What is Cloud Computing? What is Azure?

Hi There,

I have not been able to update this blog but I need to write *Giggles*. Lets discuss cloud computing for now...

What is Cloud Computing?? you have plenty of answers on search engines but let me start with my version. Well, if you go by definition, Cloud Computing is a platform where you can host services on internet making it easy for users to access it from anywhere in the world.

Cloud Computing has several benefits and big giants like Microsoft, Amazon, IBM & Google have their own Cloud services offered to their customers/users. Cloud Computing is divided into three categories a) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) b) Platform as a Service (PaaS) c) Software as a Service (SaaS).

Cloud Computing can be Public, Hybrid & Private. Leading Cloud Services include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, IBM Soft/Layer & Google Compute Engine.

Now, What is Microsoft Azure? Microsoft Azure (Windows Azure) is a Public Cloud Computing Platform. Microsoft introduced Azure in the year 2008, it was originally called Windows Azure. There have been frequent changes in Azure just like Windows, you would see change in services (more advanced with user friendly approach) over the years. Microsoft Azure competes with other Public Cloud Platforms like AWS & Google Cloud.

Now, What is Public Cloud? A public cloud platform is a service available to general users over the internet. Private Cloud is available for corporate companies where they can host their services privately (fully managed solution) where the hardware, storage & network is dedicated to single Client. It provides high level of security as it is not shared with other clients or companies.

Hybrid Cloud is nothing but hybridizing the solution between dedicated servers and virtual servers. It can't be achieved in Public Cloud. Hope you got the concept (I think I wrote this hastily haha)

I am planning to write a post on AVMM next time with some practicals, lets hope I come back soon ;)

How to move VM to a different Datacenter Host in Private Cloud Environment

Simple VM Migration: (Virtual DC Export-Import Scenario using hyper v 2012 R2)

·        Shut down the server –

o   This will quiesce the VM and put it in a ‘fully baked’ state with no ‘in-flight’ or pending changes from a virtualization stand point.

·        Export the VM

·        Copy the files.

·        Import the VM
·         Attach VHD or VHDX files

·        Boot up the VM

o   Since it is an import/export, the NIC might come up as DHCP – be aware of this in terms of DNS registrations, etc.

o   You might consider booting it with the vNIC ‘unplugged’ so you can square away the NIC settings (as long as you have VM console access like SCVMM or FCMS or Hyper-V manager)

·        Re-IP the VM

o   Make sure to review/edit the settings for DNS and/or WINS on the newly installed vNIC

·        Review DNS, AD Sites and Subnets, etc. to make sure they are all correct (is the new IP/subnet entered into AD and associated with an AD site, etc.)

·        Review AD replication for success/failures.

NOTE: The IP of VM would be changed with same domain and same VM name. Later, you can rename it as per new data center naming policy.

Virtualization: Private and Public Cloud

Difference between SCVMM and Hyper-V Manager: System Center Virtual Machine Manager and Hyper-V Manager are used for the same purpose however, there are differences in functionality of both Virtualization Platforms.

While managing, creating, maintaining the Virtual Machines in your SCVMM and Hyper-V Manager environment It is very important for you to understand the difference between them and their functionalities.

1. If We delete a Virtual Machine via SCVMM, the virtual hard disks along with parent folders are deleted. Where as virtual hard disks remains while deleting VM's from Hyper-V Manager.

2. SCVMM focuses on managing the Virtual Machines. Adds provisioning, and migration features where as Hyper-V Manager focuses on managing the hyper visor and the hardware.

3. SCVMM provides the central management console to manage all the building blocks of a virtualized data center. It enables the creation and management of private clouds made up from Hyper-V, VMware, XenServer Virtualization hosts.

4. Hyper-V Manager console includes basic points such as powering on a Virtual Machine, taking a snapshot of a Virtual Machine, as well as creating Virtual Machines.

How To: Restore Exchange 2007 Database Backup to a Recovery Storage Group

Hi All,

I found a very good article which has clear steps on how you would restore an Exchange Server 2007 Database Backup.

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH57346

Similarly, if you are too good in exploring you can refer the following for knowledge:

 Recovering an Exchange 2007 Local Continuous Replication (LCR) environment:
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO72005

Recovering an Exchange 2007 Clustered Continuous Replication (CCR) environment:
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=HOWTO72006

Enjoy :)

Regards,
Syeda

How To: Configure Exchange Server 2007 for Outlook Anywhere

As we all know, outlook anywhere enables us to connect with Exchange Server 2007 via the Internet. To use Outlook Anywhere, we need to connect to the system from a computer which has at least Windows XP SP2 and outlook 2003. Outlook Anywhere also requires Client Access Role to be installed on the Exchange Server.

There are 3 tasks to perform, to enable use of Outlook Anywhere:

1. Enable Outlook Anywhere on Exchange Server.
2. Configure Outlook for users on LAN.
3. Configure Outlook for users working from remote locations.

We can enable Outlook Anywhere either using Exchange Management Console (EMC) or Exchange Management Shell (EMS) on Exchange Server 2007.

a) Steps to enable Outlook Anywhere using EMC:

Step1: Click on Start -> click Exchange Management Console (EMC) -> Expand Server Configuration -> Select Client Access (to view the list of Servers).

Step2: Select the Server (on which you want to enable Outlook Anywhere) -> Click Enable Outlook Anywhere in Actions Pane.

Step3: When the wizard opens -> it prompts you to type the name which we will use to connect to the server and select the authentication type. Type host name (for eg: mail.microsoft.com) and select the authentication method (For eg: Basic Authentication or NTLM Authentication) and click "Enable".

Step4: then Wizard will prompt you to click on finish as Outlook Anywhere is successfully enabled. Click on Finish.

The server is now enabled to support Outlook Anywhere. To verify, check in client access pane of EMC you will see that "Outlook Anywhere enabled" option is set to "True". So, that means we have successfully enabled the Outlook Anywhere option on Exchange Server 2007.

b) Steps to enable Outlook Anywhere using EMS:

Steps: Click on Start -> click Exchange Management Shell (EMS) -> type the below cmdlet

[PS] C:\Administrator> Enable-OutlookAnywhere -Server: 'Server name' -ExternalHostName: 'ExternalHostName' -ExternalAuthenticationMethod: 'Basic' -SSLOffloading: $false

NOTE: SSLOffloading specifies whether secure channel offloading is allowed. In the above example, we do not want to enable SSLoffloading.

You can fill in the above cmdlet as per your requirement.

Points to be Remembered while planning and deploying Active Directory Infrastructure

Points to be Remembered while planning and deploying Active Directory Environment:

1. Before creating a new forest you should ensure that the Domain Name System (DNS) is planned in detail.

2. To create a forest design, you need to first identify the business requirements that it must meet.

3.  Once you’ve identified business requirements and the needed number of forests, proceed with planning your domain design or model.

4. Once you’ve planned the required AD structure, you may begin implementing it. And creating a new forest involves creating its first or root domain.

5. There are 3 ways to setup or install your AD Infrastructure.

a) Using the Windows Interface.
b) Using unattended installation parameters at the command line.
c) Using an answer file.

The easiest way to prepare and setup AD is by using Windows Interface as you can see in my earlier posts.

6. Assign a static IP address to your Windows Server 2008 server.

7. Use a Wizard to add the AD DS (Active Directory Domain Services) role to the server.

8. Use a Wizard to promote Server to a domain controller by typing dcpromo command in run.

9. Choose Functional levels of forest and domains carefully, If you have set the level to Windows Server 2003 or earlier version, you can raise this level to Windows Server 2008 or a later versions but If you select Windows Server 2008/R2 then you cannot go back and pick earlier versions.

10. After you’ve created a forest, you can add additional domains in it and then you can create trust relationships between the domains to access resources. 

11. You can also create forest trust between domains of different forests to be able to access the resources between two or more organizations sharing business.

12. You should keep functional levels consistent between domains and forests. For example, if all your domain controllers are running Windows Server 2008/R2, you should set the forest to the same functional level.

How To: Install Active Directory on Windows Server 2008 - Step:2

Now lets continue with Active Directory Domain Services installation. To start the installation wizard click on "Start" Menu then click on "Run" and type in "dcpromo" as per the screen shot below and then click "Ok"



Type in "DCPROMO" and Click "OK"



Select "Advanced mode installation" to explore all options and Click "Next"



Wizard shows information about improved security settings in Windows Server 2008 compare to earlier versions - Read if you have time and click "Next".




Select "Create new domain in a new forest" for our new Active Directory Environment and Click "Next".




Type in a Fully Qualified Domain Name for example "Microsoft.com or corp.contoso.com" I love Microsoft so I would use Microsoft.com as an example ;) now click "Next"



Type in your Domain NetBIOS name for eg: If FQDN of your organization is contoso.com then you would give NetBIOS name as "Contoso" - Give a name and click "Next"

TheWizard is prompting you to select Forest Functional level, for eg: If you select Windows Server 2008 then all domain controllers in your forest must be installed on Windows Server 2008 or above versions - you will not be able to go for a lower version. Select the version as per the availability in your organization and click "Next"

Here we have selected Functional level as Windows Server 2008 so the wizard is giving us warning that we will not able to add any domain controller which is running on lower versions of Windows Server - Click "Next"



In order to have AD DS environment we need a DNS server and it is recommended to install DNS Server on the first domain controller of your forest so here I will check option DNS Server as we need this service on our first domain controller - now click "Next".



Wizard is prompting us to select the destination store database and log files of Active Directory - I would keep the defaults and click "Next"

Here it requires a new and a strong password to be able to login in Directory Services Restore Mode. NOTE: Administrator account and Directory Services Restore Mode Passwords should be different - Give a strong password and Click "Next"

This is the list of our selections we made so far, If you have made any wrong selection you can go back and correct it - Everything seems OK now so I would click "Next"

Now we are installing all the services we have selected and also I have checked "reboot on completion" so the server will get rebooted as soon as it finish the installation.

Server will Reboot Itself after successful installation :)

Logon to the Server using Administrator Account

Click on Start then Click on "Administrative Tools" you will find the list of Services successfully installed.

Start -> Adminstrative Tools -> "Active Directory Users and Computers" - Here you will manage User Accounts and Services.

Start -> Administrative Tools -> Active Directory Sites and Services - Here you will manage Active Directory Sites and Services.

Start -> Administrative Tools -> Group Policy Management - Here you will create and manage Group policies.

Start -> Adminstrative Tools -> DNS Server - Here is your DNS Server and we are ready to go!