Infrastructure Optimization

What do the title topics and the actor Kevin Bacon have in common? I dunno - it just sounded funny after listing all of the topics in this posting. Who knows - Windows 7 could be his love child. I mean, really - where did Windows 7 come from? No one wants to talk about it, right? Kevin has worked with every actor in Hollywood - he could have made his way up to Redmond. Could have.

A few of the bloggers here at InfraOps were on “the” project that Microsoft saw firsthand how application virtualization could assist as one piece of an overall strategy in securing the desktop. It was a complete infrastructure change out from a Novell to a Microsoft shop. Desktops were standardized down to the OS including image reduction - one for desktops, laptops/tablets and one for thin terms. This was essentially an MDOP engagement before there was MDOP - the lynch pin was Application Virtualization. Once the image sets were created the only way to keep them pristine was to apply GPO’s to lock them down and deliver applications via SoftGrid.

When I saw my first SoftGrid POC it was an epiphany - I instantly saw the writing on the wall. I said to myself, “Microsoft is going to buy this company.” What choice did they have? Application development is a wild card – there are standards that make applications play nice in Windows but who follows them? The only way to level the playing field is to sand box applications so they don’t take the O/S down.

Parts of Application Virtualization (SoftGrid) are making their way into SMS/SCCM – other parts we’ve been surmising will undoubtedly make their way into the OS. At some point there won’t be a need for an installed SoftGrid client – it will be in the OS to natively interpret packaged applications like the MSIEXEC knows how to install MSI’s - just my guess.

All this to say – read Mitchell Ashley’s excellent blog on where he thinks Application Virtualization, Microsoft Mesh, Vista and what’s being thrown around as the next name for the next O/S – Windows 7 - which just might be Vista SPx and not Windows 7.

Mitchell may be able to say “I told you so” but we at InfraOps can all say, “duh” we knew it first.

I’m not that immature so I won’t say it . . . oh what the heck - neener neener.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a class to prepare me for what’s sure to be a busy year implementing Exchange 2007 for our clients and although the new PowerShell command line interface elicited repeated groans from the administrators who will need to learn the new syntax, one new feature that really generated excitement (myself included) was Unified Messaging and especially Outlook Voice Access (OVA).

OVA is one component of the new Unified Messaging server role now included in this latest version of Microsoft’s email server. Unified messaging’s goal is to consolidate as many communication types as possible into a single inbox and Exchange does this by treating email, faxes, and voicemail as just another message which can be accessed through corporate Outlook, Outlook Anywhere (Formerly Outlook over the Internet), Outlook Web Access, Outlook Mobile Access and now using just using your phone while on the run. Not sure? Then check out this demo at the Spoken Word MSDN blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/spokenword/archive/2006/06/21/outlook-voice-access-demo.aspx

Can you imagine calling a single number and having access to your email, voicemail, calendar, contacts, and the entire company’s phone directory? I can and I like it! Not only will OVA read your emails and play your voicemail, it will also allow you to tell meeting attendees you’re running late, cancel a meeting, or clear an entire day’s meeting with a simple voice command. I was also impressed with the voice user interface which I found to be extremely well designed with clear and most importantly, concise voice prompts provided by the system. I don’t know about you but I’m just too impatient to listen to a computer run on and on about itself.

I really see some opportunity for cost savings and extremely improved end-user productivity using OVA and Unified Messaging:

• Email, fax and voicemail services can be consolidated without the need for separate systems and hardware.
• The consolidated services can be archived and backed up from one location.
• Inbound corporate communications can be secured as a single entity through extensive policy-based controls included in Exchange.
• A single location used for contact information utilizing Exchange’s Global Address List. If you have Exchange, you’re already using this, so why not extend it to your phone system?
• Add Communication Server 2007 and calls can be intelligently routed using your Office Communicator connection status to the user’s home office or cell phone.

Keep in mind that converting to unified messaging is not an overnight task and it should be treated as any other major project. Things you’ll need to make this transition are:

• If you’re using an IP-based PBX system, no new hardware is required since Exchange can natively support these systems.
• If you have a standard PBX system you’ll need a VOIP gateway which interfaces with the legacy PBX system.
• Additional storage for mailboxes - Although compression will reduce a 30 second voicemail down to something comparable to a document attachment, you’ll need to consider the effects of this additional data.
• Involvement and support from your telecommunications group.

Cheers,

Jonathan Connery MCSE+I, MCSD
Senior Systems Architect
Getronics Consulting and Transformation Services
Infrastructure Optimization Team

Desktone (http://www.desktone.com/) and more pointedly the generic term DaaS or desktop as a service is being bandied about and will help (I say “help” in jest) to muddy the terminology waters and give us a new buzz word.

Really, I think DaaS has legs and will see favorable acceptance with the “greening” of IT with respects to energy saving – being able to time-share OS’es and shutdown or power-save endpoints that aren’t in use after hours. This would allow a server farm to deploy the same OS’s that were in use in New York to a time zone just coming up on their business day. With folder redirects for personal folders and true SaaS inside of DaaS there will be a full-meal-deal of offerings to fully support a completely virtualized desktop model. In short, the endpoint will essentially be an appliance – the telephone we’ve all been using as a metaphor. No one spends time supporting a telephone at a desk - you replace it, get a dial tone (Desktone?) and move on. The customer is back to work in under 5 minutes.

Healthcare will benefit from DaaS – in environments that can’t take the risk of microbes being pushed around by PC fans DaaS will be a compelling solution. I’m trying to figure out who wouldn’t benefit from DaaS – except for maybe the enterprise desktop PC makers.

Something that has just been realized to achieve this with respects to SaaS is Microsoft’s approval of Office to be commoditized into SaaS deliverables as a revenue stream.

One of the early application virtualizers if not the first, Endeavors (http://www.endeavors.com) has been pushing for a relaxing of Microsoft’s SPLA stance - Microsoft Service Providers License Agreement. The Microsoft SPLA allows service providers and ISVs to license Microsoft software applications on a monthly basis to provide hosted applications to their customers. Endeavors has been preparing for such a day with something they call a Jukebox – a way for enterprises to stream, report, track licenses and collect revenue on applications virtualized and streamed.

Now that Microsoft has opened the “floodgates” as Endeavors calls it, it’s perceived that enterprises will want to take advantage of the possibilities – here’s how Endeavors puts it:

“The Microsoft SPLA targets service providers who want to offer their customers Microsoft licensed products in a commercial hosting environment.

The main benefits of buying a license under the Microsoft SPLA are flexible cost structure and reduced complexity in providing software services.

The Microsoft SPLA offers access to the most current versions of Microsoft products and a simplified monthly usage-based cost structure. This means service providers have limited start-up costs and only pay for licenses provided to their customers each month. There is no need to forecast maximum usage of licenses over multiple years. This offers greater visibility of their operational expenses.

Further benefits include possible tax write offs as customers never actually own the licenses and the ability to automatically upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft products they are paying for.”

My take on this – the virtual planets are about to come into alignment. As we are all hearing, enterprises are being asked to do more with less - DaaS and SaaS are maturing to meet that need. We’ve been deploying virtualized applications (SoftGrid) for 5 years - that’s a technological life time. Some of your competitors are half they way there with SaaS and not having to manually install software which is support money they didn’t have to spend. If your organization thinks sending out field technicians is the way to go - good luck with that model - and justifying it with even tighter budgets. Virtual applications are being delivered to virtual desktops that don’t need traditional “boots on the ground” support - the “do more with less” answer is here now.

I decided to take a chance on the possibility that I could get MAV 4.5 Beta running on Server 2008 before a demo I have to give in Dallas this week, so I spent a rainy Sunday putting it together in a Virtual PC VM. Well, after several hours and re-dos, I got it, and am proud to say that it works like a dream. Here are the steps I took to get the Server 2008 + Microsoft AppVirt 4.5 Beta + SQL Server 2005 Express into a single VM server for demos.

Note that I did not type in product keys, because I won’t be using these past 30 days. If you decide to follow these instructions, you should put product keys in, or not, depending on your application.

Also note: These notes are provided as-is, and without warranties, express, or otherwise, etc. etc. Your mileage may vary. Not legal in places where things like this are not legal. {CAVEAT_MACRO}

That being said, if you are trying this, and have questions about what I did, or spottiness in my notes, feel free to email me, or comment here.

Why do this? It makes a great base to demonstrate AppVirt in action, or as a lab for your own sequencing efforts. And heck, if you’re like me, it’s fun!

Using Virtual PC 2007

1. New Virtual Machine, specified Server 2003 as the Model
2. Inserted Server 2008 disc, began setup
3. Did not enter a product code
4. Installed Enterprise
5. Downloaded MAV 4.5 Beta, SQL Server 2005 Express, will share out folder to these installers
6. Set admin password to *******
7. Added Virtual Machine Extensions
8. Update Sound Card driver by pointing update to c:\Program Files\Virtual Machine Additions
9. Added AD Domain Services Role
10. Ran DCPromo.exe
11. New forest root domain: server.contoso.com
12. Forest functional Level: Server 2003
13. Added DNS role
14. Left Dynamically-assigned IP address
15. Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator Account password: ******
16. Finished wizard, chose reboot on completion - need to reboot anyway for VM Extensions
17. DCPromo rebooted machine
18. Added  IIS role: added ASP.NET feature, Basic, Windows and Digest Authentication, IIS 6.0 Management Compatibility (all), IIS Management Scripts and Tools, Management Service
19. Open AD Users and Computers
20. Create an OU called “AppVirt”
21. Create a group called “AppVirt Administrators”. Add Administrator to this group.
22. Create a group called “AppVirt Users”. Add Administrator to this group.
23. Renamed computer to main.server.contoso.com. Restarted.
24. ———– SQL SERVER INSTALLATION ————-
25. Started SQL Express installer
26. Added Client Components and Connectivity Components
27. Mixed Mode authentication: password: ******
28. Installed SQL Server Management Studio Express
29. SQL Instance name: MAIN\SQLEXPRESS
30. Run SQL Server Configuration Manager
31. Enable Named Pipes and TCP/IP protocols under Network Configuration
32. Restart SQL Server service
33. ———– Windows Update —————–
34. Automatic updates on
35. Checked for updates (trying to get SQL Server 2005 SP1)
36. Added Microsoft Update for other MS products

    Downloaded 7 updates (74mb), including SQL Express Sp2

37. Restarted
38. ———– MAV 4.5 Setup ————-
39. Start setup.exe
40. Select main\sqlexpress as the Database Server location
41. Create a new database (SOFTGRID)
42. Accept defaults for secure mode. (do not enable)
43. Accept defaults for RTSP port (554)
44. Administrator Group: AppVirt Administrators
45. Provider Group: AppVirt Users
46. Change to Explorer, and Create a folder called c:\Content
47. Specify Content path as c:\Content\
48. Finish installer
49. Close Virtual PC instance and SAVE STATE - this will serve as the base platform for the server

A new perspective

I’m assuming you’ve heard the phrase, “Safety first”. Well, just maybe this is the era when we begin to say, “Safety first, Environment second”. The reason for this is simple, regardless of the debate on whether humans affect their climate; it just makes sense to save energy and recycle raw materials from the things we throw away.

It was surprising to me to learn that the Green IT initiative began way back in 1994, around the same time that the Energy Star program began labeling electronics which promoted power management and more efficient power consumption.

Infrastructure Optimization, on the other hand, is described as: “The core infrastructure optimization model helps customers understand and strive for a more secure, well-managed, and dynamic core IT infrastructure that will help enable them to reduce their overall IT costs, make better use of IT resources, and make IT a strategic asset for the business. ” - An Introduction to Microsoft IO Models White Paper

The key points in this statement which open the door for Green Computing are the ability to reduce overall costs by reducing power consumption through virtualization and by making better use of IT resources by more efficiently distributing workload amongst idle system resources rather than introducing additional systems.

Some interesting facts

• The standard desktop computer loses over half of the power it draws through the generation of heat.
• The average server also loses 35% to 40% of its energy through heat.
• The Climate Savers Computing Initiative intends to reduce power consumption for all computing by 50% by 2010. This would be like taking 11 million cars off the road! This effort is backed by players such as Microsoft, HP, IBM, Intel, Google, and the World Wildlife Fund.

Where do I start?

There are many resources available to assist companies in selecting environmentally friendly hardware and software.

• The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) - Classifies computing hardware in Bronze, Silver and Gold categories by testing 51 environmental factors.
• The Climate Savers Computing Initiative - Seeks to establish annual business efficiency targets through purchasing desktops and servers which utilize more efficient power supply units. These newer generations of PSU’s can realize between 85% through 92% efficiency and can save approximately $10/year per desktop. Servers can save even more.
• Energy Star: The long-running initiative managed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy is now in its 4th generation of energy standards and has in 2007 alone saved businesses and individuals $16 billion in energy bills and had the effect of removing 27 million cars from the road.
• Windows Server Virtualization in Microsoft Infrastructure Optimization: Use server consolidation and virtualization to help your organization’s IT evolve into a strategic asset while saving the planet.

So in the final analysis, I guess it can be easy being green.

Cheers,

Jonathan Connery MCSE+I, MCSD
Senior Systems Architect
Getronics Consulting and Transformation Services
Infrastructure Optimization Team