Windows Server 2003 Migration Planning Assistant - Terminal Services Migration

Moving on to Terminal Service Migration now, once again with the recommendations from the Migration Planning Assistant. There's not a huge amount of specific Terminal Services to Remote Desktop Services information included, but I'll check again soon to see if it has been updated. One of the important things to take note of here is that many of the applications that are currently running on 2003 era Terminal Servers are applications that you had to work with during XP EOS migrations, so categorising which ones can stay and which ones need to go shouldn't be too hard.

Implementing Virtualization

You can use virtualization to address many business and IT requirements, but you can't virtualize all servers and applications. Before your organization implements virtualization, you need to identify the apps and servers that are the best candidates for it.

You must consider several factors when deciding whether to virtualize server workloads:

  • Hardware requirements: Typically, virtual machines require approximately the same resources as a physical server. For example, if you have a physical server that uses 1 GB of RAM, you should expect the virtual machine to use that same amount—assuming it runs the same operating system and apps.
    Note: When you plan resource utilization on your host computer, remember that the host computer requires additional resources for running the virtual machine. For each additional GB of memory that you assign to the virtual machine, there is a potential overhead of 8 MB on the host computer. For example, if the virtual machine requires 4 GB of RAM, there is a potential overhead of 32 MB on the host computer.
  • Hardware utilization: In some cases, a server workload may require hardware resources that make it impractical to deploy the workload on a virtual machine. For example, if the server workload requires more than half of the hardware resources available on a virtualization host, the benefit of server consolidation may be nil.
    Note: When evaluating a virtual machine's hardware requirement, ensure that you are using the actual hardware utilization rather than the physical hardware. You can deploy a physical server that is using only 5 percent of its current hardware resources on a virtual machine that has much lower hardware resources.
  • Compatibility: It's important to determine if the application can run in a virtualized environment. Business apps range from simple executables to complex, distributed, multi-tier products. Be sure to consider the requirements for specific components of distributed applications, like the need to communicate with other infrastructure elements or to have direct access to system hardware.
    Note: Applications and services that have specific hardware or driver requirements generally are not good virtualization candidates. For example, an app may not be ideal for virtualization if it contains low-level drivers that require direct access to system hardware. This may not be possible through a virtualization interface, and it can negatively affect performance.
  • Supportability: You need to evaluate whether a virtualized environment will support the operating system and the application. You can verify vendor support policies for operating system and application deployments that use virtualization technologies.
  • Licensing: You need to verify if the application can be licensed for use in a virtual environment. Reducing the licensing costs of multiple apps or operating systems can result in significant savings—a strong financial reason for virtualization.
  • Availability requirements: Most organizations need to make at least some apps highly available for users. While some of these apps provide built-in options for enabling high availability, others can't easily be made highly available outside a virtual machine environment. When deciding whether to virtualize a server, remember to assess if the application has high availability options, if the virtual machine environment supports those options, and if failover clustering can be used to make the virtual machine highly available.

Virtual Licenses

With Windows Server 2012 R2, your organization can run its IT infrastructure on virtualization technologies or connect it to external cloud services. The Windows Server edition that you deploy depends on the planned level of virtualization.

  • Two Windows Server 2012 R2 editions include virtual licenses:

    • Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard: Includes licenses for two virtual machines for a server with up to two processors. An additional license is necessary for each additional two processors.
    • Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter: Includes licenses for an unlimited number of virtual machines for a server with up to two processors. An additional license is necessary for each additional two processors.

    Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard is the ideal choice for organizations that require an environment based mostly on physical servers and that use virtualization technologies less frequently. Organizations with a predominately virtual IT infrastructure should opt for Windows Server 2012 Datacenter.

  • If your organization runs more than two virtual machines on the same hardware but still doesn't require an unlimited number of virtual licenses, you might choose to install a second instance of Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard on the server. In this scenario, you would be licensed to run four virtual machines on the same hardware.

  • Windows Server 2012 R2 introduces Automatic Virtual Machine Activation. It enables organizations to install virtual machines on activated Windows Servers without entering product keys for virtual machines. Automatic Virtual Machine Activation initializes the virtual machine on start-up by using the virtualization server's license. Automatic Virtual Machine Activation also provides reporting and tracking data for virtual machines licensing.

Designing Virtual Machines

For anyone developing a virtualization strategy, one key goal is to simplify and standardize the host computer and virtual machine configuration as much as possible. Consider the following general guidelines, which apply to all virtual machines:

  • Develop a small number of standard virtual machine builds. To streamline virtual machine deployment and management, develop a set of standard virtual machine builds. For example, consider creating standard low-end, medium, and high-end server builds. Assign a standard CPU and memory configuration for each role. Also, consider configuring each virtual machine with a standard 50 GB system partition and providing additional disks on which to store data or install apps. Finally, consider using SCSI controllers for all hard disks, other than the disk that contains the boot and system partition. Windows Server 2012 R2 enables you to add new VHDs that connect to a SCSI controller without having to restart the server.
  • Plan virtual machines for specific server roles. Although you should be able to configure most virtual machines with the same basic disk and operating system configuration, the actual physical requirements for each virtual machine varies. For example, some virtual machines require significantly more RAM or CPU resources than others. To design the actual physical requirements for a virtual machine, you should:
    • Monitor the servers before virtualizing them. Collect performance data on the servers to evaluate how specific applications perform on physical servers. If an application uses a low percentage of a physical server's hardware resources, deploy a virtual server with significantly less capacity to run the same app.
    • o Configure each virtual server similarly to the hardware configuration that the application requires on physical servers. Virtualizing a server does not change the hardware resources required by the server.
  • If your organization runs more than two virtual machines on the same hardware but still doesn't require an unlimited number of virtual licenses, you might choose to install a second instance of Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard on the server. In this scenario, you would be licensed to run four virtual machines on the same hardware.
  • Consider other options for ensuring physical server utilization. The goal in most organizations is to use all servers adequately, whether they are physical or virtual. For example, you can use the SQL Server or Exchange Server Mailbox servers more fully by deploying additional SQL Server instances or moving more mailboxes to the server.

Upgrade on new hardware

Hardware requirements define the minimum hardware required to run the Windows Server 2012 R2 server, but your actual hardware requirements might be greater, depending on the server’s load and responsiveness and the services that it hosts. Each role service and feature places a unique load on network, disk I/O, processor, and memory resources. For example, the File Server role places different stresses on server hardware than the DHCP role does.

Top Considerations:

Confirm that running this workload on a physical server is required. Running workloads as Virtual Machines offer more flexibility and tend to be more cost effective

Upgrade on virtual machine

Windows Server 2012 R2 can be deployed on a virtual machine in your Microsoft Hyper-V or other hypervisor environment for increased operational efficiency, flexibility, and ease of management. Windows Server 2012 R2 virtualized deployments need to match the same hardware specifications as physical deployments. For example, when you create a virtual machine to host Windows Server 2012 R2, you need configure the virtual machine with enough memory and hard disk space.

Top Considerations:

When deploying Virtual Workloads verify you are building with capacity to support all workloads that the Virtualization Host supports