Sharing: Hyper-V and System Center user Insights

The author has previously written that server virtualization technologies, such as Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V, are the foundation of cloud computing, including private cloud computing and public cloud computing. Many customers are already using Microsoft's virtualization technology to achieve higher scalability, and using System Center to improve IT system management, they are on the path to private cloud computing. Customers with virtualization technology can migrate to a real private cloud if they make additional investments to help strengthen the automation of the data center.

I would like to share this video with you and a blog post from Fritz DeBrine, a renowned U.S. retailer, about the company's experience with Hyper-V and System Center solutions. The following is the exact words of target company:

Hello, my name is Fritz DeBrine, a senior group manager at Target company's server technology and Enterprise Storage department. This is Keith Narr, a technical architect advisor to our company's infrastructure strategy and architecture team. Read this blog to find out how the actual workload is deployed on the Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V, and how it's interesting to manage with System Center. We are happy to share with you how we use these solutions in our own stores and briefly describe how we have succeeded.

Now, in each of our store control rooms, we run Hyper-V on two Dell R710 servers running mission-critical applications for guests, such as point-of-sale, dispensing, asset protection, SQL Server, and our storefront processing systems. Target has 1755 stores across the United States, and performance and availability are critical, and managing and protecting all those servers is critical.

As early as 2006, we started using Microsoft Virtual Server (MSVS) in many stores to implement virtualization technology. We evaluated and compared VMware and Microsoft's virtualization technologies, and based on our analysis of the technology at that time and our close relationship with the Microsoft product team, we felt that Microsoft's investment was the most rewarding. The first virtual machine we deployed to the store was actually a SUSE Linux instance running on our dispensing application system. The system runs smoothly, so we set up another three sets of workload systems on MSVs over the next 18 months. We migrated two other existing workload systems: SQL Server and our storefront processing system, and built a new server instance in the store to host infrastructure services such as System Center Configuration Manager.

But then, in the summer of 2009, he got into trouble. We found one of the virtual opportunities running SQL Server to the performance bottleneck. This performance bottleneck affects the amount of time that our store team members take to perform certain tasks. So we deployed the Hyper-V remote to all of our stores within 45 days.

We noticed that our team members spent more time in the store unloading from the truck. Our team uses handheld devices to scan the delivered goods, but the replenishment application software is restricted and unable to replenish the goods in time. At the company, we want to put the corresponding products on the store shelves in time so that our guests need to have goods on the shelves. We needed to move quickly because we had a busy holiday sales season right away. Deploying new hardware is not a solution at all.

We only have a short period of time to maintain and upgrade. We deployed a switching process in conjunction with the scripts written by Target and Microsoft, so that there is no need to deploy additional hardware to the store to upgrade in the field. The existing four workload systems have been migrated during the two-hour MPF period, as in every store, and the entire chain has a breakdown rate of less than 3%. Because we have carefully considered the design and testing, so we can in a very short period of time to complete the chain of switching work, to ensure that the holiday sales peak season before the stability. Hyper-V meets our replenishment application and SQL Server requirements and helps us unload on time from those trucks.

Today, we use the System Center Operations Manager and System Center Configuration Manager to manage more than 15,000 servers and more than 29,000 workstations in all our stores. In addition, there are more than 52,000 registers and thousands of self-service terminals. We have also installed System Center Configuration Manager Agent software on nearly 70,000 mobile devices. Plus the rest of the company, we have more than 300,000 endpoints.

We continue to rely on Microsoft technology and participate as much as possible in Microsoft's Technology Adoption Program (TAP). It is because we are a member of the Microsoft Hyper-V TAP program, plus the direct support of the Hyper-V product team, that we are truly able to complete this upgrade and eliminate performance bottlenecks. We hope we can achieve the same success as us!