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Well, do you? “Yes!  And I bet you’re going to tell me to use Windows Azure .” You’re catching on!  In today’s article in our “ 20 Key Scenarios with Windows Azure Infrastructure Services ”, my friend Keith Mayer shares some excellent tips, resources, and a step-by-step for building a SharePoint...

“Hey Kevin… I would like to use Windows Azure as a location where I set up a SQL Server database mirror.  Is this something I can do?” Absolutely, yes!  In fact, it doesn’t even require anything fancy as far as setting up special connectors or site-to-site VPN in order to try this out (though...

As many of you may already know, this month my Microsoft US DPE Central Region teammates ( Matt Hester , Brian Lewis , and Keith Mayer ) and I are blogging about “ 20 Key Scenarios with Windows Azure Infrastructure Services ”. Throughout this month I’ll be adding links, making any updates...

This is going to be good!  The folks at the Microsoft Virtual Academy are once again hosting a full-day online training event on May 16, 2013 from 9am to 5pm Pacific Time.  The title: Windows Azure for IT Professionals . Make Windows Azure Your Datacenter! This Jump Start will help you understand...

Today’s installment of our “Build Your Private Cloud in a Month” series is the third of a 5-part mini-series we’re calling “Deploying Private Cloud Workloads”.  This week we ( Tommy Patterson , Blain Barton and I) are going to detail and demonstrate some of the key areas in System Center 2012 SP1...

Today’s installment of our “Build Your Private Cloud in a Month” series is the second of a 5-part mini-series we’re calling “Deploying Private Cloud Workloads”.  This week we ( Tommy Patterson , Blain Barton and I) are going to detail and demonstrate some of the key areas in System Center 2012 SP1...

Today’s installment of our “Build Your Private Cloud in a Month” series is the first of a 5-part mini-series we’re calling “Deploying Private Cloud Workloads”.  This week we ( Tommy Patterson , Blain Barton and I) are going to detail and demonstrate some of the key areas in System Center 2012 SP1...

Are you building a highly virtualized datacenter? “Yep.” Are you calling it a private cloud ? “Of course. Isn’t it?” No. Well, at least not if virtualization is ALL you’re doing. Part of the definition that Microsoft uses for a “cloud’ (which...

System Center 2012 App Controller is a component and part of the self-service portal solution in System Center 2012 SP1 . By connecting to System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) servers, Windows Azure subscriptions, and 3rd-party host services, App Controller offers a vehicle that enables...

In today’s episode, I  welcome Sr. Technical Product Manager Martin Booth to the show.  We discuss enterprise management and how System Center 2012 SP1 Configuration Manager can help deploy, work with, manage and secure Windows 8 .  In Part 1 of this discussion, Martin and I chat about...

How fast? “Yeah? How fast is it?” Before I answer that question, I need to briefly define what the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol is, for those might be unfamiliar with it. SMB is the old reliable networked file system protocol. It is the protocol in use when you access file...

Concluding our Private Cloud basics series, Tom Shinder, Yuri Diogenes and I focus on the important topic of identity.  Tune in as we discuss the implications of Identity Management as it relates to a Private Cloud environment. After watching this video, follow these next steps: Step #1 – Download...

System Center 2012 with SP1 is now available for MSDN and TechNet Subscribers. “What’s new with Service Pack 1, Kevin?” I’m so glad you asked.  Check out the “ What’s New in System Center 2012 SP1 ” page for all the details.  But in a nutshell, SP1 adds capabilities to fully manage the new...

Continuing our Private Cloud basics series, Tom Shinder and Yuri Diogenes are back.  And in today’s episode they focus on how you can get started in planning a private cloud environment . Tune in as they lay out some best practices you may want to consider. After watching this video, follow these...

Recently I had the pleasure of once again speaking with Tom Shinder and Yuri Diogenes for part two of our five part series on the Private Cloud . In part two we consider the topic of security, and what the aspects of security are that need to be considered in the context of a Private Cloud. Listen in...

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking with Tom Shinder and Yuri Diogenes as a first in our five part series on the Private Cloud .  In part one we discuss basic private cloud principles and what it means for business, as well as how organizations can begin to understand and accept...

Yessir!  According to the Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform page, And that’s today!  Go to THIS PAGE to set up a reminder that at 8:00AM Pacific (10:00AM Central) time, the launch is happening. “Where will the Windows Server Launch be taking place?” Online.  Go to www.windows-server...

Yes indeed!  It’s short notice, but I’d love to see about 30+ IT Pros from the area on Thursday, August 30th.  We’ll be holding an IT “Mini-Camp”, where we’ll discuss and give you some hands-on time with Windows Server 2012 and the new version of Hyper-V virtualization. Here is the text from...

I don’t usually like to do this… “..but you’re going to do it anyway.” Shut up.  And get out of my head.  I usually don’t like to do a lot of copying and pasting of other people’s content (OPC™), but the text from this e-mail I received concerning the beta release of the next version of the...

Wonderful news!   Today at the Microsoft Management Summit going on in Las Vegas, Microsoft announced the availability of System Center 2012 .  You can start your evaluation downloads now : http://aka.ms/PvtCld Pass it on!

Immediately after my previous blog post about the new cloud-centric MCSE certifications , I received an instant message and an e-mail from the group responsible for it. They thanked me, and then asked if I would please share some additional information. So the following text comes directly from that...

Hot off the newswire : Today Microsoft announced some changes to the certification program for IT Professionals, in order to address the growing need for people being able to prove their expertise in all things cloud-related. “Wait.. you said that “the MCSE is back’.  Huh?!” That’s right. ...

As usual, here is the online version of the event resources I’ll be handing out to my central U.S. IT Camp Event attendees for the next several months. It is likely that this online version is even better, because A) it contains even more than what I could fit onto one page, B) items may have...

Finally! After the long wait, and expectation growing as the day approached, we are finally able to announce to the world that the Beta of the next version of Windows Server, currently codename: Windows Server “8” , is now available for download. From the download page: Windows...

Continuing on where we left off from our part 1 screencast yesterday , when we discussed the downloads and the prerequisites and what you needed in place for the installation; today in part 2 we discuss how to configure your servers. “Is it really all that complicated, Kevin?” Actually...