Step-By-Step: Deploy Hyper-V on SMB 3.0

Hello Folks,

just wrapped up another Windows Server 2012 R2 camp in Montreal.  it’s very cold (-33 degrees Celsius).  but the discussion were great.  we spent a good portion taking about SMB 3.0 and the added capabilities to support server applications.  An SMB file share can now store virtual machine (VM) and SQL Server resources in addition to traditional end-user files like office documents.

SMB protocol is a network file sharing protocol allowing applications to read and write to files and requesting services from a file server. Windows Server 2012 introduces the new 3.0 version of SMB. Now, a Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V host can use a SMB 3.0 file shares as shared storage for storing virtual machine (VM) configuration files, VHDs, and Checkpoints.

This will bring you the following advantages:

 

  • Ease of provisioning and management. You can manage file shares instead of storage fabric and LUNs.
  • Increased flexibility. You can dynamically migrate virtual machines or databases in the data center.
  • Ability to take advantage of existing investment. You can use your existing network with no specialized storage networking hardware.
  • Reduced capital expenditures. Capital expenses (acquisition costs) are reduced.
  • Reduced operating expenditures. You can reduce operating costs because there is no need for specialized storage expertise.

 

if you need more info on storage solutions and Hyper-v I suggest the following MVA Modules.

Create an SMB file share by using Server Manager

1- In Server Manager on the left, click File and Storage Services.

2- Click Tasks, and then click New Share to open the New Share Wizard.

3- On the Select Profile page, select SMB Share – Applications, and click Next.

image

4- On the Share Location page, select a server and a volume, and click Next.

image

5- On the Share Name page, specify a name for the new share, and click Next.

image

6- Click Next in the Configure Share Settings page

7- On the Permissions page, click Customize Permissions.

image

8- Click Add, click Select a Principal, and then click Object Types.

image

image

9- In Object Types, click to select Computers, and click OK.

image

10- In my case I entered Sever01 (the server we are running Hyper-v on) , and click OK. and in the Permissions Entry, select Full Control, and click OK. (repeat with server02.

13- On the Permissions page, click Next and Click Create to create the SMB file share.

Create a virtual machine and virtual hard disk file on the file share

1- Open Hyper-V Manager. and from the Actions pane, click New and then click Virtual Machine.  And the New Virtual Machine wizard opens. Click Next.

2- On the Specify Name and Location page, type a name and location (using a UNC path) I used VM1 and the UNC we just created in step 1.

image

3- In the specify generation I left the defaults and clicked Next.

4- On the Assign Memory page, specify enough memory to start the guest operating system.  I set it to 1024

6- On the Configure Networking page, connect the virtual machine to a switch you have created when you installed Hyper-V or create a new one.

7- On the Connect Virtual Hard Disk and Installation Options pages, choose Create a virtual hard disk. Click Next

8- In the Installation Option, Decide if you want to install it now or wait until you’re done.  In my case I selected the Install the operating system later since i’m running my current lab already in Hyper-v and it’s not a good idea to start a virtual machine on an hypervisor that is already running on a virtualized machine….)

image

8- On the Summary page, verify your selections and then click Finish.

It’s pretty basic but it has a lot of potential when you look at the Live Migration and how you provide storage infrastructure for your VMs.  PLUS, why don't you use a Scale Out File Server?  Like the one we discussed last week on this blog.  That way you get High-Availability from your storage and you can have High-Availability from the Hyper-v side by making it a cluster.

That’s it!!

Try it out.

Cheers!!

clip_image011

Pierre Roman | Technology Evangelist
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn