Somewhere between the physical and the virtual
More announcements ...
Today we are excited to announce the Community Technology Preview of Microsoft Server Application Virtualization (Server App-V), and the Server Application Virtualization Packaging Tool. Microsoft Server Application Virtualization builds on the technology used in client Application Virtualization, allowing for the separation of application configuration and state from the underlying operating system. This separation and packaging enables existing Windows applications, not specifically designed for Windows Azure, to be deployed on a Windows Azure worker role. We can do this in a way where the application state is maintained across reboots or movement of the worker role. This process allows existing, on-premises applications to be deployed directly onto Windows Azure, providing yet more flexibility in how organizations can take advantage of Microsoft’s cloud capabilities. Server Application Virtualization delivers:
Today we are excited to announce the Community Technology Preview of Microsoft Server Application Virtualization (Server App-V), and the Server Application Virtualization Packaging Tool.
Microsoft Server Application Virtualization builds on the technology used in client Application Virtualization, allowing for the separation of application configuration and state from the underlying operating system. This separation and packaging enables existing Windows applications, not specifically designed for Windows Azure, to be deployed on a Windows Azure worker role. We can do this in a way where the application state is maintained across reboots or movement of the worker role. This process allows existing, on-premises applications to be deployed directly onto Windows Azure, providing yet more flexibility in how organizations can take advantage of Microsoft’s cloud capabilities. Server Application Virtualization delivers:
Microsoft Server Application Virtualization converts traditional server applications into state separated "XCopyable" images without requiring code changes to the applications themselves, allowing you to host a variety of Windows 2008 applications on the Windows Azure worker role. The conversion process is accomplished using the Server App-V Sequencer. When the server application is sequenced, the configuration settings, services, and resources that the application uses are detected and stored. The sequenced application can then be deployed via the Server Application Virtualization Packaging Tool to the worker role in Windows Azure as a file.
Server App-V and the Windows Azure VM Role
Microsoft Server Application Virtualization and the Windows Azure VM role are complementary technologies that provide options for migrating your existing Windows applications to Windows Azure. With the Windows Azure VM role, you are taking a full Hyper-V VHD file with the OS and Application installed on it, and copying that Virtual Machine up to Windows Azure. With Server App-V, you are capturing an image of the application with the Server Application Virtualization Sequencer, copying that image up to Windows Azure with the Server Application Virtualization Packaging Tool, and deploying it on a Windows Azure worker role.
Connect back to your Local Network
For most of you, the on-premises server applications that you want to virtualize probably have to access local resources within your domain or in your datacenter. A question you may have is, "How can I configure my virtualized application to still access my internal network once I have moved an application to Windows Azure?" With Windows Azure Connect, you can create that linkage from within Windows Azure back into your network. This creates IPsec protected connections between machines (physical or virtual) in your network and roles running in Windows Azure. Keep in mind that you will have to account for the latency between running part of your service on-premises and part off, because you are running part of your application in one datacenter and part in another. An example of how this may work is that you have a Standard 3-tier application. You can update your Web Tier to run as a Web Role in Windows Azure. You can virtualize your Application Tier and run that as a Server App-V instance on a Worker Role in Windows Azure. Then this application can use Windows Azure Connect to access the local SQL Server that is still running in your datacenter. Eventually, you may want to migrate that SQL Server to SQL Azure, and you can do that within your own planned timeframe.
Availability
In October, during Steve Ballmer’s and Bob Muglia’s Keynote at Microsoft PDC 2010, about 1 hour 53 minutes in, Bob mentioned that we would be having a Technology Preview available before the end of the year, and this announcement signifies that release. Currently, this is an invitation only Community Technology Preview. The final release of this technology will be available to customers in the second half of 2011.
I am really excited to be writing about this technology, as it gives you a way to move some of those applications that may never be rewritten for Windows Azure to run on our Platform-as-a-Service offering. This will give you the option to move however fast, and whenever you want to the cloud on your terms and in your timeframe. Please stay tuned for more information about this technology and some feedback on our progress in the New Year. Kenon Owens Technical Product Manager Datacenter and Virtualization Management
I am really excited to be writing about this technology, as it gives you a way to move some of those applications that may never be rewritten for Windows Azure to run on our Platform-as-a-Service offering. This will give you the option to move however fast, and whenever you want to the cloud on your terms and in your timeframe.
Please stay tuned for more information about this technology and some feedback on our progress in the New Year.
Kenon Owens
Technical Product Manager
Datacenter and Virtualization Management
Hello Service Manager Fans!
A number of you have been posting comments and sending me questions on the availability, or lack thereof, of Service Manager 2010 SP1 on the download pages previously posted.
We are in the process of addressing this and the files should be available for download again soon.
Thanks for reading & I'll speak with you soon,
Sean
Sean Christensen Senior Technical Product Manager, ITIL v3 Expert System Center Service Manager, IT Process & Compliance System Center, Management & Security Division Email: sean.christensen@microsoft.com Twitter: @Seanc_MSFT
In October 2010, Microsoft announced that it had acquired AVIcode, Inc. as a wholly owned subsidiary. (blog post on acquisition)
Today, we are pleased to announce the release of AVIcode 5.7 !!
AVIcode is available exclusively in connection with the purchase of System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise (SMSE), System Center Server Management Suite Datacenter (SMSD), Core Infrastructure Server (CIS) Suite Enterprise, or Core Infrastructure Server (CIS) Suite Datacenter. Any SMSE, SMSD, CIS Suite Enterprise, or CIS Suite Datacenter customer with active Software Assurance on or between October 5th, 2010 and October 30, 2012 is being offered AVIcode software from Microsoft’s AVIcode subsidiary at no additional charge.
Evaluation software -- as well as information on how existing AVIcode customers and SMSE / SMSD customers can gain access to the software – can be found on the NEW AVIcode product page at www.microsoft.com/AVIcode.
For more specifics on the acquisition, you can also check out the Pathways site at www.microsoft.com/pathways/AVIcode.
Thanks for reading.
Hello Service Manager fans,
There seemed to be an error with the link to downloading Service Manager in my recent blog post. This has been fixed in my previous post so it should all work fine now.
Just in case, you can download Service Manager 2010 SP1 from here.
Today, we announced the release of Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 (FEP). True to Microsoft’s continued commitment to reduce costs and improve security, FEP delivers new efficiencies for IT security and operations. It is deployed, configured, managed, updated, and reported on through Configuration Manager, Microsoft’s configuration management solution. To provide guidance on this topic, we’ve just published a new white paper that explains how FEP and System Center Configuration Manager together deliver on this oft-discussed topic of security and management convergence.
The paper describes the inclusion of FEP into Configuration Manager and what that means for organizations. For IT interested in learning more about convergence, it discusses how combining security and client management into a single work stream breaks down the artificial barriers typically created between these practices. And how organizations can use the integration to cut process friction, raise effectiveness, and enhance overall manageability. Check out the white paper and read more about how consolidating security and management can save your company money and improve security processes.
- The Security & Management Team