VT Technology Blog

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Downloads / Scripts

Linux Integration Services Version 3.5 for Hyper-V A set of drivers that enable synthetic device support in supported Linux virtual machines under Hyper-V.

SCM Baselines for Windows 8.1, IE 11 and Server 2012 R2 are now live!

List Server OS Versions
This is a quick reporting script to pull computer objects from Active Directory with "server" in the OS name and then list them seperated by Windows version.

Hyper-V step by step config guide for beginners

Virtual Machine Converter 3.0

Licensing Brief - Licensing Windows Server 2012 R2 for Use with Virtualization Technologies

Clone VM on Hyper-V 2012 R2

New Hyper-V Whitepaper: High Performance Storage for Clustering

SMA Runbook - Convert WAP VM Role OS Differencing Disk

Virtual Hard Disk Rename - Hyper-V / Virtual Machine Manager / SMA / WAP

Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows and Windows Server

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6 Preview (offline Installer)

for Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 SP2 Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6 Preview (Web Installer)

for Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 SP2 Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows Azure Pack Tool Now with added ADFS support
Windows Azure Pack Tool enables you to execute tasks through a simple menu. In this version Windows Azure Pack Tool includes the following functions: Change default URLs, Add admin users and more!

Windows Server 2012 R2 Storage Pools - Ch9

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 "August Update" (Update 2) now available

Microsoft has released Update 2 for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 today. Following are some of the new features and improvements:

Precision touchpad improvements
Miracast Receive
Minimazing login prompts for SharePoint Online

Update to add a new performance counter feature for Tiered Storage Spaces in Windows Server 2012 R2

After you apply this update, new performance counters are available in Windows Performance Monitor.

To apply this feature, install update rollup 2975719.

Additional Information:

Microsoft Pulls KB2982791 After 4 Days of Blue Screens WindowsITPro

Windows 8.1 update for August to offer minor tweaks CNet

August Patch Tuesday features nine security bulletins and Windows 8.1 August Update WinBeta

Windows 8.1 'August Update' now ready for download Pureinfotech

Download links:

Download Windows 8.1 “August Update” for x86 (32-bit) PCs

Download Windows 8.1 “August Update” for x64 (64-bit) PCs

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Microsoft Cloud Ecosystem Poster: Microsoft Azure, Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012

Microsoft released a visual reference for understanding key Microsoft private cloud and on-premises cloud technologies. PDF.
Download link: Cloud Ecosystem Poster: Microsoft Azure, Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2
From the Site:

Microsoft Azure Services including Service Categories, Compute Services, Data Services, and App Services
System Center 2012 R2 including App Controller, Virtual Machine Manager, Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, Service Manager, Orchestrator, Data Protection Manager and Azure Pack
Windows Server 2012 R2 including Storage Spaces, Data Deduplication, Resilient File System, SMB Transparent Failover, Storage Quality of Service, Generation 2 Virtual Machines, Online VHDX Resize, Enhanced Session Mode, Live Migration, Failover Clustering, Cluster Shared Volumes, Scale-Out File Server, Shared Virtual Hard Disks, Hyper-V Extensible Switch, Remote Desktop Services, SMB Direct, SMB Multi-channel, and NIC Teaming

Date Published: 08/01/2014

Monday, June 16, 2014

Windows Lifecycle Fact Sheet. Windows Server 2003 EOL

Every Windows product has a lifecycle. Knowing key dates in this lifecycle helps to make informed decisions about when to upgrade or make other changes. Source: Windows Lifecycle Fact Sheet

End of support

Client OS // Latest update or SP // End of mainstreem support // End of extended support

Windows XP SP 3 April 14, 2009 April 8, 2014

Windows Vista SP 2 April 10, 2012 April 11, 2017

Windows 7 SP 1 January 13, 2015 January 14, 2020

Windows 8 Windows 8.1 January 9, 2018 January 10, 2023

Windows Server 2003 EOL

Windows Server 2003 ‘End of Support’ Infrastructure Videos MSFT Partner Network

Windows 2003: Microsoft's next support sinkhole InfoWorld

Plan to migrate before Windows Server 2003 end of life SearchSecurity

Clarity Needed on Windows 7's Proposed End of Life WindowsITPro

Links: Windows Server 2003 EOL

Microsoft Support

Products Released	Lifecycle Start Date	Mainstream Support End Date	Extended Support End Date	Service Pack Support End Date	Notes
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition (32-Bit x86)	3/5/2006	7/13/2010	7/14/2015	4/14/2009
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition with Service Pack 2	3/13/2007	Review Note	Review Note		Support ends 24 months after the next service pack releases or at the end of the product's support lifecycle, whichever comes first. For more information, please see the service pack policy here .
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition	3/5/2006	7/13/2010	7/14/2015	4/14/2009
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition with Service Pack 2	3/13/2007	Review Note	Review Note		Support ends 24 months after the next service pack releases or at the end of the product's support lifecycle, whichever comes first. For more information, please see the service pack policy here .
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition (32-Bit x86)	3/5/2006	7/13/2010	7/14/2015	4/14/2009
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition	3/5/2006	7/13/2010	7/14/2015	4/14/2009
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition (32-bit x86)	3/5/2006	7/13/2010	7/14/2015	4/14/2009
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition	3/5/2006	7/13/2010	7/14/2015	4/14/2009

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Simplified Management for Microsoft Free Hyper-V Server.

Whether you're a novice or an experienced administrator, you'll need management tools to simplify your daily tasks. VT Technology Management Utilities for Hyper-V (vtUtilities) are an easy to use all-in-one suit that provides out of the box solution for setting up and maintaining virtualization environments based on Microsoft Hyper-V Server.

vtUtilities are easy to download, deploy and use, don't require expensive hardware, eliminate the need for System Center, Virtual Machine Manager and RSAT, can be used to manage Hyper-V from Windows 7 and Windows 8 and support all recent versions of free/core Hyper-V Server (Hyper-V Server 2008, 2012, 2012 R2).

vtUtilities: GUI for Hyper-V

Easy to navigate GUI provides a view into the performance of the virtual environment, lets you start, stop, create and interact with virtual machines. With vtUtilities you can change and read VM's settings, see host and guests performance data, configure virtual networks and virtual hard disks, create snapshots, configure, start and monitor replication.

vtUtilities deliver GUI for:

Replication
Guest Migration
VHDX
Virtual Fibre Channel Adapters
Virtual Network Management including the management of virtual connections and bindings
Virtual Switch
File System Views and Operations

vtUtilities also implement GUI allowing connecting to the Virtual Machine Console.
This is an important factor when managing or troubleshooting virtualization environments on GUI-less hosts when local management utilizing command line interface (PowerShell) or remote management is difficult or even not feasible.

Besides managing capabilities for virtual machines created using past versions of Hyper-V, vtUtilities deliver every essential solution to manage free Hyper-V Server 2012 R2:

Generation 2 Virtual Machines
Virtual Hard Disk and Storage Quality of Service
Hyper-V Replica Enhancements Including Support for Extended Replication
Hyper-V Virtual Networking Enhancements

Extended Replication Monitoring

Gen 2 VMs

Common Scenarios for Using vtUtilities:

vtUtilities can be installed locally on a Hyper-V Host and deliver GUI with functionality level similar to Microsoft Hyper-V Manager, while it can run on environments where Hyper-V Manager is not supported such as core installations of Windows Server and standalone free Hyper-V Server.

vtUtilities can be used for remote management of different versions of Hyper-V from a single application, adjusting to the features supported by managed version. (Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 R2 / 2012 / 2012 R2 as well as Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 / 2012 / 2012 R2). With vtUtilities you can manage Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 while still having a full access to Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012

vtUtilities allow local and remote management of Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V Server 2012/ 2012 R2 not only from Windows 8 / 8.1, but from Windows 7 as well (otherwise, proper server administration without System Center requires Windows 8 because the administration tools don't run on Windows 7).

Diagnostic and Troubleshooting with vtUtilities:

vtUtilities enable an easy access to Hyper-V event logs and virtual machine jobs history.
Clicking on 'Hyper-V Events' button next to host drop-down box or using 'Tools|Hyper-V Event Log' menu will open a dialogue that allows further filtering and ordering of Hyper-V events as shown on screen below.
This functionality is available for local and remote Hyper-V hosts and is especially convenient for diagnostic on Core installation of Windows Server or standalone Hyper-V Server.

vtUtilities even further simplify diagnostic of Hyper-V environment by providing access to the virtual machine job execution history with a possibility to cancel asynchronous jobs on Windows 8 hosts as shown below:

Real Time Monitoring of Hyper-V Hosts and Guests with vtUtilities

Effectively monitor your virtual infrastructure by visualizing virtual machines health, performance, storage and memory usage. vtUtilities have a very small memory footprint and do not consume any resources on managed Hyper-V servers when they are not running.

Resource Monitoring

vtUtilities do not extend a potential attack surface on managed Hyper-V hosts and do not install or require any additional components

Installation

vtUtilities run only on 64-bit version of Windows.

Virtualization Platform: Microsoft Hyper-V

It is recommended that you download and read the latest version of the User Guide prior to installing vtUtilities.

Download and run vtUtilities bootstrapping executable that will guide you through the installation process. You will be able to start vtUtilities from a command console by typing ‘vtUtilities’ on the Windows Server core and the Hyper-V Server intstallations after that.

Check out our How to install, configure and manage free Hyper-v Server 2012/2012 R2 using VT Technology Management Utilities

and Hyper-V Management and Diagnostic From a Single Environment

Licensing

We provide a 7-day free trial to registered customers

A single host license costs $119.99

VT Technology Management Utilities for Hyper-V - vtUtilities

VT Technology Management Utilities Demo

How to use vtUtilities to manage Microsoft Hyper-V

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

TechEd 2014. Windows Server / Hyper-V Sessions

The best of TechEd and MMS at TechEd North America in Houston, TX ( 05/12/2014 - 05/15/2014 )
Microsoft announced new services and updates, promoting "cloud-first, mobile-first" strategy.
Most of the announcements are Azure - related, such as:

Antimalware for Azure
Azure Site Recovery
Azure Nerworking Enhancements
Azure RemoteApp
Azure Files

Some other announcements include:

Simplified Cloud Storage
Private Connections to the Cloud
Office for iPad Remote Management from Windows Intune
Office 365 Data Encryption
Agile Software Development
Optimized .Net for the Cloud
Advanced Mobile Development

TechEd North America Content Catalog

Additional Information:

Holiday Season for the IT Industry: TechEd 2014 Brad Anderson
Microsoft helps enterprises embrace mobile-first, cloud-first world TechNet
TechEd 2014 North America Announcement Summary Yung Chou Blog
Backup and DR sessions at TechEd North America 2014
TechEd on Channel 9
Microsoft TechEd 2014: The move from Windows Server to Azure
Roundup of Microsoft Azure related announcements from TechEd 2014 MSDN
TechEd 2014: Microsoft Pushes Its Public Cloud WindowsITPro
Microsoft serves up an Azure feast but IT pros aren't eating it up TechTarget
TechEd: Microsoft Previews Azure RemoteApp, Azure Files and Delivers ExpressRoute RedmondMagazine
TechEd 2014 is underway with LOTS of exciting new stuff announced! msdn
Microsoft TechEd: Adams, Fort Knox, Project K and more codenames to know ZDnet
Windows 7 and 8.1 now usable in Azure virtual machines, but for developers only ZDnet
Huge Bag of New Azure Features Announced at TechEd Yesterday msdn
News from Microsoft TechEd 2014 - Key Hybrid Cloud Announcements technet

Azure: VM Security Extensions, ExpressRoute GA, Reserved IPs, Internal Load Balancing, Multi Site-to-Site VPNs, Storage Import/Export GA, New SMB File Service, API Management, Hybrid Connection Service, Redis Cache, Remote Apps and more… ScottGu's Blog

Download All Videos and Slides from TechEd 2014 North America TechNet

Teched Session Videos

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Blogroll

A categorized listing of 215 Microsoft Twitter Accounts representing official Microsoft products, teams, projects and initiatives along with widely recognized influential personal Twitter Accounts of individuals who work at Microsoft. This list includes accounts that tweet in multiple languages and in multiple regions around the world: Official Microsoft Twitter Accounts - A comprehensive reference

Official Microsoft Twitter Accounts

Check out these SAB member blogs

This is an unofficial directory (Hyper-V, Windows Server mostly) to help you stay informed.
Work in progress.

Mitch Tulloch / @mitchtulloch / MVP
mtit.com
WindowsNetworking.com
WServerNews

Hans Vredevoort / @hvredevoort / MVP
hyper-v.nu

Leandro Carvalho / @LeandroEduardo / MVP
Leandro Carvalho - MVP Virtual Machine

Carsten Rachfahl / +Carsten Rachfahl / @hypervserver / MVP
Rachfahl IT-Solutions

Michael Pietroforte / +Michael Pietroforte / +4sysops / @4sysops / MVP
4sysops

James van den Berg / @JamesvandenBerg / MVP
Microsoft Cystem Center

Romeo Mlinar / +Romeo Mlinar / @RomeoMlinar / MVP
Admin Troubles by Romeo Mlinar

Marcel Zehner / +Marcel Zehner / @marcelzehner / MVP
marcelzehner.ch

Cameron Fuller / @cfullerMVP / MVP
blogs.catapultsystems.com

Alessandro Cardoso / @edvaldocardoso / MVP
Virtualization & Management Blog

Thomas Maurer / +Thomas Maurer / @ThomasMaurer / MVP
Cloud & Virtualization Blog

Sander Berkouwer / +Sander Berkouwer / @SanderBerkouwer / MVP
The things that are better left unspoken
4sysops

Aidan Finn / @joe_elway / MVP
Aidan Finn, IT Pro
Petri

Nirmal Balachandran / +Nirmal Balachandran / @nirmaltv / +NirmalTV.COM / MVP
nirmaltv.com

Wong Chon Kit / +Chon Kit Wong / @WongChonKit / MVP
Tech Notes

Nathan Lasnoski / +Nathan Lasnocki / @nlasnoski / MVP
Concurrency Blog

Richard Hay / +Richard Hay / +WindowsObserver / @WinObs / MVP
WindowsObserver

Kevin Greene / @kgreeneit / MVP
Kevin Greene's IT Blog

Jeffery Hicks / +Jeffery Hicks / @JeffHicks / MVP
The Lonely Administrator
Altaro blog for Hyper-V & Windows Administrators

Ed Horley / @ehorley / MVP
howfanky

Pete Zerger / +Pete Zerger / @pzerger / MVP
Pete Zerger's Blog

Christopher Keyaert / @keyaertc / MVP
vNext.be

Jaap Wesselius / @jaapwess / +Jaap Wesselius / MVP
JaapWesselius.com

György Balássy / @gyorgybalassy / MVP
Codes from the field

Philip Elder / @MPECSinc / MVP
MPECSinc

Shantanu Kaushik / @shan2129 / MVP
RtoubleShoot Windows

Jorge's Quest For Knowledge

Daniel Petri / @p3daniel

Petri IT Knoweledgebase

Richard Hicks / Richard Hicks / @richardhicks
ISAserver.org
Richard Hicks' DirectAccsess Blog
Petri

Russell Smith / +Russell Smith / @smithrussell
Petri IT Knoweledgebase

Pierre Roman / +Pierre Roman / @pierreroman
CANITPRO

Anthony Bartolo / +Anthony Bartolo / @WirelessLife
CANITPRO

Mitch Garvis / @mgarvis
CANITPRO

Stefan Roth / @scomfaq
SCOMfaq.ch

Justin Cooney / +Justin Cooney / @JWCooney
Justin Cooney- Programming Tips

Ben Gelens / @bgelens / +Ben Gelens
MS SEC BY BEN

Andy Syrewicze / @asyrewicze
Andy Syrewicze Blog

Per-Torben Sørensen / @PerTorben
Per-Torben Sørensen

Marcos Nogueira / @mdnoga
blog.marcosnogueira.org

Rob McShinsky / @VirtuallyAware
VirtuallyAware.com

Robert Borges / @RobertBorges_us
Robert Borges Blog

Mustafa Abul-Ela / +Mustafa Abul-Ela
Corner {CoreGeeks}

Steven Bink / +Steven Bink / @sbink
Bink.nu

David Acevedo / +David Acevedo / @DavidiAcevedo
NETDAVIDIC

Paul Thurrott / +Paul Thurrott / @thurrott
Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

Rod Trent / +Rod Trent / @rodtrent
myITforum.com / +myITforum.com / @myITforum
WindowsITPro / +WindowsITPro / @WindowsITPro

Henk Hoogendoorn / @HenkHoogendoorn
Henk's Blog

Niklas Akerlund / +Niklas Åkerlund / @vNiklas
vNiklas Virtualization Blog

Max Trinidad / @MaxTrinidad
Max Trinidad - The PowerShell Front

Fazar Susanto / @FazarSusanto
Fazar

Rodolphe Petrowsky / +Rodolphe Petrowsky / @RPetrowsky
myITcafe.com

Florian Klaffenbach / +Florian Klaffenbach / @FloKlaffenbach
Flo's Datacenter Report

Ben Gelens / @bgelens
MS Sec by Ben

Michael Rueefli / @drmiru
miru.ch

John Savill / @NTFAQGuy
WindowsITPro
SavillTech's Blog

Raj Kumar / @rajweb6 / FB / +Raj Kumar
thetechnosolution / FB

Marlon Ribunal / @MarlonRibunal / +Marlon Ribunal
SQl, Code, Coffee, etc

Adrian Hall / @splunk_ahall
Splunk

Carl Gray / +OxfordSBSGuy / @oxfordsbsguy
Oxford SBS Guy

Lefteris Karafilis / @ekarafilis
Lefteris Karafilis IT Solutions

Gil Gross /
Gil Gross on Microsoft

Dan Perelman / @DanPerelman
Baud Labs

Arran Wicher / +Arran Wicher / @AWicher
Wicher

Michael Brown / @MGBLEEDS
MGBLeeds

Mohd Hamizi / @pdawacko_77
Just a random "Microsoft Server / Client Tech" info..

Simon Waight / @simonwaight
siliconvalve

Ben Seitz / @benseitz / +Ben Seitz
Ben Seitz III

Jan R / @HertogJanR / +Jan R
Sysadmins of the North

Virtualize Your IT Infrastructure

Amdreas Molin / @andreas_molin
A guide to Microsoft Products
Intense School / @Intenseschool /
Intense School

Server Geeks / FB
servergeeks

Eli the Computer Guy / @ELICOMPUTERGUY
Geek Brain Dump

Cari.net Blog

MSDN / TechNet Blogs

Thomas W Shinder / +Tom Shinder / @tshinder
Building Clouds

Jim Britt / @JimBrittPhotos
Building Clouds /@Building_Clouds

Charles Joy / @OrchestratorGuy
Building Clouds

Yung Chou / @yungchou
Yung Chou on Hybrid Cloud
dotnet

Blain Barton / +Blain Barton / @blainbar
Blain Barton's Blog

Chris E. Avis / +Chris Avis / @chrisavis
Chris E. Avis's Blog

Dan Stolts / +Dan Stolts ITProGuru / @ITProGuru
ITProGuru Blog

Jennelle Crothers / @jkc137
Techbunny

Keith Mayer / +Keith Mayer / @KeithMayer
IT Pros ROCK!

Bob Hunt / @bobhms
The IT Pro Exchange

Brian Lewis / @BrianLewis_
My Thoughts on IT

Matthew Hester / @matthewhester
Matt Hester's WebLog

Tommy Patterson / @Tommy_Patterson
Virtually Cloud 9

Kevin Remde / @KevinRemde
Full of I.T.

Harold Wong / @haroldwong
Harold Wong's Blog

Jose Barreto / +Jose Barreto / @JoseBarreto
Jose Barreto's Blog

Brad Anderson / @InTheCloudMsft
In The Cloud

Scott Guthrie / +Scott Guthrie / @scottgu
ScottGu's Blog:

Ben Armstrong / @VirtualPCGuy
Ben Armstrong's Virtualization Blog:

Keith Combs / @Keith_Combs /
Keith Combs' Blahg:

Tony Soper / +Tony Soper / @tony_soper
tonyso

Taylor Brown / @HyperV_taylorb
Taylor Brown's Blog:

Ashley McGlone / +Ashley McGlone / @GoateePFE
Goatee PFE

Bruce Adamczak / @BruceAdamczak
Bruce Adamczak

Nathan Mercer / @Nathan Mercer
Nathan Mercer's Blog

Rhoderick Milne / +Rhoderick Milne (Exchange) / @RhoderickMilne
250 Hello

Bruce Langworthy / @BruceLangworthy
Windows Storage Team

Jeffrey Snover / @jsnover
Jeffrey Snover's Blog

Scott M. Johnson / @SuperSquatchy
Windows Storage Server

Amit Dobhal
AmitD

Samuel Betts / @elbetzio
Build on SharePoint

Habibar Rahman Sheikh
ServerGeeks

Toby Meyer / +Toby Meyer / @Toby_Meyer
itToby

VT Technology

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Related Posts

Downloads / Scripts

General

Series

TechNet / MSDN / Server & Tools Blog

CANITPRO

WindowsITPro

Petri

WindowsNetworking

VirtualizationAdmin

ZDNet

Blogs

Migration from 2003

Videos

Videos from System Center Universe Europe 2014 (Channel 9)

Videos from TechEd Europe

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Additional Information:

Download links:

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Monday, June 16, 2014

End of support

Windows Server 2003 EOL

Thursday, May 15, 2014

vtUtilities: GUI for Hyper-V

Common Scenarios for Using vtUtilities:

Diagnostic and Troubleshooting with vtUtilities:

Real Time Monitoring of Hyper-V Hosts and Guests with vtUtilities

Installation

Check out our How to install, configure and manage free Hyper-v Server 2012/2012 R2 using VT Technology Management Utilities

and Hyper-V Management and Diagnostic From a Single Environment

VT Technology Management Utilities Demo

How to use vtUtilities to manage Microsoft Hyper-V

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Additional Information:

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

MSDN / TechNet Blogs