Congratulations to my friends at Dell for their launch of storage appliances that are powered by Windows Storage Server 2008.

This is a great example of what happens with the partnership of Microsoft with a server manufacturer. 

In this case, instead of simply pre-installing Windows Server and a standard Dell PowerEdge server (which is already a strong solution) – Microsoft raised the file-serving bar with Windows Storage Server, and Dell is now delivering it with lots of goodness in a PowerVault.

See earlier post on how/why Windows Storage Server is delivered through OEM partners.

Dell has embraced the industry leading file services features that started with Windows Server 2008, including Distributed File System (DFS), Network File System (NFS), easy management through the File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) and the great performance advancements of SMB 2.0.

Then, of course, the extra Microsoft goodies that come in Windows Storage Server 2008 such as Single-Instance Storage (SIS) for data de-duplication.

See earlier post on why a Windows Storage Server is like a Saleen Ford Mustang.

Then, they added management capabilities like remote management through iDRAC and OpenManage 6.1 including DMC (Dell Management Console), IT Assistant – and hardware features like those for Energy Smart.

And all of this is being delivered by Dell around 3 driving principles.

- Advanced Software for More Efficient Data

- No Time Wasted to Setup or Manage

- Integration that Adapts to Your Environment

In fact, <melodramatic sigh> the only negative thing I can say about this offering is that they didn’t invite this Dallas boy down to Austin to celebrate the launch.  </self-pity>

Congratulations to Dell for coming out with what looks like a great storage appliance!!

As always, thanks for reading…

Later today, we’ll be delivering a TechNet webcast on managing Data Protection Manager in large enterprises.  Essentially, there are three things we want to cover:

Using PowerShell to automate tasks across DPM servers

Using the DPM management pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007

Using Bocada’s Centralized Manager for DPM 2007

To watch the webcast, live or on-demand, please go to

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032412446

Wednesday, June 10, 2009 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

This is a very good day to be in storage and a Windows network administrator – because HP just announced that they are shipping storage appliances that are powered by Windows Storage Server 2008.  For more on the WSS08 release last month, check out these blogs:

May 5 - Announcing Windows Storage Server 2008 – Waa Hoo !

May 7 – Why a Windows Storage Server is like a Saleen Ford Mustang

And while everyone here at Microsoft is really excited about the release and what it means for our customers, the other side of the coin is that the WSS releases are only available through our OEM partners.  So our release party doesn’t really start until they announce their releases.  Kind of like two people sharing a birthday party doesn’t really start until both guests of honor get there.  Guess what, the party has started !!!

Congratulations to HP and their customers on this release of WSS08 devices: 

X1000 series - Delivers Windows-powered unified network storage that is easy to install, easy to manage, and easy to expand to your small, medium, or workgroup IT environment.

X3000 series - Adds cluster-able and easy-to-manage file, iSCSI, and management services to mid-range and Enterprise array/SAN environments to create unified network storage solutions.

descriptions clipped from hp.com – links above

For more details on the HP family of WSS08 platforms, check out the Windows Storage Server blog.

I must also confess a little guilty pleasure in this particular announcement.  WSS08 is the first Microsoft product release that I have had a contribution in, other than Data Protection Manager.  And having lived in Texas my whole professional career with my first hands-on servers being Compaq SystemPro’s (386-based), before ProLiant’s and well before the HP acquisition … it is very cool to be an infinitesimally small contributor to its launch.

Congrats HP !!

And to the rest of you … if you have been looking for a storage appliance but did not want to sacrifice the benefits you get from running Windows, including features, price/performance, flexible choice in security/backup/management tools, manageability with the same tools you use for the rest of your environment, etc.  … The Wait Is Over !!

As always, thanks for reading …

I get this question every once in a while – so I thought I would offer my perspective on this.

To answer that, let me do a short reminder of what a Windows Storage Server is:

We started with the mainstream Windows Server operating system – and tune it from being the industry-leading general purpose OS that is equally suited to being the base of Exchange/SQL Server as it is for serving files … and making it optimized for file sharing.

We added additional capabilities that are reasonable and desired in storage appliances – like de-duplication and block-storage in the form of an iSCSI target

And then we hand it over to the OEMs.  

Then, the server hardware manufacturer (e.g. HP) starts with the same basic metal as their tried-and-true ProLiant family but have the option of pre-configuring packages of components and form-factors, and adding their own special sauce.

Then they package it up – with the additional understanding that it comes ready to go when you power it up.  Basically, 30 minutes from cardboard to file serving (rails and racks, not withstanding).

So, in short, WSS08 powered storage appliances are more than just another version of Windows running on a ProLiant with a different SKU.   So, with that in mind, even if we chose to provide the WSS08 software as software-only for production use (it is available in some releases of TechNet and MSDN for testing purposes) … it wouldn’t be the same thing because the metal and the integration are part of it.

ANALOGY TIME

If you want a ham and cheese sandwich, you could go to your regular grocer and get a bag of pre-cut circular sandwich meat from the refrigerator section and some pre-processed cheese slices.  Throw it between two pieces of generic white bread and call it a sandwich.

But then, one day, you go to an authentic deli or sandwich shop and get some ham sliced fresh from the bone.  You add some amazing cheese that you’ve never seen before (and can’t spell) and put it between two pieces of something-too-wonderful-to-be bread that someone hand rolled and baked this morning.  Mmmmm…

Now, if you go home and you bring some of that good meat with you.  You still won’t have that phenomenal sandwich again – because you don’t have the amazing cheese (additional software) or the wonderful bread (server hardware).

Its lots of stuff put together that comes into your hands – prebuilt for deliciousness.  A storage appliance that is powered by Windows Storage Server 2008 is the same way.  This is not my best analogy because saying that the general purpose Windows Server 2008 operating system is like store-bought lunch meat is just … well … baloney.

But the rest of the story works pretty good.

As always, thanks for reading …

I am very excited to announce the availability of a new classroom-based course on DPM 2007 SP1.

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/syllabi/50213A.aspx

This is a two-day course that covers everything that you need to know to be successful with DPM.  That is a bold statement, but it was built by MVPs, early DPM adopters that are now full deployed throughout their enterprise, as well as MS stakeholders.

About this Course

This two-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to implement Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007.  This course is intended for IT professionals who are responsible for installing and configuring DPM 2007, and for using DPM 2007 to protect data and applications.

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Describe Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007
• Describe the prerequisite requirements and Install DPM 2007 servers
• Perform post-installation configuration tasks
• Protect & Recover SQL Server data with DPM 2007
• Protect & Recover Exchange Server data with DPM 2007
• Protect & Recover SharePoint data with DPM 2007
• Protect & Recover virtualized environments with DPM 2007
• Monitor DPM 2007
• Prepare for and Perform disaster recovery in DPM 2007

For those of you that know me from my days at NSI Double-Take, you may recall that I originally built the training & certification program there – and have always thought of technical education strictly as a way to enable easier first deployments and proofs-of-concept when evaluating software … plus increasing the usage of the product by educating on additional capabilities that you may not have perhaps known about.  So the courseware there (and this course) are focused around job roles/tasks and what are the key skills necessary to do what you need to get done.

This class takes most of what we cover in the DPM breakout sessions at Tech-Ed, MMS, and IT Forum – and puts it into two fun-filled backup and recovery days.

Also notable is that this course uses the newest delivery vehicle from Microsoft Learning – CourseWare Library (CWL) … which means that it is very easy for Microsoft training partners to download and offer – usually at a significantly reduced cost, compared with Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC). 

If you are a Microsoft training partner – please visit the CWL portal and take a look at course 50213A

If you are a Microsoft trainer – start brushing up on DPM 2007 SP1  :-)

If you are a Microsoft customer – ask your preferred training provider when they will offer course 50213A

And for everyone – stay tuned to find out about the upcoming DPM 2007 certification exam that will follow this course.

As always, thanks for reading…