W2K8 R2 Hyper-V Live Migration with Exchange 2010, SQL 2008 R2, SCVMM, and EMC CLARiiON NQM

Longest title ever?  Thankfully I abbreviated SCVMM down from System Center Virtual Machine Manager.  Anyway…
Microsoft has announced their launch dates for Windows 7, Windows 2008 R2, and Exchange 2010.
EMC will be there to support them in many cities including Baltimore, NYC, Irvine, Raleigh, St Louis (to name a few).
I was asked to see if we [...]

Read Full Post »

How to Build an Efficient Application Infrastructure through Virtualization

I couldn’t figure out how to embed this into my blog, but this is a great, short video which shows how EMC is working with Microsoft to virtualize applications like Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint.  It’s only ten minutes long and showcases one of EMC’s great technologists, Brian Martin, as he speaks with Microsoft’s Jim Schwartz.

Read Full Post »

V-Max and Microsoft Application Documents

Here’s some documents from various departments within EMC around the new Symmetrix V-Max and Microsoft Applications.
If you are implementing Exchange, SQL, or SharePoint in your environment today, I highly suggest you take a look (and read) the following:
EMC Proven Solutions

Reference Architecture for V-Max with SQL, SharePoint, and Exchange
Whitepaper for V-Max with SQL, SharePoint, and Exchange

EMC [...]

Read Full Post »

Virtualizing Microsoft Applications – Seminar Series

As you probably know, server virtualization helps you reduce costs on servers, power, cooling, and management and opens up some new options for backup, HA, DR, and adds a new level of flexibility.
Since Microsoft now supports Exchange, SQL, and SharePoint virtualized environments – whether it be on Hyper-V or VMware through their Server Virtualization Validation [...]

Read Full Post »

EMC DMX w/VP as Storage Utility for MSIT SQL

If you are wondering how SQL might work in a virtual environment, consider the following paper from Microsoft.
Green IT in Practice: SQL Server Consolidation in Microsoft IT
To sum it up, SQL has been thought (incorrectly) to be one of the few databases that are best kept on physical, but here Microsoft IT has displayed a [...]

Read Full Post »

Consolidated versus Distributed

Deconsolidation is a step back in time.

Read Full Post »

Tips for Dealing with Your Storage Admin

It happens everyday.  Yet another SQL admin falls victim to the technical prejudice of those who provide their storage.  It’s a sad story which is seen everyday throughout the currently developed world; at least those working in relatively well-funded companies.  UNIX guys make fun of Windows people. Mainframe guys refuse to believe Windows is even [...]

Read Full Post »

How Long is Your Backup Window?

Not long ago, I was giving a workshop to a few customers in Indianapolis.  The point was to educate them on what EMC could do for Microsoft apps and databases.
At one point, during a short bio break, two guys were getting quite animated comparing the length of their nightly backup windows.  One was a SQL [...]

Read Full Post »

EMC’s Windows Related Webcasts Available On Demand

For a while EMC has been running their own internal web events to allow the product teams and engineers to communicate directly with people who might become customers.  Below is a list of several events that you might find interesting that are available OUTSIDE the firewall.  Enjoy!
Exchange
Microsoft Exchange 2007: A Second Look
Leverage the Benefits of [...]

Read Full Post »

Microsoft Support: Top Issues for Windows 2008 Clustering

An eye-opening post directly from Jeff Hughes, Senior Support Escalation Engineer in the Microsoft Enterprise Platforms Support Team.
To further add to this, I’d like to comment on issues 2 and 3.
2. Storage hardware does not support SCSI 3 Persistent reservations
Well, it’s a good thing EMC is good to go here.  When using EMC Symmetrix, you [...]

Read Full Post »