News and Updates from the MCS Talks Team

Session 10: Recording Available For Download

2008-12-11T11:52:00Z

For everyone that's been asking the recording for Session 10 of the MCS Talks Series, Application Virtualisation, it's now available for download or view on demand. The link to go to is: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032393357&Culture=en-GB

We’ll also have a link to the presentation deck and the end of session Q&A answers up for you in the next few days.

Session 10 Details: Registration Now Available

2008-12-03T23:55:34Z

TechNet Presents: MCS Talks Infrastructure Architecture Session 10 – Application Virtualization

In the last of the current “MCS Talks Infrastructure Architecture” series, we will focus on application virtualization. We’ll begin by giving and overview of the Microsoft virtualization portfolio and where application virtualization sits. We’ll then discuss in what scenarios application virtualization can be used and some common misconceptions about its usage. The remainder of the session will discuss the different delivery methodologies for application virtualization, the possible architectures for deploying Microsoft App-V in the enterprise today and how to scale the infrastructure to meet different scenarios. We’ll be including considerations for both well connected and branch office environments, and your options for both internet based and standalone machines. Finally we’ll discuss the options for integrating with 3^rd party electronic software distribution systems and the built in integration with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Release 2.

Session 9: Presentation Available For Download

2008-12-02T14:32:00Z

A quick update for those people wanting to download the presentation deck from the SharePoint session, this is now available at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/bb945096.aspx?id=393

MCS Talks Enterprise Architecture – Session 9: SharePoint – Follow Up

2008-11-27T21:28:00Z

We had a great overview of SharePoint architecture delivered by Paul Holdaway and Pete Mellish yesterday, giving real world design advice based on their experience of delivering SharePoint projects.

While we wait for the presentation to be prepared for upload to the main TechNet site, Paul and Pete have provided links to a set of resources, all directly related to the content they covered.

SharePoint 2007 Physical Architecture
About SSPs: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc560988.aspx
MOSS Architecture and Share Services, Martin Kearn (MCS): http://blogs.msdn.com/martinkearn/archive/2006/06/06/MOSS-Architecture-_2600_-Shared-Services.aspx

SharePoint 2007 Security
Planning Site and Content Security: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262939.aspx

Example Architecture of a SharePoint Implementation
Example Solution Architecture - Twynham School Learning Gateway: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262582.aspx
Example Scenario "SharePoint Global": http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262199.aspx

SharePoint Design and Planning Categories
Planning and Architecture for MOSS 2007: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261834.aspx

SharePoint Information Architecture
SharePoint Information Architecture whitepaper: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262985.aspx
SharePoint Logical Architecture Model: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc261995.aspx

SharePoint Customisations
Design and Build Sites on MOSS 2007: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/sharepointserver/bb736208.aspx

Architectural Scenarios
Document Management Resource Center : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/sharepointserver/bb736208.aspx
Design Logical Architecture for Collaboration: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262533.aspx
Logical Architecture Sample: Collaboration Sites on TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc835621.aspx
Planning Workflow: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/cc263134.aspx
InfoPath Forms Services: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/cc262498.aspx
Planning Search: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263400.aspx
Design a MySites Architecture: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc263019.aspx

SharePoint Capacity Planning
Plan for Capacity and Performance: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262971.aspx
Plan for Software Boundaries: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262787.aspx

Plan Hardware and Storage
Working with Large Lists: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262813.aspx
Capacity Planning white-paper: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526019.aspx

SharePoint Operations
Guide for SharePoint Management Pack: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262645.aspx
Operations for SharePoint: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc262289.aspx
Infrastructure Administration : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc794342.aspx

What's a Chaotic SharePoint Environment
How to Create Intranet Chaos: http://blogs.msdn.com/joelo/archive/2006/12/30/how-to-create-intranet-chaos.aspx

What is SharePoint Governance?
Best Practices Resources Center for SharePoint Server 2007: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/bb736746.aspx
Governance Resource Center for SharePoint Server 2007: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/sharepointserver/bb507202.aspx
Sample SharePoint Governance Plan: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=92333&clcid=0x409
SharePoint Governance Check-list Guide: http://office.microsoft.com/download/afile.aspx?AssetID=AM102306291033
SharePoint Information Architecture White Paper: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/cc262985.aspx
Sample Logical Architecture - Corporate Deployment: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/cc261995.aspx
CodePlex Reference - SharePoint Governance and Manageability Tools: http://www.codeplex.com/governance

SharePoint Training and Communications
SharePoint GEAR Up Site: http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/gearup/Pages/default.aspx
SharePoint Internal Buzz Kit: http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/gearup/Pages/General/BuzzKit.aspx

Session 9: On Demand Webcast now Available

2008-11-27T21:09:00Z

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Session 9 in the MCS Talks Infrastructure Architecture Series yesterday. Two of our consultants Paul Holdaway and Pete Mellish gave us a great overview of the design decisions you’ll face and the architectural choices you’ll have when implementing your own SharePoint solution and how they approach typical situations when talking to their own customers.

For those who missed the session or those who would like to view the session again, the on demand version is now available at the link below:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032393352&Culture=en-GB

We shall be putting up some useful resources related to the session content in the next few days as well as a link to a downloadable version of the presentation used.

Session 9 Details: Registration Now Available

2008-11-16T17:23:33Z

TechNet Presents: MCS Talks Infrastructure Architecture session 9 – SharePoint as the Strategic Platform for the Enterprise

This session in the “MCS Talks Infrastructure Architecture” series will give an MCS perspective on how SharePoint can be exploited as a collaboration-application platform to drive change and improve information-worker productivity within an enterprise. We will begin with an overview of the SharePoint 2007 platform as a whole, before moving to look as certain areas – including Collaboration, and Business Process Management – and show how these can be established on such a shared services architecture, enabling an enterprise to delegate control to users whilst providing global benefits such as enterprise-wide search and user-directory visibility while at the same time ensuring best practice and proper governance. We will look at how SharePoint’s architecture can flex – scale out, scale up – to meet your business’ requirements – and show how you can exploit such a broad platform without losing control of it in the process.

Session 8 Details: Registration Now Available

2008-11-02T21:54:43Z

TechNet Presents: MCS Talks Infrastructure Architecture session 8 – Operations Manager

Join consultants from Microsoft’s Consulting Services for the 8th session in the “MCS Talks Infrastructure Architecture” series. In this session we’ll discuss the components of a System Centre Operations Manger (OpsMgr) 2007 solution. Several example management group architectures will be presented and their strengths and weakness discussed. The key design decisions needed to create a Design for OpsMgr will be discussed along with guidance on the lifecycle of an OpsMgr solution from design to operation. We will also share some lessons learned about backup, recovery, high availability, continuity, capacity management and scalability for an OpsMgr Solution.

Session 7: On Demand Webcast now Available

2008-11-01T02:16:54Z

Thanks to everyone who joined us for Session 7 in the MCS Talks Infrastructure Architecture Series where we introduced core concepts and shared our thoughts and recommendations on the topic of Configuration Manager 2007 architecture and design.

For those who missed the session or those who would like to view the session again, the on demand version is now available at the link below:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032390875&EventCategory=5&culture=en-GB&CountryCode=GB

We shall be putting up some useful resources related to the session content in the next few days.

Session 6: Further Resources

2008-10-24T02:09:18Z

The following resources might be useful to all those involved in desktop deployment projects.

Desktop Deployment Tools:

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager - http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/configurationmanager/en/us/default.aspx

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008 - http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3BD8561F-77AC-4400-A0C1-FE871C461A89&displaylang=en

Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=24da89e9-b581-47b0-b45e-492dd6da2971&displaylang=en

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators/hardwareassessment/wv/default.mspx

Desktop Deployment Websites:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/desktopdeployment/default.aspx - Microsoft’s Desktop Deployment TechCenter

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/aa905066.aspx – Microsoft’s Application Compatibility TechCenter

Desktop Deployment Blogs:

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Team Blog – home of the team who write the excellent Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

Michael Niehaus’s Blog – home of Michael Niehaus, one of the core developers of MDT.

The Deployment Guys Blog – great blog from some of Microsoft’s top deployment specialists

The USMT Team Blog – exactly what it says on the tin, blog from the Microsoft User State Migration Tool team.

Chris Jackson’s Blog – blog from Chris Jackson, one of Microsoft’s top application compatibility gurus.

Session 6: Questions and Answers

2008-10-24T01:54:44Z

The following post recaps on the questions we covered off during last weeks webcast on desktop deployment, because there was so many, and we couldn’t answer them all, we thought we’d blog up our thoughts with some additional bits and bobs.

Q. Can Windows Vista BitLocker be managed from a central console for administrative purposes?

A. The short answer to this is no. However we provide a script with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 that can be used to manage BitLocker, this can easily be called from your build process or your software distribution tool to automate the process. The script is called manage-bde.wsf and can be found under c:\Windows\System32\manage-bde.wsf. For usage information just run manage-bde.wsf /?

Further to this, if you’re backing up your BitLocker recovery information to Active Directory we also have the BitLocker Recovery Password Viewer for Active Directory to help you locate your recovery information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928202

Q. Are there any "best practices" to getting device drivers in an "automated" way? When you have a multitude of drivers to maintain, it is hard to verify if they are up to date.

A. There’s no automated way that we’re aware of to get device drivers. If you use a tool like Configuration Manager 2007 or Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, both of these display the driver versions that are currently being used which can help. Also Configuration Manager allows you to group drivers to help with the management process but neither will automatically go and get the latest drivers, this for the time being is a manual process.

It’s stating the obvious, but the more rationalised your hardware estate is, the easier management of the drivers will be.

Q. Do you need to become a SHIM expert?

A. This question was asked when we were discussing the various options for providing a fix for an application that would not work on your new operating system. The answer to this question really depends on how you’re managing your entire application compatibility project stream. Many customers we work with now look to offload the cost and complexity of application compatibility and remediation through a 3^rd party who have experience and expertise in doing this kind of work. If your company is looking at handling this process entirely in house, then yes being a SHIM expert, or learning how to create and leverage SHIM’s will be a really great asset to the project.

With that said, we would still recommend patching or upgrading to a supported version by contacting the application vendor as the preferred solution to help ensure your application estate remains supported wherever possible.

For some further reading, Microsoft has an Application Compatibility TechNet website here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/aa905066.aspx and Chris Jackson has a great blog on the topic here: http://blogs.msdn.com/cjacks/

Q. How does Configuration Manager allow for dynamic driver injection for an image as it is being deployed?

A. When Configuration Manager deploys and operating system one of the steps, just after the OS image has been applied, is to perform a plug and play enumeration of the target workstation. The information gathered is then compared with the Configuration Manager driver database, if any matching drivers are found and available in a package they are copied to the target workstation to be used during the Windows installation, including the injection of mass storage device drivers for both Windows XP and Windows Vista. This process can also be configured to have Configuration Manager identify the closest matching driver and copy just the one driver to the target workstation, or copy all matching drivers and allow the OS installation process to select the best.

Ben Hunter from ‘Deployment Guys’ wrote a great post on how you can handle this earlier in the year: http://blogs.technet.com/deploymentguys/archive/2008/02/15/driver-management-part-1-configuration-manager.aspx

Q. Do user profiles have problems as user switch from XP to Vista?

A. There is a different profile structure for Windows Vista and Windows XP so it’s not possible to take a Windows XP profile and use it on Windows Vista. You will see this in operation if you use roaming profiles, the Windows XP profile will appear as normal but the Windows Vista profile will have a .v2 extension, here is a good article on working with both Windows XP and Windows Vista profiles: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766489.aspx

Also worth a read is this support article on migrating roaming user profiles data to Windows Vista or to Windows Server 2008: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947025

Q. Can you provide some specific rules of thumb - or at least an approach to determining how fast you can deploy in your own environment?

A. We understand that it’s good to have some specific rules but this one is really down to each individual environment. We would definitely recommend deploying as fast as is possible to remove the need to support two operating systems side by side for any extended period of time but the point we were trying to get across is that how fast you can rollout your desktops is going to be based on a number of factors and should not be based solely on how many machines your infrastructure is capable of deploying.

Consider that if you are replacing hardware you’ll be limited by how quickly you can physically get that hardware out, if you’re migrating user data across the network, deployment times can significantly increase and one of the most fundamental considerations relates to how you will handle end user training, and if that will be done as users are upgraded to a new OS…if you a training users as you migrate them to a new OS, how many users you can train simultaneously. In a very similar way, you need to plan for what volume of help desk calls you can support for users who are getting to grips with their new OS and application sets. As you can see there’s no simple answer here!

There are many other factors involved which is why we recommend you gradually ramp up your rollout until you get to the point where you can’t comfortably go any faster and be prepared to stop if you hit any issues. It’s normally a lot easier to fix a problem as you go rather than waiting until you’ve rolled out all your workstations and try to fix the problem retrospectively.

Q. With MDT 2008 / Configuration Manager or SMS2003, we will have same functionality if we deploy XP instead of Vista? Or are there some functional restriction?

A. When considering any of the deployment tools we provide individually, there is no difference to the deployment process whether deploying Windows XP or Windows Vista. There are some minor differences such as the answer file format used and other subtleties due to improvements in Windows Vista but the underlying process remains the same whichever OS you’re deploying. This isn’t the case when comparing the tools with each other though, while there are similarities between SMS 2003, Configuration Manger 2007 and MDT there are some significant and well documented differences.

Q. I know that Configuration Manager 2007 supports USB pens, but does it also support external media (USB harddrive) like MDT?

A. No, while this is will most likely be technically possible, media based deployment via USB hard drives aren’t supported. Consider however, that USB Flash Based hard drives are gaining in size, you can 32GB flash drives now, which will most likely be sufficient and will perform faster than a traditional hard disk.

For more details on media based deployments, view the the official Configuration Manager documentation (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632784.aspx).