The System Center Connector

Ok here’s my issue and how to solve this.

If you read the technet magazine and read it online using the CHM file you may have this problem. It is an old issue but today I had this issue.

Source to read : Technet

So If you opend the file you see this.

Mmm strange but if I open the file local I have the same issue, oh ok do properties and use the unblock button. Then open the file.

As you can see the file opens and you can read the CHM file.

Or you can add this regkey then you can open the file direct from the internet

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions]
"MaxAllowedZone"=dword:00000003

MAXAllowedZone values : 

0 - My Computer

1 - Local Intranet

2 - Trusted Sites

3 - Internet Zone

4 - Restricted Zone

Ok this post is not only on how to setup a sql 2008 cluster but more on what can go wrong and more important how to solve this.

As much as I hate an installation that goes wrong and you spent day’s on how to solve this because you can ‘t bing your problem.

Here is what I have on hardware in this case a two node cluster windows 2008 R2 RC build 7100 and the SQL 2008 DVD

I have more than enough disk space in may case I have two disk of 100 GB but I will use only one disk per instance this is not Best Practice but handy in a test lab.

So I downloaded the SQL DVD and hit the setup.

I love the warning but as every one I do not read it and click run program 2x , finaly there is the setup splash.

So First I do the Prereq. This is nice this way you can see if the configuration you use is ok for the job.

Well I have a pending reboot and a .NET security warning , mmm strange I can’t connect to the Web .  first a reboot.

Since this is not tux I rebooted the kernel.

ok after the Reboot I hit setup again and I click the setup failover cluster , now there is no pending reboot here and I can go further

Remember that You must use the same product key on your Cluster nodes !!!!

Yes I agree who reads this any way I just wanna do a fast setup my boss want the sql cluster ready today. Yes I can.

Yes next next eh No MSDTC ? do I need it ? mmmm network binding error firewall error can’t the setup handle this for me ?

Troubleshoot the install errors:

Ok it seems is will not be a next next finish I agree setup Right. and this is whay you must read the guides!! except in a demo where things must go wrong.

So first we do a MSDTC setup this is needes if You wanna do Transactions

We also need to cluster the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource (MSDTC). Although MS DTC is not required for Database Engine-only installation, without it being clustered, you would receive a warning message during the setup configuration checks because of the incompliance of the Cluster_IsDTCClustered rule. If you need to install SSIS, Workstation Components or use distributed transactions, then MS DTC must be clustered. In our example, the MSDTC resource is clustered in a group called "Your name MSDTC Group". This group contains the MSDTC resource, a shared Physical Disk T: to store MSDTC log files, a network name, and an IP Address. Before clustering MSDTC, network MSDTC access must be enabled on both nodes. For more information, please refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817064/. The MSCS Cluster Service account will need to have public rights to SQL Server so that it can run SELECT @@servername for the IsAlive cluster checks.

Setup MSDTC :

This is the easy part Go in you FCM ( Failover Cluster Manger ) configure a service or application and select the MSDTC.

So I give the MSDTC the IP and point it to the new disk for the log files. I use a separate disk for the MSDTC so that I can move the resource where and whan I want.

Done I just created my MSDTC failover cluster resource !

Network binding Order : 

This error is easy to fix and it is new I have never seen this error ( or I did always ther right steps ) so go to your network tab eh yes but where is it. well it take me almost a minute to find it.

Go to Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections

click organize and layout and check the menu bar now you can go to advanced.

  Change the order and done.

Back to the SQL backup :

So Again I swing the SQL setup

I named the first instance and changed the default

So whay would you use DHCP ?? just give it a fixed IP

I use the same service account for all the services added the administrator to the sql admins.  You should create a group and put users in i. but you can do this later.

  What is this \\?\volume{

Ok this is strange I give the SQL server disk 4 , lets see what the problem is. Oh ok this is a CSV disk CSV = cluster shared volume.

You can’t use this disk!.

So I added a fresh new iscsi target to the nodes and run the setup again.

No errors

As in the settings above I filling the items and go.

Ok Now I have more disks to use and I do not choose a CSV volume , and no I do not wanna use DHCP

Same services account

Now as you can see I can see the disk letter this is great and almost done.

Yes I do believe in the error roporting this way we can make the product better. 

No the filestream does not need an update I’m using Windows 2008 R2 RC state of the art server. I saved the config file maybe I do a command line setup later if I want to reinstall this cluster.

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log\20090604_212627\ConfigurationFile.ini

As you can see the ini file is easy to read and to adjust where needed.

What another error ;-( kerberos , Well this is a nice error bink it and you will see not much errors or resolution about this.

Did I miss something I solved all the other errors.

So what is it : 

RequireKerberos

Controls whether or not the Network Name resource can be brought online without Kerberos authentication. The choices are:

RequireKerberos is set to 1. The next time this resource is brought online, clients using this resource will be authenticated using Kerberos. That is, a computer object for the Network Name resource will be created or updated before that resource comes online.

RequireKerberos is set to 0. Disables this option, that is, no computer object is created for the Network Name resource. This is the default. The Cluster service will try to detect if a computer object already exists for the Network Name resource; if a computer object is present, the resource will fail to come online. If this property were previously set to 1, setting it back to zero will disable the computer object created for this Network Name resource, if any.

Do not rename a Network Name resource and change the Kerberos authentication setting at the same time. Instead, allow time for changes to replicate after performing each action.

When I looked at my install I can’t see anything about a sql cluster only the network name. ah no ip settings.let me fix this.

Done fixed the IP and bring it online start the sql manager and go. NO  it won’t work. You know whay. YOU missed the error in the beginning.

this is saying USE SP1  my download came without sp1 and I can download sp1 but how to use it.

Well it is not easy, yes it is.

First copy the files from the DVD to a disk location.

use robocopy .

robocopy “sqlDVD” to “ disklocation” ( change the names !) 

download the sp1 sql 2008 software details.aspx-FamilyID=66ab3dbb-bf3e-4f46-9559-ccc6a4f9dc19

Extract the sp1 files to the hardisk loaction

SQLServer2008SP1-KB968369-x86-ENU.exe /x:v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU
SQLServer2008SP1-KB968369-x64-ENU.exe /x:v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU
SQLServer2008SP1-KB968369-ia64-ENU.exe /x:v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU

Change the Setup files

robocopy SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1 setup.rll
robocopy SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1 setup.exe

robocopy v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\pcu\ia64 v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\ia64 /xf  Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll
robocopy v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\pcu\x64 v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\x64 /xf  Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll
robocopy v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\pcu\x86 v:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\x86 /xf  Microsoft.SQL.Chainer.PackageData.dll

and merge the sp1 files.

And change the installation path in the DefaultSetup.ini located in the ia64,x64,x86

PCUSOURCE="z:\SQLSERVER2008_FullSP1\PCU"

For a nice guide go to http://blogs.msdn.com/petersad/archive/2009/02/25/sql-server-2008-creating-a-merged-slisptream-drop.aspx

So I did the complete setup again but now with SP1 and I can login in the SQL manager

Watch the servername instance you can see this in de FC manager netbios name and sql name.

Now that we are installed SQL on node 2 we must install SQL2008 SP1 on node 2.

Just add the node to the cluster and follow the guide fillin the serial

Fill in the password and next

I hope I showed you that alot can go wrong and a setup can always be tricky if you want to to this to fast.

I will mesh this configuration so that I hopefully have nice errors to solve.

In the next session I will add a second instance.

positive comments are welcome

The Beta is now complete and we have posted our final Release Candidate for SCVMM 2008 R2 on our Connect site. In addition to all the new capabilities R2 Beta introduced here's what is new in SCVMM 2008 R2 Release Candidate:

Storage Migration:
Enables migration of storage for a running VM. This is especially relevant as customers upgrade to Windows 2008 R2 as it allows them to easily migrate away from their existing one VM per LUN deployments and consolidate their VMs into a single CSV. For Hyper-V, this feature enables migration of a running VM’s storage both within the same host and across hosts with minimum downtime. For VMWare, this feature enables storage vMotion.

Rapid VM Provisioning:
Enables rapid creation of VMs without the need to copy VHDs over the network. Customers can now use storage technologies such as snap cloning to clone VHDs and then use the rapid provisioning feature to create VMs while continuing to take advantage of the VMM features to do OS customization and IC installation.

Host compatibility checks:
Enables checks for CPU features and enlightenment parity to ensure compatibility between a VM and a host prior to migration. A related feature to make a VM compatible with a host by limiting the use of certain CPU features is also enabled.
Queuing of Live migrations:
Enables users to do multiple live migrations within a cluster. VMM now detects the condition where live migrations fail due to collisions with in-progress live migrations and automatically performs queuing and retries in the background.

Support for 3rd party CFS:
Enables support for clustered file systems from ISVs that implement functionally similar to CSV (Clustered shared volumes). This feature allows for backwards support for CSV scenarios on Windows 2008.

Support for Custom Disk resource:
Enables support for Veritas volume manager by recognizing Veritas volume manager disks as a cluster disk resources.

It is our goal that the final (RTM) version of SCVMM 2008 R2 will ship within 60 days of the ship date of Windows Server 2008 R2. We look forward to your feedback on this Release Candidate.
Thank you, the SCVMM product team.

Below are the few steps to use a cluster as file server or as print server. These are just the basic’s

Start the wizzard choose the file server option and add a IP to the netbios name

select the disk that you want to use for file sharing

Now I make a share in this cluster , select the disk and if you want to change the permissions do this here. because I had the quorum disk on this disk the cluster folder is on the data disk.

This I like a lot below is the enable access based enumeration I made a post on how to do this in windows 2003.

Clustering Access-based Enumeration (ABE) - Windows Live

and now it is just a setting

You can create a DFS link if you want. This will I do in a next session.

As you can see it is much next next I agree just the basics are easy to do. the next blog items are all about R2 RC.

I have almosted everything clusterd , so get some hardware and use R2 !

For a demo I did setup a windows 2008 R2 RC x64 server with HV. Because the demo hardware was not on the FCCP list. It takes more time to setup the server. So a Hint use hardware that is on the FCCP list !.

So I used a x64 OS and still I hate this the drivers is always an issue , even a 3com nic won’t run these cards where very popular but no driver. so I was looking for some other elcheapo nics but almost every nic is not supported with x64 software. Why !!

If the industry want us to use x64 software just make sure that there are drivers for x64, and not the crapy once.

So In this senario I used the rocketdivision software for ISCSI. This week you can also use the windows 2008 Storage server with the microsoft ISCSI target software. You can also download the ISCSI software from teched but remember it runs only on storage server.

It is a MSI file so maybe you can adjust it so that it runs on other servers, not that I tried this ;-)

Ok my POC config.

here are my 3 nic’s   Open de failover MMC

So first we start the validate configuration.

So fill in the node names as I added the second node, and as you can see the wizzard tells me that the failover services is not installed

I installed the feature on the second node and rerun the wizzard

As you can see the node1 and node2 are added.

The validation configuration wizzard is success full

Now that We know that I can make a cluster , we added some disk to the nodes.

one disk as Witness disk and one for data

On node the was no mpio installed so I did this to, remember node1 and node2 needs to be the same if you want to use the services in a cluster

Now We create cluster

Now that the cluster is in place and you want to remove the cluster is can be done with powershell quick and easy.

Now we do it by powershell

cluster /destroy /cleanup

The mmc is not refreshing

So what we didn’t do is configuring the cluster network .

So I do not want that my iscsi nic is doing clustering.

The one thing I hate after the wizzard is to reconfigure the quorum disk.

Now the cluster is in place

Many of you ask about the cheapest way to deploy your own cluster. We all know that the hardware requirements are very flexible, so long as the components have a Windows Server logo and the complete solutions passes Validate (support policy) … but what about storage?

Clustering does have a few storage requirements. The storage must be shared between the cluster nodes so that when a node fails and the other node picks up the workload, it will be able to access the same data which is on that shared disk. You may use Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or iSCSI, and the device must support persistent reservations (hardware requirements). But networked storage can be expensive…until now!

Windows Storage Server 2008 (WSS 2008) with the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 is now available to all MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers. A version for evaluation (TechNet Plus or MSDN), demonstration (MSDN), development (MSDN) or test (MSDN) is now being provided to MSDN and TechNet Plus subscribers for the first time. Rather than using expensive shared storage you simply run Storage Server on another machine. All communication is done over regular Ethernet cables, so HBAs or an expensive SAN are not needed. With just any three computers (2 cluster nodes and 1 iSCSI Target / DC) and a hub you can have your own Failover Cluster! Now there are no excuses for not trying out clustering.

Full details and a FAQ are available at: http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2009/05/12/windows-storage-server-2008-with-the-microsoft-iscsi-software-target-3-2-available-to-msdn-and-technet-plus-subscribers.aspx

Source : http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/archive/2009/05/14/9613924.aspx

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: I tried to install the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 on Windows Server 2008 (or Windows Server 2008 R2) and I got an error saying “Installation is not supported on this operating system”. What’s the problem?
A: The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 can only be installed on Windows Storage Server 2008 Standard, Enterprise or Workgroup. It cannot be installed on other OS version, like Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

So you need Storage Server !

If you don’t want storage server but you do want to use ISCSI take a peek at Starwind.

The is a trail version.

The amount of data supported within the organization continues to grow every year. Regulatory requirements, archival demands and data availability push storage requirements to their limits. As the datacenter grows, so does power consumption, physical space requirements and the need for improved hardware to handle the massive volume of data. Administrators need more than just raw storage capacity, but to implement the storage techniques and strategies that help them prioritize data and provide a standard of service. Storage demands will continue to grow and a storage solution is needed that can grow with the demand. Windows Storage Server 2008 can enable your organization to optimize your datacenter storage requirements.

It is finally here – the Windows Storage Server 2008 release based on Windows Server 2008 is ready for OEM embedded partners to develop dedicated NAS and block appliances. Learn about the new improvements in the OS, including OEM extensibility, Single Instance Storage (SIS), Java-based remote desktop features and the new iSCSI Software Target package

Get more info here

Or See the webcast :  TechNet Webcast: Introducing Windows Storage Server 2008 (Level 300)

The microsoft Skydrive is very handy 25 gb lots of space, easy to put 25000 pictures in the drive.

But how do you get them off , one by one ;-( pictures are easy with the live photo manager but what about files ??

Well I found the tool for this. my cloud desktop  http://www.gladinet.com/ 

You can mount you skydrive as a windows drive.

*Gladinet Beta testers may receive a free license with one year free upgrade
*Some features may be disabled during Beta testing
*Please check the product for the exact list of integrated cloud storages/applications

There are 3 versions Check it out !

http://www.gladinet.com/p/download_professional.htm

source : http://blogs.technet.com/systemcenter/archive/2009/04/28/announcing-a-new-program-for-system-center-influencers.aspx

Officially launching at MMS 2009 in Las Vegas is a new community program that will give influencers—user group leads, MVPs, popular bloggers, and others recognized as influential in the community around System Center—the technical training content, people connections, and general guidance they need to enhance their credibility and impact in the community.

Key Member Benefits

• Access key content:  Members get access to the latest technical training content to help them enhance their expertise.   This also includes exclusive user group content.
• Meet experts and peers in the community:  Members can stay connected with System Center-focused events, or let others know about their upcoming events.   Members can register and find events, as well as request speakers for upcoming meetings.
• Grow in influence:  Members can learn about new opportunities to lead their communities on and offline, and find out about other opportunities to get more involved with Microsoft.

This invitation-only program has its online home on Microsoft Connect, and offers or links to several different tools intended to support influencer needs. As this is very much a work in progress that is just getting off the ground, we are asking participants to help us develop the program and shape it in ways that are most relevant to the community.

Who’s Eligible

This program is intended for influencers of all kinds, or simply those who are looking for tools to become more influential in their communities. Our intention is not to supplant any existing influencer programs, such as the MVP program, but merely to complement and extend them, focusing specifically on the needs of the System Center (and soon: Virtualization) community.

How to Find Out More

If you are interested in this program, or have any questions about our tools, resources, or mission, please contact us at scnetsup@microsoft.com.

- dave //

There is a new Website for all your System Center Stuff :

Nice Work guys.

Please download Network Monitor 3.3 from Microsoft.com. Visit the Network Monitor 3.3 Release Blog to get more information about this release.

To provide feedback, go to our scenario voting page, and let your opinion be heard.

What’s New in Network Monitor 3.3?

· Ability to capture on WWAN and Tunnel interfaces on Win7.

· Critical fixes to NM3.3 to operate correctly with Hyper-V.

· Right-click-add-to-alias. Right-click a frame in the Frame Summary window with an IPv4, IPv6, or MAC address to add that address as a new alias.

· Right-click-go-to-definition: Right-click a field in the Frame Details windows and select Go To Data Field Definition or Go To Data Type Definition to see where the field is defined in the NPL parsers.

· Auto-scroll. See the most recent traffic as it comes in. In a live capture, click the Autoscroll button on the main toolbar to have the Frame Summary window automatically scroll down to display the most recent frames as they come in. Click Auto-scroll again to freeze the view in its present location.

· Experts available online: Experts are stand-alone applications that analyze Network Monitor capture data. Various experts are available online at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=133950.

· Frame Comments: Attach comments to frames in a saved capture file. Select the Frame Comments tab in the lower-right window to add, view, edit, or delete comments.

· API Extensions: API methods have been added to enable access to conversation information, properties, field display strings, and comments.

· Ability to open ETL files and correlate information by Network Tracing scenario.

· Set of core parsers to improve parsing performance. These can be accessed by changing the Common and Windows set of parsers to stubs:

From the Tools menu, select Options

· Go to the Parsers Tab

· Select the folder you want to stub out (Common or Windows)

· Click on the Stubs button on toolbar

· See our Release Notes for a complete list of new features and known issues.

· Experts: Experts are stand-alone applications that analyze Network Monitor capture data. Network Monitor 3.3 provides a simple interface for registering experts with the product and invoking them on a saved capture file. We have made some initial experts available online. Do you have a network troubleshooting need that is not currently met by Network Monitor or our available experts? Why not suggest your own expert? Please use the feedback link on the left to submit a description of the analysis task you want to solve (you must first join our connection) and we will work with you to create an expert for the community to enjoy.

The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released a new guide: Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization.
This guide outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V). The reader is guided through the four-step process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification of the MED-V server instances required is presented in simple, easy-to-follow steps, helping the reader to deliver managed virtual machines to end users. Following the steps in this guide will result in a design that is sized, configured, and appropriately placed to deliver the stated business benefits, while also considering the performance, capacity, and fault tolerance of the system.
Download the guide by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/ipd and selecting “Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization” under the IPD One-click Downloads, listed on the bottom right of the page.
Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by:

• Defining the technical decision flow through the planning process.
• Listing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
• Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
• Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

Enhancing deployment and management for Virtual PCs in enterprise environments

MED-V v1 has released

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) provides deployment and management of virtual Windows desktops to enable key enterprise scenarios. MED-V 1.0 helps enterprises upgrade to the latest version of Windows even when some applications are not yet compatible.

MED-V builds on top of Microsoft Virtual PC to run two operating systems on one device, adding virtual image delivery, policy-based provisioning and centralized management.

MED-V is one of the six technologies in the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP). Read MDOP 2009 announcement.

"MED-V saves us time in standardizing our desktop across the multiple entities of the Belgacom group", says Eric Opitom, Office Automation Domain Manager at Belgacom, a provider of integrated telecommunication services, "With thousands of users in our environment, MED-V will significantly reduce the time required for testing and migrating the applications we have."

The challenge of legacy applications

Incompatibility of legacy applications with newer versions of Microsoft Windows can often delay enterprise upgrades to the latest version of Windows. Testing and migrating applications can be time consuming, and meanwhile users are unable to take advantage of the new capabilities and enhancements offered by the new OS. By delivering applications in a Virtual PC that runs a previous version of the OS (e.g., Windows XP or Windows 2000), administrators can remove the barriers to OS upgrades.

Read the EMA case study

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization: Advantages

• Centrally create, deploy, and update virtual PC images throughout the enterprise

• Provision virtual images and user policies according to business affiliation and requirements

• Accelerate the upgrade path to new Desktop OS-legacy applications continue to run in a virtual environment with a previous OS version

• Simplify IT integration of new subsidiaries by running two IT environments concurrently (i.e. the corporate one and the acquired company's one)

Read more about MED-V features in the datasheet (PDF, XPS) or in the Architecture white paper

Source : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/products/med-v.aspx

Today I had a email with the ultimate award.  Thank you Community, In this time of my life I can use this to get new powers to ban bad things out of my life. Sometimes people keep yelling that they are the backbone of the community and pushing and pushing to believe they are right , but they are not. I think this kind of power is wrong and if you fight this correctly they will pay believe me they will.

Not always is Microsoft the best solution but think about why this will not fit in your organization most of the times it is policy and not that the software is bad.  This MVP status is great and I will continue helping the community and it may not always your solution to the problem but he I’m not in control of your system. I give you my opinion and hopes it will help you to solve your problem.

THANKS

Microsoft is pleased to recognize you as a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for your exceptional contributions and commitment to technical communities worldwide over the past year. Microsoft is happy to present you with the MVP Award as our special way of saying thanks for making a difference.

As the independent voice of users worldwide, your influence on technical communities is felt in many ways—enhancing people’s lives and contributing to our industry’s success. We’re deeply grateful to you for sharing your feedback, comments, answers, and expertise with technical communities. In recognition of your commitment, Microsoft is pleased to honor you with the Most Valuable Professional Award. Thank you for empowering the community with your outstanding leadership!

Steven A. Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer
Microsoft Corporation

Thank you for your exceptional contributions to technical communities! It gives us great pleasure to present you with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award for the technical expertise you generously provide to others. By sharing your knowledge, experience, and objective feedback, you inspire and help people to solve problems and discover new capabilities every day. We are honored to welcome you as a Microsoft MVP.

Rich Kaplan
Corporate Vice President
Customer and Partner Advocacy
Microsoft Corporation

Sometimes I see troubles with file sharing and clustering, default windows uses caching.

and in clustering you don’t want to do caching so you can turn it off

  Just go to the caching TAP and check the checkbox.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/287566

There is also an  Issue with the previous Version page.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888603

You can set this in a GPO below is a sample how to make a ADM file for this.

CLASS USER

CATEGORY "Windows Components"

CATEGORY "Windows Explorer"

POLICY "Disable Previous Versions Tab"

EXPLAIN !!PVHelp

KEYNAME "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer"

VALUENAME "NoPreviousVersionsPage"

VALUEON NUMERIC 1

VALUEOFF NUMERIC 0

END POLICY

END CATEGORY;

END CATEGORY;

[strings]

PVHelp="\nThis policy allows you to disable the Previous Versions Tab (used for Shadow Copies) in Windows Explorer.”

Enhanced application performance and availability across heterogeneous platforms

• Delivers monitoring across Windows, Linux and Unix servers-all through a single console
  Extends end to end monitoring of distributed applications to any workload running on Windows, Unix and Linux platforms
  Maximize availability of virtual workloads with integration with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008

Improved management of applications in the data center

• Delivers on the scale requirements of URL monitoring of your business
  Meet agreed service levels with enhanced reporting showing application performance and availability
  More efficient problem identification and action to resolve issues

Increased speed of access to information and functionality to drive management

• Faster load times for views and results
  Improved and simplified management pack authoring experience

For those who are evaluating the Beta release, this Release Candidate offers a number of enhancements over the Operations Manager R2 Beta, including:

-New Power Management MP template (Monitored system must be Windows Server 2008 R2 or Win7)
-Updated branding across all User Interfaces
-Improved trace configuration tools on the CD to help support issues escalated to Customer Support (where applicable)
-Improved Run As Account Distribution Configuration
-Ability to run inline tasks for non-Microsoft servers
-Support for upgrade from Beta deployments to the Release Candidate
-New and updated documentation, including the Usage Guide, Design Guide, Deployment Guide, Upgrade Guide, Security Guide and Operations Guide

Apply - to participate in the "Operations Manager Public Beta" - https://connect.microsoft.com/SelfNomination.aspx?ProgramID=2249&pageType=1&SiteID=446

Get it - System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 (RC) - http://connect.microsoft.com/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?SiteID=446&DownloadID=17271

There is a new beta for the windows update , I must say this is a nice improvement better overview and new options

Now Standard Users can install Updates. < and this beta works on windows 7 ;-)  >

Get it on the connect site.

  There is an new option Who can install Updates !

This option is enabled by default in Windows 7. It is disabled by default in Windows Vista to preserve the allowed functionality that administrators expect non-administrators to have.

As a result of these improvements, preliminary data suggests an overall 95% reduction in UAC prompts when using Windows Update.

The New Screens off Windows update

Improved error hubs

Many of the Windows Update error hubs have been improved to provide users with a clear action they can take to help solve the problem that occurred.

Action Center integration (Windows 7-only)

Unable to check for updates

Notification appears if unable to check for updates for 32+ days:

Launch a scan by clicking the notification, or the button in Action Center:

Upcoming auto-install

Action Center reminds users about scheduled update installations, so they can save their work in advance and avoid losing their data.

Did You see this Error ? 0x8007170a this computer cannot be made a member of a cluster.

  Think about if you see this What Windows Version do I have.

Do not assume that you have the correct windows version if someone told you I have the cluster nodes up and running but I can’t install the Cluster.

Windows 2003 fail over Needs WINDOWS 2003 ENTERPRISE !

0x8007170a this computer cannot be made a member of a cluster means You are running windows standard edition

Source: PRWeb

“Savision B.V., the leader in Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager visualization, today announced the availability of a free version of Live Maps for Microsoft Operations Manager 2007. Microsoft Operations Manager administrators everywhere can now benefit from the extraordinary visualization capabilities of Live Maps v3. The free version is fully functional and allows IT organizations to create three maps of any type.”

We are proud to announce the availability of a free version of Live Maps for Microsoft Operations Manager 2007. Now you and OpsMgr administrators everywhere can benefit from the extraordinary visualization functionality of Live Maps v3. The free version is fully functional and allows you to create three maps of any type.

Live Maps v3 allows your IT organization to easily conceive, build and maintain large-scale monitoring maps. New wizards and templates empower you and your colleagues to quickly construct dynamically updated network and application topologies, geographical views, complex business processes and executive dashboards. This ensures that employees at all levels, from the IT operator to the business executive, have access to the information needed to proactively manage IT problems.

Live Maps gives organizations running Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 a powerful web-enabled solution to create end-to-end service topologies, business process and executive dashboard maps. Additionally, the latest version allows maps to become network link aware ensuring that connectivity problems are easily identifiable. We are giving you all of this for free in order for you to truly maximize your organization’s investment in Operations Manager 2007.

This is a limited time offer – download your copy today at www.savision.com/free.

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 is now available as a public beta.

This is the first release of SCVMM to support Windows Server 2008 R2.

Key new features in R2

• Live Migration

SCVMM can now trigger live and quick migration of virtual machines on R2 clusters.

• Clustered Shared Volumes (CSV)

SCVMM can now place multiple VMs on a single LUN configured as a CSV

• SAN enhancements 

SCVMM can now use SAN migration mechanisms to move virtual machines in and out of clusters. Multiple LUNs per single iSCSI target are now supported, which lets SCVMM use certain iSCSI products from Network Appliance and EMC.

• Networking enhancements 

From 2008 R2 comes support for Virtual Machine Queues (VMQs) & Chimney (TCP offload engines). VMQs are a mechanism for the network cards to transfer data via DMA directly into the child partition's memory. Also, different processors can serve different queues, thus enhancing scalability greatly. For more details, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd434877.aspx

• Support for MAC spoofing 
• Support for reusable port groups in VMWare VirtualCenter.
• Maintenance mode support

Maintenance mode is supported across all platforms: Hyper-V, VS and VMWare ESX hosts. Putting a host in maintenance mode triggers live migration (where possible) of all VMs on the host on Windows 2008 R2 and VMWare. Also,migrations for performance and resource optimization (PRO) to the host are disabled.

• Disjoint domains support
• BITS compact server support for network transfers

A quick note that a beta of the Hyper-V management pack for System Center Operations Manager (2007, 2007 R2) is available. In combination with SCVMM (for advanced monitoring of VMs across your Hyper-V, ESX and Virtual Server environments), this SCOM management pack enables health/perf monitoring of the Hyper-V host. The management pack includes health diagram view of virtual machines, virtual components roll-up per host, critical Hyper-V Service monitoring, disk space threshold monitoring.

This beta management pack supports the following OS only (for now):

§ Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition (Full Installation with Hyper-V Role enabled)

§ Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition (Full Installation with Hyper-V Role enabled)

§ Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition (Full Installation with Hyper-V Role enabled)

To request an invitation to access this beta, you can send a message to the following address: MPCC@microsoft.com

If you have a cluster and thinking about how to host my printers on the cluster, wiil it be hard to do or not.

No it is easy to do.

Below is a screen shot of a print cluster, all you need is a disk for the spooler dir. IP address and a network name.

In my case I created a extra backup lan , be aware a spooler directory can be huge, think about printing a powerpoint ;-)

So I don’t have to tell how to create a disk , IP or Network Name just follow the wizard.

But the thing is setting up the Spooler folder You setting this in the cluster as below.

But You easy forget to set this path in the printer server it self here stands something like

C:\windows\system32\spool\printers

And do you really want to log all the spooler info ? If you have more than 800 Printers ? when did you look in this logfile ?

Yes if you have troubles but in most cases you clean the log and start all over ( IMHO ) after a brief review.

But more important is the printer creating do not create a printer on node 1 or node 2 but you must create the printer on the printer virtual network name. only than will the printer failover to the other node and you must set the spooler folder to the right location.

This post is not a complete guide for how to…. but a quick think about…. below are some microsoft links that are very helpfull

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/print/default.mspx

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302539/en-us

Please also visit our NM33 Beta Release Blog for some more information.

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/NMExperts/

What's New in NM3.3 Beta

§ Ability to capture on WWAN and Tunnel interfaces on Win7

§ Critical fixes to NM3.3 to operate correctly with Hyper-V

§ Right-click add to alias. Right-click a frame in the Frame Summary window with an IPv4, IPv6, or MAC address to add that address as a new alias.

§ Right click go to definition: Right-click a field in the Frame Details windows and select Go To Data Field Definition or Go To Data Type Definition to see where the field is defined in the NPL parsers.

§ Auto-scroll. See the most recent traffic as it comes in. In a live capture, click the Autoscroll button on the main toolbar to have the Frame Summary window automatically scroll down to display the most recent frames as they come in. Click Autoscroll again to freeze the view in its present location.

§ Experts available online: Experts are stand-alone applications that analyze Network Monitor capture data. Various experts are available online at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=133950.

§ Frame Comments: Attach comments to frames in a saved capture file. Select the Frame Comments tab in the lower-right window to add, view, edit, or delete comments.

§ API Extensions: API methods have been added to enable access to conversation information, properties, field display strings, and comments.

§ Ability to open ETL files and correlate information by Network Tracing scenario

Microsoft has confirmed it is testing a new search engine called Kumo, based on technology from its Powerset acquisition, that is likely to be an early version of a soon-to-be-rebranded Live Search product.

"Microsoft is using the Kumo.com URL for internal testing purposes only," the company said via e-mail through its public relations firm Tuesday. "Given the depth and breadth of our current online service offering, we recognize a need to sharply define and align our online brands."

Microsoft added that it has "nothing new to announce at this time." However, the company has been rumored for some time to be renaming its Live Search "Kumo" based on a December trademark application it made for the name and related URLs it has registered.

Though it would not specifically confirm this move, the company did say Tuesday that the Kumo engine being tested "shows a number of technologies in development and is a very early internal preview of directions we're exploring" for its search engine.

"While the experience will improve significantly, we believe it is leading us in the direction of a next generation search engine built to meet customers' unmet needs -- an engine that delivers fast, organized and differentiated results that can help people make more informed decisions," Microsoft said.

That more or less describes the reasoning behind the acquisition of semantic search-engine provider Powerset last June. Powerset developed a technology that attempts to understand the full meanings of phrases people type in while searching, returning results based on that understanding.

Apparently, Powerset co-founder Barney Pell, who is now a Microsoft search strategist and evangelist, posted on his Twitter site that he was testing a soon-to-be rebranded Live Search pre-beta, according to the LiveSide.net blog, which posts news about Microsoft's search and online properties.

The Kumo trademark application and registered URLs suggest Microsoft may use the name for more than just its search engine.

Read more : pc world

Announcing the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 Technology Adoption Program

Microsoft is currently building the update to System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (ConfigMgr07) titled Service Pack 2. The ConfgMgr Technology Adoption Program (TAP) team is pleased to announce that we are now soliciting participation in the System Center Configuration Manager Service Pack 2 Product validation program.

What's New?
ConfigMgr07 SP2 will include new OS support along with improving on the Intel AMT integration.

New Operating System Support

• Windows 7
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2008 SP2
• Windows Vista SP2

(Intel) Active Management Technology Integration - Version 2

Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 will improve on the Intel AMT (iAMT) integration provided in Service Pack 1. SP2 will add full feature support for computers that have the Intel vPro chip set and iAMT firmware versions 4 & 5. In addition to providing feature parity with SP1 and iAMT firmware versions 3.2.1, 4.0 and 5.0, support for the below new features are being added:

OOB Wireless Management: Wireless Profile Management (mobile ONLY)

• Provide configuration of up to eight (8) wireless profiles per site that are available to AMT clients assigned to that site
• Set the wireless information during AMT provisioning and configure all required profile settings (SSID, key management, encryption, etc.)
• Send wireless profile operations to the Intel translator on AMT systems with revisions earlier than 3.2.1

End Point Access Control: 802.1x support

• Provision 802.1x settings on AMT wireless clients during AMT provisioning
• Send 802.1x settings operations to the Intel translator on AMT systems with revisions earlier than 3.2.1

Persistent Data Storage: Non Volatile Memory or Third Party Data Store (3PDS)

• Write string data into 3PDS on AMT through OOB management console

Access Monitor: Audit Log

• Enable or Disable Audit Log (no critical event settings)
• View Audit Log through OOB Console

Remote Power Management: Power State Configuration

• Enable configuration of the power policy settings and include in provisioning settings when provisioning an AMT system

Program Description

This program is designed to provide collaboration with your company and Microsoft. The purpose is to validate through lab testing and the deployment of pre-release builds. Your company will have the opportunity to provide design and performance feedback for the product. You can do this through the reporting of bugs and submission of Design Change Requests (DCRs), as well as provide general feedback for product group consideration. This program will provide customers with support from the Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager product group, as well as 24x7 support for production deployment issues. The program starts soon and finishes by the end of the calendar year 2009.

Program Requirements

All participants must:

• Prior to program participation, have a signed TAP Agreement and System Center Configuration Manager SP2 Program Description on file with Microsoft. If you do not have a Master TAP Agreement with Microsoft currently, please work with your Technical Account Manager, Account TS, or other Microsoft representative to get one completed.
• Commit to providing resources for the duration of the program
• Commit to timely response of survey and feedback requests from Microsoft
• Agree to participate in some form of public relations activities as identified in the TAP agreement and the System Center Configuration Manager SP2 Program description
• Have a Microsoft Premier Support contract which includes a Microsoft Technical Account Manager resource
• Provide a project plan for deployment
• Deploy each milestone build of pre-release System Center Configuration Manager Sp2 into your production environment within 14 days of availability
• Meet the following deployment goals:
  1. Beta - 500 or more clients installed and actively managed by the product
  2. RC - 2,000 or more clients installed and actively managed by the product.

Program Benefits

All participants receive:

• The opportunity to shape this update to Configuration Manager 2007 through direct feedback to Microsoft
• Regularly scheduled conference calls with a member of the System Center Configuration Manager Team. Discussions will include deployment planning, feedback, feature review presentations from members of the System Center Configuration Manager Product Group, and other customer driven topics
• Production certified pre-release builds as well as exclusive access to interim lab-only builds of the product
• Web-based bug reporting and priority bug resolution
• Support and deployment guidance from the System Center Configuration Manager Product Group, as well as 24x7 support from Microsoft Beta Customer Support Services for production deployment issues
• A dedicated Program Manager contact in the System Center Configuration Manager Product Group
• A head start in the next deployment cycle, taking advantage of new and enhanced features available in System Center Configuration Manager SP2
• Potential onsite visits by members of the Product Group in order to help with production deployment and feedback.

Nominations

A short nomination survey is located here:

Full link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=EFslbxTQdA6OCgbp_2fg8iNQ_3d_3d

Participant Selection

The number of available slots in the program is limited. The selection is based on a broad set of criteria and not solely on a customer's commitment to fulfill program requirements.

Prioritization will be given to organizations that meet one or more of the following profiles:

• Are currently in the Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 TAP, *and* have Configuration Manager 2007 deployed
• Have participated in the Configuration Manager 2007 TAP and are significantly deployed with Configuration Manager in production
• Have participated in previous SMS or Configuration Manager 2007 TAP and are significantly deployed with Configuration Manager in production
• Have Intel AMT hardware deployed in production *and* have Configuration Manager 2007 deployed.
• Are using Configuration Manager Operating System Deployment (OSD) and have a business need to deploy Windows 7 using OSD.

Program Timetable (all dates are estimates and subject to change)

Please contact sccmtap@microsoft.com with any questions you may have regarding this communication or the nomination process.

Sincerely,

The System Center Configuration Manager Technology Adoption Program team