Free virtualization e-learning collection

Free virtualization e-learning collection offer

Take clinics in the Microsoft E-Learning Collection 6333: Exploring Microsoft Virtualization Technologies, including:

• Clinic 5935: Introducing Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008
• Clinic 6334: Exploring Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008
• Clinic 6335: Exploring Microsoft Application Virtualization
• Clinic 6336: Exploring Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008

Free e-book: Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2

Greetings! We’re happy to say that another free e-book is now available. 

Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2, by Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker with the Windows Server Team at Microsoft, can be downloaded here (XPS file, 28 MB) and here (PDF file, 11 MB).

Here is the book’s Content at a Glance:

Introduction    xvii
Chapter 1    What’s New in Windows Server R2    1
Chapter 2    Installation and Configuration: Adding R2 to Your World    9
Chapter 3    Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating Virtual Machines    25
Chapter 4    Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and Application Management    47
Chapter 5    Active Directory: Improving and Automating Identity and Access    65
Chapter 6    The File Services Role    91
Chapter 7    IIS 7.5: Improving the Web Application Platform    109
Chapter 8    DirectAccess and Network Policy Server    129
Chapter 9    Other Features and Enhancements    147
Index    163

And here’s part of the Introduction:

Introduction

Windows Server 2008 R2, or simply R2 for short, is the second release of
Windows Server 2008. It isn’t a completely new release, but rather adds
additional features and refinements to the existing release. In this book, we focus
on the new features and refinements in R2. We assume you have at least a general
knowledge of Windows Server, and that you have some familiarity with Windows
Server 2008, although we don’t assume you’re actively running Windows Server
2008. Where an R2 feature is a refinement of a feature that was new in Windows
Server 2008, we provide background on the Windows Server 2008 feature to
provide context.

Who This Book Is For

This book is targeted primarily at Windows server administrators who are responsible
for hands-on deployment and day-to-day management of Windows-based
servers for large organizations. Windows server administrators manage file and
print servers, network infrastructure servers, Web servers, and IT application
servers.

They use graphical administration tools as their primary interface but
also use Windows PowerShell commandlets and occasionally write Windows
PowerShell scripts for routine tasks and bulk operations. They conduct most
server management tasks remotely by using Terminal Server or administration
tools installed on their local workstation.

What This Book Is About

Covering every aspect of Windows Server 2008 R2 in nine chapters and approximately
200 pages is clearly an impossible task. Rather than try to cover everything,
we’ve focused on what is new and important, while giving you the context
from Windows Server 2008.

Chapter 1, “What’s New in Windows Server R2” Provides a brief overview of
all the new features and capabilities of Windows Server 2008 R2.

Chapter 2, “Installation and Configuration: Adding R2 to Your World” Covers
minimum system requirements, basic installation and configuration of R2, and
what is involved in adding an R2 server to an existing Windows Server network.
Configuration of the Windows Server Core installation option, added in Windows
Server 2008, is covered, along with the steps required to add a Windows Server
2008 R2 domain controller to an existing Windows Server network.

Chapter 3, “Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating Virtual Machines” Covers the
new Hyper-V features of Windows Server 2008 R2, including dynamic storage
management and Quick Migration of clustered virtual machines (VMs). Covers
creation and management of virtual machines using the Hyper-V Manager
console, Windows PowerShell, and the Failover Cluster Manager console and
discusses the features of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2.

Chapter 4, “Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and
Application Management” Covers Remote Desktop Services (the new name
for Terminal Services) and the enhancements of Windows Server 2008 R2, including
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), which uses the new RD Virtualization
Host capability of R2 to provide desktop virtualization. R2 also includes an all-new
Remote Desktop Services provider for Windows PowerShell.

Chapter 5, “Active Directory: Improving and Automating Identity and
Access” Covers the new features of Active Directory (AD), including an AD
Recycle Bin, a new set of Active Directory Windows PowerShell cmdlets, and
improvements in daily AD administration.

Chapter 6, “The File Services Role” Covers the new File Services features,
including BranchCache, Distributed File System–ReadOnly (DFS-R), and the File
Classification Infrastructure (FCI).

Chapter 7, “IIS 7.5: Improving the Web Application Platform” Covers the
features of the new version of Internet Information Services (IIS), including the
new Windows PowerShell management features.

Chapter 8, “DirectAccess and Network Policy Server” Covers the Network
Policy Server (NPS) and the new DirectAccess feature that allows Windows 7
computers to be transparently connected to internal network resources from anywhere
without requiring a virtual private network (VPN) connection.

Chapter 9, “Other Features and Enhancements” Covers the enhanced version
of Windows Server Backup included in R2, including the Windows PowerShell
commands for backing up. Also covered is the new BitLocker To Go capability,
which provides an important new protection for removable volumes such as
backup disks.

Enjoy!

Free e-book: Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2

Greetings! Microsoft is happy to say that another free e-book is now available. 

Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2, by Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker with the Windows Server Team at Microsoft, can be downloaded here (XPS file, 28 MB) and here (PDF file, 11 MB).

Here is the book’s Content at a Glance:

Introduction    xvii
Chapter 1    What’s New in Windows Server R2    1
Chapter 2    Installation and Configuration: Adding R2 to Your World    9
Chapter 3    Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating Virtual Machines    25
Chapter 4    Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and Application Management    47
Chapter 5    Active Directory: Improving and Automating Identity and Access    65
Chapter 6    The File Services Role    91
Chapter 7    IIS 7.5: Improving the Web Application Platform    109
Chapter 8    DirectAccess and Network Policy Server    129
Chapter 9    Other Features and Enhancements    147
Index    163

And here’s part of the Introduction:

Introduction

Windows Server 2008 R2, or simply R2 for short, is the second release of
Windows Server 2008. It isn’t a completely new release, but rather adds
additional features and refinements to the existing release. In this book, we focus
on the new features and refinements in R2. We assume you have at least a general
knowledge of Windows Server, and that you have some familiarity with Windows
Server 2008, although we don’t assume you’re actively running Windows Server
2008. Where an R2 feature is a refinement of a feature that was new in Windows
Server 2008, we provide background on the Windows Server 2008 feature to
provide context.

Who This Book Is For

This book is targeted primarily at Windows server administrators who are responsible
for hands-on deployment and day-to-day management of Windows-based
servers for large organizations. Windows server administrators manage file and
print servers, network infrastructure servers, Web servers, and IT application
servers.

They use graphical administration tools as their primary interface but
also use Windows PowerShell commandlets and occasionally write Windows
PowerShell scripts for routine tasks and bulk operations. They conduct most
server management tasks remotely by using Terminal Server or administration
tools installed on their local workstation.

What This Book Is About

Covering every aspect of Windows Server 2008 R2 in nine chapters and approximately
200 pages is clearly an impossible task. Rather than try to cover everything,
we’ve focused on what is new and important, while giving you the context
from Windows Server 2008.

Chapter 1, “What’s New in Windows Server R2” Provides a brief overview of
all the new features and capabilities of Windows Server 2008 R2.

Chapter 2, “Installation and Configuration: Adding R2 to Your World” Covers
minimum system requirements, basic installation and configuration of R2, and
what is involved in adding an R2 server to an existing Windows Server network.
Configuration of the Windows Server Core installation option, added in Windows
Server 2008, is covered, along with the steps required to add a Windows Server
2008 R2 domain controller to an existing Windows Server network.

Chapter 3, “Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating Virtual Machines” Covers the
new Hyper-V features of Windows Server 2008 R2, including dynamic storage
management and Quick Migration of clustered virtual machines (VMs). Covers
creation and management of virtual machines using the Hyper-V Manager
console, Windows PowerShell, and the Failover Cluster Manager console and
discusses the features of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2.

Chapter 4, “Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and
Application Management” Covers Remote Desktop Services (the new name
for Terminal Services) and the enhancements of Windows Server 2008 R2, including
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), which uses the new RD Virtualization
Host capability of R2 to provide desktop virtualization. R2 also includes an all-new
Remote Desktop Services provider for Windows PowerShell.

Chapter 5, “Active Directory: Improving and Automating Identity and
Access” Covers the new features of Active Directory (AD), including an AD
Recycle Bin, a new set of Active Directory Windows PowerShell cmdlets, and
improvements in daily AD administration.

Chapter 6, “The File Services Role” Covers the new File Services features,
including BranchCache, Distributed File System–ReadOnly (DFS-R), and the File
Classification Infrastructure (FCI).

Chapter 7, “IIS 7.5: Improving the Web Application Platform” Covers the
features of the new version of Internet Information Services (IIS), including the
new Windows PowerShell management features.

Chapter 8, “DirectAccess and Network Policy Server” Covers the Network
Policy Server (NPS) and the new DirectAccess feature that allows Windows 7
computers to be transparently connected to internal network resources from anywhere
without requiring a virtual private network (VPN) connection.

Chapter 9, “Other Features and Enhancements” Covers the enhanced version
of Windows Server Backup included in R2, including the Windows PowerShell
commands for backing up. Also covered is the new BitLocker To Go capability,
which provides an important new protection for removable volumes such as
backup disks.

Windows Server 2008 R2 available on TechNet and MSDN

Everyone, including me has spent a lot of time discussing the Windows 7 release and getting caught up in all the hype over the new client OS. That being said, I spend most of my daily work with Microsoft discussing Windows Server 2008 R2 features, Virtualization and the better together message with Windows 7 through DirectAccess, Branch Cache and more.

I truly am passionate of about server side technologies and see Windows Server 2008 R2 as the game changing release that Windows Server 2008 should have been. There are a lot of Windows Server 2003 domains out there because it was rock solid and even though there was great features in the 2008 release, not enough for many organizations to upgrade. Active Directory Recycle Bin, Hyper-V R2 and Live Migration, DirectAccess, Branch Cache, some serious power management including core parking will change this in my opinion. Even in tough economic times, these features will see long-term value and savings when implemented.

Well, now we get to do all of this for real as the bits have been for the RTM to TechNet and MSDN subscribers. I am currently downloading the ISO myself for use in my home setup. I have included below some great video resources from http://edge.technet.com related to the server release and the included improvement and new technologies.

Migration Videos

Inside the new Server Migration Portal:  It’s no secret that in the past migration guidance from Microsoft has been spread out all over the place and has been difficult to find.  Enter the Server Migration portal on TechNet.  In this interview I sit down with Sergei and Jared to talk about this new portal and get details on the portal as well as some of the new tools there to aid IT Professionals in migration of their server roles.

Installing the Windows Server 2008 R2 Migration Tools: Gordon Ryan shows us some great how to guidence on installing the new Windows Server R2 Migration tools.

Migrating DHCP using the Windows Server 2008 R2 Migration Tools: Gordon Ryan walks through a migration of DHCP using the Windows Server R2 Migration tools.

Hyper-V Videos

Hyper-V Changes in Windows Server 2008 R2: Issac Roybal is the Product Manager for Hyper-V and spent a few minutes with me discussing some very late breaking features in Hyper-V coming with the Windows Server 2008 R2

Hyper-V R2: Initial Installation & Configuration: This video walks through the installation of Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2, and also looks at some of the key changes in this release, such as Processor Compatibility Mode, Core Parking, and more.

Hyper-V Server 2008 R2: Bare M… Migration (In about an hour!):In this one-off video, Matt McSpirit, Partner Technology Specialist at Microsoft UK, walks through a bare-metal installation of Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 (RC) on 2 physical nodes, hooks them up to an iSCSI SAN, configures the SAN storage, and then, from a Windows 7 (RC) laptop, validates, and builds a Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 (RC) Cluster.  The end result?  A Highly Available, Live Migratable, Virtual Machine!

Direct Access Videos

DirectAccess with Devrim: DirectAccess provides users the experience of being seamlessly connected to their corporate network any time they have Internet access.  If their corporate network supports DirectAccess, the users don’t need to connect via their Virtual Private Network in order to access corporate resources.  They can work as if they are in their office, no matter where they are.

Direct Access Simplified with Corey Hynes: I asked Corey to sit down with me and talk about one of the truly game changing features in Windows Server 2008 R2: Direct Access.

Configuring DirectAccess – Windows Server 2008 R2 Demo Screencast:   This is the fifth of five screencasts based on the five demos that were part of the TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical Overview (Part 2 of 2).  In this Screencast Kevin Remde walks through configuration of Direct Access in Windows Server 2008 R2.