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Configuring Performance and Resource Optimization

Excerpted from Course 10215A: Implementing and Managing Microsoft Server Virtualization

This lesson is part of a five-day, 300-level course focusing on deploying and managing a server virtualization environment for system administrators with significant experience managing Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2. This course is offered exclusively by   Microsoft Learning Partners  and delivered by  Microsoft Certified Trainers. See additional course requirements, the complete syllabus, and upcoming course dates and locations  here.

This lesson describes how to implement performance and resource optimization in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2.

What is Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO)?

 PRO helps ensure that virtual machine hosts and virtual machines are operating in the most efficient possible manner. PRO generates recommendations for remedial actions based on alerts that Operations Manager generates. You can configure PRO to implement the preconfigured corrective actions automatically.

To allow Operations Manager to collect data for PRO, you must install PRO-enabled management packs on the Operations Manager server, and install an Operations Manager agent on each virtualization host (except VMware ESX servers), and on each virtual machine.

As Operations Manager collects data about the virtual environment, it can generate PRO tips, which display in the VMM Administrator Console. The PRO tips can recommend placement, migration, or reconfiguration of virtual machines to optimize the virtual environment.

PRO-enabled management packs define the following types of PRO tips:

  • PRO tips for hosts: PRO tips for hosts can recommend actions, such as migration of a virtual machine so that you return a host to a healthy state based on resource usage or other performance and health measures on the host.
  • PRO tips for virtual machines: PRO tips for virtual machines recommend actions, such as a configuration update, to return a virtual machine to a healthy state based on resource usage or other performance and health measures in virtual machines.

You can view the details for any PRO-initiated job in the Jobs view of the VMM Administrator Console. A PRO tab in the job details for each PRO-initiated job displays the status of each job associated with the PRO tip.

PRO in VMM 2008 R2 has the following capabilities:

  • Intelligent Placement: PRO provides recommendations for optimal placement of multimachine configurations across multiple hosts.
  • Clustering: PRO is cluster-aware and you can use it to help ensure clustered host optimization.
  • Health based decisions: PRO leverages Operations Manager health monitoring to determine when you need to take corrective steps.
  • Virtual Machine sizing: PRO can make recommendations regarding configuration alterations for virtual machines to improve performance.
  • Automatic remediation: You can configure PRO to implement the recommended steps automatically.

Question: In what ways is PRO different than VMM reporting?

Answer: PRO provides interactive information about performance or configuration issues on the Hyper-V hosts or virtual machines, along with recommendations for addressing the issues. VMM reports present performance or utilization statistics, but the reports do not include any recommendations or steps that you can take to address issues.

Options for Configuring PRO

 When you implement PRO, you have several options for configuring the feature.

 

Image with Options

 

  • You can configure the host groups that PRO tips affect. By default, PRO is not enabled on any host group, even after you complete the integration with Operations Manager. You can edit the PRO settings for the entire VMM deployment by enabling the feature on the PRO Settings dialog box. By default, when you do this, all host groups inherit the new configuration. You can modify the properties for each child host group and remove the inheritance of the PRO setting from the parent host group. When you remove the inheritance, you can disable the application of PRO tips for the host group, or you can change the PRO configuration.
  • You can choose to implement PRO tips automatically or to review the tips before implementing them manually. By default, when you enable PRO on a host group, PRO tips display in VMM Administrator Console, but are not implemented automatically. If you accept the default configuration, you can review the PRO tips, and then choose whether to implement them. If you choose to have PRO implement the tips, VMM takes the actions specified in the related PRO management pack.
  • You can specify the severity level for the PRO tips that VMM displays or implements. By default, when you enable PRO, all warning and critical tips are displayed in the VMM Administrator Console. The warning and critical values are determined by the setting in the PRO management packs. You can modify this setting to display only critical tips. If you configure automatic implementation of PRO tips, you also can configure whether it applies to critical PRO tips only or to warning and critical PRO tips.
  • You can exclude specific virtual machines from being affected by host level PRO tip actions. For example, if you have a virtual machine that is running on a host cluster, and it is critical that the host machine always run on a specific host, you can configure the virtual machine settings to exclude it from any PRO tip actions, such as performing a live migration.

 

Lab: Configuring and Validating PRO

Note: To perform this lab with full-hands on access, attend the full course at a Microsoft Learning Partner

After the initial configuration of SQL Server and Operations Manager, you need to complete additional steps to complete the implementation of PRO tips. You need to configure the Action account, configure the root server that VMM will be communicating with, and then configure the PRO settings at the VMM server, host group and individual virtual machine level.

The main tasks for this exercise are:

  1. Configure the Action account for Operations Manager.
  2. Configure the Operations Manager root management server.
  3. Configure PRO for VMM server.
  4. Configure PRO for an Individual Host Cluster.
  5. Remove a virtual machine from PRO host-level actions.
  6. View and implement a PRO tip.
  7. Remove the Failover Cluster.

 

Task 1: Configure the Action account for Operations Manager

  1. On NYC-SVR3, in the Operations Manager Console, click Administration.
  2. In the Administration pane, under Run As Configuration, click Accounts.
  3. Verify that Contoso\Administrator is listed in the Action Account sections.
  4. On NYC-VMM, in the VMM Administrator Console, click Administration.
  5. Verify that CONTOSO\Administrator is a member of the Administrators user role. The Action account used in Operations Manager must be a member of the Administrator user role in VMM to ensure that you can implement PRO tips.

Task 2: Configure the Operations Manager root management server

  1. On NYC-VMM, in VMM Administrator Console, in the Administration pane, click System Center.
  2. In the Details pane, double-click Operations Manager Server.
  3. Configure the Operations Manager Server as NYC-SVR3.

Task 3: Configure PRO for VMM server

  1. In the Administration pane, click General.
  2. In the Details pane, double-click PRO Settings.
  3. Enable PRO tips, and enable automatic implementation of PRO tips.

Task 4: Configure PRO for an individual host cluster

  1. In the left pane, click Hosts.
  2. Access the properties for HVCLuster.
  3. Remove the inheritance of PRO settings from the parent host group. Enable PRO for the host cluster, but do not implement PRO tips automatically.

Task 5: Remove a virtual machine from PRO host-level actions

  1. In the left pane, click Virtual Machines.
  2. Access the properties for 10215A-NYC-SVR1.
  3. On the Settings tab, select the Exclude virtual machine from PRO host-level actions check box.

Task 6: View and implement a PRO tip

  1. On NYC-Host1, open a command prompt, type e:, and then press ENTER.
  2. Type CD E:\Program Files\Microsoft Learning\10215A\Labfiles\StressTool\amd64, and then press ENTER.
  3. Type StressTool 90, and then press ENTER.
  4. On NYC-VMM, in the VMM Administrator Console, wait for the PRO tip to appear.
  5. When the PRO tip appears, review the information listed in the tip.
  6. Implement the PRO tip.
  7. In the Jobs windows, verify that the job to address the PRO tip has been started.
  8. Dismiss the PRO tip.
  9. On NYC-Host1, stop the StressTool by clicking in the command prompt, and pressing CTRL+C.

Task 7: Remove the failover cluster

  1. On NYC-VMM, in the VMM Administrator Console, stop the HA-Test and VMM-HA virtual machines.
  2. Right-click HVCluster.contoso.com and click Remove host cluster. Provide the credentials to remove the host cluster.
  3. In Failover Cluster Manager, remove all of the highly available virtual machines.
  4. Destroy the HVCLuster.contoso.com cluster.
  5. Close all open windows.

Results: After this exercise, you will have configured PRO tips in VMM and tested that PRO tips are functioning as expected.

Want more? Attend the full course  at a Microsoft Learning Solutions partner near you and learn how to:

  • Describe server, desktop, and application virtualization.
  • Describe how you use Microsoft System Center is to manage the virtual infrastructure.
  • Evaluate a network environment for server virtualization.
  • Plan for the implementation of the Hyper-V server role.
  • Install the Hyper-V Server Role.
  • Manage Hyper-V settings and virtual networks.
  • Create and configure virtual machines.
  • Manage virtual machine snapshots.
  • Managing and maintaining the Virtual Machine Connection Tool.
  • Create and configure virtual machines.
  • Manage virtual machine snapshots.
  • Managing and maintaining the Virtual Machine Connection Tool.
  • Create a new virtual machine using SCVMM 2008 R2.
  • Convert a physical server to a virtual machine.
  • Convert and migrate virtual machines.
  • Clone virtual machines.
  • Describe common management tasks and property configuration settings for virtual machines managed by VMM 2008.
  • Describe when and how to use virtual machine checkpoints.
  • Overview of the VMM Library.
  • Manage profiles and templates.
  • Design fault tolerance for the VMM library.
  • Configure VMM user roles.
  • Install and configure the VMM Self-Service Portal.
  • Describe the Windows Server 2008 R2 Failover Cluster feature.
  • Implement failover clustering with Hyper-V and VMM 2008 R2.
  • Describe how to use the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool to maintain updates for virtual machines.
  • Configure Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and  the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool.
  • Monitor and manage jobs in VMM 2008 R2s.
  • Configure System Center Operations Manager integration.
  • Configure Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO).
  • Describe backup and restore options for virtual machines and the VMM database.
  • Implementing Data Protection Manager for backing up the VMM infrastructure.
  • Understand the use and role of Remote Desktop Services (RDS).
  • Implement the Remote Desktop Session Host.
  • Implement the Remote Desktop Connection Broker.
  • Implement the Remote Desktop Virtualization Host.
  • Configure the Remote Desktop Gateway.
  • Configure Remote Desktop Web Access.
  • Configure Remote Desktop Licensing.

All Microsoft Official Courses—including this one--are delivered by Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs)—industry-recognized experts—and offered through a network of more than 1,500 Microsoft Certified Partners for Learning Solutions (Learning Solutions partners) in more than 120 countries and regions throughout the world.

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