Throwback Thursday: Sessions from TechEd Houston

Today is my final installment of highlights from TechEd Houston! Below are some of my session picks from the last day of the conference.

TWC: Hacker’s Perspective on Your Windows Infrastructure: Mandatory Check List (DCIM-B366)
Windows 8 Security Internals (WIN-B350)
Real-World Windows 8.1 Deployment Note from the Field (WIN-B358)
Providing SaaS Single Sign-on with Microsoft Azure Active Directory (PCIT-B326)
Delivering Disaster Recovery Solutions Using Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 and Microsoft Azure (DCIM-B421)
How IPv6 Impacts Private Cloud Deployments (DCIM-B373)
Windows Server 2003 End of Life Migration Planning for Your Workloads (DCIM-B376)
Upgrading Active Directory the Safe Way: Using Virtualization Technologies (PCIT-B341)

For my lists of sessions from the other days, you can find them here: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Software-Defined Networking with Windows Server and System Center Jump Start

Just wanted to make sure you knew about this upcoming, free online event with live Q&A with the WAP team: http://aka.ms/WAPIaaS. It’s two half-days – Wednesday July 16^th & Thursday July 17^th – 9am-1pm PST

The details: IT Pros, you know that enterprises desire the flexibility and affordability of the cloud, and service providers want the ability to support more enterprise customers. Join us for an exploration of Windows Azure Pack’s (WAP’s) infrastructure services (IaaS), which bring Microsoft Azure technologies to your data center (on your hardware) and build on the power of Windows Server and System Center to deliver an enterprise-class, cost-effective solution for self-service, multitenant cloud infrastructure and application services.

Join Microsoft’s leading experts as they focus on the infrastructure services from WAP, including self-service and automation of virtual machine roles, virtual networking, clouds, plans, and more. See helpful demos, and hear examples that will help speed up your journey to the cloud. Bring your questions for the live Q&A!

Microsoft End of Life Dates – Mark Your Calendars!

With each passing year, Microsoft phases out software versions, replacing them with the new and exciting. It’s kinda like death and taxes. You know they are coming, but they don’t always give you the dates ahead of time. So here are some upcoming dates you might care about.

This one is fast approaching on 7/8/14 – Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 reaches the end of extended support!

Not impressed? Okay, here’s more…

The end of sales for PCs with Windows 7 preinstalled (Windows Home Basic, Home Premium and Ultimate) is scheduled for October 31, 2014. End of sales for Windows 7 Professional preinstalled has not yet been established, but Microsoft promises one year of notice so as of this writing it’s safe to say mid-year 2015 at least for that. Windows 7 also reaches the end of mainstream support on January 13, 2015, leaving it in extended support until 1/14/2020.
Window Server 2003 reaching end of extended support on 7/14/15. This one is a biggie. Windows Server 2003 has been a workhorse for the last decade, much like Windows XP and it will be missed by many. If you need some help, check out “It’s the End of the World As You Know It… Windows Server 2003 End of Life: Infrastructure Migration” from TechEd 2014.
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 has it’s extended support end on 4/11/2017. I admit, I’m not so worried about this one. I used to be hard-core about running email services in house, but now I really think it depends on the size of your company. Email is sometimes best just hosted elsewhere and if you are running Exchange 2007 getting that out of the data center in the next few years might be something to consider.

Meanwhile enjoy your long weekend and lift a drink to BizTalk 2004.
🙂

Learn Something Today from TechEd Houston

Since today is Wednesday, I’m bringing you a selection of session from Day 3 of TechEd Houston which was also a Wednesday.

Introduction to Microsoft Azure Automation (DCIM-B347)
Data Protection in Microsoft Azure (DCIM-B387)
How to Rapidly Design and Deploy an Active Directory Federation Services Farm: The Do’s and Don’ts (PCIT-B324)
Leveraging Your On-Premises Directory Infrastructure to Manage Your Microsoft Azure Active Directory Identities (DCIM-B301)
Mark Russinovich and Mark Minasi on Cloud Computing (DCIM-B386)
Deploying and Managing Work Folders (PCIT-B322)
Windows To Go: Deployment, Support for BYOD, and What IT Pros Need to Know (WIN-B342)
The Agile End-to-End Story for Developers and IT Professionals (DCIM-B358)
TWC: How You Can Hack-Proof Your Clients and Servers in a Day (DCIM-B372)

As you can see, Wednesday was a busy day at TechEd and I since I was working down in the Windows Client area on the expo floor I still have a lot of these to watch!

The Last Part of "Accelerate DevOps in the Cloud" on TechNet Radio

Alright everyone, all good things must come to an end. Here is the last part of the DevOps Series on TechNet Radio.

Concluding the special “Accelerate DevOps with the Cloud” series on TechNet Radio, Keith Mayer welcomes back Jeff Fattic to the show as they discuss how Visual Studio Online can help DevOps organizations optimize the performance of their applications in Part 10.

[2:16] How does Visual Studio Online help organizations monitor the performance of their applications?
[5:16] Can Application Insights notify me proactively when performance issues are occurring?
[6:00] Can Application Insights help me track and ensure availability of my deployed applications world-wide?
[6:32] Can Application Insights help me understand how my users are actually using my deployed applications?
[8:16] What about an application that is generating exceptions? Can Application Insights help my Developers and Ops teams work together to identify the issue and reduce “finger pointing”?
[11:08] Does Application Insights require me to deploy applications to Azure, or can I also continue to deploy some applications on-premises and still monitor them?
[13:12] How can I configure Application Insights for an application? Is it difficult?
[13:50] DEMO: Application Insights

Learn More! Application Insights for Visual Studio Online

Acclerate DevOps with the Cloud – I’m hosting Part 8 on TechNet Radio!

As promised, in part 8 of the “Accelerate DevOps with the Cloud” series on TechNet Radio, Keith Mayer and Jennelle Crothers explore the world of roll-backs and how Microsoft Azure can streamline both the roll-back and roll-forward process for most dev teams.

[1:40] It seems like most dev teams spend lots of time on roll-forward plans for new code releases, but roll-backs are always a chore! Why is this?
[3:28] How can Azure help to streamline the roll-forward and roll-back process?
[8:00] What about Virtual Machines – does Azure have anything to help with roll-forward and roll-back?
[9:44] I hear a lot of “Continuous Deployment” of code releases. Isn’t that risky?
[13:40] DEMO: Let’s see how this is done in Azure!

Then in part 9 of the series, Keith Mayer and Yung Chou are back and discuss in depth the ability for DevOps organizations to scale up or scale down cloud applications. Tune in as they discuss Azure’s unique flexibility in terms of capacity planning for cloud applications.

· [1:07] How is planning for application capacity different when using a cloud platform?

· [4:50] How is scaling application capacity different or better when using the cloud?

· [5:52] Are there application scenarios that are particularly well-suited for scaling in the cloud?

· [14:01] Is there a way to trigger scaling operations automatically for applications in the cloud?

· [15:20] DEMO: Could you show us the basics of how this all works in Azure?

o Scaling Up Cloud Applications

o How to Scale Out Cloud applications on a schedule

o Auto-Scaling Cloud Applications

Only one more part to go!

Accelerate DevOps with the Cloud – Part 7 on TechNet Radio!

In part 7 of the “Accelerate DevOps with the Cloud” series on TechNet Radio, Keith Mayer and Yung Chou welcome Sr. Program Manager Michael Greene to the show as they discuss the importance of configuration management for organizations that are starting to leverage the cloud for their daily operations. Tune in as they also demo PowerShell DSC and show us how it can be used with Azure.

[2:30] When an organization is beginning to leverage the cloud, why is Configuration Management important?
[5:01] How is Configuration Management different from Automation?
[6:48] Is Configuration Management more than just initial provisioning?
[10:29] What tools and resources are available to perform Configuration Management?
[13:03] How does PowerShell DSC differ from PowerShell scripts?
[15:11] Is PowerShell DSC specific to only Windows workloads?
[17:23] DEMO: Can you show us how PowerShell DSC can be leveraged with Azure?

Download the PowerShell DSC Resource Kit here!

Got an Idea for the Next Big Thing? Get Started Here…

If you didn’t catch this flitting by on the inter-webs recently, the latest, smallest startup idea is www.washboard.com, a service that mails you quarters so you have them come laundry time.

Seriously, I should have thought of this. We build up some much spare change at home I could start sending people rolled quarters for a fee, without having to even visit the bank. Maybe that’s why I didn’t think of it… I didn’t realize others had a quarter procurement problem.

At any rate, YOU might have a good idea, or even a silly one that might be worth a spin to see if it takes off. And to make that dream move closer to reality, you’ll need a few tools to get started.

Enter BizSpark. The BizSpark program gives you a great set of tools (like Visual Studio) for developing your own app or business idea – basically you get a Microsoft MSDN subscription and Azure credits. For FREE. For 3 years. It’s a good deal. It’s even better than good.

All you need is a Microsoft account and meet the following requirements:

Developing software or apps
Less than 5 years old and privately held
Making less than one Million dollars (US) annually

That’s it. Want to get started this weekend? Click here and go!

Accelerate DevOps with the Cloud – Parts 5 & 6 on TechNet Radio

In case you are curious, there are 8 parts to this TechNet Radio series, so expect 2 more. Part 8 will be especially exciting since I’ll be the host!

In Part 5 of the “Accelerate DevOps with the Cloud” series on TechNet Radio, Tommy Patterson welcomes Developer Technology Solutions Specialist Randy Pagels to the show as they discuss ways in which your budding DevOps organization can find effective testing methods by using Microsoft Azure and Visual Studio Online.

[2:00]Why is having an effective Testing process so critical when an organization is considering their DevOps strategy?
[4:50] How does Visual Studio Online + Azure help to streamline and accelerate the testing process?
[6:00] Performance is another area that Dev and Ops teams struggle with prior to the release of a solution, how can it be tested to determine what kind of load it can handle?
[8:30] What’s the difference between test plan management in Visual Studio Online vs Visual Studio Ultimate?
[9:00] DEMO: Creating and walking through a web-based test plan in Visual Studio Online

Continuing the series in Part 6, Yung Chou welcomes Sr. Program Manager Charles Joy to the show as they discuss the be the importance of automation in your datacenter especially when it comes to advancing your DevOps strategy.

[2:36] How does automation help organizations accelerate the delivery of new solutions as they move to the Cloud?
[5:18] What tools and resources are available to help IT Pros get started with automation? Do they need to be a professional “scripter”?
[6:04] Do IT Pros need to learn a different set of tools for automating each component?
[6:26] If an IT Pro is automating cloud resources in Azure, do they have to spin up an entire set of infrastructure components just to handle automation? How does Azure automation organize and leverage these automation sequences?
[7:22] How can Runbooks be triggered? Based on schedule? Based on other events?
[8:24] Is Azure Automation extensible? Can I incorporate other PowerShell modules?
[9:10] DEMO: Quick walkthrough of Azure Automation accounts, assets, runbooks, schedule