If you're a regular reader, you'll know that Virtual Server 2005 R2 (previously known as Virtual Server 2005 SP1 when in beta) is going to launch soon. Very soon actually - more to follow when as it's announced. Along with a name change from SP1 to R2, there are numerous other improvements. One really...

The PMC (Printer Management Console) is another huge improvement in Windows Server 2003 R2. Tali Roth will be presenting a session on printer management at IT Forum this coming November (details below), but there's also a step-by-step whitepaper guide available to download here . Subject to change...

WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) is a great way to manage patching machines in environments, both big and small. However (and I myself and just as guilty as everyone else), often a lot of information you find on microsoft.com is geared towards the larger enterprise environments. Hence, it's great...

ADFS is "Active Directory Federation Services". ADFS is just one part of the R2 release coming at the end of this year. If you want to find out more, one place is IT Forum in Barcelona, November 15th to 17th, with a pre-conference day on 14th November. As well as plenty of breakouts covering all aspects...

This really interesting white paper was published just over a week ago. It describes how Virtual Server 2005 is being used by Microsoft IT almost in a "commodity" capacity. Virtual Server 2005 provided Microsoft with the means to take consolidation to the logical level. The Virtual Server Utility team...

Virtualisation for migration and consolidation isn't always the best answer. I'm not saying it isn't appropriate always, but there are alternatives. One great example which I was asked by a customer last week about was for migrating and consolidating older file servers. The answer could be the Microsoft...

So right now, I'm somewhat in a quandry. "Why John", I hear you ask. "Well readers", I respond: At TechEd Europe this year, I'm going to present a couple of sessions. One will be around the contents of the Solution Accelerator for Consolidating and Migrating LOB (Line of Business) Applications. Here...

Now this is worth a read having just found about it internally. Megans whitepaper which I blogged about recently is now available in its completed from on microsoft.com. The whitepaper discusses in detail the differences between Virtual PC 2004 and Virtual Server 2005. I know from my own experiences...

I am currently updating my slidedeck for the webcast I'm doing this Friday on Virtual Server bringing it up to date in terms of the recent MMS (Microsoft Management Summit) announcements. I got to the slides comparing the differences between the Virtual Server and PC products. Unfortunately, there is...

Blogcast, podcast, mini-webcast.... What's in a name - well quite a lot judging by some of the reactions I've had. Leaving the name issue to one side, I've recorded a series of eight clips which walk through the process of migrating an NT4 server into Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 using the VSMT ...

VSMT is a piece of cake! VSMT stands for " V irtual S erver (2005) M igration T ookit" and is the P2V (Physical to Virtual) toolset for Virtual Server 2005. VSMT allows you to migrate a physical server running NT4 SP6A, Windows 2000 SP4 or later, or Windows 2003 Standard/Enterprise edition to a virtual...

I'm blogging while sitting listening to John Craddock and Sally Storey presenting one of the all-day pre-conference seminars "Stretching Directory Boundaries Cross Platform Identity Management, Authentication and Security" at the Microsoft IT Forum in Copenhagen. On screen as I write is a fantastic demonstration...