Dave Northey's Blog

Ammado.com and Windows Server 2008

I've been working with Ian Brennan, a Web Solutions Architect working for ammado.com since last May.  I was asking him how he's getting on with Windows Server 2008 the other day.  He had this to say:

"At ammado.com, we’ve been learning about Windows Server 2008 for the last year or so.  We plan to deploy Windows Server 2008 into our hosting infrastructure as soon we can – we know that between IIS7 and Windows Process Activation Services, we’ll be able to reduce our maintenance costs significantly".

I look forward to hearing about Ian's deployment successes..

Dave

Windows Server 2008 on Virtual PC and Virtual Server

We've just released updates to both Virtual Server and Virtual PC to give better support for Windows Server 2008 (and Vista SP1 and XP SP3).

If you're running either solution, I'd recommend you upgrade to the latest.

Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 with KB948515.msp

New Host Support

Windows 2008 (Core, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter)

XP Professional SP3 (non-production only)

Windows Vista SP1 (non-production only)

New Guest Support

Windows 2008 (Core, Standard, Datacenter, Enterprise, SBS)

XP SP3

Windows Vista SP1 (Business, Ultimate, Enterprise)

Virtual PC 2007 SP1

New Host Support

Windows Vista SP1 (32 and 64 bit)

XP SP3

New Guest (only 32 bit) Support

Windows 2008 (Standard), Windows Vista SP1

XP SP3

Dave

Irish Cement and Windows Server 2008

I've been working with Shane McDonald, from Irish Cement Ltd on and off for nearly a year.  I was asking him how he's been getting along with Windows Server 2008 the other day.  He had this to say:

“I had high hopes for Windows Server 2008, and after three months running the OS in a test environment, I’m happy to report that they have been exceeded. I am particularly happy with the ease and functionality of the terminal servers, and the simplified approach to clustering. We hope to start testing Hyper-V in the coming months, which we are very excited about”.

All I can say Shane, is that you will be very happy with Hyper-V too (especially when you put it on-top of a Failover Cluster).

Dave

Dell and Windows Server 2008

I've been working with Mark Miley (Senior EMEA EEC Vitality Technical Trainer) from Dell for the last while, and was asking him how he's been getting on with Windows Server 2008.  He had this to say:

“In my 6 months experience of training and deploying Windows 2008 across a number of Enterprises both internally and to customers I have been constantly taken aback by customers positive reactions to its simplicity in ease of use, stability and implementation of business solutions available via Windows Server 2008.  Key in this has been the vast improvements in HA Clustering and Hyper-V.”

I can only agree - Windows Server 2008 takes Clustering to another level (have a look at my Failover Clustering demo if you don't know what we're talking about).  I'll post my HA Hyper-V demo soon too.

Dave

O2 and Windows Server 2008

I've been working with Ian Smith (IT Infrastructure) from O2 in Ireland for a year now - he attended all eight of my Longhorn Academy sessions (which were deep-dive technical sessions going into the workings of Windows Server 2008).  Ian is evaluating Windows Server 2008 for use inside O2.  I asked him what he thought of it - he had this to say:

"From a security perspective, I am delighted that the use of server roles has meant that only the key files essential for each role has been installed this has reduced the attack plane considerably and cut down on the amount of patching across the server estate."

I just hope that Ian's evaluation turns into Ian's deployment!

Dave

Moy Park and Windows Server 2008

I was catching up with Phil Rickard, the Network Administrator for Moy Park the other day - he attended some Windows Server 2008 training I ran last year.  Basically, I was seeing how he was getting on with the new OS.  He had this to say:

"After attending the Longhorn Academy in Dublin, I came away with a great deal of enthusiasm for what promises to be a fantastic Server product.  I am already educating the business in the benefits of the ‘Out of the box’ features such as Hyper-V, Server Core and Terminal Services.  I can see that Hyper-V with Clustering is going to give the business and affordable Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery solution.  And the latest version of Terminal Service is now advanced enough for us to contemplate moving away from the costly licensing of Citrix.  It plans to be a busy year!"

A busy year indeed!  Not just for you Phil - I recon that Windows Server 2008 is going to be one of the quickest versions of Windows Server to get deployed.

Dave

CDsoft and Windows Server 2008

I was chatting to Rob Davies, the Technical Director of CDSoft Limited the other day - he attended some Windows Server 2008 training I ran last year.  Basically, I was seeing how he was getting on with the new OS.  He had this to say:

"CDsoft have been using Server 2008 for the last 7 months as a pilot file server and TSWeb server. Since the products official launch we have deployed 2008 for 3 roles inside our own organisation including the use of Hyper-V for test applications. I am particularly impressed with the performance of Hyper-V which has really given us much greater ROI on our server hardware and making virtualisation a real alternative! TSWeb has transformed how users experience external application access.

We also recently deployed 2008 in a live customer site as part of a 150K upgrade at “Goodwins Building Providers”. This 2008 server is running Hyper-V for 2 disaster recovery servers using Hp’s storage Mirroring software. This particular customer has further plans for using 2008 server based on the improvements seen in the last 2 months. Goodwins are also the first site I am aware of in Ireland (except ourselves) to deploy OCS 2007 with all scenarios including voice, Round Table and Federation."

It's great to hear local success stories - keep them coming.

Dave.

Windows Server 2008 - The best thing since sliced bread?

I've been helping Geraldine Nix, from Stryker Orthopaedics get up to speed with Windows Server 2008 since last May.  I was talking to her recently and she said this (which I just had to share):

"I’ve been learning about Windows Server 2008 for the last year or so.  The other day Dave Northey asked me if Windows Server 2008 was the best thing since sliced bread – my response was this:  I can say that what I have seen of this new server is that it is on par with the invention of sliced bread - in fact it is better, it’s more in line with the healthy wholegrain option.”

Better that sliced bread! - that's some accolade.

Dave

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry..

If you're quick, you can register for our Mark Minasi Windows Server 2008 event, part of Microsoft Ireland’s ongoing Launch Programme and in conjunction with the Windows Server 2008 User Group - before we even open it for registration.

On the 30th May Mark Minasi is going to treat us to three 75 minute sessions on Windows Server 2008: Windows Server 2008 Overview, IPv6 and Server Core Step by Step.

Register Now for this event.

See you on the 30th,

Dave.

Windows Server 2008 User Group Ireland event

I am happy to announce the second Windows Server 2008 User Group Ireland event.  On Thursday the 8^th of May at 19:30, Alex Yushchenko will be presenting “Terminal Services in Windows 2008 – what’s new, what’s better, short features round up, plus Q & A”.  The following Topics will be covered:

• TS Licensing in Windows 2008
• TS Gateway
• TS Session Broker
• TS WebAccess
• RemoteApps
• Do you still need Citrix?

ALEX YUSHCHENKO.  Better known as "Dr. Conti" to his peers, Alex is one of the top posters to the official Citrix support forum.  He's also the organiser and host of the server-based computing technology experts conference called "PubForum" held annually in different locations throughout Europe – London, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Nice.  Alex has over 9 years of Citrix and Microsoft Terminal Services experience and is a true Microsoft Technologies evangelist.  Alex holds a Citrix Technology Professional designation and was awarded the Microsoft Terminal Services MVP designation in 2006 and 2007.

Anyone who wants to attend can join the user group by sending a mail to ws-ugi@live.com

See you on the 8th,

Dave

660 VMs in a Hyper-V environment

I do quite a bit of work with HP here in Ireland.  I was chatting to one of their consultants the other day and he was telling me about HP's Windows Server 2008 Academy (inserting the Windows Server 2008 chip into the back of their heads).  The Academy involved running 660 VMs in total, there's a webcast about setting it all up here:

TechNet Webcast: Using Virtual Machine Manager and Windows PowerShell to Deploy HP Windows Server 2008 Academy Labs (Level 300)

I just wanted to share this with you all:

"Last week the HP Windows 2008 Academy team delivered the APJ event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They were able to fully & automatically deploy and run 660 VMs in a Hyper-V environment. The entire hosting environment has been moved from Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 to Hyper-V. To quote the team:

“This was an important milestone both for the Academy team, but also for Microsoft: it was one of the largest Hyper-V deployment worldwide used in a production-like environment.”

I’m sure you’ve got similar facts and figures within Microsoft, but I thought this kind of feedback and information was useful coming from an organisation other than Microsoft i.e. an independent ratification of the Hyper-V technology.

Regards"

660 VMs in a Hyper-V environment - pretty cool?

Dave

My Launch Demos - Terminal Services

This short (six minute) Silverlight demo guides you through the new implementation of Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008.  From what's new in our Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), through publishing just an application (RemoteApp) and using our Terminal Services Gateway (SSL VPN), as well as our new Terminal Services Web Access and EasyPrint (our solution to the ongoing Printing from a Terminal Server problem).

Click to start, double click anywhere to play it in Full Screen or move your mouse over it to get the Player Controls to pop up.

Dave

My Launch Demos - IIS7

This short (ten minute) Silverlight demo guides you through the new Internet Information Services 7 (IIS7) - our new Web Server.  This demonstrates how to get PHP working (and performing) on Windows as well as some very clever troubleshooting features.

Click to start, double click anywhere to play it in Full Screen or move your mouse over it to get the Player Controls to pop up.

Dave

My Launch Demos - NAP

This short (four minute) Silverlight demo guides you through Network Access Protection (NAP) - a new platform and solution that controls access to network resources based on a client computer’s identity and compliance with corporate governance.

Click to start, double click anywhere to play it in Full Screen or move your mouse over it to get the Player Controls to pop up.

Dave

My Launch Demos - Failover Clusters

This short (five and a half minute) Silverlight demo guides you through Failover Clustering with Windows Server 2008 - from Validating your own hardware (no more Hardware Compatibility Lists just for Clusters), through creating a cluster and a highly available File Server.

Click to start, double click anywhere to play it in Full Screen or move your mouse over it to get the Player Controls to pop up.

Dave