Implementing Microsoft VDI with Server 2008 R2 RDS

Microsoft^® VDI

If you are following my blog, I discussed about Microsoft VDI solution and how it can proved to be a great solution for organizations to lower their management cost and enable flexible work scenarios such as work from home and hot-desking, increased data security and compliance, as well as easy and efficient management of the desktop OS and applications.

Today I’ll talk about enhancements in Terminal Services in Server 2008 which is now renamed to Remote Desktop Services,

Now RDS, in addition to other Terminal Service roles, provides an platform for companies to implement a centralized desktop strategy and for partners to provide additional innovation.

It introduces the new Remote Desktop Connection Broker – an expansion of the Session Broker in Windows Server 2008 – which provides the administrator with a unified experience for setting up user access to both virtualized desktops (running as a full Windows client OS on top of Microsoft’s virtualization infrastructure) and traditional session-based remote desktops.

Together with Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager, the Remote Desktop Connection Broker enables a VDI solution for low-complexity, departmental environments, and a platform for partners who are delivering rich, extensible solutions where heterogeneous client support is a prerequisite, and when enhanced management and scalability is a requirement.

The Remote Desktop Connection Broker it complements other, shared RDS infrastructure components in Windows Server 2008, such as Remote Desktop Web Access or Remote Desktop Gateway. With the Remote Desktop Connection Broker, partners will find an extensive set of APIs that will allow them to continue innovation and deliver added value to customers.

Other important improvements in our virtualization platform in Windows Server 2008 R2, such as Live Migration, will further contribute to making Windows Server 2008 R2 an excellent platform for VDI, improving both availability and scalability of a virtual desktop deployment.

RDS in Server 2008 R2 supports two VDI Scenarios:

1. Personal Virtual Desktops

• One OS image per user
• Administrator access, desktop customizable
• User state typically part of the image

2. Virtual Desktop Pool

• Shared OS images, identically configured
• No administrator access
• User state temporary (discarded at session end)

The Architecture of VDI deployment using RDS would look something like this.

Learn More about Microsoft VDI and RDS, Please follow the links below

http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/products/desktop/default.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/rds-r2.aspx

Isn’t that Interesting, I know you cant wait to do a hands on with Microsoft VDI with RDS in Server 2008 R2.

How to setup a VDI lab with RDS

Installing Remote Desktop Session Host Step-by-Step Guide

Word document download: go.microsoft.com/fwlink

Deploying Remote Desktop Web Access with Remote Desktop Connection Broker Step-by-Step Guide

Word document download: go.microsoft.com/fwlink

Deploying RemoteApp Programs to the Start Menu by Using RemoteApp and Desktop Connection Step-by-Step Guide

Word document download: go.microsoft.com/fwlink

Deploying Personal Virtual Desktops by Using RemoteApp and Desktop Connection Step-by-Step Guide

Word document download: go.microsoft.com/fwlink

Deploying Virtual Desktop Pools by Using RemoteApp and Desktop Connection Step-by-Step Guide

Word document download: go.microsoft.com/fwlink

Deploying Personal Virtual Desktops by Using Remote Desktop Web Access Step-by-Step Guide

Word document download: go.microsoft.com/fwlink

Deploying Virtual Desktop Pools by Using Remote Desktop Web Access Step-by-Step Guide

Word document download: go.microsoft.com/fwlink

Deploying Remote Desktop Gateway Step-by-Step Guide

Word document download: go.microsoft.com/fwlink

Deploying Remote Desktop Licensing Step-by-Step Guide

Word document download: go.microsoft.com/fwlink

Installing WSUS SP2 on SBS 2008

Installing WSUS 3 sp2 is needed to support patching Win7 on your network.

To install, you'll see that you'll need to run through the install process by clicking next, next, next......... and importantly at the end...cancel.

Click to accept the install

When you click FINISH, there's a final important step

When the wizard begins, hit CANCEL, and your install will be done. It will pick up your existing settings and make no changes.

In past installs it might also look to the largest free drive, so just in case you may want to temp disable a large external usb drive just to be sure.

Don't forget (as I just did)

From: Dave Nickason FYI, when you install WSUS 3.0 SP2, you need to upgrade to the newest
version of the report viewer. I've installed both the SP and the viewer on
my SBS 2003 and my Vista workstation. Both installed easily and with no
reboot required. After the server install the configuration wizard starts -
just cancel it.

Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable 2008

How to Build a Hyper-V Cluster Using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target v3.3

I’ve just uploaded a step-by-step guide on how to build a Hyper-V cluster for a small production or lab environment, using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target v3.3. This target is a free add-on for Windows Server 2008 R2 and is included with Windows Storage Server 2008 R2. it goes through all the steps:

• Installing and configuring the storage
• Building a standalone host to run System Center VMs
• Building a 2 node Hyper-V cluster

“The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target is a free iSCSI storage solution. It is included as a part of Windows Storage Server 2008 R2, and it is a free download for Windows Server 2008 R2. This allows a Windows Server to become a shared storage solution for many computers. It also provides an economic way to provide an iSCSI “SAN” for a Failover Cluster, such as Hyper-V.

This document will detail how to build a 2 node Hyper-V cluster, using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target for shared storage, which is managed by System Center running on virtual machines, hosted on another Hyper-V server and stored on the same shared storage.”

Szenarien der Kontingentverwaltung

Wenn Sie ein Kontingent für ein Volume oder einen Ordner erstellen, können Sie den zugewiesenen Speicherplatz für dieses Volume oder diesen Ordner einschränken. Der Knoten Kontingentverwaltung des Ressourcen-Managers für Dateiserver enthält alle erforderlichen Optionen für die Verwendung von Kontingenten.

Zum Testen von Kontingentverwaltung sind drei Szenariengruppen vorhanden:

• Testen von Kontingenten
  
  
  • Szenario 1: Kontingente für weiche Überwachung
    
    
  • Szenario 2: Kontingente in Gruppenfreigaben
    
    
• Testen von automatisch zugewiesenen Kontingenten
  
  
  • Szenario 1: Automatisches Zuweisen von Kontingenten für Benutzerordner
    
    
  • Szenario 2: Automatisches Zuweisen von Kontingenten für freigegebene Ordner mit gemeinsamem Stamm
    
    
• Testen von Kontingentvorlagen
  
  
  • Szenario 1: Erstellen einer neuen Vorlage anhand einer vorhandenen Vorlage
    
    
  • Szenario 2: Verwenden einer Kontingentvorlage zum Aktualisieren von Kontingenten
    
    

Hinweis
Weitere Informationen zu Kontingentverwaltung, zu den verschiedenen Aufgaben in diesem Knoten und den schrittweisen Ausführungen finden Sie weiter oben in dieser Anleitung unter Verwenden von Kontingenten.

Testen von Kontingenten

Sie sollten die folgenden beiden Szenarien verwenden, um sich mit den Kontingentaufgaben im Ressourcen-Manager für Dateiserver vertraut zu machen.

Szenario 1: Kontingente für weiche Überwachung

In einigen Fällen ist es sicher sinnvoller, eine "weiche" Überwachung eines Volumes oder Ordners auszuführen (statt eine "harte" Grenze bei der Speicherplatzzuteilung festzulegen), sodass Sie nur eine Benachrichtigung erhalten, wenn die festgelegten Schwellenwerte überschritten werden. Dies ist ein sehr nützliches Verfahren zur Benachrichtigung der Administratoren, bevor der Speicherplatz zu knapp wird.

Testumgebung:

Erstellen Sie mithilfe folgender Parameter auf einem der Volumes Ihres Servers (z. B. D:\ oder E:\) eine weiche Kontingentgrenze:

• Kontingentverzeichnis: Volume-Stammverzeichnis
  
  
• Speicherplatzgrenze: Gesamte Volumekapazität
  
  
• Kontingenttyp: weiche Kontingentgrenze
  
  
• Benachrichtigungsschwellenwerte:
  
  
  • Warnung (100 %): E-Mail an Administrator senden, Warnung an Ereignisprotokoll senden
    
    
  • Warnung (85 %): E-Mail an Administrator senden, Warnung an Ereignisprotokoll senden
    
    
  • Warnung (80 %): E-Mail an Administrator senden
    
    
  • Warnung (50 %): E-Mail an Administrator senden
    
    

Überprüfung:

• Überprüfen Sie, ob es immer noch möglich ist, Dateien auf dem Volume zu speichern.
  
  
• Kopieren oder generieren Sie genügend Daten im Volume, damit einer der Benachrichtigungsschwellenwerte überschritten wird, und überprüfen Sie dann, ob die von Ihnen ausgewählten Benachrichtigungen erstellt und emfpangen werden.
  
  

Hinweis

Zum Generieren großer Dateien können Sie den Befehl fsutil mit folgenden Parametern verwenden: fsutil file createnew <Dateigröße>, wobei Dateiname dem Pfad und dem Namen der Datei entspricht, die Sie erstellen möchten, und Dateigrößedie Größe der Datei in Byte ist. Beispiel: fsutil file createnew D:\bigfile.txt 1024000. Dadurch wird eine Datei mit dem Namen bigfile.txt im Stammverzeichnis von Volume D mit einer ungefähren Größe von 1 MB erstellt.

Szenario 2: Kontingente für freigegebene Ressourcen von Gruppen

Im Ressourcen-Manager für Dateiserver sind mehrere Vorlagen für das Verwenden von Kontingenten enthalten. Eine dieser Vorlagen lautet 500 MB-Freigabe überwachen. Sie sollte verwendet werden, wenn Sie einen freigegebenen Ordner auf Ihrem Server verwalten.

Testumgebung:

Erstellen Sie mit der Kontingentvorlage 500 MB-Freigabe überwachen ein Kontingent für einen freigegebenen Ordner auf dem Server (z. B. E:\Scratch). Weitere Informationen zum Erstellen eines Kontingents anhand einer Vorlage finden Sie weiter oben in dieser Anleitung unter Verwenden von Kontingenten.

Überprüfung:

• Kopieren oder generieren Sie genügend Daten im freigegebenen Ordner, damit einer der Benachrichtigungsschwellenwerte überschritten wird, und überprüfen Sie dann, ob die von Ihnen ausgewählten Benachrichtigungen erstellt und empfangen werden.
  
  

Testen von automatisch zugewiesenen Kontingenten

Sie sollten die folgenden beiden Szenarien verwenden, um sich mit den Aufgaben der automatisch zugewiesenen Kontingente im Ressourcen-Manager für Dateiserver vertraut zu machen.

Szenario 1: Automatisches Zuweisen von Kontingenten für Benutzerordner

Normalerweise wird für jeden Benutzer in einer Organisationen ein Ordner auf einem Dateiserver gehostet. In der Regel befinden sich diese Benutzerordner alle in einem gemeinsamen Stammverzeichnis, und ein neuer Ordner wird immer dann erstellt, wenn ein neuer Benutzer Zugriff auf den Server erhält. Mit der automatischen Zuweisung von Kontingenten können Sie das Erstellen von Kontingenten für Benutzerordner sowie die Verwaltung dieser Kontingente vereinfachen.

Testumgebung:

Erstellen Sie im Stammverzeichnis eines Volumes einen Ordner mit dem Namen Benutzer. Erstellen Sie in diesem Ordner für jeden Benutzer einen Unterordner. Beispiele:

D:\Benutzer\Benutzer01

D:\Benutzer\Benutzer02

D:\Benutzer\Benutzer03

…

…

…

D:\Benutzer\Benutzer10

Wenn Sie alle Unterordner des Ordners Benutzer erstellt haben, erstellen Sie mit der Vorlage 100 MB-Grenze für den Ordner Benutzer ein automatisch zugewiesenes Kontingent. Weitere Informationen zum Erstellen von automatisch zugewiesenen Kontingenten finden Sie weiter oben in dieser Anleitung in Verwenden von Kontingenten unter "Erstellen eines automatisch zugewiesenen Kontingents".

Überprüfung:

• Klicken Sie im Aktionsbereich unter Kontingente auf Aktualisieren.
  
  
• Überprüfen Sie im Ergebnisbereich, ob für jeden Unterordner im Ordner Benutzer automatisch ein einzelnes Kontingent generiert wurde.
  
  
• Überprüfen Sie im Ergebnisbereich, ob die Vorlage für das automatisch zugewiesene Kontingent mit dem übergeordneten Ordner Benutzer verknüpft ist.
  
  
• Erstellen Sie einen neuen Unterordner im Ordner Benutzer (z. B. D:\Benutzer\Benutzer11). Überprüfen Sie, ob für den neuen Unterordner automatisch ein einzelnes Kontingent generiert wurde. (Klicken Sie zum Anzeigen des neuen Kontingents unter Kontingenteauf Aktualisieren.)
  
  
• Bearbeiten Sie das automatisch zugewiesene Kontingent, das Sie gerade erstellt haben, und geben Sie an, dass die Eigenschaften von einer anderen Kontingentvorlage abgeleitet werden sollen (beispielsweise von der Vorlage 200 MB-Grenze mit Bericht an Benutzer). Geben Sie an, dass die Änderungen des automatisch zugewiesenen Kontingents für alle abgeleiteten Kontingente gelten sollen. Überprüfen Sie dann unter Kontingente, ob alle einzelnen Kontingente für den Ordner Benutzer mit den Eigenschaften der neuen Kontingentvorlage aktualisiert wurden.
  
  

Szenario 2: Automatisches Zuweisen von Kontingenten für freigegebene Ordner mit gemeinsamem Stamm

Die automatische Zuweisung von Kontingenten kann auch auf einen Volumestamm angewendet werden. Dieses Szenario ist dann sinnvoll, wenn z. B. ein Volume verwendet wird, um mehrere Ordner, die in der Organisation freigegeben sind, direkt zu hosten.

Testumgebung:

Erstellen Sie mehrere freigegebene Ordner im Stammverzeichnis auf einem Volume Ihres Servers. Beispiele:

E:\Ressourcenerfassung (freigegeben als \\Servername\Ressourcenerfassung)

E:\Finanzen (freigegeben als \\Servername\Finanzen)

E:\Marketing (freigegeben als \\Servername\Marketing)

E:\Gehaltsabrechnung (freigegeben als \\Servername\Gehaltsabrechnung)

E:\Vertrieb (freigegeben als \\Servername\Vertrieb)

Wenn Sie alle Ordner und Freigaben erstellt haben, erstellen Sie mit der Vorlage 100 MB-Grenze ein automatisch zugewiesenes Kontingent für den Volumestamm (in diesem Beispiel E:\). Weitere Informationen zum Erstellen von automatischen Kontingenten finden Sie weiter oben in dieser Anleitung in Verwenden von Kontingenten unter "Erstellen eines automatisch zugewiesenen Kontingents".

Überprüfung:

• Überprüfen Sie unter Kontingente im Ergebnisbereich, ob automatisch ein einzelnes Kontingent für jeden der Ordner im Volume generiert wurde und ob ein freigegebener Pfad dafür aufgelistet ist.
  
  
• Greifen Sie von einem anderen Server im Netzwerk auf einen der von Ihnen erstellten freigegebenen Ordner zu, und kopieren oder generieren Sie genügend Daten in diesem freigegebenen Ordner, damit die Grenze von 100 MB überschritten wird. Überprüfen Sie, ob die Kontingentgrenze im freigegebenen Ordner durchgesetzt wird.
  
  

Testen von Kontingentvorlagen

Sie sollten die folgenden beiden Szenarien verwenden, um sich mit den Aufgaben zu den Kontingentvorlagen im Ressourcen-Manager für Dateiserver vertraut zu machen.

Szenario 1: Erstellen einer neuen Vorlage anhand einer vorhandenen Vorlage

Der Ressourcen-Manager für Dateiserver verfügt über mehrere Standardvorlagen, die problemlos in neue Vorlagen geändert werden können, damit sie Ihrer Serverumgebung besser entsprechen.

Testumgebung:

Klicken Sie im Aktionsbereich unter Kontingentvorlagen auf Kontingentvorlage erstellen, und kopieren Sie die Eigenschaften aus der Vorlage 100 MB-Grenze. Ändern Sie anschließend folgende Parameter:

• Vorlagenname: 50 MB-Grenze
  
  
• Speicherplatzgrenze: 50 MB
  
  
• Kontingenttyp: weiche Kontingentgrenze
  
  
• Benachrichtigungsschwellenwerte:
  
  
  • Warnung (100 %): E-Mail an Administrator senden, Warnung an Ereignisprotokoll senden
    
    
  • Warnung (85 %): E-Mail an Administrator senden, Warnung an Ereignisprotokoll senden
    
    
  • Warnung (50 %): E-Mail an Administrator senden
    
    

Wenn Sie diese Änderungen vorgenommen haben, klicken Sie auf OK, um die neue Vorlage zu speichern.

Überprüfung:

• Prüfen Sie im Ergebnisbereich unter Kontingentvorlagen, ob die neue Vorlage 50 MB-Grenze aufgelistet ist.
  
  

Szenario 2: Verwenden einer Kontingentvorlage zum Aktualisieren von Kontingenten

Wenn die Kontingente auf Vorlagen basieren, können Sie alle auf einer bestimmten Vorlage basierenden Kontingente automatisch aktualisieren, indem Sie diese Vorlage bearbeiten. Dieses Feature vereinfacht die Aktualisierung der Kontingenteigenschaften an einem zentralen Ort, an dem alle Änderungen vorgenommen werden können.

Testumgebung:

Sofern noch nicht geschehen, führen Sie das erste Szenario zum Testen von automatisch zugewiesenen Kontingenten aus (Szenario 1: Automatisches Zuweisen von Kontingenten für Benutzerordner und das erste Szenario zum Testen von Kontingentvorlagen (Szenario 1: Erstellen einer neuen Vorlage anhand einer vorhandenen Vorlage).

Wenn Sie diese beiden Szenarien abgeschlossen haben, bearbeiten Sie unter Kontingente das automatisch zugewiesene Kontingent für den Ordner Benutzer, und geben Sie an, dass die Eigenschaften von der Vorlage 50 MB-Grenze abgeleitet werden sollen. Wenn Sie gefragt werden, geben Sie an, dass die Änderungen des automatisch zugewiesenen Kontingents für alle abgeleiteten Kontingente gelten sollen.

Überprüfung:

• Überprüfen Sie im Ergebnisbereich unter Kontingente, ob alle Kontingente, die für die Unterordner des Ordners Benutzer erstellt wurden, mit den Eigenschaften der Vorlage 50 MB-Grenze aktualisiert wurden.
  
  
• Geben Sie als Nächstes unter Kontingentvorlagen an, dass Sie die Vorlage 50 MB-Grenze bearbeiten möchten. Ändern Sie dann die folgenden Eigenschaften:
  
  
  • Speicherplatzgrenze: 25 MB
    
    
  • Kontingenttyp: harte Kontingentgrenze
    
    
  Wenn Sie gefragt werden, geben Sie an, dass die Vorlagenänderungen auf alle abgeleiteten Kontingente angewendet werden sollen. Überprüfen Sie schließlich unter Kontingente, ob alle einzelnen Kontingente für den Ordner Benutzer mit der neuen Kontingentgrenze von 25 MB aktualisiert wurden und ob der Kontingenttyp auf "hart" festgelegt wurde.
  

How to Manage Groups that I already own in Exchange 2010?

This one can be a bit counter intuitive for folks coming from any legacy version of Exchange...

Issue

You got your shiny new Exchange 2010 download and excitedly installed it on your 2010 hardware. You have setup all your CAS server settings, your DAG is up and running. Your pilot users have been moved over and everything went well.

Now you move over the executives and not two days later they are in your office complaining that they can't manage the distribution groups that they own. They were able to do it previously but now it isn't working.

A little bit of testing later and you see that they are right. You are hitting an error message in Outlook 2007 when trying to manage groups:

So what does the "Changes to the distribution list membership cannot be saved. You do not have sufficient permission to perform this operation on this object." error mean, when you are connecting to an Exchange 2010 server?

It means Exchange 2010 is doing its job - as designed...

Why is it doing this?

Exchange 2010 has quite a few features built in to allow your users to manage their own accounts and information. One of these features is the ability to manage distribution groups in a much richer format than Outlook 2007 provides.

This allows your users to join existing group, manage some of the properties of groups they own, membership in groups they own, and even create and remove groups. It is that last piece that got our beta customers a bit concerned. The ability to manage your own groups is good... the ability to create and remove groups - not so good.

Also this feature was turned on by default. So by default you would install Exchange 2010 Beta and any users you put on it could create and remove Distribution Groups. With that in mind the Product group decided to turn this feature off by default going forward and in RTM.

Turning it off is very easy... so is turning it on. All you have to do is assign the MyDistributionGroups RBAC role to the Default Role Assignment Policy. We even have the ability to do that in the ECP.

Since all of the built in RBAC roles have to function as parents to any roles that you create the product group had to leave the ability to create and remove distribution groups on this role to ensure that any customers that wanted their users to have that functionality would be able to assign it.

So how do I fix it?

"Fix" isn't really the right word. We need to modify the default solution to meet this specific need. For a number of customers the needs are going to be the following:

1. I want my users to be able to manage distribution groups they own.
2. I don't want them to be able to create distribution groups.
3. I don't want them to be able to remove distribution groups even if they do own them.

To help customers fill these needs we have created a short little script. This script will allow you to make any combination of the above work in your environment.

The Manage-GroupManagementRole.ps1 script is now available from TechNet Script Center.

How do I run this thing?

To run the script you need to copy the contents of the script to a text file on the machine you are going to run it on. Then save the file as a .ps1... I recommend Manage-GroupManagementRole.ps1 .

To fill all of the above requirements with minimal effort run the following from an Exchange Powershell Prompt:

Manage-Groupmanagmeentrole.ps1 -creategroup -removegroup

This will create everything you need with the correct settings using the default names in the script. If you would like help on the script you can either look in the contents of the file or run it with no switches.

What does the script do?

What the script does is actually rather simple:

1. Creates a new RBAC role that is a child of the MyDistributionGroups Role
2. Removes the cmdlets remove-distributiongroup and new-distributiongroup from the new role that was just created.
3. Assigns the new role to the Default Role Assignment Policy

When complete your users will be able to manage distribution groups but not create or remove them.

Each step the script takes is documented in the script and you are welcome to extract just what you need from it. It is designed to handle more than just the basic scenario to give it a bit more flexibility.

What do I end up with if I take the defaults?

When finished you end up with a new role and a new role assignment. If we look at these in PowerShell we see:

Here is the Role that is created by the script. By default it is named MyDistributionGroupsManagement and is a child of the MyDistributionGroups role.

Here we can see all of the cmdlet that the role authorizes users to use. You can see that remove-distributiongroup and new-distributiongroup are not listed.

This is the piece that glues everything together. The role assignment is created using the name of the role and the name of the policy we are assigning the role too. The Default Role Assignment Policy applies to all users in the org by default. So everyone on Exchange 2010 will now have the ability to manage their own distribution groups.

Conclusion

Hopefully this post and the attached script will help you in getting your 2010 environment up and running where you want it. If you have any questions about the script or this process please feel free to post them here and I will do my best to address them.

Danke Harald für den Artikel. :-)

Exchange 2010 Client Access Throttling.

Environment:


Exchange 2010 – RU1 – Single Box ( All Roles )
Windows 2008 R2

Outlook 2003 Service Pack 3 Clients


Issue:


During normal working hours users randomly was unable to access their mailboxes when they launched their Outlook client.

The users were receiving the following Outlook message:

“Unable to open your default e-mail folders. The Microsoft Exchange Server computer is not available. Either there are network problems or the Microsoft Exchange Server computer is down for maintenance.”


It was also reported that some users had issues expanding additional mailboxes. (Delegate Mailboxes )

The following Outlook message appeared.

“Unable to expand the folder. The set of folders could not be opened.”

Troubleshooting:


Started Exchange powershell

Ran the following powershell command

Get-LogonStatistics –Identity | fl applicationid

We counted the number of occurrences of “ ApplicationID : Client=MSExchangeRPC “

Result: 20


Resolution:


We corrected this by creating a New-ThrottlingPolicy. And setting the RCAMaxConcurrency to a greater value then 20.

Finally assigning this new throttlingPolicy to the specific mailboxes that were experiencing the issue described.

Steps to create and apply a throttling policy:

New-ThrottlingPolicy –name

Set-ThrottlingPolicy –identity –RCAMaxConcurrency

Set-Mailbox –Identity “Username” –ThrottlingPolicy

What is Throttling?

Understanding Client Throttling Policies
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd297964.aspx

Exchange 2010 introduces a new feature called Throttling.
This feature was introduced to prevent a single user or groups of users from using up all the Exchange resources and causing a denial of service attack.

The throttling policy is group settings that can be used to control how much resources that a user or connection can use against Exchange organization. Throttling polices can only be used against users that are using Exchange 2010 servers. They do not apply to previous versions of Exchange.

Throttling policies are stored in the following location in active directory.

CN=Global Settings, CN= Exchange Org, CN= Microsoft Exchange , CN=Services, CN= Configuration, DC= Domain, DC = COM.

Using ADSI Edit you can see your DefaultThrottlingPolicy here

Using Powershell to list the Default Throttling Policy

Get-ThrottlingPolicy | ft name

As per best practices.

Instead of editing the Default Policy create a new one and assign it to the appropriate Mailbox.

Throttling Policy Settings

· Exchange ActiveSync

· Exchange Web Services

· IMAP

· Outlook Web Application

· POP3

· Powershell Commands

· Outlook client (MAPI/RPC)connections

Get-ThrottlingPolicy

Since my case was about Outlook RPC connections i am adding this table information.

Outlook ( RPC)

Parameter	Default Value	Description
RCAMaxConcurrency	20	The RCAMaxConcurrency parameter specifies how many concurrent connections an RPC Client Access user can have against a server running Exchange 2010 at one time. A connection is held from the moment a request is received until the connection is closed or the connection is otherwise disconnected (for example, if the user goes offline). If users attempt to make more concurrent requests than their policy allows, the new connection attempt fails. However, the existing connections remain valid. TheRCAMaxConcurrency parameter has a valid range from 0 through 100 inclusive. To indicate that the number of concurrent connections should be unthrottled (no limit), this value should be set to $null.
RCAPercentTimeInAD	Null	The RCAPercentTimeInAD parameter specifies the percentage of a minute that an Outlook user can spend executing directory requests. A value of 100 indicates that for every one-minute window, the user can spend 60 seconds of that time consuming the resource in question.
RCAPercentTimeInCAS	Null	The RCAPercentTimeInCAS parameter specifies the percentage of a minute that an Outlook user can spend executing CAS mailbox requests. A value of 100 indicates that for every one-minute window, the user can spend 60 seconds of that time consuming the resource in question.
RCAPercentTimeInMailboxRPC	Null	The RCAPercentTimeInMailboxRPC parameter specifies the percentage of a minute that an RPC Client Access user can spend executing mailbox RPC requests (PercentTimeInMailboxRPC). A value of 100 indicates that for every one-minute window, the user can spend 60 seconds of that time consuming the resource in question.

More information:

New-ThrottlingPolicy
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd351045.aspx

Set-ThrottlingPolicy
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298094.aspx

Set-Mailbox
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123981.aspx

Backup methodology for backup on Hyper-V environmen

Method 1: Back up the guest OS with PlanetPRO:

Backing up guest OS (on OS platforms supported by PlanetPRO):
Since the guest OS is running on a platform that is supported by PlanetPRO. Backing up the guest OS itself is only a matter of installing PlanetPROand performing both file, and system state backup with settings of your choice. This is essentially the same as configuring backup on a physical machine.

Backing up guest OS (on OS platforms with database hosted):
If the database hosted on the guest OS is supported by PlanetPRO. Simply install PlanetPRO on the guest OS and perform file, system state, and database backup with the settings of your choice.

If the database hosted on the guest OS is not supported by PlanetPRO, then to handle the backup of such database, please follow the instructions below:

1. Use the pre/post backup command to shutdown and startup the applications before and after a backup job (assuming that the database or application does not need to be online 24x7 and the database file is small enough to be transmitted to the Backup Planet server each night.
   
   
2. Use the pre-backup command to run a database specific command to export all database data to a dump file and upload this dump file using a file-type backup set.

Example: PlanetPRO installation on Hyper-V guest OS



Method 2: Back up the Hyper-V virtual machine files:

Each Hyper-V virtual machine contain a number of files associated with each Hyper-V virtual machine, they includes the configuration file (.XML), saved state file (.BIN & .VSV) and virtual hard disk file (.VHD). The Hyper-V server places these files within their respective destination(s) according to the administrator's configuration. These data can be exported, and then backed up using a file-type backup set. Restoration of a virtual machine would simply require the restoration of the exported data associated with that virtual machine, and import of the data via the Hyper-V server console.

With this setup, PlanetPROis installed on the Hyper-V server. To ensure files that are backed up are not corrupt, all I/O operations to these files must be halted prior to the backup operation. We can accomplish this by exporting the virtual machine.

During the export, virtual machine(s) that is running will be shutdown (or be forced into a saved state depending on your setup), its corresponding data is quickly exported, the machine started up, and then the backup proceed. This technique provides a compromise backup methodology that limits the downtime of the virtual machine while assuring that the virtual machine backed up is recoverable.

Notes:
To import / restore the Hyper-V virtual machine onto a different Hyper-V server, it is required that a virtual machine be shutdown (instead of suspend) prior to the export procedure.

To backup Hyper-V virtual machine files, the following steps are required:

1. Using the PowerShell.exe tool to export the Hyper-V virtual machine (Pre-backup command)
   
2. Backup the exported data from the Hyper-V server onto Backup Planet server

Assumptions:
The following assumptions are made:

1. The Windows PowerShell feature has been installed on the corresponding Hyper-V server. If the Windows PowerShell feature has not been installed, you can enable the PowerShell feature by opening the Server Manager application.
   
   Example: Go to the Features section and select Windows PowerShell
   
   
   
   
   
2. You have set PowerShell execution policy to allow unsigned local scripts
   
   
   • The following error may be flagged for the first time the PowerShell script is ran:
     
     Example: File \${ScriptName.ps1} cannot be loaded because the execution of scripts is disabled on this system.
     
     
     
     The reason for this error is the security setting on the Hyper-V server that does not allow you to execute a script. By default, the Execution Policy is set to Restricted. This setting means that you may not run any PowerShell script.
     
     
   • You can execute the following command within PowerShell to allow the script to run:
     
     Example:
     >Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
     
     This will allow scripts written on the local computer to be executed without a digital signature, but any script downloaded from outside must have a signature to execute.
     
     Alternatively, you can also sign the downloaded PowerShell script file:
     http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2008.04.powershell.aspx?pr=blog

Instructions:
To backup Hyper-V virtual machine files, please refer to the following instructions:

1. Download the HyperV-Export.zip file by Clicking Here
   
   
   
2. Extract the HyperV-Export.zip file to C:\
   
   Example:
   
   
   
   • HyperV-Export.bat is batch file run by PlanetPRO as a pre-backup command for the execution of the HyperV-Export.ps1 script
   • HyperV-Export.ps1 is the PowerShell script for the export of the Hyper-V virtual machine(s)
   
   
   
3. Open the extracted HyperV-Export.ps1 file with a text editor, modify the $dest parameter to reflect the Hyper-V export destination
   
   
   
4. Modify the $opt1 parameter to specify individual virtual machine(s) for the export, or all virutal machine(s) for the export
   
   
   
5. Modify the $opt2 parameter to configure the script to shutdown, or suspend the corresponding virtual machine(s) during the export
   
   Notes:
   To import / restore Hyper-V virtual machine onto another Hyper-V server (any server other than the original Hyper-V server), it is required that a virtual machine be shutdown prior to the export procedure.
   
   Please only use the suspend (saved state) option if you are planning for restore on the same, original Hyper-V server in the future. To import / restore the Hyper-V virtual machine onto a different Hyper-V server, it is required that a virtual machine be shutdown prior to the export procedure.
   
   
   
6. Create the Hyper-V export destination folder configured in Step 3
   
   Example:
   
   
   
   
7. Open the PlanetPRO console, create a file backup set for the Hyper-V backup under the PlanetPRO console
   
   
   
8. Select the Hyper-V export destination folder as backup source
   
   Example:
   
   
   
   
9. Accept the default encryption settings by pressing the [OK] button if no change is necessary
   
   
   
10. Select the Hyper-V backup set in the [Backup Setting] menu, select the [Command Line Tool]
    
    
    
11. Press the [Add] button under the Pre-Backup section on the right panel, enter the following entries in the corresponding text fields:
    
    
    • Working Directory: C:\
      
    • Command: HyperV-Export.bat
    
    Example:
    
    
    
    
12. Press the [OK] button to save this setting

The Hyper-V virtual machine files can now be backed up by pressing the [Backup] button on the PlanetPRO console.




Method 3: Back up the Hyper-V server and data volume (with MS Windows System Backup):

Perform full volume backup on the volume which the Hyper-V application is installed, and where the Hyper-V data is stored.

In this configuration, PlanetPRO is installed on the Hyper-V server. Restoration of virtual machines would require a full volume restore of the volume which the Hyper-V application is installed, and where the Hyper-V data is stored. A major benefit to performing volume backups at the host operating system level of your Hyper-V server is that doing so allows you to perform a bare metal recovery.

However, with the major benefit, there are also some major limitations that administrator needs to be aware of:

• Dynamic Disks -
  Virtual machines to be backed up cannot contain dynamic disks. All guest operating systems must treat all of their associated virtual hard drive files as basic disks.
  
  Example: Disk Managment Console on the guest OS
  
  
  
• Restore of individual virtual machines -
  You can not restore individual virtual machines. The restoration process at the host level is an all or nothing proposition.
  
  Example: [Administrative Tools] -> [Windows Server Backup] -> [Recovery Wizard]
  
  
  
• Virtual machines with Snapshot -
  If a virtual machine contains multiple snapshots, you can still perform the backup. However, you will not be able to restore the backup.

To backup the Hyper-V server and data volume, the following steps are required:

1. Create a MS Windows System backup set for the corresponding Hyper-V server
   
2. Configure the backup set to perform backup on the volume which the Hyper-V server is installed, and the volume which all virtual machines' data are stored

Assumptions:
The following assumptions are made:

1. PlanetPRO version 5.5.5.0 or above has been installed on the Hyper-V server
   
   
2. The Windows Server Backup features, including the Windows Server Backup, and Command-line Tools has been installed. If the Windows Windows Server Backup feature has not been installed, you can enable it by opening the Server Manager application.
   
   Example: Go to the Features section and select Windows Server Backup Features
   
   
   
   
3. The Hyper-V server is installed on C:\ and the Hyper-V virtual machines' data are stored under E:\

Instructions:
To backup the Hyper-V server and data volume, please refer to the following instructions:

1. Add the following registry keys to register the Hyper-V VSS Writer with Windows Server Backup (WBAdmin.exe):
   
   
   1. Open the Registry Editor by entering the command "regedit" in command prompt
      
      
   2. Create a new key "WindowsServerBackup" under:
      
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
      
      Notes:
      Please note that the WindowsServerBackup key is not created when installing the Windows Server Backup feature, it must be created manually.
      
      
   3. Create a new key "Application Support" under the key created in the previous step:
      
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WindowsServerBackup
      
      
   4. Create a new key "{66841CD4-6DED-4F4B-8F17-FD23F8DDC3DE}" under the key created in the previous step:
      
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WindowsServerBackup\Application Support
      
      Example:
      
      
      
   5. Create a String Value with the following name, type and value:
      
      Name: Application Identifier
      Type: REG_SZ
      Value: Hyper-V
      
      The registry path should now resemble the following:
      
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WindowsServerBackup\Application Support\{66841CD4-6DED-4F4B-8F17-FD23F8DDC3DE}
      
      Example:
      
      
   
   
2. Open the PlanetPRO console, create a MS Windows System backup set for the volume backup under the PlanetPRO console
   
   Example:
   
   
   
   
3. Select the volume which the Hyper-V server is installed, and the volume which all virtual machines' data are stored as backup source
   
   Example:
   
   
   
   
4. Accept the default encryption settings by pressing the [OK] button if no change is necessary

The Hyper-V server and data volume can now be backed up by pressing the [Backup] button on the PlanetPRO console.