Tag: Container

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Apr192018April 19, 2018April 19, 20180Commentby Thomas Maurer
Techorama 2018

Speaking about Azure Stack and Hyper-V at Techorama 2018 in Antwerp Belgium

Posted in Cloud, Containers, Docker, Events, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Nano Server, Server Core, Virtualization, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows Server 1709, Windows Server 1803, Windows Server 2016, Work

Today I am happy to announce that I am one of the speakers at the Techorama 2018 conference in Antwerp Belgium. Techorama is a yearly international technology conference which takes place at Metropolis Antwerp. Techorama welcomes about 1500 attendees, a healthy mix between developers, IT Professionals, Data Professionals and SharePoint professionals. Their commitment is to create a unique conference experience with quality content and the best speaker line-up. Techorama will take place from the 22nd -24th of May 2018.

I will be speaking in two sessions about Microsoft Azure Stack and Hyper-V

Techorama

Azure Stack - Your Cloud Your Datacenter

Microsoft released Azure Stack as a Azure appliance for your datacenter. Learn what Azure Stack is, what challenges it solves, how you deploy, manage and operate a Azure Stack in your datacenter. Learn about the features and services you will get by offering Azure Stack to your customers and how you can build a true Hybrid Cloud experience. In this presentation Thomas Maurer (Microsoft MVP) will guide you through the highly anticipated innovations and experience during the Azure Stack Early Adaption Program and Azure Stack Technology Adoption Program (TAP).

Techorama

10 hidden Hyper-V features you should know about!

In this session Thomas Maurer will talk about 10 hidden Hyper-V features everyone should know about. This covers different features for Hyper-V on Windows Server as well as on Windows 10. Be prepared for a lot of Demos!

Hopefully see you there!


Mar202018March 20, 2018March 21, 20181Commentby Thomas Maurer
Windows Server 2019

Microsoft announces Windows Server 2019 and System Center 2019

Posted in Cloud, Containers, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Nano Server, Server Core, System Center, Virtualization, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019, Work

Microsoft today announced the next Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) release for Windows Server called Windows Server 2019. In a blog post today, Erin Chapple, Director of Program Management Windows Server, announced the Windows Server 2019, which will be available in the second half of calendar year 2018. You can try out a Windows Server Preview build through the Windows Server Insider Program today. Microsoft also mentions that System Center 2019 will be available to manage Windows Server 2019 infrastructures.

Windows Server 2019 is built on the foundation of Windows Server 2016 and focuses on a couple of key scenarios. Microsoft in four key areas, Hybrid Cloud, Security, Application Platform and Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI).

Windows Server 2019 – Hybrid Cloud Improvements

Project Honolulu Server Overview

As of today Hybrid Cloud is more real than ever. With Windows Server 2019 Microsoft is focusing to improve the customer experience in a hybrid cloud world. Taking advantage of public cloud innovation such as Artificial Intelligence and IoT, and connecting them with on-premise services is a huge enabler for customers. At Microsoft Ignite 2017, Microsoft showed of the Technical Preview of Project Honolulu, a web-based management console for Windows Server. One of the goals of Project Honolulu is to connect Windows Server deployments with Azure services. Together with Windows Server 2019 and Project Honolulu, you can easily integrate services like Azure Backup, Azure File Sync, Azure Site Recovery and much more.

Windows Server 2019 – Security

Security was already one of the big investments in Windows Server 2016. Microsoft does not stop there. With Windows Server 2019 Microsoft brings various security improvements like Shielded Virtual Machine support for Linux VMs and Encrypted Virtual Networks. One of my favorite improvements is the possibility to integrate with Windows Defender Advanced Thread Protection (ATP). ATP was first available for Windows 10 and provides preventative protection, detects attacks and zero-day exploits among other capabilities, into the operating system. This gives customers access to deep kernel and memory sensors, improving performance and anti-tampering, and enabling response actions on server machines.

Windows Server 2019 – Application Platform

Ubuntu on Windows Server using WSL

One of the key focus of Microsoft for Windows Server, was always on the developer experience. Microsoft brings a couple of improvements to make it the best application platform out there. Microsoft invests in a couple of scenarios such as bringing the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) to Windows Server. Another key investment area are Windows Server Containers and Windows Server Container images. In Windows Server 2019, Microsoft reduces the Server Core base container image to a third of its current size of 5 GB. This will reduce download time of the image by 72%, further optimizing the development time and performance. Another key improvement in terms of Container support is the integration and support for Container orchestrators like Kubernetes.

Windows Server 2019 – Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI)

The 4th improvement area is the Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). With Windows Server 2016 Microsoft released a new feature called Storage Spaces Direct. Together with Hyper-V and other Microsoft technologies, this was great to build you own infrastructure for your virtualization workloads. Windows Server 2019 will bring a lot of improvements for Storage Spaces Direct, Hyper-V and other related technologies. Microsoft is adding scale, performance, and reliability to the platform. Microsoft also partnered with hardware vendors to provide an affordable and yet extremely robust HCI solution with validated design.

What else?

  • Windows Server will be GA (generally available) in the second half of calendar year 2018.
  • Windows Server will be a LTSC release. LTSC will be the recommended version of Windows Server for most infrastructure scenarios and workloads like SQL Server, SharePoint and Windows Server Software-Defined Datacenter solutions.
  • With the LTSC release of Windows Server 2019, Microsoft will allow customers to use the Server with Desktop Experience as well as Windows Server Core. With the Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) release, Microsoft only provides the Windows Server Core option.
  • There will be another Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) release at the same time as Windows Server 2019 focusing on Container innovations. The SAC releases will be supported as before for 18 months, while the LTSC releases follow the normal 5+5 year support.
  • Licensing will use the same model as Windows Server 2016 today, Microsoft mentions that it is likely that they will increase the pricing for Windows Sevrer Client Access Licensing (CAL), but will share more details later.

With that we can all be very excited for the next LTSC version of Windows Server. Until then the next SAC release of Windows Server, called Windows Server 1803, will be available this spring. The Windows Server, version 1803 will focus on container improvements. If you want to try out, Windows Server 2019 or Windows Server 1803, you can join the Windows Server Insider Program.


Mar062018March 6, 2018March 6, 20180Commentby Thomas Maurer
Azure Stack PowerShell Docker Container

Run Azure Stack PowerShell and Azure Stack Tools in a Docker Container

Posted in Cloud, Containers, Docker, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Powershell, Server Core, Virtualization, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server

The Azure Stack Tools is a set of scripts and tools to work with Azure Stack and Azure. If you want to run the Azure Stack Tools you will need to install the Azure Stack compatible Azure PowerShell module. To install that that can be some work and it does not allow to run the side by side today with the latest Azure PowerShell Module. For that I have a simple solution. I created two Docker Containers with preinstalled Azure Stack PowerShell and one with Azure Stack PowerShell and the Azure Stack Tools together.

AzureStack-Tools is a GitHub repository that hosts PowerShell modules for managing and deploying resources to Azure Stack. If you are planning to establish VPN connectivity, you can download these PowerShell modules to the Azure Stack Development Kit, or to a Windows-based external client

Azure Stack PowerShell Docker Container

Azure Stack PowerShell Docker Container

This container contains the Azure Stack PowerShell. To run Azure Stack PowerShell in a Docker Container, just run the following command on your server or PC with Docker installed.

Azure Stack Tools Docker Container

Azure Stack Tools Docker Container

This container contains the Azure Stack PowerShell as well as the Azure Stack Tools. To run Azure Stack Tools in a Docker Container, just run the following command on your server or pc with Docker installed.

Both Images are based on Windows Server Core and depending on the microsoft/windowsservercore Docker images.

This should help you to quickly spin up new Azure Stack Operator Workstations. And it should help you to work and interact with Azure Stack.


Jan222018January 22, 2018January 22, 20180Commentby Thomas Maurer
ExpertsLiveCafe

Speaking at Experts Live Cafe January 2018 Edition in Bern

Posted in Cloud, Containers, Docker, Events, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Powershell, Server Core, Virtualization, Web, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows Server 1709, Windows Server 1803, Windows Server 2016, Work

I am happy to announce and remind you that I will be speaking at the Experts Live Cafe in Bern this Friday. The Experts Live Cafe is a Swiss IT Pro Meetup run by the Microsoft MVPs Stefan Johner and Stefan Roth. Experts Live is a non-profit organization that has a mission to enable sharing of knowledge and experience about Microsoft technologies worldwide. The ExpertsLive Cafes are user group meetups which are designed to bring IT professionals closer together.

I will be covering one of two sessions about this months Experts Live Cafe and talk about Windows Server.

ExpertsLive Cafe

What is next for Windows Server

In Fall 2017 Microsoft has updated Windows Server to the next Semi-Annual Channel release with new features and improvements and Microsoft will now release new SAC and LTSC releases. Join this session for the best of Windows Server, learn how the new Servicing Model of Windows Server works and what does it mean to use SAC or LTSC releases, and what new improvement and features Microsoft offers in the latest releases such as 1709 and 1803. You’ll get an overview about the new, exciting improvements that are in Windows Server and how they’ll improve your day-to-day job.

There should be still some free seats, so hopefully see you there!

 


Jan172018January 17, 2018January 17, 20180Commentby Thomas Maurer
Windows Server Insider Preview Build 17074

Sneak Peak of Windows Server 1803 (RS4) – Windows Server Insider Preview Build 17074

Posted in Cloud, Containers, Docker, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Nano Server, Powershell, Server Core, Virtualization, Web, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows Server 1803, Work

Yesterday, Microsoft announced a new Windows Server Insider Preview Build (17074) which will be released as the next Semi-Annual Channel release for Windows Server. This release will likely be called Windows Server 1803 (Codename: Restone 4), which is aligned to the Windows Client releases.

Microsoft talked about improvements in the next Windows Server releases and the investments in Containers and Storage Spaces Direct at Microsoft Ignite 2017, and we already got some early Windows Server Insider Preview builds to see what is coming next. The official list is not to big right now, but we can expect Microsoft to add and announce more features in the comment weeks and months.

What is new in Windows Server 1803 (RS4)

  • Storage Spaces Direct (S2D)
    • Microsoft adds Data Deduplication support Storage Spaces Direct and ReFS
    • Microsoft removed the requirement for SCSI Enclosure Service (SES) on the hardware, which enables more hardware to work with S2D
    • Storage Spaces Direct adds support for Persistent Memory (Storage Class Memory), which brings very fast and very low latency storage to S2D. The prices for this devices is still pretty high, but we can expect this to change in the future and we can also see them as a great use as caching devices.
    • Storage Spaces Direct now also supports Direct-connect SATA devices to AHCI controller, which also make more hardware work with S2D
    • CSV Cache is now enabled by default, which delivers an in-memory write-through cache that can dramatically boost VM performance, depending on your workload.
  • Failover Clustering
    • Azure enlightened Failover Cluster – This is a very exciting feature if you run Windows Server Failover Clusters in Microsoft Azure. This feature will let the Windows Server cluster know if there is Azure host maintenance going on and will exclude the specific cluster node from placing workloads on it.

      By making high availability software running inside of an Azure IaaS VM be aware of maintenance events of the host, it can help deliver the highest levels of availability for your applications.

  • Container
    • Microsoft promised to add more Container feature and provide updated Windows Server Container Images. One feature which made it already into this and early Preview builds is a long waited feature which caused some confusion before. Developers can now use localhost or loopback (127.0.0.1) to access services running in containers on the host.
  • Other Improvements

As mentioned before we can expect Microsoft to add and announce new feature for the next Windows Server release in the next couple of weeks and months.

How to download the Windows Server Insider Preview

You can download the Windows Server Insider Previews from the Windows Server Insider Preview download page. If you are not yet an Insider, check out how to get one on the Windows Insider for Business portal.

Careful, this is pre-release software and it is not supported in production.

Test and Provide Feedback to Windows Server

For Microsoft it is very important that they get feedback about the latest releases. To send feedback use the Feedback Hub application in Windows 10, and choose the Server category with the right subcategory for your feedback.

 

 

 


Nov292017November 29, 2017November 29, 20170Commentby Thomas Maurer
ExpertsLive US 2018

Speaking at Experts Live US 2018 in Houston

Posted in Cloud, Containers, Docker, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Powershell, Private Cloud, Server Core, Virtualization, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows Server 1709, Windows Server 2016, Work

I am happy and proud that I will speak at next years Experts Live US 2018 in Houston. This will be the first Experts Live Conference in the United States taking place from February 8 – 9 2018. I am happy to present at this event, and be part of the Experts Live journey over the globe, where I have been able to speak at Experts Live in Europe, Asia and Australia.

At Experts Live I will be presenting the following sessions:

Experts Live US

Azure Stack: Your Cloud, Your Datacenter

Microsoft released Azure Stack as a Azure appliance for your datacenter. Learn what Azure Stack is, what challenges it solves, how you deploy, manage and operate a Azure Stack in your datacenter. Learn about the features and services you will get by offering Azure Stack to your customers and how you can build a true Hybrid Cloud experience. In this presentation Thomas Maurer (Microsoft MVP) will guide you through the highly anticipated innovations and experience during the Azure Stack Early Adaption Program and Azure Stack Technology Adoption Program (TAP).

Experts Live US

Windows Server – What is next for Windows Server

A little less than one year ago Microsoft released Windows Server 2016. In Fall 2017 Microsoft has updated Windows Server to the next Semi-Annual Channel release with new features and improvements and Microsoft will now release new SAC and LTSC releases. Join this session for the best of Windows Server, learn how the new Servicing Model of Windows Server works and what does it mean to use SAC or LTSC releases, and what new improvement and features Microsoft offers in the latest releases such as 1709 and 1803. You’ll get an overview about the new, exciting improvements that are in Windows Server and how they’ll improve your day-to-day job.   In this presentation Thomas Maurer (Microsoft MVP) will guide you through the highly anticipated innovations including: · Windows Server Containers · Hyper-V features · Nano Server · Storage · Networking · Security · Windows Server Containers And more!

Experts Live US

10 hidden Hyper-V features you should know about!

In this session Thomas Maurer will talk about 10 hidden Hyper-V features everyone should know about. This covers different features for Hyper-V on Windows Server as well as on Windows 10.

I will also be part of the AMA (Ask me Anything) Discusison Panel: Hybrid Cloud , together with my friends John Joyner (Microsoft MVP) and Janaka Rangama (Microsoft MVP).

Experts Live US

AMA Discusison Panel: Hybrid Cloud

Bring your questions on Azure Stack, Windows 2016, Hyper-V and Disaster Recovery in this “ask me anything (AMA) panel discussion.

Hope fully I see you in Houston at Experts Live US 2018!


Oct272017October 27, 2017October 27, 20170Commentby Thomas Maurer
Docker Windows Server Container Images

Docker Container Images for Windows Server 1709 and new tagging

Posted in Cloud, Containers, Docker, Hyper-V, IT, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Nano Server, Powershell, Server Core, Virtualization, Web, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows Server 1709, Windows Server 2016, Work

Last week Microsoft announced new Windows Server 1709 and the new Windows Server 1709 container images. The new container images in Windows Server version 1709 are highly optimized, especially in size. So for example the new Nano Server Container Image in 1709 is 5x smaller than the Nano Server Container Image in Windows Server 2016.

Microsoft also made some changes to tagging which is interesting.

If you want to use the latest images of the container images based on the Windows Server 2016 (which is in the Long-Term Servicing Channel, LTSC) you just run:

This will give you the latest images of the Windows Server and Nano server container images. If you want to run a specific patch level of the Windows Server 2016 (LTSC)m images, you can run the following:

Docker Windows Server Container Images Size

If you want to use the new Windows Server 1709 container images from the Semi-Annual Channel you can run the following

and again you cans also add a specific base OS container image by using a KB number:

If you already tried out the new container images during the development using the insider images, they still existing:

However, I am not sure what the plan for the insider images is going forward.



  • About

    Thomas Maurer

    My Name is Thomas Maurer. Microsoft MVP. Work as a Solutions Architect and Technology Lead for itnetX, a consulting and engineering company located in Switzerland. I am focused on Microsoft Technologies, especially Microsoft Cloud & Datacenter solutions based Microsoft System Center, Microsoft Virtualization and Microsoft Azure.

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