Problem solve

Virtualized clusters and high performance computing

• Myths persist about virtualizing high performance computers

  Recent evidence shows virtualization is a viable option for high performance computers today. Continue Reading

• Pods fit for virtualization, but bring HA clustering challenges

  Converged infrastructure pods are a good option for virtualization, but administrators must decide whether simplicity is worth a clustering headache. Continue Reading

• When your high availability architecture should include OS protection

  Adding OS-level high availability on top of an existing HA system may seem like overkill, but certain circumstances necessitate extra protection. Continue Reading

• Four quick tips for troubleshooting Microsoft Hyper-V cluster problems

  Having trouble with your Microsoft Hyper-V cluster? These troubleshooting tips can help you identify and fix the problem. Continue Reading

• Handle changing server workloads by employing high-performance GPUs

  Graphics capabilities have long been an important feature of PCs, but today's data centers are also deploying high-performance GPUs for servers. Continue Reading

• Gaining control of KVM VMs in a manual HA environment

  High availability has clear benefits, but what about HA without a cluster file system? You may want to opt for a manual HA environment instead.Continue Reading

• Cluster Shared Volumes and virtual storage provisioning decisions

  Many data centers turn to Cluster Shared Volumes to manage resources. But proper virtual storage provisioning rests on multiple factors.Continue Reading

• Configuring and provisioning production-ready SMB 3.0 storage

  Yes, SMB 3.0 can go beyond test environments. But before you can take SMB 3.0 storage into production, there are a few things you need to tackle.Continue Reading

• Using LXC to create virtual containers in SUSE Enterprise Linux

  Creating virtual containers with LXC may trump hypervisor-based virtualization -- especially if you want to run multiple instances of the same OS.Continue Reading

• New virtual data center design decisions with Hyper-V 3.0

  IT pros are presented with new virtual data center design options, thanks to new feature in Hyper-V 3.0. So which architecture will you choose?Continue Reading

• Using SCVMM PowerShell cmdlets to customize Hyper-V live migrations

  SCVMM PowerShell cmdlets add granular flexibility to Hyper-V’s baseline Live Migration technology. These SCVMM cmdlets will improve performance and reduce administration effort.Continue Reading

• Hardware migration: How server clustering can help you ditch old hosts

  Getting rid of obsolete hardware is no easy task, but with a hardware migration, you can move VMs to new hosts with little downtime.Continue Reading

• Virtual server cluster size: What’s the magic number?

  Just because you can put a lot of hosts in a cluster doesn’t mean you should. Right-sizing a virtual server cluster is a difficult endeavor.Continue Reading

• Server cluster sizing: How many VMs is too many?

  Even server clustering has its limits. Hypervisors and hardware can restrict how many hosts and VMs a server cluster can hold.Continue Reading

• Top six server load balancing gotchas

  Virtual machine configurations can affect server load balancing. If you want resources balanced among your hosts, consider disk drives, affinity, storage and other factors.Continue Reading

• Reserving cluster resources to boost high availability

  It's easy to get caught up in the allure of high availability, but if you don't reserve unused cluster resources, virtual machines can experience downtime. Unused resources aren't wasted.Continue Reading

• Server cluster high-availability gotchas: DNS and failover

  Sometimes, high availability is a problem not a solution. Be on the lookout for numerous behaviors in a server cluster that can extend VM downtime after a failure.Continue Reading

• Hyper-V failover: Building a multi-site cluster

  For Hyper-V failover purposes, learn how to build a multi-site cluster to move data off-site during an network or power outage.Continue Reading

• How to select Hyper-V high-availability hardware

  Selecting the proper Hyper-V high-availability hardware is the first step toward building a resilient virtual environment. This tip outlines what you should consider.Continue Reading

• Why Hyper-V R2's Cluster Shared Volumes saves time and money

  Cluster Shared Volumes, Microsoft Hyper-V R2's clustering technology, is a key advancement that can save time and money. Here's why.Continue Reading

• VM cluster approach improves virtual machine performance

  Virtual machine clusters and redundant VM hosts can improve virtual machine performance and availability, but you need to configure them properly for mission-critical workloads.Continue Reading

• Killing Hyper-V high-availability cluster services and network issues

  Killing Hyper-V high-availability cluster services is never an easy decision. This tip covers when and how to pull the plug on clusters and how to solve network issues.Continue Reading

• Clustering problems with Hyper-V VM configuration files, VM states

  Microsoft Hyper-V clustering problems, such as orphaned VM configuration files and unsynchronized VM states, require these workarounds to preserve system stability.Continue Reading

• Fixing Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machine clustering problems

  Disabling automatic server recovery and managing firmware, patches and drive updates may be the key to fixing your Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machine clustering problems.Continue Reading

• Building high-availability clusters with Xen virtual machines

  High-availability clusters can save your virtualized environment from downtime. Here's how to set up Xen virtual machines in a high-availability cluster.Continue Reading

• Configuring nodes with open source cluster resource management tools

  Open source cluster resource management has cost-effective tools for building high-availability environments.Continue Reading

• Maximizing I/O virtualization

  Use I/O virtualization to consolidate virtual server workloads and reduce port and NIC overcrowding with this tip.Continue Reading

• Would I get more users on physical or virtual servers?

  Physical servers or virtual servers? Ron Oglesby shares his thoughts in this expert response.Continue Reading

• How to design a virtualization infrastructure that scales

  How to design a virtualization infrastructure that can host applications that scale both vertically and horizontally.Continue Reading

• Free VMware versus pricey VMware ESX Server

  Just like in school, not doing your virtualization homework affects your performance. It's vital to make a wise platform choice, otherwise your ROI could fall short of expectations. In this series, virtualization pro Alessandro Perilli breaks down...Continue Reading

• Towers, racks and blades -- Server packaging options

  When should you use a tower server, a rack server or a blade server? This excerpt from our e-book, "Windows Servers and Storage," analyzes these three types of server packaging.Continue Reading

• What are multi-core processors?

  Wondering what multi-core processors actually are? Bernard Golden shares his knowledge on the subject in this expert response.Continue Reading