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I love this time of year. The days are getting longer, warmer and the deck is calling my name.  (these are my feet….) At my house, summer months are very busy. the kids are home, my wife is at home (she’s a teacher) so I tend to hide in my office with the door shut so I can get work done. it’s busy at home but in a lot of IT shops, things slow down a bit. With the majority of Canadian IT pros taking one, two or more weeks of vacation it can feel like some projects slow down to a crawl. Why not take that time to invest in yourselves? complete that certification you’ve been considering. Learn how to harness that new technology you’ve been reading about. both you and your organization will benefit from it. you will gain new skills and experiences. The business will gain efficiencies. Everyone wins. You’re the only one that can make the time for yourself. some of my friends in the industry keep telling me that they’re too busy, they don't have the resources to learn, they don't know where to start. I call B.S… all you need is the will. The resources are here for you to use. Alternatively labs can also be completed in a virtual lab scenario by downloading and installing Hyper-V Server 2012. We are also standing by to assist. we’re continuing the step-by-step series. We want to hear what you need. tell us which of the following would you like to see us dive deeper into? - Configure server roles and features
- which role? Which feature?
- Configure Hyper-V
- the networking, the storage, the replication, …
- Deploy and configure core network services
- Install and administer Active Directory
- Create and manage Group Policy
- Deploy, manage, and maintain servers
- Configure file and print services
- Configure network services and access
- Configure a Network Policy Server infrastructure
- etc..
We’re willing to go where you needs us to… just leave a comment, or email us at CDN-ITPro-Feedback@microsoft.com Have a great weekend. 
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | Technology Evangelist
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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In my last role as a Technical Account Manager supporting large corporate and public sector customers, I often had discussions regarding moving to the latest versions of Office.
Funny enough, the answer in a lot of cases was not the ones I expected (licensing and/or cost). But the fact the training budgets were cut and that users needed more hand holding that the IT group could handle.
This weekend I found link on the Office online site that I just had to share.
Quick Start Guides for:
- Access 2013
- Excel 2013
- OneNote 2013
- Outlook 2013
- PowerPoint 2013
- roject Standard 2013
- Publisher 2013
- Visio 2013
- Word 2013
Are now available for download here.
If you're new to Office 2013, these free guides offers useful tips to help you find your way around the best productivity suite on the planet.
Also, you can find a series of very short videos outlining the new goodness in Office 2013 here.
Take a look and let me know if this helps.
Cheers!
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | IT Pro Advisor
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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I had a conversation this week with someone who was asking me about becoming an MCT. I know I am a good presenter, and I know my stuff… what do I need to do to become a Microsoft Certified Trainer? Becoming a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) was, for me, a turning point in my career. It opened a lot of doors, and made a lot of things possible for me. I remember hesitating for several months, because I did not think that my most advanced certification at the time (MCSA) was sufficient… and there was no clear guideline that I could find to confirm it. I spoke with several MCTs, including some who worked for Microsoft Learning. The clearest guidance they could give me was that you needed ‘a senior certification’ in order to qualify. However nobody could confirm what that consisted of. I later surmised that it meant any cert on supported technology that was higher than a simple Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). Today there is a list of requirements listed on the Microsoft Learning website (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/mct-certification.aspx), along with a list of benefits, and a link to the program guide and application process. However I noticed that the list seems to be short… it has not been updated with the latest certifications. So to help out, I am going to add a few certs to this list, and if anyone at Microsoft Learning gives you guff about it, just tell them I said it was okay  -M -
Microsoft Certified Solutions Master -
Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert -
Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate -
Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer -
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer -
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator -
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security -
Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician -
Microsoft Certified Microsoft Certified IT Professional -
Microsoft Certified Professional Developer -
Microsoft Office 2007 Specialist -
Microsoft Office 2010 Specialist -
Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Specialist -
Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Professional -
Microsoft Certified Master -
Microsoft Office 2007 Master -
Microsoft Certified Architect Please Note: The Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA) is not on this list. I do not know if that is by design or by error, but I hope one of my DBA friends out there can help to clarify for us! 
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System Center 2012 SP1 has been on most of our radars since Windows Server 2012 was released. as you know, when release in Q2 of 2012, System Center 2012 didn’t support the unreleased Windows Server 2012 operation system. The original System Center 2012 release was designed for Windows Server 2008 R2. The new System Center 2012 SP1 takes care of that by adding full support for all the new features in Windows Server 2012. What is the Cloud OS? The Cloud OS does what a traditional operating system does – manage applications and hardware – but at the scope and scale of cloud computing. The foundations of the Cloud OS are Windows Server 2012 and Windows Azure, complemented by the full breadth of our technology solutions, such as SQL Server, System Center and Visual Studio. Together, these technologies provide one consistent platform for infrastructure, apps and data that can span your datacenter and the Microsoft public cloud. In other words, it’s a Server OS combined with the required tools and back-end (Visual Studio, SQL,….) and a management platform (System Center 2012 SP1) that allows you to: - Manage scale, elasticity, and availability
- Enable Modern Apps
- and, enable a people centric IT. (Today’s users need to be productive wherever they choose, on whatever device they choose)
With System Center 2012 SP1, you can manage all your cloud-based applications and your resources running in your datacenters, on a hosted service provider datacenter or on Windows Azure. System Center 2012 SP1 includes all the following goodness. - App Controller
- Operations Manager
- Orchestrator
- Service Manager
- Virtual Machine Manager
- Data Protection Manager
- Endpoint Protection
- Configuration Manager
App-Controller gives application owners the power to: - Easily configure, deploy, and manage services through a highly intuitive service-centric interface that relies on a library of standardized templates to help ensure compliance with IT policies.
- Manage virtual machines, clouds, and application services across these environments on their own, using a customized view of applications based on their organizational role. This enables them to focus on managing services rather than servers.
- View on-premises, service provider, and Windows Azure services as well as virtual machines, and get granular control of the components at each layer, track jobs, and maintain a detailed history of changes.
Operations Manager delivers flexible and cost-effective enterprise-class monitoring and diagnostics. - Reducing your TCO by leveraging commodity hardware configurations and heterogeneous environments.
- Helping to ensure the availability of business-critical applications and services through deep .NET application performance monitoring, diagnostics, and JEE application health monitoring.
- Providing a comprehensive view of datacenters, and private and public clouds health.
Orchestrator gives IT administrators the capabilities to perform many tasks and procedures to keep the health of their computing environment up-to-date and their business running.Tasks might include the following diverse activities, for example, new employees require that accounts and resources are configured, a business acquisition requires integrating a system from another vendor, and new hardware requires provisioning. Individual tasks and subtasks are automated, but typically, not the whole process. In addition, the administrators must maintain quality standards and system efficiency. System Center 2012 - Orchestrator can tie disparate tasks and procedures together by using the graphical user-interface Runbook Designer to create reliable, flexible, and efficient end-to-end solutions in the IT environment. - Automate processes in your data center, regardless of hardware or platform.
- Automate your IT operations and standardize best practices to improve operational efficiency.
- Connect different systems from different vendors without having to know how to use scripting and programming languages.
Service Manager provides an integrated platform for automating and adapting your organization’s IT service management best practices, such as those found in Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). It provides built-in processes for incident and problem resolution, change control, and asset lifecycle management. Virtual Machine Manager is a management solution for the virtualized datacenter, enabling you to configure and manage your virtualization host, networking, and storage resources in order to create and deploy virtual machines and services to private clouds that you have created. Data Protection Manager is a server-based application that enables disk-based and tape-based data protection and recovery for computers in and across Active Directory domains. DPM performs replication, synchronization, and recovery point creation to provide reliable protection and rapid recovery of data both by system administrators and by end-users. Data Protection Manager uses replication, the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) infrastructure, and a policy-driven engine to provide businesses of all sizes with nearly continuous protection and rapid, reliable data recovery. Endpoint Protection provides an antimalware and security solution for the Microsoft platform. When System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection is used with Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager, it provides a comprehensive enterprise management solution that lets you do the following: - Centrally deploy and configure the Endpoint Protection client.
- Configure default and custom antimalware policies that apply to groups of computers.
- Create and deploy Windows Firewall settings to groups of computers.
- Use Configuration Manager software updates to automatically download the latest antimalware definition files to keep client computers up-to-date.
- Control who manages the antimalware policies and Windows Firewall settings by using the Endpoint Protection Manager security role.
- Use email notifications to alert you when computers report that malware is installed.
- View summary and detailed information from the Configuration Manager console and reports
Configuration Manager provides a comprehensive solution for change and configuration management for the Microsoft platform. System Center 2012 Configuration Manager lets you perform tasks such as the following: - Deploy operating systems, software applications, and software updates.
- Monitor and remediate computers for compliance settings.
- Monitor hardware and software inventory.
- Remotely administer computers.
System Center 2012 licensing You can find the official licensing requirements documentation here. (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/system-center/default.aspx) SC2012 licensing maximizes your private cloud value while simplifying purchasing. (which is always a good thing) All server management licenses (SMLs) include the same components and the ability to manage any workload. System Center 2012 SMLs are available in two editions differentiated by virtualization rights only: - Datacenter: Maximizes cloud capacity with unlimited virtualization for high density private clouds
- Standard: For lightly or non-virtualized private cloud workloads
(this table was taken from the Licencing document found here http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/1/1/11128EC7-2BE7-480C-9D46-4ECECA9E481A/System%20Center%202012%20Licensing%20Datasheet.pdf) Server management licenses (MLs) are required for managed devices that run server Operating System Environments (OSEs). Licenses are processor-based, with each license covering up to two physical processors. The number of Server MLs required for each managed server is determined by the number of physical processor in the server for Datacenter Edition and either number of physical processors in the server or number of OSEs being managed for Standard Edition (whichever is greater). If you choose the Standard Server ML, you can add more licenses to a server to manage a greater number of virtual OSEs. For example: 
“Where can I get ramped up on all this goodness?” you ask… Well Microsoft Virtual; Academy is your friend. and our friend Morgan Webb has prepared a great link that outlines a lot of the training tools at MVA. you can find the post here. But I have included the some of the content below: Configure & Deploy Infrastructure
Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 – Compute here Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 – Storage here Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 3 – Network here Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 4 – Network here Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 5 – Cluster here Private Cloud Configure & Deploy Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 – Abstraction here Configure & Deploy Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 - Heterogeneity & Control here Configure & Deploy Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 3 – Expansion here Applications Configure & Deploy Applications with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 here Configure & Deploy Applications with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 here Service Delivery & Automation Configure & Deploy Service Delivery & Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 – Standardization here Configure & Deploy Service Delivery & Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 – Self-Service & Systems Automation here Monitor & Operate Infrastructure Monitor & Operate Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 - Proactive & Corrective here Monitor & Operate Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 - Standardize & Available here Private Cloud Monitor & Operate Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 - Cloud Utilization here Monitor & Operate Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 - Control Access here Monitor & Operate Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 3 - Application Servicing here Applications Monitor & Operate Applications with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 here Monitor & Operate Applications with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 here Service Delivery & Automation Monitor & Operate Service Delivery & Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 - Integration & Management here Monitor & Operate Service Delivery & Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 – Reporting here 
But wait… There’s more… (with the Shamwow guy’s voice…) There are also the following very interesting sessions: - Learn how your IT organization can manage and secure PCs, tablets (Surface, iPad, etc.) and mobile devices (Windows Phone, Android, iPhone) in the cloud.
- This is the first of a three course series and is designed for IT Pros experienced in virtualization (i.e., VMware) but in need of learning how to leverage Hyper-V to perform essential tasks in the Windows Server 2012 platform.
- This is the second of a three course series and is tailored for VMware professionals looking to get up-to-speed on how Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V and System Center 2012 SP1 compares with VMware vSphere 5.1 and VMware’s Private Cloud, respectively.
So go ahead!! Download Microsoft System Center Private Cloud Evaluation Software Cheers! 
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | IT Pro Advisor
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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We love travelling this great country of ours, especially when we get to connect with the IT Professional Community and to deliver in person events.
If IT Camps have taught us anything, it's that there’s an huge appetite out there for deeply technical, hands on training. And rest assured, before you start asking about it in the comments section of this post, we’re planning more IT Camps as we speak.
As you know, Canada is a huge country, and as a small team, we can only visit so many places at a time. If we had our way, we’d hit every city with an IT Pro from Victoria to St. John’s and everywhere in between.
Since we can’t be there in person, the next best thing is online. And we’re happy to say we have a bunch of new online events called “Jump Starts” coming up soon that you can take advantage of. These events have all the great technical knowledge and amazing presenters that you’re used to, but you can watch it all from the comfort of your own desk, office or home.
Here’s a listing of the upcoming Jump Starts you can attend:
Introduction to Hyper-V
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Date: January 24, 2013
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Time: 11am to 8pm (Eastern Time)
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Overview: This is the first of a three course series and is designed for IT Pros experienced in virtualization (i.e., VMware) but in need of learning how to leverage Hyper-V to perform essential tasks in the Windows Server 2012 platform.
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Microsoft Virtualization for VMWare Professionals
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Date: January 30, 2013
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Time: 11am to 8pm (Eastern Time)
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Overview: This is the second of a three course series and is tailored for VMware professionals looking to get up-to-speed on how Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V and System Center 2012 SP1 compares with VMware vSphere 5.1 and VMware’s Private Cloud, respectively.
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Microsoft Tools for VMware Integration/Migration
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Date: Late Feb 23, 2013 (Stay Tuned)
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Overview: This is the third of a three course series and is tailored for VMware professionals looking for ways to better leverage the Windows Server 2012 platform and System Center 2012 SP1 to integrate with VMware more effectively.
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Windows Intune for IT Professionals
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Date: January 31, 2013
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Time: 12:00pm (noon) to 8:00pm (Eastern Time)
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Overview: This course is aimed at IT organizations interested in learning how Windows Intune is a great choice for IT organizations exploring the best ways to manage and secure PCs, tablets (Surface, iPad, etc.) and mobile devices (Windows Phone, Android, iPhone) in the cloud.
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You can also take no-cost, self-paced, online training anytime at Microsoft Virtual Academy. So feel free to brush up on your SQL, Windows 8, System Center 2012 SP1, Windows Server 2012 and more. We’ll also announce new online events here, so make sure you come back often to see what else is available. 
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Since the last few Windows Server 2012 IT camps a few discussions have sprouted regarding “Thin provisioning” in Storage Spaces. a new feature of Windows Server 20912. Those discussions mainly revolved around 3 things: - What is Thin provisioning?
- How will that bring me value?
- And, Why should I care?
Thin Provisioning and Storage Spaces? Thin provisioning or “just-in-time allocations” is a method of optimizing the efficiency with which the available disk space is utilized and the ability to reclaim storage that is no longer needed (also known as trim). Thin provisioning is designed to address several issues with traditional models for provisioning storage used by enterprises: - Unreliable forecasting of future storage needs makes it hard to pre-allocate storage capacity to meet changing demand.
- Pre-allocated storage is often underused, which leads to inefficiencies and unnecessary expenditures.
- Managing an enterprise storage system can often add considerable overhead to the overall cost of managing an IT infrastructure
It’s all part of Windows Server 2012 Storage Spaces that operates by allocating disk storage space in a flexible manner based on the space required at any given time. It means is that you can let the server/application/users think they have all the storage they needs, but only purchase disk to keeps pace with total actually consumed storage. You can also pool together commodity storage devices so you can provision storage as you need it. Storage Spaces is a highly available storage solution that has all the power and flexibility of a SAN but is considerably cheaper and also easier to manage. Storage Spaces can virtualize storage to create what are called storage pools. A storage pool is an aggregation of unallocated space on physical disks installed in or connected to servers (These disks could be installed inside servers on your network or within just-a-bunch-of-disks (JBOD) enclosures). Storage pools are flexible and elastic, allowing you to add or remove disks from the pool as your demand for storage grows or shrinks. Once you’ve created a storage pool using Storage Spaces, you can provision storage from the pool by creating virtual disks. A virtual disk behaves exactly like a physical disk except that it can span multiple physical disks within the storage pool. Virtual disks can host simple volumes or volumes with resiliency (mirroring or parity) to increase the reliability or performance of the disk. A virtual disk is sometimes called a LUN. Storage Spaces is fully remoteable and scriptable. This increases the Operational simplicity. Management is permitted through the Windows Storage Management API, WMI, and Windows PowerShell. And, Storage Spaces can be easily managed through the File Services role in Server Manager. Configuring a storage pool Configuring a storage pool using Storage Spaces requires that you have at least one unallocated physical disk available (a disk with no volumes on it). If you want to create a mirrored volume, you’ll need at least two physical disks; a parity volume requires at least three physical disks. Pools can consist of a mixture of disks of different types and sizes. Table 3-3 shows the different types of disks supported by Storage Spaces. These disks could be installed inside servers on your network or within just-a-bunch-of-disks (JBOD) enclosures. Supported drive types - SATA – Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
- SCSI – Small Computer System Interface
- iSCSI – Internet Small Computer System Interface
- SAS – Serial Attached SCSI
- USB – Universal Serial Bus
Monitoring It's very important to mention that thin provisioning will not prevent storage shortages. Applications will break if storage is not added to the thinly provisioned volumes in time. After you deploy thin-provisioned volumes to application and data servers, and threshold notification and resource exhaustion settings are configured by the storage administrator. The system administrator and the storage administrator MUST monitor and respond to related events. look for the following threshold notification warning events in Event Viewer. | Event ID | General Information | | 144 | Threshold notification without additional information | | 145 | Threshold notification without specific information | | 146 | Threshold notification with used LUN capacity and available LUN capacity information | | 147 | Threshold notification with used LUN capacity and available pool capacity information | | 148 | Threshold notification with used pool capacity and available LUN capacity information | | 149 | Threshold notification with used pool capacity and available pool capacity information | | 150 | Permanent resource exhaustion threshold is reached | Home lab setup After Lab #2 We have our 2 physical machines and 2 virtual Domain controllers (one on each physical hosts) VMhost10a and VMhost10b. We have them configured as follows: - VMhost10a – physical
- IP Address: 192.168.11.5
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.100
- DNS2: 192.168.11.110
- VMHost10B – physical, 192.168.11.10
- IP Address: 192.168.11.10
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.100
- DNS2: 192.168.11.110
ITCAMP-DC1 and ITCAMP-DC2. We have them configured as follows: - ITCAMP-DC1 – Virtual
- IP Address: 192.168.11.100
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.100
- DNS2: 192.168.11.110
- ITCAMP-DC2 – Virtual
- IP Address: 192.168.11.110
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.110
- DNS2: 192.168.11.100
ITCAMP-SMB and ITCAMP-SCVMM. We have them configured as follows: - ITCAMP-SMB – Virtual
- IP Address: 192.168.11.150
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.110
- DNS2: 192.168.11.100
- ITCAMP-SCVMM – Virtual
- IP Address: 192.168.11.130
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.110
- DNS2: 192.168.11.100
In my home Lab I collected a few removable drives that will be configured as a storage Pool. If you have a third machine that can become a physical ITCAMP-SMB use it. It will makes the shared storage exercises and clustering labs a lot more straight forward. I also included a gateway to the internet to facilitate updating and remote access to the lab. But there is no real reason why you can’t keep it as described above. 
So my Lab now looks like the following diagram: 
In this lab we will achieve the following: - Create a storage pool & thin disk
- Create iSCSI Disk & iSCSI target
- Configure iSCSI access from hosts
Watch the following 13 minute video on configuring our Storage Space into a Pool and iSCSI disks to prepare for our next lab where we will setup a failover cluster. If you have other scenarios you would like me to explore and post please leave me a comment. As always, the easiest way to learn is to download the evaluation and start getting your hands dirty. you can find the evaluation download here. ( http://aka.ms/ws2012eval) Cheers! 
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | IT Pro Advisor
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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In November I posted the first of several post that covered building a lab at home. Then I followed up with Windows Server 2012 IT Camp – Lab #1 . This is third one in this series and it will cover the following: - Details of the import virtual machines process in Hyper-v
- Virtual Machines Dynamic memory
The import virtual machines process in Hyper-v Importing a virtual machine from one physical host to another can expose file incompatibilities and other unforeseen complications. Administrators often think of a virtual machine as a single, stand-alone entity that they can move around to address their operational needs. In reality, a virtual machine consists of several parts: - Virtual hard disks, stored as files in the physical storage.
- Virtual machine snapshots, stored as a special type of virtual hard disk file.
- The saved state of the different, host-specific devices.
- The memory file, or snapshot, for the virtual machine.
- The virtual machine configuration file, which organizes the preceding components and arranges them into a working virtual machine.
Each virtual machine and each snapshot that is associated with it use unique identifiers. Additionally, virtual machines store and use some host-specific information, such as the path that identifies the location for virtual hard disk files. When Hyper‑V starts a virtual machine, it undergoes a series of validation checks before being started. Problems such as hardware differences that might exist when a virtual machine is imported to another host can cause these validation checks to fail. That, in turn, prevents the virtual machine from starting. Windows Server 2012 includes an Import wizard that helps you quickly and reliably import virtual machines from one server to another. The Import Wizard for virtualization: - Detects and fixes problems.
- Hyper‑V in Windows Server 2012 introduces a new Import Wizard that is designed to detect and fix more than 40 different types of incompatibilities. You don’t have to worry ahead of time about the configuration that’s associated with physical hardware, such as memory, virtual switches, and virtual processors. The Import Wizard guides you through the steps to resolve incompatibilities when you import the virtual machine to the new host.
- Doesn’t require the virtual machine to be exported.
- You no longer need to export a virtual machine to be able to import it. You can simply copy a virtual machine and its associated files to the new host and then use the Import Wizard to specify the location of the files. This “registers” the virtual machine with Hyper‑V and makes it available for use.
The flowchart shows the Import Wizard process. When you import a virtual machine, the wizard does the following: - Creates a copy of the virtual machine configuration file. This is created as a precaution in case an unexpected restart occurs on the host, such as from a power outage.
- Validates hardware. Information in the virtual machine configuration file is compared to hardware on the new host.
- Compiles a list of errors. This list identifies what needs to be reconfigured and determines which pages appear next in the wizard.
- Displays the relevant pages, one category at a time. The wizard identifies incompatibilities to help you reconfigure the virtual machine so it’s compatible with the new host.
- Removes the copy of the configuration file. After the wizard does this, the virtual machine is ready to start.
The new Import Wizard is a simpler, better way to import or copy virtual machines. The wizard detects and fixes potential problems, such as hardware or file differences that might exist when a virtual machine is imported to another host. As an added safety feature, the wizard creates a temporary copy of a virtual machine configuration file in case an unexpected restart occurs on the host, such as from a power outage. The Windows PowerShell cmdlets for importing virtual machines let you automate the process. Virtual Machines Dynamic memory and automatic start-up actions In Windows Server 2012, Fast-growing organizations whose workloads are rapidly expanding often need to add more virtual machines to their host processors. These organizations want to optimize the number of virtual machines that they can place on a host server to minimize the number of expensive host servers that they need. With the Hyper-V Dynamic Memory improvements in Windows Server 2012 , IT administrators can now allocate virtual machine memory resources more efficiently and dramatically increase virtual machine consolidation ratios. Dynamic Memory improvements in Windows Server 2012 include support for higher virtual machine consolidation with minimum memory and Hyper-V smart paging. Minimum memory lets Hyper‑V reclaim the unused memory from virtual machines. This can result in increased virtual machine consolidation numbers, especially in VDI environments. Although minimum memory increases virtual machine consolidation numbers, it also brings a challenge. If a virtual machine has a smaller amount of memory than its startup memory and it’s restarted, Hyper‑V needs additional memory to restart the machine. Due to host memory pressure or the states of the virtual machines, Hyper‑V may not always have additional memory available. This can cause sporadic virtual machine restart failures in customer environments. In Windows Server 2012, Hyper-V smart paging is used to bridge the memory gap between minimum and startup memory and allow virtual machines to restart reliably. Hyper-V smart paging allows virtual machines to start reliably when the minimum memory setting has indirectly led to an insufficient amount of available physical memory during restart. Hyper-V smart paging As in the earlier version of Dynamic Memory, you can configure minimum memory for your virtual machines and Hyper‑V continues to help ensure that this amount is assigned to running virtual machines. To provide a reliable restart experience for the virtual machines configured with less minimum memory than startup memory, Hyper‑V Windows Server 2012 uses Hyper-V smart paging. Hyper-V smart paging is a memory management technique that uses disk resources as additional, temporary memory when more memory is required to restart a virtual machine. This approach has advantages and drawbacks. It provides a reliable way to keep the virtual machines running when no physical memory is available. However, it can degrade virtual machine performance because disk access speeds are much slower than memory access speeds. To minimize the performance impact of Hyper-V smart paging, Hyper‑V uses it only when all of the following occur: - The virtual machine is being restarted.
- No physical memory is available.
- No memory can be reclaimed from other virtual machines running on the host.
Hyper-V smart paging isn’t used when: - A virtual machine is being started from an off state (instead of a restart).
- Oversubscribing memory for a running virtual machine would result.
- A virtual machine is failing over in Hyper‑V clusters.
Internal guest paging Hyper‑V continues to rely on internal guest paging when host memory is oversubscribed because it’s more effective than Hyper-V smart paging. With internal guest paging, the paging operation inside virtual machines is performed by Windows Memory Manager. Windows Memory Manager has more information than the Hyper‑V host about memory usage within the virtual machine, which means it can provide Hyper‑V with better information to use when choosing the memory to be paged. Because of this, internal guest paging incurs less overhead to the system when compared to Hyper-V smart paging. Memory ballooning To further reduce the impact of Hyper-V smart paging, after a virtual machine completes the startup process, Hyper‑V removes memory from the virtual machine, coordinating with Dynamic Memory components inside the guest (a process sometimes referred to as “ballooning”), so that the virtual machine stops using Hyper-V smart paging. With this technique, the use of Hyper-V smart paging is temporary and is not expected to be longer than 10 minutes. Runtime configuration Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V enables you to make the following configuration changes to Dynamic Memory when the virtual machine is running: - Increase the maximum memory.
- Decrease the minimum memory.
Home lab setup Part 3 After Lab #1 We have our 2 physical machines and 2 virtual Domain controllers (one on each physical hosts) VMhost10a and VMhost10b. We have them configured as follows: - VMhost10a – physical
- IP Address: 192.168.11.5
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.100
- DNS2: 192.168.11.110
- VMHost10B – physical, 192.168.11.10
- IP Address: 192.168.11.10
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.100
- DNS2: 192.168.11.110
ITCAMP-DC1 and ITCAMP-DC2. We have them configured as follows: - ITCAMP-DC1 – Virtual
- IP Address: 192.168.11.100
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.100
- DNS2: 192.168.11.110
- ITCAMP-DC2 – Virtual
- IP Address: 192.168.11.110
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.110
- DNS2: 192.168.11.100
In this lab we will get our hands on a couple more machines that we will build and use in our scenarios. Build our ITCAMP-SMB server Using the VHD downloaded here (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx) after extracting it to a temporary location, I copied it to the location I want my ITCAMP-SMB machine to be located and renamed it to ITCAMP-SMB. Once that’s done I created a new Virtual machine on VMHost10A with the following settings: - Name: ITCAMP-SMB
- Startup Memory: 1024MB
- Network Connection : Use the same Virtual Network as the one configured for ITCAMP-DC1 and ITCAMP-DC2. In our case it’s “CorpNet”
- Use an Existing Disk: Use the disk and location we copied at the beginning of this exercise.
- everything else is default
Once the machine is created, open the settings for ITCAMP-SMB and under the “SCSI Controller” add 4 disks as shown in the exhibit below: 
Once it’s started, there are a few things to do for setup before we can continue with the labs. - Rename to ITCAMP-SMB
- Join it to the ITCAMP domain.
- Set the IP address to :
- IP Address: 192.168.11.150
- Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
- Gateway: none
- DNS1: 192.168.11.110
- DNS2: 192.168.11.100
- Ensure that the following roles (and supporting features) are installed
Build ITCAMP-SCVMM That one is a little easier. Since System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 is not out yet, you still have to download a pre-baked machine to be used as a System Center 2012 Virtual Machine manager. you can get the SCVMM machine here (http://aka.ms/SCVMM2012SP1) Once you’ve downloaded and expanded it on VMHost10B just follow the directions included with the virtual machine. Here is what we have at the end of the build process: 
Lab #2 Lab #2 will consist in the following: - Configure dynamic memory for ITCAMP-SMB
- Configure to auto start w/ 60 sec delay
- Add File and iSCSI Services – File Server Role to VMhost10A,
- On VMHOST10A, create share to F:\VMMLibrary
Here is the 7 minutes video on this lab. If you have other scenarios you would like me to explore and post please leave me a comment. As always, the easiest way to learn is to download the evaluation and start getting your hands dirty. you can find the evaluation download here. ( http://aka.ms/ws2012eval) Cheers!
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | IT Pro Advisor
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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I find the Microsoft properties vast and fertile locations to find good contextual and relevant training material. It’s true… With properties like the ones bellow it had to keep track of the sessions you want to review. However, I’m always going through and finding gems, and the week after that someone asks me “where did you find that?” , “where can I learn this?” Well I started keeping a list. Mostly for me at first but I decided I’d post it and keep it updated every time I find a gem. For the benefit of my fellow IT pros. I know how much you’re busy. So I’ll gladly keep this as up to date as I can. Here are the rules: 1- The first rule of fight…. Oops wrong list. 1- The first rule is “ this is not an all-encompassing list of available resource (that means I could miss a few) 2- Second rule, we don’t maintain these sites. So the links my change and/or disappear without notice. (so if you find a dead link, let me know) 3- Have fun, 4- Keep learning 5- BE AWESOME!!! That is the most important rule. Like I said, bookmark this page or subscribe to it. The whole team will be updating it as we find new content. So here are your calls to action…get downloading and testing the new versions of Windows client, Windows server and System Center for yourself: - Subscribe to this blog.
- Download the Office 365 Preview and see how it can make your life easier.
- Download Windows 8 Enterprise and take a look at the changes and improvements the new client will bring to your organization.
- Download Windows Server 2012 evaluation and start exploring the how Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 are better together.
- Download System Center 2012 SP1 Beta to start testing your deployment and management of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.
Cheers! 
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | IT Pro Advisor
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
 
Here are some I found covering the new Office 2013 and Office 365 | New Office for IT pros Get the IT pro resources you need to try the new Office (Office 2013 and Office 365 ProPlus) including details about activation, compatibility, and deployment. | http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/office/fp160948 | | Office 2013 Resource Kit Documentation intended for IT professionals who plan, implement, and maintain Office installations in their organizations. New and updated content s published regularly. | http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc303401(v=office.15).aspx
| | Office IT Pro Blog | http://blogs.technet.com/b/office_resource_kit/ | Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus Preview Evaluation Resources
This link provides information on the following:
- Office 365 ProPlus Overview
- Integrating Office 365 ProPlus into Your Organization
- Office 365 ProPlus Service Components - a look at identity, click-to-run delivery, roaming settings, and other features
- Office 365 ProPlus Administrator Overview
- Addressing Compatibility Concerns with Office 365 ProPlus
- Configuring Office 365 ProPlus Applications and Experiences
- Client Deployment Options
- Office 365 ProPlus Security Considerations
- Activation Experiences in Office 365 ProPlus
- Getting Started with the Office 365 ProPlus User Experience
| http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/hh973392.aspx?wt.mc_id=TEC_124_1_27 | | Make the switch to the new Office | Make the switch to Outlook 2013 Make the switch to Publisher 2013 Make the switch to Visio 2013 Make the switch to Access 2013 Make the switch to Lync 2013 Make the switch to Word 2013 Make the switch to Project 2013 Make the switch to PowerPoint 2013 Make the switch to Excel 2013 | Microsoft Virtual Academy
Enable the Consumerization of IT
People are increasingly buying their own devices and want the freedom to work and communicate anywhere, anytime, on the device they choose. Opportunities exist to enable greater productivity, hire great employees and keep them happy, but also a responsibility to properly secure and manage devices and data. See how your company cannot afford to block these opportunities and if you do nothing are you sure your data is safe? Learn how Microsoft can help you responsibly enable this vision to “Consumerize the IT” inside your company. The first overview module is designed to paint the entire picture at a 200 level and then the remaining modules are designed to give you 300 level knowledge for specific scenarios across the various products which relate to Consumerization of IT (i.e. how to configure MDM in SCCM 2012). This course is NOT designed to make you an expert in each product all-up after the base is installed (i.e. you won't know how to architect, design, or deploy "Product X"). | https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/enable-the-consumerization-of-it | Microsoft Virtual Academy
Administering Office 365 for Small Businesses
Microsoft’s Small Business Competency team and Microsoft Learning tailored a new exam specifically for partners looking to obtain the SMB Competency. This Jump Start prepares field engineers, network administrators, and related IT professionals for Exam 74-324: Administering Office 365 for Small Business and is offered to individuals interested in acquiring the skills necessary to administer Office 365 for Small Business clients. The popular “Jump Start” virtual classroom approach leverages two experts and an engaging team-teaching approach. We’re excited to introduce you to Chris Oakman from Eastridge Technology and Stephen Hall from District Computers—two Microsoft partners with real world experience and proven success implementing Office 365 for SMB customers. Chris and Steve will deliver this 200-level course via an accelerated, demo-rich learning experience. Hands-on Labs are not be provided. If you do not have access to Office 365, please create an Office 365 trial account on which to practice.
| https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/administering-office-365-for-smb | 
Here are some info regarding Windows Server 2012 Microsoft Virtual Academy
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 offers businesses and service providers a scalable, dynamic, and multitenant platform that allows IT to respond to business needs faster and more efficiently. After completing the following courses on Windows Server 2012, you will have an understanding of how Windows Server 2012 takes you beyond virtualization, delivers the power of many servers, opens the door to every app on any cloud, and enables the modern workstyle. | Courses: | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start Series
Core Hyper-V
Start with an accelerated overview then dig right into the Core Hyper-V content. After discussing and illustrating how new Hyper-V features enable better scale, they lead a discussion on NUMA (Non-Uniform Memory Access) and finish the module with Network Virtualization and IP portability.
| Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (01): Core Hyper-V | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start Series
Virtualization Infrastructure In this two-part module, Rick Claus and Corey Hynes dive into virtualization infrastructure. Throughout the conversation, they demonstrate a variety of new features and functionality covering Shared Nothing Migration, Storage Migration, and Hyper-V Replica. The session finishes with a cool discussion of Hyper-V Server 2012 | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (02a): Virtualization Infrastructure, Part 1 Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (02b): Virtualization Infrastructure, Part 2 | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start Series
Storage Architecture This is a two-part module on Storage Architecture. Rick Claus and Corey Hynes focus on an overview of the Windows Server 2012 Storage Platform, including Platform Storage, De-duplication, Disk Provisioning, Clustering, File and Block Access, Networking, Virtualization and Management | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (03a): Storage Architecture, Part 1 Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (03b): Storage Architecture, Part 2 | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start Series
Continuous Availability
Rick Claus and Corey Hynes dive into Continuous Availability in this demo-rich session. Key topics include Workloads (SQL / Hyper-V), a great discussion of the "modern CHKDSK," File Services SMB Failover, NIC Teaming / Multi-Path IO, Clustering / Cluster-Aware Updating.
| Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (04): Continuous Availability | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start Series
Multi-Server Management
In this two-part module on Multi-Server Management. Rick Claus and Corey Hynes focus on demo-rich conversations on essential features like Server Manager, PowerShell w/ ISE, Remote Management Tools and Remote Deployment. Important for students to watch both sessions.
| Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (05a): Multi-Server Management, Part 1 Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (05b): Multi-Server Management, Part 2 | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start Series
Security and Access
This is a two-part module on Security and Access. Rick Claus and Corey Hynes provide clear illustrations of how, why and where Windows Server 2012 tools like Server Core, MinShell and full GUI are appropriate. Next, they cover some important improvements to Dynamic Access Control and spend time outlining new changes in Active Directory, the Recycle Bin and password policy.
| Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (06a): Security and Access, Part 1 Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (06b): Security and Access, Part 2 | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start Series
Remote Connectivity and Networking
Rick Claus and Corey Hynes dive into Remote Connectivity and Networking in this session. Key topics include Direct Access Setup, BranchCache, and VDI Deployment (Remote Access, Remote Desktop, Pooled vs. Personal, Patching, Storage, RemoteFX). | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (07): Remote Connectivity and Networking | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start Series
IIS, DHCP and IPAM
In this appropriately-named session, Rick Claus and Corey Hynes leverage a demo-rich conversational approach to cover IIS, DHCP and IP Address Management (IPAM). Essential concepts such as securing and scaling your web servers, certificate support, DHCP failover, and important IPAM topics are covered. | Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (08): IIS, DHCP and IPAM | Microsoft Virtual Academy
Windows Server 2012: Technical Overview
This course is designed to provide you with the key details of Windows Server 2012. The seven modules in this course, through video and whitepaper, provide details of the new capabilities, features, and solutions built into the product. With so many new features to cover, this course is designed to be the introduction to Windows Server 2012. After completing this course, you will be ready to dive deeper into Windows Server 2012 through additional Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA) courses dedicated to each topic introduced in this “Technical Overview.” | https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/windows-server-2012-technical-overview | Microsoft Virtual Academy
Windows Server 2012: Server Virtualization This course introduces server virtualization features and capabilities within Windows Server 2012 that enable customers to take advantage of the cost savings of virtualization and make the optimum use of server hardware investment. These features include: - Hyper-V Replica, providing replication of Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs) between two locations for business continuity and failure recovery.
- Live Migration and the changes in Windows Server 2012 to enable different migration scenarios.
- The ability to run larger VMs on physical hosts.
| https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/windows-server-2012-server-virtualization | Microsoft Virtual Academy
Windows Server 2012: Storage
Windows Server 2012 introduces many new storage features and capabilities. These new capabilities are designed to provide enhanced reliability, availability, and performance at every layer of the Microsoft storage stack. They allow IT pros to combine features to build powerful new storage solutions, such as the ability to deliver feature-rich high performance storage functionality and performance without sacrificing budget. This course covers a number of these new features, including: - Storage Spaces, which is designed to deliver a cost-effective storage solution.
- SMB 3.0 and the new features in the protocol, including how the new features enhance the reliability, availability, manageability, and performance of file servers.
- Enhancements to Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) to extend its benefits beyond Hyper-V to support other application workloads.
- Resilient file systems, NTFS file system enhancements, and data de-duplication
| https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/windows-server-2012-storage | Microsoft Virtual Academy
Windows Server 2012: Identity and Access Today’s organizations need to give workers access to data and information — across varied networks and devices — while still keeping costs down. Innovations that meet these needs — such as virtualization and cloud-based applications — help organizations maximize existing infrastructure investments, while exploring new services, improving management, and increasing availability.
New and enhanced capabilities in Windows Server 2012 help you meet these challenges by making it easier and less costly to ensure secure access to valuable digital assets and comply with regulations. These capabilities include: - Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). Improvements to AD DS installation and deployment and AD Federation Services (AD FS) as a server role.
- Remote Desktop Services (RDS). Enhancements with Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and easier deployment of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions.
- DirectAccess for Remote Access. Helps IT offer users seamless, more secure access to corporate data from virtually any Internet connection.
- Dynamic Access Control. Used for compliance and data leakage prevention to enable Data Governance.
| https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/windows-server-2012-identity-and-access | Microsoft Virtual Academy
Using Solution Accelerators to Prepare for Windows Server 2012 Microsoft Solution Accelerators provide tested guidance and automated tools to help you plan, securely deploy, and manage new Microsoft technologies — easier, faster, and at less cost. This course introduces three Solution Accelerators that will help prepare your business for Windows Server 2012. - Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) 7.0. An agentless inventory, assessment, and reporting tool that can securely assess IT environments for various platform migrations.
- Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 Update 1. Tools and guidance to accelerate and automate deployments of Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.
- Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM) 3.0. A single point of management for all of your security baselines.
| https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/using-solution-accelerators-to-prepare-for-windows-server-2012 | Microsoft Virtual Academy
Windows Server 2012: Networking Windows Server 2012 introduces new networking features and capabilities that help to reduce networking complexity while lowering costs and simplifying management tasks. These features include: - IP Address Management (IPAM). This provides a framework that enables discovery, management, and monitoring of an IP address space within the network of an organization.
- Hyper-V Network Virtualization. This is the software-defined networking (SDN) solution that enables you to tackle flexibility challenges in your datacenters by abstracting virtual machine (VM) IP addresses from the underlying physical network addressing and routing, similar to the way in which VMs are abstracted from the hardware of the physical host.
- Hyper-V extensible switch. This provides an architecture to implement policy enforcement for security, isolation, service levels, and tenant isolation.
- NIC Teaming. Out of the box network interface card (NIC) teaming is the ability to combine two or more network adapters in a single computer to behave as a single NIC within Windows.
| https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/windows-server-2012-networking | 
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 It’s never easy keeping up with all the latest technologies but at least the Microsoft Virtual Academy (MVA) helps. If you haven’t checked it out already, it’s a free training portal which allows you to get up to speed on the latest Microsoft technologies all at your own pace.
And great news…here are 7 new courses to help you get up to speed on the Microsoft Private Cloud: 1. Introduction to the Microsoft Private Cloud - https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/introduction-to-the-microsoft-private-cloud
- Modules: Private Cloud Overview; Private Cloud: Infrastructure Overview; Private Cloud: Application Overview
- This course focuses on proving an overview of the Microsoft cloud technologies and how using these technologies can help your business build, deploy, and maintain a private cloud. Module 2 will provide an infrastructure overview and how to use System Center 2012 to provision a private cloud. We will examine the set of tools available to you to configure and deploy infrastructure components; enabling you to deliver IT as a Service. The third module will provide an overview of the tools in System Center 2012 used to manage the underlying resources to achieve predictable application service delivery, and how to keep your applications running healthy by improving performance and monitoring.
2. Licensing the Private Cloud 3. System Center Advisor - https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/system-center-advisor
- Module: Overview
- This module will help you discover the benefits of this useful new software assurance benefit from Microsoft. We will explain the benefits of Advisor and how it can be used to optimize your installations of Windows Server, and Server Workloads such as Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft SharePoint. You will also understand Advisor’s high-level architecture for optimizing data security, privacy, and control, all delivered through a user-friendly cloud service. Additionally, we will show how to use the Advisor service to proactively avoid problems, resolve issues faster, and reduce downtime. We will show you how to make the most use out of this tool to help you better manage your data center and cloud infrastructure.
4. System Center 2012 Licensing Overview - https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/system-center-2012-licensing-overview
- Module: Overview
- This presentation will provide an overview of the new System Center 2012 Licensing programs. We will look at these programs in the context of Microsoft private cloud solutions, and how the combination of the Windows Server 2008 operating system and System Center enables you to obtain the most cost effective licensing you need for your private cloud. As System Center 2012 is being delivered as an integrated private cloud management solution, we will analyze the server management license transition programs for existing System Center users. Further, we will discuss specific Microsoft licensing programs such as the Enrollment for Core Infrastructure, and how licensing for private cloud solutions maximizes your private cloud value while simplifying purchasing.
5. System Center 2012 Operations Manager - https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/system-center-2012-operations-manager
- Modules: Overview; Configuration and Deployment; Dashboards and Data Visualization
- In this course, we will provide an overview of Operations Manager, and how its functionality can help drive higher value from your existing IT assets by leveraging a single console. In addition, we will discuss how to use customizable dashboards to monitor and manage your physical, virtual, networking, application, and cloud resources.
6. System Center 2012: Orchestrator & Service Manager - https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/system-center-2012-orchestrator-service-manager
- Modules: Overview; Best Practices for Monitoring and Operating the Datacenter and Private Cloud; Data Warehouse and Reporting.
- In this course, we will discuss how the System Center 2012 Orchestrator and Service Manager components enable you to deploy, automate, update, and manage service offerings within your private cloud. Microsoft’s approach to self-service delivery will be discussed, and how System Center responds to end-user service requests. We will cover methods to challenging operational issues, and how using Orchestrator and Service Manager can allow the IT Pro to automate, standardize and offer self-service IT processes in the private cloud.
7. Windows Server 2012: First Look - https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/tracks/windows-server-2012-first-look
- Modules: Overview; Beyond Virtualization; The Power of Many Servers; Modern Workstyle Enabled; Every App, Any Cloud
- In April 2012, Microsoft officially announced that the product previously code named Windows Server "8" will be named Windows Server 2012. This updated Windows Server 2012: First Look course builds on the original Windows Server "8" First Look course with the addition of 4 new modules designed to go into more detail around the core Windows Server 2012 platform capabilities. After completing this course, you will learn how to cloud optimize your IT with Windows Server 2012 and how to take advantage of the skills and investment you have already made in building a familiar and consistent platform. With Windows Server 2012, you gain all the Microsoft experience behind building and operating private and public clouds, delivered as a dynamic, available, and cost-effective server platform. This course will cover how Windows Server 2012 delivers value in four key ways including how it takes you beyond virtualization, delivers the power of many servers, opens the door to every app on any cloud, and enables the modern work style.
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Licensing. It’s the topic that we all love to hate, or to ignore at any rate. Based on the feedback we get through GRS (the Global Relationship Study) Survey that we send out twice a year, Licensing is a major pain point for many of you.
We hear you loud and clear and we’re doing more to help make things easier to understand. In addition to the licensing content we’re sharing through email and blogs, there’s now new training available that
really takes it to the next level.
If you're an IT or Procurement professional, Microsoft’s new Licensing Training and Accreditation will help you build foundational licensing knowledge you need to maximize your software investments. Stand out from the crowd and become a trusted advisor in your organization.
As if maximizing investments and adding to your list of trusted advisor roles you have wasn’t enough, you could win something too! From June 1 to June 30, 2012, become one of the first to achieve accreditation and be eligible to win some cool prizes—including the opportunity to win a limited edition Xbox 360 Star Wars bundle. Just register, or sign in at Microsoft Virtual Academy, take and pass the Licensing preview courses that are avaialbe and send your personalized PDF certificate via email to vltraining@microsoft.com to be entered into the drawing. For official rules and more information, visit: www.microsoft.com/licensingexpert
So what are you waiting for? Get started now!
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 The cavalcade of virtual hands-on labs just keeps on going! Not only can you try out the features and capabilities of Windows Server “8” beta (now Windows Server 2012) as I blogged about this morning, we have also just released a series of 14 guided labs to allow you to get you familiar with Microsoft’s Private Cloud platform, including System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.
Core Capabilities Addressed in the Guided Labs allow you to perform the following tasks: - Provide resources through self-service requests
- Drive consistent Service Delivery
- Provision additional cloud infrastructure
- Delegate cloud resources
- Create consistency through service templates
- Perform a standardized application deployment to test
- Stage application resources
- Self-service deployment of an application to a production environment
- Gain insight and visibility through reporting
- Monitor infrastructure
- Taking corrective actions in the infrastructure
- Reduce time to resolution with application performance monitoring
- Deploy an update to service instance
- Explore creating dashboards
Register and learn about the Microsoft Private Cloud Platform by taking the Private Cloud Guided Labs today! All you need is a Windows Live ID to register. Check them out now! 
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 Last week at the Microsoft Management Summit 2012 (MMS 2012) in Las Vegas, we announced the official product name and editions for Windows 8 client as well as the official name of the server counterpart - Windows Server 2012 (formerly Windows Server “8”). Now, we have not yet updated all of the web pages that say Windows Server “8” Beta to Windows Server 2012 but that is happening slowly but surely. However, we know that many of you want to try your hands at the new server operating system but can’t always commit to a machine to install and get familiar with it. Well, you’re in luck!
We have just released a whole series of Windows Server “8” Beta/Windows Server 2012 virtual hands-on labs that allow you to try out various capabilities of Windows Server 2012 without leaving your desk. All you need is an internet connection, a supported browser, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, or even Windows 8 Consumer preview, and administrator permissions on your computer to install the hands-on lab client the first time. Full system requirements for the virtual labs can be found here. Once you have confirmed your computer meets the lab requirements, you can launch any of the labs available, including: - Active Directory Deployment and Management Enhancements
In this lab, you will learn how to deploy Active Directory Domain Controllers with Windows Server "8". You will deploy domain controllers using the new Server Manager, as well as deploying remote domain controllers using Windows PowerShell. You will be able to explore the new Active Directory Management tool and use its PowerShell History Viewer. - Configuring a Highly Available iSCSI Target
In this lab, you will learn how Windows Server "8" can provide storage remotely to any machine. You will build clusters using shared storage and build iSCSI high-availability instances--observing highly available application communication during cluster failover. - Configuring Hyper-V over Highly Available SMB Storage
In this lab, you will learn how to configure a file server cluster to support running Hyper-V virtual machines from SMB file shares. You will create the file share, configure delegation, and then create a new VM on SMB storage. - Implementing Storage Pools and Storage Spaces
In this lab, you will work with the new storage spaces technology in Windows Server "8". You will first create new storage pools and virtual disks, and then you will work with those virtual disks in both Server Manager and Control Panel. - Introduction to Windows PowerShell Fundamentals
Windows PowerShell is a command-line shell and scripting language that helps you achieve greater control and productivity. Using a new admin-focused scripting language, more than 230 standard command-line tools, and consistent syntax and utilities, Windows PowerShell enables you to more easily control system administration and accelerate automation. - What’s New in Windows PowerShell 3.0
In this lab, you will explore some of the new features and functionality in Windows PowerShell 3.0 to enable you to more easily control system administration and accelerate automation. - Managing Branch Offices
In this lab, you will learn how the branch office scenario has been improved in Windows Server "8" including new branch cache enhancements. - Managing Network Infrastructure
In this lab, you will explore new network management capabilities in Windows Server "8". You will learn how to implement Network Teaming as well as how to implement DHCP failover. Finally, explore new Windows PowerShell cmdlets for network management. - Managing Your Network Infrastructure with IP Address Management
Network management is core to running a business, yet the tools that IT professionals need can be too costly or not available from Microsoft. With Windows Server "8", we change that with the introduction of IP Address Management (IPAM). - Managing Windows Server "8" with Server Manager and Windows PowerShell 3.0
In this lab, you will learn how the Server Manager and Windows PowerShell framework in Windows Server "8" delivers an enhanced, multi-server management experience. You will learn to perform tasks such as multi-server management. You will also explore new Windows PowerShell capabilities including new cmdlets and the Windows PowerShell gateway. - Online Backup Service
In this lab, you will use Windows Server Backup to back up your critical data to Windows Azure. This lab will teach you the entire set of workflows around backing up and recovering your data to Windows Azure. - Using Dynamic Access Control to Automatically and Centrally Secure Data
In this lab, you will explore Dynamic Access Control in Windows Server "8". You will learn how to create Central Access Policies, explore the new Access Denied Remediation features, as well as learn how to use the audit capabilities built into Dynamic Access Control. We will be adding more labs as well, so keep going back to the Windows Server “8” Beta/Windows Server 2012 virtual hands-on labs page for the latest updates. 
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Different people learn in different ways and in my last post about the great incentives there are to take exam 70-659 Windows Server Virtualization before May 31st, I also listed a number of resources you could use to study up. Depending on your learning style, different resources will appeal to you. Well, if you’re the type that does better in a group or at a set time, then perhaps an online study group that meets once a week is just what you’re looking for. We’ve got a number of study groups lined up and more coming. I’ll update this post as other study groups come online. Here are details: - Each group meets online through Lync for 3 hours at a time, once a week for 4 weeks.
- The cost is $75, which goes directly back to the “hosting” user groups, plus the processing fee for Eventbrite or Paypal.
- Each study group participant is sent a copy of the Windows Hyper-V Resource Kit book and has access to all the study group materials.
Here are the scheduled group and registration links: | User Group “Host” | Time (in EDT) | Day | Dates | | | Calgary* | 6-9pm | Sunday | April 1, 8, 15, 22 | REGISTER | | Edmonton* | 6-9pm | Sunday | April 1, 8, 15, 22 | REGISTER | | Vancouver | noon – 3pm | Saturday | April 7, 14, 21, 28 | REGISTER | | Montreal | 4-7pm | Sunday | April 22, 29, May 6, 13 | REGISTER (link coming soon) | | Toronto | TBD | | | REGISTER (link coming soon) | * One group is hosted by both the Calgary and Edmonton user groups and registration fees will be distributed depending on the registration link that is used to register. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: There has never been a better time to get certified than now! 
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You may already be well versed on Windows server 2008 and Hyper-V and you may already be running a component or two of the System Center suite, but do you know how to put it all together to to build out, manage and operate a private cloud? Join this free 2 day online Jump Start course designed for IT admins and professionals who are looking for a fast-paced approach to get technical understanding of Microsoft’s approach to private cloud. 
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There has never been a better time to study for and pass the 70-659 exam because we here at Microsoft Canada are determined to get as many Canadian system admins, network admins, IT managers, IT job seekers, and whatever-else-you-want-to-call-yourself certified on Window Server virtualization as possible. Why? Virtualization is the foundation for private cloud and dynamic IT infrastructure. Being certified is how you prove your skills. And now you can take the exam for free and get $75 for passing! Here’s what you need to do: - Contact D’Arcy at CTE Solutions (sales@ctesolutions.com) and get an exam voucher. This voucher allows you to take the 70-659 exam for free but only if you take the exam before May 31, 2012 (more details).
- Book your exam at with Prometric. Yes, book it now – then you’ll be motivated to buckle down and get studying! Here are some resources you can use:
- Write the 70-659 exam and get $75 for passing.
- If you pass – Email me your Transcript ID and Access Code so I can verify your transcript using this tool along with your mailing address, and I’ll send you a $75 gift card (see legal stuff below). Yeah – it’s a pretty sweet deal – you pass your exam AND get a gift card!
- If you don’t pass – don’t fret…if it was easy, everyone would do it. Many people don’t pass it the first time around but still go on to pass it on their next try. At this point you have the option to register for course #10215 at CTE Solutions (for a fee) and retake your exam using the same free voucher you got from CTE Solutions in step 1. Or you can go back to step 2 but pay to book your second exam. Either way, once you pass your exam, be sure to email me for your gift card!
Important legal stuff about the gift card promotion (aka Terms and Conditions): * Offer good only in Canada to legal residents of Canada. Offer runs from 12:01AM EST, March 1, 2012 until 11:59PM ET, May 31, 2012, or when all the 100 gifts have been awarded. To participate in the offer and be eligible to receive the gift, individuals will be required to successfully pass exam 70-659 and email their transcript ID, Access Code and mailing address to ruth.morton@microsoft.com by June 1, 2012. There is a cost associated with taking the exam. More information on the exam can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/virtualization-campaign.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=70-659#tab3 To schedule your exam, please visit the exam provider here: http://www.register.prometric.com/Menu.asp Upon successfully passing exam 70-659 and emailing the required information to ruth.morton@microsoft.com, the first 100 individuals will receive a $75 American Express gift card. For Terms and Conditions of the gift card use, please visit http://www.americanexpress.com/canada/en/giftcards/terms-conditions.html. There will be a limit of one (1) gift per person. The gift card will be shipped to the address provided by the individual. This offer is non-transferable and cannot be combined with any other offer. This offer is not redeemable for cash. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient. Any gift returned as non-deliverable will not be re-sent. Please allow 6 – 8 weeks for delivery of your gift. We reserve the right to substitute a gift of equal or greater value.
Have you already passed your exam since March 1? Did you read all the legal stuff above? Well then you know that the promotion started as of March 1 so you get to go directly to step 3 and get your gift card without further ado. How do you like them apples? :) 
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