Microsoft Enterprise Project Management Content Publishing News : Project Server

New performance best practices white paper

robert.m.hoover — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:20:00 GMT

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

Newly Published Project Server Content for early May

robert.m.hoover — Thu, 14 May 2009 00:05:00 GMT

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.

Hyper-V Security Guide

robert.m.hoover — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:38:00 GMT

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

robert.m.hoover — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:51:00 GMT

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.

Newly Published Content!

robert.m.hoover — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:09:00 GMT

After a short publishing hiatus, here is some content that we've been working on:

Deploy Project Server 2007 updates This article provides an overview of available Project Server 2007 updates.

Checklist for deploying Project Server 2007 updates This checklist describes the general sequence in updating a Project Server 2007 farm deployment to the most current update. It also gives references to other articles that provide detailed guidance and procedures for installing various type of Project Server 2007 updates.

Office Project Server 2007 performance counters This technical reference article provides a list of performance indications you can monitor in Project Server 2007.

Inventory of SQL Server databases for a typical Project Server 2007 deployment This technical reference article provides a list of databases that are created in a Project Server 2007 and Portfolio Server 2007 deployment.

Video demo: Using SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services with the Project Server 2007 Cube Building Service This two-part video demonstration walks through the steps necessary to configure the Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 cube building services for use with SQL Server Analysis Services 2005.

Walkthrough: Deploy Project Server 2007 to a server farm environment This article contains a white paper and a four-part video series which provide a walkthrough of a typical Office Project Server 2007 deployment. The white paper contains step-by-step instructions for each step necessary to successfully deploy Office Project Server 2007. While the scenario described in the white paper may differ from the deployment scenario that you plan to use for your organization, you can gain significant hands-on experience by following the steps described herein in a test environment.

Virtualizing Project Server 2007 This section includes six topics that explain hyper-v architecture and best practices for planning, installing, and configuring a Project Server 2007 deployment on Hyper-V.

Project Server 2007 webcasts This set of articles describes and links to archived Project Server TechNet Webcasts. Topics include server administration, network communication, workload scenarios and reference architecture, and data flow.

Deploy cumulative updates (Project Server 2007) This article has been updated to provide information regarding client update requirements for cumulative updates that include the Project Server 2007 infrastructure update. It also provides information about cumulative update server packages for Project Server 2007 integrated with Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Deploy the infrastructure update for Office Project Server 2007 This article has been updated to reflect Project 2007 client requirements for the Project Server 2007 infrastructure update.

Deploy Service Pack 1 for Office Project Server 2007 This article has been updated to reflect Project 2007 client requirements for the Project Server 2007 infrastructure update.

Migration best practices for Project Server 2007 This article has been updated to describe the best practice of applying the latest update to the Project Professional 2007 client from which you run the migration tool to ensure that it has the latest updates.

Prepare for migration to Project Server 2007 This article has been updated to describe the best practice of applying the latest update to the Project Professional 2007 client from which you run the migration tool to ensure that it has the latest updates.

Requirements for using SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services with the Project Server 2007 Cube Building Service This article has been updated to refer to the Feature Pack for SQL Server 2005 – December 2008. The Analysis Management Objects installed with the SQL Server 2005 Management Objects that were in earlier versions of the SQL Server 2005 Feature pack required a workaround in order for the Cube Building Service to function correctly.

Project in the Cloud

robert.m.hoover — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:27:00 GMT

Here is some information courtesy of Tony Sisk in the Project IW writing team:

Yes, there is a place in the clouds for Project information.. If you have a number of documents, spreadsheets, notes, proposals, and project files you want to share quickly, Microsoft Office Live Workspace gives you some interesting options.

Microsoft Office Live Workspace enables you to store and share Microsoft Office Project 2007 .mpp files as well as other Microsoft Office program files quickly and easily. All you need is a Windows Live ID and a computer with a connection to the Web.

With Office Live Workspace, you no longer have to worry about exceeding your team members' e-mail storage space or transporting documents using your flash drive. You also don't have to worry about complicated infrastructures to install or maintain. And all your documents are password-protected. When you're on the go toward you vacation destination, you'll always have your project documents close by.

Note You can sign up for Office Live Workspace from the Office Live Workspace sign-up page. To sign in to Office Live Workspace, you must use a Windows Live ID. This e-mail and password combination allows you to sign in to many different Web sites using just one identity.

Step 1: Upload a Project file to Office Live Workspace

1. In Office Live Workspace, on the left navigation bar under My Workspaces, click Documents.

2. On the actions bar, click Add Document.

3. In the drop-down menu, click Single Document or Multiple Documents.

Note The first time that you upload multiple documents to Office Live Workspace, a yellow notification bar appears at the top of your browser asking you to install ActiveX. Click the yellow bar, and in the drop-down menu, click Install ActiveX. In the security warning dialog box, click Install.

4. In the Choose file dialog box, select the file you want to upload, and then click Open.

Note Office Live Workspace does not provide a viewer for Project files. In order to view a Project .mpp file, you need to save the file on your computer and then open it within Project.

Step two: Create a workspace on Office Live Workspace for a Project file

Workspaces behave like folders; they allow you to organize files, lists, and notes. You can either start with a blank workspace that you customize to meet your needs, or you can choose a workspace that already contains helpful documents, notes, lists, and spreadsheets that are all geared for a specific purpose.

1. In Office Live Workspace, on the left navigation bar under My Workspaces, click New Workspace.

2. In the Create a new workspace dialog box, choose Project Workspace.

You can also select other workspaces in which to organize your files, including a blank workspace.

To learn how to make changes to your workspace and arrange documents to meet your needs, see Organize your documents and workspaces.

When you are satisfied with your workspace, you can share it with the people who will find it most valuable. To learn more about sharing workspaces, see Share workspaces and documents using Office Live Workspace.

EPM University

robert.m.hoover — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:01:00 GMT

I just wanted to quickly call out a recent post from Jan Kalis on the Project Programmability blog about our EPM training offerings at EPMU.

The post is located here: http://blogs.msdn.com/project_programmability/archive/2009/03/27/do-you-epmu.aspx

New Project Server videos!

robert.m.hoover — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:26:00 GMT

Mike Plumley here on our team has just come up with some awesome high quality videos that walk through a Project Server 2007 farm installation as well as the configuration of the Project Server 2007 Cube Building Service.

You can download these videos from the Microsoft download center here:

Installing Project Server 2007 (four parts)

Using SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services with the Project Server 2007 Cube Building Service (two parts)

Please comment and let us know what you think. You can also email Mike directly at mike.plumley@microsoft.com with any comments or requests for future topics.

Here are a couple screenshots:

Newly Published Content for December and January

robert.m.hoover — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:52:00 GMT

Back up and restore the Project Server 2007 farm

The articles in this section offer prescriptive guidance and how-to topics dealing with farm level backup and recovery for Project Server using both built-in tools and SQL Server tools.

Migrating a Project Web Access instance (Project Server 2007)

The articles in this section offer prescriptive guidance and how-to information for migrating Project data.

Newly Published Project Server Content 11/08

robert.m.hoover — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 04:19:00 GMT

Enterprise disaster recovery for Project Server 2007

This series of articles describes procedures and best practices for backing up and restoring Office Project Server 2007 using SQL Server tools.

Deploy cumulative updates (Project Server 2007)

This article describes how to install Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 cumulative updates.

Plan for disaster recovery in Project Server 2007

This series of articles describes best practices for planning a disaster recovery solution for Microsoft Office Project Server 2007. It has been updated to include specific guidance about when to use SQL Server tools and when to use SharePoint Products and Technologies tools.

Planning for fault tolerance and availability in Project Server 2007

This article provides planning guidance for fault tolerance and availability in a Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 deployment.

Cube building process overview

This article describes the process for building OLAP cubes and available cubes. It has been updated to provide further guidance and best practices around using the cubes.

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 November 6 2008. This download will be updated monthly.

Plan for administrative and service accounts (Project Server)

This article describes the accounts required for a Office Project Server 2007 deployment. It has been updated to specify that service accounts require permission to log on interactively on the computers running the service in question.

Deploy Project Server 2007 to a server farm environment

This article describes how to deploy Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 in a farm environment. It has been updated to reflect the fact that SQL Server connections over named pipes are not required for Office Project Server 2007.

New Enterprise Project Management Virtual Lab!

robert.m.hoover — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:21:00 GMT

The very first EPM-related VirtualLab was recently released! A hosted Virtual Machine accessible to everyone via WEB is free to use with only registration being required.

Available via Project Server TechCenter http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/projectserver/. Direct link to the Lab is here.

The lab content:

Exercise 1: Using built-in capability of Analysis Services in the EPM deployment
Exercise 2: Using Excel Services to Visualize Project Data
Exercise 3: Using Performance Point Server for advanced data visualization
Exercise 4: Using SQL Reporting Services Project Report Pack to Analyze Project Data
Exercise 5: Creating a SharePoint Dashboard to Display Project KPIs
Exercise 6: Using Visio 2007 to Visualize Project Data

Abstract: This lab will make you understand how to leverage the portfolio of Microsoft business intelligence tools and solutions applied, but not limited to, Enterprise Project Management (EPM) data. This lab will make you discover how to leverage Excel Services, PerformancePoint Server, SQL Reporting Services 2005, Visio 2007 as well as SharePoint Server 2007 Dashboard and Project KPIs to provide full-feature solutions to solve your customers’ requirements.

Newly Published Project Portfolio Server Content for October

robert.m.hoover — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:02:00 GMT

Environment Migration Guide

This guide describes how to migrate Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 from one environment to another one. This scenario is frequently used to duplicate a production environment as a QA or Development environment.

Gateway Guide

This guide describes the Gateway functionality for syncing Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 with Microsoft Office Project 2007.

Understanding Workflow

This guide describes the workflow functionality and configuration for Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007 and provides examples for the workflow setting.

Microsoft Project Server 2007 IT Professional TechNet Webcast Series

robert.m.hoover — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:30:00 GMT

I just wanted to pass on word that starting October 1^st, 2008, Michael Jordan (Lead Architect – MCS EPM Global Practice | WW COE for EPM) will present a series of Project Server 2007 webcast on TechNet targeted at IT Professionals.

These 60 minutes webcasts will present in details key aspects to consider when you evaluate, plan, deploy, and operate Project Server 2007 specifically:

· Solution Overview and System Elements

· Solution Elements and Data Flow

· Workload Scenarios and Reference Architecture

· Network Communication

· Server Administration

· Maintenance and Monitoring

· Deployment into a SharePoint Server Intranet Farm

· Disaster Recovery

· Virtualization

You need to register for the free of charge webcast by clicking the link; then you get emailed a link to sign on and participate in the web cast on its date and time (please note only the first two webcast are available for registration at this stage).

Each TechNet webcast is recorded for later viewing which should be through the same registration URL.

For a listing of all EPM webcasts on TechNet check the following: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/epm.aspx

Webcast Title

Abstract

Date

Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 - Solution Overview and System Elements

In this webcast, we introduce the Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 solution and the main product components. We describe key concepts such as high availability and scalability, which should be taken into account when planning and deploying Project Server 2007. This introductory webcast is part of a webcast series targeted at IT professionals. In the series, we present in detail key aspects to consider when you evaluate, plan, deploy, and operate Project Server 2007. We discuss the main considerations when planning for high-availability deployments—when to scale up and out, points of failure, and software/hardware boundaries.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008