Windows Server

In Today’s post, I would like to show you how to configure Microsoft Clustering across Virtual Machines with shared disk - so-called Cluster in a Box(CiB). Typical use case for Microsoft Cluster / Failover Cluster is to have cluster nodes with shared storage. Typical use case for Cluster in a Box is when you have to provide availability on Operating System level for application/service and you can’t use Raw Device Mapping in your environment.

In May 2014 Veeam released excellent free Study Guide written by Orin Thomas about Microsoft Certification Exam 74-409 Server Virtualization with Windows Server Hyper-V and System Center.

In one of my earlier post https://www.wojcieh.net/vcenter-server-5-5-on-sql-server-2012-installation-part-2/ I was asked how to create application user in Active Directory.

In few steps, I will explain how to do it and I will show you how to use it.

![Microsoft Assesment and Planning Toolkit Logo][1]

If you ever had to create Microsoft license report you know how hard and time-consuming task this can be. What if I will tell you that this task can be done in several minutes and can be even fun?

Once we successfully installed vCenter Server 5.5 it is time to enhance its functionality by installing VMware vSphere Update Manager.

What is VMware vSphere Update Manager?

In short words, Update Manager is used to automating patching of VMware hosts. It is really simple yet powerful tool - it allows you easily update your whole infrastructure with zero downtime (if all done properly 😉 ).

In third and last part of vCenter Server 5.5 installation I will cover vCenter Server installation with all bits and pieces around it.

In the second post of vCenter 5.5 installation, I will cover following topics.

• MSSQL databases preparation
• MSSQL ODBC connectivity

In the first post, I will show you how to install Microsoft SQL Server 2012 to use it by vCenter Server 5.5 on Windows Server 2012. Next posts will cover Databases preparation and vCenter Server 5.5 installation.

Have you ever lost something and found it in last place where you expect to find it? Well it happened to me as well several times (I even tried to pray to Saint Anthony - patron of lost things) and it is true that some things are lost as well in IT world.

Recently I was “playing” a bit with Windows Server 2008 R2 Core VMware Tools and Virtual Hardware upgrade from version 3.5 to 4.1. Migration went fine from one environment to another, but the rest went totally wrong. I got immediately BSOD - Blue Screen Of Death.

My patient was Windows Server 2008 R2 Core Active Directory domain controller with database on separate disk.