steve_forbes

To be able to utilise Azure’s block blob storage, for file and system state back up, there are two options: - Microsoft Azure Backup Server (MABs); D2D2C - Microsoft Azure Backup; D2C Both of these options allow for physical and virtual machines to be backed up and the way in which they are costed are essentially the same. Both MABs and Azure backup don’t have any additional licencing costs, but the size of each VM/physical machine to be backed up needs to be understood. As does the total size of the data that will be stored in Azure, either per month or over the course of a year. Understanding the size of each VM should be a fairly simple task and the cost should remain fairly consistent. Once this is understood you can then work out your protected instances cost based on the following three tiers: - <50GB servers (VM’s) e.g. SQL servers; £3.05 per month per server/instance - 50-500GB servers (VM’s) e.g. general server DR backups; £6.11 per month per server/instance - >500GB servers (VM’s) e.g. file servers; £6.11 per month per 500GB (e.g, x1 1TB files server = £12.22 per month) The next task is to understand how much data in total is going to end up being stored in block blob storage (LRS will be fine for this). To do this a calculator of some sort will be required; as the system state backup will need to be understood both from a size and number of restore points required point of view. The user data will also need to be understood in both of these ways, as well as understanding how long you required each type of user data to be stored for. Once both of these are understood then a monthly and yearly cost can be estimated. As an example for LRS block blob it works out about £180 per TB per year. So; now you can actually cost what backing up to azure will cost, which is great. The next task is setting it all so you put in place what you have costed. Each server or VM will need to have its own set of backup policies, including retention periods on the files for archiving. If this is set up incorrectly then all the costs work out above will be incorrect and the costs of backing up to Azure could balloon. As with any cloud based backup service the key to getting it right is getting the data consumption under control. This where RM is going to be adding value. We are creating the calculator to help estimate the costs and then provide the installation services to ensure that the cost model from the calculator is put into practise correctly. As a final note on storage; Microsoft have recently released cool and cold storage options. These are not currently available for using with Azure backup/MABs; the only storage options available currently are LRS and GRS storage. As soon as cool and cold storage can be utilised we will be including them in our cloud backup service for archiving purposes.

Hi, We here at RM can also help remove CC4, in fact we have just created a service to do exactly that for schools where CC4 is no longer the right tool for their situation. We can remove the CC4 software and leave you with your mappings etc in place. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, this doesn't mean the end of CC4 - we are just recognising that depending on the school's circumstances and goals there may be times when an alternative solution is preferred. Likewise if you want a greenfield vanilla network then we can also help with that as well as migration to cloud services such as Office 365 and Google. Let me know if you would like any more details. Thanks Steve

Hi, Thanks for your feedback, it is most appreciated. @cbsc - thank you also for pointing out the typo in our Support Newsletter We are going to complete the Windows 10 work and have a look at Windows 7 to see if it's something we can do in a reasonable amount of time. I will keep you updated with our progress and for those customers that we have received feedback from via other methods as well as here, I will arrange to come and see you (on the basis that we have your contact details) - obviously only if I am welcome! @MAP - here is the explanation from our support team, this probably isn't any different from the information available via the tech article so if you want to know anything else then please let me know. The CC4 Windows 10 computer build fails at Disk Partitioning Community Connect® 4 (CC4) Windows 10 build fails at the Disk Partitioning build action on computers with the NVMe interface specification. This is a limitation in build client as it does not recognise the PCI ID string of the NVMe interface and therefore does not recognise the drive. The PCI ID of these devices starts with SCSI\NVMe or similar and the build client will not recognise this. This results in the drive not being recognised at the partitioning stage of the CC4 Windows 10 build. The CC4 Microsoft Windows 7 build fails at the WinPE3.0 point of the build Microsoft® Windows 7 (WinPE3.0) build will fail to recognise the drive and fail immediately. NVMe interface support is not inbuilt to Windows 7 or WinPE3.0 so the drive will not be recognised at boot and the build will fail at the WinPE part of the build. Windows 10 builds on CC4 This issue affects computers with a NVM Express (NVMe) interface. The PCI ID of these devices is similar to: SCSI\DiskNVMe_PM951_NVMe_SAMSUBXV7. Build client cannot recognise the prefix SCSI\Disk so fails to detect the drive. Native support for the NVMe interface was introduced in Windows 8.1 and continues in Windows 10. We are currently working on a fix for this in Windows 10 builds and this will be delivered by the Windows 10 Build 1511 (Threshold 2) update in Summer 2016. We recommend that, in the interim, you use the Smart Client process to add these computers to a CC4 network. Microsoft Windows 7 builds on CC4 On Microsoft Windows 7, remedial action is needed to add support for this interface. KB2990941 adds native driver support for the NVM Express (NVMe) interface that uses the PCI Express (PCIe) bus in Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1). This update (and any relevant drivers) needs to be added to the Microsoft Windows 7 (SP1) installation media in order for the drive to be recognised. Once updated, this media can be used to install the operating system and the computer can then be Smartcliented on to the CC4 network.

Here's the specs for one of them, the other one appears to have a digit missing? SERIAL NUMBER: WO45910801 PART NUMBER: 15F765 DESCRIPTION: F/A-2x2.8 Xn 2GB AXIV CTRL_AXIV 320_0_20160 CC3 ** OPERATING SYSTEM: W2K3SVR (YF441) [W2K3SVR] Operating System Registration PID: NOCOA MOTHERBOARD: RM Intel SE7520BD2 Server Mainboard [sBD2] CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz (800MHz Front Side Bus) (Dual CPU) RAM: 2048MB (DDR) FLOPPY DRIVE A: 3.5 1.44Mb FIRST SCSI CONTROLLER: LSI Logic 53C1010-66 PCI [LSI20160] BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 0: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 1: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 2: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 3: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 4: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 6: SCSI Backplane Controller [HSA_HSBP_M27] BUS 1 SCSI DEVICE ID 6: Sony SDX-700C AIT-3 Drive (100000Mb) [sDX_700C] DVD-ROM: Sony DDU1615 x40 IDE DVD [DDU1615] VIDEO: VGA ATi Rage XL 8MB RAM [RAGEXL] ETHERNET: Intel On Board 10/100/1000Mb [082541PI] ETHERNET ADDRESS: 000423BBD82B COM1: Enhanced 16550A at I/O 3F8h IRQ4 MAINBOARD: Intel SE7520BD22S for RM plc Serial No. BZBD52471155 DIMM 1: Manufacturer - Samsung Serial Number - 41015F4D IDE PRIMARY MASTER: SONY DDU1615 IDE PRIMARY SLAVE: None IDE SECONDARY MASTER: None IDE SECONDARY SLAVE: None CPU: Family=15 Model=4 Stepping=1 Serial Number - 00000F41

@ChrisERoots Those serial numbers don't look like RM serial numbers, they normally start with WOxxxxxxx - are they definitely RM servers?

@ChrisERoots Based on that Serial number I got the following specs: SERIAL NUMBER: WO48555901 PART NUMBER: 1AA262 DESCRIPTION: F/A-2x2.8 Xn2GB DDR2 ECC Dual_210 CTRL_BRJR 320_** OPERATING SYSTEM: No Operating system installed Operating System Registration PID: NOCOA MOTHERBOARD: RM Intel SE7520BD2VD2 Server Mainboard [sBD22] CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz (800MHz Front Side Bus) (Dual CPU) RAM: 2048MB (DDR2) FLOPPY DRIVE A: 3.5 1.44Mb FIRST SCSI CONTROLLER: LSI Logic 53C1010-66 PCI [LSI20160] BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 0: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 1: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 2: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 3: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 4: 10,000 RPM Hard disk (146800Mb) BUS 0 SCSI DEVICE ID 6: SCSI Backplane Controller [HSA_HSBP_M27] BUS 1 SCSI DEVICE ID 6: Sony SDX-700V AIT-3 Drive (100000Mb) [sDX_700V] CD-ROM: Samsung SH-D162 [sH-D162] VIDEO: VGA ATi Rage XL 8MB RAM [RAGEXL] ETHERNET: Intel On Board 10/100/1000Mb [082541PI] ETHERNET ADDRESS: 000423CF47B7 COM1: Enhanced 16550A at I/O 3F8h IRQ4 MAINBOARD: Intel SE7520BD23S for RM plc Serial No. BZB261970508 DIMM 1: Manufacturer - Infineon Serial Number - 01150C10 IDE PRIMARY MASTER: SAMSUNG SH-D162 IDE PRIMARY SLAVE: None IDE SECONDARY MASTER: None IDE SECONDARY SLAVE: None CPU: Family=15 Model=4 Stepping=10 Serial Number - 00000F4A As @3s-gtech said, this may be ok to run Windows Server 2008 but very unlikely to work with 2012 I'm afraid. Thanks Steve

Hi, We've seen a number of schools do this with RM servers, either offsite in other buildings or even in different schools. Whether you can install Server 2012 really depends on the spec of the server, there are some configurations that aren't suitable for Server 2012 but if you let me know the serial numbers I can give you an idea of that - there is of course a difference between what we recommend in terms of OS and what is physically possible but in this scenario I assume you would have the opportunity to try and test before relying on it as a backup solution. Steve Head of Network Solutions RM Education

Hi, Have you tried contacting our support desk about the issue? Regards, Steve Head of Network Solutions @ RM Education

Thanks for the feedback. One of the contributing factors in our decision was around the fact that the new Intel (and AMD) shipsets after "Kaby Lake" will only support Windows 10 and will not be backwards compatible to Windows 7. "Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support. This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon. For example, Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intel’s upcoming “Kaby Lake” silicon, Qualcomm’s upcoming “8996” silicon, and AMD’s upcoming “Bristol Ridge” silicon." Taken from this Windows blog post: https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2016/01/15/windows-10-embracing-silicon-innovation/ I would be interested in your thoughts on this, if having the fastest and newest technologies is important to you (or at least an option) then will you not be upgrading the OS to get access to the faster chipsets? Thanks Steve

I have checked with our support team and unfortunately using DISM will not help in this instance as we would still need to have: • The CC4 Build Client changes to recognise the new NVMe Interface to the SSD • The KB2990941 needs to be in both the W7 installation media (i.e. the WIM file) AND in the Boot.wim file (together with the NVMe drivers) that we use in the PE phase of the build (which is where it currently fails). Apologies not to have better news on that, we are continuing to look at the situation and I'll let you know if anything changes. Thanks Steve

Hi, I've just spoken to our support team and we don't believe that the suggestion above will work (it was a long explanation as to why it won't so I won't post it but if anyone wants to know the details then just let me know!) @cbsc thank you for the feedback, we are going to have a look into this again - we do have to prioritise and make tough decisions on the things that we fix and develop based on customer feedback and the number of customers affected. That said, every customer is important to me and I will take every piece of feedback on board. I'll post an update as soon as I have got the team together to discuss. In the meantime if you have any further questions or feedback then feel free to drop me a message or I am happy to come to your school to meet face to face. Regards, Steve Forbes Head of Network Solutions RM Education

Hi, With regards to the single station and removing the CC4 tools, our support team suggest stopping and disabling the RM main services on the station. This hasn't been fully tested but we believe this will work. Regards, Steve

Hi, I'll check with our Support team and see if there is a known way of doing this - I'll come back to you shortly. Regards, Steve Forbes Head of Network Solutions RM Education

I'll have a look at this and come back to you with indicative pricing - obviously it will be indicative at this stage. Other than cost are there any other barriers that would prevent you from adopting this kind of backup strategy?

We at RM are currently look at developing a Cloud backup solution, utilising Azure storage but making the pricing structure clearer for schools and removing some of the potential barriers that schools face when using these types of solutions. This isn't a sales pitch but more an offer of a discussion to see if we could help understand your requirements and shape our solution to meet your needs?

Hi, Have you had any luck resolving this issue? If not, please let me know and I will see what we can do to help. Regards, Steve Steve Forbes Head of Network Solutions RM Education E: [email protected]