HP ProLiant Gen8 and StoreServ 7400 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server 2012

Transcription

1 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Solution recommended architecture Table of contents Executive summary... Introduction... Solution components... Rack and power... Network... 8 Servers... Storage... Windows Server... Windows Server Hyper-V... 7 Management systems... Capacity and sizing... Bill of materials... Summary... 8 Implementing a proof-of-concept... 8 For more information... 9 Sizer resources... 9

2 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Executive summary In traditional data centers where each server is deployed for the sole purpose of running a single workload, you often encounter hardware sprawl, higher energy consumption for power and cooling, and more complex management. Virtualization decouples virtual and physical resources, thereby enabling the sharing of resources previously dedicated to individual applications, driving less provisioning complexity, and greater flexibility. This leads to a transformation of not only the data center, but also the businesses that those data centers fuel as a result of delivering greater consolidation, administrative efficiency, and cost savings. HP and Microsoft are positioned to help you deploy a stable and flexible virtualization infrastructure with their next generation of products to serve as a base for your applications. Together with Windows Server Hyper-V, our HP Converged Infrastructure solutions including HP Converged Storage is a powerful virtualized compute platform that helps you reduce both capital and operational expenses while simultaneously increasing the overall flexibility of your data center. The foundation for this virtualized platform is based on the following: BLc and DL8p Generation 8 servers provide more capability for your blade or rack mount servers HP PAR StoreServ 7 series storage arrays with advanced features built-in HP Networking solutions for your data center and branch office Ethernet and Storage needs Microsoft Windows Server Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-V Microsoft System Center suite of products for deployment, management and maintenance With HP Converged Infrastructure and Microsoft Hyper-V Server, you can transform your data center into a cloud computing environment to provide IT services on demand. As even newer components are made available or as additional functionality is required, it can be seamlessly added to the existing virtualization infrastructure. Target audience: This white paper is intended to assist IT decision makers, storage administrators, Windows and Hyper-V architects and engineers involved in the planning, deployment and management of a Hyper-V Infrastructure using the HP PAR StoreServ 7x and Gen8 servers. This white paper describes testing performed in January. Introduction Business requirements for technology solutions change quickly and contain complex features. HP helps IT departments to provide the flexibility to rapidly implement new solutions, redesign and modify solutions as workloads and business requirements evolve over time and reallocate resources that are freed up when new solutions are implemented. For more than years, HP and Microsoft have worked together to accelerate time-to-application value, improve performance, and reduce the complexity and cost of deploying and running mission-critical data management applications. Only HP and Microsoft integrate the hardware, software, and services you need, on the scale you need, with industrystandard solutions that extend the power of information to everyone. As new technology is released in HP hardware such as network devices, servers and storage, Microsoft operating systems and applications evolve to make use of these new features. HP s release of new products includes: BLc and DL8p Generation 8 servers provide more processing power with 8 and core processors and memory capacities up to 78 GB along with LAN on motherboard cards to allow tailoring to your needs HP PAR StoreServ 7 series storage arrays with advanced features like thin provisioning and Adaptive Optimization built-in and support of SMI-S Providers for Microsoft System Center. HP Networking solutions for your data center and branch office Ethernet and Storage needs Microsoft s release of new products includes: Microsoft Windows Server with many new storage and networking features Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-V with expanded support for virtual servers with up to virtual processors, TB of memory, and expansion in networking and storage capabilities System Center suite of products for deployment, management and maintenance Microsoft has added functionality that makes use of new features across many of HP s product lines and this allows the IT engineer to align their design closely to the customer s requirements and goals both on initial design and as the needs evolve over time.

3 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server The solution configuration presented in this paper is an example configuration to demonstrate the functional components used to build the solution. It is critical for any virtual infrastructure to incorporate flexibility into the initial design in order to meet changing business needs. Meeting business requirements and service levels requires that every infrastructure be as simple as possible for ease of troubleshooting, ease of updating during maintenance windows and recoverability in the event of unexpected failures. Hewlett-Packard continues to provide the best designed and easiest to use server products on the market with world class service and supportability. When it counts, you can depend on HP to provide you with the best infrastructure to deploy your IT needs. Solution components HP offers a full range of solution components to provide a single vendor solution from design and procurement through installation and support. The solutions contained in this design are focused on flexibility and manageability so that it s simple to change a component to meet new needs or to monitor a subsystem. The products in this solution range from rack, power, server and storage components to the operating system and software solutions. Rack and power This solution incorporates HP Intelligent rack and power components allowing for remote management and monitoring of power. When mounting devices into the rack, the server and storage components were mounted facing the front of the rack while all Ethernet and storage networking devices were mounted facing the rear of the rack as shown in Figure. Mounting the network devices in this manner allows for optimal cable configuration. Figure. Solution diagram of physical components (front and rear view) Speed: Green=Mbps, Yellow=/Mbps Management ACT LINK Duplex: Green=Full Duplex, Yellow=Half Duplex HP A8 Series Switch JGA HP 8 Series Switch JGA Console Unit PWR FAN Mode Green = Simplex Yellow = Duplex SYS PWR FAN //Base-T LSWMFANSC LSWMFANSC //Base-T SFP+ Green=Gbps, Yellow=Gbps HP 9 Series Switch JG9A FAN FAN PWR HP 9 Series Switch Management LINK Console SYS LSVMSFAN LSVMSFAN SFP+ Green=Gbps, Yellow=Gbps //Base-T SFP+ Green=Gbps, Yellow=Gbps HP 9 Series Switch JG9A FAN FAN PWR HP 9 Series Switch HP 8AF LAN Switch ACT PWR Management LINK Console ACT SYS PWR LSVMSFAN LSVMSFAN SFP+ Green=Gbps, Yellow=Gbps 7 8 Green=Gbps, Yellow=Gbps 9 //Base-T SFP+ HP StorageWorks 8/ SAN Switch HP 9AF LAN Switch HP StorageWorks 8/ SAN Switch GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 7 9 GB 9 GB 8 NIC PS POWER CAP PS OVER TEMP PLC B 7W PS AMP STATUS 9% DIMMS PROCS 8 8 PS 7 9 FANS 7 9 9% 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 7 9 GB 9 GB 8 NIC PS POWER CAP PS OVER TEMP TOP TOP ACT LINK PLC B 7W ProLiant DL8p Gen8 P P LINK ACT ilo ilo PLC B DL8p Gen8 7W PS AMP STATUS HP 8/ SAN Switch 9% DIMMS PROCS 8 8 PS 7 9 FANS 7 9 9% ACT LINK 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 7 9 GB 8 NIC PS POWER CAP PS OVER TEMP PLC B 7W ProLiant DL8p Gen8 P P LINK ACT PLC B 7W PS AMP STATUS 9% DIMMS PROCS 8 8 PS FANS Two-node Controller PLC B 7W 9% ProLiant DL8p Gen8 P P LINK ACT 9 9 -V~,.A, / Hz B LAN A B To remove power completely, both AC line cords must be disconnected. To remove power completely, both AC line cords must be disconnected. Intr PCI-HBA Intr FC- DP- DP- MGMT FC- RC- 7 8 PULL GB GB 7 7 PAR StorServ 7 GB GB 7W PCM GB PULL GB DP- DP- 8W PCM GB GB GB GB GB Drive Shelf M7 GB GB 8W PCM GB DP- 7.K 7.K TB TB INSERT PSU BLANK IN SLOTS OR DP- 8W PCM 7.K TB 7.K TB ATTENTION 7.K 7.K 7.K TB TB TB 8W PCM 8W PCM DP- 7.K TB DP- 7.K TB 7.K TB 7.K 7.K TB TB 7.K 7.K 7.K TB BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 TB BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 9 9 FAN FAN 9 8 SHARED: UPLINK or X-LINK X X X X X X X7 SHARED: UPLINK or X-LINK X8 X X X X X X X7 X8 HP VC FlexFabric Gb/-Port Module 7 HP VC FlexFabric Gb/-Port Module BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 8 7 Enclosure Interlink OA OA ilo Reset ilo Active Enclosure Reset Active Remove management modules before ejecting sleeve FAN HP BladeSystem Onboard Administrators BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 7 BLc Gen8 HP BladeSystem interconnect modules TB BLc Gen8 Drive Shelf M7 8W PCM INSERT PSU BLANK IN SLOTS OR ATTENTION 7.K TB HP BLc Gen 8 Hyper-V Hosts HP StoreServ 7 -node 8W PCM GB GB GB DP- GB GB GB GB DP- GB 8W PCM Drive Shelf LFF 7 GB MGMT RC- GB FC- DP- GB FC- GB 7 GB Intr Intr GB DP- GB GB GB GB PCI-HBA 7 8 7W PCM 8 7W PCM 8 HP KVM Switch/Monitor 9 7W PCM Drive Shelf SFF ilo SETUP A 9 TOP ACT LINK -V~,.A, / Hz FAN HP BladeSystem c7 Platinum enclosure OK PS PS PS PS PS PS REAR VIEW

4 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Power devices included in the solution fall into two broad categories, HP intelligent power devices and standard power devices. The heart of the HP Intelligent power solution is the Intelligent Power Distribution Unit (PDU) which provides the ability to connect to the Intelligent PDU over the Ethernet network and to manage and monitor the power in your racks. Intelligent devices include special power components with blue connectors that contain connections for data communication of power state and integration with intelligent power supplies in the ProLiant servers and in the BladeSystem enclosure. Standard devices can be plugged into the Intelligent PDUs but do not contain the data connection. Both intelligent and standard types of devices can be controlled from the Intelligent PDU management console. Figure. HP Power: Physical HP Intelligent PDU components HP Intelligent Cable HP Intelligent PDU Display HP Managed Extension Bar HP Intelligent PDU The HP Intelligent PDU components shown in Figure include the Intelligent PDU which plugs into data center power and provides connections to either the HP Managed Extension Bars or to the BladeSystem. The HP Intelligent PDU is connected to the HP Intelligent PDU Display so that you can monitor the rack locally from that display mounted in the rack door. Remote monitoring and management of the HP Intelligent PDU is performed using Ethernet over a connection to the HP Intelligent PDU. Special HP Intelligent power cables are available for connection to ProLiant servers with Intelligent Power supplies and to the BladeSystem. HP Intelligent PDUs should be deployed in pairs in the rack and configured to support redundant communication, SNMP trap generation and alerts to notify administrators of power events. The remote Intelligent PDU management console is accessible over Ethernet and can be configured for either http or https connectivity and contains multiple functional areas. The overview page of the remote HP Intelligent PDU Management Console is shown in Figure.

5 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Figure. HP Intelligent Modular PDU: Overview As shown above, the interface reports the total load in the vertical bar with alarm thresholds defined in yellow and red as well as the current total load identified by the white pointer. The horizontal bars to the right of the total load show information specific to each of the six load segments with the same threshold and current load indicators.

6 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Within the HP Intelligent Modular PDU interface, you can identify the type of devices that are plugged into the outlets of the PDU such as extension bars (Load Segment, and : Managed Extension Bar) or BladeSystem power supplies (Load Segment, and : HP AC Module, Single Phase, Insight) in the Identification portion of the menu as shown in Figure. The load segments are the physical ports through on the HP Intelligent PDU that are connected to the Managed Extension Bar or BladeSystem power supplies. Figure. HP Intelligent Modular PDU: Identification In the figure above, load segments, and contain managed extension bars and load segments, and contain BladeSystem power supplies (HP AC Module, Single Phase, Intlgnt).

7 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server In the device assignment section of the HP Intelligent Modular PDU interface, you can describe the type of devices that are plugged into the outlets and PDU extension bars as shown in Figure. Figure. HP Intelligent Modular PDU: Device Assignment In the figure above, the device type dropdown box identifies the device that is plugged into each outlet on the PDU. In the case of a managed extension bar, the fields to the right show the five outlets and allow the entry of description information if the device is not automatically recognized. In the figure, the device labeled APS-KS-MGT-iLO which is shown plugged into Load Segment : Outlet was automatically discovered through the data connection in the power cable that connects the server to the PDU. The automatic discovery process populates the server name, model, Integrated Lights-Out (ilo ) IP address (and hyperlink) as well as the G for the device. The U Position, U Height and U Location fields are not automatically populated but can be entered to fully describe each device s location within the rack. HP Location Discovery Services products can be installed into the rack to provide automatic discovery of ProLiant Gen8 server location within the rack. For the load segments that are connected to a Blade Enclosure; the Onboard Administrator (OA) name, enclosure type (c7), OA IP address (including hyperlink) and G for the device are automatically discovered. Double-clicking on any of the hyperlinks will open a new browser window with the information in the hyperlink. 7

8 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server In the control section of the HP Intelligent Modular PDU interface, you can perform operations against devices that are plugged into the outlets and PDU extension bars as shown in Figure. Figure. HP Intelligent Modular PDU: Control In the figure above, there are two types of control options, which depend on the Redundancy Status. If the redundancy status shows a green checkmark (APS-KS-MGT-iLO), then when you choose to turn off or cycle the power this Intelligent PDU will communicate with its partner Intelligent PDU and shut off both power outlets that feed the server causing the server to be entirely disconnected from power. If the redundancy status is a blue information icon (APS-KS-KVM), then when you choose to turn off or cycle the power only the outlet connected to this PDU is disconnected from power. If a standard device with two power supplies is plugged into two different PDUs in a rack and you wish to completely disconnect it from power, you must navigate to the other Intelligent PDU and shut down the corresponding device from its interface. Note It is important to update the firmware on the HP Intelligent Modular PDU devices to ensure that all current features are available and that the firmware matches on all Intelligent PDUs. Network This solution incorporates HP Networking components to provide an integrated solution. The networking devices in this solution include both Ethernet and Fibre Channel devices. The network devices are selected based on the type (GbE and GbE) and quantity or ports as well as airflow models so that a back to front airflow pattern could be used to match with the hot and cold zones in the data center. When mounting devices into the rack, the Ethernet and storage networking devices were mounted facing the rear of the rack, as shown previously in Figure. The networking devices are then configured with the proper fan flow direction within their management consoles. Proper cooling is important to ensure that processors are able to run at maximum performance. The HP FlexFabric components used in this configuration provide a flexible architecture for converged Ethernet and Fibre Channel connections. When using FlexFabric, the environment is cabled once and can then be configured or changed as needed to meet new requirements without the need to change hardware. 8

9 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Ethernet The Ethernet configuration used in this design contains both GbE and GbE segments. For this specific lab configuration, there are data center networks (LabNet) that are internal to the data center and a corporate network (CorpNet) that houses the client and administrator workstations, as well as management interfaces for servers, storage and network devices. The LabNet and CorpNet networks are connected using a Microsoft Windows Server server that has the Routing and Remote Access server and the Microsoft Remote Desktop Gateway server roles installed. The logical layout of the lab networks is shown in Figure 7. Figure 7. Ethernet Network: Logical Ethernet Network: Logical Management Servers RD Gateway StoreServ 7 Admin Hyper-V Hosts Note Every server, the intelligent PDUs and network switches all have their management ports on the CorpNet network so that in the event the RD Gateway server is unavailable, access to manage the lab is still possible. HP Networking switches CorpNet contains a single HP Networking 8AF-8G switch and provides 8 RJ ports with GbE connectivity to the administrative workstations, the server (RD Gateway) containing Microsoft Windows Server with the Remote Desktop Gateway role, the administrative ports on the network and storage switches, the Onboard Administrator (OA) and the Integrated Lights-Out (ilo ) connections in the BladeSystem and the ilo connections in the rack mount servers. LabNet contains two HP 9AF-XG GbE switches that are configured as a redundant pair to provide service in the event of failure of either switch through the use of Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) which combines multiple physical ports into a single logical port. The 9AF switches provide - GbE ports each. The HP 9AF-XG GbE switches have the ability to use multiple connection types including: DAC Cables with built-in transceivers, SFP+ transceivers with LC-LC Fibre cables and HP X G SFP RJ T transceivers. The 9AF switches provide connection to the RD Gateway server, management servers, the BladeSystem interconnect modules and the StoreServ 7. 9

10 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Note The 9AF switches do not currently provide a web interface and must be configured using the CLI. Server network connectivity A wide selection of network interface cards is available for ProLiant servers to provide a variety of capabilities and the ability to change the cards as requirements evolve. LAN on Motherboard (LOM) cards, shown below are used to change the personality of the built-in networking ports in the server. The LOM cards shown in Figure 8 are replaceable without the use of tools. Figure 8. ProLiant server: LAN on Motherboard (LOM) card (Blade server on left and DL server on right) The LOM NICs are shown in Figure 8. The HP FlexFabric Gb -port FLB FlexibleLOM shown on the left is used in ProLiant blade servers and the HP FlexFabric Gb -port FLR-SFP+ FIO Adapter shown on the right is used in ProLiant rack mount servers. Fibre Channel SAN connections (FCoE) are made through the LOM NICs on the blade servers while separate 8Gb Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapters (HBA) are used for the DL8p rack mount servers. BladeSystem interconnect modules The BladeSystem enclosure allows the use of a variety of interconnect modules to match the design requirements of many solutions. The Virtual Connect FlexFabric Gb/-Port Module is shown in Figure 9. Two modules are used in this design to provide converged Ethernet and Fibre Channel storage area networks into a single set of connections and a single point of management. Figure 9. BladeSystem interconnect module: Virtual Connect FlexFabric Gb/-Port S H A R E D : U P L I N K o r X - L I N K X X X X X X X7 X8 HP VC FlexFabric Gb/-Port Module There are eight external SFP+ ports (shown above) and internal ports in each of the two FlexFabric interconnect modules. The eight SFP+ connections are used to provide Ethernet or Fibre Channel access outside of the enclosure. The first four connections (x through x) are capable of providing Ethernet or FC support while the remainder of the ports (x through x8) are Ethernet only.

11 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Note Ports x7 and x8 in FlexFabric modules are shared uplink or cross-link ports that connect with interconnect modules in the same or other BladeSystem enclosures. Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) The Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) configuration used in this design contains two specific sets of components: B-series 8Gb Fibre Channel (FC) switches BladeSystem Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connections over FlexFabric interconnect modules The HP 8/ SAN Switch delivers affordable and flexible 8 Gbit/sec connectivity and can be incorporated into an extensive core fabric or placed as an edge switch for SAN environments. It delivers sixteen high performance auto-sensing,,, and 8 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel ports. With powerful yet flexible capabilities such as Ports On Demand scalability to ports in an 8-port increment, the 8/ SAN Switch enables organizations to start small and grow their storage networks in a nondisruptive manner. A fully populated 8/ SAN Switch with enabled ports provides 8 Gbit/sec switching capacity for un-congested sustained, 8 Gbit/sec full duplex throughput. Product Highlights Features Ports on Demand capability for fast, easy, and cost-effective scalability from to ports in an 8-port increment The 8/ SAN Switch with enabled ports may be deployed as a full-fabric switch or in Access Gateway mode, which provides connectivity into any SAN (the default mode setting is a switch). Attaching through NPIV-enabled switches and directors, the 8/ SAN Switch with enabled ports in Access Gateway mode can connect to other SAN fabrics. Optional enhanced ISL Trunking combines up to eight ISLs between a pair of switches into a single, logical high-speed trunk capable of up to Gbit/sec of throughput Two HP 8Gb B-Series Fibre Channel switches support redundant connections to the management servers, the BladeSystem enclosure FlexFabric interconnect modules and the StoreServ 7 array as shown in Figure.

12 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Figure. Storage Network: Logical Storage Network: Logical Management Servers StoreServ 7 Hyper-V Hosts The Fibre Channel connections differ between the rack mount servers and blade servers. The rack mount servers use Fibre Channel HBAs which are connected using optical cables and 8Gb SFP+ transceivers to two B-Series SAN switches. The blade servers connect using Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) from the FLB LOM modules to the FlexFabric interconnect modules, and Fibre Channel is used for the connection from the FlexFabric interconnect module to the B-series switches. The differences in connection methods are shown in Figure. Figure. Fibre Channel connections: Protocols used for connection Fibre Channel: Protocols DL8p Gen 8 B-Series Switch NCFLR Fibre Channel B-Series Switch BladeSystem Interconnect Module NCFLB Fibre Channel Fibre Channel over Ethernet BLc Gen 8

13 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Virtual Connect server profiles Virtual Connect server profiles are created for each blade server in the solution to define the connections that the server has the ability to access. In this design, each of the BladeSystem servers is configured to allow access to a distinct set of network and SAN devices. Clustered and stand-alone Hyper-V server profiles for Ethernet The server profiles used for testing resulted in four Ethernet networks that were defined as follows: Production Network (GbE) Used for client connectivity and server to server communication Cluster Shared Volume Network (GbE) Used for Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) Live Migration Network (GbE) Used for live migration traffic Management Network (GbE) Used for cluster heartbeat and communication with System Center Virtual Machine Manager SP Network reconfiguration is possible by shutting down a blade server, editing the assigned server profile and restarting the server. Servers The physical servers in this solution are categorized into two broad categories. Management servers that provide the platform to service, deploy, monitor and manage the solution and Hyper-V host servers which contain the Hyper-V guests that will be deployed with your applications. Both the management and application servers are configured as Hyper-V hosts and VMs are deployed with the individual server roles. The functional roles and their location on the servers in this solution are shown in Figure.

14 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB 9 GB BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 PROCS DIMMS FANS PROCS DIMMS FANS PROCS DIMMS FANS PS PS PS PS PS PS POWER CAP POWER CAP POWER CAP NIC NIC NIC OVER TEMP OVER TEMP 7 9 OVER TEMP AMP STATUS 7 9 AMP STATUS AMP STATUS 7 9 BLc Gen8 BLc Gen8 ProLiant DL8p Gen8 ProLiant DL8p Gen8 ProLiant DL8p Gen8 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Figure. ProLiant Servers: Functional Roles RDGate 7 8 MGT DC/GC IPAM WDS 7 8 RDGate RD Gateway Server MGT DC/GC SCVMM 7 MGT Management Server 8 DC/GC Domain Controller HV-L HV-H HV-H HV-H HV-H HV-H HV-H HV-H IPAM IPAM Server Windows Failover Cluster SCVMM SCVMM/SCOM Server WDS WDS Server FS FS HV-L HV-L HV-L HV-L HV-H HV-L HV-H Hyper-V Host (HiMem) HV-L Hyper-V Host (LoMem) Windows Failover Cluster FS File Server (SMB) OK DL8p Gen8 DL8p Gen8 servers are rack mount servers used for management in the solution. DL8p Gen8 servers provide flexibility in memory, processor and network to host virtual machines with the following roles. Remote Desktop Gateway The Windows Server Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) server is the bridge between CorpNet and LabNet. The RD Gateway server is configured with the following roles: Microsoft File Server role Microsoft Storage Services role Microsoft Network Policy Server role Microsoft DirectAccess and VPN (RAS) role Microsoft Routing role Microsoft Remote Desktop Gateway role

15 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server The RD Gateway server is a domain-joined server that provides the connection point for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connections to servers in the data center network. This server hosts the following tools used for management of the infrastructure: MobaXterm terminal software for connection to a 8-port HP serial port concentrator used with HP PAR StoreServ 7 VMware Workstation 9. to host the virtualized PAR Service Processor HP PAR Management Console (MC) and Command Line (CLI) tools HP B-series SAN management tools (browser-based) FTP/TFTP Server for distributing and updating firmware on network switches Web server (IIS) to host installation distributions like ISO images used to provision servers Note The HP PAR StoreServ virtual Service Processor (vsp) is only provided as a VMware virtual machine. The availability of a Hyper-V virtual machine-based vsp may be available in a future release. A physical HP PAR StoreServ Service Processor (SP) can be ordered for environments that do not support VMware. Management servers The two Windows Server management servers are configured as Hyper-V host servers and have virtual machines configured with the following roles: Domain Controller (DC), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server and Domain Name Service (DNS) IP Address Management (IPAM) server Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) and Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) SP Microsoft Windows Deployment Server (WDS) The management servers are located outside of the BladeSystem and provide a platform to control the configuration, deployment, management and alerting for the Hyper-V hosts in the BladeSystem that run the application hosts. The Hyper-V management server hosts are not clustered or domain-joined. ProLiant BLc Gen8 servers and HP BladeSystem c7 Platinum enclosure ProLiant BLc Gen8 servers are BladeSystem servers used to host the application virtual machines and Scale Out File Servers in the solution. BLc Gen8 servers are designed to support virtualization and provide power and flexibility in memory, processor and network features. The ProLiant BLc Gen8 servers are configured to serve the following roles: Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-V host (HiMem) clustered Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-V host (HiMem and LoMem) stand-alone Microsoft Windows Server Scaleout File Server Cluster (SMB.) Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-V host (HiMem) clustered Clustered Hyper-V host servers provide a failover cluster for deployment of Highly Available (HA) Hyper-V virtual machines. The components in each BLc Gen8 are: Processor: (two) E- processors Memory: (9GB) HP GB Rx PC-8R- Kit Disk: (two) HP GB G.in SC ENT HDD RAID Network: HP FlexFabric Gb P FLB FIO Adptr HP Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Kit Windows Server Hyper-V hosts (HiMem and LoMem) stand-alone The Windows Server Hyper-V host servers are deployed with two memory configurations: HiMem configuration contains 9GB of RAM LoMem configuration contains 9GB of RAM

16 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server The components in each BLc Gen8 are: Processor: (two) E- processors Memory: (9GB HiMem or 9GB LoMem) HP GB Rx PC-8R- Kit Disk: (two) HP GB G.in SC ENT HDD RAID Network: HP FlexFabric Gb P FLB FIO Adptr HP TPM Module Kit Microsoft Windows Server Scaleout File Server Cluster (SMB.) The Windows Scale Out File Server (SOFS) cluster provides a two-node failover cluster to host Server Message Block. (SMB.) file shares to store virtual hard disks (VHDX) that hold Guest OS and application data disk volumes. The components in each BLc Gen8 are: Processor: (two) E- processors Memory: (9GB) HP GB Rx PC-8R- Kit Disk: (two) HP GB G.in SC ENT HDD RAID Network: HP FlexFabric Gb P FLB FIO Adptr HP TPM Module Kit HP BladeSystem c7 Platinum enclosure The BladeSystem enclosure holds the power, network and management modules that support the BLc servers in this solution. The components in the HP BladeSystem c7 Platinum enclosure are: Power Distribution: HP BLc PH Intelligent Power Mod FIO Opt Power Supplies: HP X W Plat Ht Plg FIO Pwr Sply Kit Fan: HP BLc X Active Cool FIO Fan Opt Onboard Administration: HP BLc7 DDR Encl Mgmt Option Network: (two) HP BLc VC FlexFabric Gb/-port Opt Storage The storage in this solution is provided by HP PAR StoreServ 7 Storage System. The HP PAR StoreServ 7 provides support for two- or four-controller node configurations, wide-striping of data, support for Windows Server Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX), support for Windows Standards-based Storage Management and flexibility in storage provisioning. The array can be ordered in pre-configured starter packages or specifically configured to meet your design goals. The HP PAR StoreServ 7 array deployed in this configuration provides storage to servers hosting Hyper-V guest virtual machine startup and data disks. The HP PAR StoreServ 7 array is connected with the rack mount and blade servers using the HP B-series 8Gb Fibre Channel SAN switches and BladeSystem FlexFabric modules.

17 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server HP PAR StoreServ 7 controller components The HP PAR StoreServ 7 two-node array used in this configuration is expandable into a four-node version if additional array resources are needed due to increasing business needs or to support an increase in the number of connected hosts. HP PAR StoreServ 7 two-node controller components are shown in Figure. Figure. Storage: StoreServ 7 two-node controller components FC Host Connections Node FC or iscsi Host Connections Serial Console Connection 7W PCM MGMT RC- FC- FC- DP- HP PAR 7 DP- Intr Intr PCI-HBA 7W PCM Remote Copy Connection 7W PCM PCI-HBA Intr Intr DP- HP PAR 7 DP- FC- FC- MGMT RC- 7W PCM Management Connection Node Disk Shelf Connections Inter-Controller Link Connections (-node) In the figure above, the rear of a two-node HP PAR StoreServ 7 controller pair is shown. Note Node and node are oriented 8 from each other when locating the ports on each controller. The ports are the same on controller node and controller node and consist of the following ports: FC- and FC- 8Gb Fibre Channel host connections from each node PCI-HBA 8Gb Fibre Channel (-port) or GbE iscsi (-port) host connections from each node MFG Serial Console connection to connect to a computer or serial concentrator switch for node management DP- and DP- Gb connections for external M7 (SFF) or M7 (LFF) hard drive shelves Intr and Intr - Controller interlink connections to provide full mesh backplane links to an additional controller pair MGMT GbE Ethernet management connection for access to the HP PAR Management Console functionality RC- GbE Remote Copy connection for replication traffic 7

18 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Table. Specifications for the StoreServ 7 and 7 arrays Feature 7 Two-node (Four-node) 7 Two-node Controller Nodes Two (Four) Two Processors Two (Four) six-core Two quad-core PAR ASIC Two (Four) Two Cache GB ( GB) GB Host Ports Fibre Channel to ( to ) to iscsi to ( to 8) to Number of initiators supported () Hard Disk Drives (HDD) 8 to ( to 8) 8 to Solid State Drives (SSD) 8 to ( to ) 8 to RAID Levels RAID,, and RAID,, and Additional Drive Shelves to 9 ( to 8) to Storage networking Storage networking provides connectivity from the servers to the storage and for this design consists of Fibre Channel and Fibre Channel over Ethernet connection types. The process for providing storage connectivity for the server infrastructure incorporates several phases: First Step: design a physical cabling diagram and make the connections between the B-series Fibre Channel switches, BladeSystem FlexFabric interconnect modules, the management servers and StoreServ 7 Second Step: configure the B-series Fibre Channel switches by assigning an alias to each physical connection from every server, each connected port on the FlexFabric interconnect modules and each of the host connection ports on the StoreServ. Third Step: configure the B-series Fibre Channel switches by assigning the aliases to zones. The zones provide a logical connection path from a server through the B-series switches to the StoreServ. Forth Step: define Virtual Connect server profiles, assign them to servers and install MPIO Fifth Step: provision the StoreServ with each host and VMs World Wide Names (WWNs) First Step: Physical Cabling Physical cabling for storage is split into two areas: Fibre Channel cabling for StoreServ connectivity to hosts and cabling for StoreServ connectivity to the disk shelves. The physical Fibre Channel cabling connections are made between the BladeSystem FlexFabric interconnect modules, the B-series SAN switches and the StoreServ 7. The 8Gb physical Fibre Channel connections provide the flexibility for multiple paths to be configured from the servers to the StoreServ array. 8

19 S H A R E D : U P L I N K o r X - L I N K X X X X X X X7 X8 HP VC FlexFabric Gb/-Port Module PULL PULL 7 S H A R E D : U P L I N K o r X - L I N K X X X X X X X7 X8 HP VC FlexFabric Gb/-Port Module Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Figure. Storage Networking: StoreServ 7 Fibre Channel cabling SAN Fabric B SAN Fabric C SAN Fabric A SAN Fabric D BladeSystem Interconnect modules HP StorageWorks 8/ SAN Switch HP 8/ SAN Switches FC HP StorageWorks 8/ SAN Switch FC HP StoreServ 7 Controller 7W PCM 7W PCM RC- MGMT PCI-HBA FC- FC- DP- 7 Intr DP- Intr Intr DP- Intr 7 DP- FC- FC- PCI-HBA RC- MGMT 7W PCM 7W PCM BladeSystem Fibre Channel connections are defined in Virtual Connect Manager as SAN Fabrics: A, B, C and D as shown in Figure. The logical SAN Fabrics are used in conjunction with Virtual Connect Server Profiles to define how each server connects to the StoreServ array. Figure. Storage Networking: Virtual Connect SAN Fabric configuration 9

20 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Disk shelf cabling consists of connections made from two ports on each controller to the interface card in each disk shelf. Figure shows the Disk Ports (DP- and DP-) on the controllers and the connections that need to be made on each disk shelf interface module. Figure. Storage Networking: StoreServ 7 Disk Shelf cabling DP- DP- HP StoreServ 7 Controller pair Node 7W PCM 7W PCM RC- MGMT PCI-HBA FC- FC- DP- HP PAR 7 Intr DP- Intr Intr DP- Intr HP PAR 7 DP- FC- FC- PCI-HBA MGMT RC- 7W PCM 7W PCM Node DP- DP- DP- 8W PCM DP- DP- 8W PCM HP StoreServ M7 SFF Drive Enclosure DP- DP- 8W PCM 8W PCM DP- DP- 8W PCM DP- DP- INSERT PSU BLANK IN SLOTS OR HP StoreServ M7 LFF Drive Enclosure 8W PCM ATTENTION DP- DP- 8W PCM ATTENTION DP- INSERT PSU BLANK IN SLOTS OR 8W PCM Note The M7 (SFF) disk shelves with either controller nodes or interface modules and are oriented 8 from each other when locating the disk shelf ports and the M7 (LFF) disk shelf interface modules are oriented in the same direction which can cause confusion when cabling the controller nodes and disk shelves The input to each disk shelf s interface module (port DP-) is denoted by two arrows pointing into the port:

21 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Second Step: Alias Assignment The Fibre Channel connections made into each B-series SAN switch are defined by physical port number from within the Zone Admin portion of the HP B-series Switch Explorer interface. An alias name (Number in the figure below) is created [alias7_n_p] and associated with a physical switch port (Number in the figure below) [,(port,u-port,pid: )]. The assignment of an alias is similar to how IP addresses are matched with host names in DNS. Figure 7. Storage Networking: B-series switch alias assignment Once each of the physically connected ports is assigned an alias, SAN Zones are created to link the aliases together and permit Fibre Channel traffic to flow between the defined ports in the zone.

22 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Third Step: SAN Zone Creation SAN Zones are created in Virtual Connect Manager as shown in the following figure by creating a zone name (number in the figure below) [zone_c7_m_x_7_n_p] that contains the aliases (number in the figure below) for the c7 interconnect module, port X and the StoreServ 7 Node, port. Figure 8. Storage Networking: StoreServ 7 and c7 storage zoning on B-Series switches Multiple SAN Zones are created in each of the B-series SAN switches to provide redundant physical and logical connections from each server to the StoreServ array with the B-series SAN switch having the following zones: FC SAN Switch zone_c7_m_x_7_n_p zone_c7_m_x_7_n_p zone_c7_m_x_7_n_p zone_c7_m_x_7_n_p FC SAN Switch zone_c7_m_x_7_n_p zone_c7_m_x_7_n_p zone_c7_m_x_7_n_p zone_c7_m_x_7_n_p

23 S H A R E D : U P L I N K o r X - L I N K X X X X X X X7 X8 HP VC FlexFabric Gb/-Port Module PULL 7 PULL 8 S H A R E D : U P L I N K o r X - L I N K X X X X X X X7 X8 HP VC FlexFabric Gb/-Port Module Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server As shown in the following figure, each port on the BladeSystem FlexFabric interconnect module has connections defined in the B-series switch to connect with the StoreServ controller node and node. Figure 9. Storage Networking: StoreServ 7 and c7 storage zoning on B-Series switches SAN Zone B SAN Zone B SAN Zone C SAN Zone C SAN Zone A SAN Zone D SAN Zone A SAN Zone D BladeSystem Interconnect modules HP StorageWorks 8/ SAN Switch HP 8/ SAN Switches FC HP StorageWorks 8/ SAN Switch FC HP StoreServ 7 Controller 7W PCM 7W PCM RC- MGMT PCI-HBA FC- FC- DP- 7 Intr DP- Intr Intr DP- Intr 7 DP- FC- FC- PCI-HBA RC- MGMT 7W PCM 7W PCM Example of connections for BladeSystem Interconnect module (module on left side), port X (SAN Zones A and A) BladeSystem Interconnect module, port X is physically connected to B-series switch FC: port B-series switch FC:port is logically connected to FC:port (SAN Zone A) and FC:port (SAN Zone A) B-series switch FC:port is physically connected to StoreServ controller node :FC- (SAN Zone A) B-series switch FC:port is physically connected to StoreServ controller node :FC- (SAN Zone A) The same pattern is repeated for each of the ports (X and X) on both interconnect modules. By combining the physical Fibre Channel cabling and logical SAN switch zoning, each server in the BladeSystem is able to maintain connection in the event of loss of any of the following physical components: Port on the FLB LOM NIC card in each server BladeSystem FlexFabric Interconnect module B-Series Fibre Channel SAN switch StoreServ 7 Array controller node At this point in the configuration, we have ensured that there are physical and logical paths from the StoreServ array controllers to the FlexFabric interconnect modules in the BladeSystem. The four connections from the FlexFabric interconnect module ports to the Fibre Channel switches are running at 8Gb Fibre Channel and the connection from the FlexFabric interconnect modules to each of the physical Hyper-V hosts consists of two Gb FCoE connections as discussed in the next sections. Additional FlexFabric interconnect modules and mezzanine NICs can be used to expand the Ethernet and FCoE connectivity available to the servers and Hyper-V VMs. A white paper covering HP Virtual Connect Fibre Channel Networking Scenarios is available from:

24 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Forth Step: Virtual Connect server profiles The Virtual Connect server profiles that are created for each blade server in the configuration allow access to storage resources. Server profiles for storage are configured differently for blade servers in odd numbered bays and in even numbered bays as follows: SAN A and C Network (Gb FCoE) Used for storage connectivity to StoreServ 7 for odd numbered servers SAN B and D Network (Gb FCoE) Used for storage connectivity to StoreServ 7 for even numbered servers Figure. Storage Networking: Virtual Connect Server Profile The server FCoE HBA connections alternate between pairs of SAN networks to balance the access to SAN resources. Fifth Step: StoreServ provisioning for each host Use the HP PAR Management Console (MC) to associate the host World Wide Names (WWNs) with the hosts in preparation to provisioning each server with its storage. Windows Server Windows Server is Microsoft s newest generation of server operating system and provides many significant enhancements and features. The section below provides coverage of significant features and links to additional information. Windows Server has a large focus on virtualization and technologies that support and improve virtualization, leading to a change in the licensing for Windows Server.

25 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Licensing General Windows Server changes the Microsoft licensing model, especially around Hyper-V virtualization. The Enterprise version of Windows licensing no longer exists and you have the following choices depending on your need: Table. Windows Server licensing Windows Edition Foundation Essentials Standard Datacenter Physical Processors One Up to Two per license Up to Two per license Up to Two per license Virtualization Instances Windows Features No Virtual OS Instances Limited features No Virtual OS Instances Limited features Two Virtual OS Instances All features Unlimited Virtual OS Instances All features Additional information on Licensing for Windows Server is available from: Licensing Brief Windows Server Domain Services (AD DS) The domain controller virtual machines (DC-VM) are Windows Server and are both configured using Windows forest and domain functional levels. The Hyper-V virtual machines that contain the Domain Controller role also contain DHCP and DNS. Additional information on AD DS is available from: What's New in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) DHCP The DC-VMs run split-scope DHCP which is a new feature that allows two servers to share a DHCP scope for client IP addressing. The available pool of IP addresses is split between the two servers with DC holding 7% of the addresses in the scope and DC holding % of the IP addresses in the scope. Additional information on DHCP is available from: What's New in DHCP DNS The DNS role on DC and DC is configured with forward and reverse lookup zones and uses AD Replication to transfer zone information. Scavenging is set on all zones. Additional information on DNS is available from: What's New in DNS Windows Server Cluster-Aware Updating (CAU) Windows Server has a new feature that provides a managed update process called Cluster-Aware Updating (CAU) for failover clusters which takes one node offline, updates it and reboots it if needed, places the node back online and repeats the process for the remainder of the nodes in the failover cluster. This feature ensures that all nodes in the failover cluster are maintained at a common level to enable the best stability for cluster services. Additional information on Cluster-Aware Updating is available from: Cluster-Aware Updating Overview Windows Server storage features Windows Server provides new storage functionality that is used by the Hyper-V hosts and guests to allow better utilization of resources. Native Support for Thin Provisioning using UNMAP and TRIM to allow reclamation of unused space on VHDX and PassThru disks. Disk space that is marked as unused on the VHDX is available and can be re-used without an increase in the size of the underlying VHDX. Space that is marked as unused is released on restart or shutdown of the server that is using the VHDX file for storage. Data deduplication allows for efficient space utilization Additional information on Windows Server Storage is available from: Windows Server Storage White Paper

26 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Windows Server BitLocker BitLocker has been updated in Windows Server to provide: Option of full volume encryption (slow) or used space encryption (quick) Ability to encrypt Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) Additional information on BitLocker is available from: BitLocker Overview Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX) Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX) works with Windows Server hosts and HP PAR StoreServ 7 to shift storage processing from the server to the storage array for files of KB or larger. This allows the SAN to handle the bulk of the storage operations with the server initiating the operation. The server initiates the operation such as a file copy and asks the StoreServ array to complete the file copy and report back to the server that the operation has completed. This enables a significant increase in the file copy throughput since the StoreServ is handling the operation. The ASICs in the StoreServ array have a feature called zero-detect which speeds file transfers by only copying data blocks which actually contain data. Figure. Windows: Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX) data flow Windows: Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX) without ODX with ODX Hyper-V Host Hyper-V Host Control Control Control Control Data Data Control Data StoreServ 7 StoreServ 7 Figure, above shows the file copy process without ODX and with ODX and the numbers in the diagram are detailed below. Copying a GB file without ODX:. Server sends read request to the StoreServ over Fibre Channel. StoreServ sends GB of data to the server over Fibre Channel. Server sends GB of data to the StoreServ over Fibre Channel The above process results in GB of data traversing the Fibre Channel connections between the server and the StoreServ array.

27 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Copying a GB file with ODX:. Server sends the offload data read request to the StoreServ over Fibre Channel. StoreServ sends a token representing the request to the server over Fibre Channel. Server sends the write request to the StoreServ over Fibre Channel using the token. StoreServ copies the GB of data internally. StoreServ confirms the data copy completion to the server over Fibre Channel The above process results in GB of data being copied within the StoreServ array and only minimal control data being sent over the Fibre Channel connections. During the copy process features like zero detect running on the StoreServ are used to further reduce the amount of data that the StoreServ is actually moving. Additional information on ODX is available from: Offloaded Data Transfer (ODX) with Intelligent Storage Arrays Windows Server Hyper-V Microsoft released Hyper-V virtualization technology in Windows Server 8 R and has improved it substantially in the Windows Server Hyper-V release. Microsoft has made new and expanded features available that allow for effective use of the extensive resources available from ProLiant Gen8 servers, storage and networking. With Windows Server Hyper-V virtualization capability, the large amounts of memory, processor power and network capacity that HP has incorporated into the ProLiant Gen8 servers can be effectively used as the foundation for your virtualization strategy. New and expanded Hyper-V features for Hyper-V include: Increase in the quantity of virtual processors supported in each virtual machine Dynamic memory to allow for expanded memory configuration options Hyper-V Replica to allow asynchronous replication to an additional Hyper-V server for disaster recovery Live migration is expanded to enable migration to and from stand-alone (non-clustered) servers Storage migration allows for the movement of virtual hard disks while the virtual machine continues to run File servers with Server Message Block (SMB). can be used to host virtual machine storage Virtual Fibre Channel provides direct Fibre Channel connectivity into a virtual machine Virtual SAN Switch allows for the creation of virtual storage switches that work with Virtual Fibre Channel interfaces Virtual Hard Disk (VHDX) format has been improved to allow expanded capabilities Table shows the comparison of features in Hyper-V on Windows Server and on Windows Server 8 R and the highlighted values are the changed scalability limits that are available with the Windows Server version of Hyper-V. Table. Feature comparison for Hyper-V on Windows Server and Windows Server 8 R Feature Hyper-V (Windows ) Hyper-V (Windows 8 R) Virtual Machine features Virtual Processors Memory TB GB Virtual Hard Disk Capacity TB (VHDX) TB (VHD) Virtual IDE Disks Virtual SCSI Controller devices Virtual SCSI Disks Virtual Fibre Channel adapters NA Physical disk size presented to VM directly OS Limit OS Limit Snapshots Virtual network adapters 7

28 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Feature Hyper-V (Windows ) Hyper-V (Windows 8 R) Floppy drive Serial ports (COM) Host Machine features Logical Processors Virtual to Logical Processer ratio No Hyper-V limit 8: Running Virtual Machines per server 8 Virtual processors per server 8 Memory TB TB Storage OS Limit OS Limit Virtual SANs No Hyper-V limit NA Physical NICs No Hyper-V limit No Hyper-V limit NIC Teams No Hyper-V limit NA Virtual network switches No Hyper-V limit No Hyper-V limit Virtual network switch ports per server No Hyper-V limit No Hyper-V limit NA = Not Available in this version of Hyper-V Additional information on new and changed Hyper-V features is available from: What's new in Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk (VHDX) The VHDX file format allows for improved support of large disks, increased performance and enables new storage features. The improvements include: Support for disks up to TB Windows can mount and eject VHDX disks VHDX file corruption prevention through the use of metadata Optimization of alignment to support -byte Emulation ( e) and K native large sector disks Performance improvement through support for larger block sizes Convertible to VHD and back to VHDX Additional information on VHDX is available from: Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk Format Overview Hyper-V host configuration Deployment of the Hyper-V host servers is done on both the BLc Gen8 and DL8p Gen8 ProLiant servers. The design of this infrastructure is intended to permit flexibility in the deployment and ease of reconfiguration of virtual servers and allows the selection of Highly Available (HA) configurations as well as stand-alone configurations. The BLc Gen8 servers have been configured with two memory configurations HiMem with 9GB and LoMem with 9GB. Consistent configurations have been implemented to make troubleshooting and management simple and straightforward. The following sections detail specific subsystem configurations including network, storage and failover clustering. High Availability Hyper-V Hosts The highly available Hyper-V hosts are deployed across a four-node Windows failover cluster running on ProLiant BLc Gen8 servers with the HiMem configuration. 8

29 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Microsoft Windows Licensing Windows Server Datacenter edition license is used for each of the Hyper-V host servers deployed. A single Datacenter edition license is used since each BLc Gen8 and DL8p Gen8 server contains two physical processors. The Datacenter edition license provides for an unlimited number of virtual machine instances on the Hyper-V host server without the complexity of calculating the multiple licensing options. Server Client Access Licenses (CALs) are still required for users and devices that will access the servers. Contact your Microsoft Licensing Specialist for the most cost-effective solution for your situation: microsoft.com/licensing/default.aspx Windows Server Hyper-V guest configuration The infrastructure for this project used generic Windows Server Hyper-V guest virtual machines that were deployed to perform testing of Windows Server and Hyper-V features to ensure that the configuration worked with the StoreServ 7. The Hyper-V guest servers consist of the following configuration: Virtual Machine OS: Windows Server Virtual Processors: two Virtual Memory: 9MB OS Disk: Dynamically Expanding VHDX Data Disk: Dynamically Expanding VHDX Networks: Production, Management, Cluster Shared Volume and Live Migration Hyper-V failover cluster configuration The use of a Windows Server failover cluster permits high availability for the VMs that are located on the cluster. Live migration can be used to move VMs into and out of the failover cluster since all of the Hyper-V servers have been configured to support live migrations. The same network configuration is deployed on all servers in the BladeSystem with Virtual Connect server profiles to permit the movement of servers into and out of the failover cluster. The flexibility of this design allows reconfiguration of Hyper-V hosts and VMs as business needs change, while the servers remain online servicing client requests. Failover cluster quorum configuration For the -node Windows failover cluster, the quorum mechanism used is: Node and Disk Quorum. This quorum configuration provides a quorum vote for each of the four cluster nodes and for the disk. This design allows for the failure of two nodes while the failover cluster maintains quorum with the two remaining nodes and the quorum disk resource. Hyper-V network configuration Networking is critical for connecting servers in any environment and virtual environments are no exception. As the number and type of servers being virtualized increase, there is an expanding need for network capabilities in virtual infrastructures. HP BladeSystem components like Virtual Connect FlexFabric work seamlessly in conjunction with Hyper-V network virtualization to provide the functions necessary for virtualized workloads. FlexFabric and Hyper-V provide the flexibility to implement network environments that range from simple single network configurations to complex networks that integrate Ethernet and Fibre Channel. The configuration implemented in this design makes use of multiple Ethernet networks to support production connections. Management, Cluster Shared Volume and live migration networks separate traffic created during live migration operations. Servers participating in live migration are required to have a consistent network configuration to allow for the live migration traffic. Naming of the networks and consistency in their creation is critical to implementing a functional design. 9

30 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server A new feature useful for the creation of highly available and redundant networks is Windows Server Network Teaming. This feature allows the creation of a single network that is made up of two underlying physical connections. This teamed network is created at the Windows level and is then used as the base for the creation of each Hyper-V virtual network. In the following diagram, two - Gb NICs (Prod_A) are combined to create the TeamPROD network team and then a Virtual Switch is created within the Hyper-V interface called Prod. The highly available Prod network is then available for use by the Hyper-V host and virtual machines. The same method is used to create the Management Virtual Switch. The LiveMigration and Cluster Shared Volume virtual switches are connected directly to FlexFabric NICs. Figure. Hyper-V host and guest: Network configuration Prod Virtual Switch GbE vgst FlexNIC Prod_A Gb vgst Management Virtual Switch GbE LiveMigration Virtual Switch GbE TeamPROD TeamMGT FlexNIC MGT_A Gb FlexNIC LiveMig Gb FCoE HBA A- Fabric Gb Flex- Fabric Port GbE FlexNIC Prod_A Gb Host Cluster Shared Volume Virtual Switch GbE FlexNIC MGT_A Gb FlexNIC CSV Gb Flex- Fabric Port GbE FCoE HBA C- Fabric Gb Network: All BladeSystem Hosts In Figure above, the server on the bottom left (HOST) is the Hyper-V host server and the two servers shown above it are two virtual machines (vgst and vgst) located on that host.

31 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Additional information on Hyper-V Networking is available from: Windows Server Hyper-V Network Virtualization Survival Guide Hyper-V storage features Windows Server Hyper-V introduces new functionality and enhancements for storage to provide a broader range of storage flexibility. This example configuration uses three methods to connect storage for virtual machines: IDE Controller, SCSI Controller and Virtual Fibre Channel. IDE Controller The IDE Controller virtual device is used to connect storage to the VM. Two devices of the IDE Controller type are supported per VM with up to two disks each. The startup (boot) disk must be attached to an IDE Controller virtual device. The IDE Controller also supports the virtual CD/DVD device for the VM. SCSI Controller The SCSI Controller virtual device is used to connect additional storage to the VM. Four SCSI Controller devices are supported per VM with up to disks each. Using the SCSI Controller to connect to additional disks allows the use of the UNMAP storage feature which works with the StoreServ 7 thin provisioning feature to reduce the amount of space required on the underlying LUN. Virtual Fibre Channel The Hyper-V Virtual Fibre Channel features are comprised of Virtual Fibre Channel Adapters which are configured in the Hyper-V settings for each virtual machine (VM) and Virtual Storage Area Networks (vsans). The Virtual Fibre Channel adapters (vhba) allow Hyper-V guests to directly connect to physical HBAs in the Hyper-V host servers using N-port IO Virtualization (NPIV) technology. Up to four Virtual Fibre Channel devices can be configured per VM. Each Fibre Channel Adapter has two sets of World Wide Names (WWN). Address set A and Address Set B, shown in Figure are used during live migration operations to ensure that storage connectivity is maintained throughout the migration process.

32 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Figure. Hyper-V Storage: Virtual Fibre Channel Address Sets Hyper-V automatically alternates between the Address sets on the Hyper-V source and destination hosts to ensure continuous access to storage resources, For example, Address set A is connected to the VM on the originating host and Address set B is connected to the destination host during the live migration transition period. At the end of the migration the destination host remains connected to Address set B. Additional information on Hyper-V Virtual Fibre Channel is available from: Hyper-V Virtual Fibre Channel Overview Microsoft Multi-path IO (MPIO) Microsoft Multi-path IO drivers (MPIO) are used in conjunction with both physical and virtual Fibre Channel connections to provide high availability features with redundant connection paths to prevent loss of connectivity to the StoreServ 7. Additional information on Microsoft MPIO is available from: Microsoft Multipath I/O (MPIO) Users Guide for Windows Server Microsoft File Server with Server Message Block. (SMB.) Microsoft file servers using Server Message Block. (SMB.) allow the use of file shares to hold VHDX files for virtual machines. These file shares are used for startup disks as well as for additional data disks. Stand-alone file servers or Scale-Out File Servers (SOFS) can be used to provide this service. Scale-Out File Servers provide the advantage of being highly available and straight forward to manage and use. The Scale-Out File server used in this design uses the

33 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server StoreServ 7 array to hold the disk storage that is then provided to the virtual machines through the use of a Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) path as shown in Figure. Figure. Hyper-V Storage: File Server using Server Message Block. Additional information on using Microsoft file servers with SMB. to host Hyper-V storage is available from: Deploy Hyper-V over SMB Microsoft Hyper-V Storage Live Migration Microsoft Hyper-V Storage Live Migration allows the relocation of virtual hard disks to another storage location while access to the disk continues during the migration process. This feature can be used whenever you want to keep a virtual machine running and need to perform maintenance on the underlying storage devices that the VM is using. The feature operates in a similar manner to VM Live Migration since disk access continues throughout the storage migration process. This feature can place a large amount of data on the network during the migration process so proper design of the storage network is important to ensure that there is no contention for network resources. Ensure that your application supports the use of this feature before you implement it in your design. Additional information on Microsoft Hyper-V Storage Live Migration is available from: Virtual Machine Storage Migration Overview Additional information on Microsoft Hyper-V live migration is available from: Virtual Machine Live Migration Overview Note Microsoft Hotfix KB 7999 must be applied to enable support of ODX for Storage Live Migration of Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) on the same array. The hotfix is available from:

34 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Hyper-V storage connection Storage connections for each Hyper-V host are made using FCoE HBA ports on the FLB LOM cards that are configured with Virtual Connect Manager. Windows Multi-Path IO (MPIO) is used to provide redundant paths to the StoreServ array from each Hyper-V host. The Hyper-V host connects directly to the FCoE Ports (FLB) and does not use the Virtual SANs. Two Virtual SANs are configured in the Hyper-V Virtual SAN Manager and each Virtual SAN is connected to an FCoE port on the FLB. A Virtual Fibre Channel adapter is connected to each Virtual SAN in the VM s settings. Two Fibre Channel paths are presented to each VM and Windows MPIO is used to provide redundant connections to the StoreServ array. Figure. Hyper-V Hosts: Odd numbered servers vgst FlexNIC Prod_A Gb MPIO MPIO MPIO vgst Host vsana Virtual SAN Gb vsanc Virtual SAN Gb FabricA FlexNIC MGT_A Gb FlexNIC LiveMig Gb FCoE HBA A- Fabric Gb FlexNIC Prod_A Gb FlexNIC MGT_A Gb FlexNIC CSV Gb Flex- Fabric Port GbE Flex- Fabric Port GbE FabricC FCoE HBA C- Fabric Gb Storage: HOST & Odd numbered Hosts In the figure above, the server on the bottom left (HOST) is the Hyper-V host server and the two servers shown above it are two virtual machines (vgst and vgst) located on that host.

35 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server The configuration above is for the odd numbered Hyper-V hosts and connects the hosts with SAN fabrics A and C (see the physical cabling section) and the configuration below is for the even numbered Hyper-V hosts and connects the hosts with SAN fabrics B and D. This configuration balances the Hyper-V host servers across the four available SAN fabrics. Figure. Hyper-V Hosts: Even numbered servers vgst FlexNIC Prod_A Gb MPIO MPIO MPIO vgst Host vsanb Virtual SAN Gb vsand Virtual SAN Gb FabricB FlexNIC MGT_A Gb FlexNIC LiveMig Gb FCoE HBA B- Fabric Gb FlexNIC Prod_A Gb FlexNIC MGT_A Gb FlexNIC CSV Gb Flex- Fabric Port GbE Flex- Fabric Port GbE FabricD FCoE HBA D- Fabric Gb Storage: HOST & Even numbered Hosts In the figure above, the server on the bottom left (HOST) is the Hyper-V host server and the two servers shown above it are two virtual machines (vgst and vgst) located on that host. Hyper-V storage configuration The storage configuration for support of the Hyper-V host OS disks consists of two local disks installed in each host server. Guest VMs use VHDX disks that are stored on Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) that are created on the StoreServ 7. These VHDX disks are available for access from each Hyper-V host. There are multiple methods for presenting the disks (VHDX) to the virtual machines, three of which are detailed below.

36 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Method one: Startup and Data CSVs presented to Hyper-V host The Hyper-V Failover Cluster storage configuration uses disks that hold the operating system for the guest VMs, vgst, vgst and vgst shown in green in Figure 7. The virtual machine startup (OS) disks created as VHDX, VHDX and VHDX are located on a LUN provisioned from the StoreServ 7 array. The LUN is created from a thick or thinly provisioned LUN and is presented to the Hyper-V host failover cluster nodes HOST, HOST, HOST7 and HOST8 as a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) so that it is accessible from each node in the cluster. The VHDX files are created with a file size of GB for the guest operating system disks and are presented to the IDE Controller device in the virtual machine. The storage that holds additional data for vgst, vgst and vgst is shown in blue in Figure 7. The virtual machine data disks are created as VHDXd, VHDXd and VHDXd and are located on a LUN provisioned from the StoreServ 7 array. The CSV LUN is created from a thick or thinly provisioned LUN and is presented to the Hyper-V host failover cluster nodes: HOST, HOST, HOST7 and HOST8. The VHDX files are created with a file size of GB for the guest data disks and are presented to the SCSI Controller devices (supports UNMAP) in each virtual machine. Figure 7. Hyper-V Storage: Startup and Data CSVs presented to Hyper-V host vgst vgst vgst vgst Hyper-V Failover Cluster Host Host Host7 Host8 StoreServ 7 CSV CSV VHDX vgst OS Disk VHDX vgst OS Disk VHDX vgst OS Disk VHDXd vgst Data Disk VHDXd vgst Data Disk VHDXd vgst Data Disk

37 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Method two: Startup CSV presented to Hyper-V host and Data LUNs presented directly to Hyper-V guest The Hyper-V Failover Cluster storage configuration uses disks that hold the operating system for the guest VMs, vgst, vgst and vgst shown in green in Figure 8 is the same as the configuration used in Figure 7. The storage that holds additional data for vgst, vgst and vgst shown in blue below is different from the previous example. Three separate LUNs are created to hold each of the data disks for vgst, vgst and vgst. The virtual data disks are created as VHDXd, VHDXd and VHDXd and are each located on a LUN provisioned from the StoreServ 7 array. Each LUN is created from a thick or thinly provisioned LUN and is presented to the Hyper-V guests: vgst, vgst and vgst. The VHDX files are created with a file size of GB for the guest data disks and are presented to each virtual machine using the virtual Fibre Channel Adapter devices configured for each virtual machine. Figure 8. Hyper-V Storage: Startup CSV presented to Hyper-V host and Data LUNs presented directly to Hyper-V guest vgst vgst vgst vgst Hyper-V Failover Cluster Host Host Host7 Host8 StoreServ 7 CSV LUN LUN LUN VHDX vgst OS Disk VHDX vgst OS Disk VHDX vgst OS Disk VHDXd vgst Data Disk VHDXd vgst Data Disk VHDXd vgst Data Disk 7

38 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Method three: Startup and Data CSVs presented to Scale-Out File Server This Hyper-V Failover Cluster storage configuration is similar to the first configuration above with a different method of connecting to the storage. The CSV disk that holds the operating system disks for the guest VMs, vgst, vgst and vgst is shown in green in Figure 9. The virtual machine operating system disks created as VHDX, VHDX and VHDX are located on a LUN provisioned from the StoreServ 7 array. The LUN is created from a thick or thinly provisioned LUN and is presented to the Scale-Out File Server (SOFS) cluster nodes HOST9 and HOST as a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) so that it is accessible from each node in the SOFS cluster over a Fibre Channel connection. The Scale-Out File Server is configured with a share called CSV that is available to the Hyper-V hosts on a UNC share (\\ScaleOutFileServer\CSV) that is accessed using the Server Message Block. (SMB.) protocol. The storage that holds additional data for vgst, vgst and vgst is shown in blue in Figure 9. The virtual machine data disks are created as VHDXd, VHDXd and VHDXd and are located on a LUN provisioned from the StoreServ 7 array. The CSV LUN is created from a thick or thinly provisioned LUN and is presented to the Scale-Out File Server (SOFS) cluster nodes HOST9 and HOST as a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) so that it is accessible from each node in the SOFS cluster over a Fibre Channel connection. The Scale-Out File Server is configured with a share called CSV that is available to the Hyper-V hosts on a UNC share (\\ScaleOutFileServer\CSV) that is accessed using the Server Message Block. (SMB.) protocol. Figure 9. Hyper-V Storage: Startup and Data CSVs presented to Scale-Out File Server vgst vgst vgst vgst Hyper-V Failover Cluster Host Host Host7 Host8 SMB. File Server Failover Cluster Host9 Host Fibre Channel StoreServ 7 CSV CSV VHDX vgst OS Disk VHDX vgst OS Disk VHDX vgst OS Disk VHDXd vgst Data Disk VHDXd vgst Data Disk VHDXd vgst Data Disk 8

39 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server The VHDX files are created with a file size of GB for the operating system disks that are presented to each virtual machine using a UNC path (\\ScaleOutFileServer\csv\TestVM\Virtual Hard Disks\vhdx.vhdx) in the VM s settings on the IDE Controller device as shown in Figure. Figure. Hyper-V Storage: Startup VHDX presentation from Scale-Out File Share with SMB. 9

40 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server The VHDX files are created with a file size of GB for the data disks that are presented to each virtual machine using a UNC path (\\ScaleOutFileServer\CSV\TestVM\vhdxd.vhdx) in the VM s settings on the SCSI Controller device. Figure. Hyper-V Storage: Data VHDX presentation from Scale-Out File Share with SMB. Management systems Managing a set of servers in a data center or a single rack is important to ensure that stable service is provided and that applications meet the uptime agreements detailed in a company s Service Level Agreement (SLA). Management systems are available to assist with all phases of an application s lifecycle from deployment to maintenance and redeployment as business requirements change. This configuration makes use of management systems from both Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Microsoft.

41 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server HP Integrated Lights-Out (ilo) and Onboard Administrator (OA) HP Integrated Lights-Out (ilo) for rack mount (DL) servers and Onboard Administrator (OA) for BladeSystem (BL) servers provide insight into the server configuration and the ability to remotely manage and diagnose a server without leaving your desk. The ilo functionality allows for remote management from any server or workstation in your environment as well as from IOS and Android devices. Figure shows the overview of information that is available in the ilo interface. The left pane shows the types of information and features that are available to gather information or remotely access the server. Figure. Server Management: ilo and OA The features available in the ilo are dependent on the version of the license you purchase and install. The ilo Advanced license contains the full suite of remote management capabilities. Additional information on HP Integrated Lights-Out (ilo) including the features available with each license is available from: HP Integrated Lights-Out white paper or HP Integrated Lights-Out.

42 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server HP Intelligent Provisioning HP Intelligent Provisioning (IP) replaces HP SmartStart for Gen8 and newer servers. Intelligent Provisioning integrates the functionality of SmartStart into flash memory on the ProLiant system board. During the POST process, an administrator can boot into the Intelligent Provisioning functionality by pressing F when prompted. Once the Intelligent Provisioning process starts, the administrator can choose to configure the hardware and install an operating system or maintain the server as shown in Figure. Installing the operating system (OS) using the Intelligent Provisioning interface ensures that the appropriate drivers and software are installed along with the operating system to provide an integrated solution. Figure. Server deployment: Intelligent Provisioning Note New versions of the Intelligent Provisioning software are installed by booting the server from the downloaded Intelligent Provisioning ISO image which is mounted into the ilo using the virtual media functionality. Additional information on HP Intelligent Provisioning (IP) is available from: HP Intelligent Provisioning HP Service Pack for ProLiant The Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) replaces the ProLiant Support Pack (PSP) and provides an integrated set of software and firmware to support the ProLiant server model and operating system version you deploy. The use of the Service Pack for ProLiant ensures that compatible versions of software and firmware are deployed together. The HP SPP is deployed using the HP Software Update Manager (SUM) which is run to update the local server where HP SUM is running, a single remote server or a set of remote servers simultaneously. Each time a new HP Service Pack for ProLiant is released it can be deployed throughout the environment with SUM to ensure protection against any vulnerabilities and availability of new features. Additional information on HP Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) is available from: HP Service Pack for ProLiant

43 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) with Service Pack (SP) provides a single point of management for servers, devices, operating systems, services and applications to ensure that the data center infrastructure is running and to notify administrators in the event that a monitored component fails. The basic functionality of SCOM is expandable using Management Packs which are available from Microsoft or other vendors including HP. Management Packs provide application or device awareness that integrates into the SCOM product and allows the same single point of management to provide increased value for your organization to ensure that applications remain available and are running at the agreed upon service levels. Figure. Management: Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) Additional information on Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) is available from: Microsoft System Center Operations Manager

44 Technical white paper Gen8 and StoreServ 7 Hyper-V solution for Windows Server Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) Microsoft System Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) with Service Pack (SP) provides a single point of management for your virtualized infrastructure including Hyper-V host and guest servers, network and storage devices, operating systems, services and applications to assist in deploying and managing the virtual infrastructure. SCVMM integrates with SCOM to ensure that your virtual infrastructure is running properly and to notify administrators in the event that a monitored virtual component fails. Figure. Management: Microsoft System Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) Additional information on Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) is available from: Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Capacity and sizing Virtual infrastructures are similar to data centers in that they are built to be a framework for the deployment of applications. Sizing a virtual infrastructure is dependent on two methods: Aggregation of the requirements for all of the applications that will be hosted in the virtual infrastructure Use of a standardized virtualization building block that contains sufficient flexibility to deploy most applications and the ability to seamlessly extend the base by adding additional building blocks which integrate into the overall infrastructure The second method provides fast speed of implementation and is the basis for the configuration of this design. The use of standardized HP components used in this design provides for simple extension when scalability is required and ease of ordering. Using this method still requires that appropriate sizing is performed for each application or portion of application that you wish to virtualize.