Matt's questions

I have language packs KB3012997 and KB2839636 staged and approved in Windows Server Update Services 2012 R2, but my Windows Server Core 2012 R2 clients refuse to install it. After googling the issue, it appears that these language pack updates are unable to be installed via WSUS, and have to be manually installed on the clients via the Language Control Panel. Unfortunately the Language Control Panel is not available on the Core edition of Windows server, both control.exe input.dll and control.exe /name Microsoft.Language do not work. I've tried installing the CAB files manually with dism /online /Add-Package /Package-Name:E:\WsusContent\65\F1C5505C26603C0E907DEDD5A4B3A0E6511E44C65.cab but the updates are not registered as being installed in the WSUS console.

How can I go about getting these language packs installed on Server Core 2012 R2? Yes I know these language packs do little to nothing on Server Core. And that I could work around this issue by creating separate groups in the WSUS console for the Core and non-Core editions of Windows Server, and approving these updates only for the non-Core editions. But to satisfy my autism i'd like to get these updates installed anyways, because if they really were never intended to target Core editions of Windows Server, i'm assuming the WSUS console wouldn't say my Core servers are applicable for them. Right now the only way I can think of is using a tool like Altiris RapidInstall or Sysinternals Process Monitor to see what file/registry changes are made while adding a language pack on a non-Core edition of Windows Server, after it has already been installed with dism.exe and then applying these changes to the Core edition servers.

Does Exchange (or Office 365 Exchange hosting) offer any functionality similar to www.youcanbook.me, where people who are not members of an organization (and do not have login credentials) can make appointments/reservations on a shared calendar? Or would the only way to accomplish this would be to publish credentials on a website to a "guest" Exchange/OWA account, and give the "guest" account Non-editing Author permissions to the shared calendar?

So I am aware that VMs in FT mode are limited to a single vCPU. Is it possible to assign multiple cores to the single vCPU, and still have the VM support FT mode? Or are you forced to use both a vCPU and single vCore per FT VM?

I plan on deploying a cluster of 2 ESXi/vSphere servers and having them run in fault tolerance mode. The virtual servers primarily be IIS & SQL. The physical servers will have a single Xeon E5-2697 (2.7Ghz 12 Core) CPU, 64GB RAM and dedicated network controllers for ESXi FT communication. Assuming these virtual servers were running at a maximum load, how much bandwidth would be required for the ESXi FT to keep the redundant node in lockstep with the primary node? Would a 1 Gbit ethernet connection be adequate, or should I use 10 Gbit ethernet instead?

Thanks!

I plan on deploying a cluster of 2 physical servers running vSphere. The VMs in this cluster will be ran in fault tolerance mode. Can the vCenter server be ran as a appliance on the vSphere cluster, or does it require its own server separate from the cluster? Thanks!

I plan on deploying two physical servers which will run VMware ESXi and have a number of questions regarding Microsoft licensing. To note, all the VMs on the servers will be configured to run in ESXi's fault tolerance mode. This means that all the VMs on the secondary server will run in lock step with the primary server.

• Would I need to buy Windows Server CAL licenses for each VM on one server? For instance 1 ESXi server has 2 virtual Microsoft servers running on it. Each virtual server has 25 devices (or users) connecting to it. The devices (or users) connecting to each VM would be the same. Would I need 25 or 50 CALs for the physical server?
• Would I need to buy additional Windows 2012 Datacenter Server licenses and the associated CAL licenses for the redundant ESXi server?

• Would I need to buy additional SQL 2012 Standard (or Business Intelligence) server licenses and associated CAL licenses for the redundant ESXi server?

• And although this doesnt pertain to a virtualized environment, when/how do CALs come in to play with IIS?

Thanks!

I have limited experience with routers, I was wondering if some offer some insight. I am considering deploying a series of HP MSR20 (or similar routers) at a number of satellite offices which have cable modems. The routers would need to provide NAT for internet access, and at the same time maintain a VPN connection to the main office (with another MSR20) to provide access to the servers there (DHCP, Active Directory, IIS, SQL) in a hub and spoke model. Communication between the satellite offices would be minimal. Most importantly it would need to ensure that the clients at the satellite offices do not use the main office's internet connection. How feasible is this? Are there any caveats that I should be aware of? Anything I should look in to since most of the units i've worked with in the past are SOHO class.

Thanks!