Posts tagged App Controller 2012

Will Windows Azure for Windows Server replace System Center App Controller?

Apr 12th

The Microsoft Management Summit 2013 just ended and all recorded sessions are already available on Channel9. Whether you are interested in the latest developments, lessons learned by early adopters or in-depth demos these session recordings will provide you with great insight into Private, Hosted and Public Cloud solutions by Microsoft. I did not attend the MMS 2013 and therefore I am very grateful to have access to all this magnificent content online.

As you might have noticed from my previous blogs I have a great interest in Windows Azure for Windows Server. In session WS-B303 Windows Server Virtual Machine: Adding Windows Azure Services Program Managers Marc Umeno and Anjli Chaudhry explain the components, lessons learned (some of them looked very familiar Sarcastische emoticon ) and some demos.

One slide caught my attention.

In this slide Marc Umeno talks about an upcoming development in Windows Azure For Windows Server. In the current version user accounts are stored in an ASP.NET membership SQL database. This is a great solution for Service Providers, but (except for the Admin Site) there is no integration with Active Directory.

The product team is working on Active Directory integration for a future release.

What users will logon to the portal with Active Directory accounts? Users from the internal organization.

If you think about it, it is a logical step. Whether self-service users manage their services in Windows Azure, in a hosted cloud or in their own private cloud, they can access them through a uniform portal. It also fits in the roadmap to drive the adoption of Windows Azure in a great way.

Where does this leave System Center App Controller? Maybe the product team working on Windows Azure for Windows Server might be reinforcement with the System Center App Controller product team. At the end of the session Marc Umeno specifies that at TechEd (taking place June 3-6, this year) more information will be disclosed. So stay tuned.

App Controller 2012, KATAL, Management Summit, Marc van Eijk, Windows Azure, Windows Azure for Windows Server

Microsoft Private Cloud Computing Book Release

Jun 15th

Posted by Hans Vredevoort in Hans Vredevoort

1 comment

Monday June 18 2012 will be the big day for us. Our book Microsoft Private Cloud Computing will be officially available and even a little earlier than expected. Mid-2011 four MVP’s decided to make a joint effort at writing a practical book on deploying a Microsoft Private Cloud. The four authors are:

Aidan Finn (MVP Virtual Machine @joe_elway)
Patrick Lownds (MVP Virtual Machine @patricklownds)
Damian Flynn (MVP System Center Cloud and Datacenter Management @damian_flynn)
Hans Vredevoort (MVP Virtual Machine @hvredevoort)

Kristian Nese (@kristiannese) who is also MVP System Center Cloud and Datacenter Management kindly accepted the role of technical reviewer. Kristian has also written a book on Cloud Computing in Norwegian.

Learn the foundation of cloud computing and how to build your own Microsoft private cloud

Written by a team of expert authors who are MVPs and leaders in their respective fields, this one-of-a-kind book is an essential resource for IT administrators who are responsible for implementing and managing a cloud infrastructure. You’ll quickly learn how cloud computing offers significant cost savings while also providing new levels of speed and agility.

Serving as a how-to guide, Microsoft Private Cloud Computing walks you through building a secure, internal cloud and delivering it as a service to your company using Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012.

Walks you through the entire process: understanding cloud computing, understanding the Microsoft concept of a private cloud, deploying a private cloud fabric, deploying services, and building a private cloud, as well as integrating it with Microsoft’s public cloud to create a cross-premises or public cloud

Discusses fabric management with System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2012

Examines how to provide network and storage with VMM 2012

Looks at the VMM library configuration

Discusses private cloud and cloud service management with Microsoft App Controller

Microsoft Private Cloud Computing is a must-have comprehensive resource that covers all aspects of implementing a private cloud

Aidan wrote the introductory chapters on Private Cloud, Hans dealt with the Fabric Management chapters (Servers, Storage, Network) including Bare Metal Deployment, Patrick wrote the chapters on Service Management (VMM Library, Service Modeling) and Damian contributed chapters on Private Cloud Solutions (VMM Services, Self-Service, App Controller) including the Cloud Services Process Pack.

If you are dealing with the Fabric part you need lots and lots of hardware. Fortunately one of our great customers at INOVATIV as well as my personal friends from XS4ALL (Joey Hofstede, Alexander Rijnbeek) have helped us tremendously. They offered us a remotely accessible lab including HP Blade Servers, HP EVA storage and lots of capacity to test all new VMM 2012 functionality. XS4ALL is a key Dutch Internet Provider, so you can imagine the download speeds if I ever wanted to grab a few ISO’s.

The book can be ordered here and will hopefully soon be found in most large bookstores.

Here are the (earlier) announcement blogs of my fellow authors:

Aidan: http://www.aidanfinn.com/?p=12024
Damian: http://www.damianflynn.com/2012/01/17/microsoft-private-cloud-computing-book/

App Controller 2012, Bare Metal Deployment, Book, Cloud, Cloud Services Process Pack, Fabric, Microsoft Private Cloud Computing, Microsoft Private Cloud Computing Book, private cloud, self-service, System Center 2012, Virtual Machine Manager 2012

All-In with System Center 2012: 8 minute video [Dutch]

Jun 7th

Posted by Hans Vredevoort in Hans Vredevoort

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The company I work for is All In with Microsoft System Center 2012 and it is no surprise that we spend a lot of effort getting across the message that this Microsoft Management suite is what you really need if you build a Microsoft Private Cloud with a heterogeneous landscape of hypervisors, operations systems and applications.

In my book Microsoft Private Cloud Computing several of the important pieces are covered such as System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 and App Controller 2012.

This 8-minute video explains why System Center 2012 is such an interesting management suite and ought to be considered by every IT manager or CIO looking to efficiently manage a small, medium or large datacenter.

Dutch version: http://www.systemcenter2012.nl/

Please take a look at the list of System Center 2012 References at the bottom of this blog.