I love the Internet gadgets that come out around the holidays.  My favorite so far has to be the "Go Elf Yourself" from OfficeMax... where you insert your own headshots on little elf bodies and they dance for you.  It will literally have you rolling on the floor laughing.

Here are my three kids, elf'd.

You can also "Scrooge Yourself" from OfficeMax, as well.

If you don't see yourself as 'Scrooge' during the season that celebrates Chirst's birth, you might take the opportunity to put one of your co-workers' faces in the place of Ebenezer.

I will warn you that the OfficeMax webservers seem as busy today as 'OfficeMax on the day after Thanksgiving' - so new posts will be sluggish.  But forgiving that, it really is cleaver.

On behalf of office workers everywhere, who should be working on the Friday before Christmas but are instead surfing the Internet, "Thanks OfficeMax, for one of the best laughs of the season".  And for my next toner or school supplies purchase, I will drive past my local Staples to the not quite as nearby OfficeMax- because I like supporting companies that do cool stuff like this.  Whew knew that office supplies could be so fun?!

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This last one is not only cool -- and serves a great cause -- the Make A Wish Foundation.

Last night, my family and I this from American Airlines.

Its a sound mixer - where you can add instruments to a Christmas melody, and as you add adjust each bar, your custom snowflake crystals appear, grow and spin.

It's a cool gadget -- fun for snowflake architects and music mixers -- and afterwards, it gives you an opportunity to donate airmiles to the Make A Wish Foundation to enable someone else's Christmas wish to come true.  Definitely a worthwhile cause, particularly when giving something so easy like frequent flyer miles that you'll never miss.

Now we know why no two snowflakes are alike.  Every angel in Heaven has their own musical tastes.

Merry Christmas to you and yours...

Jason

One question that I hear frequently is "I love what Microsoft is doing for backup of my Windows servers.  But what about my non-Windows servers?"  Similarly, one might ask "What about heterogeneous environments?"

A different question that is often confused with these is "Is DPM enterprise-ready?" 

To separate these questions, let me address the latter with the clearest explanation that I have heard from one Microsoft VP who said that "enterprise-ready" meant that your company can depend on it.  And YES, your company can depend on DPM 2007 to protect and recover your data.  In fact, DPM describes itself as suitable for "enterprises of all sizes", which means that DPM brings traditionally "enterprise-class" (aka large corporate) capabilities like continuous data protection to mainstream Windows environments whether they be "Global 500" or "Small Business" customers. 

That's enough use of the "E-word" -- let's talk about the "H-word".  Heterogeneity

Microsoft has put a significant effort into delivering a best-of-breed level of protection for Microsoft platforms, including:

• Microsoft Exchange Server
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
• Microsoft SQL Server
• Microsoft Virtual Server
• Windows Server
• Windows desktops

But we recognize that not all environments use exclusively Microsoft server technology.  For those that use Windows Server as a platform for a third-party application, DPM has capabilities that you should explore.  But for OS platforms other than Windows, such as Linux or any UNIX running on a mid-range platform - you need a "heterogeneous" backup capability.

Notice that I did not say, "you need a heterogeneous backup product". 

Frankly, while many IT professionals would like to have a single backup product that backs up every single platform in their environment, most often find that a general purpose utility (like a backup product) can either do a few things well or a wider variety of things less-well.

I come from an Air Force background - so one analogy might be that that the military doesn't use just one type of aircraft.  One aircraft can't do everything well.  So we have bombers and we have fighters.  And even within fighters, some work better in certain scenarios than others.  In fact, just recently, Lockheed Martin announced the F-35B.  The F-35 is a "multi-role" fighter (again, folks wanting to have a single be-all device).  But the F-35 "B" enables near vertical take-off and landing (STOVL) which is great for the Marines in the US and UK - and is set to replace the aging Harrier.  See, specialization ... based on workload (mission) and key stakeholder requirements.

When Microsoft looked at the backup market and what customers' needs were, we saw that some customers said that they wanted a single backup solution that was heterogeneous. 

But in a mature 20+ year space like "backup", many of those same requesters also acknowledged that they were already running more than one backup solution - usually defined by workload (what was being backed up). 

Would it be nice to have a single solution?  YES

Does one exist that meets all of their varied needs of their various workloads?  NO

So, Microsoft committed to delivering what we think is the best backup solution and most supported recovery solution for Windows servers, whose protection and restoration we have a vested interest in.  They depend on Microsoft applications and platforms, so we focused on what we could do to ensure that their data is protected and recoverable.

And whenever customers need greater functionality than any one product can offer -- this is where technology partnerships are forged.  In this case, Microsoft is partnering with folks like EMC, who have a great reputation in backing up heterogeneous environments. 

For the EMC press release, click here.

This enables heterogeneous environments that are excited about what Microsoft is bringing to data protection for their Microsoft workloads ... and still have a single set of tapes that retains their data across their heterogeneous environment (notice, I am not saying "enterprise" <grin>).  Specifically, with the joint solution, heterogeneous customers can:

Protect all of your Windows, SQL Server, Exchange and SharePoint platforms to DPM 2007 disk, enabling continuous protection to disk for fast restore.  All of the backup and restore tasks are performed by the same company (Microsoft) who developed the application - and can be sold by the same Microsoft partner or account team, deployed by the same Microsoft integrator or consultant, and supported by Microsoft product support organization.  This is great news for the Microsoft administrator who lives and breathes the Microsoft application.

The DPM server disk can then be backed up to a heterogeneous tape farm - like EMC Networker.  Because the DPM replica areas use native NTFS volumes, backup applications can protect the data from DPM's perspective, instead of having to reach to every production server.  And because DPM provides a development kit which allows even deeper integration, backup vendors can develop agents to back up more than just the DPM files, but other components as well - just like an Exchange agent or a SharePoint agent, partners can develop DPM agents that really integrate with their backup solution.

One set of tapes on the back of the heterogeneous environment - and an all-Microsoft solution on the front for the application platforms..  This is a great solution that shows the strength of well-suited partnership. 

Here is a quote from the press release:

Mark Sorenson, EMC’s Senior Vice President of Information Management Software, said, “The majority of EMC customers heavily rely on Microsoft applications.  Through this integration, we’re helping them more effectively protect their critical data and easily deploy the latest technologies from EMC to better manage their backup and recovery processes. EMC NetWorker’s proven, enterprise backup technology will enable DPM customers to non-disruptively expand and simplify their protection processes.  By integrating NetWorker with DPM, we expect to help deliver superior backup capabilities that make it easier for customers to protect their businesses.”

On a personal note, I must confess that this particular arrangement was originally a little confusing to me -- as I have a long history before coming to Microsoft of competing with EMC. 

• I was with Cheyenne (pre-Computer Associates) selling ARCserve versus Legato Networker. 
• I was with NSI Double-Take for several years, competing with RepliStor among others. 
• At one point, I was an independent Seagate (Backup Exec) reseller & consultant ... pre-Veritas, pre-Symantec.

EMC is about the only backup standard that I haven't had a personal direct relationship with -- until now. 

But this is a great solution for heterogeneous environments that depend on Microsoft application and server platforms, but want one set of tapes (among other benefits).  So, if you fall in this camp - consider the joint solution for protecting your heterogeneous environment.

PS> there are several other great DPM partnerships that have been coming to market, and I will be blogging these over the next several weeks.

Please join us today - Wednesday, December 4th at 9:30AM Pacific - for an updated overview of DPM2007.

We'll be going over most of the core features and everything you need to know to get started with your own evaluations of the new Microsoft backup and recovery solution.

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032355427&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Last month, I was interviewed on some key DPM position questions like:

Why is Microsoft in the backup business?

What makes DPM 2007 special?

What environments does DPM 2007 fit best in?

If these sound interesting to you, check out this short 5-minute podcast.

I wanted to wait until Easter, but my buddy Matt Hester found these 30-second movie clips all performed by cartoon bunnies.

James Bond, Die Hard, and about 40 other movies -- all in cartoon bunnies.  If you are a movie buff (no pun intended), you gotta check out this link.