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ALERT! AppLogic 2.9 Documentation The latest production release is AppLogic 3.0.30

Getting started with Microsoft Windows on AppLogic

AppLogic supports appliances based on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (32-bit and 64-bit, Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter/Web Editions). Versions of AppLogic later than 2.9.1 include support for appliances based on Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit, Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter/Web Editions).

Windows appliances/applications are not distributed with AppLogic due to licensing restrictions. However, depending upon your AppLogic license, you may be able to obtain ready-made Windows-based appliances/applications from 3tera:

  • If you are a direct licensee who installs AppLogic on-premises in your own data center or on your own hardware, please contact Microsoft for a Windows Volume License (you must obtain your own Microsoft license in order to use Windows appliances on AppLogic).
  • If you own a VPDC (Virtual Private Data Center) obtained directly from 3tera, contact your 3tera account manager for information on how to obtain ready-made Windows appliances and applications that you may use on your VPDC.
  • If you own a VPDC (Virtual Private Data Center) obtained directly from a 3tera partner, contact your sales representative with that vendor for information on how to obtain ready-made Windows appliances and applications that you may use on your VPDC.

If you are a 3Tera partner or customer that would like to use Microsoft Windows on your AppLogic grid, please follow the instructions below:

  1. Verify that you have the 3rd party software license add-on (aka TurboGate addendum). It is part of all new license agreements signed with 3Tera; old agreements require an addendum.
  2. Install the Windows template applications and a Windows appliance catalog /system_ms. All appliances and singletons are missing the Windows boot volumes.
  3. Make sure VT (hardware virtualization) is enabled on all servers -- frequently it is disabled by default. All servers must have CPU's which support hardware virtualization and the BIOS should be upgraded to a good, safe version -- see http://forum.3tera.com/showthread.php?t=861 regarding security and stability issues due to Intel errata.
  4. The AppLogic user documentation (see the reference section below) includes step-by-step instructions on how to:
    • install Windows onto a "base" appliance (including the APK and PV drivers); this requires an ISO image from the Microsoft SPLA or volume license agreement. 3Tera recommends using only the supported versions of Windows:
      • Windows Server 2003 R2 32-bit/64-bit Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter Edition
      • Windows Server 2003 Web Edition 32-bit
      • Windows Server 2008 without Hyper-V SP2 32-bit Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter Edition
      • Windows Server 2008 Web Edition SP2 32-bit
      • Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter Edition
    • create the Windows filer appliance(s)
    • create the remaining appliances/applications such as the Windows VDS's (all of the Windows appliances start from the base appliances mentioned above except for Filer_Windows08)
  5. Once created, the Windows appliances can be migrated off of the grid to any other grid of the same company (within the Microsoft SPLA/volume license) -- the process of creating the Windows appliances/applications does not need to be done on every grid; it is done only once for the company for each AppLogic release. 3Tera recommends creating the Windows appliances/applications on an internal grid, and then migrating the appliances to customer grids based on what the customer has ordered.
    • Exception - If a BYOL is used ("bring your own license" rather than using the hosting company's SPLA), then each such customer needs to go through the full process of building the Windows appliances/applications, from ripping the ISO, to using their keys and creating each appliance from the base appliance. It is OK to be assisted by the hosting company while using the customer's license key instead of the company's license key -- this method is essentially the same as for physical hosted servers.
  6. 3Tera will send instructions for collecting the license use information for Windows appliances/physical servers from the 3Tera metering system.
  7. 3Tera can work with the customer to set up more advanced metering for other Microsoft software (e.g., Exchange, SQL Server, Sharepoint, etc.).

While 3Tera prepares the full Windows appliance set in about 1-2 days; our experience has been that the first time it is done, it takes about a week or so to straighten things out for a new customer. Since AppLogic's Windows support is relatively new, 3Tera recommends planning enough time to evaluate the support, in terms of performance, quality, etc., before committing a customer to running it in production. Also, to perform the Windows installation and setup process, 3Tera recommends a sysadmin who is experienced in both Linux and Windows (and AppLogic, of course).

Note: a Microsoft Windows-based client machine with MSIE and/or Firefox is required for the setup process; currently 3Tera does not recommend installing Windows using a Mac or Linux client workstations due to some glitches in the Java-based virtual console on these platforms (i.e., failure to submit Ctrl-Alt-Del).

3Tera can schedule a paid support session to walk through the Windows installation/setup process with the customer -- this can be extremely beneficial, especially for those who have not used AppLogic long enough to know which issues are AppLogic related and which are Windows-specific.

Windows References

Below is the set of references which are used to create Windows appliances and applications for a grid:

3Tera also has an SQL Server 2008 appliance and an IIS Web Server appliance (available in beta), as well as a .NET stack and a clustered .NET stack template. Below are installation instructions for these beta appliances and applications:

-- EricT - 22 Jun 2009

 
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