2016.12.13
Year in review: virtualizing 400+ servers on Hyper-V — what we learned
Lessons from a Hyper-V P2V migration program spanning 400+ servers: candidate triage, where the utilization gains came from, cluster sizing, and the refusals.
2016 field notes.
12 notes from 2016. Product names and recommendations reflect that year — not today's catalog. Current notes (2024–)
Archive
// pre-2024 field notes// 2016 · 12 posts · archive year page
2016// 12 posts
2016.11.15
System Center 2016 first look: upgrading SCVMM, SCOM, and SCCM from 2012 R2 in the field
System Center 2016 upgrade field notes: sequencing SCVMM 2016, SCOM, and SCCM Current Branch from 2012 R2, coexistence gotchas, and what broke in our lab.
2016.10.18
Windows Server 2016 is GA: what Hyper-V 2016 changes for private cloud builders
Windows Server 2016 GA field notes: Hyper-V 2016 features, Storage Spaces Direct, shielded VMs, and nested virtualization judged against a 400-server private cloud.
2016.09.13
A multi-tenant Skype for Business 2015 environment that survives 10,000 concurrent users
Skype for Business 2015 architecture field notes: front-end pool design, edge topology, SIP domain isolation, and load testing a multi-tenant platform.
2016.08.09
ADFS 3.0 for Office 365: lessons from multi-domain federation
Field notes on ADFS 3.0 federated authentication for Office 365: WAP proxies, certificate rollover, UPN suffix cleanup, and multi-domain federation.
2016.07.12
Planning a 15,000-Mailbox Move to Office 365: The Assessment Phase
Field notes from an Office 365 migration assessment: sizing a 15,000-mailbox Exchange 2010 estate, egress math, ADFS mapping, and why discovery wins.
2016.06.14
Office 365 tenant readiness: the checklist before assessment theater
Office 365 tenant readiness checklist: domains, identity, licensing, networking, and governance gates before a 15,000-mailbox migration assessment.
2016.05.17
Hyper-V 2012 R2 cluster build discipline
Hyper-V 2012 R2 cluster field notes: storage, networking, CSV, patching cadence, and build standards before Server 2016 private cloud work.
2016.04.12
SharePoint 2010 farm health: triage before you upgrade
SharePoint 2010 farm health before migration: content DB inventory, customization debt, auth mode, and what blocks a clean 2013 or cloud path.
2016.03.15
Skype for Business 2015 on-prem: design decisions that age well
Skype for Business 2015 architecture decisions: topology, edge, HA, capacity for enterprise estates before multi-tenant complexity.
2016.02.09
Azure AD Connect and the hybrid identity first mile
Azure AD Connect hybrid identity field notes: DirSync legacy, UPN cleanup, filtering, staging mode, and why identity leads every Office 365 program.
2016.01.12
Exchange 2010 capacity: get honest before the cloud conversation
Exchange 2010 capacity planning field notes: mailbox growth, DAG reality, SAN pressure, and why you measure before any Office 365 pitch.