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Microsoft Hyper-V Cluster Design

By : Eric Siron
Book Image

Microsoft Hyper-V Cluster Design

By: Eric Siron

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Microsoft Hyper-V Cluster Design
Eric Siron
Oct, 2013 | 462 pages
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Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Microsoft Hyper-V Cluster Design
Microsoft Hyper-V Cluster Design
Credits
Credits
About the Author
About the Author
About the Reviewers
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
Hyper-V Cluster Orientation
Hyper-V Cluster Orientation
Terminology
Clustering in a Microsoft environment
Create a project document
Purposes for a Hyper-V Server cluster
Goals for a Hyper-V Server cluster
Looking forward to the Design phase
A sample Hyper-V Cluster planning document
Review the sample project
Summary
2
Cluster Design and Planning
Cluster Design and Planning
Starting the design phase
Planning for existing systems
Host computer components
Networking
Shared storage
Software licensing
Hyper-V and cluster-related software planning
Blade hardware
Physical placement
Security
Complete the planning phase
Summary
3
Constructing a Hyper-V Server Cluster
Constructing a Hyper-V Server Cluster
Documenting the initial setup phase
Build steps not covered in this book
Auxiliary built-in tools
Acquiring and enabling the GUI tools
Configuring nodes
Prepare other nodes
Building the cluster
Cluster post-creation steps
Summary
4
Storage Design
Storage Design
Early storage planning
Hyper-V Server storage space utilization
Hyper-V Server storage performance
Working with storage
Placing virtual machines on storage
Storage QoS (2012 R2 Only)
Enhanced features
Summary
5
Network Design
Network Design
The Hyper-V virtual switch
Hyper-V Server networking in a cluster
Storage connectivity
The virtual switch in a cluster
Adapter teaming
Converged fabric
Planning the physical layout
Firewall settings
6
Network Traffic Shaping and Performance Enhancements
Network Traffic Shaping and Performance Enhancements
Windows Server Quality of Service
Changing advanced settings on network adapters
VMQ
RSS
RDMA
SR-IOV
Other hardware-assisted offloading technologies
Virtual adapter networking control
Practical advice for network performance design
Further possibilities
Summary
7
Memory Planning and Management
Memory Planning and Management
Understanding physical memory characteristics
Physical memory installation
How Hyper-V Server uses memory
Hyper-V Server and NUMA
Virtual machine memory
Practical virtual machine memory implementation
Cluster memory shortages
Summary
8
Performance Testing and Load Balancing
Performance Testing and Load Balancing
Initial and on-going performance measurement
General performance measurement
Subsystem testing
Baseline and comparative performance measures
Cluster load balancing
Summary
9
Special Cases
Special Cases
Non-highly-available virtual machines in a cluster
A cluster with only one virtual machine
A cluster with a single host
Virtualized domain controllers in a Hyper-V Cluster
Storing a single virtual machine's files in different locations
Geographically distributed clusters
Using non-virtualized hardware in a cluster
Pass-through disks in a cluster
Summary
10
Maintaining and Monitoring a Hyper-V Server Cluster
Maintaining and Monitoring a Hyper-V Server Cluster
Cluster validation
Best Practices Analyzer for Hyper-V
Updating Hyper-V Server hosts
Monitoring Hyper-V Server
Summary
11
High Availability
High Availability
What does high availability mean?
Creating a highly available virtual machine
High availability beyond Hyper-V
Migrations
Cluster responses to failures
Quorum
Practical quorum guidance
Snapshots or checkpoints
Summary
12
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Knowing your risks
Planning for disaster recovery
Backup
Hyper-V Replica
Verifying your disaster recovery plan
Summary
Index
Index

Terminology

Due to an overlap of terms and some misperceptions about the ways that the Hyper-V Server product is delivered, terminology is a common sticking point even for people who have been working with the technology for some time. The following table provides accurate but short definitions for the most commonly misunderstood terms in relation to Hyper-V Server and clusters. These definitions will be expanded upon in detail throughout the course of this book, so don't worry if they are confusing at first:

Term

Definition

Hypervisor

A hypervisor is an operating system that manages other operating systems. The primary responsibility of the typical operating system is to allocate and manage resources for applications. In the context of a hypervisor, "applications" are guest operating systems.

Microsoft Hyper-V Server

This is a full-featured hypervisor from Microsoft. Available as a standalone, no-charge product that includes a reduced-functionality image of Windows Server for the purpose of managing the hypervisor. It is also available as a role within Microsoft Windows Server.

Server Core

A specific installation method of Windows Server from version 2008 onward. This mode does not include a graphical interface. It is a fully licensed copy of Windows Server. Hyper-V is available as a role within Server Core.

Host

A physical computer with a hypervisor installed.

Guest

Another term for virtual machine, although it is commonly used to refer to the operating system within a virtual machine.

Management Operating System

The operating system that is allowed to control the hypervisor installation. In any Hyper-V Server installation, Hyper-V Server is always the hypervisor and Windows Server is always the management operating system. This is also sometimes called a parent partition or host operating system, although those terms are falling out of favor.

Cluster

In the context of Hyper-V Server, a cluster refers to hosts joined together using Microsoft Failover Clustering to provide Hyper-V Server services.

Node

A single physical computer that is a member of a cluster.

Live Migration

A Hyper-V-specific implementation of relocating a running virtual machine from one node to another without detectable downtime for the services on that virtual machine or external consumers of those services.

Quick Migration

A Hyper-V-specific implementation of relocating a virtual machine from one node to another. This method involves gracefully stopping the virtual machine in some fashion and starting it again at the destination.

Saved State

A condition in which a virtual machine's operations have been paused. The contents of its system memory are copied to a disk file and the virtual machine is placed in a non-running condition.

Note

The term Hyper-V Core and its variants should not be used. Hyper-V Server is one product and Server Core is a particular mode for the Windows Server product. Combining their labels leads to confusion and should be avoided.

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