Infrastructure-as-a-Service Technical Guidance for Hosting Service Providers

Microsoft published a guide for Hosting Service Providers that use or will use System Center and Windows Server. The guide just gives an overview from which you will be able to get the big picture on where to start but it is useful for starters. Download this document from here.

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Migration to Windows Server 2012

If you are in the path to Windows Server 2012 migration MVA just published videos for you. The course is still not available on MVA site but you can watch the videos:

Datacenter Abstraction Layer (DAL)

Datacenter Abstraction Layer is a fairly new concept that is worth looking at it. You can find more about it here.

Network Virtualization (NVGRE) in Windows Server 2012 May Not work if You Do Not Have Update KB2779768 Installed

Two of my colleagues were testing Network Virtualization these days and stumbled on some strange issue. They’ve setup two standalone Hyper-V hosts, installed System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager SP1 and added the two hosts to be managed by VMM. They’ve created two networks with network virtualization in VMM. The first network was for customer A the second was for custom B. You can see a demo here how to setup Network Virtualization in VMM. After this 4 virtual machines were installed:

2 for customer A. One (VMA1) located on Host1 and second (VMA2) located on Host 2.
2 for customer B. One (VMB1) located on Host 1 and second (VMB2) located on Host 2.

Then they’ve started to ping VMA2 from VMA1 an vice versa but no replies were received.

It was time for some hard troubleshooting on network level with Wireshark. They’ve started to analyze the packets and compare them also to the RFC of the NVGRE. They were seeing this icmpType3Code10（Destination host administratively prohibited）upon inspection. They’ve searched over Internet and found this presentation Satoshi GOTO who is Microsoft MVP. The presentation is written in Japanese and provides information for our issue and why it was happening.

When Microsoft release Windows Server 2012 RTM Network Virtualization was included but it was based on the initial version of NVGRE RFC. So let’s compare the initial and the latest version of NVGRE’s RFC:

In the initial version we have the following diagram for GRE Encapsulation Frame Format:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   Outer Ethernet Header:             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                (Outer) Destination MAC Address                |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |(Outer)Destination MAC Address |  (Outer)Source MAC Address    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                  (Outer) Source MAC Address                   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Optional Ethertype=C-Tag 802.1Q| Outer VLAN Tag Information    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |       Ethertype 0x0800        |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   Outer IPv4 Header:
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |         Identification        |Flags|      Fragment Offset    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  Time to Live | Protocol 0x2F |         Header Checksum       |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                      (Outer) Source Address                   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                  (Outer) Destination Address                  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   GRE Header:
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |0| |1|0| Reserved0       | Ver |   Protocol Type 0x6558        |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                        Tenant Network ID (TNI)|   Reserved    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   Inner Ethernet Header
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                (Inner) Destination MAC Address                |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |(Inner)Destination MAC Address |  (Inner)Source MAC Address    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                  (Inner) Source MAC Address                   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Optional Ethertype=C-Tag 802.1Q| PCP |0| VID set to 0          |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |       Ethertype 0x0800        |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   Inner IPv4 Header:

   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |


Sridharan et al             Informational                      [Page 7]

In the latest version we have the following diagram for GRE Encapsulation Frame Format:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   Outer Ethernet Header:             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                (Outer) Destination MAC Address                |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |(Outer)Destination MAC Address |  (Outer)Source MAC Address    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                  (Outer) Source MAC Address                   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Optional Ethertype=C-Tag 802.1Q| Outer VLAN Tag Information    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |       Ethertype 0x0800        |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   Outer IPv4 Header:
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |         Identification        |Flags|      Fragment Offset    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  Time to Live | Protocol 0x2F |         Header Checksum       |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                      (Outer) Source Address                   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                  (Outer) Destination Address                  |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   GRE Header:
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |0| |1|0| Reserved0       | Ver |   Protocol Type 0x6558        |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |               Virtual Subnet ID (VSID)        |   Reserved    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   Inner Ethernet Header
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                (Inner) Destination MAC Address                |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |(Inner)Destination MAC Address |  (Inner)Source MAC Address    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                  (Inner) Source MAC Address                   |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Optional Ethertype=C-Tag 802.1Q| PCP |0| VID set to 0          |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |       Ethertype 0x0800        |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   (Continued on the next page)




Sridharan et al             Informational                      [Page 6]

 
Internet-Draft                  NVGRE                     February 2013


   Inner IPv4 Header:
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |         Identification        |Flags|      Fragment Offset    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |  Time to Live |    Protocol   |         Header Checksum       |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                       Source Address                          |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                    Destination Address                        |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                    Options                    |    Padding    |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   |                      Original IP Payload                      |
   |                                                               |
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

On first sight there are no significant differences. I’ve highlighted with yellow the area where you need to focus your attention. You can see that the only difference is that the term Tenant Network ID (TNI) was replaced with Virtual Subnet ID (VSID). but let’s look closer at the explanation in the RFC.

Initial version:

The Key field in the GRE header is used to carry the Tenant Network Identifier. Key field is 32 bits long of which the lower 24 bits are used for TNI. The Key Present (bit 2 in the GRE header) is always set to 1.
The upper 8 bits of the Key field are reserved for use by NVGRE endpoints and are not part of the TNI space. NVGRE endpoints MUST set this value to zero.

Latest version:

Virtual Subnet ID (VSID): The first 24 bits are used for VSID as shown in Figure 1.
FlowID: The last 8 bits of the Key field are (optional) FlowID, which can be used to add per-flow entropy within the same VSID, where the entire Key field (32-bit) is used for ECMP purposes by switches or routers in the physical network infrastructure. If a FlowID is not generated, the FlowID field MUST be set to all zero.

So if you are reading right in initial version VSID 32 bits were looking like this:

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

| 8 bits FlowID | 32 bits VSID |

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

and in the latest version we have this:

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

| 32 bits VSID | 8 bits FlowID |

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Format was changed.

Even it was not stated nowhere update KB2779768 was changing this format from the initial version to the format of the latest version. If you see in the description of the update you will find that only these issues are fixed in it:

Improves the speed of text input in some Windows Store apps.
Resolves an issue that prevents some users who have Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.0-based devices from using mirror drivers.
Resolves an issue that may prevent some games from being updated.
Resolves an issue that may cause blips in audio playback when a computer is running in "Connected Standby" mode.
Resolves an issue in which Windows Store apps do not obtain data when they connect to Windows Store through a cellular network.

But this update has another web page where are listed which files will be changed after the update is applied. An there you can see these files are changed:

Wnv.sys
Wnvapi.dll

Both files define Network Virtualization in Windows Server 2012.

In our case Host1 was having update KB2779768 and Host2 didn’t had it. This is like the two hosts are speaking in different languages for Network Virtualization.

You should install KB2779768 on all your Hyper-V hosts if you plan to implement Network Virtualization because every network device that will be NVGRE aware will follow the latest NVGRE format.

This issue is widely spread over Internet but only in Japanese web sites.

All credits for these findings go to my colleagues Yordan Dimov and Kiril Tsvetanov for tracing and resolving this issue and to Satoshi GOTO who detailed it in his presentation.

Book Review: Windows Server 2012 Unified Remote Access Planning and Deployment

This is another book review. Windows Server 2012 Unified Remote Access Planning and Deployment book is about technologies I do not have so much experience with – DirectAccess and VPN. Even though I specializing in System Center and Hyper-V it is good to have broader knowledge at least on some basic level. Technologies like DirectAccess and VPN are deployed event in the Cloud.

First I will start that is a small book but it understandable that it covers only one feature in Windows Server 2012. Before starting to read this book I recommend to have basic knowledge on Windows Server, Active Directory, Certificate Services and Networking. The book starts by introducing you to DirectAccess, how it works on general level and what are the requirements for it. It doesn’t rush you directly in the technology instead it explains very well every technology that is built into DIrectAccess. This very good if you have only some basic knowledge on Windows Server, Active Directory, Certificates services and Networking because explains you technologies like IPv6, DNS, ISATAP, DNS64, NAT64, 6to4, Teredo, IP-HTTPS, Group policy and PKI. In next chapters the book continues by introducing you to the architecture of DirectAccess and how to prepare your environment for implementing it. This is followed by installation and configuration of Unified Remote Access role. The last chapters cover some advanced scenarios as well as troubleshooting tips.

In summary the book is very easy to read and provides very good picture of Unified Remote Access role in Windows Server 2012. I recommend this book for engineers who have the task or consider deployment of DirectAccess in their environments. The book is suitable reading for those who have implemented Direct Access in Windows Server 2008 R2 in the past and want to know what have changed in 2012 and how they can migrate to the new version. If you think that this book is for you can grab it on one of these stores:

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