PerformanceMonitor Sample Widget for System Center 2012 Operations Manager

This widget for SCOM 2012 developed by Microsoft employee Brian Wren can be very helpful in various cases. For example when you troubleshoot performance issues you can compare two or more computers in four different performance metrics.

Learn more about the widget, see screenshots and download it from Microsoft Gallery repository.

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Competitive Advantages – Microsoft vs. VMware

More than a dozen videos were released at Technet site related to Hyper-V and System Center 2012. These videos are 4 courses part of Microsoft Virtual Academy. All these videos compare Microsoft Technologies against VMware’s. Even though these videos are created by Microsoft they show very accurate the difference between the technologies that are compared. We can see that how Microsoft is turning from follower to a leader in a lot of areas in the Virtualization and the Private Cloud. No further explanation is needed you can just watch the videos and make up your mind for the capabilities that both companies offer:

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Competitive Advantages of Hyper-V Server 2012 over VMware ESXi 5.0

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Competitive Advantages of System Center 2012 over VMware’s Management Technologies

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Competitive Advantages of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V over VMware vSphere 5.0

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Competitive Advantages of the Microsoft Private Cloud over the VMware Private Cloud

Microsoft Private Cloud vs. VMware Cloud Infrastructure and Management Suite products

This battle of giants is inevitable. From my point of view both sides have solid statements. Personally I prefer Microsoft Private Cloud as I think it provides more business value. Only the time will show who will prevail but I think Microsoft are currently the leading side with System Center 2012 and with the upcoming Windows Server 2012 they will provide a very solid solution for Private Cloud. An indication that Microsoft is starting to be the leader not the follower in this area is this statement from VMware’s CTO, Dr. Stephen Herrod at a recent VMUGIT event (scroll to the YouTube video at 3:12):

“VMware Cloud Infrastructure Suite is really more of a marketing term. Those of you know our products deeply know that they don’t fit this well together as they need to. Some of them have multiple databases, some don’t look the same, some install differently, and what I can’t stand that is Site Recovery Manager doesn’t currently work with vCloud Director. So, what we are basically able to say is that we created and acquired companies that led to a lot of individual products that don’t work well enough together yet.”

This statement is important not because Dr. Herrod is pointing the flaws in their products but because in their next releases in these products they will try to integrate them together and sell them as one products a strategy which Microsoft already applied to System Center 2012.

This statement is taken from an MS article titled “The facts about the value of a Microsoft private cloud”. You can read by your self and decide which product gives more business value.

You can also try this tool http://servervirtualization.cloudapp.net/ to calculate the costs between the products. Similar tool provided by VMware can be found here: http://www.vmware.com/technology/whyvmware/calculator/.

Note form VMware Calculator: Price lists and modeling assumptions are valid as of July 12, 2011. Future results could be different as pricing and other assumptions based on industry averages may change.’

This means the the calculator was not updated with the pricing for System Center 2012.

Microsoft Private Cloud vs. VMware Virtualization

A battle between two Giants. Watch what Microsoft MVP Mitch Garvis is saying about the two solutions.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/Hh969245