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Windows 7 for XP ProfessionalsUpdating Support Skills from XP to Windows 7by Bink.nu's Raymond Comvalius
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In August 2009, Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to examine the total economic impact and potential return on investment (ROI) that enterprises may realize by deploying Windows Server 2008 R2.
Windows Server 2008 R2 is the newest Windows Server operating system from Microsoft. To understand the financial impact of deploying Windows Server 2008 R2, Forrester conducted indepth interviews with nine actual Microsoft customers. These organizations were all Microsoft TAP customers who are early adopters of Windows Server 2008 R2. Forrester then compiled the results from these interviews into a composite case study of a North American retail and distribution organization of 1,500 employees and $450 million in annual revenue.
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The Microsoft VHD Test Drive Program provides customers a flexible, extensible and supported evaluation experience requiring minimal hardware and IT overhead. You can access the catalog of pre-configured Microsoft solutions in VHD format for test, evaluation, demonstration, training & education and proof of concept from www.microsoft.com/vhd. This download helps you evaluate the new features of Windows Server 2008 R2. You’ll have the opportunity to try new and improved features and functionality of Windows Server 2008 R2 free for 180 days. Windows Server 2008 R2 builds on the award-winning foundation of Windows Server 2008, expanding existing technology and adding new features to enable IT professionals to increase the reliability and flexibility of their server infrastructures. New virtualization tools, Web resources, management enhancements, and exciting Windows 7 integration help save time, reduce costs, and provide a platform for a dynamic and efficiently managed data center. Powerful tools such as Internet Information Services (IIS) version 7.5, updated Server Manager and Hyper-V platforms and Windows PowerShell version 2.0 combine to give customers greater control, increased efficiency and the ability to react to front-line business needs faster than ever before. To find out more about Windows Server 2008 R2, please visit the product homepage. Please note that this product is available for evaluation purposes only and should not be used in a production environment. This is a preconfigured virtual machine set contained within the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format. Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008, or the R2 versions of these products is required to use this virtual machine. Please refer to the system requirements section for more details.
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The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Windows® Deployment Services, updated to reflect the new features and functionality introduced with Windows Server 2008 R2, outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Windows Deployment Services. Following the six steps in this guide will result in a design that is sized, configured, and appropriately placed to enable rapid deployment of Windows operating systems, while also considering the performance, capacity, and fault tolerance of the system.
Take advantage of the benefits IPD Guides provide:
· Acceleration the infrastructure design process. · Best practice design guidance from the product group. · Infrastructure optimization for best meeting business requirements.
Download the updated IPD Guide for Windows Deployment Services.
The Web Deployment Tool simplifies migration, management and deployment of IIS Web servers, Web applications and Web sites.
The Web Deployment Tool simplifies the migration, management and deployment of IIS Web servers, Web applications and Web sites. Administrators can use command-line scripting with the Web Deployment Tool to synchronize IIS 6.0 and IIS 7.0 servers or to migrate an IIS 6.0 server to IIS 7.0. The Web Deployment Tool also enables administrators and delegated users to use IIS Manager to deploy ASP.NET and PHP applications to an IIS 7.0 server. Migrate Web applications between IIS 6.0 and IIS 7.0 with ease Simplify the planning of your IIS 6.0 to IIS 7.0 migrations by determining incompatibilities and previewing the proposed changes before starting the process. Learning about any potential issues in advance gives you the chance to take corrective measures and simplifies migration. Synchronize your server farm efficiently The Web Deployment Tool allows you to efficiently synchronize sites, applications or servers across your IIS 7.0 server farm by detecting differences between the source and destination content and transferring only those changes which need synchronization. The tool simplifies the synchronization process by automatically determining the configuration, content, databases and certificates to be synchronized for a specific site. In addition to the default behavior, you still have the option to specify additional providers for the synchronization, including COM, GAC and registry settings. Package, archive and deploy Web applications more easily The Web Deployment Tool enables you to package configuration and content of your installed Web applications, including SQL databases, and use the packages for storage or redeployment. These packages can be deployed using IIS Manager without requiring administrative privileges. The tool also integrates with Visual Studio 2010 to help developers streamline the deployment of Web applications to the Web server.
The Active Directory® Management Gateway Service provides a Web service interface to Active Directory domains and instances of Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) or Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) that are running on the same server as the Active Directory Management Gateway Service. You can download and install the Active Directory Management Gateway Service on servers and domain controllers running the following operating systems:
Note: You can install the Active Directory Management Gateway Service on writable domain controllers as well as Read-only domain controllers that are running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 SP2. After it is installed on any of these operating systems, the Active Directory Management Gateway Service runs as the Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory Web Services (ADWS) service and provides the same functionality. For more information about ADWS, see What's New in AD DS: Active Directory Web Services (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=152772). Note: The Active Directory Management Gateway Service does not support instances of the Active Directory Database Mounting Tool running on Windows Server 2008–based servers. The Active Directory Management Gateway Service enables administrators to use the Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell and the Active Directory Administrative Center running on Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 to access or manage directory service instances that are running on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003 operating systems in the previous list. Note: Installing the Active Directory Management Gateway Service on your Windows Server 2008–based or Windows Server 2003–based servers does not make it possible for you to install the Active Directory module or the Active Directory Administrative Center (which is available only on Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 operating systems) on these servers. If the Active Directory Management Gateway Service on your Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003 server is stopped or disabled, client applications, such as the Active Directory module or the Active Directory Administrative Center will not be able to access or manage any directory service instances that are running on this server.
Today, I’m very excited to announce that Microsoft has acquired the technology assets of Interactive Supercomputing (ISC), a company that specializes in bringing the power of parallel computing to the desktop and making high performance computing more accessible to end users. This move represents our ongoing commitment to parallel computing and high performance computing (HPC) and will bring together complementary technologies that will help simplify the complexity and difficulty of expressing problems that can be parallelized. ISC’s products and technology enable faster prototyping, iteration, and deployment of large-scale parallel solutions, which is well aligned with our vision of making high performance computing and parallel computing easier, both on the desktop and in the cluster.
Bill Blake, CEO of ISC, is bringing over a team of industry leading experts on parallel and high performance computing that will join the Microsoft team at the New England Research & Development Center in Cambridge, MA. He and I are both excited to start working together on the next generation of technology for researchers, analysts, and engineers, as well as those who have yet to be exposed to the benefits of parallel computing and HPC technologies or may have thought they were out of reach.
You can find more information on HPC and parallel computing at Microsoft in these links and stay up to date on integration news and updates at Microsoft Pathways, our acquisition information site.
Are you looking to deploy DirectAccess available from the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems? And, are you planning to allow users to access corporate resources (such as e-mail servers, shared folders, or intranet Web sites) securely without connecting to a virtual private network (VPN) using DirectAccess?
Good news! The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) Team has just announced the Beta release of the Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for DirectAccess from the Microsoft Connect site.
What is the IPD Guide for DirectAccess?
The IPD Guide for DirectAccess provides actionable guidance for designing a DirectAccess infrastructure. The guide’s easy-to-follow, four-step process gives a straightforward explanation of the infrastructure required for clients to be connected from the Internet to resources on the corporate network, whether or not the organization has begun deploying IPv6.
What is included in this IPD Guide?
This guide include best practice that guides you through the 4-step process to design a DirectAccess infrastructure including the following:
Get the IPD Guide for DirectAccess Now!
Download the IPD Guide for DirectAccess (Beta) now!
Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Server 2008 R2 is a stand-alone product that provides a reliable and optimized virtualization solution enabling organizations to improve server utilization and reduce costs. With the addition of new features such as live migration and expanded processor and memory support for host systems, it allows organizations to consolidate workloads onto a single physical server and is a good solution for organizations who are consolidating servers as well as for development and test environments. By having the ability to plug into existing IT infrastructures Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 enables companies to reduce costs, improve utilization and provision new servers. It allows IT professionals to leverage existing patching, provisioning, management and support tools and processes. IT Professionals can continue to leverage their individual skills and the collective knowledge of Microsoft tools, minimizing the learning curve to manage Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2. In addition, with Microsoft providing comprehensive support for Microsoft applications and heterogeneous guest operating systems support, customers can virtualize with confidence and peace of mind. System Requirements
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Source: www.microsoft.com
The Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7 RTM have been released to microsoft.com. These include the Hyper-V tools for remote management of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.
Once you install the update, you can enable one or more of the following tools from the Control Panel under Programs, Turn Windows features on or off.
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Paul Thurrott:
Microsoft last week officially announced a product that Windows IT Pro UPDATE readers have known about since the end of 2008: A new low-cost version of Windows Server called Windows Server 2008 Foundation. Foundation Server, as I'll call it, has already been made available to mainstream server makers like Dell, HP, and the like, and will become available with new low-cost hardware in the weeks ahead. (As with Small Business Server, Foundation Server will only be sold with hardware.)
"Yeah, it's kind of boring," Microsoft's Iain McDonald joked with me during a recent briefing. "Here we are releasing another version of Server."
I had thought that Foundation Server would be an R2 SKU, that is, a version that would ship with Windows Server 2008 R2 in late 2009. So last week's announcement was somewhat of a surprise. But McDonald told me that Microsoft saw a glaring hole in its product line, one that was not filled by the consumer-focused Windows Home Server or the overly-functional SBS. This year, it's possible to purchase perfectly capable low-end servers for well under $1000. So it doesn't make sense that Microsoft's lowest cost infrastructure server, Windows Server 2008 Standard, costs $500. Clearly what the company needed was something that offered core Server features but came in well under that price.
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Last week we announced the Release Candidate (RC) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2. We initially made it available for TechNet and MSDN subscribers. Today, we’re making it available to anyone interested in testing SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 prior to final release.
You can download the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 RC from our Customer Preview Program site or install through Windows Update using our Windows Update Experience Kit.
If you have the SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Beta installed, you will need to uninstall that first before installing the RC.
You can also check out the SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 RC notable changes here. And you can submit feedback on SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 here on the TechNet Forums.
Source: http://windowsteamblog.com/
Hotfixes and Security Updates in Windows Server 2008 SP2 RC and Windows Vista SP2 RC.
Windows Server® 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista® Service Pack 2 include all the previously released updates for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. This document contains the list of Hotfixes and Security Updates in Windows Server 2008 SP2 RC and Windows Vista SP2 RC. Many of these updates are available to the public on the Microsoft® Download Center and Windows® Update, while others are only available to specific customers or partners. It is a standard practice to include all of these updates in a service pack, and they are included in Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2.
The DHCP server in Windows Server 2008 R2 has invested in the areas of security, reliability, manageability and usability. Similarly on the DHCP Client in Windows 7 has invested on certain optimization for obtaining IP Address.
The following changes are available in DHCP server in Windows Server 2008 R2:
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This week we are announcing that Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 has hit an important milestone in development: Release Candidate (RC).
Starting today, the RC of SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 will be available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers to test prior to final release. In the very near future, we will be making the RC broadly available for anyone to download and test. You can expect another blog post from me when that happens.
SP2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 include updates that have been delivered since the release of SP1, as well as support for new types of hardware and emerging standards. As we’ve described since we first talked about SP2, we’ve taken your feedback into account when developing SP2. Specifically, we expect SP2 to continue the security benefits of both products and simplify deployment for our customers.
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Do you remember the tale of the Windows Server 2008 “Lone Server”? Maybe it was read to you as a bedtime story as a change from “Mommy, Why Is There a Server in the House?” There he was, this poor Windows Server 2003 server, all alone in a server farm of Windows Server 2008 machines. Out-of-date. Out-of-style. Out-of-touch with the needs of modern Web server administrators.
Well let’s hope the Windows Server 2008 computers didn’t laugh too heartily at his fate, because they’re about to suffer the same. Recently, in a typically convoluted Web 2.0 fashion, I Twittered an Ars Technica article describing how Netcraft noticed that many requests to www.microsoft.com were being handled by a server reporting as “Microsoft-IIS/7.5”. IIS 7.5 is the Web server in Windows Server 2008 R2, now available in Beta, that builds on all the good stuff in IIS 7.0 (that’s right: more reliable, more control, more secure, more choice), and integrates IIS Extensions such as FTP, WebDAV and the IIS Administration Pack. And of course, Windows Server 2008 R2 also provides full ASP.NET support on Server Core installations, and includes a new Web Administration module and IIS cmdlets for Windows PowerShell 2.0.
So what are the details of the Microsoft.com implementation? Well, although many requests are being served by IIS 7.5, we have not updated the entire server farm. For example, in one cluster of servers we have left a single “Lone Server” running Windows Server 2008 to act as a control and provide side-by-side comparisons (and at weekends to go prop up a bar with Windows Server 2003 where they drown their sorrows together). There are still also full clusters running on Windows Server 2008 so that we can do a cluster-to-cluster comparisons and provide a greater degree of failover, although it is our plan to have Microsoft.com completely migrated to Windows Server 2008 R2 well before RTM.