Sunday, February 27, 2011

Take your Windows-based hosting business to the next level

HOSTING DEPLOYMENT ACCELERATORS:
Resources to help you grow your dedicated, shared, virtual and database hosting business or help you start your Managed or Cloud Hosting business @ http://www.microsoft.com/hosting/en/us/hda/default.aspx#WindowsServer2008HyperV_

Expand your portfolio of service offerings today! Access all the tools and resources you need to take your Windows-based hosting business to the next level. We will help you build, deploy and reach new customers so you can grow your web hosting, application hosting or managed services business @ Take your Windows-based hosting business to the next level [Click Here]

The New New World of Hosting: @ http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2010/09/17/microsoft-to-hosters-move-up-the-value-chain/

This document provides guidance on how a hosting provider can create a managed hosting offer by leveraging different technologies offered by Microsoft.  In this document, there is no single definition for Managed Hosting, but in general, Managed Hosting is referred to as a Dedicated Server or Virtual Dedicated Server hosting plan with a set of management services @ Installation Guide for System Center Enterprise Suite [Click Here]

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Resources for starting your Dynamic Data Center solution deployment

Microsoft Consulting created the DDC Toolkit and has provided additional resources that will help prepare you for building your own cloud solution based on Hyper-V and System Center.  
Begin your DDC education by going through the assessment planning toolkit.
 
Resources for starting your Dynamic Data Center solution deployment

http://cloud.com/
http://www.kaseya.com/
http://www.parallels.com/products/automation/

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Planning Guide

Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Planning Guide

Planning for Exchange 2010 Deployment Resources

Planning for Exchange 2010 Deployment Resources

Getting Started With Exchange 2010

Microsoft has posted an Online guide for Planning your Exchange 2010 Deployment - Read how to plan and deploy Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 into your production environment:

Planning for Exchange 2010 Deployment - Online Deployment Guide

Planning Active Directory

Multi-Tenant Support

Deployment Checklist for Multi-Tenancy

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V

With Hyper-V, it's easier than ever to take advantage of the cost savings of virtualization through Windows Server 2008 R2. Optimize your server hardware investments by consolidating multiple server roles as separate virtual machines running on a single physical machine, efficiently run multiple different operating systems in parallel, on a single server, and fully leverage the power of x64 computing.

DNS Namespace Planning Support

DNS Namespace Planning Support

Additional Key Resources:

Namespace Planning for Domain Name System (DNS)
An introduction on the basics of DNS planning. Includes instructions on choosing domain names, DNS namespace planning for Active Directory, and integration planning for supporting multiple namespaces.

DNS Namespace Planning
How to plan and create a DNS Namespace.

Namespace Planning Example
The article explains some of the issues must be considered when planning a namespace by describing the configuration of two fictitious organizations.

Checklist: Deploying DNS for Active Directory
A checklist detailing the steps that should be considered when deploying DNS for Active Directory.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Microsoft Hyper-V Customer Perspectives

Microsoft Hyper-V Customer Perspectives:

View example Customer Perspectives and Case Studies HERE
How can Microsoft products and services help your business succeed? Case studies provide the proof points you need to plan and deploy effective virtualization solutions. Learn from similar organizations in your industry, and see why they are choosing Hyper-V to achieve highly effective virtual environments.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Hosting Deployment Guide for Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta

This download contains topics that will help you plan, deploy, and manage Exchange Server 2010 SP1 in a multi-tenant organization - Hosting Deployment Guide for Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta

Exchange Server 2010 SP1 supports hosting deployments and provides hosting partners with the core Exchange features so that they can be deployed to multiple customers in a single installation. The Exchange 2010 SP1 Hosting Deployment guide augments the Exchange 2010 SP1 core content by highlighting the hosting deployment information.

Digging deeper into deploying Microsoft Dynamic Data Center

I'm digging deeper into the deployment best practices for the Microsoft Dynamic Data Center (DDC) and I will post my findings here.

Starting with this link to the Microsoft System Center website where you will find tons of information and resources such as Interactive Overviews, Virtual Labs, Virtual Hard Disks and Downloads.

Download "Building Microsoft Messaging and Collaboration Cloud Services" docs

Download "Building Microsoft Messaging and Collaboration Cloud Services" documents - Click HERE
  • The documents in this file are intended to provide system integrators and service providers with guidance for migrating from Microsoft Solution for Hosted and Messaging Collaboration (HMC) to Microsoft® Exchange 2010 SP1 in Hosting mode.
Download Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) - Click HERE

Friday, February 11, 2011

What is the Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track Architecture Brief?

A few of the really smart folks at Microsoft recently produced some of the most helpful content that I have seen!

Take a look at the new Microsoft Hyper-V "Cloud Fast Track Architecture Brief"

I'm impressed.  With so much "Virtualization" hype out there today, this really helps cut to the chase!
Get an infrastructure as a service private cloud with a pre-validated configuration from server partners in the Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track. Offerings from the Fast Track program combine Microsoft software; consolidated guidance; validated configurations from OEM partners for compute, network, and storage; and value-added software components.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Exchange Server 2010 Design and Architecture at Microsoft - Technical White Paper

Exchange Server 2010 Design and Architecture at Microsoft:
- How Microsoft IT Deployed Exchange Server 2010 -

Technical White Paper
Published: July 2010

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

EMC Launches Journey To The Private Cloud Portal

*NEW - EMC's Journey To The Private Cloud Portal

Microsoft Exchange 2010 HOT Links - includes SP1 for Hosters

Through hours of research and study, I've identified a series of key resources regarding Microsoft Exchange 2010 and SP1. I am publishing a series on this topic here on my blog that I will maintain and update. I hope that you will find this information and resources helpful too. Post a comment or send me a note if you have additional suggestions.  Thanks.

Cut through the clutter and find answers to common questions and scenarios regarding Exchange 2010 here:
          -----------------------------------------------------------------
          -----------------------------------------------------------------
Follow along in the Exchange 2010 Forums and at Blogs linked below:
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 helps IT Professionals achieve new levels of reliability with greater flexibility, enhanced user experiences, and increased protection for business communications.
  • Flexible and reliable - Exchange Server 2010 SP1 gives you the flexibility to tailor your deployment based on your company's unique needs and a simplified way to keep e-mail continuously available for your users.
  • Anywhere access - Exchange Server 2010 SP1 helps your users get more done by giving them the freedom to securely access all their communications - e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging, and more - from virtually any platform, Web browser, or device.
  • Protection and compliance - Exchange Server 2010 SP1 delivers integrated information loss prevention, and compliance tools aimed at helping you simplify the process of protecting your company's communications and meeting regulatory requirements.
----
Order a copy of Exchange Server 2010 Best Practices
----


What is Office 365?

Microsoft Office 365 provides customers with access to hosted cloud services, rich local applications, and web-based solutions with a progressive approach to cloud applications. Office 365 is designed to work for a business of one or a business of one million and one.

Office 365 replaces some previous and familiar brands, including Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), Office Live Small Business, and Live@edu. A single now provides a clearer picture to customers and consolidate a lot of previously separate functionality under one offering.

There are two versions of Office 365: Office 365 for small businesses and Office 365 for enterprises. Both are subscription services that include access to Office Web Apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online (a next-generation version of Office Communications Server).

Office 365 small business version targets businesses with 25 or fewer employees and will cost $6 per user, per month. The enterprise version adds the Office 2010 Professional Plus client software, 24x7 support, and other features, and will cost $2 to $24 per user, per month, and have volume-license options.

The cloud-hosted Office 365 services will work through all major web browsers—including Internet Explorer (IE), Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Google Chrome—and via popular smartphones and portable devices, including Research in Motion (RIM) BlackBerry and the Apple iPhone and iPad.

More @ http://office365.microsoft.com/en-US/online-services.aspx

Microsoft Online Service Help and How-to:
http://www.microsoft.com/online/help/en-us/helphowto/homepage.htm

Welcome to the Office 365 Community:
http://community.office365.com/enus/office365/default.aspx

Limited Beta for Office 365:
http://office365.microsoft.com/en-US/office365-beta.aspx

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Office365 and ADFS

A short post about Office365 and ADFS - more to come on this topic!
http://www.bposrocks.com/2010/11/office-365-and-adfs.html
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)