welcome to the funcave

Installing Small Business Server 2008 in Hyper-V

With the public release candidate of Small Business Server 2008 floating around and about, there might be a few folks who want to stand it up inside of Hyper-V RC1.

When configuring a virtual machine to run SBS08, you’ll want to remove the native adapter that is configured by default, and add a Legacy Network adapter instead.

Otherwise, you’ll get the following error during installation

Network Adapter was not found

SBS08 can’t see native adapters until Integration Services are loaded. Which you really can’t do safely until after SBS is done installing.

Talk about a Catch-22, huh?

Also, certain things in SBS08 won’t install correctly without an adapter loaded. So you end up with a borked install.

Which maybe is something you’re after. But prolly not.

Go legacy adapter, if all you are wanting to do is put SBS08 through its paces with the least amount of hassle.

|| posted by chris under beta, hardware, rx, virtualization || comments (2) || ||

Three Pretty Servers

OK…

So this is really just a tease shot, yes.

Instead, think of it as a whetting of your appetite.

|| posted by chris under beta, biz, it pro, virtualization || comments (0) || ||

Essential Business Funcave

It’s officially unofficial…

My primary focus is shifting to Essential Business Server.

Well, not that SBS was ever really a focus for me. Still don’t know how that happened.

But it doesn’t take a badge to push information that matters, right?

First up…

Virtualizing Essential Business Server (posts tomorrow)

|| posted by chris under beta, biz, hardware, it pro, migration, mobility, rx, virtualization || comments (0) || ||

Where Has All The Memory Gone?

Weird weird issue on the normally kickass server here at the Funcave, which just so happens to be named Charlene. As in…

The name of this server is CHARLENE, SIR!

Tried to copy a 45GB VHD file to our girl…

A file which came courtesy of someone who just so happens to have a pink blog…

No matter how many different ways I tried to copy the file, Charlene eventually got into a totally frozen state. No matter if I tried to copy directly from USB HDD, via network client, or copying from another share, eventually Charlene would become totally unresponsive at the console, sever all network connects, etc.

Now Charlene’s a badass in her own right…

• HP ML350 
• 2Ghz single quad-core Xeon
• 19 GB RAM
• 80 GB OS volume
• 250 GB Data volume

Charlene’s running…

• Windows Server Standard 2008 x64
• Hyper-V RC1

Seeing all kinds of weirdness trying to copy files to/from her.

All the mayhem starts when Free Physical Memory drops to sickeningly low levels.

Anyone with any serious knowledge of what’s going on wanna ping me? I’m talking Windows Server team, etc. Or anyone with the last name of Russinovich.

|| posted by chris under beta, clueless, hardware, kma, thumbs down, timekiller, virtualization || comments (4) || ||

A Surprising Week

Oh, I knew the MVP Summit would be awesome. But it was awesome in ways I hadn’t counted on.

In no particular order, here’s what ROCKED…

1. Getting to see MOM again.
2. Steaks with Nancy and Crystal on Thursday night, and using some of our IT mojo to give a little something back to Nancy, who’s been the heart & soul of our little SMB community.
3. Lorna Williamson singing “Son of a Preacher Man” at EMP.
4. Ballmer’s speech on Thursday.
5. Sprinting for the monorail’s last run.
6. Sitting next to Nick Whittome on the very first day, hitting it off immediately, and proceeding to both chew bubblegum and kick ass all week long, even tho we were all out of bubblegum.
7. Getting a chance to sit in on some Mobile dives. And meet Loke Uei, if ever so briefly.
8. The anonymous dude who saw us chasing the cab we had just gotten out of, and stepped out and flagged it down. Saved my new Lumix camera and Treo charging cable. Damn, there must be something in the air or water in Seattle. People are really freaking helpful there!
9. Andy Goodman’s sharp-eyed observation, which earned him my “Quote of the Week” award.
10. Finding out what an amazing person and tireless SBSC PAL the Canadians (and the rest of us) have in Elisabeth Vanderveldt.
11. Getting to vent on Groove to Groove MVPs, then hear others saying the same stuff during the Q&A for Ozzie’s talk.
12. Meeting the EBS team.
13. Lunch with Kevin Beares and some WHS MVPs, which included finding out about KB’s past as a member of the elite Army Rangers.
14. Going more mobile than mobile, thanks to my Treo Bluetooth travel keyboard, which both kicked ass, and got lots of attention from anyone who saw the setup.
15. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, which takes shots nothing short of breathtaking.
16. The Robotics Studio Open Space session, which compelled me to install the software that very evening.
17. Saving a complete stranger from a near-encounter with a roundhouse kick to his temple.
18. Running after a cab to save Chris’ camera and charger. – Nick Whittome
19. Riding, and subsequently getting thrown off, a mechanical bull. Also, the elbow scar to show around, which is all that really matters to folks from the UK. – Nick Whittome
20. The first Windows Mobile Open Space session, for saying stuff that needed to be said.
21. The BBQ at Nancy’s place on Saturday night. – Wayne Small
22. Meeting all the cool new MVPs that really deserve the title. – Wayne Small
23. The sheer openness and trust that the SBS team has with us in revealing plans YEARS in advance. – Wayne Small
24. Nick taking pictures of Chris on the bus while he was out cold – Kevin Weilbacher (Note: I consider this more apt for the SUCKED list, but I was outvoted by my fellow MVPs. The bastidges!)
25. Sharing room 2402 – Kevin Weilbacher (Note: Absolutely. Kev rocks!)
26. Kevin Weilbacher successfully getting EVERYTHING on the list his wife wanted him to pick up from Pike Place Market, thereby assuring his continued survival.
27. Watching Nancy’s daughter kicking the bootay of Guitar Hero III Mobile on Olli’s phone, ending “Woman” with a one-handed, over- her-head flourish! ROCK ON!
28. The Miguel Jacquinto act at EMP. Well, and laughing about it with Nick.
29. Nick’s bullriding should be on YouTube! – Elisabeth Vanderveldt
30. The SBS Family = TRES cool group – Elisabeth Vanderveldt
31. Wow if it wasn’t for meeting people like Chris and Nick the whole week would have SUCKED! – Elisabeth Vanderveldt
32. Finally getting a picture of someone other than ME snoozing during a session, keynote, supper, bus ride, fire drill, etc. – Wayne Small

Here’s what SUCKED…

1. Not being there when MOM broke her wrist in a horrible, freak accident. Wish I could have been there to help her.
2. Trying to figure out the freakin’ Bizarro world of buses, shuttles, cars, and dirigibles that service Microsoft’s campus.
3. Open Space sessions which were neither open, nor left any space for other folks to speak.
4. Looking for the pucks…and coming up short.
5. Egos.
6. More egos.
7. Chicken and salmon, after the 3rd day.
8. Winning the WHS deep dive drawing, but then getting disqual’d because I wasn’t in the room. Also, Roger, Kevin, Steven and about 3 other people telling me about it for days afterward. Then getting a video of it. What’s next? A Ken Burns mini-series?
9. No ferry during the 10p hour.
10. The pockets on my windbreaker, which dribble stuff out when I sit down.
11. The words “expected,” “everyone,” and “must.” Also, the intent behind them.
12. That the things said in the first Windows Mobile Open Space session needed to be said.
13. Hearing my friends uphappy about stuff that was said. - Wayne Small
14. Being in Seattle ONCE AGAIN and not seeing it snow! - Wayne Small
15. The number of times we heard the phrase “let’s take that offline” – Kevin Weilbacher
16. The totally ghetto green plastic bag I was using for my “More Mobile Than Mobile” experiment. If I had found a stick to tie it to and sling over my shoulder, I was gonna alter my badge name to say Hobo Baggins.

But the very best thing for me, of all the things this week…

1. Getting to hang out and spend a lot of time with Marina Roos, an absolute sweetheart who always seems to be looking out for others, even (and perhaps especially) when no one else is watching.

So to The Divine Ms. M and all the rest, thanks for making Summit both unforgettable and eye-opening.

*NOTE: If you were at Summit, post up your favorite/not-so-favorite things, and I’ll add them to the list. Please respect your NDA. Otherwise, the sky’s the limit!

|| posted by chris under beta, community, freebie, it pro, mobility, shoutout, thumbs down, thumbs up, travel || comments (9) || ||