Small Business Server 2003 to 2012 R2 Migration and Virtualized Domain Controller Questions
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@scottalanmiller said:
A network engineer isn't a discipline that would know anything about this nor understand the ramifications.
OH, I know...just enjoyed his perspective. At least I don't have to pull his long hours and sometimes crazy on-call schedules.
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@garak0410 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@JaredBusch said:
@scottalanmiller said:
This is where installing to USB is recommended. Just have a spare USB copy laying around.
Except you cannot install Server 2012 + Hyper-V to a USB.
Are you sure? Microsoft just recommended that two weeks ago on SW.
Well, something is causing extreme slowness just copying a file from my PC to the drive on my VM2 (services01). Horrendous. Is it network or VDISK related? I have a week now but got to get this resolved right away.
I did turn off VMQ on the Physical Adapters and bam! Normal Speeds!
In fact, then testing one of our apps, making it's work directory a folder on the VM, I got a 3 second increase compared to physical drives on our current server and the hypervisor...finally, some success! LOL -
@scottalanmiller said:
@JaredBusch said:
@scottalanmiller said:
This is where installing to USB is recommended. Just have a spare USB copy laying around.
Except you cannot install Server 2012 + Hyper-V to a USB.
Are you sure? Microsoft just recommended that two weeks ago on SW.
When I rolled out a server in November, yes this was the case. I have not read up about any changes as I have no Hyper-V installs pending. I will state, that I did attempt to install to the built in RAID1 SD in the Dell server then and that failed. That led to my searching which stated that it was not possible except for a limited OEM version that was not published.
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@garak0410 said:
@garak0410 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@JaredBusch said:
@scottalanmiller said:
This is where installing to USB is recommended. Just have a spare USB copy laying around.
Except you cannot install Server 2012 + Hyper-V to a USB.
Are you sure? Microsoft just recommended that two weeks ago on SW.
Well, something is causing extreme slowness just copying a file from my PC to the drive on my VM2 (services01). Horrendous. Is it network or VDISK related? I have a week now but got to get this resolved right away.
I did turn off VMQ on the Physical Adapters and bam! Normal Speeds!
In fact, then testing one of our apps, making it's work directory a folder on the VM, I got a 3 second increase compared to physical drives on our current server and the hypervisor...finally, some success! LOLOh good Whoo hoo. HyperV should perform extremely well. Windows is built to run on it.
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Okay. So now for backups.
In what way is Unitrends appearing to not be the right solution? What is it lacking in the free version?
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@scottalanmiller said:
Okay. So now for backups.
In what way is Unitrends appearing to not be the right solution? What is it lacking in the free version?
It's hard to tell context in a message (saying I am not irrationally upset...I'm content but determined...LOL) but I am done with virtualization. Every time I try something, some new challenge comes up. I just want the new server to work as the old one but faster. I've got too many other duties piling up (like ordering toner for our copier, LOL) and I've spent a week on this and keep finding roadblocks. I am getting great advice but it doesn't seem to be good for our environment or budget.
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@garak0410 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Okay. So now for backups.
In what way is Unitrends appearing to not be the right solution? What is it lacking in the free version?
It's hard to tell context in a message (saying I am not irrationally upset...I'm content but determined...LOL) but I am done with virtualization. Every time I try something, some new challenge comes up. I just want the new server to work as the old one but faster. I've got too many other duties piling up (like ordering toner for our copier, LOL) and I've spent a week on this and keep finding roadblocks. I am getting great advice but it doesn't seem to be good for our environment or budget.
Not throwing in the towel but serious, one man IT shop and too much to do right now to keep encountering these little roadblocks and detours. Basically, I need a all in one backup suite to backup AD, Files, SQL on both virtual and physical. With ZERO budget. I guess I could use BOTH programs but I like it nice and neat.
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Okay. Just one final question then. Now that you have things working on HyperV - if you want to do everything the same as before, why does that rule out virtualization? Can't you do everything the same and virtualize?
No need to do anything differently because you are virtualizing. Aren't all of the roadblocks, other than the temporary performance one, caused by looking to make other changes and not because of the virtualization at all? Or did I miss some roadblock that has come from the virtualization.
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And by that I mean keeping the BackupAssist, all roles on one server, static IPs, everything. If you skip virtualizing today you are locked in for the life of the system. You give up your options.
But as long as you virtualized now, everything else can stay the same and/or change gradually over time. Only this one piece is a cut and dry do now or miss out for a long time.
I don't want this to seem overwhelming because of lots of moving parts. But I don't want you screwed for years to come either.
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To bad you don't have more time to work/play with this.
First things first - @scottalanmiller is right - you should ditch HyperV only because you don't have the time to learn how to make it work correctly. VMWare ESXi Hypervisor (free version) is super simple to install - insert CD and install. it's pretty much nearly that simple.
Even if you stay with HyperV now that you have performance issue resolved you're 80% there.
As Scott mentioned, the processes you have to follow to move to a new server are the same on VM or physical server.
@garak0410 said:
@garak0410 said:
@scottalanmiller said:
I would generally wait until after hours but should be pretty safe in most environments. AD is rarely something that an SMB depends on minute to minute.
Tempting to do now...but I can VPN around 5:30 and run it too.
I tried running ADPREP and it didn't work since my current Domain Controller is 32 bit. So if I understand this article correct:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2743367
It has to be run remotely? It was kind of vague.
Correct - you have to run the commands on a 64bit system (most likely your newly installed 2012 R2 server)
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The ADPrep issues will follow you to a physical environment too.
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I do appreciate the encouragement to drive on with my virtual plan...just ready to get it off my plate.
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My thought was... You already have it done. It is working on HyperV now. So it is all done. Now you can just proceed as if it were physical. Ignore that it is virtual from here forward is now your path of least resistance. Going physical requires installing fresh and starting over.
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By the way...turning off VMQ also made remote desktop much better...
So that solved my speed woes for sure... -
BackupAssist had been giving me conflicting stories...they said I can run their stuff on the host AND backup AD from the host and have granular restores. I am still a little wary of it as it just does one large backup and doesn't let me select what exact folders I want...
http://www.backupassist.com/education/resources/hyperv_implementation_guide.html
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@garak0410 said:
By the way...turning off VMQ also made remote desktop much better...
So that solved my speed woes for sure...Yes. Sounds like that was just causing general network havoc.
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@garak0410 said:
BackupAssist had been giving me conflicting stories...they said I can run their stuff on the host AND backup AD from the host and have granular restores. I am still a little wary of it as it just does one large backup and doesn't let me select what exact folders I want...
http://www.backupassist.com/education/resources/hyperv_implementation_guide.html
When you say "the host" what do you mean?
Why not use BackupAssist exactly like you are using it now?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@garak0410 said:
BackupAssist had been giving me conflicting stories...they said I can run their stuff on the host AND backup AD from the host and have granular restores. I am still a little wary of it as it just does one large backup and doesn't let me select what exact folders I want...
http://www.backupassist.com/education/resources/hyperv_implementation_guide.html
When you say "the host" what do you mean?
Why not use BackupAssist exactly like you are using it now?
The physical server that hosts the virtual's. What they kept telling me over and over is that the ONLY way AD could be backed up was only from the Domain Controller itself.
But as you said in the other post, I can just load BackupAssist on the Domain Controller, back up AD and remote backup the files and SQL and also do supplemental backups of the VM's with Unitrends when I get it working.
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The "host" as you are calling it is not the Domain Controller. It is the HyperV control environment. It cannot be used for anything else. No DC, no backups. It is not available to you except to control HyperV. Don't think of it as being a Windows Server. From a license standpoint, it is not.
Your DC is a VM and just install BackupAssist there as the vendor said to.
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This is, sadly, one of the ways in which HyperV is more confusing than every other product on the market. Microsoft, in an attempt to make things "easy" makes the SO confusing.
