@scottalanmiller said:

@alexntg said:

@scottalanmiller said:

@alexntg Is VDA still needed on a 1:1 scenario?

To start with, yes. The accessing device must be covered by either SA or VDA. If a Companion Subscription License (CSL) is added on to the VDA or SA for a user's primary device, they're able to use up to 4 additional devices to access the virtual OSE.

So you can't remote into a VM on your own desktop?

Without SA or VDA licensing, there's no licensed usage of a Windows desktop OS on a VM, even if on your local machine. This is the reason I have SA on my home computer.

@scottalanmiller said:

Can't just revert back a DC.

In that case, it'd be a simple matter of tossing the old DC and spinning up a new one. More of an annoyance than anything else.

@NetworkNerd said:

@alexntg said:

On to opinion - Is your current setup meeting RPO and RTO?

Yes, it is.

In that case, anything else would be fluff. It would be important to weigh the added complexity with potential gains.

Mmm, steak fries! Feel free to sync those over to my house.

How many files are being synced?

I don't have any Synologies at this point, as I really have minimal storage requirements. However, I've done many implementations. Mostly, I use it as a backup target for Veeam, via NFS when connected to an ESXi host/hosts, or via iSCSI if connected to a small offsite Windows box. It serves well for large-data sneakernet when moving many TB of data physically is the quickest option. In a pinch, it can be used to temporarily spin up some critcal VM workloads from backup/replica if the main storage fails.

The most unique implementation I've done is a clustered pair for an SMB as a replacement for their file server. FileStation was used for file sync when field engineers needed to store local data, and it would sync up the next time they were in the office or on the VPN. DR was a breeze with both local USB backup and Amazon glacier backup.
*Edited for spelling

@scottalanmiller said:

@alexntg said:

@scottalanmiller said:

Was already getting LMI on there. But no work arounds on Azure as far as I can tell. If this happens the box is just " lost".

Could you please rephrase that? Were you able to connect to LogMeIn, but couldn't log into the server, or you weren't able to connect via LogMeIn?

The question is about just azure. If you have a Windows server on Azure and ANY tool you are using loses access.... What is the fallback?

Have multiple tools in place. If you're using RDP and that fails, Try connecting via LogMeIn, or vice versa. There's also remote management from another box on the same network. If all 3 fail, there's something bad happening with the machine.

@Hubtech said:

no idea. i dont play in azure

Likewise. I'm an AWS person. At least in AWS, you can restore back to the last snapshot of the machine you took (assuming you took one). If you do something like give it a bad IP address or it bluescreens, your options are to reboot, restore from backup, or rebuild from scratch.

I just wanted to insert a supporting technical bit: In the event of failover if you're using Veeam replication, you aren't relying on Veeam at all. The replica is a VM on the other host. It's in a crash-ready state at the point the replica snapshot was taken.

On to opinion - Is your current setup meeting RPO and RTO?

@scottalanmiller said:

@alexntg Is VDA still needed on a 1:1 scenario?

To start with, yes. The accessing device must be covered by either SA or VDA. If a Companion Subscription License (CSL) is added on to the VDA or SA for a user's primary device, they're able to use up to 4 additional devices to access the virtual OSE.

@scottalanmiller said:

Was already getting LMI on there. But no work arounds on Azure as far as I can tell. If this happens the box is just " lost".

Could you please rephrase that? Were you able to connect to LogMeIn, but couldn't log into the server, or you weren't able to connect via LogMeIn?

@technobabble said:

@alexntg Weird, I didn't notice that with Server 2012 when remoting in. I never deleted any of those tiles.

It's not the tiles. It's the sweeping motions involved with Modern UI. For PCoIP, depending on how you have the environment optimized, you'll either have choppiness or blurring during the motion parts. For a very basic user, it's liveable. However, for a power user, they'll get a bit frustrated. The traditional popup start menu doesn't have the motion, and the transition isn't noticed by the user. This can be overcome if you want throw some excess CPU or bandwidth at it, but over a couple hundred VMs, that adds up.

@technobabble said:

@alexntg One of my clients just got W8 about 4 months ago and the transition to W8 was smooth. Last month the client needed me for something else and also had a complaint re: the "shell thing" on her computer. She said their practice management program needed updating so the support tech insisted on installing classic shell so he could find things in W8. She asked me to make the shell thing go away. I was proud of her!

That's pretty cool!

@scottalanmiller said:

No Exchange in the environment. DNS or AD might do it.

But the question was.... How would we get access if this happens?

Wait it out. Otherwise, remotely manage it from another machine and adjust its services as needed. There's also LogMeIn, which generates a viewable session long before RDP starts up.

@Hubtech said:

check your logs

That's a safe bet. Wild hunch is that it sounds like it might be a DC that's stuck waiting for the DNS service to start, or is pointed at servers that are unavaiable. That, or a resource-starved Exchange server.

@scottalanmiller said:

@alexntg said:

@scottalanmiller said:

Has anyone worked with Windows on Azure? (The IaaS service?) I built a server and everything was working fine. It joined the domain and was accessible. After a reboot, RDP and PowerShell Remoting (and PsExec) are all blocked. I get the NLA (Network Level Authentication) error and nothing works.

Now I let it sit for a while and access was available again. Very odd. Just wondering if anyone has run into this and, if so, what would you do to access the instance since there is no console access!! Obviously disabling NLA is one option, now that things work, but we would obviously prefer the extra security. But we need something to ensure that we can get access should something go wrong as well.

Thoughts? Experiences?

What changed between joining it to the domain and the second reboot? Are there any firewall-specific group policies in place (or lack thereof?) Did any of the other instances on your virtual network experience the same issue?

Nothing changed. Just the reboot. And eventually it was accessible.

Is it a DC or Exchange server?

@Nic said:

http://www.classicshell.net/

Interesting...

@Minion-Queen said:

I am working on it.

Ustream might be an option.

@Hubtech said:

I'm going to be doing an interesting (not really) Exchange migration for 50 users in the next month or two. The only reason it's quasi-interesting is because they are currently in a VDI environment managed by another MSP. Having a ton of Performance issues in their whole environment which includes EHR/PM software (SRS), Exchange (2010), some eRx and eFaxing, pretty vanilla environment. So here's my question that I think i've already answered. How would you migrate the users from exchange moving their PSTs to the new environment?

Assuming you're referring to Office 365 as the new destination, There's a few ways to go about it. You could hook up 365 to the existing Outlook installs as a second account, bring the PSTs into the archive mailbox for the new users, then later do a cutover migration. Alternatively, you could do the migration, then later import the PSTs into the archive mailboxes. On a less optimal note, if the archives are strictly time-based, depending on how your users manage mail, you could re-import the PSTs back into the main mailboxes, then do the migration (though this could lead to some sizeable mailboxes).

If the destination's an onsite Exchange server, you could just write a powershell script to batch export all mailboxes to PST, move them across, then batch import them.

@technobabble said:

@alexntg why wouldn't you just check the box that allows the user to see the desktop from login, like W7. I remove all tiles except the desktop and pin all daily task items to taskbar. This way clients feel like W7 with an odd shut down pattern.

That could work for some users, if the base image included Outlook, Word, and Excel on the taskbar. It's not so much the content of the start screen as it is the broad, sweeping motions it has. It looks jerky when users move from section to section, such as when browsing applications. In a smaller environment, additional per-user manual customization may be an option, but not really for larger numbers of users.

@Carnival-Boy said:

@alexntg said:

Everything is available a la carte with Microsoft. If you wanted to pick up Exchange, SharePoint, and Office, but not Lync, you can. Much like a combo meal at a fast food place, it'll cost you more individually, but it's completely doable.

That's part of what I hate about plans.

Sometimes it works in your favor. For my personal domain, I ran EOP1 and Office ProPlus, for $16 per month. It was cheaper than E3, and made sense because I wasn't using Lync or SharePoint.