Frequently Asked Questions

Support

Are Microsoft products fully supported?

Yes. Support for SPLA customers is provided under the SPLA agreement by Zetta.IO. Zetta.IO is fully committed to supporting our customers running Microsoft workloads on our platform.

What do I do if I do not have Software Assurance on my Licenses?

You can contact your Microsoft Large Account Reseller (LAR) for options on how to purchased and/or add Software Assurance to existing licenses.

Is Zetta.IO SVVP Validated?

Zetta.IO does not need to be SVVP validated for customers to be fully supported running Microsoft workloads on our infrastructure platform.

SVVP does not apply to vendors that are hosting Windows Server or other Microsoft products through the Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement Program (SPLA). Support for SPLA customers is provided under the SPLA agreement by the SPLA hoster.

Windows Server

How frequently does Zetta.IO patch the official Windows system images?

Zetta.IO provides updated, fully patched Windows images within 5 business days of Microsoft’s patch Tuesday (second Tuesday of each month).

Older images are renamed and marked as deprecated, and moved away from the "Official" category. Deprecated images are still available by their original UUID.

What additional software is installed in the official Windows system images?

To give the best possible experience running Microsoft Windows workloads, we do the following changes when building our system images:

We install VirtIO drivers to support accelerated I/O operations.
We install the Windows Update PowerShell Module from TechNet.
We install all available patches.
We install CloudBase-Init from CloudBase Solutions to support automated deployment and coniguration.

In the future we also expect to bundle a guest agent to support synchronized snapshots amongst other features.

Can I move Windows Server 2012 licenses and images between on premise virtualization environments and Zetta.IO?

Windows Server licenses are not eligible for License Mobility through Software Assurance. The license to run Windows Server in the Zetta.IO environment is included in the per-minute cost of your Windows Virtual Machine. Licenses for use of Windows Server on-premises must be obtained separately through volume licensing.

Zetta.IO uses protected metadata information to tag a backing image or volume for Windows Server Licensing. Currently there are no available automated procedures to tag imported images or volumes with this metadata on a self-service basis. Please contact our support department for manual processing.

Building optimized images for deployment in a cloud is a complicated procedure. We advice all our customers to use official images as a base for deploying your Microsoft workloads.

What are the System Center license requirements for managing Windows Server 2012 instances?

Customers can use the license mobility benefits under Software Assurance to assign their System Center 2012 license to a Windows Server instance.

A System Center Standard license can be used to manage 2 VM instances; a System Center Datacenter license can be used to manage 8 VM instances.

For more information about pricing and licensing of System Center 2012 in the cloud, please read Microsofts System Center 2012 Licensing Datasheet.

Remote Desktop Services

Can service providers build a cloud-based service using session-based hosting through RDS (Remote Desktop Services, formerly known as Terminal Services)?

Yes, service providers can offer hosted solutions through RDS as long as they obtain RDS SALs (Subscriber Access Licenses) through a Microsoft Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) reseller.

Can customers use RDS CALs (Client Access License) they own as part of their VL (Volume Licensing) agreement to access Windows Server instances?

Volume Licensing customers who have active Software Assurance on their RDS User CALs are entitled to RDS CAL Extended Rights, which allow use of their RDS User CAL with Software Assurance against a Windows Server running on shared server environments. This RDS User CAL Software Assurance benefit allows each User to access RDS functionality only on one shared server environment in addition to access the respective on premise servers. To avail this benefit, you must complete and submit the License Mobility Verification form. Please review the License Mobility documentation.

Can customers rent Windows Client desktops?

No, multi-tenant hosting is restricted in the Product Use Rights of Windows Client, such as Windows 7 or Windows 8. Windows Client Desktops are not available on any IaaS provider.

Sharepoint

Does Zetta.IO offer Sharepoint images?

No, currently we do not offer pre-licensed Sharepoint images.

Can I run Sharepoint workloads on Zetta.IO?

Yes, SharePoint software can be deployed to Microsoft Windows virtual machines.

SharePoint must either be licensed via an existing Volume Licensing agreement using License Mobility for Software Assurance or as part of a hosted solution licensed via a Service Provider License Agreement.

How do I assign SharePoint licenses to instances?

One SharePoint license can be assigned to one instance. There are no limitations on what flavor you use, as long as it is a licensed Windows instance.