Dario IT Solutions Blog

Microsoft has published some very nice eBooks free of charge! enjoy!

 

Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2

http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/C/0/5C0BD0AB-040D-4C56-A60B-661001012DDA/Windows_Server_2008_R2_e-book.pdf

Learn about the new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 in the areas of virtualization, management, the Web application platform, scalability and reliability, and interoperability with Windows 7. Download Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2, written by industry experts Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker along with the Windows Server team at Microsoft.

Microsoft Press / Oct. 2009 / Version 1.0 / 200 pages / 11.1 Mo / PDF

 

 

Deploying Windows 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=ee2a1d38-88a9-43b3-95bc-7e962f0b6030

Microsoft’s eBook Deploying Windows 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine combine selected chapters written by industry experts Mitch Tulloch, Tony Northrup, Jerry Honeycutt, Ed Wilson, and the Windows 7 Team with select Windows 7 articles from TechNet Magazine. Sample topics include: Deployment Platform, Planning Deployment, Testing Application Compatability, and 8 Common Issues in Windows 7 Migrations.

Microsoft Press – Microsoft TechNet / Oct. 2009 / Version 1.0 / 332 pages / 6.5 Mo / PDF

 

 

Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions

http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urmvs17u33

This guide will teach you about the benefits of the latest virtualization technologies and how to plan, implement, and manage virtual infrastructure solutions. The technologies covered include: Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization, and Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.

Microsoft Press / Oct. 2008 / 452 pages / 14.4 Mo / PDF

NB : This download requires a Windows Live account

 

 

7 Development Projects for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services Version 3.0

http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/2/f/02f0f661-88e1-43c2-b523-88d2e9e6802f/7%20Development%20Projects%20with%20the%202007%20Microsoft%20Office%20System%20and%20Windows%20SharePoint%20Services%202007.pdf

Get a hands-on introduction with seven practical projects. This guide highlights architectural underpinnings, the latest enhancements for developers, and code samples to get you started with building custom applications and solutions with Windows SharePoint Services products and technologies. (Note For developers)

Microsoft Press – Microsoft TechNet / May 2006 / 236 pages / 7.76 Mo / PDF

Microsoft announced the release of the System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Connectors!  This is an important milestone as it provides a foundation for interoperability with other products, both external and internal.  The Connectors are available for download at the following location:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=592e4143-c5c8-4270-9a7a-cd0a31ab3189

The Operations Manager 2007 R2 Connectors provide Operations Manager 2007 R2 alert forwarding to remote systems, such as an Enterprise Management System (EMS) or a help desk system. After Operations Manager 2007 R2 forwards an alert to a remote system, the alert data is synchronized throughout the lifetime of the alert.  The result of that data synchronization is a robust and seamless systems management environment. Such an environment enables cross-organization support processes to take advantage of the resources and strengths of formerly independent support groups. The ultimate effect is improved enterprise systems health through improved organizational communication.

Sharing data between Operations Manager 2007 R2 and remote systems enables enterprise correlation of events from Windows-based systems, hardware, network, and UNIX systems. Correlating these events allows IT staff to determine the causes of issues and reduce the time to resolution of IT outages.

Synchronization of data between Operations Manager 2007 R2 and remote systems also enables operational groups to use familiar management interfaces. Users update an alert by using their management tool, and the data is updated in tools that are used by other operational groups.

The following connectors are available in this initial RTM:

1. Operations Manager 2007 R2 Connector for IBM Tivoli Enterprise Management Console
2. Operations Manager 2007 R2 Connector for HP Operations Manager (formerly HP OpenView Operations)
3. Operations Manager 2007 R2 Connector for BMC Remedy Action Request System (ARS)
4. Operations Manager 2007 R2 Universal Connector

For more information regarding the Connectors, you can review the following resources:

Download Details:

- http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=592e4143-c5c8-4270-9a7a-cd0a31ab3189

TechNet Documentation:

- http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd795265.aspx

TechNet Forums:

- General:  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/interopgeneral/threads

- Connector for IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console:  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/interoptivoli/threads

- Connector for HP Operations Manager:  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/interophpoperationsmanager/threads

- Connector for BMC Remedy ARS:  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/interopremedy/threads/

- Universal Connector:  http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/interopuniversalconnector/threads

 

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (VMM) is a comprehensive management solution for the virtualized data center, enabling increased physical server utilization, centralized management of virtual machine infrastructure, and rapid provisioning of new virtual machines by the administrator, delegated administrator, and authorized end users. VMM 2008 can manage hosts that are running Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, and VMware ESX through VirtualCenter Server.

Recently, Windows Server 2008 released an R2 version that included significant feature improvements to Hyper-V. VMM 2008 R2 leverages these new platform enhancements and extends the feature set of VMM 2008. This topic provides an overview of the new features that are included in VMM 2008 R2.

 

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Host Management

With VMM 2008 R2, you can create and manage virtual machines running on Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V hosts. When you add a host that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 and that does not have Hyper-V enabled, VMM 2008 R2 automatically enables the Hyper-V role on the host.

VMM 2008 R2 supports the following new features of Windows Server 2008 R2:

• Live migration between Windows Server 2008 R2 clustered hosts. With live migration, you can migrate a virtual machine from one node of a Windows Server 2008 R2 failover cluster to another node in the same cluster without any downtime. Because the virtual machine does not experience any downtime, the move is completely transparent to the users that are connected to the virtual machine.

• Network optimization detection during virtual machine placement. VMM 2008 R2 supports both Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ) and TCP Chimney, which are Windows Server 2008 R2 features that improve network performance for virtual machines.

• Network adapters that support the VMQ feature are able to create a unique network queue for each virtual network adapter and then connect that queue directly to the virtual machine’s memory. This connection routes packets directly from the hypervisor to the virtual machine, bypassing much of the processing in the virtualization stack.

• Network adapters that support the TCP Chimney feature are able to offload the processing of network traffic from the networking stack. Both of these features increase network performance and reduce CPU utilization.

• Hot addition and removal of virtual hard disks (VHDs). In Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V allows users to add and remove VHDs from a virtual machine while it is running.

Enhanced Support for Shared Storage and SAN Transfers

VMM 2008 R2 provides the following enhancements:

Clustered Shared Volume (CSV) Support

VMM 2008 R2 supports the Windows Server 2008 R2 clustered shared volume (CSV) feature. CSV enables all hosts on a Windows Server 2008 R2 failover cluster to concurrently access virtual machine files on a single shared logical unit number (LUN). Because all nodes on the cluster can access a single shared LUN, virtual machines have complete transparency with respect to which nodes actually own a LUN. This enables live migration of virtual machines within the cluster because all nodes in the cluster can access any LUN.

Support for Sanbolic Clustered File System

VMM 2008 R2 supports the Sanbolic Clustered File System (CFS), a third-party shared volume solution for quick migration on hosts running Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V, and live migration on hosts running Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V.

Support for Veritas Storage Foundation for Windows

VMM 2008 R2 supports Veritas Storage Foundation 5.1 for Windows (SFW), an online storage management solution for creating virtual storage devices from physical disks and arrays. Volumes created as part of a cluster resource group by using SFW are detected by VMM 2008 R2 and can be selected during virtual machine placement or migration. An SFW volume is limited to one virtual machine.

SAN Migration into and out of Clustered Hosts

VMM 2008 R2 supports the use of SAN transfers to migrate virtual machines and highly available virtual machines into and out of a cluster. When you migrate a virtual machine into a cluster by using a SAN transfer, VMM checks all nodes in the cluster to ensure that each node can see the LUN and automatically creates a cluster disk resource for the LUN. Even though VMM automatically configures the cluster disk resource, it does not validate it. You must use the Validate a Configuration Wizard in Failover Cluster Management to validate the newly created cluster disk resource. To migrate a virtual machine out of a cluster, the virtual machine must be on a dedicated LUN that is not using CSV.

Expanded Support for iSCSI SANs

VMM 2008 supports SAN transfers of virtual machines that use initiator-based iSCSI target connections, which requires one iSCSI target for every LUN. VMM 2008 R2 adds support for LUN masking, which allows multiple LUNs per iSCSI target and expands VMM support for iSCSI SAN vendors.

 

Quick Storage Migration

For a Windows Server 2008 R2 host or a Storage VMotion-capable host, you can migrate a running virtual machine’s files to a different storage location on the same host with minimal or no service outage. If you use a wizard to migrate a virtual machine to a host that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 and you use a network transfer, VMM 2008 R2 now gives you the option to specify separate storage locations for each virtual hard disk (.vhd) file for the virtual machine. 

 

Maintenance Mode for Hosts

In VMM 2008 R2, you can start maintenance mode for a Windows-based host anytime you need to perform maintenance tasks on the host, such as applying updates or replacing a physical component.

When you start maintenance mode on a host in a Windows Server 2008 R2 cluster with highly available virtual machines, you can do one of the following:

• If the option is available, use live migration to evacuate all virtual machines to other hosts on the same cluster. If the migration fails for any virtual machine on the host, maintenance mode is not started on that host and VMM does not migrate back the virtual machines that have already migrated.

• Place all virtual machines on the host into a saved state.

When you start maintenance mode on a stand-alone Windows-based host, on a host in a Windows Server 2008 cluster, or on a Windows Server 2008 R2 host that has any non-highly available virtual machines, VMM automatically places all virtual machines into a saved state.

Important

When VMM places virtual machines into a saved state, any users of the virtual machines will experience a loss of service.

When you start maintenance mode on any host, VMM automatically does the following:

• Blocks virtual machine creation operations on the host.

• Excludes the host from the host ratings during placement.

• Displays a host status of In Maintenance Mode in Host view of the VMM Administrator Console.

When you stop maintenance mode on a host, VMM allows virtual machine creation operations on the host, includes the host in the host ratings during placement, and displays a host status of OK in Host view of the VMM Administrator Console. However, VMM does not automatically do a live migration to move highly available virtual machines back onto the host in a Windows Server 2008 R2 cluster, and it does not restart any of the virtual machines on the host.

To start or stop maintenance mode, in Host view of the VMM Administrator Console, right-click a host, and then click the appropriate command.

 

Support for VMware Port Groups for Virtual Switches

VMM uses the network location and tag specified for the virtual network adapter in the hardware configuration to determine the network availability of a virtual machine on a host. In VMM 2008 R2, if you are deploying the virtual machine to a VMware ESX Server host, you can select from the VMware port groups that are available for virtual switches.

 

Support for Virtual Machine Permissions Assigned in Hyper-V

In VMM 2008 R2, VMM preserves changes made to role definitions or role memberships in the root scope of the Hyper-V authorization store. All changes to any other scope are overwritten every half hour by the VMM user role refresher. This differs from user role processing in VMM 2008. In VMM 2008, VMM determines access to virtual machines, hosts, and resources based solely on the rights and permissions associated with VMM user roles. VMM 2008 does not make any changes to Hyper-V role definitions and role memberships; it simply ignores the Hyper-V authorization store while the hosts and virtual machines are under its management. 

For more information about user roles and scopes, see Role-Based Security in VMM (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=119337).

Check out this nice list I found wondering on TechNet.

Mandatory reference in all Hyper-V implementation.

Knowledge Base Article	Name	Date	Required?	Availability	Link
KB950050	”Hyper-V Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (This is the RTM version of Hyper-V.)	6/26/2008	Yes.	Windows Update, Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139066
KB950182	“A computer that is running an x86-based version of Windows Server 2008 or an x86-based version of Windows Vista may use fewer processors than expected if the number of cores on a socket is not a power of 2”	04/11/2008	Yes, if you want to start an x86-based virtual machine running Windows Server 2008 on a computer that uses a 6-core processor.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139067
KB951308	“Increased functionality and virtual machine control in the Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster Management console for the Hyper-V role”	09/11/2008	Yes, for Failover Clustering.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=125397
KB951636	“Hyper-V Language Pack Update for Windows Server 2008”	6/26/2008	Yes, if you are using the additional languages offered.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139069
KB952627	“Description of the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Management Tools update for the release version of Hyper-V” (Install this to enable remote management of a computer running Windows Server 2008 with the Hyper-V role installed.)	6/26/2008	Yes, to enable remote management using the Hyper-V Manager Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=122189
KB953585	“Error message when you try to start a Hyper-V virtual machine on a Windows Server 2008-based or Windows Vista-based computer that uses the NUMA architecture: "An error occurred while attempting to change the state of virtual machine VMNAME"”	09/04/2008	Yes, if you are using a computer running Windows Server 2008 with Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) architecture.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139068
KB953828	“The NLB host does not converge as expected on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtual machines”	6/25/2008	Yes, if you are using Network Load Balancing (NLB).	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139070
KB956386	“Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008”	10/03/2008	No.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139610
KB956589	“Hyper-V Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (Install this to resolve potential issues when you manage Hyper-V with System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008.)	9/23/2008	Yes, if you are using System Center VMM 2008 to manage your environment.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139611
KB956697	“Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (Install this to resolve an issue in which the Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) does not back up virtual machines properly.)	09/08/2008	Yes, if the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is utilized for backups.	Windows Update, Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139612
KB956710	“Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (Install this to enable the Hyper-V role to support up to 24 logical processors and 192 virtual machines.)	9/23/08	Yes, if the management operating system has more than 16 logical processors.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139613
KB956774	“Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (Install this to resolve the scenario where a Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) client cannot handle files that have paths that contain the volume GUID in Windows Server 2008.)	9/23/08	Yes, if GUIDs are used instead of a drive letter or mount point.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139614
KB957967	“Stop error message on a Windows Server 2008-based computer that has the Hyper-V role installed: "STOP 0x0000001A"”	10/08/2008	Yes.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139615
KB958065	“You cannot configure a Hyper-V virtual machine by using Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering when the virtual machine uses a storage device that is managed by a third-party clustered file system or a third-party replication solution”	11/03/2008	Yes, if you are using a non-Microsoft clustered file system or non-Microsoft replication solutions.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139616
KB958184	“Virtual machine backup operations fail in Windows Server 2008 when Hyper-V virtual machine files are saved on a volume that is mounted on a failover cluster by using a volume GUID”	11/05/2008	Yes, when backing up a volume that is mounted using a volume GUID.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=133348
KB960578	“The IRET and IRETD instructions do not support the Nested Task (NT) flag in protected mode in a Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V environment”	12/17/2008	Yes, if you have a program that uses the IRET (interrupt return) or IRETD (interrupt return double) instruction.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=145170
KB959962	“An update is available for Windows Server 2008-based computers to address issues with backing up and restoring Hyper-V virtual machines”	1/16/2009	Yes, when backing up virtual machines.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=145171

Operations Manager 2007 R2 introduces key new and enhanced functionality, including:

Enhanced application performance and availability across heterogeneous platforms

• Delivers monitoring across Windows, Linux and Unix servers-all through a single console
• Extends end to end monitoring of distributed applications to any workload running on Windows, Unix and Linux platforms
• Maximize availability of virtual workloads with integration with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008

Improved management of applications in the data center

• Delivers on the scale requirements of URL monitoring of your business
• Meet agreed service levels with enhanced reporting showing application performance and availability
• More efficient problem identification and action to resolve issues

 

Microsoft announced the availability of the Operations Manger 2007 R2 Release Candidate (RC)  on Connect (http://connect.microsoft.com).

There are a number of enhancements over the beta released in November, including:

• New Power Management MP template (the monitored system must be either Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7)
• Updated branding across all user interfaces, including a new skin
• Improved trace configuration tools to help support issues escalated to Customer Support (if applicable)
• Improved Run As Account Distribution Configuration
• Ability to run inline tasks for non-Microsoft servers
• Support for upgrade from Beta deployments to the Release Candidate
• New and updated documentation, including the Usage Guide, Design Guide, Deployment Guide, Upgrade Guide, Security Guide, and Operations Guide
  The RC should be upgradeable to the RTM version once it is available, but since this is a test version, do not run it in a production environment unless you have made special arrangements with Microsoft.

You can now download VMM 2008 R2 Beta from https://connect.microsoft.com.

I’ve already tested it with Live Migration and it work great! (we had a demonstration for it at a Municipality Convention in Jerusalem recently) so take the time to play with it a little.

What’s New in VMM 2008 R2 Beta

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (VMM) is a comprehensive management solution for managing virtualized infrastructure running on Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2 and VMware ESX through Virtual Center.  Recently, Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta was released which included significant feature improvements to Hyper-V-the underlying hypervisor platform.  A corresponding beta version of VMM R2 – the next version of VMM – is due for release shortly.  VMM R2 Beta  leverages the new platform enhancements and extends the feature set of VMM 2008. This overview highlights the most important new and significantly enhanced features in the VMM 2008 R2 Beta:

Support for new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta

• Live Migration: – Seen through the VMM console, this enables administrators to move virtual machines from one machine in a virtual host cluster to another with no downtime. This allows administrators greater flexibility in responding to planned or unplanned downtime, provides higher machine availability and more robust fault tolerance within virtualized infrastructure. The basic requirements for Live Migration are that all hosts must be part of a cluster and host processors must be from the same manufacturer. Additionally all hosts in the cluster must have access to shared storage. No changes are required to existing virtual machines, network, or storage devices in moving from Quick Migration to Live Migration other than upgrading to beta versions of Windows Server 2008 R2 and VMM 2008 R2.
• Hot addition/removal of VHDs: Allows the addition and removal of new virtual hard disks (VHDs) on a running virtual machine. This enables storage growth in virtual machines without downtime. Additionally, ‘live" VHD management allows administrators to take advantage of additional backup scenarios and readily use mission critical and storage-intense applications (eg: SQL Server and Exchange).
• New optimized networking technologies: VMM 2008 R2 Beta supports two new networking technologies – Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ) and TCP Chimney – providing increased network performance while demanding less CPU burden. NICS that support VMQ, create a unique virtual network queue for each virtual machine on a host that can pass network packets directly from the hypervisor to virtual machine. This speeds throughput as it bypasses much of the processing normally required by the virtualization stack. With TCP Chimney, TCP/IP traffic can be offloaded to a physical NIC on the host computer reducing CPU load and improving network performance.

Enhanced storage and cluster support

• Clustered Shared Volumes (CSV): Provides a single, consistent storage space that allows virtual hosts in a cluster to concurrently access virtual machine files on a single shared logical unit number (LUN). CSV eliminates the previous one LUN per virtual machine restriction and coordinates the use of storage with much greater efficiency and higher performance. CSV enables the Live Migration of virtual machines in and out of the shared LUN without impacting other virtual machines. Enabling CSV on failover clusters is straightforward and easy to monitor through the VMM administrator’s console; many storage configuration complexities prior to CSV have been eliminated.
• SAN migration into and out of clustered hosts: This allows virtual machines to migrate into and out of clustered hosts using a SAN transfer, which automatically configures the cluster nodes to recognize and support the new workload.
• Expanded Support for iSCSI SANs: Previously, only one LUN could be bound to a single iSCSI target whereas now — with VMM 2008 R2 Beta — multiple LUNS can be mapped to a single iSCSI target. This provides broader industry support for iSCSI SANs allowing customers more flexibility in choosing storage providers and iSCSI SAN options.

Streamlined process for managing host upgrades:

• Maintenance Mode: Allows administrators to apply updates or perform maintenance on a host server by safely evacuating all virtual machines to other hosts on a cluster using Live Migration or putting those workloads into a saved state to be safely reactivated when maintenance or upgrades are complete. Maintenance mode is enabled for all supported hypervisor platforms on Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta.

Other VMM 2008 R2 Beta enhancements

• Support of disjoint domains: Reduces the complexity of reconciling host servers with differing domain names in Active Directory and DNS. In these situations, VMM 2008 R2 Beta automatically creates a custom service principal name (SPN) configured in both AD and DNS allowing for successful authentication.
• Use of defined port groups with VMware Virtual Center: On installation, VMM 2008 R2 Beta will present available port groups for VMM’s use with VMware Virtual Center thus allowing administrators to maintain control over which port groups are used.

Management of Virtual Machines is not just about managing the VM’s themselves but also the workloads that run in them. The key to managing the entire IT infrastructure is the integration of both physical and virtual machine management into a single set of tools.

I’ll be giving a presentation on managing a virtual datacenter with SCOM, SCCM, DPM and VMM at a Microsoft Open House that will be held on February 3rd at Microsoft Israel.

The main point in my presentation is that when looking at the data center (or IT environment) as a whole, tools like Systems Center Operations Manger and Systems Center Virtual Machine Manager (that has integration built into them from the grounds up) really stand out in the crowd in comparison to tools that are built for a specific environment (like managing only virtual machines).

One of the demonstrations will involve Performance Resource Optimization (PRO) which is one of VMM’s top features, as it allows administrators to automate practically any type of response to a given condition, including responding to application, virtualization, system, storage, or network events.

I’ll love to get your comments and suggestions regarding the planned presentation and of course to see you at the event

Following is the link with all the info about the Open House, including registration to the event:

https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032401717&culture=he-IL

Check out this nice list I found wondering on TechNet. Mandatory reference in all Hyper-V implementation.

Knowledge Base Article	Name	Date	Required?	Availability	Link
KB950050	”Hyper-V Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (This is the RTM version of Hyper-V.)	6/26/2008	Yes.	Windows Update, Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139066
KB950182	“A computer that is running an x86-based version of Windows Server 2008 or an x86-based version of Windows Vista may use fewer processors than expected if the number of cores on a socket is not a power of 2”	04/11/2008	Yes, if you want to start an x86-based virtual machine running Windows Server 2008 on a computer that uses a 6-core processor.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139067
KB951308	“Increased functionality and virtual machine control in the Windows Server 2008 Failover Cluster Management console for the Hyper-V role”	09/11/2008	Yes, for Failover Clustering.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=125397
KB951636	“Hyper-V Language Pack Update for Windows Server 2008”	6/26/2008	Yes, if you are using the additional languages offered.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139069
KB952627	“Description of the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Management Tools update for the release version of Hyper-V” (Install this to enable remote management of a computer running Windows Server 2008 with the Hyper-V role installed.)	6/26/2008	Yes, to enable remote management using the Hyper-V Manager Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=122189
KB953585	“Error message when you try to start a Hyper-V virtual machine on a Windows Server 2008-based or Windows Vista-based computer that uses the NUMA architecture: “An error occurred while attempting to change the state of virtual machine VMNAME””	09/04/2008	Yes, if you are using a computer running Windows Server 2008 with Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) architecture.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139068
KB953828	“The NLB host does not converge as expected on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtual machines”	6/25/2008	Yes, if you are using Network Load Balancing (NLB).	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139070
KB956386	“Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008”	10/03/2008	No.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139610
KB956589	“Hyper-V Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (Install this to resolve potential issues when you manage Hyper-V with System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008.)	9/23/2008	Yes, if you are using System Center VMM 2008 to manage your environment.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139611
KB956697	“Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (Install this to resolve an issue in which the Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) does not back up virtual machines properly.)	09/08/2008	Yes, if the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is utilized for backups.	Windows Update, Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139612
KB956710	“Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (Install this to enable the Hyper-V role to support up to 24 logical processors and 192 virtual machines.)	9/23/08	Yes, if the management operating system has more than 16 logical processors.	Download Center	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139613
KB956774	“Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition” (Install this to resolve the scenario where a Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) client cannot handle files that have paths that contain the volume GUID in Windows Server 2008.)	9/23/08	Yes, if GUIDs are used instead of a drive letter or mount point.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139614
KB957967	“Stop error message on a Windows Server 2008-based computer that has the Hyper-V role installed: “STOP 0x0000001A””	10/08/2008	Yes.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139615
KB958065	“You cannot configure a Hyper-V virtual machine by using Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering when the virtual machine uses a storage device that is managed by a third-party clustered file system or a third-party replication solution”	11/03/2008	Yes, if you are using a non-Microsoft clustered file system or non-Microsoft replication solutions.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139616
KB958184	“Virtual machine backup operations fail in Windows Server 2008 when Hyper-V virtual machine files are saved on a volume that is mounted on a failover cluster by using a volume GUID”	11/05/2008	Yes, when backing up a volume that is mounted using a volume GUID.	Hotfix	http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=133348

Under certain circumstances it may be necessary to install the OpsMgr 32-bit agent on a 64-bit operating system to monitor a 32-bit application. This is a supported configuration but the 32-bit agent must be installed manually and both the 32-bit and 64-bit OpsMgr agent cannot be installed simultaneously.

It may also be necessary to install the OpsMgr 32-bit agent on a supported 64-bit operating system for management pack  monitoring of some 32-bit applications together with some 64-bit applications which do not support 64-bit agent monitoring via their management pack.  One such application is System Center Configuration Manager 2007. See the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 management pack release notes for Operations Manager 2007.

To install the 32-bit OpsMgr agent on a supported 64-bit operating system the agent must be installed manually. This can be accomplished by running the MOMAgent.msi from the agent\i386 folder of the OpsMgr installation media, either manually or through automated command line (see the OpsMgr deployment guide for further information). Prerequisites for the agent installation must be met prior to installing the agent. These include Microsoft XML 6.0 (msxml\i386 on the distribution media) and the Active Directory Management pack Helper Object (oomads.msi from the helperobjects\i386 folder on the distribution media required for Domain Controllers only).

Once the 32-bit agent is installed manually please note that any agent hotfixes which may be required in the future must be installed manually on the agent.

Multi-homing the 32-bit agent on a 64-bit supported operating system is currently not supported.

The 32-bit operations manager agent is supported on the same operating systems as are supported by the 64-bit operations manager agent. Please see the supported configurations guide for more information.

(Taken from Manageability Team Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/smsandmom/archive/2008/07/22/opsmgr-2007-the-operations-manager-32-bit-agent-is-supported-on-64-bit-operating-systems.aspx)

Issue: After upgrading from SMS 2003 SP2 or SP3 to the Select version of Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, you may see the following status message:

SMS_SQL_MONITOR_SiteServer – 2407    SMS SQL Monitor failed to install trigger "SQLTaskStatus_upd" in the SMS site database.   
Possible cause: Either table "SQLTaskStatus" or column "TaskName,TaskType" of table "SQLTaskStatus" does not exist in the SMS site database. 
Solution: If you modified table "SQLTaskStatus", restore it to its original, unmodified state.   
Possible cause: SQL Server problem. 
Solution:  
1. Review the immediately preceding status messages from this component about SQL Server errors. 
2. Verify that this computer can reach the SQL Server computer. 
3. Verify that SQL Server services are running. 
4. Verify that SMS can access the SMS site database. 
5. Verify that the SMS site database, transaction log, and tempdb are not full. 
6. Verify that there are at least 50 SQL Server user connections, plus 5 for each SMS Administrator console.   
If this error occurs repeatedly, refer to your SMS documentation or the Microsoft Knowledge Base for further troubleshooting information.

Cause: This occurs when the ConfigMgr 2007 upgrade doesn’t remove the SMS_SQL MONITOR server per the following:

Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 Select Setup Might Not Remove Unneeded Services When Upgrading from SMS 2003 SP2 or SP3

When upgrading from SMS 2003 SP2 or SP3 using the Select version of Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, the SMS SQL Monitor service (SMS_SQL_MONITOR) is not completely removed. This service is not required for Configuration Manager 2007 sites, and because the service is not successfully removed during the upgrade process, the service will attempt to start and generate site status warning messages when the site server computer starts up.

Resolution: The following procedure can be used to remove the SMS_SQL_Monitor service:

1. In a new command prompt instance, enter the following command to delete the SMS_SQL_Monitor service:

sc delete SMS_SQL_MONITOR

Then press Enter.

After the SMS_SQL_Monitor service is successfully deleted, enter the following commands to delete service-related registry keys:

REG DELETE HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMS\COMPONENTS\SMS_SITE_COMPONENT_MANAGER\Component Servers\<site server computer name> \Components\SMS_SQL_MONITOR

REG DELETE HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMS\Tracing\SMS_SQL_MONITOR

Close the command prompt instance, and restart the site server computer.

(Taken from Manageability Team Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/smsandmom/archive/2008/11/19/configmgr-2007-status-message-2407-in-sms-sql-monitor-after-upgrade-from-sms-2003.aspx)