Microsoft Enterprise Project Management Content Publishing News

New Project Fan Page on Facebook

2009-10-26T16:27:15Z

In our never-ending quest to spread the word about Microsoft Project Server 2007 and Microsoft Project Server 2010, we now have an official fan page on Facebook! Our news feed includes links to articles on MSDN, TechNet, and Office Online, as well as posts on this blog. You can choose to see our posts in your Facebook news feed automatically, or read them only when you want to. Similarly, if you post something on the fan page, you can choose to be notified whenever someone responds to you.

Here’s a quick walkthrough of how the Microsoft Project fan page on Facebook works:

Join the Project fan page

If you already have a Facebook account, sign in, and then follow these simple steps:

Visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Microsoft-Project/95221953802.
Near the top of the page, click the Become a Fan button.

Browse through Project wall posts

Once you’ve joined the Microsoft Project fan page on Facebook, you can begin browsing for posts right away.

To switch the default view to the page wall, click the Wall tab on the top navigation bar near the Project logo:

You can now see all of the wall posts by the administrator and by other Project users just like you. Wall posts are shown in chronological order and the newest posts appear near the top of the page.

Join the conversation! Reply to an existing wall post that interests you, or make your own post to start a new discussion or to share something with the other members.

Hide automatic Project fan page updates

Depending on when you join the Project fan page, you’ll probably see automatic updates in your Facebook news feed within a few days. If you like seeing these updates, you don’t need to do anything else. Check out the ones that sound interesting and ignore the ones that you don’t care about on any particular day.

If you don’t want automatic Project fan page updates to appear in your news feed, you can easily disable them by following these steps:

While signed in to your Facebook account, go to the Facebook home page at http://www.facebook.com/.
Scroll through your Facebook news feed (the center column of your home page) and find any one of the Project fan page updates that have appeared.
Move the mouse pointer over the Project post until you see a Hide link show up near the right side of the post.
When you move the mouse pointer over the Hide link, it becomes a button. Click it.
On the mini-menu that appears below the Hide button, click Hide Microsoft Project.

Facebook will briefly display a yellow confirmation box, informing you that Project updates will now be hidden from view.

Even though Project fan page updates are hidden from view in your Facebook news feed, you can still visit the Microsoft Project fan page at any time by entering Microsoft Project into the Search box near the top of any Facebook page and then clicking the search result. It’s a fast way to return to the fan page whenever you want to check for updates on your own.

Restore hidden Project fan page updates

If you previously disabled Project fan page updates from your Facebook news feed and you’ve changed your mind about seeing automatic updates, you can easily restore them by following these steps:

While signed in to your Facebook account, go to the Facebook home page at http://www.facebook.com/.
Scroll to the very end of your Facebook news feed (the center column of your home page) until you see the navigation bar in the page footer:
Click the Edit Options link.
Near the top of the Hidden from News Feed popup dialog box, click the Pages link.
Scroll down until you see Microsoft Project, and then click the Add to News Feed button.

When you have completed these steps, you will once again see automatic Microsoft Project fan page notifications in your Facebook news feed.

Share what you know!

Post to the wall! It’s just a conversation with like-minded people who enjoy and rely on Project in similar ways as you.

New performance best practices white paper

2009-10-26T16:20:00Z

Performance and capacity planning best practices

This download contains two white papers:

Performance testing white paper
Performance and capacity planning best practices white paper

Performance testing white paper

This white paper contains a description of an actual performance testing lab for Microsoft Office Project Server 2007.

The first chapter (“Running a Project Server 2007 Performance Test Lab”), describes how to run performance tests against a Office Project Server 2007 deployment by using Visual Studio Team System 2008 and a set of community-based tools built for the purpose.

The second chapter (“Test Environment”), documents the specifics of the lab environment that was used for the tests we ran for collecting data for this white paper.

The third chapter (“Test Results”), describes in detail the test scenarios that were conducted, and it summarizes the data collected for every scenario.

The paper is available from the Microsoft Download Center.

Download size: 4 MB

Performance and capacity planning best practices white paper

The purpose of this guide is to extend the Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Performance Testing Lab white paper by providing best practices and recommendations.

This paper examines a wide array of system objects, including:

Platform-related objects — including the farm, shared service providers, application pools, web applications, databases, disks, network, memory, CPU, logs, and performance counters
Data-related objects — including projects, tasks, assignments, resources, custom fields, and security
User-related objects — including localization, workloads, queue job processor threads, and interface feeds

For each system object, the following information is provided:

Definition — The definition of the object
Guidelines for acceptable performance — The best practices and supporting statements
Calculation factors — The performance and scalability calculations to support the best practices
Scope of impact — A list of objects affected in the system when best practices are not implemented

Still hard at work on Project Server 2010 Content!

2009-10-07T21:25:00Z

We're still heads down in working to get Microsoft Project Server customers great prescriptive guidance documentation for Beta 2 and the Project Server 2010 launch.

We'd still like your feedback! Are there any things you’d like to see that you didn't see in the documentation for Project Server 2007? Are there any things you’d like to see more of or less of?

For any comments, requests or suggestions please email me at robhoo@microsoft.com.

Hard at work on Project Server 2010 content

2009-08-13T19:50:15Z

Here in Office Content Publishing we are working hard to be able to provide you –our customers with the best set of documentation possible for the next release of Microsoft Project Server.

With that in mind, we’d like your feedback! Are there any things you’d like to see that you didn't see in the documentation for Project Server 2007? Are there any things you’d like to see more of or less of?

If you have any comments, requests or suggestions please email me at robhoo@microsoft.com.

Newly Published Content for July 2009!

2009-08-13T19:37:44Z

Published the week of July 27, 2009

The Project Management System Maturity Model: white paper This white paper describes how as organizations mature, they can be more effective in the use of their project management systems. This white paper was written by Chris Vandersluis of HMS Software, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. Other white papers from Vandersluis include The Challenges of Selecting Enterprise Software, Resource Management, GPS Assistance in Roadmapping an EPM Deployment, A Phased Approach to Deploying EPM, and Being a Solutions Buyer.

Published the week of July 20, 2009

Extract Project Web Access site data to a new content database This article describes how to extract Project Web Access (PWA) site data from a content database that also contains non-PWA sites, and then restore the PWA site data to a new content database. The resulting configuration, in which a content database is used solely for PWA site data, is recommended for avoiding problems with operations such as backup and recovery, migrating data to a new farm, or migrating to a newer version of Microsoft Project Server in the future.

Updated the week of July 20, 2009

Office Project Server 2007 Technical Library in Compiled Help format (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=130451&clcid=0x409) All Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 documentation found in the TechNet library is available in downloadable .chm format. This download has been updated to include all content in the library as of July 16, 2009.

Published the week of July 13, 2009

TechNet webcast: Virtualization (Office Project Server 2007) This webcast covers best practices for deploying virtualization by using Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V technology, with detailed discussion of the optimum architecture configuration and how to architect a high-availability virtual farm.

TechNet webcast: Active Cache processes and architecture drill down (Office Project Server 2007) This webcast covers processes and key messaging between Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007 and Office Project Server 2007. It describes cache folder structure and registry settings in detail. It also explains enhancements made to increase client/server communication scalability and reliability.

Updated the week of July 13, 2009

Plan groups, permissions, and categories for Project Server 2007 This article describes groups, permissions, and categories in Office Project Server 2007. It has been updated to correct some incorrect data and clarify each of the components described.

The following articles have been updated to include a link to the PowerPoint presentation the instructor used in the webcasts:

Updated the week of July 6, 2009

Configure Office Project Server 2007 client connectivity This article describes how to configure a connection between Office Project Professional 2007 and Office Project Server 2007. It has been updated to clarify what URL to use when specifying the connection.

Downloadable books: Deployment and migration for Office Project Server 2007 An updated version of the downloadable book "Deployment for Office Project Server 2007" is now available. Downloadable books contain content from the TechNet technical library, which is revised regularly. The updated book includes the most recent version of this content as of July 2009.

New "From the Trenches" article by Chris Vandersluis: "The Project Management Maturity System Model"

2009-07-25T01:05:00Z

Chris Vanderluis, president and founder of HMS Software, submitted his latest article to the From the Trenches column on the Project Server 2007 TechCenter on Microsoft TechNet. This article,"The Project Management Maturity System Model", describes how as organizations mature, they can be more effective in the use of their project management systems. When a company implements a project management system, their is sometimes a desire use every feature available. This article describes how it might be more effective for companies to elect to use only certain aspects of a new project management system to a level with wich they are comfortable with. As the company continues to mature, their use of the project management system features can mature as well. All of this is explained in a way that only Chris knows how. If you haven't read any of Chris's articles, I recommend that you do.

To download and read this article, click here.

To see more of Chris Vandersluis's articles in the From the Trenches column, go to the Project Server 2007 TechCenter.

Newly Published Project Server Content for June 2009

2009-06-26T02:56:25Z

View Effective Rights tool

This update addresses some issues customers commonly have with the View Effective Rights tool in the Office Project Server 2007 Project Resource Kit (PRK) and includes work-around methods for operating it properly.

Plan Resource Breakdown Structure for Project Server 2007

This article describes options associated with the Resource Breakdown Structure (RBS) in Office Project Server 2007. It has been updated to correct errors in the descriptions of the available RBS options.

Deploy Service Pack 2 for Office Project Server 2007

This article has been updated to include an important note about a known issue: installing the 2007 Office Servers Service Pack 2 (SP2) causes a trial version to be activated. The note explains how to resolve the issue.

Performance tuning lab (white paper)

This white paper describes an actual performance tuning lab for Microsoft Office Project Server 2007, including how the lab was done and what results were achieved.

EPM and Office SharePoint Server 2007 Coexistence: Intranet Scenario (white paper)

This white paper outlines the recommended setup and configuration approach that will focus on best practices for an EPM-focused Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Intranet farm with a set of validated and tested best practices for Office SharePoint Server 2007 and EPM coexistence. A logical architecture diagram of an EPM-focused Office SharePoint Server 2007 Intranet farm is also provided for reference. The diagram is in Microsoft Visio file format.

Migrate Project Server data from one farm to another

This article outlines the process of moving Office Project Server 2007 Project Web Access data from one Project Server farm to a new Office Project Server 2007 farm.

Office Project Server 2007 Technical Library in Compiled Help format

The entire library for Office Project Server 2007 is now available as a downloadable .chm file. This download includes all content in the library as of May 7, 2009.

Back to Basics: Find the task quickly

2009-06-26T02:48:47Z

This helpful topic just came across from Toney Sisk in the Project Professional IW writing team:

Back To Basics: Find the task quickly

If you roam around in the Gantt Chart, sooner or later you may get lost. It can be a jungle in there, especially as projects get more complicated, and the bar side of the chart begins to show a large number of lines that seem to go nowhere after a while. Or worse, as the Gantt View may not show any bars, and you’re left wondering: Where did my project data go? What you want is something like a Here You Are button.

In Project, this button is called the Scroll to Task button, and even advanced project managers somehow don’t know the button is there to be clicked when all else fails.

Here’s an example. The bars have disappeared from the right side of the chart of a complicated project with a zillion task dependencies:

But when I click the Scroll To Task Button on the Standard toolbar (or Ctrl + Shift + F5), the bars come into view:

You may find this the most used command in Project, because, like I say, it can be a link-line jungle in there.

Office IT Pro Bookstore now on TechNet

2009-06-12T02:51:30Z

The new Office IT Pro Bookstore lists a number of books and book excerpts about Office suite and desktop programs, including Project Server and Project Professional. The audience is primarily the IT administrator, but also included are titles for project managers, programmers, and power users. Links to Amazon.com makes this a convenient experience to easily find and purchase the books you want. Additional titles and excerpts will be regularly added.

Known issue with 2007 Microsoft Office Servers SP2 installation and its resolution

2009-05-30T03:53:51Z

The following note has been added to the TechNet article Deploy Service Pack 2 for Project Server 2007:

Important:

Known issue: During the installation of 2007 Microsoft Office Servers SP2 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=148351), a product trial expiration date is inadvertently activated that would cause the product to expire 180 days after installation. This issue is resolved by following the detailed steps in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article here (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=153131).

Newly Published Project Server Content for early May

2009-05-14T00:05:00Z

Published the week of May 4, 2009

Advantages of 64-bit hardware and software (Project Server 2007) This articles describes the advantages of running your Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 farm on a 64-bit Windows server environment.

Migrate an existing server farm to a 64-bit environment (Project Server 2007) This article provides instructions and recommendations for a clean, phased migration of a Office Project Server 2007 farm to servers in a 64-bit environment.

Create an installation source that includes software updates (Project Server 2007) This article describes how to create a slipstream installation source to assist you in adding new servers to your server farm. This is required in server farm deployments, since all your Web and application servers must have the same software update version applied.

TechNet webcast: Maintenance and Monitoring (Office Project Server 2007) TechNet webcast for Office Project Server 2007 covering maintenance and monitoring operations.

TechNet webcast: Disaster recovery (Office Project Server 2007) TechNet webcast covering Office Project Server 2007 disaster recovery best practices.

TechNet webcast: Deployment into a SharePoint Server 2007 Intranet Farm (Office Project Server 2007) TechNet webcast covering the deployment of Office Project Server 2007 into a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 intranet farm.

Newly Published: Deploy Service Pack 2 for Office Project Server 2007

2009-04-29T23:24:00Z

Deploy Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Office Project Server 2007 describes how to deploy SP2 for Microsoft Office Project Server 2007, which is included in 2007 Microsoft Office Servers Service Pack 2 (SP2). The article explains how to update a basic installation and a farm deployment, as well as language packs. Guidance and recommendations are given for successfully completing the process. Included are links to the SP2 download sites as well as informative Knowledge Base (KB) articles.

***ERRATA***

The TechNet article published 4/29/09 shows the version number for Project Server 2007 SP2 as 12.0.6425.1000. The correct number is 12.0.6422.1000. This is being updated and will appear in the article when published next week.

“The Strategic Project Leader”

2009-04-16T01:05:27Z

Tony Sisk from the Project IW team just forwarded this on as it may be of interest:

Hyper-V Security Guide

2009-04-14T17:38:00Z

The Solution Accelerators team has just released a new Hyper-V Security guide that may prove helpful in designing secure Project Server deployments in Hyper-V.

The guide is available for download here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2220624b-a562-4e79-aa69-a7b3dffdd090&displaylang=en

Secure your virtualized server environment with the Hyper-V Security Guide

For organizations that seek cost-effective operations, the benefits of virtualization are more evident than ever. Microsoft Hyper-V technology allows consolidation of workloads that are currently spread across multiple underutilized servers onto a smaller number of servers. This capability provides you with a way to reduce costs through lower hardware, energy, and management overhead while creating a
more dynamic IT infrastructure.

Virtualization technologies are causing enterprise organizations to shift their thinking about IT. The Hyper-V Security Guide can help you elevate the security of virtualized Windows Server® environments to address your business-critical needs. This accelerator provides IT professionals like you with recommendations to address your key security concerns around server virtualization. The guide provides authoritative guidance that relates to the following strategies for securing virtualized environments:

Hardening the Hyper-V role. The guide provides prescriptive guidance for hardening the Hyper-V role, including several best practices for installing and configuring Hyper-V with a focus on security. Among these best practices are measures for reducing the attack surface of Hyper-V as well as recommendations for properly configuring secure virtual networks and storage devices.

Delegating virtual machine management. The ability to safely and securely delegate administrative access to virtual machine resources within an organization is essential. The guide highlights several available methods to administer different aspects of a virtual machine infrastructure and ways to control administrative access to
different servers and at different levels.

Protecting virtual machines. The guide also provides prescriptive guidance for securing virtual machine resources, including best practices and detailed steps for protecting virtual machines by using
a combination of file system permissions, encryption, and auditing.

Virtualization Learning Snacks

2009-04-09T22:51:00Z

Here are some Silverlight "learning snacks" from Microsoft Learning that provide some basic information around Microsoft's Virtualization solution. These are great for anyone that may need to present a Virtualization case to business decision makers in their organization.

Microsoft Virtualization (15 minutes) New

The Microsoft Virtualization solution consists of four virtualization technologies: server, application, presentation, and desktop. Together, these technologies provide you with a complete desktop-to-datacenter virtualization solution that can help you create a dynamic IT infrastructure. This free Learning Snack highlights various features and benefits of the four virtualization technologies. It also takes a closer look at server virtualization and how it is implemented and managed in the Windows Server 2008 operating system.

Intro to Windows Server 2008 Virtualization (3 minutes)

This Snack explains the new virtualization features in Windows Server 2008 and lists the system requirements. It also demonstrates the steps necessary to install Windows Server virtualization.

Green IT and Virtualization (8 minutes)

Organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental and business benefits of adopting a Green IT environment. This Learning Snack highlights how virtualization facilitates a Green IT environment. It describes the Hyper-V server role and the System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) tool, which help create and support a virtualized infrastructure in Windows Server 2008.