Swiss IT Professional & TechNet Blog : Windows Server

Group Policy Script Center

MJDorner — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:29:00 GMT

If your are interested in scripts for group policies than this is the resource for you. Browse for Group Policy scripts or find detailed articles about how to script Group Policy for yourself.

Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 RTMs

MJDorner — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 23:52:00 GMT

Our Operating System to run parallel high performance computing applications for complex tasks - Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 - has hit the release to manufacturing (RTM) milestone and will be generally available in the next couple of weeks.

You can find more information about this product at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/ccs/default.mspx

Boosting Data Transfer with TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE) Technology

MJDorner — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 11:32:00 GMT

In May we announced the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Scaleable Networking Pack that adds new architectural enhancements and application programming interfaces to support the next generation of network acceleration and hardware-based offload technologies (see Blog entry)

Dell now published a Whitepaper that explores the anticipated benefits of TOE Technology developed by Broadcom, Dell and Microsoft.

You find the article on Dell's website: http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps3q06-20060132-Broadcom.pdf

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack

MJDorner — Fri, 26 May 2006 09:07:00 GMT

The Scalable Networking Pack adds new Windows Server 2003 (Server Pack 1 or later) architectural enhancements and application programming interfaces (APIs) to support the next generation of network acceleration and hardware-based offload technologies.

These Scalable Networking innovations help optimize Windows Server 2003 performance and maximize network throughput by reducing inefficient utilization of platform resources and offloading potentially CPU-intensive network packet processing to specialized network adapter hardware.

This frees up CPU cycles for application related tasks, such as supporting more user sessions or responding faster to network application requests. Depending on the workload, this can reduce network packet processing overhead by 20 to 100 percent, resulting in significant server performance gains.

You find detailed technical information on the corresponding TechNet site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/network/snp/default.mspx

Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" Beta 2 Website launched

MJDorner — Thu, 25 May 2006 08:44:00 GMT

The Windows Server “Longhorn” operating system hit the Beta 2 milestone on May 23rd, 2006. I'm pleased to announce that a new product website has been launched at this stage. The site provides you with high-level overviews and descriptions of Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn".

Link to site: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/longhorn/default.mspx

The site offers:

Introducing System Center Virtual Machine Manager

MJDorner — Thu, 25 May 2006 01:10:00 GMT

Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager is the latest addition to the System Center family of management products and provides centralized management of Windows Virtual Machine infrastructure. Virtual Machine Manager enables increased physical server utilization, centralized management of virtual infrastructure and rapid provisioning of new virtual machines by the administrator and end users.

Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 Release Candidate now available

MJDorner — Wed, 10 May 2006 10:03:00 GMT

Download the release candidate from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/ccs/beta.mspx

Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) – Beta 1 now available

MJDorner — Tue, 02 May 2006 09:25:00 GMT

The service pack will add support for hardware-assisted virtualization, improved backup services and more. Beta 1, now available for download, contains support for Intel Virtualization Technology, as well as the Virtual Server host clustering step-by-step guide. Beta 2, scheduled for Q4 of this calendar year, will include Beta 1 features plus support for AMD Virtualization, Volume Shadow Service support, Active Directory integration and expanded OS support.

You can download the Service Pack 1 Beta 1 from Microsoft Connect. (registration required)

Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 ready for download

MJDorner — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:46:00 GMT

The next pre-release of the Internet Explorer 7 is available for download. Check this page to get an overview of the available versions and to download it.

More information can be also be found on these pages:

- About Internet Explorer 7

- Technology Overview

- Internet Explorer Community

- On-Demand Webcast: What's new in Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7)

- On-Demand Webcast: Sicherheit im Internet mit Internet Explorer 7 (German Only)

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack Released

MJDorner — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 10:17:00 GMT

The Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack enables you to monitor physical computers running the Virtual Server service and the virtual machines that the service hosts, in Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 (MOM). This Management Pack expands the monitoring and reporting capabilities of the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Management Pack. You can use the Management Pack to monitor servers running Virtual Server 2005 R2 or Virtual Server 2005.

Download the Management Pack.

You can find an overview of all available Management Packs in the online catalog.

Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 Launch

MJDorner — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 02:00:00 GMT

On April 4, 2006 we launched Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 at Storage Networking World in San Diego. Windows Storage Server R2 will be available through NAS appliances built by our OEMs such as HP, DELL and others. The new version of Storage server delivers some new attravtive storage features in addition to the new features and functionalities delivered with Windows Server R2.

Read all about Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 on our website.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 now available as a free download

MJDorner — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 09:00:00 GMT

Today we announced that Virtual Server 2005 R2 is now available as a free download. This policy applies to all users of Virtual Server 2005 R2, and will apply to the forthcoming service pack 1 of Virtual Server 2005 R2.

Resource management has always been part of the operating system, and over the years you have been able to obtain this functionality as an integrated part of the operating system platform. As we will release our Windows hypervisor technology in the Windows Server “Longhorn” wave, you will be receiving the benefits of virtualization as part of the Windows Server operating system. Today’s price change makes it easier for you to access and experience the benefits of virtualization technology.

With Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition, you can run up to four virtual operating systems on one physical server at no additional cost. Today’s announcement enables you to easily and cost-effectively run Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition with Virtual Server 2005 R2 for server consolidation, application re-hosting, disaster recovery, and software test and development.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 service pack 1 is scheduled for a beta release in Q2 and general availability in early 2007. This service pack will support the hardware virtualization capabilities developed by AMD and Intel. By supporting both AMD Virtualization and Intel Virtualization Technology, you will be provided better interoperability, strengthened isolation to prevent corruption of one virtual machine from affecting others on the same system, and improved performance for non-Windows guest operating systems. The service pack also will support Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service, providing better support for backup and disaster recovery. Finally, this service pack also will provide existing Microsoft Virtual Server customers an important transition to the Windows hypervisor, which will be delivered in the Windows Server “Longhorn” wave.

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 is a key deliverable for Microsoft’s Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI), a commitment from us and our partners to deliver self-managing dynamic systems. Customers deploying Virtual Server 2005 R2 can drive up hardware efficiencies, create flexible disaster and recovery environments, and rapidly provision new applications to better align IT with their business needs.

New Virtual Machine Add-ins and Technical Support for Linux Guest Operating Systems

MJDorner — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 09:00:00 GMT

Starting today, you can consolidate your Linux-based applications on Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 and receive 24-hour support from Microsoft. To improve the interoperability of Linux guest operating systems and Virtual Server 2005 R2, Microsoft is releasing virtual machine add-ins that can be installed in the Linux guests to improve the following capabilities:

Guest and Host synchronization for time sync, heartbeat and coordinated shutdown
Mouse and display driver
SCSI disk emulation

The virtual machine add-ins are available as a free download, and will be supported for an initial set of nine Linux distributions listed below:

Enterprise distributions:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1 (update 6)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (update 6)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
Novell’s SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 9

Standard distributions:

Red Hat Linux 7.3
Red Hat Linux 9.0
Novell’s SuSE Linux 9.2
Novell’s SuSE Linux 9.3
Novell’s SuSE Linux 10.0

Microsoft is committed to ensuring a good customer experience when running supported Linux operating systems as guests in Virtual Server 2005 R2. Therefore, the product support model for these configurations will be consistent with the way that customers receive support for Virtual Server products today. Customers who report interoperability issues with Linux guests or virtual machine add-ins will be routed to a team that is specially trained to troubleshoot issues related to Linux guests within Virtual Server 2005 R2.

System Center DPM & HP Proliant DPSS

MJDorner — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 11:23:00 GMT

Download this 24-page supplement that not only shows you how to implement a full backup, recovery and data protection service, but also explains how to perfectly incorporate DPM into an existing Windows Server environment (Windows Server, Active Directory, Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003), while assessing in a practical way the working of DPM with HP Proliant Data Protection Storage Server.

Windows Server 2003 R2 Now Available

MJDorner — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 10:46:00 GMT

Windows Server 2003 R2 simplifies branch server management, improves identity and access management, reduces storage management costs, provides a rich Web platform, and offers cost-effective server virtualization.

Read more information about the improvements: