July, 2010

We announced today (7-29-2010) the availability of the Hyper-V Linux Integration Services for Linux Version 2.1. The following features are included in the 2.1 release:

• Driver support for synthetic devices: Linux Integration Services supports the synthetic network controller and the synthetic storage controller that were developed specifically for Hyper-V.
• Fastpath Boot Support for Hyper-V: Boot devices take advantage of the block Virtualization Service Client (VSC) to provide enhanced performance.
• Timesync: The clock inside the virtual machine will remain synchronized with the clock on the host.
• Integrated Shutdown: Virtual machines running Linux can be gracefully shut down from either Hyper-V Manager or System Center Virtual Machine Manager.
• Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP) Support: Supported Linux distributions can use up to 4 virtual processors (VP) per virtual machine.
• Heartbeat: Allows the host to detect whether the guest is running and responsive.
• Pluggable Time Source: A pluggable clock source module is included to provide a more accurate time source to the guest.

This version of the integration services for Hyper-V supports Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP3, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 / 5.3 / 5.4 / 5.5.

Learn more and download here: Linux Integration Services v2.1 for Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V R2

This was just announced  There were over 50,000 votes cast, the 2011 Marathon medal will be the first Mickey Mouse medal selected by you, the runner.
At the completion a truly magical 26.2 mile journey at the 2011 Walt Disney World Marathon, you will celebrate your accomplishment with this one-of-a-kind symbol of your hard work and triumph.  Click on the medal to learn more about the marathon:

You can still get one, the full marathon as of 7-29-2010 was at 55% full and goofy still has room at 60%. Come join me, my good friend Jimmy, and brother-in-law for a great time!

Thanks for everyone’s patience, I just found out that the 25% discount for TechNet Professional subscriptions with TNITQ406 has been extended to 10-31-2010 (so hurry now)!!!  Just click this link:

Save 25% on a new TechNet Professional Subscription with TNITQ406

As some of you may know we announced the change to the subscriptions, you can learn more about the changes here:

Announced: New TechNet Subscription Names and Offerings

So by using  TNITQ406 you can 25% on the TechNet Professional Subscription. 

Click here to get your TechNet Subscription:

Purchase a TechNet Professional Subscription

Then just enter the Promotion Code:  TNITQ406

If you have not checked out what you get with a TechNet Subscription here are a few of the benefits:

• Full-version software licensed for evaluation purposes; includes Microsoft operating systems, servers, and Office System software as well as Beta software: pre-release versions of Microsoft software to keep up to date on the latest technologies.
• Two (2) complimentary technical support incidents and a 20% discount on additional phone support incidents you purchase.
• And of course you still get the TechNet Library containing the Microsoft Knowledge Base, security updates, service packs resource kits, utilities, technical training, and product documentation to keep your systems and IT skills up to date!!!!

Some details about the offer:

So go get your TechNet Professional Subscription today, and remember use the promotion code: TNITQ406 to save 25%!!!!!!!!

This offer is only for NEW TechNet Subscription Professional orders only and is only valid for redemption in the US.  Offer is valid 10/31/10 subject to change

Happy Monday, this was filmed at a halftime show at a US Naval Academy game:

The group is called the Kings Firecrackers

Welcome to part 5 of a 6 part series talking about a great FREE tool, which has released it’s 5th major version on Monday (7-12-2010).  The new version, MAP 5.0, has some exciting new features to help with discovery and software usage.  In this screencast we take a look at how MAP performs a network inventory of IT assets remotely without the use of agents, identifying heterogeneous server environments consisting of Windows Server and Linux operating systems, including those running in a virtual environment. MAP 5.0 also automates the discovery of Linux-powered LAMP stacks.

To learn more about MAP please take a look at the following:

• Download MAP 5.0 Today: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=158988
• Learn more about MAP 5.0 here: http://www.microsoft.com/map
• Part 1: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Overview part 1
• Part 2: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Office 2010 part 2
• Part 3: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Windows Server Consolidation part 3
• Part 4: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Database Discovery for SQL Server part 4 

Here is part 3, interview with New Orleans Hornets Senior Director of Player Personnel Brian Hagen:

One of the fun things my partner in crime Keith and I did get to visit was the New Orleans Hornets.  We got to sit down with those folks, and talk about how they used Technology, specifically how they used Dynamics.  Check out the interviews below:

New Orleans Hornets Vice President of Information Technology Tod Caflisch

Transech President Stewart Saathoff

Please comment and let me know what you think about the IT Investigators program.

Welcome to part 4 of a 6 part series talking about a great FREE tool, which has released it’s 5th major version on Monday (7-12-2010). 

The new version, MAP 5.0, has some exciting new features to help with discovery and software usage. In this screencast we take a look how MAP 5.0’s new database discovery feature gives you the information you need to optimize your database resources and investments.  MAP helps you simplify database administration and provides wide-ranging details of databases and server instances—information you can leverage for consolidation.  Use the MAP Toolkit’s proposals to better utilize hardware and database resources, reduce administrative costs, and streamline your software licensing needs— all essentials for cost effective IT planning and operations.

To learn more about MAP please take a look at the following:

• Download MAP 5.0 Today: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=158988
• Learn more about MAP 5.0 here: http://www.microsoft.com/map
• Part 1: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Overview part 1
• Part 2: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Office 2010 part 2
• Part 3: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Windows Server Consolidation part 3

Welcome to part 3 of a 6 part series talking about a great FREE tool, which has released it’s 5th major version on Monday (7-12-2010).  The MAP toolkit has been around for years.  MAP is a powerful inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely run in small or large IT environments without requiring the installation of agent software on any computers or devices. The new version, MAP 5.0, has some exciting new features to help with discovery and software usage. In this screencast we take a look how MAP can assist your Windows Server Virtualization planning and consolidation.
The MAP tool helps you to gather information about your environment and analyze the results of your assessments to determine how to proceed with server consolidation efforts. These steps include wizards and a calculator to help you:

• Inventory your server environment. You can use the Inventory and Assessment Wizard to gather information about your server environment, including hardware configurations, roles, applications and services running on those computers.
• Gather performance metrics. You can use the Performance Metrics Wizard to gather information about the CPU, memory, disk, and network utilization of computers for a duration you specify. The MAP tool can provide better consolidation recommendations if peak utilization data is gathered. If you know when peak utilization will occur, start capturing data with a leading hour before the peak and set the duration to include an hour after the peak utilization is expected to end. If peak utilization periods are unknown, it is recommended to collect performance data for longer periods of time. If you are attempting to capture utilization information for machines with different peak utilization periods, it is recommended to gather this information over a longer period of time to capture all peak periods or to gather utilization information for each set of computers in different performance metric gathering runs.
• Performance counters are collected from each machine in five minute intervals. The number of machines from which the MAP tool can collect performance counter data successfully depends upon factors such as network latency and the responsiveness of servers. If you want to collect performance data for a large number of machines, it is recommended to split the target machines into batches of up to 150 machines.
• Configure host and run analysis engine. You can use the Server Virtualization Planning Wizard to help in planning your server virtualization effort. In this wizard, you can select a virtualization technology platform, set a virtual host machine’s hardware configuration, manage assessment properties and identify which computers you would like to virtualize. Use the Hardware Library wizard to create and manage often used hardware configurations for quick what-if analysis.
• Calculate potential ROI. You can evaluate potential ROI associated with the consolidation recommendations made by the MAP Toolkit using Alinean’s Integrated Virtualization ROI calculator. MAP generates an XML file at the end of every server consolidation assessment. Import the XML file into the Alinean Virtualization Integration ROI calculator to analyze potential ROI. To learn more, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=149142 .

To learn more about MAP please take a look at the following:

• Download MAP 5.0 Today: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=158988
• Learn more about MAP 5.0 here: http://www.microsoft.com/map
• Part 1: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Overview part 1
• Part 2: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Office 2010 part 2 

Welcome to part 2 of a 6 part series talking about a great FREE tool, which has released it’s 5th major version on Monday (7-12-2010):
The new version, MAP 5.0, has some exciting new features to help with discovery and software usage.  In this screencast we take a look on how MAP can help streamline your migration to Office 2010 with MAP 5.0’s hardware compatibility proposal document. The MAP Toolkit provides readiness details and specifics of your IT infrastructure inventory, including hardware and OS requirements and upgrade recommendations for planning a seamless Office 2010 deployment. The actionable recommendations and assessments presented shorten the time it takes to plan your Office 2010 migration and prepares your IT environment for Office 2010 deployment and migration scenarios. 

To learn more about MAP please take a look at the following:

• Download MAP 5.0 Today: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=158988
• Learn more about MAP 5.0 here: http://www.microsoft.com/map
• Part 1: Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0: Overview part 1

Welcome to part 1 of a 6 part series talking about a great FREE tool, which has released it’s 5th major version on Monday (7-12-2010):

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0!

The MAP toolkit has been around for years.  MAP is a powerful inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely run in small or large IT environments without requiring the installation of agent software on any computers or devices.
The new version, MAP 5.0, has some exciting new features to help with discovery and software usage.

In this screencast we take a quick tour of MAP 5.0. 

To learn more about MAP please take a look at the following:

• Download MAP 5.0 Today: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=158988
• Learn more about MAP 5.0 here: www.microsoft.com/map

Yesterday at the WPC, we announced the availability of the public beta for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1)!

Very cool stuff, you can read more about the announcement here:Public Beta Now Available for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 

Get the beta of SP1 here: Download Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta

This just in!  A new survey, and chance at a new shiny notebook!

The Windows 7 Test Drive is designed to let you explore the great new features in Windows 7 – with no installation required.  Check out our updated site with new content on Enterprise products including IE8, MDOP and Virtualization.  Try out our virtual labs, watch demo videos, download whitepapers and find out everything you need to know about how Windows 7 can benefit your organization.  Then tell us about your experience in a short 2-minute survey to enter the prize drawing.  Winners will be drawn from the completed survey entries once per week for seven weeks.  Visit the Windows 7 Test Drive site today to enter to WIN!