Windows Server 2016 Archives - Page 2 of 3

September 28, 2016

Gotcha for Installing SQL Server 2016 and SSMS on Windows Server 2012 R2

If you’ve tried to install SQL Server 2016 on Windows Server 2012 R2, you may have run into an issue – KB2919355 may not be installed. Without this particular Windows update which is applicable to both Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2, that means if you are trying to install SQL Server 2016 on a desktop running 8.1, you’d encounter this, too. The error in SQL Server Setup can be seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1. SQL Server 2016 cannot install with KB2919355 missing

The new standalone SQL Server Management Studio installation has the same issue – it cannot be installed without KB2919355 installed as seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2. SSMS also needs KB2919355

In my case, I created a new VM with a fresh installation of Windows Server 2012 R2. I also ran Windows Update to ensure it had everything Windows Server thought it required. Figure 3 reflects this status.

Figure 3. Windows is up to date

As you can see in Figure 4, KB2919355 is not listed as one of the ones WU installed, so it has to be an optional update.

Figure 4. Installed updates

Looking at the list of optional updates in Windows Update in Figure 5, 2919355 is not shown. This means you need to download and install it manually.

Figure 5. Optional updates available through WU

I went to the KB article page for 2919355 (link is below) and clicked on the link for the Windows Server 2012 R2 files and downloaded all of them. I did not look at the installation instructions (note: don’t ever do this … updates are fussy and why I am writing this blog post) and plowed head installing the executable associated with KB2919355. Cue the sad trombone sound as seen in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Cannot install KB2919355

Going back and looking at the instructions, buried in the last step is what I lovingly call an “oh by the way” – you have to install KB2919442 (also not shown as an optional update in WU) first. Once you do that, things are smooth sailing.

So to install SQL Server 2016 on Windows Server 2012 R2, here is the installation order for these fixes:

Download and install the update in KB2919442. This does not require a reboot.
Download and install the update in KB2919355. Note that this has 7 files that you can download. To get SQL Server and SSMS installed, you really only need to install Windows8.1-KB2919355.exe. The others you may not need, and you only need clearcompressionflag.exe before running the 2913955 install if you have an issue.
Reboot the server, as KB2919355 will require one once it is done installing. That means if you are going to do an in place upgrade or install an instance side by side, it will cause an outage to any existing SQL Server installation.
Install SQL Server 2016 and/or SSMS.

If you are still having issues, you’ve got other problems going on that you will need to investigate. Hope this saves some of you some time.

Note that if you are using Windows Server 2016, you will not encounter this issue. Everything just works. If you want to take advantage of Windows Server 2016 with SQL Server 2016, contact us – we can help get you up and running with features such as Storage Spaces Direct which I blogged about a few days ago and SQL Server just officially announced support for at Ignite.

September 23, 2016

New SQL Server Benchmark – New Windows Server Feature

It hasn’t been widely publicized yet in SQL Server circles, but Intel just published a brand new benchmark with physical SQL Server 2016 instances and Windows Server 2016. There are a lot of good numbers in there, but the one that should raise an eyebrow (in a good way) is 28,223 transactions per second.

How did they do this? They used new feature of Windows Server 2016 Datacenter Edition called Storage Spaces Direct (S2D). S2D is a new way to deploy a WSFC using “shared storage”, and it can be used either with Hyper-V VMs or SQL Server FCIs directly running on physical hardware. While in some ways it can be compared to VMware’s VSAN or something like Nutanix, the reality is that S2D is a different beast and can be accessed by more than just virtual machines (hence bare metal SQL Server 2016). I’ve demoed S2D in the past with older builds of the Windows Server 2016 Technical Previews, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the RTM bits soon.

S2D allows you to configure very fast local storage such as NVMe-based flash/SSD in each of the WSFC nodes and have those nodes then utilize it (no really … local storage for things like FCIs, and not just TempDB). Note in the picture underneath the specs the hardware is using RDMA NICs. In the immortal words of Jeffrey Snover “don’t waste your money buying servers that don’t have RDMA NICs”. This is true in the Windows Server world on physical hardware. VMware does not support RDMA or Infiniband as of now, but they recently added support for 25 or 50 Gb networks in ESXi 6.0 Update 2. It’d be great if VMware supported RDMA since it would really help with vMotion traffic. Time will tell!

UPDATE: It does look like VMware is edging towards RDMA see here and here for public evidence.

So what is RDMA? RDMA stands for Remote Direct Memory Access, which is a very (VERY) fast way to do networking. You can bingoogle to find more information, such as there are different flavors (RoCE and iWARP), and some say Infiniband and RDMA are one in the same. RDMA connectivity can revolutionize your storage connectivity and is great for things like Live Migration (and in the future, hopefully vMotion) networks. Its massive bandwidth enables things like converged/hyperconverged solutions because there is an insane amount of bandwidth and speed. Hyperconverged is the latest marketing buzzword bingo that every company uses a bit differently, so you’ll want to understand how each one is using it. Here’s the bottom line, though: fast networking is going to be the key to most things going forward including storage access. If you’re still on 1Gb or even just doing 10Gb, you should really consider looking at faster things.

I’ve been talking about RDMA and Scale Out File Server (SOFS) with SQL Server for years. SOFS, when implemented right, uses RDMA. SQL Server natively supports RDMA and SOFS – there’s nothing that needs to be done other than using SMB 3.0 (well, SMB Multichannel and SMB Direct) to store your databases and use something like SOFS to serve it up. In fact, a few years back, I designed and helped to implement a hybrid Hyper-V/physical FCI solution for a customer using RDMA and SOFS. I remember the meeting where I proposed the RDMA aspect of the architecture – people looked at me like I had two heads because it is a left field concept in the SQL Server world. Six months later when we got into a lab, none of us had seen such speed and most of the concerns and doubts faded away. Having seen and played with S2D for over a year now, I’ve seen the potential for how it can be used with SQL Server, and Intel’s new benchmark confirms it. If you care about pure performance with SQL Server, this is going to be an awesome architecture (SQL Server + S2D).

Ignite is just around the corner with the official Windows Server 2016 launch. S2D is here. If you want to take advantage of the speed and power of Windows Server (including 2016), RDMA, S2D, SOFS, Hyper-V, or vSphere (especially when RDMA is released) for SQL Server, contact us. It’s a brave new world, and SQLHA can guide you through it.

December 3, 2015

Windows Server 2016 – Licensing and General Availability

Today, Microsoft published the FAQ (dated December 2015) for Windows Server 2016’s licensing. It is still early days and I have seen no official prices yet, but this document gives you an idea of what is coming. However, as this is still early and it has not RTMed yet, all of this is clearly subject to change so this blog post is based on what is known today. There are some important changes you should be aware of, and this is where my excitement for some of what is in the platform meets the reality of our customers at SQLHA.

Windows Server 2016 Will Have Different Features Per SKU

For the first time since Windows Server 2008 R2, there will be a difference in the feature sets. In Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, both Standard and Datacenter had the same stuff; the real difference was virtualization licensing. With Windows Server 2016, there will be a few differences, notably Storage Spaces Direct (S2D – a really cool feature I’ve demoed a few times with SQL Server) and as they put it, “an Azure-inspired networking stack.” This isn’t all doom and gloom; the basics are still in Standard, it just looks like the high end stuff, much like In-Memory (i.e. Hekaton) in SQL Server, is in Datacenter. While to me it is a bit disappointing they are diverging a little, I’m glad they are not seemingly hobbling Standard. The reality is that the use case for things like S2D will not be for everyone, so in a way, it makes sense to push it to Datacenter for now. Those higher end features generally require more expertise and cost to get running, so many smaller shops with limited time, budget, and resources would be hard pressed to take advantage of them out of the gate if I’m being honest.

Say Hello to Core-based Licensing for Windows Server

This is the one that may annoy most folks. Like SQL Server, Windows Server 2016 licensing will be core-based, including the Core Infrastructure Suite SKU. Historically, Windows pricing has been MUCH lower than SQL Server, and no prices have been announced. So before anyone has a conniption, let’s see what the core pricing will be based on the chart shown on page 2, there are cases where the cost may be the same as it is today.

Having said that, there are a few things that you should start thinking about.

Some what is behind this change has to do with hybrid scenarios. The (Public) Cloud is a big part of licensing, so Microsoft had to address it in the in-box scenario at some point. For example, in October of this year, Microsoft allowed those with Software Assurance to start using their own Windows images in Azure and paying the standard compute rates, so this move aligns with that. Whether you agree or like that is a different story, but it makes sense. For more information on Windows Server license mobility with SA for Azure, see the official blog post here, and it will go into effect on Q1 of 2016 (calendar, not fiscal, year).
Core-based licensing is based on physical cores. So if I’m interpreting that correctly, you do not pay extra if hyperthreading is enabled.
The core-based licensing is slated to start coming into effect in Q3 of 2016, and this is the first document that points to the general availability of Windows Server which looks to be in the July – September timeframe. That should surprise no one, given Ignite is at the end of September of 2016.
Core licenses will be sold in two-packs. Every physical processor will need a minimum of eight core licenses, or four packs. The math here is simple: even if you have a six-core box, you’re going to have to pay for eight. What does this mean? Stop buying processors with less than eight cores as you will be wasting money.
Standard Edition allows for two VMs with licensing ; Datacenter, as it has in the past, allows for unlimited VMs assuming all processor cores are licensed.
You still need CALs for users and devices accessing servers.
Nested virtualization (I’ll be posting a blog on this in a few days) is covered with Datacenter.

Musings and a Call to Action

I’m not surprised by this move. Like SQL Server did with SQL Server 2012, they are aligning to how things are really purchased and deployed both on premises and in the cloud. As with SQL Server 2012, we had a great ride for a long time with processor-based licensing. Again, it’s important to keep in mind that historically Windows Server has not been SQL Server, so the costs will most likely be reasonable. But this will change the way we use and configure servers both on premises for physical and virtualization (regardless of whether or not it is part of a private cloud) and up in the public cloud if you’re bringing your own licenses.

Like I said, this is not doom and gloom. Rome is not burning yet and it may not for many customers depending on how things shake out. When we help our customers design, plan, and implement their architectures, a big part of it is maximizing their investments – and licensing is a huge component. So if you’re looking for help with a new project (on premises – physical or virtual, hybrid, or public cloud) where this may come into play at some point, or you’re looking to assess how this may impact your current deployments and want to minimize the impact of this announcement, contact us today. It’s always better to be proactive than reactive.

I’m curious as to your thoughts about this big change in Windows Server 2016. Will this drive you away from deploying Windows-based solutions, and as part of that, SQL Server? Is this a net-net of no change for you? Will it limit how much you deploy? Weigh in below.

August 20, 2015

The Setup Experience in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3

Yesterday I blogged about one of the most important features in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 and how it affects SQL Server – domainless WSFCs. I am genuinely stoked for that feature because it will open up some scenarios we have never been able to do with clusters. There are other cluster-related enhancements I will be writing about, but today is not that day.

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post entitled Need a User Interface for Windows Server Technical Preview 2? It’s Not On By Default. The title is self explanatory. With TP2, you had two installation options: Server Core and Min Shell. Since then, Microsoft listened to many of us and put a GUI option into Setup for TP3. Unfortunately, it was a course correction too much to the left. When you are installing Windows Server 2016 TP3, you get two options as shown in Figure 1: Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3, which is Server Core, and an option that is Server with Desktop Experience.

Figure 1. Windows Server 2016 TP3 Installation Options

Hold the phone – Desktop Experience? Is my Server now a client OS? No!

Prior to Windows Server 2016, when you got a GUI for Windows Server, it was not Desktop Experience. Desktop Experience brings with it things like the cool Tron-like Windows background. Along for the ride are other things – like Media Foundation and Ink and Handwriting. Lord knows I need to use my N-trig pen on a server (NOT)!

Of course, you can simply run Remove-WindowsFeature Desktop-Experience and get rid of it, but why should we have to do extra work? A server OS – or any OS for that matter – should just work the way it should out of the box. The problem is, removing Desktop Experience does not remove things like Ink and Handwriting in TP3. In fact, you can’t remove them at all via the GUI as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Cannot remove UI features via Server Manager

PowerShell to the Rescue! If you run the following command:

Remove-WindowsFeature Server-Media-Foundation,InkAndHandwritingServices

it turns out you can remove them. So if you want to get rid of everything at once, just add Desktop-Experience and another comma. Reboot and you’re all set. Figure 3 reflects the feature removal in the GUI post-reboot.

Figure 3. UI after using PowerShell to remove features

You can also switch to MinShell or Server Core if you’d like via PowerShell as well.

I really do like a lot of what Windows Server 2016 is bringing to the table, but as I have always stated, Setup is your first introduction to any product. Make it a miserable experience, and people will not be starting off on a good foot. While I’m excited to use Windows Server 2016 and get my customers on it because of some of the benefits, this is putting a damper on the overall experience. But, it has to be said, at least Microsoft is listening. They put a GUI option back in … just the wrong one. Ideally Microsoft should give us three installation options for Windows Server:

Server Core
MinShell
Full UI (but not Desktop Experience, Ink and Handwriting Services, and Media Foundation)

That way admins can pick the OOB experience they want without any additional work.

At least Microsoft is listening to us and they made a well intentioned, but IMO misguided, change to the TP3 Setup experience. We will see what the next release brings …

August 19, 2015

SQL Server Availability Group Configurations With NO Domain Requirement

You may have noticed that Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 was released today. For the full announcement from Microsoft on the Server & Cloud blog, click here. There is one important line that all SQL Server folks should pay attention to:

Increase flexibility by removing domain-specific constraints for SQL Server clusters

Yes, kids. That means you can create a Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) with NO – I repeat NO – domain required. This will not work for clustered instances (FCIs) since they still require domain-based service accounts, but it will work and be supported with SQL Server 2016 for AlwaysOn Availability Groups (AGs). I would not expect Microsoft to go back and certify this configuration with SQL Server 2014 (or 2012 for that matter), but you never know. If you try and want to use 2012 or 2014 in this configuration, as of the posting of this blog post, it would be considered unsupported – don’t do that as it is the antithesis of mission critical.

This is huge and for many, will simplify AG configurations. No more CNOs and VCOs (although this was possible in Windows Server 2012 R2, you still needed the nodes to be domain joined). I have been testing this configuration with SQL Server 2016 CTP 2.2 and the builds of Windows Server 2016, but due to NDA, have not been able to talk about it until today because it had not been publicly announced. For everyone who has been complaining how DBM was better, you got your wish – this allows you to have an AG configuration which is the same as the one that you had using database mirroring (DBM) with certificates.

The demo configuration I will show below is multi-subnet to simulate two different data centers. Node One (SYLVESTER) is in subnet one and Node Two (TWEETY) is in subnet two. These are not joined to any domain as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1. Sylvester not joined to a domain

Figure 2. Tweety is also not domain joined

So far, so good. My WSFC’s name is PUDDYTAT. The entire configuration can be seen in Figure 3.

Figure 3. WSFC info

I have an AG named AG1 with a Listener named GRANNY. Its info is in Figure 4.

Figure 4. AG info in the WSFC

While you can see that the AG is up and running in Figure 4, Figure 5 shows it working in SSMS. Viola!

Figure 5. AG working with no domain

If you don’t believe me yet, to further drive the point home, I left the accounts running the SQL Server instances as local accounts (NT Service\MSSQLSERVER and NT Service\SQLSERVERAGENT). This can be seen in Figure 6. Figure 6 also shows the properties of SQL Server where the ability to use AGs is enabled. This is very real and works as advertised. I’m excited about this.

Figure 6. Local service accounts but still joined to a WSFC

As always, there are some caveats to this configuration that you should be aware of:

At least in TP3, you cannot create or administer the WSFC via Failover Cluster Manager. Everything must be done in PowerShell. This may not change between now and RTM of Windows Server 2016, so if you are uncomfortable administering clusters via PowerShell, this is not a configuration you should be using. If you try to use Failover Cluster Manager, you will see the message in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Cannot use FCM in a non-domain scenario

This will make using the AG Wizard to do your backups a bit trickier since shared directories usually use domain-based accounts. You may have to manually deal with them if you are not using domains or do not have trusted domains.
There are some flags that get tripped during Cluster Validation (namely, no domain) that should be fixed by RTM. This is a known issue in TP3.
With no domain requirement, this also means no Kerberos however, if each node is in a different domain (i.e. one in Site, another domain in Site B) but crosses boundaries, you should be able to have Kerberos. I have not tested this configuration yet (it is on my list). This should even enable cross-domain migrations – again a scenario I have yet to test. There are more, but hey, first blog post and all of that.
You will need to add the DNS suffix manually otherwise the WSFC will not come online
Networking is clearly crucial here, and things like DNS replication will be important.
File Share Witness is not supported, so you will need to use asymmetric disk (which defeats the purpose of AGs with no shared storage) or Cloud Witness.

The good news is now that this is public, this bit will most likely make it into the book. I wanted to do a quick blog on it, and if I get time, I will show how I created this in a blog post soon. Also, with this now public, I may make this one of the labs for my PASS Summit 2015 preconference session Advanced SQL Server Availability Architectures and Deployments. Sign up now!

UPDATE: I just saw that Subhasish of the Cluster team on Windows just blogged a bit more about the Windows side of this.

Also, due to the fact that the AG configuration is standalone with no storage and there was an error during validation (TP3 known issue I mention above) due to the fact these are not domain joined, I used the -Force and -NoStorage options of New-Cluster.

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