this event gathers a unique … Continue reading SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference – SDC 2011 content (slides and videos) now available for download, including SMB 2.2 details →

Links to //build/ sessions on Storage, Networking and Hyper-V

Last month at the //Build/ conference we had a large number of presentations delivered and made available to download and stream. Several Microsoft Partners and Developers that are focused on Storage, Networking or Hyper-V have asked me for a list of links to help them find the Widows Server 8 sessions more closely related to those topics. Here is my … Continue reading Links to //build/ sessions on Storage, Networking and Hyper-V →

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 →

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 →