vocab Flashcards
VHD
virtual hard disk
SLAT
second level address translation, aka nested paging: hardware-assisted virtualization technology that avoids the overhead of software-assisted shadow page tables
req’d processor feature for Server 2016
nic teaming
the process of combining multiple nic cards together for performance and redundancy
not supported in Nano Server
IoT
internet of things
Nano Server
The smallest possible installation option of Windows Server 2016, with no user interface
Volume Activation Services server role
enables you to automate and simplify the issuance and management of Microsoft software volume licenses for a variety of scenarios and environments. With the Volume Activation Services role, you can install and configure the Key Management Service (KMS) and enable Active Directory-based Activation
Automatic Virtual Machine Activation
allows you to install virtual machines on a properly activated Windows server without having to manage product keys for each individual virtual machine, even in disconnected environments.
Datacenter Edition
The most powerful edition of Server 2016.
- ideal for highly virtualized and software-defined datacenter envs;
- core-based licensing;
- CALs needed
- unlimited Hyper-V containers
- Host Guardian and Nano Server support; advanced storage features: ex: Storage Spaces Direct and Storage Replica; shielded VM support
Standard Edition
The typical edition of Server 2016 for most medium to large businesses
- ideal for low density and nonvirtualized envs
- core-based licensing
- CALs needed
- max 2 Hyper-V containers
- Host Guardian and Nano Server support
Essentials
The smallest edition of Server 2016, designed for small businesses.
- <25 users and <50 devices
- processor-based licensing
- no CALs needed
CAL
client access license
DISM
Deployment Image Servicing and Management
MAP
Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit: collection of tools to make it easy to assess the current IT infrastructure for a variety of migration projects;
Solution Accelerator provides a powerful inventory, assessment, and reporting tool to simplify the migration planning process.
PowerShell Direct
A feature that permits commands to be run against VMs from a local PowerShell installation. Two methods:
- Create and exit a PowerShell Direct session using PSSession cmdlets.
- Run a script or command with the Invoke-Command cmdlet.
IOPS
input/output operations per second
Generation 1
.vhd
good for:
- non-UEFI compatible VHD
- VM will be migrated to Azure
- unsupported boot method
- OS doesn’t support gen 2 (or is 32bit)
- Server 2008 / 2008r2
- Win7
- RHEL/CentOS 5.x and 6.x series
- Debian 7.x series
- any FreeBSD
- Oracle Linux 6.x series
- Oracle Linux UEK R3
- SUSE Linux Ent Server 11 series
- Open SUSE 12.3
- Ubuntu 12.04
Generation 2
.vhdx
Advantages:
- PXE boot
- SCSI boot
- Boot volume size
- VHDX boot volume resizing
- Software-based peripherals
- Enhanced Session Mode
- Shielded Virtual Machines
- Storage Spaces Direct
supported OSs:
- Server 2012 / 2012r2
- Win8 / 8.1 / 10
- RHEL/CentOS 7.x series
- Debian 8.x series
- Oracle Linux 7.x series
- Oracle Linux UEK R4
- SUSE Linux Ent Server 12 series
- Ubuntu 14.04 and later
Private Virtual Switch
- connects to a network used only by VMs on the Host that has the virtual switch
- does NOT allow comm b/t Host and VMs
ReFS (v2) advantages over NTFS
ReFS = Resilient File System
- gives Accelerated VHDX options in Hyper-V, for massive performance inc. when creating/extending a VHD, when merging checkpoints, and when performing backups.
- A block cloning approach is key to excellent checkpoint performance.
- Use of a 64 KB block size allows optimal performance in Hyper-V, with partition alignment handled automatically by Hyper-V.
- When Storage Spaces pool uses ReFS as underlying on-disk format, it leverages new features to greatly improve the repair process.
- ReFS v2 uses the concept of cluster “bands” to group multiple chunks of data together for efficient I/O, helping with your use of data tiering—specifically in moving data between tiers.
- Automatic integrity checking
- new data scrubbing techniques.
- better protection against data degradation.
- built-in drive recovery and redundancy.
- supports up to 1 trillion terabytes.
- faster creation of new volumes
ReFS (v2) disadvantages, vs. NTFS
ReFS = Resilient File System
- cannot replace NTFS in all scenarios.
- cannot use with Clustered Shared Volumes.
- no conversion capability between NTFS and ReFS.
- no file-based deduplication.
- no disk quotas.
- no object identifiers.
- no encryption support.
- cannot use named streams.
- no transaction support.
- no hard links.
- no support for external attributes.
- no support for 8.3 filenames.
SMB (share)
Server Message Block; for Windows shares; a network file sharing protocol that allows applications on a computer to read and write to files and to request services from server programs in a computer network.
The SMB protocol can be used on top of its TCP/IP protocol or other network protocols. Latest version = 3.0
NFS (share)
network file system; for Unix shares; allows a system to share directories and files with others over a network.
By using NFS, users and programs can access files on remote systems almost as if they were local files
Standard Format Disk
A disk that uses a 512-byte physical sector
Advanced Format Disk
A disk that uses a 4092-byte physical sector
MBR
Master Boot Record
An older partition style that does not support disk space larger than 2 TB.
GPT
GUID Partition Table
newer partition style that does support disk space larger than 2 TB
VHD or VHDX
virtual hard disk, which is a method of installing Nano Server
NTFS
New Technology File System
common file system for Windows Server 2016; started w/ Windows NT 3.1
iSCSI initiator
a client in the iSCSI network
iSCSI target
an iSCSI component that advertises storage to the iSCSI network
iSNS
Internet Storage Name Service: A protocol used for iSCSI resources
IQN
iSCSI Qualified Name: unique identifier that iSCSI uses to identify initiators and targets on an iSCSI network
iFCP
Internet Fibre Channel Protocol: a gateway-to-gateway network protocol standard which provides Fibre Channel fabric functionality to Fibre Channel devices over an IP network
DCB
Data Center Bridging: Priority-based flow control for a converged storage network
a suite of IEEE standards which enables converged fabrics in the data center, where storage, data networking, cluster IPC, and management traffic all share the same ethernet network infrastructure.
iSCSI
Internet Small Computer System Interface: IP-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. It provides block-level access to storage devices by carrying SCSI commands over a TCP/IP network.
RDMA
Remote Direct Memory Access: direct memory access from the memory of one computer into that of another without involving either one’s operating system, which can be enabled on Hyper-V switches
RoCE
RDMA over Converged Ethernet (aka DCB)
MCS
Multiple Connected Session (as FYI)
MPIO
MultiPath I/O: resiliency feature for a SAN
iSCSI protocol for connection redundancy, which:
- supports multiple NICs in an iSCSI initiator and iSCSI Target Server, so you can use MPIO to provide failover redundancy during network outages.
- needs a device-specific module (DSM) if you want to connect to a third-party SAN device connected to the iSCSI initiator
- is widely supported, but more complex to configure and is not as fully automated during failover as MCS
DSM
device-specific module, for connecting third-party SAN devices to the iSCSI inititator
Storage Replica
permits storage and agnostic data replication b/t clusters or servers
- req’s Datacenter Edition
- req’s GPT initalized disks
- can be Server-to-Server, Cluster-to-Cluster, or Stretch Cluster (one cluster w/ nodes and storage in two locations, for failover of VMs b/t clusters)
- one-to-one replication (no third location)
- block level only
- can be synchronous or asynchronous
- can replicate data for open files
Appropriate for:
- Virtual Machines
- File Servers
- SQL Server
… but not for:
- SYSVOL
- Exchange
Req’s:
- participants must be in a domain
- two vols per enclosure: data/logs
- data vols must be of identical size and sector size
- logs vols must be of identical size and sector sizes - 1 Gbps and 5ms latency
- 4GB ram and >= 2 CPU cores
- firewalls must allow ICMP, SMB and WS-MAN bidirectional
- local admin perms
Storage Spaces
Virtual disks created from free space in a Storage Pool, as NTFS or ReFS; mgmt options:
- Windows Storage Management API in WMI
- PowerShell
- File and Storage Services rol
Storage Pools
A collection of physical disks presented as logical disks (for example, one large logical disk).
Tiered Storage
an underlying principle of ILM (information lifecycle management). It is a storage networking method where data is stored on various types of media based on performance, availability and recovery requirements
chunk
section of a file selected by Data Deduplication chunking algorithm as likely to occur in other, similar files
chunk store
organized series of container files in the System Volume Information folder that Data Deduplication uses to uniquely store chunks
Dedup
Data Deduplication
file metadata
describes interesting properties about the file that are not related to the main content of the file.
file stream
The main content of a file (inre dedup processes)
file system
The software and on-disk data structure that an OS uses to store files on storage media.
file system filter
A plug-in that modifies the default behavior of the file system.
optimization
process in which a file is optimized (dedup’d) if it has been chunked, and its unique chunks have been stored in the chunk store
optimization policy
policy which specifies the files that should be considered for Data Deduplication.
reparse point
special tag that notifies the file system to pass off I/O to a specified file system filter.
volume
Windows construct for a logical storage drive that may span multiple physical storage devices across one or more servers
workload
An application that runs on Windows Server
Active Directory-Based Activation
role service that allows you to use Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) to store activation objects
advanced format disk
A disk that uses a 4092-byte physical sector.
affinity
The ability to control how a cluster reacts to repeated requests from the same client.
alerts
A Data Collector Set feature that allows you to configure notifications when counters breach certain thresholds
ACS
Azure Container Services: clustered virtual machines for running container-based applications
checkpoints
Point-in-time images of a virtual machine
CAU
Cluster Aware Updating: Windows Update technology for clusters
CNO
Cluster Name Object: An object for the cluster in Active Directory
Cluster Operation Mode
A mode that determines whether a cluster uses unicast or multicast
configuration version
A virtual machine’s compatibility settings
CSVFS
A pseudo file system that sits on top of NTFS in a Clustered Shared Volume (CSV).
CSV (not inre commas)
Clustered Shared Volume
Data Collector Set
A tool that allows the collection of selected Performance Monitor data
DDA
Discrete Device Assignment, which permits hardware to communicate directly with a VM
differencing disk
A virtual hard disk that stores only changes from parent virtual hard disk.
Docker
application for maintaining containers
Docker Daemon
The actual running Docker engine on a container host
Dockerfile
Instructions and statements for each instruction that create a Docker image
DockerHub
A public repository for storing and sharing Docker images
Drain on Shutdown
clustering feature that automatically live-migrates all the roles on a node before shutdown
Enhanced Session Mode
A mode that permits a VM to use a local computer’s resources (USB drive, printer, etc)
Extended (Chained) Replication
Hyper-V Replica using three hosts
external virtual switch
A switch that connects to a wired physical network
failback
A process in which a cluster moves a role back to the original node
headless
Reference to the fact that Nano Server provides no user interface
Hyper-V Container
A container that runs in a special lightweight VM
Hyper-V Manager
The GUI that permits the management of Hyper-V
Hyper-V Replica
A feature that provides replication of virtual machines from one host to another for disaster recovery scenarios
internal virtual switch
A switch that is used only by the virtual machines on the host
Virtual Switch Options (3)
- external virtual switch: connects to a wired physical network
- internal virtual switch: used only by the virtual machines on the host
- private virtual switch: does not permit communication between a host and VM
KMS
key management service: A role service that allows you to activate systems within a network from a server where a KMS host has been installed.
LIS / BIS
- Linux Integration Services and drivers
- FreeBSD Integration Services and drivers
live migration
The movement of a virtual machine from one host to another
nested virtualization
The ability to run Hyper-V virtualization from within a virtual machine
Network Health Protection
A tool that allows dynamic monitoring of a VM to see if it has a healthy network connection. If it does not, the cluster automatically live migrates the VM role to another node that does have a connection to that network
NLB Cluster
Network Load-Balancing Cluster: group of hosts that dynamically distribute client traffic to hosts in a cluster.
node fairness
A balancing technique in Windows Server 2016 which ensures that nodes in a cluster are not overtaxed with workloads.
Nodes
members of a failover cluster
NUMA
non-uniform memory access: computer memory design in which the memory access time depends on the memory location relative to the processor
pass-through disk
A disk that permits a VM access to the storage system of a host.
Performance Monitor
An MMC that permits careful analysis of server performance.
port rules (inre NLB Clusters)
Rules that define the types of TCP/IP traffic an NLB cluster processes
PowerShell + DSC
A method of deploying Server 2016 and ensuring the consistency of the deployed configurations.
(DSC = Desired State Configuration)
quick migration
An early form of the Live Migration that causes some delay in processing
quorum
A method of preventing a split-brain cluster
Split-brain cluster
a state in which a cluster of nodes gets divided (or partitioned) into smaller clusters of equal numbers of nodes, each of which believes it is the only active cluster
resource metering
The gathering of resource utilization data for a VM
Resource Monitor
A basic tool for quick analysis of performance data on a Server system
rolling upgrade
An update of the OS in machines of a cluster on a gradual basis
SoFS
Scale-Out File Server: a clustered role that provides highly available storage for applications
Core Edition
An installation option for Windows Server 2016 that has no GUI
Shared-Nothing Live Migration
The movement of a virtual machine and its storage from one host to another while not using clustering or shared storage
Shared Virtual Hard Disk
A virtual hard disk used by multiple VMs
Shielded Virtual Machine
A feature that allows the encryption of virtual machines.
Simultaneous Upgrade
An update in which the NLB cluster is brought down and then all hosts are upgraded.
Site-Aware clusters
Clusters in which the fault domain values are used with nodes to find the site the node belongs to in a stretch cluster
Smart Paging
Disk paging used for temporary memory
Storage Migration
The movement of a virtual machine’s files from one host to another.
Storage Pool
A collection of physical disks that can be presented to users as logical disks
Storage Quality of Service
New technology in Windows Server 2016 that enhances the IOPS of a virtual machine’s access storage
Storage Replica
Storage-agnostic data replication between servers or clusters
Storage Spaces
A storage virtualization technology in Windows Server 2016
Storage Spaces Direct
A technology that makes shared clustered storage directly available to clusters using Storage Space–type technology
Virtual Machine Queue
A type of hardware packet filtering that delivers packets from an outside virtual machine network directly to a VM host OS
vNIC
virtual network interface card; this virtual component permits a virtual machine to connect to a network
Windows Container Stack
networking components that permit container network access
Windows Server Container
A container that achieves isolation through namespace and process isolation.
Witness
A device that acts as a tie-breaker in a quorum
container image (docker)
a lightweight, stand-alone, executable package of a piece of software that includes everything needed to run it: code, runtime, system tools, system libraries, settings
Storage QoS
Storage Quality of Service: provides a way to centrally monitor and manage storage performance for VMs using Hyper-V and the Scale-Out File Server roles.
The feature automatically improves storage resource fairness between multiple virtual machines using the same file server cluster and allows policy-based minimum and maximum performance goals to be configured in units of normalized IOPs.
DEP
data execution prevention, enabled by XD or NX bits.
Intel VT
Intel Virtualization Technology
AMD-V
AMD Virtualization Technology
XD bit
Execute/Disable bit on Intel systems
NX bit
No Execute bit on AMD systems
EPT
Extended Page Tables: an Intel second-generation x86 virtualization technology for the memory management unit (MMU)
MMU
Memory Management Unit
memory weight
dynamic memory setting to prioritize the memory availability for a VM compared to other VMs on the host
.vmcx
VM configuration settings
.vmrs
VM runtime data
SET
Switch Embedded Teaming: a new NIC teaming option for Hyper-V networks featuring integrated functionality that offers faster performance and better fault tolerance than traditional teaming.
VMQ
Virtual Machine Queue: a type of hardware packet filtering that delivers packets from an outside virtual machine network directly to a virtualized host operating system, by allowing a NIC to transfer incoming frames directly to the NIC’s receive buffer, using Direct Memory Access (DMA)
CNA
Converged Network Adapter: a single network interface card (NIC) that contains both a Fibre Channel (FC) host bus adapter (HBA) and a TCP/IP Ethernet NIC. It connects servers to FC-based storage area networks (SANs) and Ethernet-based local area networks (LANs).
RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Disks
JBOD
Just a Bunch of Disks
SAS
Serial Attached SCSI
stretch cluster
a cluster that divides between two or more sites, without shared storage connecting the sites. Use Storage Replica to replicate the data between the two sites, either synchronously or asynchronously.
VSS
Volume Shadow copy Service
fault domain
A fault domain is a set of hardware components that share a single point of failure. To be fault tolerant to a certain level, you need multiple fault domains at that level. For example, to be rack fault tolerant, your servers and your data must be distributed across multiple racks
AES
Advanced Encryption Standard
S2D
Storage Spaces Direct: uses industry-standard servers with local-attached drives (SAS, SATA, or NVMe) to create highly available, highly scalable software-defined storage at a fraction of the cost of traditional SAN or NAS arrays.
Each S2D cluster can be up to 16 nodes and 400 drives.
Rec:
- at least 6 drives (2 SSD, 4 HDD)
- no RAID or other disk intelligence
- no partitioning
- at least two 10-Gbps adapters per node
Architecture components:
- Network (SMB3)
- Scale-Out File Server (SoFS)
- Cluster Shared Volumes / ReFS
- Storage Space (Virtual Drives)
- Storage Pod
- Software Storage Bus
- Software-Defined Storage System
NVMe (drives)
Non-Volatile Memory Express is a host controller interface and storage protocol created to accelerate the transfer of data between enterprise and client systems and SSDs over a computer’s high-speed PCIe bus
Erasure coding (EC)
Erasure coding is a method of data protection in which data is broken into fragments, expanded and encoded with redundant data pieces and stored across a set of different locations or storage media.
RAM levels
- 512
- 1024
- 2048
- 4096
- 8192
- 16384
- 32768
OSE
Operating system environment
Windows Server 2016 MultiPoint Premium Server
for academics, allows multiple users to access a single installation
Windows Storage Server 2016 Server
for OEMs, bundled as part of dedicated storage hardware solutions
Windows Hyper-V Server 2016
zero cost, hypervisor-only download, no GUI, simply hosts VMs
