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As a pirate is passionate about the open sea, such is my passion about technology. I am the first "ethical" IT Pirate.
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Private Cloud Boot Camp Brought to you by  Do you keep hearing the term Private Cloud wherever you go? Are you curious to understand how you can enable Private Cloud in your organization? Curious to understand how System Center 2012 can be used to enable self-service for you organization while allowing you to maintain control of the environment? Want to understand how to manage all of your virtualization hosts from a single toolset? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you need to be at the Private Cloud Boot Camp. The Private Cloud Boot Camp provides a full-day, hands-on experience where you will learn about these topics and more in a fun and collaborative environment: · Understand the System Center 2012 offering and Microsoft’s vision for Private Cloud · Configure System Center 2012 to manage a Private Cloud infrastructure · Create virtual machine and service templates to support the Private Cloud environment · Enable self-service allowing users to provision their infrastructure within established policies and service offerings · Monitor your Private Cloud infrastructure using System Center Operations Manager 2012 · Automatically respond to critical incidents and remediate issues without human intervention · See how new functionality in Windows Server 2012 will provide additional capabilities to help take your Private Cloud to the next level When: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 Registration and snacks begin at 9:00am. Session starts at 9:30am and ends at 4:30pm. Lunch will be provided. Where: Microsoft Canada, 100 Queen Street, Suite 500, Ottawa, ON
Cost: $25. Proceeds from this event will help benefit your user group. Computers: Computers for lab use during the event will be provided. Here is the event registration link: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3488248445
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As in previous years, we like to have our May event as a Microsoft panel. This year, I have reached out to Microsoft to engage with some different professionals. The panel will feature an introduction of these professionals along with what they do at Microsoft and an idea of their day to day tasks. The panel will be informal Question and Answer style. Also featured will be Windows 8 and/or Server 2012 Futures. We will see an informal presentation on these from our professionals as well. So far, in attendance we have: Pierre Roman - Senior Technical Account Manager Vinay Nair - Product Group Marketing manager Server Infrastructure KP Rao - Technical Solutions Professional Management I'll update the event as others join in and there may be some last minute entries! Bring your curiosity and your questions. Please register for the event here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3467823353 Cheers! Brad Bird OWSUG President
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Bitlocking your entire fleet of computers can be a bit daunting and if you lose the keys to the drive it can be disastrous. Take away the pain points of managing the encryption keys and bitlocker with Microsoft Bitlocker Administration and Monitoring. In this session, we will cover off topology design, server configuration, server deployment, SQL Server database configuration, registry tweaks and client deployment. 
About Todd Todd is a Data Centre Administrator for the Upper Canada School Board. Supporting the Information Technology needs of the board and its’ 89 schools. He is responsible for helping to manage and maintain the datacentre infrastructure. Aside from the IT duties, Todd is also responsible for managing on-going projects. Todd has been working in the IT field since 1995 when he first started doing tech support for an internet service provider. Todd holds a Bachelor of Arts specializing in Computer Science and Economics from Laurentian University. Professional accomplishments include being awarded Microsoft MVP – Setup and Deployment. Todd has also have achieved his Microsoft Certified Trainer credential, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Microsoft Certified IT Professional and Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist. Todd is an avid learner and never hesitates to share his knowledge with others. Todd has presented at various venues, most notably, TechDays Canada. Todd lives in Kingston, Ontario with his partner Tracey and their son. To unplug, Todd enjoys reading, gardening, and cooking the food he grows. Please Register for this event here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3352815361
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Did you enjoy last night’s presentation? Was it effective? Let STEP know how they did, fill out a SHORT survey here: http://tinyurl.com/STEP423 Best, Brad Bird OWSUG President
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You’ve likely heard about how Office 365 and Windows Intune are great applications to get you started with Cloud Computing. Many of you emailed me asking for more info on what Cloud Computing is, including the distinction between "Public Cloud" and "Private Cloud". I want to address these questions and help you get started. Let's begin with a brief set of definitions and some places to find more info; however, an excellent place where you can always learn more about Cloud Computing is the Microsoft Virtual Academy.
Public Cloud computing means that the infrastructure to run and manage the applications users are taking advantage of is run by someone else and not you. In other words, you do not buy the hardware or software to run your email or other services being used in your organization – that is done by someone else. Users simply connect to these services from their computers and you pay a monthly subscription fee for each user that is taking advantage of the service. Examples of Public Cloud services include Office 365, Windows Intune, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Hotmail, and others.
Private Cloud computing generally means that the hardware and software to run services used by your organization is run on your premises, with the ability for business groups to self-provision the services they need based on rules established by the IT department. Generally, Private Cloud implementations today are found in larger organizations but they are also viable for small and medium-sized businesses since they generally allow an automation of services and reduction in IT workloads when properly implemented. Having the right management tools, like System Center 2012, to implement and operate Private Cloud is important in order to be successful.
So – how do you get started? The first step is to determine what makes the most sense to your organization. The nice thing is that you do not need to pick Public or Private Cloud – you can use elements of both where it makes sense for your business – the choice is yours. When you are ready to try and purchase Public Cloud technologies, the Microsoft Volume Licensing web site is a good place to find links to each of the online services. In particular, if you are interested in a trial for each service, you can visit the following pages: Office 365, CRM Online, Windows Intune, and Windows Azure.
For Private Cloud technologies, start with some of the courses on Microsoft Virtual Academy and then download and install the Microsoft Private Cloud technologies including Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and System Center 2012 in your own environment and take it for a spin. Also, keep up to date with the Canadian IT Pro blog to learn about events Microsoft is delivering such as the IT Virtualization Boot Camps and more to get you started with these technologies hands on.
Finally, I want to ask for your help to allow the team at Microsoft to continue to provide you what you need. Twice a year through something we call "The Global Relationship Study" – they reach out and contact you to see how they're doing and what Microsoft could do better. If you get an email from "Microsoft Feedback" with the subject line "Help Microsoft Focus on Customers and Partners" between March 5th and April 13th, please take a little time to tell them what you think.
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Every fall and spring, a survey goes out to a few hundred thousand IT folk in Canada asking what they think of Microsoft as a company. The information they get from this survey helps them understand what problems and issues you’re facing and how they can do better. The team at Microsoft Canada takes the input they get from this survey very seriously. Now I don’t know who of you will get the survey and who won’t but if you do find an email in your inbox from "Microsoft Feedback” with an email address of “ feedback@e-mail.microsoft.com ” and a subject line “Help Microsoft Focus on Customers and Partners” from now until April 13th — it’s not a hoax or phishing email. Please open it and take a few minutes to tell them what you think. This is your chance to get your voice heard: If they’re doing well, feel free to pile on the kudos (they love positive feedback!) and if you see areas they can improve, please point them out so they can make adjustments (they also love constructive criticism!). The Microsoft team would like to thank you for all your feedback in the past — to those of you who have filled out the survey and sent them emails. Thank you to all who engage with them in so many different ways through events, the blogs, online and in person. You are why they do what they do and they feel lucky to work with such a great community! One last thing - even if you don’t get the survey you can always give the team feedback by emailing us directly through the Microsoft Canada IT Pro Feedback email address . They want to make sure they are serving you in the best possible way. Tell them what you want more of. What should they do less of or stop altogether? How can they help? Do you want more cowbell ? Let them know through the survey or the email alias. They love hearing from you!
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Figuring out which software licensing options best suit your needs while being cost-effective can be confusing. Some businesses end up making their purchases through retail stores which means they miss out on volume licensing opportunities and others may unknowingly be using unlicensed software which means their business may be at risk. So let me help you make the best decision for your situation. You may want to review this blog post that lays out licensing basics for any organization that needs to license software for more than 5 or less than 250 devices or users. It details the different ways you can buy a license and what choices are available for volume licensing, which can give you pricing advantages and provide flexible options for your business. As technology evolves and more organizations move to online services such as Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Windows Azure Platform, Windows Intune and others, it’s important to understand how to purchase, activate and use online service subscriptions to get the most out of your investment. Once purchased through a volume licensing agreement or the Microsoft Online Subscription Program, these services can be managed through web portals: · Online Services Customer Portal (Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Intune) · Dynamics CRM Online Customer Portal (Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online) · Windows Azure Customer Portal (Windows Azure Platform) · Volume Licensing Service Center (other services) Learn more >> Licensing Resources: Additional Resources You May Find Useful: · TechNet Evaluation Center
Try some of our latest Microsoft products For free, Like System Center 2012 Pre-Release Products, and evaluate them before you buy. · Springboard Series
Your destination for technical resources, free tools and expert guidance to ease the deployment and management of your Windows-based client infrastructure. Align IT Manager Tech Talk Series
A monthly streamed video series with a range of topics for both infrastructure and development managers. Ask questions and participate real-time or watch the on-demand recording.
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Architecting and Supporting the Back-End Infrastructure for the Consumerization of IT This two-hour session will show you how to plan for, build, and manage your VDI environment on Microsoft’s Hyper-V, using Citrix’s Xen Desktop and System Center Virtual Machine Manager to manage it, including creating templates, easy provisioning, and improving the end-user experience. Come see how you can make your life easier while giving the end user what they want in a safe and secure way! Register for the event here: http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2953282347 Bio:
Mitch Garvis is a Renaissance Man of the IT world. Aside from being a partner with SWMI Consulting Group, he is a Virtual Partner Technology Advisor for Microsoft Canada and has contributed to numerous certification exams for Microsoft Learning. He seems to collect certifications, and trains on a variety of topics including System Center, server virtualization, desktop deployment, and security. We think that parts of Windows 7 really were his idea. You can read his blog at www.garvis.ca, or follow him on Twitter as @MGarvis. He makes his home outside Toronto where he has one wife, two kids, two dogs, and two minutes to himself per day. Mitch is a good friend and colleague and always does a great job presenting. Come out and see him in March.
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I work with System Center Products all the time and these ALL rely on SQL Server as the back end database server. One issue that comes up ALOT is keeping SQL current and patched. For those unaware, SQL like IIS, like Windows or any other application must be kept current and patched both from a security and operational perspective to keep your infrastructure running optimally. Typically, I haven’t found a single source which lists current builds so I usually search it out and through back and forth between several sites, work out what version is current. Today, I found a blog site which does a great job of listing out the builds and patch levels. Hopefully, this blogger continues the great work! The site is listed below: http://sqlserverbuilds.blogspot.com/
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That is an understatement… At OWSUG here is what is going on at the moment: This Thursday Feb 16, there is a Lync Server 2010 presentation being offered at our regular monthly event. See below: http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2907254677 On Friday Feb 17 AND on Saturday Feb 18, there are Virtualization Boot Camps happening. The event is given twice. See below: http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2892520607 On Sunday Feb 19, we are starting our virtualization study group, see below: http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2931499193 Finally, starting on March 6th, we are offering a Server 2008 R2 study group. See below: http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2926460121 Now, there have been some changes. Typically, events that we offer are free but not all of these are. For instance, we have moved to an online registration for our study groups which we used to do in person. This just makes things easier to manage. Stay tuned for next month’s Hyper-V performance presentation. Don’t miss out on everything we have to offer! Kind regards, Brad Bird
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David Marks shares his experiences from the past year with his project to introduce Microsoft Lync Server 2010 at one Government of Canada department. A demonstration of the tools available for the planning and deployment of a Microsoft Lync environment as well as a Lync online meeting will also be given using the virtual environment David created to learn about this product. Register for this event here: http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2907254677 Bio: 
David Marks is an information technology team leader with the Government of Canada. In his 14 years with the public service, his responsibilities have included desktop support, Windows server support and Systems Management.
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These events are live and they’re HOT. 40 seats per event but they’re not free. The event cost is $25/person and registration is NOT optional. 40 seats is a HARD limit because that is the number of computers. Payments are collected via Paypal. Please register below. I hope to see you there! http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2892520607 Regards, Brad Bird President OWSUG
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This presentation was popular and very well received. Members asked me to post the slides so here they are!
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I have been fighting with the maintenance mode scheduler for a fair bit of time at this customer of mine. They have a significant challenge. They have pods of web and DB servers with F5 load balancers which they rotate on a schedule to synchronize their content. There are 6 of these pods. Here is an example of the scheduler: 
The limitation/bug I have discovered is when you attempt to add more than 6 objects… The scheduler will actually let you complete the form by picking a category, selecting a schedule and saving it. However when you attempt to modify the schedule to add/remove objects, here is the prompt: 
What happens next is odd… you can actually go into the schedule you’ve created but here are the symptoms of this issue… 
In the Select Schedule field, no schedule appears and the only possibility is to create a New schedule or to cancel this window because you cannot Save again… This is quite a limitation because my customer literally has dozens of objects to be selected for each “pod”. I confirmed that this issue has nothing to do with selecting objects of different classes. The issue is explicitly the number of objects added and that is limited to 6! Now, the jobs you create can share a schedule, at least that works…
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