System Center Blog

New Series of Microsoft Virtual Academy Courses on System Center–Ask a System Center Expert Your Questions!

2013-05-10T20:55:15Z

On May 21, Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA) continues its monthly series of free Q&A sessions led by Microsoft technical evangelists. This month, we’re releasing several great System Center 2012 SP1 courses and have invited Symon Perriman to answer any questions you may have about the product.

Space is limited. Register now.

The live, audience-led discussion is geared toward IT professionals that are interested in System Center 2012 SP1. Attendees can get answers to their questions on technical capabilities, get advice for using products in a live environment; and learn from their peers in the industry and Microsoft expert Symon Perriman.

This MVA Live Q&A session will focus on topics covered in the previous System Center Courses posted on MVA. Prepare for this event by taking the following courses and testing your knowledge with the module self-assessments:

· What’s New in System Center 2012

· System Center 2012 SP1: Capabilities

· System Center 2012 SP1: Updates

· System Center 2012: Configuration Manager (SCCM)

· System Center 2012: Data Protection Manager (DMP)

· System Center 2012: Orchestrator (SCO) & Service Manager (SCSM)

· System Center 2012: Operations Manager (SCOM)

· System Center 2012: Virtual Machine Manager (VMM)

· System Center 2012: Licensing Overview

· System Center Advisor

As a Microsoft corporate Technical Evangelist covering Private Cloud, System Center & Hyper-V, Symon Perriman is a recognized industry expert in datacenter management, cloud, virtualization, high-availability, disaster recovery, mobile technologies and social media. Previously he spent four years as a Program Manager on the Server Clustering & High-Availability team and has been working in the technology industry since 2002. Symon holds several patents and certifications, including MCSE Private Cloud, Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and VMware Certified Professional (VCP). Additionally, he has contributed to four technical books for virtualization, server, clustering and SQL; co-hosts the ‘Edge Show’ for IT Professionals; and has had technologies featured in PC Magazine. Symon also serves as President & Founder of FanWide Technologies LLC and graduated from Duke University with degrees in Computer Science, Economics and Film & Digital Studies.

Registration is now open for this free Q&A event: Register now.

Join our ITPro Panel and influence future Microsoft Server Management and Cloud products!

2013-05-10T20:53:01Z

The Microsoft Server and Management Studios User Research team is looking for IT Professionals to join our customer panel. Your participation in this panel will help us understand customer requirements, workflows, and usage trends when working with Windows Server, fabric virtualization, cloud management, and infrastructure management. In exchange for your participation in studies you elect to engage in; you get to choose Microsoft product gratuity from our standard usability gratuity lists.

We are looking to grow our panel particularly in the areas of Cloud administration and virtualization infrastructure management. You will be asked to participate in customer phone/site interviews, focus groups, surveys, and usability studies.

We are asking potential panel candidates to start by completing a survey that will help us determine if you fit the criteria for the panel.

Once you complete the survey, we will contact you with next steps for participation.

We currently are only accepting participants located in the US but will add additional countries in the near future.

Sound interesting? To get started, please complete this survey. We will contact you to let you know if you meet the requirements to participate.

Windows Server/System Center MVP Speaker Series Starting This Week!

2013-04-22T22:04:36Z

We are launching a new Windows Server/System Center MVP Speaker Series this week! This continuing education series of presentations will be delivered by some of our MVPs on various topics around Window Server and System Center. The content will be deep dive, advanced, and very technical. The MVPs are some of the most knowledgeable people about the products in the world, especially when it comes to real world experience and practical application.

Anyone can attend because all of the meetings will be presented over Lync. The meetings will also be recorded and made available afterwards for on demand viewing.

This week we will have two sessions and we’ll normally have one per week. The two sessions coming up this week are:

Automating Hyper-V Administration with PowerShell (Tuesday at 8:00 AM Pacific time)
Keeping your CIO Happy: Executive Scorecarding with SQL, SharePoint, and System Center 2012 Operations Manager (Thursday at 8:00 AM Pacific time)

You can grab all the meeting invites for the speaker series from this location.

You will need the Lync 2013 client to be installed on your computer to view and hear the presentation. You can download and install that from here.

Watch the Windows Server/System Center Partner and Customer Solutions blog for announcements on this series including the schedule for next quarter’s sessions.

Update Rollup 2 for System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 is now available

2013-04-11T18:12:35Z

Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is now available. This update includes a bunch of great fixes for App Controller, Operations Manager, Service Manager, Orchestrator and Data Protection Manager. You can get all the details and a download link here:

KB2802159 - Description of Update Rollup 2 for System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2802159)

J.C. Hornbeck | Knowledge Engineer | Microsoft GBS Management and Security Division

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

System Center All Up: http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenter/
System Center – Configuration Manager Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/configurationmgr/
System Center – Data Protection Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/dpm/
System Center – Orchestrator Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/orchestrator/
System Center – Operations Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/momteam/
System Center – Service Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/servicemanager
System Center – Virtual Machine Manager Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/scvmm

Windows Intune: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsintune/
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/
The AD RMS blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/rmssupp/

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv

The Forefront Endpoint Protection blog : http://blogs.technet.com/b/clientsecurity/
The Forefront Identity Manager blog : http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ms-identity-support/
The Forefront TMG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/
The Forefront UAG blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/edgeaccessblog/

Update Rollup 5 for System Center 2012 is now available

2013-04-11T15:01:17Z

Update Rollup 5 for System Center 2012 is now available for download and includes fixes for Virtual Machine Manager and Operations Manager. The article below discusses the issues that are fixed in Update Rollup 5 for Microsoft System Center 2012 as well as download and installation instructions.

KB2822776 - Description of Update Rollup 5 for System Center 2012 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2822776)

J.C. Hornbeck | Knowledge Engineer | Microsoft GBS Management and Security Division

Get the latest System Center news on Facebook and Twitter:

Windows Intune: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsintune/
WSUS Support Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/sus/
The AD RMS blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/rmssupp/

App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/appv/
MED-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/medv/
Server App-V Team blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/serverappv

Global Service Monitor and System Center Advisor Support for Windows Server 2012 Now Available

2013-03-28T16:00:00Z

Today, we are pleased to announce the commercial availability of Global Service Monitor (GSM), a Windows Azure-based service with active Microsoft Software Assurance coverage for System Center 2012 server management licenses.

Learn more about GSM and System Center Advisor support for Windows Server 2012 here.

Brad Anderson Defines the “Cloud OS”

2013-03-21T18:44:06Z

Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President, Windows Server & System Center, is talking about the concept of the “Cloud OS” today on his new blog called “In the Cloud”. Brad has been a transformational leader of our System Center and Windows Server groups for a long time now and really has his pulse on the industry, customers, and Microsoft technology. In his blog, he will be talking about Microsoft’s vision for enterprise cloud computing using Microsoft’s breadth of technology ranging across Windows Azure, Windows Server, and System Center and more importantly how they all come together as the “Cloud OS”.

Here’s how to follow Brad:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/inthecloudmsft

Brad’s blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/in_the_cloud (RSS)

Also, check out Brad’s original introductory post when he launched his blog last week:

Getting ‘In the Cloud’ with Microsoft

Microsoft Virtual Academy Resources for System Center 2012 SP1

2013-03-21T15:40:55Z

Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA) provides free online training on the technical scenarios that are important to your company and your career. Stay current on the Microsoft technologies you need in your job today, build new skills for the future, or prepare on the path toward Microsoft certification.

With MVA, you can learn at your own pace and boost your technical skills with more than 100 courses across15 different technologies, including Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, Windows Azure, virtualization, Windows Phone, Office 365, and more.

Track your learning progress, earn points for courses taken, and see how you stack up against the top global and local students across the MVA community.

Here are some of the more recent MVA courses on System Center. There’s more content being added all the time so check back often!

Configuring and deploying Microsoft's Private Cloud	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/configuring-and-deploying-microsoft-s-private-cloud
Introduction to the Microsoft Private Cloud	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/introduction-to-the-microsoft-private-cloud
Introduction to Hyper-V Jump Start (with System Center 2012 SP1)	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/introduction-to-hyper-v-jump-start
Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals Jump Start (with System Center 2012 SP1)	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/microsoft-virtualization-for-vmware-professionals-jump-start
Microsoft Solution Accelerators for the Datacenter and Private Cloud	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/microsoft-solution-accelerators-for-the-datacenter-and-private-cloud
Private Cloud: Computing and Infrastructure Management	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/private-cloud-computing-and-infrastructure-management
Private Cloud: Service Delivery and Automation	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/private-cloud-training-service-delivery-and-automation
Private Cloud: Application Services Management	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/private-cloud-application-services-management
Private Cloud: Infrastructure Components	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/private-cloud-infrastructure-components
System Center 2012 Licensing Overview	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/system-center-2012-licensing-overview
System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 Updates	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/system-center-2012-service-pack-1-updates
System Center 2012 SP1 Capabilities	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/system-center-2012-sp1-capabilities
System Center 2012: Operations Manager	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/system-center-2012-training-operations-manager
System Center 2012: Configuration Manager	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/overview-and-infrastructure-changes-in-sccm-2012
System Center 2012: Data Protection Manager	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/protecting-private-clouds-with-system-center-2012-dpm
System Center 2012: Orchestrator & Service Manager	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/system-center-2012-orchestrator-service-manager
System Center 2012: Virtual Machine Manager (VMM)	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/system-center-2012-virtual-machine-manager-vmm-
System Center Advisor	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/system-center-advisor
What’s New in System Center 2012	http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/what-s-new-in-system-center-2012

System Center Universe Recordings Live Now

2013-02-11T23:10:23Z

System Center Universe 2013 was a great success! We had hundreds of people in attendance in person and thousands watching live on the webcast! The speakers and presentations they gave were really excellent. The Catapult Systems team really did a fantastic job of putting on a fun, informative event. Clap! Clap! Clap!

If you didn't have a chance to see the sessions live or you want to watch them again and again, no problem! The session recordings and PowerPoint slide decks are now live up on the System Center Universe site:

http://www.systemcenteruniverse.com/presentations.htm

System Center 2014 will be in Houston, TX!

Thanks again to the Catapult team, the speakers, and to everyone that attended. It was a really stellar time!

Here’s the agenda again for reference:

8:10am – 9:40am – Service Pack 1 (SP1) Presentation and Demos

Presented by Wally Mead

9:45am – 10:35am – Mobile Device Management with Windows InTune

Presented by Dan Andersen

10:35am – 10:50am – Morning Break
10:50am – 11:50am – Advanced System Center Reporting

Presented by Travis Wright
The System Center data warehouse that ships as part of Service Manager is a powerful, extensible reporting platform. Information on how to leverage that platform is scarce. In this session, Travis will explain some of the technical concepts of the data warehouse and how to extend it and create reports and dashboards that will show the value that the IT organization is providing, track towards goals, and ultimately impress the bosses!

11:55am – 12:25pm – Rocking VMware and Hyper-V Data Protection with Veeam Backup and Replication

Presented by Chris Henley

12:25pm – 12:40pm – Manage Your Virtual Environment with System Center and Veeam Management Pack for VMware

Presented by Chris Henley

12:40pm – 1:25pm – Break for Lunch
1:30pm – 2:30pm – Exploring the Dark Side of the Moon with OpsMgr

Presented by Maarten Goet
Join System Center MVP Maarten Goet in his exploration of the Dark Side of the Moon with System Center 2012 Operations Manager SP1. See how Operations Manager monitors and manages Windows Azure, Linux, PHP, Oracle and other (non-Microsoft) workloads – all the way from component monitoring to Service Oriented-, capacity trending and dashboard monitoring. In this demo-packed session Maarten will show you hands-on how things have evolved in SP1.

2:35pm – 3:05pm – Super-charge your Service Manager with the Cireson Total Management Suite

Presented by Paul Sutton, Shaun Ericson, and Travis Wright
Join our lively demonstration on the one-stop shop suite for all your Service Manager needs. We will be showcasing our SCSM Analyst Web Console, which allows IT professionals to manage day-to-day operations from any browser, tablet, or mobile device. SCSM Asset Management, visibility over the lifecycle of your IT assets from purchase to retirement along with reconciling usage of software licenses and contracts. SCSM My Active Work Items, easily manage your Incidents, Problems, Service requests, Changes, Releases, and Activities all in a single work view. Plus much more! We’ll be raffling of a Windows Surface during this presentation!

3:10pm – 4:10pm – Introduction to Windows Azure Infrastructure as a Service

Presented by Joey Snow
Join Joey for an introductory tour of Windows Azure Infrastructure as a Service. Using demonstrations throughout, he explains the Virtual Machine storage architecture and shows how to provision and customize virtual machines, configure network connectivity between virtual machines, and configure site-to-site networks that enable true applications that span from on-premises to Windows Azure. He’ll focus specifically on features that enable you to create highly available Virtual Machine-based deployments and migrate existing workloads to the cloud using System Center.

4:10pm – 4:25pm – Afternoon break
4:25pm – 5:25pm – 2013: An Orchestration Odyssey

Presented by Pete Zerger
Prepare to embark on a mission of discovery that will take your Orchestration capabilities to new heights in System Center 2012 SP1! In this demo-heavy session, Pete (with a little help from HAL) will share tips, tricks and secrets enabling novice and expert Orchestrators alike to accelerate and optimize their orchestration efforts in System Center 2012 SP1 and the cloud.

5:30pm – 6:00pm – Q&A with Panel of Experts

Live and Virtual attendees will have the opportunity to ask the panel of experts questions live and via twitter

System Center Universe 2013 is This Week!

2013-01-28T20:35:11Z

The System Center Universe 2013 conference is coming up this week – Thursday, Jan. 31st! Set aside a day to spend listening to some of the top System Center Speakers and get to know some more people in the System Center community! The event will be held in person in Irving, TX and a FREE live broadcast will be streamed over the web to regional System Center user group locations and right to your PC! All of the sessions will be recorded and made available online afterwards so you can watch them again or catch up on sessions you missed out on due to a boring meeting.

Here’s the agenda:

8:00am – 8:10am – Welcome

8:10am – 9:40am – Service Pack 1 (SP1) Presentation and Demos

Presented by Wally Mead

9:45am – 10:35am – Mobile Device Management with Windows InTune

Presented by Dan Andersen

10:35am – 10:50am – Morning Break

10:50am – 11:50am – Advanced System Center Reporting

Presented by Travis Wright

11:55am – 12:25pm – Rocking VMware and Hyper-V Data Protection with Veeam Backup and Replication

Presented by Chris Henley

12:25pm – 12:40pm – Manage Your Virtual Environment with System Center and Veeam Management Pack for VMware

Presented by Chris Henley

12:40pm – 1:25pm – Break for Lunch

1:30pm – 2:30pm – Exploring the Dark Side of the Moon with OpsMgr

Presented by Maarten Goet

2:35pm – 3:05pm – Super-charge your Service Manager with the Cireson Total Management Suite

Presented by Paul Sutton, Shaun Ericson, and Travis Wright

3:10pm – 4:10pm – Introduction to Windows Azure Infrastructure as a Service

Presented by Michael Washam

4:10pm – 4:25pm – Afternoon break

4:25pm – 5:25pm – 2013: An Orchestration Odyssey

Presented by Pete Zerger

5:30pm – 6:00pm – Q&A with Panel of Expert

Live and Virtual attendees will have the opportunity to ask the panel of experts questions live and via twitter

If you haven't already registered, head on over to the System Center Universe.

Use the hashtag #SCU2013 to keep up with all the action on twitter. We’ll be tweeting a ton on the day of the conference. It makes it a lot more fun to participate through Twitter. Last year SCU was a trending topic in Austin.

Also, if you haven't already seen some of the funny videos the Catapult (hosts for the event) team put out, you should definitely check them out:

See you there!