AVIRAJ AJGEKAR'S BLOG...

Microsoft TechEd North America 2013: All of Infrastructure & Datacenter Management Sessions

2013-06-11T12:29:01Z

Hi IT Professionals,

I want to share with you a complete list of sessions/labs related to Management (System Center, Windows Intune, Hyper-V, MDOP, and MDT) from TechEd NA 2013. Thanks to Cleber Marques & our community for sharing the list

	· Keynote Presentation · Deploying and Managing Windows 8 in the Real World · Simplify and Maximize System Management with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration… · New for SP1: Upgrading from Microsoft System Center 2012 - Configuration Manager to Configuration… · Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.0 Sequencing, Migration and Coexistence · Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.0: Flexible Virtualization with Virtual Application… · Getting Started with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Update 1 · Implementing and Managing Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.0 · Microsoft Bitlocker Administration and Monitoring (MBAM) v2 · Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) · Microsoft User Experience Virtualization Overview · Microsoft User Experience Virtualization Setup and Configuration Lab · Windows 8 Deployment Using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Update 1 and Microsoft System Center… · Advanced Software Distribution · Basic Software Distribution · Deploying a Microsoft System Center 2012 - Configuration Manager Hierarchy · Deploying Microsoft System Center 2012 - Configuration Manager · Deploying Windows 8 to Bare Metal Clients · Implementing Microsoft System Center 2012 - Endpoint Protection · Implementing Settings Management · Introduction to Microsoft System Center 2012 - Configuration Manager · Managing Applications · Managing Clients · Managing Content · Managing Microsoft Software Updates · Migrating from Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012 · New for SP1: Deploying Windows 8 Applications in Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration… · New for SP1: Expanding a Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager Hierarchy · New for SP1: Implementing App-V 5.0 in Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager · New for SP1: Implementing Database Replication Controls in Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 -… · New for SP1: Implementing Linux Clients in Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager · Implementing Role-Based Administration · Enhancements with Window Server 2012 R2 Hyper-v Replica · Deploying and Managing Microsoft Workloads with Microsoft System Center 2012 · Monitoring Your Infrastructure and Network with Microsoft System Center 2012 · Managing App-V 5.0 with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager · Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack: Advanced Group Policy Management 4.0 SP1 · Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 5.0 Overview · Microsoft System Center 2012: Application Performance Monitoring · Microsoft System Center 2012: Configuring Your Infrastructure · Microsoft System Center 2012: Configuring Your Private Cloud · Microsoft System Center 2012: Installation and Deployment · Microsoft System Center 2012: Chargeback and Reporting · Microsoft System Center 2012: Creating a Management Pack in Microsoft Visio · Microsoft System Center 2012 - Orchestrator: Overview and Automation of IT Process · Performing Basic Customizations for Microsoft System Center 2012 - Service Manager · Protecting File Servers with Microsoft System Center 2012 - Data Protection Manager · Integrating Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Operations Manager with Team Foundation Server (TFS) · Microsoft System Center 2012: Hybrid Cloud Management · Microsoft System Center 2012: Network Virtualization · Microsoft System Center 2012: Service Delivery and Automation · Microsoft System Center 2012: Linux Configuration and Management
	· Enabling People-Centric IT · Transform the Datacenter with Server and Management Innovations from Microsoft · Lessons Learned from Implementing Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012 SP1 for Hosters… · Microsoft System Center 2012 - Orchestrator: Crash Course · Automate Private Cloud Protection and Recovery with Microsoft System Center 2012 - Data Protection… · Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.0 Migration and Co-Existence with 4.6 · Building the Perfect Windows 8 Image · Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager Overview · Replacing BIOS with a UEFI Deployment · Mission: IT Operations for a Good Night's Sleep · Introduction to System Center 2012 R2 · CSPP Enables You to Deliver a Private Cloud in the Enterprise Coupled with Chargeback · What's New with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Update 1 · Hyper-V - What's New in Windows Server 2012 R2 · Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager and Veeam: Better Together · Running and Managing Linux and UNIX with Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center · Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Operations Manager: Overview and What’s New · Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.0 and Microsoft Office: Better Together
	· What's New in Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 · Transform the Datacenter Immersion, Part 1 of 4: Infrastructure Foundation · Implementing Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.0: Lessons Learned from a Production Rollout · What's New in Infrastructure: Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager… · Getting Started with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 Update 1 (repeats on 6/5 at 10:15am) · Deliver IT Agility in the Modern Datacenter with Integration of Virtualization, Cloud, and… · Integrating RDS with Microsoft System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager Service Templates:… · The Replaceable PC · What's New with Windows 8 BitLocker and Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Management (MBAM) 2.0 · Transform the Datacenter Immersion, Part 2 of 4: Infrastructure Management · Best Practices in Virtualizing and Managing Microsoft SQL Server with Microsoft System Center and… · Effective Capacity Planning of Your Infrastructure Resources with Microsoft System Center 2012 -… · Key Metrics and Practices for Monitoring Virtualization Platforms · Best Practices in Virtualizing and Managing Microsoft SharePoint with Microsoft System Center and… · Transform the Datacenter Immersion, Part 3 of 4: Application Management · Deploying and Configuring Mobile Device Management Infrastructure with Microsoft System Center 2012… · Deploying and Managing Virtual Applications and Settings with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 -… · Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track v3: Private Cloud Reference Architecture Based on Windows Server… · What’s New in Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 - Virtual Machine Manager · DevOps: Global Service Monitoring · Building Hosted Clouds Using Windows Server 2012 R2 · Comparing Windows Server Hyper-V and VMware vSphere · Transform the Datacenter Immersion, Part 4 of 4: Insight and Availability · How to Design and Configure Networking in Microsoft System Center - Virtual Machine Manager and… · Microsoft System Center 2012: Managing a Microsoft Exchange Infrastructure and Lync Server 2013 -… · Microsoft System Center 2012 - Orchestrator: Integration Packs · How to Design and Configure Networking in Microsoft System Center - Virtual Machine Manager and… · Storage Management: Spanning the Enterprise to Low Cost Scalable Solutions · Microsoft System Center 2012: Network Virtualization (repeats on 6/5 at 5pm) · Monitor Your Cloud Application Infrastructure on Windows Azure and Amazon EC2 · Windows Intune Overview
	· Advanced Real-World Microsoft System Center Data Warehouse and Reporting · Deploying and Managing Windows 8 with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager · What's New in Windows 8 Deployment · Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V): How to Manage and Deploy UE-V across an Enterprise · Building Cloud Services with Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 and the Windows… · Enabling On-Premises IaaS Solutions with the Windows Azure Pack · Managing Embedded Devices with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager · Configuring and Tuning Windows 8 · Advanced Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Customizations: Dueling MDT Enhancements · Windows Azure Services for Windows Server · Managing Multi-Hypervisor Environments with System Center 2012 · Integrating with Microsoft System Center 2012 and Windows PowerShell · Deploying Applications in Microsoft System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager Using Services · Unified Modern Device Management with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager… · Upgrading Your Private Cloud with Windows Server 2012 R2 · Making PC Recovery Easier with the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) · Administering and Automating On-Premises IaaS Scenarios Using the Windows Azure Pack · Pieces of 8: Prospecting for Windows 8 Gold · Microsoft IT: How We Upgrade Microsoft System Center - Configuration Manager Hierarchy (Almost)… · Sequencing Applications Using the New Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.0 Sequencer · Enabling Multi-Tenant IaaS Clouds in Microsoft System Center and Windows Server · Automating Microsoft System Center Deployment with the PowerShell Deployment Toolkit · Monitoring and Managing the Network and Storage Infrastructure with Microsoft System Center 2012 -… · Application Availability Strategies for the Private Cloud · Migrating from VMware: Tools and Tips · Application Delivery with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager and Windows Intune
	· A Drivers Saga: Mastering Windows Deployment · Deploying Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager with Windows Intune at Microsoft · Integrating the New Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.0 with other Virtualization Solutions · Windows 8 Image Engineering: Notes from the Field · Workloads: Monitoring the Microsoft Private Cloud Fabric with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 -… · Implementing Self-Service Desktop Refresh in Six Easy Steps with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 -… · How Microsoft Monitors Applications Using APM, Global Service Monitor, and Microsoft Visual Studio… · Case Study: How Microsoft IT is Using Microsoft System Center 2012 - Configuration Manager · Demonstrations of Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit Tools · Comparing the Microsoft Private Cloud and the VMware vCloud · Top 5 Server Application Deployment and Servicing Problems Addressed by Server App-V and System… · Tips and Tricks for Creating Custom Management Packs for Microsoft System Center - Operations Manager

Windows Azure PowerShell Error: Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile : No certificate was found in the certificate store with thumbprint

2013-06-05T09:19:46Z

I have multiple Azure Subscriptions configured with my Microsoft Account (formerly Live ID) Some time back couple of subscriptions were disabled due to excessive usage, which is fine. However, at this time when I tried to manage the same using PowerShell I was getting the following error every time I tried to Import the Publish Settings file using Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile command.

I ran the following command

PS C:\> Import-AzurePublishSettingsFile -PublishSettingsFile 'C:\Final\<SUBSCRIPTION_NAME>.publishsettings'

I did not understand what was the problem around the same as every time I use the same method & it works. But never I faced any issue. I checked on to the management portal just to verify if it has created proper certificates. Here is the output.

I then decided to search online to see what was the problem. I found a link that explains the same behavior.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsazuremanagement/thread/93750a76-9f87-4b00-ad4d-4908cf55c12d

Interestingly the answer suggested by Neil was appropriate. The subscription data was stored earlier in the following folder C:\Users\aviraj\AppData\Roaming\Windows Azure Powershell

And that was the problem as the data included my disabled subscription details as well, which are not available in my newly downloaded Publish Settings File.

SOLUTION

Just delete all the files in the folder C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Roaming\Windows Azure Powershell

And try to re-run the same command Import-PublishSettingsFile & voila problem is solved

Enjoy!!

Microsoft Download Center: System Center 2012 SP1 Integration Map

2013-05-25T10:01:08Z

The downloadable files listed on this page contain the cross-component documentation for the Technical Scenarios for System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1). The available downloads include:

System Requirements for System Center 2012 SP1 - last updated January 15, 2013
Upgrade Sequencing for System Center 2012 SP1 - last updated January 15, 2013
System Center 2012 SP1 Integration Map - last updated February 21, 2013. This diagram shows the integration points between the various System Center 2012 SP1 components.

This technical documentation is also available in the TechNet Library.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Microsoft IT Camp - Windows Azure IaaS Resources

2013-05-16T11:04:32Z

Hi Everyone,

During the month of April & May, we delivered Windows Azure IaaS – IT Camps in 6 cities focusing on Windows Azure Virtual Machines, Windows Azure Virtual Network. As promised during our events, I am sharing some of the essential resources that you can use for understanding Windows Azure IaaS features.

IT CAMP Content, Presentations, Hands-on Manuals.

http://sdrv.ms/11qSkWM

Windows Azure Free Trial & Downloads, Documentation Resources

http://www.windowsazure.com

ARTICLES

Windows Azure: General Availability of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2013/04/16/windows-azure-general-availability-of-infrastructure-as-a-service-iaas.aspx

Windows Azure: Active Directory Release, New Backup Service + Web Site Monitoring and Log Improvements

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2013/04/08/windows-azure-active-directory-general-availability-new-backup-service-web-site-monitoring-and-diagnostic-improvements.aspx

Windows Azure: Improvements to Virtual Networks, Virtual Machines, Cloud Services and a new Ruby SDK

http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2013/04/26/windows-azure-improvements-to-virtual-networks-virtual-machines-cloud-services-and-a-new-ruby-sdk.aspx

Setting up software based Site-to-Site VPN for Windows Azure with Windows Server 2012 Routing and Remote Access

http://fabriccontroller.net/blog/posts/setting-up-software-based-site-to-site-vpn-for-windows-azure-with-windows-server-2012-routing-and-remote-access/

Windows Azure: What’s in it for the Enterprise?

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2013/03/29/windows-azure-what-s-in-it-for-the-enterprise.aspx

Windows Azure Active Directory: Ready for Production with over 265 Billion Authentications & 2.9 Million Organizations Served!

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2013/04/08/windows-azure-active-directory-ready-for-production-with-over-265-billion-authentications-amp-2-5-million-organizations-served.aspx

The Power of ‘And’

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2013/04/16/the-power-of-and.aspx

SQL Server in Windows Azure Infrastructure Services – Updated Documentation and Best Practices for GA, Upcoming Blogs

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2013/04/24/sql-server-in-windows-azure-infrastructure-services-updated-documentation-and-best-practices-for-ga-upcoming-blogs.aspx

Virtual Network adds new capabilities for cross-premises connectivity

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2013/04/26/virtual-network-adds-new-capabilities-for-cross-premises-connectivity.aspx

Videos

Windows AzureConf 2013

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/windowsazure/Windows-AzureConf-2013

Overview of Windows Azure Virtual Machines (IaaS)

http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/overview-of-windows-azure-virtual-machines-iaas

Introduction To Windows Azure Training

http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/introduction-to-windows-azure

Windows Azure Security Overview

http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/windows-azure-security-overview

Windows Azure Active Directory

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Patterns-Practices-Symposium-Online/pattern-practices-symposium-2013/Windows-Azure-Active-Directory

Introduction to Windows Azure: the cloud operating system

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/BUILD/BUILD2011/SAC-852F

Inside Windows Azure Virtual Machines

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/PDC/PDC10/CS63

Windows Azure IaaS and How It Works

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR201

Windows Azure Internals

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2012/AZR302

Using Windows Azure Storage

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2011/COS304

If you have any queries feel free to reach out to me on aviraj@microsoft.com

THANK YOU.

System Center 2012 SP1 Configuration Manager (SCCM 2012) Installation: SQL Server Database Error when using Named Instance…

2013-05-14T14:34:37Z

Hi All,

Last week one of our customers was trying to install System Center 2012 SP1 Configuration Manager. During the installation customer encountered an issue with SQL Server when using Named Instance instead of Default Instance. MSSQLSERVER.

I decided to try out the scenario on my own test environment to simulate the same issue by configuring the SCCM & SQL Server using the Names Instance instead of using the Default Instance that work on Port 1433.

Here is my test scenario using 2 virtual machines.

Domain Controller: DC.MSFT.COM

SCCM Primary Site: SCCM.MSFT.COM

There are steps I followed to begin my Configuration Manager deployment in my test environment.

INSTALL Windows Features for SCCM.CONTOSO.COM machine. Following are the prerequisites required.

- .NET Framework 3.5

- Remote Differential Compression (RDC)

- Bits with IIS Role

- PowerShell 2.0 Engine

Install WSUS Server Role

Install Windows ADK with USMT, WINPE & Other components. I have installed Windows Assessment Services as it includes its own SQL Express database (Just to avoid any additional complexity)

Create a Windows Firewall exception rule. Open WF.MSC. Create a new Inbound Rule for Port 1433, 4022 exception. Port 1433 to connect to SQL Database & Port 4022 for Service Broker. You can also enable these ports using a Group Policy.

Install SQL Server 2012 with Named Instance: SCCM

Till this stage everything was going smooth. I could open SQL Server Management Studio & connect to the database. Next step is to install the System Center 2012 SP1 Configuration Manager.

I launched the SCCM installer & started following the Primary Site Configuration. On the Database Information wizard screen I was getting the following error.

The error states…

---------------------------

Configuration Manager

---------------------------

Setup is unable to connect to SQL Server with the connection information provided. Verify the following:

. The SQL Server and instance names are entered correctly

. The specified SQL Server instance is not configured to use dynamic ports

. If a firewall is enabled on the SQL Server, inbound rules exist to allow connections to the correct ports

. The account used to run Setup has permissions to connect to the specified SQL Server instance

---------------------------

As you can see it has given me few details to check with. And then I started checking everything 1 by 1.

For the first issue, I am sure that I have created an instance with correct name.

For the second issue, I have assumed that SQL Server will use Port 1433. So we are good. We will come to the same point back after 2-3 lines

For the third issue I have manually created Firewall Port exception. So that was ruled out.

For the last issue I have used the default system account that SQL Server 2012 configured so this was also ruled out.

Now, let’s come back to Point 2 i.e. The specified SQL Server instance is not configured to use dynamic ports. In this example, this is the reason we are getting the error when using the Named Instance.

Here is the FIX

1. Go to Windows Server Start Screen (yes Windows Server 2012 also has a new Start Screen as Windows 8 because of the shared codebase. NT Kernel 6.3 Build 9200 anyone J)

2. Search for SQL Server Configuration Manager

3. In SQL Server Configuration Manager, expand SQL Server Network Configuration. Click on Protocols for SCCM (SCCM is your Named Instance)

In the right side pane, right click on the TCP/IP (Status Enabled) and click on Properties

4. In that click on IP Addresses tab. Scroll down to the bottom & make a change to IPALL. TCP Dynamic Ports -> Blank. TCP Port -> 1433 (as this is our default port for SQL Server Database Connection). Click on Apply.

And notice that you need to restart SQL Server (SCCM) Service.

Additionally, you can also configure the same for all the IP Addresses. IP1, IP2…etc. In my case I just made the change as specified above.

5. To restart a service. Click on SQL Server Service. Right click on Instance Name: SQL Server (SCCM) and click on Restart. Wait for few seconds.

6. Now, last step go back to your SCCM Installation. Fill in the details

7. And…NO ERROR. You are on next screen that means you are ready to install SCCM using SQL Server 2012

So that’s how the SQL Server related issue got fixed. Enjoy

Microsoft Download Center: Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit v4 Beta

2013-04-19T04:10:21Z

The enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) is designed to help prevent hackers from gaining access to your system. The new EMET 4.0 (Beta) features provides a preview on what’s in store for the final version. Please note that this is a "Beta" release. It is not ready for wide enterprise deployment. The latest official EMET release, EMET V3, is ready for enterprise deployment.
Below is a summary of the features and changes that are included with the EMET 4.0 Beta release: • Certificate Trust: considering the raise of PKI-related attacks, we decided to implement a configurable SSL Certificate Pinning to try to detect Man in the Middle attacks that leverage SSL/TLS certificates. The Certificate Trust feature in EMET is rule-based and allows to pin a specific SSL/TLS certificate to a trusted Root Certificate Authority; • ROP mitigations and hardening: in the last Technical Preview release of EMET, we introduced some mitigations to try to stop ROP-based attacks by implementing some of the winner ideas of the BlueHat Prize contest. With this new EMET release we hardened the ROP and other mitigations to detect and stop novel attack techniques. For example EMET 4.0 beta is able to stop one ASLR/DEP bypass technique presented at this year’s CanSecWest; • Early Warning Program: this feature will allow EMET to send contextual data back to Microsoft, through the standard Windows Error Reporting channel, every time that an exploit has been detected and stopped. We are adding this feature to help us respond to new 0day exploits as soon as possible. • Audit mode: if an exploit is detected, EMET will not kill the attacked process but it will just report the attack and let the process continue. This mode is only applicable to certain mitigations, for example the ROP-related ones, that detect the attack when the process is not already in a crashed state. This feature is useful for enterprise customers for testing purposes and to spot false-positives and app-compat problems without compromising the user experience; EMET 4.0 beta also includes several bug fixes and UI changes to improve the overall user experience. Also, at the end of the installation, EMET will automatically import settings to protect Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat/Reader, and Oracle Java, as well as a pre-defined set of rules for the Certificate Trust feature that will monitor the main Microsoft online services. More information are available in the User Guide, available in the EMET installation folder. Please remember that EMET 4.0 requires .NET Framework 4, and in order to protect Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 you need to install KB2790907 – a mandatory AppCompat update that has been released on March 12th.
Software vulnerabilities and exploits have become an everyday part of life. Virtually every product has to deal with them and consequently, users are faced with a stream of security updates. For users who get attacked before the latest updates have been applied or who get attacked before an update is even available, the results can be devastating: malware, loss of PII, etc.

Security mitigation technologies are designed to make it more difficult for an attacker to exploit vulnerabilities in a given piece of software. EMET allows users to manage these technologies on their system and provides several unique benefits:
1. No source code needed: Until now, several of the available mitigations (such as Data Execution Prevention) have required for an application to be manually opted in and recompiled. EMET changes this by allowing a user to opt in applications without recompilation. This is especially handy for deploying mitigations on software that was written before the mitigations were available and when source code is not available.
2. Highly configurable: EMET provides a higher degree of granularity by allowing mitigations to be individually applied on a per process basis. There is no need to enable an entire product or suite of applications. This is helpful in situations where a process is not compatible with a particular mitigation technology. When that happens, a user can simply turn that mitigation off for that process.
3. Helps harden legacy applications: It’s not uncommon to have a hard dependency on old legacy software that cannot easily be rewritten and needs to be phased out slowly. Unfortunately, this can easily pose a security risk as legacy software is notorious for having security vulnerabilities. While the real solution to this is migrating away from the legacy software, EMET can help manage the risk while this is occurring by making it harder to hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in the legacy software.
4. Ease of use: The policy for system wide mitigations can be seen and configured with EMET's graphical user interface. There is no need to locate up and decipher registry keys or run platform dependent utilities. With EMET you can adjust setting with a single consistent interface regardless of the underlying platform.
5. Ease of deploy: EMET comes with built-in support for enterprise deployment and configuration technologies. This enables administrators to use Group Policy or System Center Configuration Manager to deploy, configure and monitor EMET installations across the enterprise environment.
6. Ongoing improvement: EMET is a living tool designed to be updated as new mitigation technologies become available. This provides a chance for users to try out and benefit from cutting edge mitigations. The release cycle for EMET is also not tied to any product. EMET updates can be made dynamically as soon as new mitigations are ready
The toolkit includes several pseudo mitigation technologies aimed at disrupting current exploit techniques. These pseudo mitigations are not robust enough to stop future exploit techniques, but can help prevent users from being compromised by many of the exploits currently in use. The mitigations are also designed so that they can be easily updated as attackers start using new exploit techniques.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Microsoft Support KB: Microsoft server software support for Windows Azure Virtual Machines

2013-04-17T13:50:41Z

During my recent TechEd India 2013, Pune event, I was asked a question during our Stump the Speaker Session, the question was about what all Microsoft Server software is supported in Windows Azure Virtual Machines environment. And I have responded to the audience to wait for some time so that Azure team to share more details. Well, after the Windows Azure GA announcement, Microsoft has released a list of Microsoft server software supported in Windows azure Virtual Machines.

Feel free to share the following information with your customers. Hope it helps

This article discusses the support policy for running Microsoft server software in the Windows Azure Virtual Machine environment (infrastructure-as-a-service).
Microsoft supports Microsoft server software running in the Windows Azure Virtual Machine environments as listed in the "More Information" section. This support is subject to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy. For more information, visit the following Microsoft website:
http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=lifecycle

(http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=lifecycle)

All Microsoft software installed in the Windows Azure Virtual Machine environment must be properly licensed. Windows Azure Virtual Machines include by default a license for use of Windows Server in the Windows Azure environment. Certain Windows Azure Virtual Machine offerings may also include additional Microsoft software on a per-hour or evaluation basis. Licenses for other software must be obtained separately. For information about Microsoft’s License Mobility program see:
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/software-assurance/license-mobility.aspx

(http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/software-assurance/license-mobility.aspx)

In some cases, specific versions of Microsoft server software are required for support. These versions are noted in this article, and the supported versions may be updated as needed.

Microsoft BizTalk Server
Microsoft BizTalk Server 2013 and later is supported.
Microsoft Dynamics GP
Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 and later is supported.
Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 and later is supported.
Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager
Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager 2010 R2 SP1 and later is supported.
Microsoft Project Server
Microsoft Project Server 2013 and later is supported.
Microsoft SharePoint Server
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and later is supported on Windows Azure Virtual Machines. For more information, please see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj154957

(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj154957)

Microsoft SQL Server
64-bit versions of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and later are supported. Please see http://support.microsoft.com/?id=956893

(http://support.microsoft.com/?id=956893)

for details.
Microsoft System Center
System Center 2012 SP1 and later is supported for the following applications:

App Controller
Operations Manager
Orchestrator
Server Application Virtualization
Service Manager

Microsoft Team Foundation Server
Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2012 and later is supported.
Windows Server Roles
Windows Server 2008 R2 and later versions are supported for the following roles. This list will be updated as new roles are confirmed:

Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory Federation Services
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
Application Server
DNS Server
File Services
Network Policy and Access Services
Print and Document Services
Web Server (IIS)
Windows Server Update Services

The following roles are not supported on Windows Azure Virtual Machines:

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol Server
Hyper-V
Remote Access (Direct Access)
Windows Deployment Services

Windows Server Features
Notable features that are not supported:

BitLocker Drive Encryption (on the OS disk – may be used on data disks)
Failover Clustering
Internet Storage Name Server
Multipath I/O
Network Load Balancing
Peer Name Resolution Protocol
SNMP Services
Storage Manager for SANs
Windows Internet Name Service
Wireless LAN Service

FOR ORIGINAL ARTICLE VISIT: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2721672

Microsoft Management Summit - MMS 2013: Sessions on Demand…

2013-04-15T15:05:48Z

As you all aware we just concluded MMS 2012 event in Las Vegas.

Watch 2013 Sessions On Demand

Perhaps you missed a session or you weren't able to join us in person. Or maybe you just want to watch your favorite session over and over again. No problem! Session recordings and supporting materials are available 24-48 hours after the live presentation on MSDN Channel 9.

Enjoy!!

We are hearing: Microsoft Global Relationship Study Survey…

2013-04-11T11:20:39Z

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve relationships with our customers and partners, Microsoft conducts a periodic worldwide Global Relationship Study via an independent market research company. If you have received a Microsoft branded e-mail invitation from Microsoft Feedback (feedback@e-mail.microsoft.com) to participate in this research, you can trust that the invitation was sent on our behalf. This is a valid Microsoft survey.

To all the IT Pros request you to share your sincere feedback. We are more than happy to have your feedback shared with us.

As always THANK YOU very much for your support.

Regards,
Aviraj Ajgekar
Technical Evangelist

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2013 for Software Assurance, Now Available…

2013-04-11T10:38:09Z

Today we’re excited to announce that the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) 2013 for Software Assurance is now available for download! When people think about MDOP, they often think about its virtualization tools that help personalize user experience, simplify app deployment, and improve app compatibility for Windows. MDOP is much more than that though, it also helps manage and deploy important Windows features like BitLocker and Group Policy, as well as saves time by helping to make desktop repair planning proactive instead of reactive.

Here is the detailed blog post Making Windows 8 Even More Manageable with MDOP 2013

THANK YOU!!