May
11
2007
Big news this week was that Microsoft have had to drop postpone some key features from their new virtualisation software currently in development. Mike Neill, GM of virtualisation strategy went on the defensive with a lengthy blog post detailing all of the cool things about Microsoft’s new virtualisation platform, codenamed Viridian. But if you kept reading through the whole post, you would have noticed the small section at the bottom where he mentions the features that are being dropped:
So we are making the following changes, and postponing these features to a future release of Windows Server virtualization:
- No Live migration
- No hot-add resources (storage, networking, memory, processor)
- Support limit of 16 cores/logical processors (e.g., 2 processor, quad-core systems is 8 cores; or 4 processor, quad-core system is 16 cores)
I always enjoy watching my feeds through Google Reader when Microsoft drops some big news. I subscribe to the TechNet blogs feed so I always get to the skewed point of view from there. For example, when a new product is released you’ll see lots of “cool”, “new”, “!!!”, etc, but when some bad news is released you’ll see all the Microsofties go on the defensive with somber posts explaining that “shipping is a feature” or playing down the news. Then you compare that with the feeds from the rest of the blogosphere and you get the opposite reactions.
Personally, I don’t have much opinion on the Virtualisation news – I think VMware’s ESX server and Virtual Infrastructure will rule the enterprise space for the foreseeable future. By the time that Microsoft have released their v.1 product, VMware will probably be on v.4 with an already established userbase.
May
11
2007
For the Exchange 2007 architects out there, Microsoft have released a comprehensive (over 500 pages) document detailing the architectural changes from previous versions of Exchange. I’m looking forward to reading through this in a comfy chair, in front of the fireplace…
Download link: Technical Architecture of Exchange 2007
Abstract
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 introduces several architectural changes from previous versions of Exchange Server. This document provides descriptions and overviews of server roles, topologies, and the transport architecture for Exchange 2007.
Thanks to Keith Combs for pointing this out.
May
10
2007
I’ve mentioned before how I recommend that all infrastructure consultants subscribe the TechNet Blogs feed, and once again I’ve picked up on a gem. This one is courtesy of the “Schweiser” blog in Switzerland and they have provided PowerShell courseware and demos for download. The courseware is an introduction to PowerShell and is in pdf form. I’ve just had a brief look through it and it seems easy to follow and should get you started on your PowerShell journey.
May
09
2007
Service pack 3 for SMS 2003 has been released which now includes full support for Windows Vista, and improved asset tracking and inventory reporting.
The improved reporting is the first integration of the AssetMetrix technology which Microsoft purchased last year and is called “Asset Intelligence“. I’ve used AssetMetrix for reporting in the past, and although the reports were a bit clunky to navigate through, it delivered a wealth of information. So it will be interesting to see how well this has been integrated into SMS, but if it as thorough as AssetMetrix previously was, then it’s definitely a great upgrade!
More information here: Systems Management Server 2003 with Service Pack 3
Read the datasheet (PDF) here: SMS 2003 SP3 Datasheet
Download the service pack here: Systems Management Server 2003 Service Pack 3 Upgrade
May
09
2007
Last week Microsoft released Service Pack 3 for ISA Server 2004 which includes a couple of interesting new features such as a new troubleshooting node, and the ability to publish Exchange 2007 OWA.
This is the list of new features and functionality:
Service Pack 3 features
- Improvements to the ISA Server Management console with the addition of a new Troubleshooting node
- Enhanced log viewing functionality
- Additional log filtering functionality
- Diagnostic logging, including over 200 new diagnostic logging events
- Integration with the Microsoft ISA Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool
- Support for publishing Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with ISA Server 2004
More information can be found here: ISA Server 2004 Service Pack 3
Download links:
May
09
2007
A lot of people have been complaining about Windows Vista’s poor battery life and now the bigger news outlets are picking up on it too. CNet reported that OEMs are resorting to their own power management tools to try to squeeze out as much battery life as possible while running Vista. The finger is being pointed at Vista’s new theme, Aero, as being the main cause – especially when running with all of the fancy effects – despite Microsoft saying that Aero doesn’t impact on performance.
Even Microsoft bloggers are starting to admit that Aero does drain the battery, but as far as I know Microsoft haven’t formally admitted to the problem yet.
One user decided to fix the problem himself, so he’s created a small utility which disables Aero while running on batteries. Simple but effective.
Apr
27
2007
As I mentioned yesterday, PowerShell is now integrated into Longhorn server – and you can read more about it here, http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/longhorn/powershell.mspx. Unfortunately, PowerShell won’t be available for Server Core installations, which is where it would make most sense being used. For those that don’t know, Server Core is Microsoft’s first attempt to create a server which can be installed without a GUI.
As most first attempts go, Microsoft haven’t quite got it right yet… Although you’ll read about how Server Core doesn’t have a GUI, this isn’t really accurate – it does have a GUI, but what it doesn’t have is a “shell”. Server Core is an option when installing Longhorn Server, and when you first boot up a Server Core system you are presented with a standard Ctrl+Alt+Del logon boxes. After logging in, you’re then presented with two command prompt windows and nothing else. Why two command prompt windows, you ask? Well – what happens if you close your only command prompt window? This obviously wouldn’t be a problem if it was a true GUI-less system, but as you explore Server Core, you’ll find that lots of GUI applications run just fine. For example, if you do close both your command prompt windows, you can just open up task manager and run a new process.
So the reason I’m explaining how Server Core works is so that you understand that it hasn’t been designed from the ground up as a true GUI-less server. But it’s more just a hacked version of Windows that has had as many GUI components pulled out as possible. One of the casualties of this hacking is that the Dot Net Framework doesn’t run on Server Core, and because PowerShell is dependent on .Net, this is the reason that PowerShell can’t run on Server Core. So in summary… Microsoft’s new command line scripting language, doesn’t run on Microsoft’s first server product that only supports the command line. I’m sure that future versions of Server Core will fix this, but this is the situation now.
But Irony aside, PowerShell will be an important scripting language to learn, and even though it can’t run on Server Core, you can still run it on a supported system to manage a Server Core server. (The same goes for any other management console that can connect to a remote server.) So if you’ve been putting off learning about PowerShell, then now is a good time to get stuck in. Here’s a collection of good links to get you started…
Microsoft links:
3rd Party Sites:
Apr
26
2007
Any Microsoft Infrastructure consultant should be subscribed to the main TechNet Blogs feed. It can be a bit too much at times as there are hundreds of posts per day, but you can pick out some gems in there if you look carefully. It’s also quite interesting watching the feed as a new beta is released – hundreds of MS developers/architects/consultants/engineers each post about the release and you can pick up lots of interesting links through the posts.
Here are just a few of the posts I read today:
I’ll update the list as I pick up more interesting ones. (No word from the NZ Microsofties yet…)
Apr
26
2007
I’ll be posting lots of Longhorn related stuff over the next couple of weeks so feel free to keep an eye on my Longhorn tag to keep up to date with the latest beta.
You can also keep up to date by subscribing to my Longhorn feed.