Windows Azure Virtual Network Site-to-Site IPsec VPN with Forefront TMG 2010

Microsoft announced Windows Azure Virtual Network and Windows Azure Virtual Machines in June 2012 to provide IaaS ‘Hybrid Cloud’ functionality.

What this allows is persistent Virtual Machines (which retain the same private addresses) running in Azure that can be joined to your on-premise Active Directory using a site-to-site IPsec VPN. The Azure VMs then act like a branch network with full connectivity and you can add Domain Controllers in the Azure Virtual Network.

There some great blog posts available which guiding you through and enables cross-premises connectivity with your on-premise environment and Windows Azure. 

Enable Cross-Premises Connectivity to Windows Azure with Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 source: ISAServer.org / Richard Hicks

Windows Azure Virtual Network VPN with TMG 2010 source: kloud.com.au

Technorati Tags: IPsec,VPN,TMG,Cloud,Azure,Forefront

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 6.5 beta Now Available!

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 6.5 beta Now Available!

The journey to the cloud is now smoother than ever with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 6.5 Beta. The MAP Toolkit’s new capabilities help users to securely assess heterogeneous IT environments while enabling the evaluation of workloads for migration to Microsoft’s private and public cloud platforms. Consolidate existing server workloads using the updated Hyper-V^® Cloud Fast Track capacity planning feature. The revamped Azure Migration feature in MAP 6.5 provides more in-depth analysis of the suitability of migrating on-premises applications to the Windows Azure^™ platform. Other significant new features in MAP 6.5 include the discovery of active Windows^® devices, Software Usage Tracking for Forefront^® Endpoint Protection (FEP), and the discovery of Oracle instances on Itanium-based servers with HP-UX to assist in the planning of migration to SQL Server^®.

Key features and benefits of MAP 6.5 Beta help you:

        Analyze your portfolio of applications for a move to the Windows Azure platform.

        Accelerate private and public cloud planning with Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track Onboarding.

        Identify migration opportunities with enhanced heterogeneous server environment inventory.

        NEW!Assess your usage of Microsoft software with the Software Usage Tracking feature.

        Discover Oracle instances on Itanium-based servers for migration to SQL Server.

To join the beta review program for Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 6.5, visit Microsoft Connect:http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=219168  

Sources:

www.microsoft.com/map

http://blogs.technet.com/mapblog

www.microsoft.com/solutionaccelerators

Overview of System Center Advisor #sysctr

In this blog I’d like to introduce you to System Center Advisor. What is it, what are the benefits and what’s in for me? In this post I’ll start with some background and go through the installation and configuration of System Center Advisor.

What is System Center Advisor?

System Center Advisor is an online service that analyzes installations of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (and later versions) and Windows Server 2008 (and later versions). The System Requirements can be reviewed here. Advisor collects data from your installations, analyzes it, and generates alerts that identify potential issues (such as missing security patches) or deviations from identified best practices with regard to configuration and usage. Advisor also provides both current and historical views of the configuration of servers in your environment.

Advisor is developed by the Microsoft System Center Advisor product group in partnership with Microsoft Support engineers to ensure that the issues customers report to Microsoft are detected before they affect your environment. Advisor is regularly updated to reflect the most recent experiences of these engineers, who support customers around the world.

What does Advisor analyze?

With System Center Advisor, the following workloads are analyzed:

• Active Directory
• Hyper-V Host
• General operating system
• SQL Engine

Software Deployment with Windows #Intune Beta July #sysctr

July 11th Microsoft announced the beta of the next there next release of Windows Intune.

Some key new features include:

• Simplify the task of distributing software and updates - In addition to Microsoft patches and updates, you can now use Windows Intune to deploy third-party applications and updates to your managed PCs.
• Manage all your software licenses. If you need a better way to manage all your software licenses, look no further. Now you can upload and track Microsoft Retail and OEM licenses and third-party license agreements in addition to Microsoft Volume License agreements.
• Get better hardware reporting. We’ve made it simple for you to view or create reports on hardware data—including manufacturer, chassis type, available disk space, installed memory, and CPU speed.

In this post I will elaborate on the operation of software distribution, something that many have looked forward to it. I assume a scenario that all your workstations are currently already managed by Windows Intune.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning #MAP 6.0 Beta released

The latest beta release from the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) team provides organizations with tools to accelerate the adoption of Microsoft private and public cloud platforms.

MAP 6.0 Beta: Accelerate the adoption of Microsoft private and public cloud platforms

Planning your journey to the cloud just got a bit easier. The next release of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit—version 6.0 Beta—includes assessment capabilities to evaluate workloads for both public and private cloud platforms. With MAP 6.0 Beta, you now have the ability to identify workloads and estimate the infrastructure size and resources needed for both Windows Azure and Hyper-V Fast Track. Also new to MAP 6.0 Beta is the Office 365 client assessment, enhanced VMware inventory, and Oracle schema discovery and reporting. Expanded assessment and discovery capabilities from MAP help you streamline planning for your next migration project. Plan what’s next with MAP.

New features and benefits from MAP 6.0 Beta release help you:

·        Analyze your portfolio of applications for a move to the Windows Azure Platform

·        Accelerate planning to private cloud with Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track onboarding

·        Identify migration opportunities with enhanced heterogeneous server environment inventory

·        Assess your client environment for Office 365 readiness

·        Determine readiness for migration to Windows Internet Explorer 9

·        Discover Oracle database schemas for migration to SQL Server

The beta materials can be downloaded on Connect: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=219165

This program is now open. The beta review period will run through mid-July, 2011.
To join the beta review program for Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 6.0, visit Microsoft Connect:http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=219168

Share your #OneNote2010 documents with #SkyDrive

Cloud computing is becoming more and more populair. Another simple application is sharing your OneNote with SkyDrive. OneNote 2010 has by default an option to share/save your OneNote documentation on fileserver, SharePoint and Skydrive.

By a few simple mouse clicks you’re able to publish your OneNote documents to SkyDrive.