Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update – March

Last time out we talked about the launch of Windows 8 server Beta, well the first test reports are starting to come in. From a virtualisation point of view one of the features that will provide most functionality is the new PowerShell CMDLETS for managing Hyper-V replicas to find out more have a look at this. There really is some funky new features in Windows 8, take for example the Windows on a stick, USB stick that is, it provide users with a full corporate copy of Windows on a USB storage device called “Windows To Go” feature, but will probably be an enterprise feature. However one of the drawbacks of Windows 8 is that it can’t be managed by System Centre 2012 or so I thought.

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Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update

Having updated my Exchange skills last week to 2010 I thought it worth recapping on the protection offered by Forefront Protection for Exchange this useful FAQ will run you through some of the main points of interest.

The Microsoft Virtual Academy is the ideal place to start your learning journey for both the present incarnation and the 2012 versions of Microsoft Private Cloud you can select a track and study the material and then do the self-assessment this will earn you a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum accreditation. If you are wanting Private Cloud resources without having to join the virtual academy try this. Whilst we’re talking private cloud Hyper-V Nu has a great article on Private Cloud explained. Finally on Private Cloud all the System Centre 2012 products have now gone Release Candidate.

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Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update – November week 3

We’ll start this week with a great article and interview about the new storage features in Windows 8 and how they impact on Hyper-V 3, so if you want to find out more about VHDx files, Storage Pools and Spaces and how to use them to Cluster Hyper-V virtual machines click here.

Last week I blogged about the release of System Centre Service Manger 2012 Beta, there are some really cool new capabilities that are available, specifically the new Service Catalog and Service Request Management feature that Microsoft started talking about and showing examples of last year.

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Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update – November week 1

We’ll start with System Centre Configuration Manager 2012 and the announcement of the Release Candidate to find out more and download click here. For really useful information about installing the release candidate, adding roles, configuring discovery, boundaries and client settings check this blog out.  I’ve mentioned it on this blog more than once, but one of the key changes to Configuration Manager 2012 is how software can be delivered and the whole idea of the process being user centric.

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Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update

This week’s update is a bit of a mixed bag, we’re going to start with Operations Manager 2007.

Whilst working on a customer’s site the importance of backing up your Operations Manager implementation raised its head. Fortunately they were and we successfully recovered from the problem. So I thought it worth going through the basics with these 4 articles. SCOM environment, SCOM databases, SCOM encryption key and SCOM IIS settings.

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Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update – 10th June

Lots to get through this week some about the current release but more about the 2012 versions.

One of the main elements that sets Operations Manager and System Center Essentials apart is Audit Collection Services or ACS and if your customers require this functionality then there is only one answer Operation Manager. So it’s vital to understand ACS and in this 2 part series Christopher Keyaert takes your through how your customers can store and present security audit information. Sticking with Operations Manager Microsoft recently released The System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 Admin Resource Kit click here to download it.

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Sean’s Weekly Computer 2000 Microsoft VAD program update

I’m still trying to catch with all the things that came out whilst I was off so this week I’m concentrating on the 2012 versions of the System Center Suite, starting with Config Manager.

When the 2012 version of Config Manager is officially released the main decision to make will be how to transition to it. Well the Config Manager team have announced the Physical to Virtual Migration Toolkit to assist with that transition. If you want an overview of the new features click here or here. If you would like more details on the individual features then here we go.

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Sean’s Weekly C2000 Microsoft VAD program update

Well it’s good to be back after 2 weeks away hope you didn’t miss me too much.

A bit of catching up to do and it’s a bit of a mixed bag this week starting with Config Manager.

Setting up Config Manager for workgroup devices or devices in untrusted domains has been mentioned in quite a few meetings I’ve been to recently so if this is a scenario you are likely to encounter you had better check this out. Another topic that has kept coming up is how does Config Manager handle clients that are away from the network for long periods of time, for this you will need a good understanding of Heartbeat Discovery. If you are going to deploy images via Config Manager then a problem area can be drivers and if you’ve had a problem with HP kit hopefully this should help. Finally on Config Manager the ability to update your SCDPM server has been added.

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