Well, it's been a while in the baking, but SP1 for System Center Essentials 2007 has finally arrived, bringing with it a host of improvements to performance, GUI stability and memory consumption (decreased by up to 70%...yes that's right 70%!). Check out the SCE SP1 page for further details on the new and improved functionality and download SP1 today - it's going to make your SCE install fly! [RH]
Just a quick note to highlight some of the great work done by the Solution Accelerator team, with the delivery of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit. This free of charge, downloadable utility provides customers and partners with a quick and easy way to assess their existing IT assets and advises on their suitability for a range of potential infrastructure upgrades including:
- Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 - reports detailing hardware suitability and main server roles
- Server utilisation reports with advice on how to consolidate and place workloads with our server technologies (Virtual Server 2005 R2 with Hyper-V to follow)
- Assessment of the technology environment for the implementation of Microsoft Application Virtualisation (SoftGrid)
- Upgrade of desktop systems to Windows Vista SP1 and / or Office 2007
The three phase process involves a hardware inventory, compatibility analysis and readiness reporting, delivering a series of business-ready proposals as well as more comprehensive reports should you wish to dig a little deeper into the underlying data.
So, to find out more, download the Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit today and get stared by analysing the suitability of your environment for upgrade to the latest and greatest server, desktop and virtualisation technologies.
NB - please note that this tool will not run on an X64 instance of Windows, as I have found out to my cost :-( ...but hey, that's what x86 VMs are for, no? [RH]
Check out the latest guidance on preparing your Microsoft solutions for the forthcoming daylight savings changes with the downloadable Australia Daylight Saving Planning Guide. Also includes links to all the necessary software updates. [RH]
Monday, 04 Feb 2008 - Microsoft released to manufacturing the following products:
Windows Server 2008 - This long awaited product will be generally available on 01 March 2008. Check out the launch coming to a city near you in February and March.
Check out the Australian Windows Server 2008 site for all the information you would want - http://www.microsoft.com/australia/servers/ws2008/
Windows Vista SP 1 - Addresses many of the key issues that our customers have identified with Windows Vista of the last year, both directly and through programs like the Customer Experience Improvement program. With SP1, we have made great progress in performance, reliability and compatibility. [CM]
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Beta Announcement:
Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides for
Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services and Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Domain Services |
January 2008.. | |
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Are you evaluating server technologies in your quest toward a dynamic IT infrastructure? Use the Infrastructure Planning and Design Series guides to make the right decisions about planning infrastructure architecture.
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The Infrastructure Planning and Design guides are the next version of Windows Server System Reference Architecture. This series aims to clarify and streamline design processes for Microsoft infrastructure technologies, each addressing a unique infrastructure technology or scenario. All guides share a common structure including:
· Definition of the technical decision flow through the planning process.
· Listing of decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
· Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
· Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.
These guides complement product documentation by exposing and focusing on infrastructure design options.
Infrastructure Planning and Design: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services
This guide leads the reader step by step through the process of planning a Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services infrastructure. The guide addresses the fundamental decisions and tasks involved in:
· Deciding what applications are to be delivered by Terminal Services, and whether or not Terminal Services is the right approach to use.
· Determining the resources needed to employ Terminal Services to serve the selected applications.
· Designing the components, layout, security, and connectivity of the Terminal Services infrastructure.
Infrastructure Planning and Design: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Domain Services
Active Directory® controls the core security of the Microsoft Windows® network environment. The directory service is responsible for authenticating user and computer accounts within the Active Directory infrastructure. In addition, the directory service provides a mechanism for centralized, delegated administration of resources within the forest.
To develop and implement a successful design of Active Directory, numerous questions must be answered and many decisions and strategies must be determined. Considerations for performance, security, manageability, scalability, and many other criteria must be addressed if the design is to be successful.
The purpose of this guide is to assist designers in the decision-making process by providing a clear and concise path for designing the Active Directory infrastructure, given the relative context. This guide relies on best practices and real-world experience to offer considerations and alternatives at each point in the design.
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Infrastructure Planning & Design Beta Releases |
The Infrastructure Planning and Design Beta Release for Windows Deployment Services is available as an open beta download.
To join the Infrastructure Planning and Design Beta program, click here. If you can’t use this link, go to connect.microsoft.com, click on “Invitations” and enter invitation ID
IPDM-QX6H-7TTV.
If you are already in the Beta, click here to download the latest Beta guide.
If you have not previously registered with Microsoft Connect, you might be required to do so before you continue to the Beta page.
Windows Server 2008 on Microsoft TechNet
Windows Server System Reference Architecture for Windows Server 2003 on Microsoft TechNet
Solution Accelerators on Microsoft TechNet
Please send your comments and feedback to satfdbk@microsoft.com.
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Project Team:
Mary Anne Blake (PDM)
Charles Denny (TPM)
Laurie Dunham (UE,RM)
Mike Kaczmarek (GPM)
Lex Liao (Test Mgr)
Robin Maher (PM)
Fergus Stewart (TPM) |
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Contributing Partners:
Studio B Productions
Find More Solution Accelerators
You can see our full catalog of released Solution Accelerators, including the Windows Server System Reference Architecture (WSSRA), here.
Additional Solution Accelerator Beta Content
Get an advance look at other Solution Accelerator beta content, including:
Microsoft Assessment and Planning
Windows Server 2008 Security Guide
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Content provided by Jeff Newfeld
[CM]
Just a quick heads up on some of the partner readiness training planned for Jan-June 2008. I've plucked the following out as of most interest to all the infrastructure specialists...
Microsoft Deployment Airlift (Including SoftGrid, VISTA and Windows Server 2008) (The new BDD...)
System Center: Virtual Machines Manager, Configuration Manager, Data Protection Manager
Office Communication Server & Unified Comms
Windows Server 2008 : IT Pro
These heavily subsidised courses are running across various state capitals in the next 6 months or so (check links for dates, locations and registration info).
[RH]
The recently published Infrastructure Planning and Design Solution Accelerator is a great place to start when considering the practical implications of deploying Microsoft's broad range of virtualisation technologies. I've just worked through the 'Windows Server Virtualization' paper, and it looks like this offers the kind of guidance my partners and customers are frequently asking for....scoping the hardware resources to meet the needs of your virtual environment - right down to which perfmon counters are key for analysing disk, memory, CPU and network requirements. There's also a scattering of handy snippets on validating your technical decisions agaist the needs of the business - just in case you're getting carried away with the technology and forgettintg about the business reasons behind the push to a virtual world. No doubt I'll get round to working my way through the 'Application Virtualization' paper sometime over the festive period! [RH]
A collaboration with Macrovision has delivered a special version of AdminStudio (AdminStudio for Configuration Manager), allowing you to build MSI files from your legacy applications and then deploy them using System Center Configuration Manager 2007. Check out the details and hit the download link from
this page (registration required for download). [RH]
Running across cities in 5 Australian states, these briefings are designed to help Microsoft Partners understand the business opportunity that the new wave of server technologies will present. The first ones are running in November and December and will cover Microsoft Virtualisation and Management [RH]
REGISTER NOW:
· Brisbane November 30th: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032359092&Culture=en-AU
· Sydney December 6th : http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032359090&Culture=en-AU
· Melbourne December 7th : http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032359091&Culture=en-AU
· Adelaide December 14th: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032359093&Culture=en-AU
· Perth December 13th: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032359094&Culture=en-AU
A great way to get some early exposure to Windows Server 2008, Fast Track Fridays are available through CPLS partners across Australia. Each Friday's agenda will offer a range of one day chalk-talk and Hands on Labs focused at getting you up to speed on the key features of the next release of Windows Server. So get ready for launch with a Fast Track Friday session! [RH]
Get the lowdown on how Partner Skills Plus can help you achieve the latest certifications with this 2 page download - a great way to help you understand the new generation of certifications from Microsoft and how to save money on training and certification. Highlights include:
- 60% savings on Exam Coach
- 45% savings on MS Press Books
- 35% savings on MS E-Learning courses
- Free practice tests (selected exams only)
- 32% savings on new generation MS exams
There's also a host of useful links to further information in this pdf. [RH]
Register here for heavily subsidised, level 300 training for Australian partners, covering System Center Configuration Manager 2007, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007. Melbourne and Sydney only at this stage.
As three of the four pillars of the Server Management Suite - Enterprise, it's essential that partners get up to speed on the new launch of System Center products - there will be some fantastic opportunities for partners to deliver comprehensive data centre management solutions to customers, especially where virtualisation is involved.... [RH]
A great opportunity to pick up some heavily subsidised Forefront training in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Focusing on IAG and ISA 2006 as well as Forefront Client Security and Forefront Security for Exchange Server 2007, these courses are designed to give your technical team a kick start so that you can take advantage of the fantastic opportunities offered by our latest security offerings (especially when combined with the incentives of up to 30% provided by the Security Software Advisor program).
Course details and registration here. [RH]
Stumbled across
this interesting post on Pete's Management BLOG the other day - gives a good overview of how straightforward it is to get SNMP monitoring of network devices up and running with System Center Essentials 2007. For those looking for a bit more in terms of network monitoring, it looks like Jalasoft will be releasing
Xian Network Manager for SCE in beta form later this month - worth checking out of you want to extend on the native capabilities of SCE. [RH]
Quick post to highlight the new Essentials 2007 hotfix rollup - posted last week. Combines a couple of existing patches including the old disjointed namespace chestnut. Download
here, apply before installation and remember....always read the label. [RH]