Whitepaper Title: VHD Getting Started Guide
File name: VHD Getting Started Guide.docx
Data Published: May 27, 2010
Language: English
File size: 1.13 MB
Pages: 82
Download URL: Click here

Description:
This guide provides an introduction to virtual hard disks (VHDs) in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. It includes an overview of technologies that you use to configure VHDs, as well as procedures to help guide you through deploying VHDs.

Contents:

• Virtual Hard Disks in Windows Server 2008 R2 & Windows 7
• What’s New in Virtual Hard Disks
• Getting Started with Virtual Hard Disks
• Introduction to Virtual Hard Disks
• How to Perform Common Tasks
• Appendix: Tools, Scripts and APIs
• FAQ: Virtual Hard Disks in Windows 7
• Power Management for Network Devices in Windows 7
• What’s New in Power Management for Network Devices

Source: Keith Combs’ Blog

Title: Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server
Netsh Technical Reference
Author: James McIllece, Brit Weston, Jim Holtzman, Greg Lindsay, Corey Plett, Dave Bishop, Karen Carncross
Date Published: May 2010, Microsoft Corporation
File size: 869 KB 
Format: CHM file (help file) 
Download URL: Netsh_TechnicalReference.zip

Description:

This document provides a comprehensive command reference for networking technologies such as:

• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
• Network Policy Server (NPS)
• Network Access Protection (NAP)
• Network Tracing
• Routing and Remote Access
• And other technologies for which there are netsh commands.

Netsh commands offer an alternative to configuring network technologies using the Windows interface. You can run netsh commands in batch files and scripts, and you can run them from the netsh prompt by manually typing commands. You can use netsh commands to configure both local and remote computers.

Props: Found via Keith Combs’ blog

This is one webcast you definitely don’t want to miss!

Title: “Third Thursday Webinar: Hyper-V 101”
Presenter: Wayne Small [SBS-MVP]
Date: Thursday 04/15/2010
Time: 5:00 PM Eastern Daylight (GMT –4)
Host: Third Tier
Link to attend: Click here for Live Meeting

Description:
Wayne Small from Sydney Australia, Third Tier consultant and owner of SBSFAQ.com has been deploying Hyper-V based solutions to 80% of his clients. Hyper-V can be simple to deploy, yet powerful enough for high availability applications. It is also technology that your clients really don’t understand at all. So how does he sell it to them? Wayne will tell us how to get up and running, the impact this technology can have your business and how to sell the idea to your clients.

Have you heard all the hype about Hyper-V?  Want to get your clients up and running on Hyper-V in an hour?  Want to know the key things to look out for with Hyper-V and how to avoid the pitfalls?  This session will run through all of the basics on Hyper-V as it relates to our SMB clients.  It will cover the various flavors of Hyper-V available, what to use when and how to get your first Hyper-V client quoted, and installed.  Wayne will walk through a typical scenario that he’s deployed in the past and how he’s addressed the clients concerns and taken advantage of Hyper-V to save the customer money, and increase their uptime.

It’s been a busy month in Louisville already with TechNet and MSDN here last week on March 4, 2010. And we’ve got some more stuff coming your way:

**First March 2010 Meeting**
6-YEAR KYSBSUG ANNIVERSARY
Date: Wednesday March 17, 2010
Time: 5:30 – 7:30 PM Eastern (or whenever everybody leaves)
Venue: Howl At The Moon
Address: 4th Street Live, Louisville, KY
URL:  Click here

Parking: 423 South 5th Street
(Usually $3-$5, or free after 6PM)

Door Prizes: There are no door prizes for this meeting, but there are lots of low/no cost stuff to enjoy

• Free cover charge for KYSBSUG attendees
• Free buffet 5:30 – 7:30 PM
• Attendees receive first two drinks for $0.50 / each (well drinks, long island teas, domestic beer, house wines, house margaritas, DeKuyper cordials)
• ½ off all drinks until 9 PM

Registration for this event is NOT required for this event, but you must be over 21 to enter the venue.

**Second March 2010 Meeting**
KYSBSUG Meeting #73 – Windows Server 2008 R2 IT Pro Tour
Presenter: Matt Hester, Microsoft TechNet Presenter (in person)
Date: Monday March 29, 2010
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 PM Eastern
Venue: Money Concepts
Address: 323 Townepark Circle, Louisville, KY 40243
Registration: We will be providing dinner and door prizes, so registration IS required.
Registration URL: Click here

Description:

Here’s your chance to connect with your local IT Pro Community AND meet Matt Hester, your local IT Professional Evangelist! Now that the dust has settled and the boxes are mostly unpacked from Matt’s relocation to Ohio.  He wants to meet you and get to know you! What a better way than with Windows Server® 2008 R2, giveaways and food!!

Matt Hester will be talking about the many administrative benefits of Windows Server® 2008 R2, including improvements to Active Directory, PowerShell, Group Policy and much more.  He will also talk about his experiences with his recently published book Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Administration Instant Reference. Ultimately, this evening is for you – so bring your questions, prepare to have some fun and expect to learn more about Windows Server® 2008 R2.  This should be a fun and exciting evening!

Matt will have a couple copies of his book to give away and other fun stuff. Be sure to attend and learn more of what Windows Server® 2008 R2 has to offer!

This is your chance to give feedback on how Matt and Microsoft can help your local community efforts. We hope you’ll join us for an evening of fun and peer-to-peer networking with your local IT Pro Community!

Special Thanks:

We’d like to thank the folks that helped bring this month together.

• Jeff Slyn of SLYN Systems & Peripherals for doing an AWESOME job once again of pulling together the venue and specials for the first meeting on the 17th.
• Mallory Sizemore from Howl At The Moon for hosting our meeting on the 17th.
• Matt Hester of Microsoft for coming to Louisville for the second meeting to present and for providing dinner on the 29th.
• Lee Johnson of Sentry Computer Systems for hosting us at Money Concepts again on the 29th.

I hope to see many of you this month as we wrap up our 6th year of free monthly meetings, and jump right into our 7th year!

Nowadays you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting someone who’s talking about virtualization. I’m guessing that your technicians are up-to-speed with virtualization, but are your sales folks?

Microsoft has a great series of webcasts for Microsoft Partners to give them the basics of virtualization with the following 4-part (6 segment) series with Ronald Grattopp and Bryan Von Axelson:

“The Ultimate Sales Guide to Microsoft Virtualization”

• Part 1 – The Basics (38 minutes)
• Part 2a – Server Virtualization Solutions (52 minutes)
• Part 2b – Desktop Virtualization Solutions (37 minutes)
• Part 2c – Microsoft Virtualization Management Solutions (29 minutes)
• Part 3 – Understand Microsoft Virtualization Licensing (35 minutes)
• Part 4 – Microsoft Virtualization and the Competition (32 minutes)

Note: You must have a Microsoft Partner ID linked with your Windows Live ID and sign in to view these webcasts.

Microsoft Desktop Virtualization Sweepstakes

In addition to some great (and free) information, Microsoft is providing an incentive for Microsoft Partners to attend these trainings. They are giving away:

• Two (2) HP EX90 MediaSmart Servers
• Eight (8) Sony Touch Readers

Webcasts in bold above are eligible for the Desktop Virtualization Sweepstakes. Sweepstakes ends April 12, 2010. See official website for details.

You can also stop by the Microsoft Virtualization portal:
http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization

You’re invited to attend the November 2009 KYSBSUG meeting next week:

Group: Kentucky Small Business Server User Group
(KYSBSUG)
Meeting #: 69
Date: Wednesday November 18, 2009
Start Time: 6:30 PM Eastern (GMT -5)
Location: Money Concepts
Address: 323 Townpark Circle, Suite 100, Louisville, KY 40243 USA
Map: Click here for map on Bing.com

Topic: SBS 2008 Build in Hyper-V
Presenters: Lee Johnson & Tim Barrett

Description:

This month we’re doing a live build of Windows Server 2008 R2 on physical hardware, installing the Hyper-V role, and then installing Windows Small Business Server 2008.

While the SBS build progresses we’ll also have another Hyper-V box on hand to show various operating systems, including Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 & Ubuntu, plus some Hyper-V best practices.

We’re also bringing a copy of Beatrice Mulzer’s new book for you to check out:

MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-653): Configuring Windows Small Business Server 2008
http://www.amazon.com/MCTS-Self-Paced-Training-Exam-70-653/dp/0735626782/

Registration URL: Registration is not required for this event.

• Microsoft TechNet Event
  Primary Target Audience: Microsoft Partners
  Start: Wed 12/2/2009 8:30 Eastern
  End: Wed 12/2/2009 12:00 PM Eastern

  Venue: Kentucky Intl. Convention Center
  Address: 2210 Fourth Street, Louisville, KY 40202
  Registration: Free

  Agenda:
  Session 1: Introducing Windows 7
  Session 2: Introduction to Windows Server 2008 R2
  Session 3: Introducing Exchange Server 2010

  Registration URL: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032429190&Culture=en-US

  Door prizes: 
  Register and attend for your chance to WIN*!
  – Netbook!  Dell Mini 10 – US $329.00 (ARV) Approximate Retail Value
  – Zune!  Zune HD 32gb – US $289.00 (ARV)
  – Games!  "Halo 3 ODST" for Xbox 360 – US $59.99 (ARV)
  – Books!  Windows 7 Inside Out – US $49.99 (ARV)
   
   

• Microsoft MSDN Event
  Primary Target Audience: Microsoft Developers
  Start: Wed 12/2/2009 1:00 PM Eastern
  End: Wed 12/2/2009 4:30 PM Eastern

  Venue: Kentucky Intl. Convention Center
  Address: 2210 Fourth Street, Louisville, KY 40202
  Registration: Free

  Agenda:
  Session 1: Taking Your Application to the Next Level with Windows 7
  Session 2: Light up Your Application with Graphics, Multi-touch and Ribbon on Windows 7
  Session 3: What’s New and Changed in Windows Server 2008 R2

  Registration URL: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032429198&Culture=en-US

  Door Prizes:
  Register and attend for your chance to WIN*!
  – Netbook!  Dell Mini 10 – US $329.00 (ARV) Approximate Retail Value
  – Zune!  Zune HD 32gb – US $289.00 (ARV)
  – Games!  "Halo 3 ODST" for Xbox 360 – US $59.99 (ARV)
  – Books!  Introducing Windows for Developers – US $39.99 (ARV)

*No Purchase Necessary. Open only to registered event attendees. Game ends day of event. Must be present to win. For full Official Rules, see event registration desk.

Title: Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2
Authors: Charlie Russel, Craig Zacker with the Windows Server Team at Microsoft
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Date Published: © 2010 Microsoft Corporation
Pages: 200
File size: PDF 11 MB / XPS 28 MB
Price: FREE
Download URL: Click here for PDF / Click here for XPS

Description:

Charlie has done it again! Learn about the new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 in the areas of virtualization, management, the Web application platform, scalability and reliability, and interoperability with Windows 7. Download Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2, written by industry experts Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker along with the Windows Server team at Microsoft.

Contents at a glance:

• Chapter 1 – What’s New in Windows Server R2
• Chapter 2 – Installation and Configuration: Adding R2 to Your World
• Chapter 3 – Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating Virtual Machines
• Chapter 4 – Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and Application Management
• Chapter 5 – Active Directory: Improving and Automating Identity and Access
• Chapter 6 – The File Services Role
• Chapter 7 – IIS 7.5: Improving the Web Application Platform
• Chapter 8 – DirectAccess and Network Policy Server
• Chapter 9 – Other Features and Enhancements

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 enables IT administrators to manage roles & features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server 2008, 2008  R2, or 2003, from a remote computer that is running Windows 7.

Title: Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7
Date Published: 08/11/2009
Download size:
- x64 version 222.1 MB
- x84 version 215.1 MB
File type: MSU
System Requirements: Windows 7 (Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise),
Windows Server 2003, 2008 or 2008 R2 
Download URL: Click here

Overview:

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 enables IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on remote computers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 (and, for some roles and features, Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003) from a remote computer that is running Windows 7. It includes support for remote management of computers that are running either the Server Core or full installation options of Windows Server 2008 R2, and for some roles and features, Windows Server 2008. Some roles and features on Windows Server 2003 can be managed remotely by using Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7, although the Server Core installation option is not available with the Windows Server 2003 operating system.

This feature is comparable in functionality to the Windows Server 2003 Administrative Tools Pack and Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Source: Scott Hanselman (@shanselman on Twitter)

Back in 2005 I was privileged to be one of the co-authors of “Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed”. As I’m sure most authors can attest, working on a book is a very unique and eye-opening experience.  It takes a lot of time, work, testing, research and commitment to crank out a book, but in the end you have something tangible to show for all the effort. You make some great friends and learn something about yourself along the way too.

Then we skip forward several years and Eriq Neale invited me to be one the co-authors once again. This time the book was titled “Windows Small Business Server 2008 Unleashed.” I looked at the calendar and figured, “Wow, this is really awesome. We’ve got *tons* of time – the operating system isn’t even baked yet!” So I signed on. Interestingly, time moves quickly. Very, VERY quickly. And as SBS 2008 got closer to being finished and as work on the book continued, it seemed like every movie on TV was about an author with looming publishing deadlines or writer’s block like Duplex or Stranger Than Fiction. No pressure.

At any rate, as the book project moved along, you could really see it transform slowly from an idea, into an outline, to a rough draft, through revisions, technical and grammatical editing, screen shots, page layouts, and eventually all the way into a finished book. And while you’re writing and doing testing and research, the software itself (code named “Cougar”) changes. It goes through various builds, into private and public betas, Release Candidates and eventually it becomes the final RTM code for SBS 2008. Believe me, it’s a pretty long trip!

So, the writing has been done for a while, and now comes the waiting part. The book is being printed and shipped, but I haven’t held a hard copy in my hands yet. And today it was cool to get an email from Amazon.com that really hit home:

All of the sudden the book seems much more real.

Getting to this stage was a group effort, and I was just one person in a large team of folks that made this project happen. The whole team worked really hard through deadlines, daily responsibilities, lots of writing and zillions of emails.

The writers of this book include:

• Eriq Oliver Neale – Lead Author [SBS-MVP]
• Amy Babinchak [Forefront-MVP]
• Steven Banks [SBS-MVP]
• Tim Barrett [SBS-MVP] (me, yay!)
• Susan Bradley [SBS-MVP] The SBS Diva
• Dean Calvert [SBS-MVP] Who talked me into eating Vegemite
• Chris Hanna [SBS-MVP]
• Kevin James [SBS-MVP]
• Jeff Middleton [SBS-MVP]
• David Shackelford [Exchange-MVP]
• Kevin Weilbacher [SBS-MVP]

And here’s what’s in the book:

Table of Contents:

1. Welcome to Small Business Server 2008
2. Planning for the SBS 2008 Deployment
3. Installing and Configuring SBS 2008
4. DNS, DHCP, and Active Directory Integration
5. Internet Information Services 7.0
6. Remote Web Workplace and Other Remote Access Solutions
7. SharePoint and Companyweb
8. Exchange Management
9. Exchange 2007 Client Connectivity
10. Exchange Disaster Recovery
11. Group Policy in SBS 2008
12. User and Computer Management
13. Macintosh Integration
14. Additional Servers
15. Managing Workstations Through Group Policy
16. Monitoring and Reporting
17. Managing Server and Workstation Security
18. Backup and Disaster Recovery
19. IPv6 Overview
20. PowerShell
21. Advanced Installation Options

I’m sure I speak for everyone on the writing, editing and publishing teams when I say that we’re really proud of this book! And I’d like to send a special “thank you” to Eriq Neale and Acquisitions Editor Loretta Yates for letting me be on the team again,
and for not killing me when they wanted to.

We look forward to seeing the book hit the shelves and we’re certain that it will help people understand and support this amazing new operating system.

I hope you enjoy it!

Title: Windows Small Business Server 2008 Unleashed
Publisher: Sams Publishing; 1 edition (December 6, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0672329573
Paperback: 816 pages
Language: English
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Buy.com | InformIT / Sams