Build Your Private Cloud in a Month – The Complete April 2013 Series

Want to build a private cloud?  Head over to Kevin Remde’s blog for more information and video series.

Date	Title / Topic	Author
1-Apr	Series Introduction - Build Your Private Cloud in a Month	Keith Mayer – @KeithMayer
2-Apr	What is a Private Cloud?	Keith Mayer – @KeithMayer

Microsoft Management Summit 2013 Keynote.

MMS 2013 Keynote.

Security Compliance Manager (SCM) 3.0

Take advantage of the experience of Microsoft security professionals, and reduce the time and money required to harden your environment. This end-to-end Solution Accelerator will help you plan, deploy, operate, and manage your security baselines for Windows client and server operating systems, and Microsoft applications.

Access the complete database of Microsoft recommended security settings, customize your baselines, and then choose from multiple formats—including XLS, Group Policy objects (GPOs), Desired Configuration Management (DCM) packs, or Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP)—to export the baselines to your environment to automate the security baseline deployment and compliance verification process.

Use the Security Compliance Manager to achieve a secure, reliable, and centralized IT environment that will help you better balance your organization’s needs for security and functionality.

Key Features & Benefits

• Integration with the System Center 2012.
• Import and take advantage of your existing Group Policy or create a snapshot of a reference machine to kick-start your project.
• Configure stand-alone machines: Deploy your configurations to non-domain joined computers using the new GPO Pack feature.
• Updated security guidance: Take advantage of the deep security expertise and best practices in the updated security guides and the attack surface reference workbooks to help reduce the security risks that you consider to be the most important.
  Centralized Management of Your Baseline Portfolio.
• Multiple Export Capabilities: Export baselines in formats like XLS, Group Policy objects (GPOs).

More information can be found here;

System Center 2012 SP1 General Availability

System Center 2012 SP1 is now available for download here;

SCCM, SCSM, SCVMM, SCOM, SCAC

System Center 2012 uniquely delivers unified infrastructure, application and cloud management capabilities in a single product offering and this blog post highlights new cloud and datacenter capabilities introduced in SP1. For information about Configuration Manager enhancements in SP1 and related Windows Intune capabilities, please read the client management blog post.

Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 Support
Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 were both groundbreaking releases and provide the infrastructure and application platform as the foundation for SP1. With the release of SP1, all System Center 2012 components are now enabled to run in a Windows Server 2012 environment and provide management capabilities for Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, Windows Server 2012 Servers, guest operating systems and applications. With SP1, a single instance of Virtual Machine Manager now supports up to 8000 VMs on clusters of up to 64 hosts and customers can easily extend beyond these limits with multiple instances of VMM, enabling datacenter management at large scale. SP1 also now supports the use of SQL Server 2012 as a repository for use by System Center 2012 components.

Software Defined Networking (SDN)
Traditionally, networks have been defined by their physical topology – how the servers, switches, and routers were cabled together and configured. That meant that once you built out your network, changes were costly and complex.  SDN addresses these limitations by using software to configure end hosts and physical network elements, dynamically adjusting policies for how traffic flows through the network, and creating virtual network abstractions that support real-time VM placement and migration throughout the datacenter.
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More information can be found here and here;

Update Rollup 1 for System Center 2012 Service Pack 1

Issues that are fixed in Update Rollup 1

App Controller (KB2790935)
Data Protection Manager (KB2791508)
Operations Manager - UNIX and Linux Monitoring (Management Pack Update)
Service Provider Foundation (KB2785476)
Virtual Machine Manager (KB2792925 - Console; KB2792926 - VMM Server)

More information can be found here;

System Center Advisor

System Center Advisor is a cloud service that enables you to assess your server configurations and proactively avoid problems, while helping support staff to resolve issues faster by accessing current and historical configuration data; all with the security features that meet your needs.

Additionally, System Center Advisor helps reduce downtime by providing suggestions for improvement and notifying you of key updates specific to your configuration.

System Center Advisor provides support for System Center 2012, SQL Server, Windows Server, SharePoint Server, and Exchange Server.

More information can be found here and here;

UPDATE(15/03/2013): Advisor is now FREE

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 Update 1

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012 Update 1 is the newest version of MDT, a Solution Accelerator for operating system and application deployment. MDT 2012 Update 1 supports deployment of Windows 8, Windows 7, Office 2010 and 365, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2008 R2 in addition to deployment of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP.

Deploy Windows and Office 2010 with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Update 1. MDT is the recommended process and toolset for automating desktop and server deployment. MDT provides you with the following benefits:

• Unified tools and processes, including a set of guidance, for deploying desktops and servers in a common deployment console.
• Reduced deployment time and standardized desktop and server images, along with improved security and ongoing configuration management.

Some of the key changes in MDT 2012 Update 1 are:

• Added support for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.
• Support for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 CTP: Added support in MDT for deploying Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 with Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 CTP, while supporting all new Configuration Manager functionality (offline BitLocker, UEFI, and Assessment and Deployment Kit).
• Support for DaRT 8 Beta: Updated MDT to support DaRT 8 for Windows 8 deployments, while continuing to support DaRT 7 for Windows 7 deployments. Added DaRT support for Configuration Manager scenarios.
• New “Build Your Own Pages” User-Driven Installation (UDI) feature: Enhanced the UDI wizard and designer to enable IT pros to design their own wizard pages with little effort.
• New System Center 2012 - Orchestrator support: Provided the ability to add steps into an OS deployment task sequence to execute Orchestrator runbooks as part of the deployment process.
• Other improvements: Added support for Windows PowerShell 3.0, reworked Roles and Features installation logic for Windows 8, improved “boot from VHD” deployment scenarios, and added support for Configuration Manager monitoring.

More information can be found here;

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 Beta

Microsoft have just released the beta of SP1 for System Center Configuration Manager 2012 (plus updates to DPM and VMM etc.)

The beta includes;

Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 Support
With this Beta release, all System Center 2012 SP1 components are now enabled to manage and run in a Windows Server 2012 environment.  System Center 2012 SP1 Beta also now supports the use of SQL Server 2012.

Network Virtualization
With System Center 2012 SP1 you can take advantage of the Virtual Machine Manager’s ability to manage Hyper-V network virtualization across multiple hosts, simplifying the creation of entire virtual networks.

Windows Azure Virtual Machine management
System Center 2012 SP1 now integrates with Windows Azure Virtual Machines enabling you to move on-premises Virtual Machines to run in Windows Azure and then manage from your on-premises System Center installation enabling a range of workload distribution and remote operations scenarios

Enhanced backup and recovery options
System Center 2012 SP1 Data Protection Manager adds the option to host server backups in the Windows Azure cloud, helping to protect against data loss and corruption while integrating directly into the existing backup administration interface in System Center. More details.

Management of Mac OS X clients and Linux and UNIX servers

The beta is available here more information can be found here and here.;

System Center 2012 (released to VL customers)

Suite Versions.

System Center 2012 Client Management Suite
Release Date 31/03/2012
Microsoft System Center 2012 Client Management Suite helps customers address the challenge of managing today’s user environment through integrated client management solutions. Client Management Suite lowers costs, improves end-user service, and supports IT compliance. The Client Management Suite includes Orchestrator, Operations Manager, Service Manager, Data Protection Manager and Toolkit, and use rights for SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard.

System Center 2012 Config Mgr Client Mgmt License
Release Date 31/03/2012
Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager makes it easier for IT to empower users to be productive with a unified infrastructure that delivers and manages rich user experiences across corporate and consumer devices. This license includes use rights to Virtual Machine Manager and SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard.

System Center 2012 Datacenter
Release Date 31/03/2012
Microsoft System Center 2012 empowers you with a common management toolset for your private and public cloud applications and services. System Center helps you confidently deliver IT as a Service for your business. Microsoft System Center 2012 includes Orchestrator, Virtual Machine Manager, App Controller, Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, Endpoint Protection, Service Manager, Data Protection Manager and Toolkit, SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard runtime, and the Unified Installer.

System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection
Release Date 31/03/2012
Microsoft System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection simplifies and improves endpoint protection while greatly reducing infrastructure costs. This license includes use rights to SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard.

System Center 2012 Standard
Release Date 31/03/2012
Microsoft System Center 2012 empowers you with a common management toolset for your private and public cloud applications and services. System Center helps you confidently deliver IT as a Service for your business. Microsoft System Center 2012 includes Orchestrator, Virtual Machine Manager, App Controller, Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, Endpoint Protection, Service Manager, Data Protection Manager and Toolkit, SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard runtime, and the Unified Installer.

ISO Files

SQL Server Standard 2008R2 English
    32/64 bit
    4177 MB

System Center 2012 - App Controller Multilanguage
    32/64 bit
    29 MB

System Center 2012 - ConfigMgr and EndpointProtection Multilanguage
    32/64 bit
    1712 MB

System Center 2012 - DataProtection Mgr Server and Toolkit Multilanguage
    32/64 bit
    3368 MB
    ISO

System Center 2012 - Operations Manager Server English
    32/64 bit
    1196 MB

System Center 2012 - Orchestrator Server English
    32/64 bit
    73 MB

System Center 2012 - Unified Installer English
    32/64 bit
    19 MB

System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager Server Multilanguage
    32/64 bit
    1350 MB

System Center 2012 - Service Manager Server Multilanguage
    32/64 bit
    340 MB