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

Open Beta for MOF Companion Guides- Now Available for Download
Planning for Virtualization and Planning for Software-plus-Services- MOF Companion Guides
The Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) team is extending the MOF 4.0 core content with a new series of MOF Companion Guides for the Plan Phase. We're pleased to announce the beta of the first two guides, Planning for Virtualization and Planning for Software-plus-Services. Visit the Connect site to join the beta.
These companion guides apply MOF to specific scenarios and challenges faced by IT professionals. The guides will walk you through the research and planning processes of implementing virtualization or software-plus-services strategies. They enable the reader to quickly determine which strategies are right for their business, which offerings make sense for their needs, how to select a service provider, and how to best prepare for implementation. Ultimately, the decision-making processes outlined in these guides will help move your business toward operating more efficiently.

More information about MOF 4.0: Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) 4.0 delivers practical guidance for everyday IT practices and activities, helping IT professionals establish and implement reliable, cost-effective IT services. It integrates community-generated processes, governance, risk, and compliance activities, management reviews, and Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) best practices. MOF 4.0 is a framework that provides guidance across the IT service lifecycle.

Download the guides now:
Download—Planning for Virtualization
Download—Planning for Software-plus-Services
These guides will walk you through the research and planning processes of implementing virtualization or adopting a software-plus-services strategy. They enable the reader to quickly determine which strategies are right for their business, which offerings make sense for their needs, how to select a service provider, and how to best prepare for implementation. Ultimately, the decision-making processes outlined in these guides will help move your business toward operating more efficiently.
Tell us what you think! Test drive our beta guides, and send us your honest feedback. What are your thoughts on the MOF Companion Guides for the Plan Phase? What other scenarios would you like to see us address? We appreciate the input and will work to make each guide as helpful and useful as possible.

Tell your peers about MOF 4.0! Please share the beta site with anyone who wants to learn more about Microsoft Operations Framework.

Other MOF Resources:

• Microsoft Operations Framework 4.0 Documentation
• MOF 4.0 Online Forum
Microsoft Solution Accelerators Online Services Suite

About MOF

Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) 4.0 delivers practical guidance for everyday IT practices and activities, helping users establish and implement reliable, cost-effective IT services. It encompasses the entire IT lifecycle by integrating:

• Community-generated processes for planning, delivering, operating, and managing IT

• Governance, risk, and compliance activities

• Management reviews

• Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) best practices

during my very busy week I can’t post a lot but There is one tool that is very handy.

Check it out.

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/wim2vhd

http://blogs.msdn.com/mikekol/

Introduction

Requirements

• A computer running one of the following Windows operating systems:
  • Windows 7
  • Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V RTM enabled (x64 only)
• The Windows 7 Beta Automated Installation Kit (AIK) or Windows OEM Pre-Installation Kit (OPK) installed.
• A Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 installation source, or another Windows image captured to a .WIM file.

Read more at source.

I would imagine some of you attended Microsoft events last year.  At some of those events we handed out or raffled off NFR copies of Windows Vista Ultimate SP1.

Here’s a pretty picture of the kit I grabbed from one of those events.

Many of you ran home and cracked the seal on the kit and immediately followed the instructions.  Those instructions told you to go to the website at http://www.registerwindowsvistasp1.com/ and plug in your PIN (the one inside the kit), your information and submit the request.  After you submit the request, an email is sent to you with a valid product key for installation.  The process worked perfectly until the deadline.  That’s the good news.

The deadline WAS 12/31/2008.

Repeat, WAS.

For those of you that missed that deadline, it has now been extended until June 30, 2009.

So if you still have a kit and didn’t register it, please go do it now and have the product ID emailed to you.

Don’t expect the deadline to be extended again.  Get over there and get this done.  Please.

Source: Keith Combs' Blahg Ramblings from another nerd on the grid

But Remember Not All Vista copy’s needs the Pin code. My copy’s are with the right product key ;-))

In my new test lab I run hyper-v and Vmware today I looked at a free tool to monitor the ESX enviroment. I must say If you don’t have SCOM this is a welcome add on to see what is going on. I am no ESX expert ( yet ) so this is my opinion.

The Veeam Monitor Free Edition is an easy-to-use VMware monitoring solution designed to meet the day-to-day needs of VMware administrators who need real-time performance monitoring and alerting. Built from the ground up specifically for the virtual world, Veeam Monitor provides a bird’s-eye view of key performance metrics across your virtual ESXi infrastructure.
With Veeam Monitor, you can view real-time resource usage data for any virtual infrastructure object or collection of objects, as well as known infrastructure events, all on a single screen. This allows you to finally see your virtual infrastructure as a unified entity, not just a collection of isolated hosts and guests.

The Veeam Monitor Free Edition is an easy-to-use VMware monitoring solution designed to meet the day-to-day needs of VMware administrators who need real-time performance monitoring and alerting. Built from the ground up specifically for the virtual world, Veeam Monitor provides a bird’s-eye view of key performance metrics across your virtual ESXi infrastructure.
With Veeam Monitor, you can view real-time resource usage data for any virtual infrastructure object or collection of objects, as well as known infrastructure events, all on a single screen. This allows you to finally see your virtual infrastructure as a unified entity, not just a collection of isolated hosts and guests.

The Veeam Monitor Free Edition is an easy-to-use VMware monitoring solution designed to meet the day-to-day needs of VMware administrators who need real-time performance monitoring and alerting. Built from the ground up specifically for the virtual world, Veeam Monitor provides a bird’s-eye view of key performance metrics across your virtual ESXi infrastructure.
With Veeam Monitor, you can view real-time resource usage data for any virtual infrastructure object or collection of objects, as well as known infrastructure events, all on a single screen. This allows you to finally see your virtual infrastructure as a unified entity, not just a collection of isolated hosts and guests.

http://www.veeam.com/esxi-monitoring-free.html

We are very proud to announce the general availability of Live Maps for Operations Manager version 3. The new release greatly enhances IT organizations’ ability to conceive, build and maintain large-scale monitoring maps. New view types, wizards and templates allow IT professionals to quickly construct dynamically updated business process maps and executive dashboards. These new map types ensure that employees at all levels, from the IT operator to the business executive, have access to the map needed to proactively manage IT problems that affect business operations.

What’s new in version 3?

· Application and Network Topologies: Live Maps v3 allows you to create true end-to-end diagrams of your applications and network from within the Live Maps Authoring console with real Operations Manager objects. Simple drag and drop operations combined with Live Maps v3 new advanced drawing controls make it simple and fast.

· Business Process Monitoring: Using the new business process shapes in Live Maps v3 you can easily model your business process and map them to the IT infrastructure that supports them, giving everybody, IT manager, end- user and the business process owner, instant insight into the health of a business process.

· Auto-updating Geographical Maps: By combining any of the over 300+ built-in maps with the new rule-based dynamic list Live Maps v3 lets you create maps that automatically keep up to date while your IT environment evolves. The built-in ability of Live Maps to create unlimited levels of maps ensures you will never lose overview.

· Dashboards: Dashboards are easy to understand top level views of the state of your environment. And you can take any perspective, locations, business process, IT services, whatever fits your needs. Using the built-in drilldown feature you can still get to the root cause of the problem within a few simple clicks.

What others are saying…

“I consider Savision Live Maps as the number one gotta-have OpsMgr extension.” says Cameron Fuller, OpsMgr MVP

“With Live Maps v3, we are able to rapidly deploy maintenance-free monitoring maps for our 800 locations,” says Diego Zamora, IT Manager at one of the world’s largest shipping companies. “The new version allows us define simple rules that help dynamically build and update maps. Using the new site wizard, we were able to create hundreds of geographically connected maps in an hour. And, these maps are automatically updated as our environment changes. Live Maps has allowed us to build maps that truly unlock our investment in Microsoft Operations Manager.”

What should you do next?

Check out an online demo of the new version at www.savision.com/demo. If you like what you see, and we believe you will, request a fully functional evaluation copy of Live Maps v3 at www.savision.com/eval.

I Saw this newsgroup post how to do this and what to do.

Remember ABE needs to setup on ALL Cluster nodes !!

First We set up the Access-based Enumeration (ABE) on the nodes.

Do this on all the nodes !!

First We need to create a File share that We will use for Access-based Enumeration (ABE)

Start the Cluadmin and create New fileshare

Now that the File share is in place we move on to the next step.

In the Cluster admin

So Now that the Cluster Resources are online lets check the status of the file shares, first the share that runs on the cluster but without the abe

  As you can see the box in not checked

The ABE created file share

   ABE is enabled

Below are some Items about the Cmd tool

Syntax

abecmd [/enable | /disable] [/server <ServerName>] {/all | <ShareName>}

Parameter Description

/enable Enables ABE on the shared specified resource or on all shared resources.

/disable Disables ABE on the shared specified resource or on all shared resources.

/server <ServerName>

Apply the action (making ABE enabled or not enabled) for shared resources on a server instead of the local computer.

/all Apply the action (making ABE enabled or not enabled) for all shared resources.

Note: If /all and a ShareName is specified, the ShareName is ignored.

<ShareName> Designates the shared resource to which ABE will be applied or removed.

Note: Either /all or ShareName must be specified.

Performance Sheets

1 Chart comparing folder access times with ABE not enabled and enabled, in turn

2 Detail of the first comparative chart focusing on smaller folders, filtered for disk reading

The data in Figure 72shows the same information as the data in Figure 1, narrowed down to smaller directories: the chart only shows information for directories with 500 to 16,000 files.

Note that accessing the shared folder can sometimes be slower with ABE not enable. The server cache was primed before these test runs, enumerating the shared folders with ABE not enabled in order to read things like security profiles from the hard disk. This was done in order not to skew the test results: reading information from the hard disk is much more time-consuming than enumerating a shared folder with ABE enabled (as evidenced by Runs 1 and 2, both of which still had to read some information from the hard disk). Most importantly, with less than 15,000 files in the shared folder, access time for a server with ABE enabled and not enabled is indistinguishable—less than one second. While enabling ABE can certainly affect access time for particularly large folders, it represents a near trivial performance loss for smaller folders.

Ok below is the disk layout and the hardware layout , as you can see the ISCSI software is in place. ( setup next, I agree,finish )

Below You can see the configured Services ( all default )

Sample screen shot from the configured ISCSI targets ( disks) the iscsi disk are vhd file !

For performance reasons I did a NLB on the NIC’s both nic’s are GBit and during a copy I got 39 % network load on one nic after the NLB i had only 10 % max, in this case I did Not use the ISCSI option in the HP nic. I will show you this in the next post.

The Disk layout. and the ISCSI Software MMC

Setting up a new ISCSI Disk used for the VMware server. Right mouse on the Server Create new virtual disk (vhd )

Watch out With the disk size it is in MB WHO uses a MB disk size I’m not ;-) so 1 GB = 1000 MB First time I did not read the stuff just next next Finish until the OS install I had only 15 MB disk size ;-(

Give the Disk a name  so it is easy to find if you have more than one disk.

On the VMWare Server you have to check out several things. Go to the VMWARE server and configuration , Storage adapter.

You have to enable the ISCSI channel

After this you put in the ISCSI Server that you just create the virtual disk. Then Do a Rescan on the Adapter

If you don’t see the disk than you forgot to add the Service console ISCSI, it is in the manual but easy to forget. And give it an IP number but do not use the Gateway !! this is default the case just remove the Gateway.

So go to the Storage add Storage and it is a disk lun you can see this also in the iscsi server LUN 0- xxx

So after this you must see the disk and it is ready for use.

There is more than one software tool to get ISCSI running. I’m only use this to show how you can do this.

Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway is a comprehensive secure Web gateway that helps protect your corporate assets and employees from Web threats. It also delivers easy-to-use, unified perimeter security to protect networks from attack.

Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway is a comprehensive secure Web gateway that helps protect Web-using employees from threats on the Web with an enterprise-class Web proxy and anti-malware functionality. Forefront TMG helps ensure that encrypted Web sessions (SSL) are protected from threats. It also delivers simple, unified perimeter security to protect networks from attack by providing an integrated application and network-layer firewall, intrusion prevention, VPN connectivity, and management of e-mail security. It enables you to easily maximize existing information technology (IT) investments by improving network security and performance. The newly added protection technologies will help you inspect e-mail traffic for spam and malware and enforce content policy compliance in your organization. Furthermore, Forefront TMG protects the organization from zero-day-attacks, and inspects outbound HTTP and HTTPS traffic to improve Internet security for your organization.

Forefront TMG Beta 2 can help you:
• Protect users from Web browsing threats (Secure Web Gateway)
• Control network Access at the edge (Firewall)
• Protect users from e-mail threats (E-mail Protection)
• Protect desktops and servers from intrusion attempts (Network Inspection System, Security Assessment Sharing)
• Enable users to remotely access corporate resources (VPN, Secure Web Publishing)
• Simplify management and deployment
• Integrate with the Forefront Security Suite (codename Stirling) to provide a unified security solution for protecting all of the assets in your organization
Note: Connecting Forefront TMG to a Stirling Server is supported only with the public Beta 2 of Forefront Codenamed Stirling

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008

We are pleased to announce that this Solution Accelerator has now been released to TechNet and is now available now on the Microsoft Download Center: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/B/C/5BC966BC-47D8-41DF-95F2-FA9A2D816258/Windows_Optimized_Desktop_Scenarios.zip

The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios relate the IT and user business requirements for a flexible, efficient, and managed desktop environment to sets of complementary Microsoft technologies. It accomplishes this by defining and using five standard user scenarios that map business requirements to technology solutions. These core scenarios cover most desktop user situations. They are: Office Worker, Mobile Worker, Task Worker, Contract/Offshore Worker, and workers who need to Access from Home. Each scenario puts a different emphasis on applications, security, and networking. In this way, these scenarios provide a flexible, adaptable desktop experience that meets the business requirements of each of these users.

Solution Accelerator Components

This accelerator includes the following components:
. Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment (a guide)
. Windows Optimized Desktop Scenario Selection Tool

The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment Guide:
The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment describes the five user scenarios defined for the Windows Optimized Desktop and further describes the Microsoft products and technologies that underpin each scenario solution. Additionally, this document guides you through an assessment of the user profiles in your organization to identify which scenario or scenarios best meets their needs.

Windows Optimized Desktop Scenario Selection Tool:
The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenario Selection Tool is designed to help you identify applicable scenarios, based on user and business requirements, for each user segment within your organization.

Download This Tool

You can download the IPD Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Assessment Guide and Tool here: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/B/C/5BC966BC-47D8-41DF-95F2-FA9A2D816258/Windows_Optimized_Desktop_Scenarios.zip
This is the latest Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guide in a growing popular series which cover deployment, product integration and virtualization among other IT Pro subjects. Read more about the IPD series here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd408383.aspx

Additional Resources

Solution Accelerators on TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/default.aspx
Infrastructure Planning and Design, Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios, Executive Overview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd334417.aspx
Windows Optimized Desktop: Overview on MS.COM: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/optimized-desktop/default.aspx

Regards
The Solution Accelerator Team