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NEXUS SC:
The System Center Team Blog

Somewhere between the physical and the virtual

March, 2011

Latest Posts
  • Nexus SC: The System Center Team Blog

    OSD Blogging continues, this one is about PXE Setup and Boot Image Management

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    SNAGHTML27489097Hi everyone, the OS Deployment PM team has posted another great blog about PXE Setup and Boot Image Management.  Here is an excerpt from their intro.

    “In a previous post, I talked a little about the changes to the distribution point and integration of PXE services. In this post I want to go into some more details and the setup and management of PXE service starting in Configuration Manager 2012 Beta 2.

    Initial Setup of PXE services: As I mentioned in my last post, PXE is no longer a site role. So enabling PXE is no longer completed through the Create Roles wizard and selecting PXE Service Point. The setup of the PXE service point ………………”  read the rest here.

    Additional Configuration Manager 2012 Information:

    • Introduction to Configuration Manager 2012 - link
    • What’s New in Configuration Manager 2012 - link
    • Fundamentals of Configuration Manager 2012 - link
    • Download the ConfigMgr Beta 2 here
    • Join our 800 friends in the Community Evaluation Program here
    • Check out our Virtual Labs on Technet here (currently based on Beta 1, update coming soon)
    • Download a pre configured Virtual Machine here (currently based on Beta 1, update coming soon)

    me15Jeff Wettlaufer
    Sr Technical Product Manager
    System Center, Management and Security Division
    System Center generic brand Grid h r Email me directly here... Follow us on Twitter Connect with us on LinkedIn Shre this on Delicious Find more about System Center on TechNet Edge

  • Nexus SC: The System Center Team Blog

    Taking System Center Orchestrator for a first spin

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    Hi everyone

    We unveiled the next version of Opalis at MMS last week, which will be known as System Center Orchestrator.  We also showed for the first time some early builds and did a short demo using Orchestrator.

    Well, for those of you who could not make it to MMS, I have posted over on the new Orchestrator Blog site a run down on what we showed, along with some explanations and screenshots.

    You can read the post here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/scorch/archive/2011/03/30/a-first-look-at-system-center-orchestrator.aspx 

    I will also be posting documentation on all demos we did at MMS, the first of which is here.  After the blog posts are done, I will also post a video of the demo in full flight Smile

    I hope you enjoy, and as always, I welcome any feedback you have.

    Adam

    • Adam Hall-blog   Adam Hall
    •    Snr. Technical Product Manager

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  • Nexus SC: The System Center Team Blog

    Now Available: System Center Configuration Manager Physical to Virtual Migration Toolkit CTP

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    image

    The Configuration Manager team is pleased to release a Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the Physical to Virtual Migration Toolkit. This tool is designed to assist organizations in their migrations from Configuration Manager 2007, to Configuration Manager 2012. Below are some details and links for more information and access to the download.

    What is the Physical to Virtual Migration Toolkit?
    The Configuration Manager Physical to Virtual Migration Toolkit is designed to assist organizations in migrating their environments from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012. This primary scenario this tool assists is situations where remote Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 site servers need to be retained during the side-by-side migration process to Configuration Manager 2012. There may be other applications of the tool.

    How does this Tool help organizations?
    The product enables customers to convert Configuration Manager 2007 site servers to Virtual Machines (VHD) files and restage the server as a Hyper-V host with the created VHD. By converting the existing site servers into Virtual Machines at remote locations, customers can re-use the same hardware (given sufficient resources) to stand-up a Configuration Manager 2012 site server and perform the side-by-side migration.

    Where can I download?
    All pre-release versions are made available through the Connect website which enables feedback directly to the P2V migration toolkit development team during the Community Technology Preview phase:
    https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/program6835 
    The
    System Center Configuration Manager Physical to Virtual Migration Toolkit product is a separate installer, and is released separately from the Configuration Manager 2012 product as it is run against the existing ConfigMgr 2007 product.

    How can I provide feedback?
    The CTP release is supported through Connect website, please use the specific feedback form for the Configuration Manager Physical to Virtual Migration Toolkit.

    What is the difference with the “P2V Migration for Software Assurance”?
    The “P2V Migration for Software Assurance” tool automates the delivery of an updated and personalized Windows 7 operating system while backing up and converting the legacy Windows XP or newer desktop and its applications for seamless use within Windows 7. The tool does not support server SKU’s.
    The “Configuration Manager Physical to Virtual Migration Toolkit” automates converting Configuration Manager 2007 site system servers from physical to virtual machines by taking the system offline.

    Where can I find more information regarding running Configuration Manager in a Hyper-V environment?
    Please see the following technical case study posted on TechNet outlining how Microsoft IT utilizes Hyper-V in combination with System Center Configuration Manager:
    “Virtualization Cuts Capital and Operating Expenses by 75 Percent at Microsoft”
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff684119.aspx

    me15Jeff Wettlaufer
    Sr Technical Product Manager
    System Center, Management and Security Division
    System Center generic brand Grid h r Email me directly here... Follow us on Twitter Connect with us on LinkedIn Shre this on Delicious Find more about System Center on TechNet Edge

  • Nexus SC: The System Center Team Blog

    Available for Download - Configuration Manager 2012 Beta 2 in German and Chinese Simplified

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    The Configuration Manager team is pleased to announce the release of the German and Chinese Simplified Configuration Manager 2012 Beta 2 builds. For German users, the International Client Pack (ICP) with the German (DE-DE) client is also available.

    German Configuration Manager 2012 Beta 2 Download Page:
    https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=34852

    Chinese Simplified Configuration Manager 2012 Beta 2 Download Page:
    https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=34986

    Even if you are planning to evaluate only the English product, if German or Chinese is your native language, please consider installing a remote admin console or the ICP client (German) on machines connected to your English site. We are looking forward to getting feedback on the translation quality as well as any functionality issues you encounter. You may see a few unlocalized strings and this is normal for the Beta release.  Before getting started, please reference the English Supported Configuration document and Release Notes files on TechNet.

    Please remember to submit your feedback regularly using the Feedback Forms and monitor the Connect Discussion Groups.  We look forward to hearing from you!

    me15Jeff Wettlaufer
    Sr Technical Product Manager
    System Center, Management and Security Division
    System Center generic brand Grid h r Email me directly here... Follow us on Twitter Connect with us on LinkedIn Shre this on Delicious Find more about System Center on TechNet Edge

  • Nexus SC: The System Center Team Blog

    ANNOUNCING System Center Project Codename “Concero”

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    At the Microsoft Management Summit on Tuesday, 3/22/11, Brad Anderson announced a new capability in System Center 2012 called Project Codename “Concero”. Before I actually talk about what it is, let me first talk about what the word “Concero” means. It’s a Latin word which means “connected”, which is at the heart of what “Concero” does.

    System Center 2012 cloud and datacenter management solutions empower you with a common management toolset for your private and public cloud applications and services, thus helping you confidently deliver IT as a Service for your business. Our goal is to help you consume the full power of and deliver private and public cloud computing on your terms. System Center 2012 provides the ability for customers to create and manage their “Private Clouds” using the virtualization infrastructure provided by Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V and other virtualization platforms. At his keynote, Brad outlined the key tenets for the cloud, one of which is “Self-Service”. This empowers the “Application Owners” to consume the cloud capacity in an agile manner. With System Center 2012, “Concero” provides a web based and simple experience for the application owner who will be consuming cloud capacity.

    We recognize that customers will be in an environment where they will be consuming cloud capacity from multiple providers. The initial release of “Concero” will enable customers to deploy, manage and control applications and services deployed on private clouds built using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 and in the public cloud offering of Windows Azure. This provides a consistent and simple user experience for service management across these clouds. 

    Some key capabilities of “Concero” are:
    (a) Ability to access resources across multiple VMM Servers
    (b) Ability to register and consume capacity from multiple Windows Azure subscriptions
    (c) Deploy and manage Services and virtual machines on private clouds created within VMM 2012 and on Windows Azure
    (d) Copy Service templates (and optional resources) from one VMM Server to another
    (e) Copy Windows Azure configuration, package files and VHD’s from on-premises and between Windows Azure subscriptions
    (f) Enable multiple users authenticated through Active Directory to access a single Windows Azure subscription

    Below are some screen shots from “Concero”


    We are excited that we can now talk about this capability. Stay tuned on the System Center website for more information on Concero. Enjoy!!

    Vijay Tewari
    Principal Group Program Manager, System Center Project Codename “Concero”

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