IT edge

Microsoft released a Lync Adoption and Training Kit that is designed to assist IT Pros, PM’s, Helpdesk Agents, and Trainers to deploy Lync into an organization. The kit provides:

• A workbook providing step-by-step guidance for each phase of the rollout and adoption process
• Adoption and training resources, such as primers, email templates, and templates for a custom Lync 2010 intranet site to help organizations successfully roll out Lync
• Modular, reusable, brandable, and customizable user education and training materials, including frequently asked questions, Quick Start guides, how-to videos, Work Smart guides, and training videos
• Applications such as “IM an Expert” and learning tools such as the “Lync How-to” that you can use to generate user excitement and drive the adoption of Lync

Here are the add-on apps in the kit:

• IM an Expert: (Server Add-on) a social networking tool which helps people “find an expert” inside their organization. The tool parses the question to determine the topic area, finds topic area experts in its user-populated expert database, and forwards the question.
• Conversations Analyzer: (Server Add-on) an app that reviews Lync instant messaging conversation history and applies trust rules to determine the occurrence of words and phrases that have a positive or negative effect on trust.
• Conversation Translator: (Client Plug-in) a real-time language translation service for Lync IM conversations. Supports 35 different languages.
• Information Dashboard: (Client Plug-in) returns information about an intended contact, including the date/time, weather forecast, and a news feed of articles related to the location.
• Tabbed Conversations: (Client Plug-in) tabbed conversation window allows multiple IM conversations in a single window.
• Group Chat Stress Tool: (Server Add-on) a helper app for establishing the infrastructure needed to do group chat.

All of these add-on Apps can be downloaded and used in Lync On-premise deployments. All of the Client Plug-in Apps can be used with Office 365 as well.

When most organizations think of of using Microsoft infrastructure for deploying Virtual Desktops they often default to the thinking that they have to use Citrix on top of Microsoft to get an Enterprise VDI solution. This is much the same way that Terminal Services was thought of in the past Microsoft+Citrix. This is not the case however with VDI or even Terminal Services (Remote Desktops).

Quest Software which is very well known for it’s Migration Tools and Monitoring Products, has a product called vWorkspace which works with Microsoft Hyper-V Server, and SCVMM in delivering an Enterprise class VDI solution. It also integrates and complements SCCM and SCOM in managing and monitoring the Virtual Desktops. It provides all the Enterprise VDI features you would expect and enhances Terminal Services which can be used in the same VDI farm.

If you are already a satisfied Citrix customer and are looking at VDI, I would recommend that you consider XenDesktop as it integrates with the XenApp infrastructure and management console. If you are planning or moving to a mostly VDI platform from a Terminal Services environment, or want to investigate alternative to Citrix (including XenApp) then I would strongly suggest you evaluate Quest vWorkspace. Here is a video that explains the Microsoft+Quest partnership on VDI.

The Configuration Manager Physical to Virtual Migration Toolkit is designed to assist with migrating from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012. This tool helps with remote Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 site servers which need to be retained during the side-by-side migration to Configuration Manager 2012.

The tools enables conversion of Configuration Manager 2007 site servers to Virtual Machines (VHD) files and then restages this physical server as a Hyper-V host and then remounts the created VHD containing the SCCM 2007 Server, now a VM Guest. By converting the existing site servers into Virtual Machines at remote locations, you can re-use the same hardware (given sufficient resources) to stand-up a Configuration Manager 2012 site server and perform the side-by-side migration.

CTP release Key Features (taken directly from the Connect site):

• Task sequence\standalone media driven. Utilizes Configuration Manager 2007’s task sequences to provide the ability to automate the majority of the end-to-end P2V process, including:

• Offline virtualization of physical disks.
• Preparing the VHDs to leverage virtual storage drivers and align to virtual disk layout.
• Compressing of the VHD’s to reduce size on disk.
• Installation of Windows 2008 R2 (including enabling the Hyper-V role).
• Automating the creation of a Hyper-V virtual machine.
• Attaching the captured VHDs as a Hyper-V virtual machine.

All pre-release versions are on the Connect website which enables feedback directly to the migration toolkit development team during the Community Technology Preview phase:

https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/program6835

InfoWorld published a new Server Virtualization Shootout Report on April 23rd with published lab reports and updated product performance and feature comparisons which show that Hyper-V is making great progress as a virtualization platform and IS and Enterprise Virtualization platform.

The article is fairly accurate but commenters do point out that the Pricing and Licensing comparison in the article is totally off base. The author compares Windows Server OS + System Center Management tools costs in the comparison table, but for the other three vendors only compares the Hypervisor cost + Management tools costs. This artificially inflates the cots of using a comparable Hyper-V solutions. Why do I say this?

• Microsoft Hyper-V Server is Free product and includes the same Enterprise capabilities (Live Migration Dynamic Memory) as Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 with Hyper-V. It is not crippled like some other vendors ‘free” hypervisor products which remove features as Live Migration.
• The Windows Server OS guest licensing is the same model for any of the virtualization platforms whether it’s Hyper-V, ESX or vSphere, XenServer, Redhat RHVS. If you install Windows Server OS VM’s you can either purchase a Windows Server Standard license for every VM, a Windows Server Enterprise License and install 4 VMs, or license Windows Server Datacenter per physical CPU in the host for unlimited VMs on that host. If you want to be able to move Windows Sever guest VMs around as dynamic workloads you really need to license via Windows Server Datacenter. Microsoft even provides a calculator to help you figure the licensing.
• System Center Management Suite also comes more than one edition, but for a virtual environment it is typically best to license the Datacenter edition of the Suite. If you want to realize the maximum cost savings, you should purchase Windows Sever Datacenter + System Center Management Suite Datacenter + ForeFront EndPoint Protection as a Suite called Enrollment for Core Infrastructure (ECI) through Volume Licensing.

I agree that Microsoft licensing is not easy to understand. There are often multiple ways to license products and some methods bring even greater discounts. But really I would expect the author of the report to dig into this area a bit more than they did to provide an accurate cost comparison.

Microsoft also announced support for CentOS in Hyper-V, as a lot of the large hosting providers use this OS and had requested support for it in Hyper-V. This information was released a month after the InfoWold article, but chnages the OS support diagram.

Why is accurate reporting and basic licensing information so important? Take a look at this IDC press release on the state of Server Shipments as it related to virtualization.

With these items in mind, you can read the Virtualization Shootout report here: http://www.infoworld.com/d/virtualization/virtualization-shoot-out-citrix-microsoft-red-hat-and-vmware-666.

Microsoft ForeFront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) is a edge and access protection device that has an awesome feature that allows you to activate malware inspection that helps protect your network from web-based threats as exploits, viruses and malware. The TechNet Library has an article (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd441078.aspx) which explains how to enable malware inspection for HTTP traffic.

Following the article is easy enough until you get to step 4.b. under “To enable global malware inspection”, which is: "”If you selected the Activate purchased license and enable Web Protection option, type the license activation code next to Key.”

The problem at this point is where to find this “license activation code” it references. You typically download product license keys from the Volume Licensing Service Center (http://licensng.microsoft.com). However, when you look for a license key for for the Web Protection service, there isn’t one. Calling Microsoft licensing does not always resolve the issue either as it seems not all agents are aware of where to find this key.

So what “key” do you enter? You actually enter your Volume License Agreement enrollment number which has either the ForeFront Protection Suite or the TMG Web Protection products on it. This will either be your Enterprise Agreement, Select Agreement, or Open License Agreement enrollment number. You only enter the first 7 numbers of the enrollment number.

This Blog post – http://blogs.technet.com/b/isablog/archive/2010/02/02/forefront-tmg-2010-web-protection-services-licensing.aspx – has screenshots walking through the entry of the product key and the policy configuration.

Cisco and NetApp announced they are participating in Microsoft’s Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track program. A new pre-validated private cloud solution (built by cisco and NetApp) enables organizations to deploy more quickly with less risk and provides more flexibility and choice to customers. This private cloud solution offers the flexibility of the cloud with higher levels of control needed to meet security and regulatory guidelines.

It uses Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Microsoft Systems Center for management, automation and self-service provisioning of the entire private cloud infrastructure. There is growing recognition that management is key. This solution includes enterprise-class virtualization and comprehensive management technologies to deliver private cloud services, and powerful application insights to ensure maximum performance and availability across private and public cloud assets.

More information:

• Insider insights on this TechNet Edge video from NetApp and Cisco engineers in a TechNet Edge video here: http://bit.ly/jWAplo
• Read the official Microsoft Blog Post of this announcement: http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualization/archive/2011/05/16/new-hyper-v-cloud-fast-track-partners-double-down-on-private-cloud-vision.aspx

Microsoft released a free add-on for Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 that turns it into an rich media editing and production platform. Producer allows you to capture and synchronize audio, video, PowerPoint slides, and images, and then preview and publish the presentations.

PowerPoint 2010 natively includes the ability to turn your presentations into videos, but Producer give you more editing control and a host of new content-authoring features.

Get Producer at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=1b3c76d5-fc75-4f99-94bc-784919468e73&displaylang=en

Microsoft is readying it’s next iteration of it’s Business Productivity Suite cloud service called Office 365, which provides Microsoft Software as a Service to subscribers. What’s great about the services is that it let’s business users connect to their applications and tools from any internet connection without having to first connect to corporate network using a VPN-client.

Depending upon the subscription chosen for the end users – they have the ability to connect to their company E-mail, Calendar, Instant Messaging and Online Meeting software, company Portal and Collaboration Sites and even Office Web-based Applications. A business also has the flexibility to subscribe to a portion of the applications through different service SKU’s. For enterprises that need to mix a public cloud service with their on-premise solutions, you can also build Hybrid solutions based on Microsoft systems located on-premise in a customers datacenter with Office 365 SaaS offerings.

Microsoft opened up the Office 365 Beta to the Public in mid-April, 2011. If you are considering Cloud computing for Software as a Service you should sign up for the beta here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/online-software.aspx

Finding all the information a Windows Phone developer needs to make great apps and games got easier. Development documentation and content is now in a single place for developers in a 22 topic/scenario-focused web site called App Hub. Each topic page provides deep topics links, high-level links to tools and key resources for Windows Phone development, and links off to the other content pages via the navigation menu on the right side of the page.

Windows Phone Developer App Hub. Here are direct links to the topic pages:

• Silverlight for Windows Phone
• XNA Game Studio and XNA Framework
• Windows Phone Developer Tools and Device Unlock
• User Experience and User Interface
• Application and Execution Model
• Input, Touch and Gestures
• Launchers and Choosers
• Security
• Frame and Page Navigation
• Isolated Storage
• Performance
• Advertising Services
• Camera and Photos
• Media – Audio and Video
• Push Notifications and Live Tiles
• App Bar and Controls
• Location and Mapping
• Networking and Web Services
• Sensors
• Globalization and Localization
• Porting Your App or Game to Windows Phone 7
• Application Publishing and Marketplace

Everyone is talking about “the Cloud” in the IT Community. The cloud is different things to different people and organizations. There doesn’t seem to be a one size fits all definition that goes deep enough for IT Pros. You have the standard types of cloud services SaaS, PaaS, IaaS and different places the cloud can be located Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud, Government Cloud….this makes figuring out what you need to be successful as an IT Professional in your role difficult.

The Microsoft Virtual Academy offers no-cost, easy-access training for IT professionals who want to get ahead in cloud computing. Developed by leading experts in this field, these modules ensure that you acquire essential skills and gain credibility as the cloud computing specialist in your organization. MVA guides you through real-life deployment scenarios and the latest cloud computing technologies and tools. By selecting the training modules that match your requirements, you can use valuable new skills.

MVA courses include:

* Introduction to SCVMM, Architecture & Setup

* Creating VMs, Template & Resources in VMM

* Managing Windows Azure

* SQL Azure Security

* Identity & Access

* Data Security and Cryptography

…and more at Microsoft Virtual Academy.

Register for the Free Courses at: http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com