Today, we’re happy to announce the beta release of Data Protection Manager 2012, with the latest and greatest System Center data protection capabilities. In its fourth generation, Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2012 builds on a legacy of providing unified data protection for Windows servers and clients as a best-of-breed backup & recovery solution from Microsoft, for Windows environments. As a key component of System Center 2012, DPM provides critical data protection and supports restore scenarios from disk, tape and cloud -- in a scalable, manageable and cost-effective way.

So what have customers been asking for since this last release to help us drive even greater value in Data Protection Manager 2012? Probably the biggest request was for a single console for the datacenter that reduces management costs and can fit into the existing environment. To support the increasing need to protect highly-virtualized and private cloud environments, we’ve enabled Hyper-V Item Level Recovery even when DPM is running inside a virtual machine.

Here’s a more detailed list of what’s new

Provides centralized management

• Centralized monitoring
• Centralized troubleshooting
• Push to resume backups
• Manage DPM 2010 and DPM 2012 from the same console
• Media co-location

Fits existing environment

• Integration into existing ticketing systems, workflows and team structures.
• Enterprise scale, Fault tolerance & Reliability.
• Generic data source protection
• All common Operations Manager 2007 R2 deployment configurations supported

Helps reduce management costs

• Remote administration, corrective actions and recovery
• Certificate based protection
• Prioritize issues with SLA based Alerting, consolidation of alerts and alert categorization
• Role based administration
• Support for item level recovery, even when DPM is in a VM

The System Center team will be hosting a series of online meetings highlighting features and functionality for Data Protection Manager 2012 through the existing Community Evaluation Programs.

• All registered members of the currently running Community Evaluation Programs will be invited to the DPM sessions.  If you are having trouble accessing any program you have applied to, please email us at mscep@microsoft.com with your full name and Windows Live ID, and we will check on your status. 
• If you have not registered for a program, you can Apply Here.  After review of your application, we will send an invitation to your Windows Live ID email with instructions on how to access the portal on Connect.  Once you have accepted the invitation, you will have access to the CEP resources and the DPM event invitations.   

Throughout the CEP sessions, you will be taken on a guided tour of the Data Protection Manager 2012 Beta, with presentations from the Product Group and guidance on how to evaluate the different features. This is your chance to engage directly with the team!

• Download the DPM 2012 beta here.
• To use DPM 2010 servers with this beta, download the Interoperability hotfix here.

For more product information, refer to the Data Protection Manager 2012 beta web page

Thanks for reading!

David Mills, Senior Product Manager

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Check out the latest partner released connector between System Center Service Manager 2010 and Microsoft Project!

http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager/archive/2011/08/31/new-scsm-microsoft-project-connector-released-by-partner-expit.aspx 

The connector will allow users to create change requests in Service Manager as part of a project.

Happy Reading!

Sean

Sean Christensen Senior Technical Product Manager, ITIL v3 Expert Datacenter & Private Cloud IT Services Management Automation & Orchestration Email: sean.christensen@microsoft.com Twitter: @SeanC_MSFT

Take a look at  Brad Anderson’s, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, perspective on Microsoft’s
cloud computing strategy, our private cloud solutions and the economics of
those solutions versus VMware.

Click here to read more.

We’re pleased to announce the launch of the new Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform
website (http://www.microsoft.com/server-cloud).  

The new site is a comprehensive source for information relating to our private cloud
and virtualization solutions, as well as other solutions based on Windows
Server, System Center, Forefront and related products.  It is designed to
help connect you to relevant information across Microsoft web destinations,
including TechNet, MSDN, Pinpoint and more - making it a great place to
understand what we offer, why you should consider it and how to get started.

Enjoy the new site and stay tuned to the blog for the latest Server & Cloud
Platform updates!

Your opportunity to win one of two Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Game Console Bundles!

Starting next week on August 30^th at 9:00 a.m. PST, we’re kicking off our
Microsoft Path to the Private Cloud Contest. During the contest you’ll have the
opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of Microsoft virtualization, systems
management and private cloud offerings by being the first to provide the
correct answers to three questions posted daily on the Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform blog.