In part 3 of their "Hyper-V from a VMware admin's perspective" series Keith Mayer and Andy Syrewicze , explore the world of storage and its many options for users. [ 2:44 ] What are the storage options found in VMware and how does this compare to Hyper-V? [ 12:54 ] DEMO : How to set-up...

Good afternoon everyone! Yesterday I introduced you to a fantastic series my good friend and System Center expert Cameron Fuller wrote on an exciting new technology called the Azure Monitoring Gateway. You can get a quick peak here: Cameron wrote two more posts taking your through step-by-step for the...

One of the great things I love about my job is the amount of really smart and talented folks I get to work with. This is so true with my good friend Cameron Fuller . Some of you may know Cameron and read is blog, he truly is a System Center expert. Often times, when I folks like Cameron are on the cutting...

Kevin Remde welcomes back Jeff Woolsey to the show for Part 2 of their three part “Virtualization: Did you Know…” series and in today’s episode they cover four more quick facts about Microsoft’s Virtualization solutions. [ 2:50 ] Did you know…”Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 supports twice the physical...

Good afternoon everyone, I apologize for the delay, here the questions I got from the camp in Houston The slide deck is at the end of the post.  Thanks to Keith Mayer and Yung Chou for the help on some of questions.  Q: How do I license SQL license be applied to Azure? A:  If you are an...

Let’s start this post off with this: I am a VMware Certified Professional 5 - Data Center Virtualization (VCP5-DCV)! Yup, you read that correctly I am certified in a product set that is a competitor to my company. This may surprise you a bit, and the obvious question is why get VMware...

In the interview I did with Mark Russinovich last month ( An Interview with Mark Russinovich on Windows Azure & Security ), I asked Mark about customers doing penetration testing. Mark pretty much said it was ok as long as they were not attacking the platform, which is true. However, I have a quick...

I just found out about this and had to pass it on! John and I have been colleagues for years and I am certain that this will be an incredible training. This intensive one week event is designed to give attendees the skills required to architect, deploy and manage a Microsoft centric environment. By the...

Here is part 2 of the Windows Azure IaaS series and in this episode I take a look at the top Windows Azure Virtual Machines FAQs and common gotchas with Hari Dogiparthi. Tune in for this Q&A session and get the answers to some of the most common issues seen by customers. Also stick around for a quick...

When you start to think of building a private cloud into your datacenters, you might naturally think you need run out and buy a SAN. While you still may want to go buy a SAN, with Windows Server 2012 you do not necessarily need to. In Windows Server 2012 there has been a tremendous amount of improvement...

In today’s post we welcome Dan Noonan back to the series.  Today he talks how to use Windows Azure to learn technology.  Windows Azure provides a fast and easy way to load a test environment, especially if you want to try it, you can get a free trial here: http://aka.ms/GetAzureIaaS . ...

Today Kevin takes you on a tour of how to test Windows Server 2012 Storage Spaces in Windows Azure .  He does a great job of taking you step by step through the process.  We also talked about Storage Spaces in our 31 days of Our Favorite Things series we did in October.  You can check...

Want to go to MMS on Microsoft’s dime?  Want a chance to win free stuff?, Want to have your knowledge tested?  Then take on the: Microsoft Trivia Challenge!   How does it work? Download. Play. Win.  Go here to sign up: Microsoft Trivia Challenge   between January 15, 2013 through...

Being able to leverage your current infrastructure components like Active Directory with the cloud , provide you some fantastic ways to have your cake and eat it too.  Being able to leverage your on-premise resources with the cloud will be key to driving a better datacenter for you in the future...

Wow, I think today’s post just combined 3 of my favorite things, PowerShell, Virtual Machines, and Windows Azure !  Keith does a great job today showing how you can use PowerShell to create templates for your virtual machines in Windows Azure.  He even takes it a step further and shows you...

Writing an article on for recommendations and considerations can be tough. It is even tougher when Windows Azure Virtual Machines (the IaaS) is currently in customer preview. With that sad the first best practice is to avoid putting production workloads in the cloud, unless your willing to risk While...

In todays part Dan takes a look at the costs behind Windows Azure .  He does a fantastic job of showing what the different costs that are associated with Windows Azure, even more importantly he takes a look at the calculator and how you can get a great estimate of the costs.  Take a look at...

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.  You might think when you are creating your Windows Azure Virtual Machines, the only choice you would have is Windows Server technologies.  You actually have quite a few to choose, from Windows Server, to Linux, to your own images.  You have plenty of choices...

The Windows Server 2012 "Early Experts" Challenge provides a FREE online study group with certification exam preparation materials for quickly learning about the latest version of Windows Server! The Challenge involves a series of Knowledge Quests - starting with the Apprentice Quest below - and each...

You could win a FREE exam voucher pack for the MCSA on Windows Server 2012 certification! In December 2012, we are sponsoring an “Early Experts” Challenge Sweepstakes for IT Pros located in the US!  To be eligible, you’ll just need to complete one new Knowledge Quest on Windows Server 2012 between...

The Microsoft Solution Accelerators team is pleased to announce that the System Center Cloud Services Process Pack is now available for download. Download the System Center Cloud Services Process Pack. The System Center Cloud Services Process Pack is Microsoft’s Infrastructure as a Service solution built...

In today’s post we have a guest to our series: Microsoft Partner Veeam .  They have also been joining us for our events around the country for a list of the events in my region take a look here: Register Now TechNet Events Present: A Day with Microsoft Virtualization, Hyper-V, SCVMM 2012 and SCOM...

Sometimes working with all of these technologies around the cloud you want to know how is that done?  Eventually you get to a point where you want to see what is behind the magic curtain.  In today’s post Kevin takes you on a tour of have he put is cloud environment together.  Some of...

Technology is leaving the traditional business world behind. Learn how to leverage the right technology to jump start business growth and get ahead of the curve!  On November 2, 2011 from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM (ET) in Blue Ash, OH  there will be a Tech Tune-Up to help brush up your skills on 4...

Well we are on the road again!  We are hitting the road and take a look at the events we are doing in the US at TechNet Events in the central US to see if you’ll be able to spend the day with us. “A day? I thought you guys usually do the 1/2-day TechNet Events.” Yeah, that was then. This is now...