Tag: Windows 8/Server 2012

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Windows Server 2012 Tracks

As soon as Windows Server 2012 went into General Availability MVA released a fair amount of videos to cover the new functionalities. So watch and learn for free:

Windows Server 2012: Technical Overview

Server Virtualization Module

Networking Module

Storage Module

Identity and Access Module

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Module

Web and Application Platform Module

Windows Server 2012: Server Virtualization

Virtual Machine and Scale Mobility Module

Windows Server 2012: Storage

Storage Spaces Module

SMB 3.0 Module

File System Enhancements Module

Windows Server 2012: Networking

Managing Network Infrastructure Module

IP Address Management (IPAM) Module

Hyper-V Network Virtualization Module

Windows Server 2012: Management & Automation

Standard Based Management with Windows Management Framework Module

Multi-Server Management with Server Manager Module

You can also logon to MVA and find the track there.

Virtual Machine Generation ID Documentation

Virtual Machine Generation ID is a new technology that is present on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. This is the technology which will allows to have virtual Domain Controllers on Server 2012. You can find the documentation about this technology here.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 Update 1

MDT is a free tool provided by Microsoft that will help you deploy Windows Operating Systems. Key changes in the new version are:

  • Added support for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.
  • Support for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 CTP: Added support in MDT for deploying Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 with Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 CTP, while supporting all new Configuration Manager functionality (offline BitLocker, UEFI, and Assessment and Deployment Kit).
  • Support for DaRT 8 Beta: Updated MDT to support DaRT 8 for Windows 8 deployments, while continuing to support DaRT 7 for Windows 7 deployments. Added DaRT support for Configuration Manager scenarios.
  • New “Build Your Own Pages” User-Driven Installation (UDI) feature: Enhanced the UDI wizard and designer to enable IT pros to design their own wizard pages with little effort.
  • New System Center 2012 – Orchestrator support: Provided the ability to add steps into an OS deployment task sequence to execute Orchestrator runbooks as part of the deployment process.
  • Other improvements: Added support for Windows PowerShell 3.0, reworked Roles and Features installation logic for Windows 8, improved “boot from VHD” deployment scenarios, and added support for Configuration Manager monitoring.

Download the tool and its documentation from here.

Microsoft Multipath I/O (MPIO) Users Guide for Windows Server 2012

Another free guide this time this one will help set MPIO on Windows Server 2012. Download it here.

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