Microsoft has announced immediate support for deploying a new Operations Manager 2007 R2 installation with SQL Server 2008 R2. Upgrading your R2 deployment from SQL Server 2005 SP 3 / SQL Server 2008 SP 1 to SQL Server 2008 R2 will be supported with a future cumulative update of Operations Manager 2007 R2.

For details on the steps to perform a new installation, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2425714.

Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 3.0 helps you reduce IT costs by making it easier to update your offline virtual machines, templates, and virtual hard disks with the latest operating system and application patches—without introducing vulnerabilities into your IT infrastructure.
This Solution Accelerator includes the following components:

• Brief Overview. Available online only on Microsoft TechNet. Summary for business and technical managers that briefly explains how this Solution Accelerator can fit into an organization’s IT infrastructure management strategy.
  
• VMServicing_x64 and VMServicing_x86. Setup files for the tool, for 64 bit and 32 bit versions of Windows with Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008 or 2008 R2.
  
• Virtual Machine Servicing Tool Getting Started Guide. Provides information about how the tool works, explains prerequisites for the tool, and describes how to install and configure the tool.
  
• VM_Servicing_Tool_3.0_Release_Notes.rtf. Notes provide information about this release, describe known issues in the tool, and include feedback instructions.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyId=8408ECF5-7AFE-47EC-A697-EB433027DF73&displaylang=en

external source: Microsoft Team's blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/itbizval/

One of Microsoft's recent studies was to understand the recurring labor costs in managing and operating Microsoft Hyper-V versus VMware’s competing platforms. The licensing costs of these products are an important consideration for customers, as are the benefits of physical-to-virtual server consolidations. Both items are often discussed to some length in the industry. However, there have not been any significant published research that compared the more important recurring operational costs of managing production virtual servers. This Microsoft study was originally intended to be used internally within Microsoft to feed into our product planning process, but the results were so eye-opening that they have been made public, which you can download here.

Here are some key points:

· The respondents were located in the U.S. and were surveyed by an outside market research firm using a double-blind survey.

· We focused on Hyper-V and ESX/vSphere only.

· Respondents represent organizations having 500 PCs or more.

· The one-time costs were either assumed to be well known (e.g., licensing) or similar enough (e.g., planning, setup) that these costs were out of scope.

· The statistical “confidence interval” is 7.76% with a confidence level of 95%.

Here are a few summary points from the study:

· The IT labor costs varied widely based on the customer’s IT process maturity, but the average costs were $10,357 per guest when hosted on Hyper-V versus $13,629 per guest when hosted on VMware, a 24% savings for Hyper-V versus VMware, and Hyper-V customers at every maturity level showed lower costs

· The average density of Windows Server guests per server was 30% greater for Hyper-V (7.9) than VMware (6.1) 

· Customers using Microsoft system management products to manage their hosts had 15.6% lower annual IT labor costs ($9,486) per virtual machine than customers using VMware vCenter ($11,238) and 36.7% lower costs than customers using management products from a mix of vendors ($14,988)

So what should you make of these results? First, don’t ignore the cost to operate, manage and support the products you are using or are considering to use. The acquisition costs are usually just a piece of the overall total cost of ownership. Second, be careful when reviewing claims, such as VM guest densities, from vendors. This study used a statistically significant sample size of 154 companies, yet we have seen vendors make bold claims (example, see this whitepaper from VMware) when using a sample size of only 3 companies.

You should also know that Microsoft don’t have all the answers to where the cost savings originate. Microsoft focuses on building products that are well integrated and easy to use, and thus reduce recurring operational costs. .

Microsoft Team's blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/itbizval/

What is better than spending a moment to kick off a completely automated process to redeliver an existing operating system as a virtual machine within a new build of Windows 7?

Answer: Making the entire process "zero touch" without necessitating a visit to the target computer or manually initiating the migration!

P2V Migration for Software Assurance can now be implemented using System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Operating System Deployment as well as native Lite Touch Installation with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010. Computer refresh, replace and restore task sequence templates for Configuration Manager are included and documented in this Beta release.

Additional optimizations beyond Configuration Manager functionality included in this release are:

1. Better flexibility for backing-up and restoring VHD files using default file locations
2. Support for PCs using system and boot volumes
3. Globalization of scripts to handle varying regional and locale formats
4. General bug fixes and improved documentation

These fixes reflect the feedback of our Connect community and MVPs - thanks to everyone for submitting feedback!

Download P2V Migration for Software Assurance Beta 2 now:

http://connect.microsoft.com/site14/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=1646&InvitationID=P2VM-C49K-PQHR

Links to DPM2010 storage calculators

Exchange
"http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/5/1/851E02E6-4CCA-4846-83C5-3C92C8114899/DPM_2010_Storage_Calculator_for_Exchange_2010.xlsx"

Hyper-V
"http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/5/1/851E02E6-4CCA-4846-83C5-3C92C8114899/DPM_2010_Storage_Calculator_for_Hyper-V.xlsx"

SharePoint
"http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/5/1/851E02E6-4CCA-4846-83C5-3C92C8114899/DPM_2010_Storage_Calculator_for_SharePoint.xlsx"

Microsoft IT Showcase is pleased to announce the publication of Microsoft IT Starts Migration of Microsoft.com to Windows Azure Platform,
which discusses how MSIT quickly built and deployed the Social eXperience Platform (SXP) on Windows Azure to enable social media capabilities across Microsoft.com.

Microsoft IT Starts Migration of Microsoft.com to Windows Azure Platform

The Video Showcase site on Microsoft.com hosts thousands of videos and other rich media content that hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide view every day.
Learn how Microsoft Information Technology (MSIT) quickly built and deployed the Social eXperience Platform (SXP) on the Windows Azure technology platform to enable social media capabilities across Microsoft.com.

Article

Some docs that may help:

- RDS Architecture Summary: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=9bc943b7-07c5-4335-9df9-20e77ed5032e

- Virtualized RDSH guide (including costing): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=8d454921-72d6-45b4-b6ba-ac1c26d337bd

- Host Capacity planning  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=bd24503e-b8b7-4b5b-9a86-af03ac5332c8

- Another deployment guide (not the IPD) : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=1d95a910-72a5-44ec-96db-6853f6f9dc5b

more doc will come from vendors like HP, Dell,…

Microsoft Corp. announced on 13/09/2010 the release candidate of Microsoft Lync, the next generation of Microsoft's unified communications software that enables people to connect in new ways, anytime, anywhere. Lync is the new family brand for the products formerly known as Communications Server, Communications Online and Communicator, and it also now includes Lync Web App, and Lync Online. The release candidates of Lync 2010 and Lync Server 2010 are now available for businesses of all sizes to try for free. They can be downloaded at http://technet.microsoft.com/evalcenter/ff808407.aspx. This broad release candidate is the last step toward release to manufacturing and general availability scheduled for later this year.

"Over the past five years we have been on a journey to transform communications with the power of software," said Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president of Unified Communications at Microsoft. "Lync delivers on this vision by unifying enterprise voice, instant messaging and web-, audio- and videoconferencing into a new, connected communications experience."

Microsoft Lync can make every engagement a virtual face-to-face meeting, because any interaction can include video and audio conferencing, application and desktop sharing, instant messaging, and telephony. Lync has been designed from the ground up to work with Microsoft Office, SharePoint and Exchange, which helps reduce end-user adoption hurdles and increase return on investment. People can also stay connected to others on a wide range of devices while away from the office and manage their communications and calls in new ways, such as easily moving a call from a PC to a mobile device while leaving the office without disrupting the conversation.

More than 120 enterprise customers and partners are enrolled in the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program (TAP) for Lync, testing early releases and providing feedback, and over 400 unified communications partners are involved in readiness activities, preparing for general availability of the software later this year.

In addition, today more than 30 partners announced beta versions of their Lync-compatible hardware, software and service products. Hardware products include a variety of Internet protocol phones and USB endpoints optimized for Lync. Software solutions include contact centers, call recording, accounting and new applications that incorporate communications right within business processes. Routing services work with Lync to allow companies to meet United States E-911 requirements for all U.S.-based workers, regardless of location.

Product Availability

Microsoft Lync is on schedule to become generally available in 2010. In addition, Microsoft will share more about Lync Online, which will give customers the added option of a hosted solution, in the coming months.

The following update on Process Planning was announced on 14th of September by the Microsoft Exchange Product team

Guidance Change: Calculating the Megacycles for Different Processor Configurations Formula

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2010/09/14/456262.aspx

New Formula –

((New platform per core value) * (Hertz per core of baseline platform)) / (Baseline per core value) = Adjusted Megacycles per Core

Read the link above to get more of an understanding

NOTE:This guidance change is effectively immediately and is documented within the TechNet article, Mailbox Server Processor Capacity Planning.  The documentation within the Exchange 2010 Mailbox Role Requirements Calculator will also be updated to reflect this. 

IMPACT to Existing Designs:

For those of you that have already sized your systems using the old, invalid formula, don’t panic, your systems simply will have some extra megacycle capacity. The extra amount will depend on the difference between the MHz value of your processor and the baseline value of 3333 MHz.

Windows Internet Explorer 9 delivers web sites and applications that look and perform like native PC applications through the power of Windows.

• Fast: Internet Explorer 9 is all-around fast. Designed to take full advantage of your PC’s hardware through Windows, Internet Explorer 9 delivers graphically rich and immersive experiences that are as fast and responsive as native applications installed on your PC.
• Clean: Internet Explorer puts the focus on the Web sites you love with a clean look and increased viewing area that makes your Web sites shine. Intuitive and seamless integration with Windows 7 provides one-click access to Web applications pinned directly to your Taskbar.
• Trusted: Internet Explorer is the trusted way to the Web because it has a robust set of built-in security, privacy and reliability technologies that keep you safer and your browsing experience uninterrupted.
• Interoperable: Support for HTML5 and modern Web standards architected to take advantage of the GPU means that the same mark-up not only works across the Web, but runs faster and delivers a richer experience through Windows and Internet Explorer 9.

Windows Internet Explorer 9 Beta for Windows 7

Windows Internet Explorer 9 Beta for Windows 7 64-bit Edition and Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit Edition

There are some serious updates to the Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator, including one piece of functionality that you all have been asking!

Please go to our Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator updates tracking page to see what is in this new version!

A blog post explaining the calculator (updated for this new version) is here and or you can download the calculator directly.

external source: http://advice.cio.com/shane_oneill/12214/windows_7_migration_moment_of_truth_three_ways_to_get_ready?source=CIONLE_nlt_microsoft_2010-09-02

A Gartner report warns companies about the financial dangers of delaying Windows 7 migrations.

It's time to put some money aside for Windows 7 migrations or run the risk of not upgrading in time to meet the end-of-support deadline for Windows XP in four years, according to a new report from Gartner Research.

The crux of the problem, according to the report written by Charles Smulders and Stephen Kleynhans, is that companies are underestimating the burden that upgrades from Windows XP to Windows 7 will have on budgets and resources in the 2011 – 2012 timeframe. Additionally, the demand for highly qualified workers skilled in Windows 7 migrations will surpass the available supply, leading to even higher service rates.

As a result, companies will need to find extra funds or redirect funds away from other projects to complete Windows 7 migrations on time, the Gartner report states.

"Corporate IT departments typically prefer to migrate PC operating systems via hardware attrition," writes Smulders, managing vice president at Gartner. "Microsoft will support Windows XP for four more years. With most migrations not starting until the fourth quarter of 2010 at the earliest, and PC hardware replacement cycles typically running at four to five years, most organizations will not be able to migrate to Windows 7 through usual planned hardware refresh before support for Windows XP ends."

Expect the cost of IT labor to increase during 2011 and 2012 as demand for Windows 7 migration services increase. Gartner estimates that the proportion of the budget spent on PCs will "need to increase between 20 percent as a best-case scenario and 60 percent at worst." These cost hikes will likely continue in 2013 as companies realize that they are behind in their migrations, according to the report.

Here are three suggestions from Gartner for companies looking to speed up Windows migrations in 2011 and 2012.

Upgrade Installed PCs

Using existing PCs will reduce the capital costs of migration, but will not reduce the labor costs of migration. Assuming a 10,000 PC environment where all PCs are upgraded, the migration cost per PC will be between $1,274 and $2,069, depending on how well-managed the environment is. This assumes that 25 percent of the machines will need a hardware upgrade to run the OS.

While the capital costs are reduced in this case, upgrading an installed PC simply postpones the inevitable PC replacement for two to three years, writes Gartner. Users will need to be migrated twice, rather than once, during a four-year period.

Accelerate PC Replacement Plans

Buying new PCs with the OS upgrade guarantees that machines have a full set of compatible drivers and a BIOS (basic input/output system). This will also ensure that machines will have a long operational life with the new OS, which will pay back the costs of the migration, writes Gartner.

Again assuming a 10,000 PC environment where all PCs are replaced, Gartner estimates that the migration cost per PC will be between $1,205 and $1,999, depending on how well-managed the environment is. While the overall cost to migrate is lower than other scenarios, the down side is that the capital costs account for about 60 percent of the total replacement cost, so the capital budget will be larger in a PC replacement case than in an upgrade case.

Try Desktop Virtualization

For workers in data-entry roles — which account for about 15 percent of the population in a typical company — migrating from a PC to a HVD (hosted virtual desktop) environment is an alternative to PC migrations, according to the Gartner report.

This approach could potentially speed up deployment because it is one image deployed centrally. On the other hand, an HVD does not necessarily solve budget problems. To run an HVD a company needs data center and network infrastructure, which costs money to operate. Also, it does not solve the IT support staff issue because staffers will be needed to execute the HVD rollout.

On 25th of August, Microsoft released a few important Hyper-V updates in a single package via Windows Update. These updates have been publicly available for some time now, but we’re now including these as a single roll-up for the convenience of our customers. There are three issues resolved with this update:

· Compatibility with Intel Nehalem Processors

· Compatibility with Intel Westmere Processors

· A network issue when, under extreme network load, the VM network connection is lost.

For specifics on the issues resolved with this update, please see the following KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2264080

this update is also valid for Hyper-V Server 2008 R2

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there is a Demomate about SCVMM SSP 2.0 available on the following URL

http://www.demomate.com/content/demos/System Center VMM Self-Service Portal 2.0 Demo.zip

Enjoy !!

Tech∙Ed Middle East returns to Dubai in 2011, March 8 – 10, for 3 full days of deep technical education, hands-on-learning and opportunities to connect with Microsoft and Community experts one-on-one. 

Join the Tech∙Ed Middle East email list and be among the first to receive event announcements and notification when event registration opens.