Microsoft MCITP Messaging Certification Oveview
This complete learning package is a single source for authoritative preparation for Microsofts challenging MCITP Training exam on Windows XP Professional (70-270).
The authors present a systematic review of every key topic covered on the exam, including installation, administration, managing hardware, monitoring and optimizing system performance and reliability; configuring and troubleshooting the Windows XP desktop; managing and troubleshooting networking; optimizing security; and more. The authors are both Microsoft-certified Windows XP specialists and leading IT consultants, and all content in this book has been reviewed for both technical accuracy and clarity by a team of industry experts. The authors reinforce their comprehensive coverage with an extensive collection of exam tips, study strategies, and case studies; hands-on review exercises; guided practice exercises; summaries and review breaks in every
chapter; and a complete practice exam. The accompanying CD-ROM contains an extensive library of additional test questions, delivered via the proven testing software. It also contains a complete electronic copy of the book, enabling you to study anywhere you can bring a notebook computer.This is more than a Microsoft MCITP Certification 70-270 practice exam, this is a compilation of the actual questions and answers from the Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional test. Where our competitor's products provide a basic 70-270 practice test to prepare you for what may appear on the exam and prepare you for surprises, the Certkingdom 70-270 exam questions are complete, comprehensive and guarantees to prepare you for your Microsoft exam.
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Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Creatively Use Microsoft Excel To Organize Your Home And Family
Creatively Use Microsoft Excel To Organize Your Home And Family
Although Excel is often viewed as a business application, it is popular as a consumer product as well. People use it for everything from tracking their personal finances to logging their DVD collection.
Home users find taking a Microsoft MCTS Training Excel course enhances their understanding of the spreadsheet and opens new possibilities for using it to manage their own lives. As an example, let's examine how some of the techniques learned in Microsoft Excel courses can be applied to a diet and exercise program.
Tracking Weight
Sticking to a healthy routine is hard at first. You are overcoming years of bad habits. To maintain motivation you need results and the easiest way to see that is by monitoring weight loss. Tracking weight loss is simple. Each day weigh yourself and enter the data into Excel. Of course you could do this with pencil and paper, but Excel lets you do something with the data.
Using techniques from a Microsoft Excel course, you can create a moving average which makes it easier to see the trend. Most people can't really wrap their head around numbers, so adding a simple graph lets you watch the weight drop off over time.
Make this more sophisticated with other statistics such as daily loss or Body Mass Index. Over a long time you can spot seasonal trends, such as the dreaded Christmas bump. Techniques from advanced Microsoft Excel courses let you add VBA scripts to make data entry easier.
Count Your Calories
As you get more sophisticated you might add another sheet to your workbook where you keep a meal log. Each meal you jot down what you eat and you enter it into your Excel sheet as well as the calorie count of each item. Using lookup formulas, add columns to tally your calorie intake for each day.
You could add a food database so that rather than trying to remember how many calories is in a grilled chicken breast, the sheet can look it up and enter it for you. Some people like to add more detail like grams of fat, cholesterol, or nutrition information. The extra detail is nice, but if you make it too much work you'll stop doing it.
Add As Much As You Like
The beauty of a self-created application like this is you can make it whatever you want. Some people track exercise. Runners might enjoy keeping track of time and distance. Weight lifters document different exercises, weights, sets, and reps. Even a simple step like wearing a pedometer and monitoring how much you walk each day can inspire you to do more.
The best way to use a spreadsheet like this is to have it with you all the time. Some keep it on a thumb drive in their pocket. Others use their PDA to track it. Remember: you are creating an application to keep you motivated. Keep track of the information important to you and don't worry too much about the rest.
There are countless ways to use Microsoft MCITP Certification Excel to improve your daily life. From managing birthdays, to keeping track of receipts, to managing stock performance, to tracking your personal health record, Excel can be a powerful tool for helping you organize your life!
Although Excel is often viewed as a business application, it is popular as a consumer product as well. People use it for everything from tracking their personal finances to logging their DVD collection.
Home users find taking a Microsoft MCTS Training Excel course enhances their understanding of the spreadsheet and opens new possibilities for using it to manage their own lives. As an example, let's examine how some of the techniques learned in Microsoft Excel courses can be applied to a diet and exercise program.
Tracking Weight
Sticking to a healthy routine is hard at first. You are overcoming years of bad habits. To maintain motivation you need results and the easiest way to see that is by monitoring weight loss. Tracking weight loss is simple. Each day weigh yourself and enter the data into Excel. Of course you could do this with pencil and paper, but Excel lets you do something with the data.
Using techniques from a Microsoft Excel course, you can create a moving average which makes it easier to see the trend. Most people can't really wrap their head around numbers, so adding a simple graph lets you watch the weight drop off over time.
Make this more sophisticated with other statistics such as daily loss or Body Mass Index. Over a long time you can spot seasonal trends, such as the dreaded Christmas bump. Techniques from advanced Microsoft Excel courses let you add VBA scripts to make data entry easier.
Count Your Calories
As you get more sophisticated you might add another sheet to your workbook where you keep a meal log. Each meal you jot down what you eat and you enter it into your Excel sheet as well as the calorie count of each item. Using lookup formulas, add columns to tally your calorie intake for each day.
You could add a food database so that rather than trying to remember how many calories is in a grilled chicken breast, the sheet can look it up and enter it for you. Some people like to add more detail like grams of fat, cholesterol, or nutrition information. The extra detail is nice, but if you make it too much work you'll stop doing it.
Add As Much As You Like
The beauty of a self-created application like this is you can make it whatever you want. Some people track exercise. Runners might enjoy keeping track of time and distance. Weight lifters document different exercises, weights, sets, and reps. Even a simple step like wearing a pedometer and monitoring how much you walk each day can inspire you to do more.
The best way to use a spreadsheet like this is to have it with you all the time. Some keep it on a thumb drive in their pocket. Others use their PDA to track it. Remember: you are creating an application to keep you motivated. Keep track of the information important to you and don't worry too much about the rest.
There are countless ways to use Microsoft MCITP Certification Excel to improve your daily life. From managing birthdays, to keeping track of receipts, to managing stock performance, to tracking your personal health record, Excel can be a powerful tool for helping you organize your life!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Microsoft Access Database: Presenting The Most Preferred Desktop Database System
Microsoft Access Database: Presenting The Most Preferred Desktop Database System
As you know, there are different types of databases and when it comes to desktop database system, Microsoft Access database is without doubt the most preferred across the globe. It is also one of best-selling desktop database systems. And this database comes with Microsoft Office Professional suite of business products. As such, you can also buy computers in which comes with this suite so that you need not install the product additionally. And since Microsoft is software giant whose domination is simply overwhelming, any product from Microsoft will be supported by your system in the future. And Microsoft will continue to improve the database in the coming years. Another reason to prefer Microsoft MCTS Training Access is its ease of use. Since an overwhelming majority of the computers uses Microsoft operating system and other products from this software giant, familiarizing with Access will not be a problem. In fact, you will find it easy to use and user-friendly.
Well, there are other advantages of using Access database other than being a product of Microsoft. One of these is its cost-effectiveness. As this database is available as a package with other software solutions from Microsoft, you actually end up saving some bucks. Nevertheless, this product can be integrated easily with Microsoft Office. This means the end users can benefit. Not only this, Access databases are cheaper to implement in comparison to other database systems including SQL Server and Oracle. Also, it requires lesser maintenance cost which also adds up to its cost-effectiveness. Moreover, the consulting rate of Access is lower, again in comparison with Oracle and SQL Server consultants.
Access also has functional benefits. This database is a multi-user. Multiple users can access this database simultaneously. Another benefit is that Microsoft MCITP Certification Access Software is scalable. This means you can upgrade this software to meet your time defined requirements. And this software in itself is getting better with each new version launched. And you can bank on Microsoft for improved versions in the future.
Database software developers also prefer Microsoft Access due to its low development cost. Alpha Software, a leading database developer, offers all kinds of database software development at the most competitive rates.
As you know, there are different types of databases and when it comes to desktop database system, Microsoft Access database is without doubt the most preferred across the globe. It is also one of best-selling desktop database systems. And this database comes with Microsoft Office Professional suite of business products. As such, you can also buy computers in which comes with this suite so that you need not install the product additionally. And since Microsoft is software giant whose domination is simply overwhelming, any product from Microsoft will be supported by your system in the future. And Microsoft will continue to improve the database in the coming years. Another reason to prefer Microsoft MCTS Training Access is its ease of use. Since an overwhelming majority of the computers uses Microsoft operating system and other products from this software giant, familiarizing with Access will not be a problem. In fact, you will find it easy to use and user-friendly.
Well, there are other advantages of using Access database other than being a product of Microsoft. One of these is its cost-effectiveness. As this database is available as a package with other software solutions from Microsoft, you actually end up saving some bucks. Nevertheless, this product can be integrated easily with Microsoft Office. This means the end users can benefit. Not only this, Access databases are cheaper to implement in comparison to other database systems including SQL Server and Oracle. Also, it requires lesser maintenance cost which also adds up to its cost-effectiveness. Moreover, the consulting rate of Access is lower, again in comparison with Oracle and SQL Server consultants.
Access also has functional benefits. This database is a multi-user. Multiple users can access this database simultaneously. Another benefit is that Microsoft MCITP Certification Access Software is scalable. This means you can upgrade this software to meet your time defined requirements. And this software in itself is getting better with each new version launched. And you can bank on Microsoft for improved versions in the future.
Database software developers also prefer Microsoft Access due to its low development cost. Alpha Software, a leading database developer, offers all kinds of database software development at the most competitive rates.
Monday, July 5, 2010
How To Fix A Word Document Which Doesn't Open
How To Fix A Word Document Which Doesn't Open
Microsoft Word is, undoubtedly, the leading word processor for both beginners and advanced professionals alike. The feature-rich application lets you create, format and modify all types of documents. But, what if one of your important Word documents refuses to load one day. Such a situation can be encountered too often if you are a regular user of this Microsoft MCTS Training application. If you are unable to open a Word document, do not panic. The ideal way to tackle the problem is taking a step-by-step approach. A Word document might not open due to various issues which could range from permission problems to file sharing problems to corruption. Among all other issues, corruption is one scenario which would send the alarm bells ringing in your mind as it would involve the risk of grave data loss. Again, such situations can be handled by following various Word recovery strategies.
Here is a list of troubleshooting steps which you can consider for retrieving data from an inaccessible Word document:
Look for networking issues
If a Word document is stored in a network environment, and someone else has opened a Word document, which you are trying to access, you won't succeed. MS Word locks files on a network which prevents them from being edited or modified by more than one user simultaneously. The Word would display a message informing that the file is opened somewhere else.
The other network related issues can relate to the permissions set to a Word document. Though, you might have accessed a Word document previously on a network, if its user's permissions are changed, you might not be able to modify a document or use it properly. In such situations, you can check the permission rights.
Problem could also relate to Word or computer
If you are not able to open a document, it won't necessarily be an issue with the file. The problem could either be with the Word version installed or your system. In order to isolate these issues, you can first try opening other Word documents, if they work fine then it becomes concrete that there is no problem with the Word version.
You must open the file on another workstation, this way you will find out whether it is a problem with a specific Word file or your system.
Recovering a Word document
If you are still not able to ward off the issues with a particular Word file, try the following Word repair steps as suggested by
Microsoft MCITP Certification:
Open the document in draft mode without updating links
Insert the document as a file in a new document
Use a file converter to recover text
Open the file in WordPad
Use third-party software
If everything else fails, you must download a reliable third-party Word recovery software from the Internet. Such tools employ improved scanning algorithms to extract data from a corrupt Word document and are less time consuming.
Microsoft Word is, undoubtedly, the leading word processor for both beginners and advanced professionals alike. The feature-rich application lets you create, format and modify all types of documents. But, what if one of your important Word documents refuses to load one day. Such a situation can be encountered too often if you are a regular user of this Microsoft MCTS Training application. If you are unable to open a Word document, do not panic. The ideal way to tackle the problem is taking a step-by-step approach. A Word document might not open due to various issues which could range from permission problems to file sharing problems to corruption. Among all other issues, corruption is one scenario which would send the alarm bells ringing in your mind as it would involve the risk of grave data loss. Again, such situations can be handled by following various Word recovery strategies.
Here is a list of troubleshooting steps which you can consider for retrieving data from an inaccessible Word document:
Look for networking issues
If a Word document is stored in a network environment, and someone else has opened a Word document, which you are trying to access, you won't succeed. MS Word locks files on a network which prevents them from being edited or modified by more than one user simultaneously. The Word would display a message informing that the file is opened somewhere else.
The other network related issues can relate to the permissions set to a Word document. Though, you might have accessed a Word document previously on a network, if its user's permissions are changed, you might not be able to modify a document or use it properly. In such situations, you can check the permission rights.
Problem could also relate to Word or computer
If you are not able to open a document, it won't necessarily be an issue with the file. The problem could either be with the Word version installed or your system. In order to isolate these issues, you can first try opening other Word documents, if they work fine then it becomes concrete that there is no problem with the Word version.
You must open the file on another workstation, this way you will find out whether it is a problem with a specific Word file or your system.
Recovering a Word document
If you are still not able to ward off the issues with a particular Word file, try the following Word repair steps as suggested by
Microsoft MCITP Certification:
Open the document in draft mode without updating links
Insert the document as a file in a new document
Use a file converter to recover text
Open the file in WordPad
Use third-party software
If everything else fails, you must download a reliable third-party Word recovery software from the Internet. Such tools employ improved scanning algorithms to extract data from a corrupt Word document and are less time consuming.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
My Certifications Plans
My Certificaions Plans
I wrote the exam I was dreading the most, 70-297. It is an exam which has multiple case studies and you only have a short amount of time to read, and answer each one. I got pressed for time on the first case study, but after that, I learned to skim over some of the reading material and was quicker at getting through the case studies. Thankfully I passed and I am happy to have it out of the way. With that one complete, the finishes the MCTS Training on Windows Server 2003. I started that journey back in June of 2006, which I passed 70-290 using both a 50% off coupon and the second shot. That was a sweet deal, its too bad they don’t do that anymore. You can get the second shot again but not the deep discount.
Now that I have finished up my MSCE on Windows Server 2003, I have been thinking about which exams to write next. I know both Brad and Garth are wondering, so here goes. I am writing 70-646 (MCITP Certification: Server Admin) next to achieve some more teachable courses for Windows Server 2008. After that exam, the short list is MCITP: Enterprise Admin, MCITP: Enterprise Messaging (Exchange 2007), Server Virtualization, Vista and Office Deployment, and Office Communications Server with the order of the short list undetermined.
I wrote the exam I was dreading the most, 70-297. It is an exam which has multiple case studies and you only have a short amount of time to read, and answer each one. I got pressed for time on the first case study, but after that, I learned to skim over some of the reading material and was quicker at getting through the case studies. Thankfully I passed and I am happy to have it out of the way. With that one complete, the finishes the MCTS Training on Windows Server 2003. I started that journey back in June of 2006, which I passed 70-290 using both a 50% off coupon and the second shot. That was a sweet deal, its too bad they don’t do that anymore. You can get the second shot again but not the deep discount.
Now that I have finished up my MSCE on Windows Server 2003, I have been thinking about which exams to write next. I know both Brad and Garth are wondering, so here goes. I am writing 70-646 (MCITP Certification: Server Admin) next to achieve some more teachable courses for Windows Server 2008. After that exam, the short list is MCITP: Enterprise Admin, MCITP: Enterprise Messaging (Exchange 2007), Server Virtualization, Vista and Office Deployment, and Office Communications Server with the order of the short list undetermined.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Three Screams and a Clod
Three Screams and a Clod
Last week, I wrote a deliberately provocative commentary, "Kickin' It In The Cloud," in which I described how Google's cloud computing mindshare vastly outperforms the company's cloud computing revenues. Put more succinctly, close to 99 percent of the almost $24 billion in revenues Google posted in 2009 is tied directly to advertising revenue on search results. This makes complaints about Microsoft's inability to expand beyond its core products seems somewhat humorous by comparison Microsoft MCTS Training.
Last week's reality check shouldn't obscure one simple fact, however. The future of computing is very clearly in the cloud—just ask Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who spent last week explaining that to the nation's top CEOs. Although Google has yet to establish a financially successful cloud computing product to rival the software dynasties Microsoft owns, Google's advertising revenues are hefty enough to finance numerous projects for decades to come. Like the Microsoft of 15 years ago, Google can keep trying and trying until it establishes a beachhead, all while keeping less well-funded competitors at bay. And my expectation is that, left unchecked, it will be successful at doing so.
Not coincidentally, Google held its third annual Google I/O conference this past week. Like Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) and Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), this developer-oriented show provides a revealing glimpse at where the company's platforms are heading. Google I/O 2010 was fascinating for a number of reasons, but for me it provided an interesting look at how Google views the world and how its competitors—Microsoft among them—can hope to beat back this seemingly unstoppable force. Here are the major business-oriented product and technology announcements Google made during this show, and how I feel Microsoft is positioned from a competitive standpoint.
Open Standards
Since its products are essentially all web-based, Google makes a big deal out of the open nature of the technologies underlying these products. And to its credit, Google does open source many of its technologies, effectively losing control of them in the process. With that said, the proprietary versus open source debate has been done to death. It's as hard to imagine a world of only open-source technologies as it is to imagine the reverse. The point is that proprietary and open-source technologies will continue to coexist going forward. Google gets that, even though the company doesn't point it out very often. I don't recall Google open sourcing its advertising engine. Just a thought Microsoft MCITP Certification.
In a bid to position Google as the future, Google vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra—a former Microsoft executive, by the way—noted that "the web is the most important platform of our generation." His aim was also to position Microsoft as the past. But come on, there's no reason Microsoft can't extend its traditional software product lines successfully to the cloud. And I'd argue that decades of experience in the traditional software market will only help Microsoft as it moves ahead to yet another platform. Google's occasional support of open source isn't going to prevent that.
Last week, I wrote a deliberately provocative commentary, "Kickin' It In The Cloud," in which I described how Google's cloud computing mindshare vastly outperforms the company's cloud computing revenues. Put more succinctly, close to 99 percent of the almost $24 billion in revenues Google posted in 2009 is tied directly to advertising revenue on search results. This makes complaints about Microsoft's inability to expand beyond its core products seems somewhat humorous by comparison Microsoft MCTS Training.
Last week's reality check shouldn't obscure one simple fact, however. The future of computing is very clearly in the cloud—just ask Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who spent last week explaining that to the nation's top CEOs. Although Google has yet to establish a financially successful cloud computing product to rival the software dynasties Microsoft owns, Google's advertising revenues are hefty enough to finance numerous projects for decades to come. Like the Microsoft of 15 years ago, Google can keep trying and trying until it establishes a beachhead, all while keeping less well-funded competitors at bay. And my expectation is that, left unchecked, it will be successful at doing so.
Not coincidentally, Google held its third annual Google I/O conference this past week. Like Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference (PDC) and Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), this developer-oriented show provides a revealing glimpse at where the company's platforms are heading. Google I/O 2010 was fascinating for a number of reasons, but for me it provided an interesting look at how Google views the world and how its competitors—Microsoft among them—can hope to beat back this seemingly unstoppable force. Here are the major business-oriented product and technology announcements Google made during this show, and how I feel Microsoft is positioned from a competitive standpoint.
Open Standards
Since its products are essentially all web-based, Google makes a big deal out of the open nature of the technologies underlying these products. And to its credit, Google does open source many of its technologies, effectively losing control of them in the process. With that said, the proprietary versus open source debate has been done to death. It's as hard to imagine a world of only open-source technologies as it is to imagine the reverse. The point is that proprietary and open-source technologies will continue to coexist going forward. Google gets that, even though the company doesn't point it out very often. I don't recall Google open sourcing its advertising engine. Just a thought Microsoft MCITP Certification.
In a bid to position Google as the future, Google vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra—a former Microsoft executive, by the way—noted that "the web is the most important platform of our generation." His aim was also to position Microsoft as the past. But come on, there's no reason Microsoft can't extend its traditional software product lines successfully to the cloud. And I'd argue that decades of experience in the traditional software market will only help Microsoft as it moves ahead to yet another platform. Google's occasional support of open source isn't going to prevent that.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Hyper-V Live Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide
Hyper-V Live Migration: A Step-by-Step Guide
The Create Cluster wizard automatically selects the storage for your quorum, but it doesn’t always choose the quorum drive that you want. You can check and change the quorum configuration by right-clicking the name of the cluster in the Failover Cluster Management console, then selecting More Actions, Configure Cluster Quorum Settings from the context menu. This displays the Select Quorum Configuration dialog box. A wizard automatically chooses the best quorum type, depending mainly on the number of nodes in the cluster. In my two-node cluster, it selected the Node and Disk Majority quorum type Microsoft MCTS Training.
Next, the Configure Storage Witness dialog box is displayed. Here I changed the original value to the Q drive that I wanted to use as the quorum by selecting a check box. Clicking Next saves the cluster quorum changes. If you would like to know more about configuring Windows Server 2008 R2 failover clustering, the Windows IT Pro website has articles and FAQs that can help; you can start with “4 Failover Clustering Hassles and How to Avoid Them,” InstantDoc ID 103534.
Enabling Cluster Shared Volumes
The next step in cluster configuration is to enable Cluster Shared Volumes. The Cluster Shared Volumes feature lets multiple cluster nodes simultaneously access the shared storage locations, but it’s not enabled by default. To do so, use the Failover Cluster Management console and right-click the name of the cluster at the top of the navigation pane, then select Enable Cluster Shared Volumes from the context menu. This displays the summary pane for Cluster Shared Volumes, which initially is blank.
To select a shared storage location to be used by Cluster Shared Volumes, click the Add Storage option in the Action pane. This displays the Add Storage dialog box. The storage for Cluster Shared Volumes has to be visible to the cluster and it can’t be used for other purposes. Select the box next to the storage location you want to use. I selected the V drive, which is actually a LUN on the LeftHand Networks SAN. Click OK to enable Cluster Shared Volumes for that drive. This also results in the creation of a mount point on all the cluster nodes. By default, the mount point is labeled C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1.
Creating VMs on Cluster Shared Volumes
At this point, failover clustering is configured on all the nodes in the cluster and the Cluster Shared Volumes feature has been enabled, allowing all of the nodes to simultaneously access the storage. The next step is to create VMs that can take advantage of this infrastructure. Hyper-V VMs can be created using either the Hyper-V Manager or System Center Virtual Machine Manager. To create a new VM using Hyper-V Manager, click the Administrative Tools, Hyper-V Manager option at the Start menu, then select New from the Action pane to start the New Virtual Machine wizard. Figure 5 shows the dialog box you will see, labeled Specify Name and Location Microsoft MCITP Certification.
In Figure 5, you can see that the VM will be named vWS08-SQL01. Also note that the value for the VM location has been set to the Cluster Shared Volumes mount point: C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1. This causes the VM configuration files to be created on the shared storage.
Click Next to assign RAM to the VM. Click Next again to select the network connection for the VM. Assigning a network for the VM is optional. However, if you do select an external network, be sure that the external network connection is named the same on all of your Hyper-V nodes. In my case, I used the external network name of External Virtual Network on all of my Hyper-V cluster nodes.
Click Next to display the Connect Virtual Hard Disk dialog box. Here, again, it’s important to create the VHD files on the Cluster Shared Volumes storage. Initially, the dialog displays the Hyper-V Manager default values for name and location. I used the value of vWS08-SQL01.vhd for the VHD file and changed the location to C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1. Click Next to specify the guest OS installation options. All guest OSs including Linux can take advantage of live migration. The rest of the process for creating a VM is exactly like creating a normal VM.
When you complete the New Virtual Machine wizard, the VM will be created on the Cluster Shared Volumes storage. The next step is to start the VM and install the guest OS and the application that you want to run on the VM.
Enabling VMs for Live Migration
Open the Failover Cluster Management console, then navigate to the Services and Applications node under the cluster name and right-click to display the context menu. Select Configure Service or Application to start the High Availability wizard. On the Select Service or Application dialog box, select Virtual Machine from the list of services displayed, then click Next. This displays the Select Virtual Machine dialog box.
Scroll though the list of VMs until you find the one you want to enable for live migration. I selected the VM vWS08-SQL01 created earlier. The VM can’t be running while you perform this operation—it must be in the Off or Saved state.
Select the check box in front of the VM name, then click Next until you complete the wizard. A confirmation screen is displayed and the summary dialog box reports the status. If you see “Success” in the description, then the VM has been successfully enabled for live migration. If not, you need to review the VM properties and make sure all of the VM assets can be accessed on all of the nodes in the cluster.
Ready, Set, Migrate!
That’s all there is to configuring the Hyper-V live migration environment. At this point, you can initiate a live migration using the Failover Cluster Manager. To start a live migration, expand the Services and Applications node, then select the VM node displayed beneath it. This displays the summary pane, which shows the VMs that have been enabled for clustering, along with their current status, which Figure 6 shows.
In Figure 6, you can see that VM vWS08-SQL01 is currently running and that the current owner is node WS08R2-S1. To initiate a live migration, go to the Action pane and select the Live migrate virtual machine option shown in the upper third portion of the Action pane. A menu flyout prompts you for the name of the target node. In this example, the menu flyout shows 1 – Live migrate to node WS08R2-S2. Clicking this option starts the live migration. The summary window is updated with the status of the running live migration.
The running status is displayed until the live migration finishes. The length of time it takes to complete depends on the size and activity of the VM, as well as the speed and activity of the network connection between the Hyper-V host systems. Typically, my network live migrations take between about 10 seconds and a minute. When the live migration has been completed, the summary pane is redisplayed and the Current Owner value is updated with the name of the target node.
The Virtual Promised Land
Live migration addresses the issues of planned host downtime and lays the foundation for the dynamic datacenter. Although there are quite a few steps in the process, if you carefully navigate the critical points in the process, you will reach the promised land of Hyper-V live migration.
The Create Cluster wizard automatically selects the storage for your quorum, but it doesn’t always choose the quorum drive that you want. You can check and change the quorum configuration by right-clicking the name of the cluster in the Failover Cluster Management console, then selecting More Actions, Configure Cluster Quorum Settings from the context menu. This displays the Select Quorum Configuration dialog box. A wizard automatically chooses the best quorum type, depending mainly on the number of nodes in the cluster. In my two-node cluster, it selected the Node and Disk Majority quorum type Microsoft MCTS Training.
Next, the Configure Storage Witness dialog box is displayed. Here I changed the original value to the Q drive that I wanted to use as the quorum by selecting a check box. Clicking Next saves the cluster quorum changes. If you would like to know more about configuring Windows Server 2008 R2 failover clustering, the Windows IT Pro website has articles and FAQs that can help; you can start with “4 Failover Clustering Hassles and How to Avoid Them,” InstantDoc ID 103534.
Enabling Cluster Shared Volumes
The next step in cluster configuration is to enable Cluster Shared Volumes. The Cluster Shared Volumes feature lets multiple cluster nodes simultaneously access the shared storage locations, but it’s not enabled by default. To do so, use the Failover Cluster Management console and right-click the name of the cluster at the top of the navigation pane, then select Enable Cluster Shared Volumes from the context menu. This displays the summary pane for Cluster Shared Volumes, which initially is blank.
To select a shared storage location to be used by Cluster Shared Volumes, click the Add Storage option in the Action pane. This displays the Add Storage dialog box. The storage for Cluster Shared Volumes has to be visible to the cluster and it can’t be used for other purposes. Select the box next to the storage location you want to use. I selected the V drive, which is actually a LUN on the LeftHand Networks SAN. Click OK to enable Cluster Shared Volumes for that drive. This also results in the creation of a mount point on all the cluster nodes. By default, the mount point is labeled C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1.
Creating VMs on Cluster Shared Volumes
At this point, failover clustering is configured on all the nodes in the cluster and the Cluster Shared Volumes feature has been enabled, allowing all of the nodes to simultaneously access the storage. The next step is to create VMs that can take advantage of this infrastructure. Hyper-V VMs can be created using either the Hyper-V Manager or System Center Virtual Machine Manager. To create a new VM using Hyper-V Manager, click the Administrative Tools, Hyper-V Manager option at the Start menu, then select New from the Action pane to start the New Virtual Machine wizard. Figure 5 shows the dialog box you will see, labeled Specify Name and Location Microsoft MCITP Certification.
In Figure 5, you can see that the VM will be named vWS08-SQL01. Also note that the value for the VM location has been set to the Cluster Shared Volumes mount point: C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1. This causes the VM configuration files to be created on the shared storage.
Click Next to assign RAM to the VM. Click Next again to select the network connection for the VM. Assigning a network for the VM is optional. However, if you do select an external network, be sure that the external network connection is named the same on all of your Hyper-V nodes. In my case, I used the external network name of External Virtual Network on all of my Hyper-V cluster nodes.
Click Next to display the Connect Virtual Hard Disk dialog box. Here, again, it’s important to create the VHD files on the Cluster Shared Volumes storage. Initially, the dialog displays the Hyper-V Manager default values for name and location. I used the value of vWS08-SQL01.vhd for the VHD file and changed the location to C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1. Click Next to specify the guest OS installation options. All guest OSs including Linux can take advantage of live migration. The rest of the process for creating a VM is exactly like creating a normal VM.
When you complete the New Virtual Machine wizard, the VM will be created on the Cluster Shared Volumes storage. The next step is to start the VM and install the guest OS and the application that you want to run on the VM.
Enabling VMs for Live Migration
Open the Failover Cluster Management console, then navigate to the Services and Applications node under the cluster name and right-click to display the context menu. Select Configure Service or Application to start the High Availability wizard. On the Select Service or Application dialog box, select Virtual Machine from the list of services displayed, then click Next. This displays the Select Virtual Machine dialog box.
Scroll though the list of VMs until you find the one you want to enable for live migration. I selected the VM vWS08-SQL01 created earlier. The VM can’t be running while you perform this operation—it must be in the Off or Saved state.
Select the check box in front of the VM name, then click Next until you complete the wizard. A confirmation screen is displayed and the summary dialog box reports the status. If you see “Success” in the description, then the VM has been successfully enabled for live migration. If not, you need to review the VM properties and make sure all of the VM assets can be accessed on all of the nodes in the cluster.
Ready, Set, Migrate!
That’s all there is to configuring the Hyper-V live migration environment. At this point, you can initiate a live migration using the Failover Cluster Manager. To start a live migration, expand the Services and Applications node, then select the VM node displayed beneath it. This displays the summary pane, which shows the VMs that have been enabled for clustering, along with their current status, which Figure 6 shows.
In Figure 6, you can see that VM vWS08-SQL01 is currently running and that the current owner is node WS08R2-S1. To initiate a live migration, go to the Action pane and select the Live migrate virtual machine option shown in the upper third portion of the Action pane. A menu flyout prompts you for the name of the target node. In this example, the menu flyout shows 1 – Live migrate to node WS08R2-S2. Clicking this option starts the live migration. The summary window is updated with the status of the running live migration.
The running status is displayed until the live migration finishes. The length of time it takes to complete depends on the size and activity of the VM, as well as the speed and activity of the network connection between the Hyper-V host systems. Typically, my network live migrations take between about 10 seconds and a minute. When the live migration has been completed, the summary pane is redisplayed and the Current Owner value is updated with the name of the target node.
The Virtual Promised Land
Live migration addresses the issues of planned host downtime and lays the foundation for the dynamic datacenter. Although there are quite a few steps in the process, if you carefully navigate the critical points in the process, you will reach the promised land of Hyper-V live migration.
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