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Archive for August, 2013

My Microsoft Teched Australia 2013 speaking sessions

August 28, 2013 Leave a comment

This year I will be presenting 4 ILL sessions at TechEd Australia, but you can also find me at the Microsoft Showcase : Datacenter and at the Insight booth in the Exhibition Centre.

Take time to visit Insight booth and learn about what we can do to help your business and to enter on a draw to win a Microsoft Surface or a signed copy of my book: System Center 2012 VMM.

My Sessions:

AZR-I201

 Wednesday 11:15 – 12:45 

Getting to Know Windows Azure IaaS, Part 1

Whether   you build apps or support the infrastructure that runs the apps, the cloud   can be a really big place. For some, it’s a natural evolution for their   application and infrastructure to embrace the power and scale of the cloud.   For others, it’s a journey that has to begin with a single step. Windows   Azure provides that first step with a scalable, flexible platform for deploying   your applications your way. With our Infrastructure as a Service platform   (IaaS) called Windows Azure Virtual Machines, you get the flexibility to   choose between Windows and Linux with full control over the operating system   configuration and installed software, matched with the portability of Hyper-V   disk images. Windows Azure Virtual Machines provide the perfect environment   for meeting all of your Infrastructure-as-a-Service needs. To learn more   about our Infrastructure as a Service platform, we invite all developers and   IT professionals to join Matt Hester as he introduces you to the Microsoft   Cloud Platform, dives deep into Windows Azure Virtual Machines, and helps   walk you through a hands-on demonstration of the power of IaaS on the Windows   Azure platform.

This is part 1 of 2. Please plan on attending both WAD-IL201 and WAD-IL202 to   complete the lab.

The lab requires you to connect to the Windows Azure Portal, where you will   provision three separate virtual machines in the cloud and configure them each   via a Remote Desktop client connection. All participants need to have access   for Windows Azure prior to the lab. You can register for a FREE 90-day trial   of the Windows Azure prior to the lab. You can sign up for your FREE trial   here:  http://aka.ms/IaasBootCamp.

AZR-I202

 Wednesday
13:30 – 15:00

Getting to Know Windows Azure IaaS, Part 2

Whether   you build apps or support the infrastructure that runs the apps, the cloud   can be a really big place. For some, it’s a natural evolution for their   application and infrastructure to embrace the power and scale of the cloud.   For others, it’s a journey that has to begin with a single step. Windows   Azure provides that first step with a scalable, flexible platform for   deploying your applications your way. With our Infrastructure as a Service   platform (IaaS) called Windows Azure Virtual Machines, you get the   flexibility to choose between Windows and Linux with full control over the   operating system configuration and installed software, matched with the   portability of Hyper-V disk images. Windows Azure Virtual Machines provide   the perfect environment for meeting all of your Infrastructure-as-a-Service   needs. To learn more about our Infrastructure as a Service platform, we   invite all developers and IT professionals to join Matt Hester as he   introduces you to the Microsoft Cloud Platform, dives deep into Windows Azure   Virtual Machines, and helps walk you through a hands-on demonstration of the   power of IaaS on the Windows Azure platform.

This is part 2 of 2. In order to attend this session you need to attend   WAD-IL201 first.

The lab requires you to connect to the Windows Azure Portal, where you will   provision three separate virtual machines in the cloud and configure them   each via a Remote Desktop client connection. All participants need to have   access for Windows Azure prior to the lab. You can register for a FREE 90-day   trial of the Windows Azure prior to the lab. You can sign up for your FREE   trial here:  http://aka.ms/IaasBootCamp.

MDC-I315

 Friday
11:15 – 12:45 

Microsoft System Center 2012 – Orchestrator: Overview and Automation   of IT Process

This   lab guides you through several process automation examples, providing   hands-on experience with the concepts explained in the course manual and   provides real-world context. In this exercise, you are introduced to the   interfaces available with Orchestrator. Create a Runbook to perform actions   such as working with File Management Objects, monitor a folder for the   accumulation of more than 5 log files, move the files to an archive folder   and log an event for each file archive operation, using the Runbook Tester   Console to Validate Runbooks. This lab also covers the creation of a Runbook   to perform the actions, such as automate recovery of a Windows Service based   on alert detection from a unit monitor in System Center Operations Manager to   address the intermittent Windows service failures. It also highlights   advanced concepts and techniques that can be employed when creating runbooks   in Orchestrator.

MDC-I321

 Thursday
15:15 – 16:45

Microsoft System Center 2012: Network Virtualization

This   lab provides a step-by-step description for how to build, configure and   implement Hyper-V Network Virtualization using Windows Server 2012 and System   Center 2012 SP1. You create a multi-tenant virtual network on shared physical   network including multiple subnets and virtual routes using the NVGRE   configuration.

What’s New in 2012 R2: Why is it so important for IT Pros to understand how modern applications are built

August 22, 2013 4 comments

A great post by Microsoft Brad Anderson covering :

  • Windows Azure Pack and it ability to build an application once and then deploy and operate it in any Microsoft Cloud – private, hosted or public.
  • Windows Azure Service Bus,  integrated experience as a part of the Windows Azure Pack, with the goal of bringing a self-service tenant experience that is consistent with the one that currently exists in Windows Azure.
  • and lots of scenarios:
  • Scenario 1: Application Messaging Patterns with Service Bus
  • Scenario 2: Manage Messaging Entities Across Clouds
  • Scenario 3: Hosting Alternatives with Service Bus

 

To read the blog series, follow http://blogs.technet.com/b/in_the_cloud/archive/2013/08/21/what-s-new-in-2012-r2-enabling-modern-apps-with-the-windows-azure-pack.aspx

 

Next Steps

rad’s

Microsoft announced date for Windows 8.1 RTM

August 16, 2013 Leave a comment

Microsoft announced that Windows 8.1 will be available to consumers and businesses worldwide on October 18, 2013. At 12:00am on October 18th in New Zealand(4:00am October 17th in Redmond)

I’m excited to announce that, on the same day, eligible customers will be able to download Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2, as well as the latest update to Windows Intune!  .

Keep learning about the 2012 R2 releases via our “What’s New in 2012 R2” series, and also download the preview bits if you haven’t already done it.

Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 will begin rolling out worldwide as a free update for consumers with Windows 8 or Windows RT devices through the Windows Store. Windows 8.1 will also be available at retail and on new devices starting on October 18th by market. So mark your calendars!

 

More info:

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2013/08/14/mark-your-calendars-for-windows-8-1.aspx

Networking enhancements in the Windows 2012 R2 based on customer feedbacks

August 2, 2013 Leave a comment

With Server 2012 and VMM 2012 SP1, Microsoft enabled new foundational scenarios from Continuous Availability (with in-box NIC Teaming) to building blocks for Software Defined Networking (with the extensible Hyper-V Virtual Switch and Hyper-V Network Virtualization [HNV]) to IP Address Management (IPAM).

Now with Server and VMM 2012R2,  Microsoft is targeting the reduction of networking Capital Expenditures (CapEx), by enabling customers to maximize utilization of their existing resources and reduce the need for specialized hardware over time.

Microsoft got the feedback from customers advising that they want choice and flexibility in both the networking vendors they use and the cloud in which their workloads run. They need the ability to plug and play between vendors without having to change management software, processes, or knowledge, plus the ability to deploy any workloads across any cloud provider.

The other feedback received by Microsoft is that network automation is key. Automation is required across the Service Provider’s network, the tenant’s network, and network infrastructure services (load balancing, firewall, etc.).

As you can see in the figure below, the feedback is giving notably results to the customers with many features that further enhance Microsoft  end-to-end capabilities:

w2012r2-network

Recommended articles:

IaaS Innovations in Windows 2012R2

August 2, 2013 3 comments

To deliver smooth end-to-end scenarios in the Windows Server 2012 R2 release, Microsoft is focusing on two important aspects of delivering IaaS:

  1. Continuing to drive innovation into the infrastructure itself to ensure network, compute, and storage are not only low-cost, but also easy to operate through rich integration with System Center.
  2. Delivering a delightful experience for the IaaS and customer of the Service Provider (tenant administrators) using IaaS.

Microsoft is targeting specifically Service Providers and enterprises that want to act as Service Providers for their users.

To Download Windows 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/dn205295.aspx?CR_CC=200142594

To read Microsoft published IaaS articles :