A while ago James a colleague of mine posted his PowerShell scripts onto the codeplex site. With those scripts you can easily manage your Hyper-V environment by using PowerShell. For me this a must have library. Here is a list of what you can do with this library:
Finding a VM Get-VM, Choose-VM Connecting to a VM New-VMConnectSession Discovering and manipulating Machine states List-VMState , Set-VMState , Convert-VmState, Ping-VM , Shutdown-VM , Start-VM, Stop-VM, Suspend-VM Get-VMKVP Backing up, exporting and snapshotting VMs Backup-vm , Export-VM , Get-VMSnapshot, Choose-VMSnapshot , Apply-VMSnapshot , New-VMSnapshot ,Remove-VMSnapshot, Get-VMSnapshotTree Adding and removing VMs, configuring motherboard settings. New-VM , Remove-VM , Set-VM , Get-VMCPUCount, Set-VMCPUCount, Get-VMMemory, Set-VMMemory Manipulating Disk controllers, drives and disk images Get-VMDiskController Add-VMSCSIController , Remove-VMSCSIcontroller Get-VMDrive , Add-VMDRIVE , Remove-VMdrive Get-VMDisk, Add-VMDISK , Set-VMDisk, List-VMDisk Get-VMFloppyDisk , Add-VMFloppyDisk Add-VMNewHardDisk Manipluating Network Interface Cards Get-VMNic , List-VMNic , Choose-VMNIC, Add-VMNIC, Remove-VMNIC , Set-VMNICAddress , Set-VMNICConnection , Get-VMNicport , Get-VMnicSwitch, Choose-VMSwitch, New-VMSwitchPort, Get-VMByMACaddress Working with VHD files Get-VHDDefaultPath, Get-VHDInfo, New-VHD, Compact-VHD, Mount-VHD, Unmount-VHD
Download the PSHyperv library.
Yesterday we announced that SQL Server 2008 is being released to manufacturing. With SQL 2008 we bring new quite a lot of new functionality to the data platform product:
Check out this link for an extended version of what’s new in SQL Server 2008
SQL Server 2008 is now available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers and will be available for evaluation download on Aug. 7, 2008. SQL Server 2008 Express and SQL Server Compact editions are available for free download today at http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver.
Read the official press announcement: http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2008/aug08/08-06SQLServer2008PR.mspx
I found this onto the Virtualization team blog and thought let’s share this because it’s a Belgian Customer
Hi, my name is Bert Van Pottelberghe, business unit manager at Hostbasket, which is the leading hosting company and SaaS-provider in Belgium with over 30,000 SMB customers.
In a recent survey of our datacenter with over 1,000 servers, we saw that the average CPU-usage was only 12%. On the other hand, investments in new server hardware, datacenter space and the cost of power and cooling – now at an all time high - keep prices for dedicated servers high. The hosting industry is a very competitive industry, so we needed to come up with an answer.
We have been investigating virtualization technologies such as Xen, VMWare and Virtuozzo, but always found problems (such as security-issues, complex and expensive licensing, stability or scalability) that kept us from creating a virtual machine-offer.
Our Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V offering has two components:
Both are positioned as dedicated servers, not as virtual servers. With these two offers we address the needs of 2 customer groups: The Flex servers are for websites and applications that have outgrown shared hosting, while the Hyper-V servers are for larger applications that used to be deployed on two (or more) separate physical servers.
We opted not to use the term “Virtual servers” for our offer, because a “virtual server” implies less value for money than a dedicated server. Also, “Virtual servers” are often associated with cheap solutions based on Parallels Virtuozzo.
Our solutions based on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V provide more functionality (like snapshotting, easy installation, flexible upgrading), are more secure and stable and have a features that guarantee a higher uptime than dedicated servers.
All customers involved during the beta-stage decided to renew their subscription and gave positive comments on the stability and performance.
Bert Van Pottelberghe Business Unit Manager HostBasket
Source: http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2008/07/28/Guest-Post_3A00_-Why-Microsoft-and-Hyper_2D00_V-for-HostBasket.aspx
Here is a list of the different Virtualization Solution Accelerators we have at Microsoft:
There will be some breakout sessions covering the Solution Accelerators at TechEd IT Professional
TechEd IT Professionals 2008- Available Videos
TechEd IT Professionals 2008 Event Page: http://www.microsoft.com/emea/spotlight/event.aspx?id=104
Links to Session Videos:
If you are running Windows Failover Clustering and Hyper-V then this patch might apply to your environment.
With this hotfix we increase functionality and add more control to Hyper-V virtual machines running in a clustered environment. Here are some of the improvements:
This hotfix will help a lot of our customers who are deploying Hyper-V in a Windows Failover cluster environment. Read the full list of improvements: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=951308
At least I could help one customer today :)
ISA Server: A Guide to Securing ISA Server 2006
Many organizations rely on ISA Server 2006 to secure their environment, but few take the important step of securing ISA Server itself. Here’s a guide to using the Security Configuration Wizard and Administrative roles to limit its attack surface and secure your ISA Server 2006 implementation.
ISA Server: Enhance TS Gateway Security with ISA Server 2006
Using the new TS Gateway feature, Windows Server 2008 enables users to access their desktops from anywhere, without using a VPN. Find out how you can publish the TS Gateway through ISA Server 2006 and extend the ISA Server 2006 publishing scenario to include client health enforcement.
IIS 7.0: Top 10 Performance Improvements in IIS 7.0
The latest release of IIS introduces a modular and extensible platform with improved support for common deployment and management scenarios, enabling significant performance improvements. Here’s a look at 10 key areas in IIS 7.0 that provide these improvements.
Mobility: Take Your Line of Business Applications Mobile
Many mobile professionals today need the line of business applications they use in the office (CRM, ERP, and the like) to be accessible from a mobile device when they are in the field. See how Windows Mobile and Mobile Device Manager allow you to deploy rich mobile functionality for critical line of business applications.
Security: Understanding Shared Account Password Management
Shared and privileged account passwords are commonplace, but far too many organizations fail to adequately manage these shared passwords. This creates a serious security issue. Explore the risks involved with shared and privileged accounts, and discover better approaches to managing more secure passwords.
What’s New in MDT 2008 Update 1? MDT 2008 Update 1 includes new capability for OEM preload scenarios, a revised System Center Operations Manager Management Pack, bug fixes, and revised documentation. This updated version provides guidance in the .chm help file format only. If you need the guidance in .doc file format, you can download it here. MDT 2008 Update 1 enables deployment of the following Microsoft products:
Download the update
Note: If you experience problems while trying to update please go and read the following post
I just spent the last 11 days in Seattle where I attended some internal meetings and most of all TechReady 7. TechReady is an internal technical training event for Microsoft employees, you can compare it with TechEd but then for Microsoft employees only.
During Techready we can choose between more than 840 sessions delivered by more than 1200 speakers. The reason why this is organized in Seattle is because it’s easy for the different product teams to send people from Redmond to Seattle.
During this week I focused onto two things, one is around the speakers and content I’ve selected to run at TechEd IT Professional and secondly is everything around Windows Server 2008 R2 and the Win7 client features. Unfortunately I cannot share anything for now but as soon as I can I will start blogging about this to keep you up to date. One thing is sure there will be some sessions at TechEd around Windows Server 2008 R2. Have a look here and rate the sessions you like
If you go to Seattle there are some things you definitely need to do at least once, one of those things is having steak at “The Metropolitan Grill“, so I got invited by one my colleagues from Western Europe.
To make a long story short we got picked up at the hotel by another colleague and he was driving a nice Hummer (see picture), I told the driver nice car :)
So we went to the steakhouse and used the Valet Parking, had a nice dinner and excellent wine. Came back to the Valet and he told us that our car was involved in an accident, we couldn’t believe it but it was true. We walked to the car and we couldn’t drive it anymore multiple things where broken, apparently an old couple just hit two cars who where parked in the street and one them was ours.
So after all the paperwork, Avis call’s we finally received a replacement car. We had to wait for two hours before this car arrived but guess what they delivered another Red Hummer.
The good thing though was we didn’t have to pay for the valet parking and the restaurant offered us a free bottle of wine.
The rest of week was ok and nothing special happened anymore.
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) 2007 has launched a new Desired Configuration Management (DCM) pack that fully complies with ENERGY STAR configuration guidelines!
This ConfigMgr 2007-based solution makes it easier for IT Professionals to ensure that PCs are configured with the appropriate energy savings - driving improved power management implementations that can lower operational costs for ConfigMgr 2007-supported organizations. The solution also provides a basis for compliance reporting against various pledge programs, such as Climate Savers Computing Initiative and ENERGY STAR Low Carbon IT Campaign.
For more information and/or to download the pack, please visit the System Center ConfigMgr 2007 ENERGY STAR Config Pack page on the Microsoft Environment site.
Check out the Software Enabled Earth blog for more information
Where: Spes Nostra - Koning Albertstraat 50 - 8520 Kuurne When: Zaterdag 13 September 2008
Program:
Topic of the day:
Group policies have for years now been a core part of the windows active directory. This feature gives administrators a central way to manage and secure clients and servers in a structured way. With the release of windows 2008 and Vista Microsoft has taken group policies and group policy management to a new level. But with this new level of control comes new challenges in how to manage your existing XP, win2k3 environment, how to prep your environment for win2k8 and vista gpo's, what can we implement before the win2k8 migration and what can we do after win2k8.
This session will mainly focus on how to use the old and new features in corporate environments.
you can register for this event by sending an email to tom@decaluwe.eu, seats are limited so register ASAP!
The Belgian System Center UG organizes their first get together around Security Auditing & ACS Optimization.
Learn how your organization can maximize their investment in System Center to support security and regulatory compliance auditing requirements using Operations Manager and the Audit Collection Service (ACS). This is a great opportunity to learn about the latest in partner solutions that extend ACS to provide centralized security event management featuring ACS administration, security alerting, data archiving, multi-collector reporting, syslog event collection and better support for regulatory compliance needs including EUDPD, ISO27000, SOX, PCI and many others.
Event Agenda:
WHEN – September 16 2008
TIME - 3hr
WHERE – Dolmen, Huizingen: map
Registration - Registration Link PLACES ARE LIMITED
Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend this event because I’m attending another training event abroad.
See how Windows Mobile provides comprehensive solutions for mobile device security and management. Tune in and discover how you can deliver advanced messaging and collaboration solutions, enable access to business applications and processes from mobile devices, and help secure and manage mobile devices. Also, download the latest podcasts and hear how Windows Mobile phones provide the flexibility to work when and where you want.
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