Although the minimum requirements for server compatibility for Windows Server 2008 R2 applies, because server virtualization is the focus of this server system, the minimum Windows Server 2008 R2 server requirements will not be sufficient to run Hyper-V virtualization.
Additionally, although Windows Server 2008 R2 supports up to 64 processor cores, 1TB of RAM, and 384 concurrently running virtual machines, the reality on the scaling of Windows virtualization comes down to the raw capabilities of network I/O that can be driven from a single host server. In many environments where a virtualized guest system has a relatively low system utilization and network traffic demand, a single host system could easily support a dozen, two dozen, or more guest sessions. Other environments where a virtualized guest session has an extremely high system utilization, lots of disk I/O, and significant server network I/O, the organization might find that a single host server would maximize its capacity with as few as seven or eight guest sessions.
RAM for the Host Server
The rule of thumb for memory of a Windows Server 2008 R2 server running Hyper-V is to have 2GB of RAM for the host server, plus enough memory for each guest session. Therefore, if a guest session needs to have 2GB of RAM, and there are three such guest sessions running on the host system, the host system should be configured with at least 8GB of RAM. If a guest session requires 8GB of memory and three of those systems are running on the system, the server should be configured with 24GB of memory to support the three guest sessions, plus at least 2GB of memory for the host system itself.
Processors for the Host Server
The host server itself in Windows Server 2008 R2 virtualization has very little processor I/O requirements. In the virtualized environment, the processor demands of each guest session dictate how much processing capacity is needed for the server. If a guest session requires two cores to support the processing requirements of the application, and seven guest sessions are running on the system, the server should have at least 15 cores available in the system. With quad-core processors, the system would need four physical processors. With dual-core processors, the system would need at least eight physical processors. With Windows Server 2008 R2 virtualization, each guest session can have up to 64 cores dedicated to the session, or processing capacity can be distributed, either equally or as necessary to meet the performance demands of the organization. By sharing cores among several virtual machines that have low processing needs, an organization can more fully utilize their investment in hardware systems.
Disk Storage for the Host Server
A host server typically has the base Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system running on the host system itself with additional guest sessions either sharing the same disk as the host session or the guest sessions virtual disks being stored on a storage area network (SAN) or some form of external storage.
Each guest session takes up at least 7GB of disk space. For guest sessions running databases or other storage-intensive configurations, the guest image can exceed 10GB, 20GB, or more. When planning disk storage for the virtual server system, plan to have enough disk space to support the host operating system files (typically about 7GB of actual files plus space for the Pagefile) and then disk space available to support the guest sessions.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
What’s New in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V
There are many long-awaited features and technologies built in to Hyper-V that provide Microsoft the ability to compete with other server virtualization products on the market. Some of the key additions to Hyper-V include the following:
. Live Migration—Live Migration is the number-one most-requested feature by customers. Live Migration enables administrators to migrate highly available Hyper-V guests between clustered hosts with nearly zero downtime.
. Support for up to eight physical processors—Windows 2008 Server R2 virtualization provides the capability to have up to eight physical processors—twice the number of physical processors supported by Hyper-V V1 in Windows Server 2008. Note that this refers to physical sockets, not cores.
. Support for up to 64 logical cores per guest session—Windows Server 2008 R2 virtualization provides the capability to have up to 64 logical processors (cores) allocated to a single guest session—four times better than in Windows Server 2008.
. Support for greater physical host memory—Windows Server 2008 R2 virtualization supports up to 1TB physical memory allocation per host—a huge increase from the 32GB supported in Windows Server 2008.
. Support for greater virtual guest memory—Virtual guests can now access up to 64GB per VM. This is a huge scalability improvement from Windows Server 2008, where VMs were limited to 32GB total RAM per host.
Although Hyper-V provides the capability to host guest operating systems for Windows servers, client systems, and non-Windows systems, many of the tools enterprises use in virtual server environments require the addition of the System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) tool.
VMM provides a more centralized view and administration of multiple virtual guest sessions, the tools to do physical-to-virtual image creation, virtual-to-virtual image copying, and load balancing of virtual images across VMM servers. VMM adds the administrative tools that take the basic virtual server sessions, and provides administrators the ability to better manage the guest sessions.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
. Live Migration—Live Migration is the number-one most-requested feature by customers. Live Migration enables administrators to migrate highly available Hyper-V guests between clustered hosts with nearly zero downtime.
. Support for up to eight physical processors—Windows 2008 Server R2 virtualization provides the capability to have up to eight physical processors—twice the number of physical processors supported by Hyper-V V1 in Windows Server 2008. Note that this refers to physical sockets, not cores.
. Support for up to 64 logical cores per guest session—Windows Server 2008 R2 virtualization provides the capability to have up to 64 logical processors (cores) allocated to a single guest session—four times better than in Windows Server 2008.
. Support for greater physical host memory—Windows Server 2008 R2 virtualization supports up to 1TB physical memory allocation per host—a huge increase from the 32GB supported in Windows Server 2008.
. Support for greater virtual guest memory—Virtual guests can now access up to 64GB per VM. This is a huge scalability improvement from Windows Server 2008, where VMs were limited to 32GB total RAM per host.
Although Hyper-V provides the capability to host guest operating systems for Windows servers, client systems, and non-Windows systems, many of the tools enterprises use in virtual server environments require the addition of the System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) tool.
VMM provides a more centralized view and administration of multiple virtual guest sessions, the tools to do physical-to-virtual image creation, virtual-to-virtual image copying, and load balancing of virtual images across VMM servers. VMM adds the administrative tools that take the basic virtual server sessions, and provides administrators the ability to better manage the guest sessions.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Integration of Hypervisor Technology in Windows Server 2008
To leap beyond its competition in the area of server virtualization, Microsoft had to make some significant changes to the operating system that hosted its next-generation virtual server technology. With the original Windows 2008 in development, Microsoft took the opportunity to add in a core technology to Windows 2008 (and extended it in Windows 2008 R2) that provided the basis of Microsoft’s future dominance in server virtualization. The core technology is called hypervisor, which effectively is a layer within the host operating system that provides better support for guest operating systems. Microsoft calls their hypervisor-based technology Hyper-V.
Prior to the inclusion of Hyper-V in Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2, the Virtual Server application sat on top of the host operating system and effectively required all guest operating systems to share system resources, such as network communications, video-processing capabilities, memory allocation, and system resources. In the event that the host operating system has a system failure of something like the host network adapter driver, all guest sessions fail to communicate on the network. This monolithic approach is similar to how most server virtualization technologies operate.
Technologies like VMware ESX as well as Hyper-V leverage a hypervisor-based technology that allows the guest operating systems to effectively bypass the host operating system and communicate directly with system resources. In some instances, the hypervisor will manage shared guest session resources, and in other cases will pass guest session requests directly to the hardware layer of the system. By providing better independence of systems communications, the hypervisor-supported environment provides organizations better scalability, better performance, and, ultimately, better reliability of the core virtual host environment.
Hyper-V is available in Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions. Each of these SKUs are available with and without Hyper-V.
Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 is only supported on x64-bit systems that have hardware-assisted virtualization support. CPUs must support Intel VT or AMD-V option and Data Execution Protection (DEP). Also, these features must be enabled in the computer BIOS. Fortunately, almost all new servers purchased since late 2006 include these capabilities.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Prior to the inclusion of Hyper-V in Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2, the Virtual Server application sat on top of the host operating system and effectively required all guest operating systems to share system resources, such as network communications, video-processing capabilities, memory allocation, and system resources. In the event that the host operating system has a system failure of something like the host network adapter driver, all guest sessions fail to communicate on the network. This monolithic approach is similar to how most server virtualization technologies operate.
Technologies like VMware ESX as well as Hyper-V leverage a hypervisor-based technology that allows the guest operating systems to effectively bypass the host operating system and communicate directly with system resources. In some instances, the hypervisor will manage shared guest session resources, and in other cases will pass guest session requests directly to the hardware layer of the system. By providing better independence of systems communications, the hypervisor-supported environment provides organizations better scalability, better performance, and, ultimately, better reliability of the core virtual host environment.
Hyper-V is available in Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions. Each of these SKUs are available with and without Hyper-V.
Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 is only supported on x64-bit systems that have hardware-assisted virtualization support. CPUs must support Intel VT or AMD-V option and Data Execution Protection (DEP). Also, these features must be enabled in the computer BIOS. Fortunately, almost all new servers purchased since late 2006 include these capabilities.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Saturday, July 21, 2012
History of Windows Virtualization
Microsoft’s position in the virtualization marketplace prior to the release of Windows 2008 R2 wasn’t one where Microsoft particularly had a bad product; it was because Microsoft jumped into the virtualization space just four to five years before the release of Windows 2008 R2 virtualization. Being relatively new to the virtualization space, Microsoft had some catching up to do.
Acquisition of Virtual PC
Microsoft jumped into the virtualization marketplace through the acquisition of a company called Connectix in 2003. At the time of the acquisition, Virtual PC provided a virtual session of Windows on either a Windows system or on a Macintosh computer system. Virtual PC was used largely by organizations testing server software or performing demos of Windows systems on desktop and laptop systems—or in the case of Virtual PC for the Mac, the ability for a Macintosh user to run Windows on their Macintosh computer. Microsoft later dropped the development of Virtual PC for the Mac; however, it continues to develop virtualization for Windows systems with the release of Virtual PC 2007. Virtual PC 2007 enables users running Windows XP or Windows Vista to install, configure, and run virtual guest sessions of Windows server or even non-Windows operating systems.
Microsoft Virtual Server
Virtual PC, however, is targeted at operating under an operating system that is typically optimized for personal or individual applications, so Virtual PC does not scale for a data center wanting to run four, eight, or more sessions on a single system. At the time of the acquisition of Connectix, Connectix was in development of a virtual server solution that allows for the operation of virtualization technologies on a Windows 2003 host server system. Because a Windows Server 2003 system provides more RAM availability, supports multiple processors, and generally has more capacity and capabilities than a desktop client system, Microsoft Virtual Server provided organizations with more capabilities for server-based virtualization in a production environment.
Virtual Server 2005
Although the initial Virtual Server acquired through the Connectix acquisition provided basic server virtualization capabilities, it wasn’t until Virtual Server 2005 that Microsoft had its first internally developed product. Virtual Server 2005 provided better support and integration into a Windows 2003 environment, better support for multiprocessor systems and systems with more RAM, and better integration and support with other Microsoft server products.
In just two years, Microsoft went from having no virtual server technologies to a second generation virtual server product; however, even with Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft was still very far behind its competitors.
Virtual Server 2005 R2
Over the subsequent two years, Microsoft released two major updates to Virtual Server 2005 with the release of an R2 edition of the Virtual Server 2005 product and a service pack for the R2 edition. Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 provided the following capabilities:
. Virtual Server host clustering—This technology allows an organization to cluster host systems to one another, thus allowing guest sessions to have higher redundancy and reliability.
. x64 host support—x64 host support means that organizations had the capability to use the 64-bit version of Windows 2003 as the host operating system, thus providing better support for more memory and system capacity found in x64-bit systems. Guest operating systems, however, are still limited to x86 platforms.
. Hardware-assisted virtualization—New to processors released from Intel (Intel VT) and AMD (AMD-V) are processors that provide better distribution of processor resources to virtual guest sessions.
. iSCSI support—This technology allows virtual guest sessions to connect to iSCSI storage systems, thus providing better storage management and storage access for the guest sessions running on a virtual server host.
. Support for more than 16GB virtual disk sizes—Virtual disk sizes can reach 2TB in size, thus allowing organizations the ability to have guest sessions with extremely large storage capacity.
These capabilities—among other capabilities of the latest Virtual Server 2005 product— brought Microsoft closer to its competition in the area of server virtualization.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Acquisition of Virtual PC
Microsoft jumped into the virtualization marketplace through the acquisition of a company called Connectix in 2003. At the time of the acquisition, Virtual PC provided a virtual session of Windows on either a Windows system or on a Macintosh computer system. Virtual PC was used largely by organizations testing server software or performing demos of Windows systems on desktop and laptop systems—or in the case of Virtual PC for the Mac, the ability for a Macintosh user to run Windows on their Macintosh computer. Microsoft later dropped the development of Virtual PC for the Mac; however, it continues to develop virtualization for Windows systems with the release of Virtual PC 2007. Virtual PC 2007 enables users running Windows XP or Windows Vista to install, configure, and run virtual guest sessions of Windows server or even non-Windows operating systems.
Microsoft Virtual Server
Virtual PC, however, is targeted at operating under an operating system that is typically optimized for personal or individual applications, so Virtual PC does not scale for a data center wanting to run four, eight, or more sessions on a single system. At the time of the acquisition of Connectix, Connectix was in development of a virtual server solution that allows for the operation of virtualization technologies on a Windows 2003 host server system. Because a Windows Server 2003 system provides more RAM availability, supports multiple processors, and generally has more capacity and capabilities than a desktop client system, Microsoft Virtual Server provided organizations with more capabilities for server-based virtualization in a production environment.
Virtual Server 2005
Although the initial Virtual Server acquired through the Connectix acquisition provided basic server virtualization capabilities, it wasn’t until Virtual Server 2005 that Microsoft had its first internally developed product. Virtual Server 2005 provided better support and integration into a Windows 2003 environment, better support for multiprocessor systems and systems with more RAM, and better integration and support with other Microsoft server products.
In just two years, Microsoft went from having no virtual server technologies to a second generation virtual server product; however, even with Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft was still very far behind its competitors.
Virtual Server 2005 R2
Over the subsequent two years, Microsoft released two major updates to Virtual Server 2005 with the release of an R2 edition of the Virtual Server 2005 product and a service pack for the R2 edition. Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 provided the following capabilities:
. Virtual Server host clustering—This technology allows an organization to cluster host systems to one another, thus allowing guest sessions to have higher redundancy and reliability.
. x64 host support—x64 host support means that organizations had the capability to use the 64-bit version of Windows 2003 as the host operating system, thus providing better support for more memory and system capacity found in x64-bit systems. Guest operating systems, however, are still limited to x86 platforms.
. Hardware-assisted virtualization—New to processors released from Intel (Intel VT) and AMD (AMD-V) are processors that provide better distribution of processor resources to virtual guest sessions.
. iSCSI support—This technology allows virtual guest sessions to connect to iSCSI storage systems, thus providing better storage management and storage access for the guest sessions running on a virtual server host.
. Support for more than 16GB virtual disk sizes—Virtual disk sizes can reach 2TB in size, thus allowing organizations the ability to have guest sessions with extremely large storage capacity.
These capabilities—among other capabilities of the latest Virtual Server 2005 product— brought Microsoft closer to its competition in the area of server virtualization.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Broadcast Publishing Versus On-Demand Publishing
Broadcast publishing is a process where the publishing of a video is scheduled, similar to a television program. A time is scheduled when the stored video file will be played back. This might be used in an environment in which training videos are played back during specific times during the day for employees to view.
On-demand publishing is a process where an individual requests the playback of a video file. This allows users the flexibility of deciding when they watch a video. As each session is independent with on-demand video, there is no benefit to doing a multicast session because the video will only be viewed by an individual. Therefore, the default delivery option for on-demand published videos is unicast, and the multicast option is not provided.
When choosing a broadcast published video, because multiple users are likely to access the broadcast at the same time, the organization can choose to multicast the video as long as the remote client systems and network infrastructure support multicast video routing. With multicast delivery, the Enable Unicast Rollover option provides a unicast delivery stream if the remote client does not support multicast broadcasts.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
On-demand publishing is a process where an individual requests the playback of a video file. This allows users the flexibility of deciding when they watch a video. As each session is independent with on-demand video, there is no benefit to doing a multicast session because the video will only be viewed by an individual. Therefore, the default delivery option for on-demand published videos is unicast, and the multicast option is not provided.
When choosing a broadcast published video, because multiple users are likely to access the broadcast at the same time, the organization can choose to multicast the video as long as the remote client systems and network infrastructure support multicast video routing. With multicast delivery, the Enable Unicast Rollover option provides a unicast delivery stream if the remote client does not support multicast broadcasts.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Friday, July 13, 2012
Unicast Versus Multicast
The Unicast delivery option sets up a one-to-one video stream between the Windows Media server and each client system, whereas the Multicast delivery option sends a single video stream that can be accessed by multiple users simultaneously.
The unicast delivery method is simpler to configure and more likely to work without much network infrastructure (router, firewall, system configuration) changes. However, unicast is a significantly more bandwidth-intensive environment. Because each client-toserver session is a separate video stream, a broadcast with 10 users would have 10 video streams from the server to the clients, and a broadcast with 100 users would feature 100 video streams from the server to the clients. For a relatively small or lowdemand Windows Media server environment, unicast delivery is easier to implement, but be careful when using unicast delivery in large or broadly distributed environments.
The multicast delivery method sends a single video stream out on the network, which can be accessed by multiple client systems simultaneously. With a multicast delivery stream, whether 10 users or 100 users need to access the system, there is only a single broadcast either way. However, for a multicast delivery to work, the routers must be configured to support multicast routing. The client systems receiving the multicast broadcasts need to be running Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2.
An additional consideration for choosing between the unicast and multicast delivery methods is the number of clients that expect to connect to the broadcast stream and the variation of client configurations. If the compatibility to accept broadcasts from various systems is important and the number of connections to a broadcast stream is limited, the unicast method will provide better compatibility. If the organization controls the desktop configurations and knows the client systems can accept multicast broadcasts and the organization is broadcasting a video to be received by many users, the multicast delivery method will lessen the demand on network bandwidth.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
The unicast delivery method is simpler to configure and more likely to work without much network infrastructure (router, firewall, system configuration) changes. However, unicast is a significantly more bandwidth-intensive environment. Because each client-toserver session is a separate video stream, a broadcast with 10 users would have 10 video streams from the server to the clients, and a broadcast with 100 users would feature 100 video streams from the server to the clients. For a relatively small or lowdemand Windows Media server environment, unicast delivery is easier to implement, but be careful when using unicast delivery in large or broadly distributed environments.
The multicast delivery method sends a single video stream out on the network, which can be accessed by multiple client systems simultaneously. With a multicast delivery stream, whether 10 users or 100 users need to access the system, there is only a single broadcast either way. However, for a multicast delivery to work, the routers must be configured to support multicast routing. The client systems receiving the multicast broadcasts need to be running Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2.
An additional consideration for choosing between the unicast and multicast delivery methods is the number of clients that expect to connect to the broadcast stream and the variation of client configurations. If the compatibility to accept broadcasts from various systems is important and the number of connections to a broadcast stream is limited, the unicast method will provide better compatibility. If the organization controls the desktop configurations and knows the client systems can accept multicast broadcasts and the organization is broadcasting a video to be received by many users, the multicast delivery method will lessen the demand on network bandwidth.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Monday, July 9, 2012
Determining Which Windows Media Services Administration Tools to Leverage
When planning to run Windows Media Services on Windows Server 2008 R2, organizations should consider the numerous ways it can be administered and managed to find their best fit. The following bullets identify the tools available for administering Windows Media Services:
. Windows Media Service snap-in—This is the most common interface for managing Windows Media Services. This interface is based on the traditional Microsoft Management Console (MMC). It can be added as a snap-in to any server running Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.
. Windows Media Services Administrator for the web—Organizations can choose to administer Windows Media Services over the web. The web interface for administration is particularly useful and appreciated by users who manage Windows Media Services from a non-Windows machine over the Internet or on a network with low latency.
. Command-line scripts—Like many of the Windows Server products, Windows Media Services administration tasks can be automated through the command line by using a series of scripts.
When the full installation option for Windows Media Services is utilized, both the Windows Media Service snap-in and the Windows Media Services Administrator for the web are included. It should be noted that the Windows Media Service Administrator for the web requires the Web Server (IIS) server role to be installed on the Windows Server 2008 R2 system. Alternatively, the Windows Media Services 2008 R2 Remote Server Administration tool can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
. Windows Media Service snap-in—This is the most common interface for managing Windows Media Services. This interface is based on the traditional Microsoft Management Console (MMC). It can be added as a snap-in to any server running Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.
. Windows Media Services Administrator for the web—Organizations can choose to administer Windows Media Services over the web. The web interface for administration is particularly useful and appreciated by users who manage Windows Media Services from a non-Windows machine over the Internet or on a network with low latency.
. Command-line scripts—Like many of the Windows Server products, Windows Media Services administration tasks can be automated through the command line by using a series of scripts.
When the full installation option for Windows Media Services is utilized, both the Windows Media Service snap-in and the Windows Media Services Administrator for the web are included. It should be noted that the Windows Media Service Administrator for the web requires the Web Server (IIS) server role to be installed on the Windows Server 2008 R2 system. Alternatively, the Windows Media Services 2008 R2 Remote Server Administration tool can be downloaded from the Microsoft website.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Friday, July 6, 2012
System Requirements for Windows Media Services
Besides requiring a Windows Server 2008 R2 system (Web Edition, Standard Edition, Enterprise Edition, or Datacenter Edition), the basic requirements for Windows Media Services are as follows:
. Processor—One or more processors running at 550MHz or higher
. Memory—512MB of RAM or higher
. Hard disk space—A minimum of 2GB
. File system—NTFS
. Ethernet network adapter running TCP/IP
Although these are the minimum hardware specifications provided by Microsoft, most server class systems today typically consist of Dual Quad-Core, a minimum of 8GB of RAM, and at least a gigabit network adapter.
What’s key to the Windows Media Services system is having enough processing speed to handle the media streaming requests, enough RAM to cache the media streams, and enough disk space to store the video files being shared and published. In addition, it is a best practice to use a dedicated server for streaming, limit the total number of users to 50% of the maximum user capacity achieved by the load tests, and ensure the overall network utilization is less than 50% of the maximum network interface capacity.
It is important for readers to know that some features such as the Advanced Fast Start and the Cache/Proxy Management functionality only operate if Windows Media Services is installed on a Windows Server 2008 R2, Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition.
To improve the performance of a Windows Media Services system, place the operating system and program files on one volume and place the video files on another volume to distribute the normal server processes from the read/write access of the video files. In addition, placing striped drive sets with ample hard drive controller cache can improve both the sequential and parallel read/write requests of the video files as Windows Media Services is more I/O intensive than processor intensive.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
. Processor—One or more processors running at 550MHz or higher
. Memory—512MB of RAM or higher
. Hard disk space—A minimum of 2GB
. File system—NTFS
. Ethernet network adapter running TCP/IP
Although these are the minimum hardware specifications provided by Microsoft, most server class systems today typically consist of Dual Quad-Core, a minimum of 8GB of RAM, and at least a gigabit network adapter.
What’s key to the Windows Media Services system is having enough processing speed to handle the media streaming requests, enough RAM to cache the media streams, and enough disk space to store the video files being shared and published. In addition, it is a best practice to use a dedicated server for streaming, limit the total number of users to 50% of the maximum user capacity achieved by the load tests, and ensure the overall network utilization is less than 50% of the maximum network interface capacity.
It is important for readers to know that some features such as the Advanced Fast Start and the Cache/Proxy Management functionality only operate if Windows Media Services is installed on a Windows Server 2008 R2, Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition.
To improve the performance of a Windows Media Services system, place the operating system and program files on one volume and place the video files on another volume to distribute the normal server processes from the read/write access of the video files. In addition, placing striped drive sets with ample hard drive controller cache can improve both the sequential and parallel read/write requests of the video files as Windows Media Services is more I/O intensive than processor intensive.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Features Included with Windows Media Services Running on Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Media Services running on Windows Server 2008 R2 offers a plethora of features and functionality:
. Cache/Proxy Management—To bolster presentation experience, a plug-in can be used to provide cache or reverse proxy functionality of digital media content. This new feature reduces network infrastructure costs by decreasing the amount of bandwidth required and used.
. Server Core installation—IT professionals have the option of installing the Windows Media Services components on a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2. A Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 is a scaleddown version of the installation offering specific administrative roles without the management interfaces and tools, which reduces management and surface area attacks.
. Multicast for Silverlight—Windows Media Services can now deliver multicast streams to Silverlight with the new Silverlight Multicast plug-in.
. Single Installation Package—Unlike Windows Server 2008, a single package is offered to make the deployment of Windows Media Server on Windows Server 2008 R2 much easier.
. Tighter Integration with Hyper-V—Streaming, performance, and manageability has improved when running Windows Media Services on Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 R2.
. Advanced Fast Start—This new feature associated with Windows Server 2008 R2 leverages the maximum available bandwidth allowed during the initial connection to a stream, resulting in end users being able to see content as soon as they connect. As soon as the playback begins, bandwidth is throttled back to a regular amount.
. Play While Archiving—This new feature, which is only supported when running the Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition, allows transmitted content to be archived to a file. It is interesting to note here that the file can be accessed on demand or rebroadcast even before the archiving is finished.
. Advanced FF/RW—When using this feature, independent files are used for fastforward and rewind functionality. Separate files increase performance playback and reduce bandwidth contention.
. Broadcast AutoStart—This feature aims to minimize end-user disruption and downtime. The key is to configure the broadcast publishing points to run automatically so the stream automatically restarts in the event of a disruption.
. Absolute Playlist Time—Leverage this feature if there is a need to start a stream or playlist at a certain time by indicating a specific value for time, such as 12:00 a.m. The time entry is based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
. Encoder Failover URL Modifiers—It is possible to leverage more than one encoder to increase reliability and redundancy of the source content. The result is that Windows Media Services can be configured to pull source content from an alternate location in the event of a failure.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
. Cache/Proxy Management—To bolster presentation experience, a plug-in can be used to provide cache or reverse proxy functionality of digital media content. This new feature reduces network infrastructure costs by decreasing the amount of bandwidth required and used.
. Server Core installation—IT professionals have the option of installing the Windows Media Services components on a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2. A Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 is a scaleddown version of the installation offering specific administrative roles without the management interfaces and tools, which reduces management and surface area attacks.
. Multicast for Silverlight—Windows Media Services can now deliver multicast streams to Silverlight with the new Silverlight Multicast plug-in.
. Single Installation Package—Unlike Windows Server 2008, a single package is offered to make the deployment of Windows Media Server on Windows Server 2008 R2 much easier.
. Tighter Integration with Hyper-V—Streaming, performance, and manageability has improved when running Windows Media Services on Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 R2.
. Advanced Fast Start—This new feature associated with Windows Server 2008 R2 leverages the maximum available bandwidth allowed during the initial connection to a stream, resulting in end users being able to see content as soon as they connect. As soon as the playback begins, bandwidth is throttled back to a regular amount.
. Play While Archiving—This new feature, which is only supported when running the Enterprise Edition or Datacenter Edition, allows transmitted content to be archived to a file. It is interesting to note here that the file can be accessed on demand or rebroadcast even before the archiving is finished.
. Advanced FF/RW—When using this feature, independent files are used for fastforward and rewind functionality. Separate files increase performance playback and reduce bandwidth contention.
. Broadcast AutoStart—This feature aims to minimize end-user disruption and downtime. The key is to configure the broadcast publishing points to run automatically so the stream automatically restarts in the event of a disruption.
. Absolute Playlist Time—Leverage this feature if there is a need to start a stream or playlist at a certain time by indicating a specific value for time, such as 12:00 a.m. The time entry is based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
. Encoder Failover URL Modifiers—It is possible to leverage more than one encoder to increase reliability and redundancy of the source content. The result is that Windows Media Services can be configured to pull source content from an alternate location in the event of a failure.
Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)