System Center Guide

Dynamic Infrastructure Toolkit for System Center (DIT-SC), a forthcoming Microsoft provided Solution Accelerator for optimizing data center operations, appears to be raising more questions than it’s answering. Formerly known as the Dynamic Data Center Toolkit for Enterprises (DDCT-E), the renamed solution is meant to provide a free, partner-extensible framework for creating agile, virtualized infrastructures. Based on some currently available blog entries and data sheets, here’s what we know about DIT-SC now:

• It’s going to be free (no word on support yet)
• Its usefulness is likely going to depend on the partner adoption rate and extensions they make available
• Largely based on PowerShell for automating data center operations
• It will be available the first half of 2010
• Includes self-service user/admin portals
• Integrates with System Center Virtual Machine Manager

Like I said, there’s not a lot of information about this yet. But, I’m sure more information will be made available at the Microsoft Management Summit. In the meantime, I’d encourage to visit the following resources:

DIT Homepage
http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/en/us/private-cloud.aspx

Dynamic Data Center Alliance Team Blog
http://blogs.technet.com/ddcalliance/default.aspx

DIT Data Sheet
http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/D/3/DD35D5A7-1B78-4277-BCB6-0027A0196775/Datasheet_DIT-SC_Jan2010.docx

DIT-SC FAQ
http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/D/3/DD35D5A7-1B78-4277-BCB6-0027A0196775/FAQ_DIT-SC_Jan2010_updated.docx

I have to admit that I’m a bit shocked by the Webwire press release from Fujitsu today. The release promotes Fujitsu’s new virtualization offering for the SMB market. Naming it “My very first Hyper-V” may not have been the most creative, but at least the technology behind it is compelling. Based on Fujitsu PRIMERGY x86 servers and ETERNUS DX disk storage systems, this hardware and software combination provides a flexible, expandable platform for introducing a new virtualized IT infrastructure built on Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and managed by Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2.

Could you or your customers benefit from this appliance based, Microsoft-centric approach to virtualization? Who do you think will be the next big vendor to jump on-board?

Read the full press release here.

I managed to find this little snipplet from a Redmond Magazine article recently posted. It contains some interesting insights into new tools being made available for managing data center virtualization with System Center Virtual Machine Manager and Hyper-V.

The Dynamic Data Center Toolkit for Enterprises (DDCT-E) is scheduled to be released during the first half of 2010. It aims to address servers, networks and storage as a single set of available resources in the same pool, thereby reducing idle time. Automation through batch creation and provisioning of VMs is the key to the automation of the Microsoft environment. The focus is on automation of provisioning and proper tracking of those deployed resources. Microsoft provides a self-service portal along with role-based access control. Tracking and chargeback reports are also available. DDCT-E will be free, but it integrates with Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, which carry steep price tags. Microsoft finds itself on the cusp of big developments in the private cloud, as well as in hybrid cloud models, but it hasn’t done much yet in the way of shipping products.

Pretty interesting stuff, uh? How would you vision using this toolset within your organization?

This lab is intended for IT Professionals who would like to deliver virtual desktop computers using Microsoft Hyper-V Server, Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager and Citrix XenDesktop. Users will work through the steps to simulate deploying multiple virtual desktops, and will first capture a reference image using the Citrix Provisioning Server for Desktops.

Next, the user will verify that the computer can be booted from a diskless client computer. The user will create multiple virtual machines using the reference computer as a template.

Finally, the user will use the Citrix Desktop Delivery Controller and System Center Virtual Machine Manager to create a group of virtual desktops and deploy them to end devices. At the end of this lab, the user will have worked through all the steps required to implement Citrix XenDesktop using Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager and Microsoft Hyper-V Server.

https://cmg.vlabcenter.com/default.aspx?moduleid=281742e3-2613-42da-bd58-2c3578f039b4

Microsoft has made available for download Windows-7-friendly versions of two of its Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) tools as part of its campaign to get more businesses to move to Windows 7, and soon, Office 2010.

Released on February 22 is the final version of Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.6, as well as the near-final Release Candidate of the Service Pack 1 build of Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V). These two tools ultimately will be part of MDOP 2010, the first of two MDOP releases that Microsoft officials are expecting to roll out in calendar 2010. (Today, MED-V 1.0 SP1 is being released simultaneously with MDOP 2010, as it is not yet in final form.)

MDOP is a bundle of various deployment tools that Microsoft sells to Software Assurance customers only. At the end of last year, when it added a previously-unscheduled MDOP 2009 R2 release to its line-up, Microsoft announced its intention to release MDOP 2010 in the first calendar quarter of this year.

Rest the rest of the article

Looking at Desktop Virtualization including VDI? Thinking about migrating to Windows 7? Want savings, but unsure of the tradeoffs? Have more questions than answers on the topic? Join this moderated televised discussion for an hour full of virtualization insights.

Save the date: http://www.desktopvirtualizationhour.com/

There is a new feedback email alias for the App-V docs team. If you have any questions or comments regarding the documentation for Microsoft Application Virtualization, please email the team at:

appvdocs@microsoft.com

Diane Prescott, Product Manager for System Center, takes time to provide a quick update on the expected release date for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 and also provides some key insights into changes in the System Center Server Management Suite Enterprise (SMSE) licensing. Expect a 10-15% increase to come soon, but read the following post for an explanation as to why.

http://blogs.technet.com/systemcenter/archive/2008/07/09/virtual-machine-manager-2008-and-smse-updates-coming-later-this-year.aspx

Feature-complete version of Windows Server 2008 virtualisation technology made broadly available to customers and partners.

View the full press release here

As many of you will recall, I wrote a controversial post about VMware’s future in the virtualisation market. And, after quite a few discussions with Microsoft folks, fellow partner organisations and the end user community at the Dublin Wave Launch event this week, I have to question if Virtual Machine Manager v2 (codename: vNext) could be the last nail in the coffin for VMware’s dominance in the virtualisation market.

You see, I’ve been privileged to work with the product group over the past couple of weeks to get bits and pieces of the forthcoming solution to present during my three sessions on Managing Virtualisation at the Wave Launch. In a nutshell, here’s what you’re look at in the next version of Virtual Machine Manager:

1. Cross-platform support for Virtual Server 2005, Hyper-v and VMWare.
2. A single pane of glass to monitor all your virtual machines
3. Intelligent Placement capabilities across all your VM hosts
4. Automated maintenance and management using PowerShell scripts for all your VM hosts
5. Centralised Library of all your VMs, ISOs, VHDs, Scripts, and Templates.
6. Self-Provisioning of Virtual Machines using Templates and Quotas. 
7. Unified management experience of all your Virtual Center and VMM infrastructures.

Now, that’s only part of the story. When you combine other award-winning System Center technologies like Operations Manager 2007, Configuration Manager 2007 and Data Protection Manager 2007, what you have is a complete suite of life-cycle management solutions that can carry a system from cradle to grave. That, my friends, is something you will not find from any competitive virtualisation solution.

If you want to go the route of virtualising your environment, please give a moment’s pause to consider whether you are buying a "point solution" that does only one thing or whether you want to buy into a full lifecycle management solution for not only the physical host, but also for the virtual machines running on those host and the applications running within those virtualised instances.

As Tom Bittman, VP & Analyst with Gartner, stated:

Virtualisation without good management is more dangerous than not using virtualisation in the first place.

Ask yourself the questions:

Once you’ve deployed a virtual server into production…

• How will you patch the OS?
• How will you update the SQL Server to the latest Service Pack?
• How will you supply updates to custom applications?
• How will you back up that live server with zero data loss?
• How will you monitor the Exchange role that is hosted on that virtual server?
• How will you make sure that not only the IIS instance of that virtual server is running but that end users can actually connect to it properly?
• How are you going to deploy other virtual machines?
• How will you ensure that their desired state will be maintained through the life of the system?

These are just a few of the things that a complete solution like the family of System Center products will offer you.

If you don’t have good answers to those questions, then please don’t buy a point solution just to say you’re virtualising servers. Buy a solution that fits your lifecycle management strategy. And, today… that solution is Microsoft System Center: Your systems {managed}.