Training: Microsoft Azure IaaS Deep Dive Jump start

If you havent’ looked at this training, then I would recommend you to have a get a broad overview of the cloud, along with working definitions of infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS). The experts also discuss portals, subscription, costs, and Azure data centers. Using this training you can learn how to integrate Windows Azure virtual machines (VMs) into your infrastructure. If you’re an experienced IT Pro but you haven’t spent much time with Windows Azure VMs, you’ll appreciate these real-world examples on Windows Azure infrastructure as a service (IaaS).

Cheryl McGuire and Ronald Beekelaar walk you through the basics of creating and configuring VMs, virtual networks, and cross-premises communication. They discuss the “what, why, and how” of virtualization, along with details about managing VMs, how they behave in Windows Azure, and how to configure good network communication to get things up and running in the cloud. 

https://mva.microsoft.com/en-US/training-courses-embed/microsoft-azure-iaas-deep-dive-jump-start-8287/-Azure-Virtual-Machines-S1oXqFXy_2804984382

Happy deep diving!!

FYI: Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 & end of support next year…

Yes you heard it right, Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is approaching the end of support by next year; you can refer the Support lifecycle for it.

Customers who are using Exchange Server 2007 for any of their email and calendar services should begin planning to move the associated mailbox data and resources to Office 365 or update their infrastructure to a newer version of Exchange, such as Exchange Server 2016. If you’re using Exchange Server 2007 then you may want to use this opportunity to migrate your email/calendar infrastructure to Office 365 can take advantage of Microsoft FastTrack as well.

For more info you can refer: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2016/04/11/exchange-server-2007-t-1-year-and-counting.aspx

Improve Server Utilization & Reduce Infrastructure Costs with Virtualization

Predicting resource requirements for a new business application, especially one that is customer-facing is a tricky task. It’s hard to know if you have the new Facebook or your hands. You make your best estimates, then spend money on new hardware and hope your estimates were right. Only actual usage tells whether your server infrastructure is running efficiently.

What makes this process more painful is the knowledge that your existing environment probably has the capacity to deliver this application if only the servers were used in a more efficient manner.

Private cloud computing built on virtualization technology provides ways to reduce the capital cost involved in this process by allowing you to utilize more of your existing resources. Using Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 and System Center Self-Service Portal 2.0, you can convert your existing workloads into virtual machines and manage where and when they run.

Grouping servers together on hardware as a collection of virtual machines can lower costs and improve performance. The need to increase the performance of some applications to keep up with new demand has traditionally led to hardware purchases or going through a performance tuning exercise. Both involve additional cost that could be avoided with virtualization. Most environments have servers running well under capacity. Pooling these services on fewer servers using virtualization and sharing idle hardware resources across workloads can enable organizations to reduce capital and maintenance costs. Virtualization delivers a higher return on investment and more elastic IT service.

To take advantage of this cloud computing scenario requires some planning to deploy and configure the products to deliver true IT as a service in a private cloud scenario. Finding all the resources to implement this type of solution is can be time consuming. To help, TechNet has created a new virtualization scenario based hub. This one stop location has the resources and content to help you enable different virtualization scenarios. It’s updated  with new content and new scenarios.The scenario mentioned is covered in more detail on the How to Improve Server Utilization and Reduce Infrastructure Costs with Virtualization page.

Windows 7 Best Practices : Can i control IT costs in difficult times?

Control IT costs in difficult times

More now than ever, companies are under intense pressure to reduce costs while increasing efficiencies. Whether it’s reducing overall IT budgets or determining automated ways to deploy, track, and manage, the need for a better managed IT infrastructure is present and growing. An optimized desktop can help you save money in the short term and the long term.

Short-term cost savings

Short-term savings are benefits generally seen in a minimal length of time (less than six-nine months). Here are three cost-saving steps you can take today that are part of the five desktop optimization best practices.

1. Standardize hardware: By standardizing desktop hardware and software, organizations can ultimately advance toward a more flexible, agile, and optimized infrastructure. Ad hoc PC purchases—often driven by price, or by departmental end-user preferences—can prove much more costly to an organization.

2. Standardize software image and management: The next step is to standardize the software image to save costs. According to IDC, image management accounts for 20-25 percent of operating system deployment costs, and can cost organizations on average $25-$35 per PC annually.

3. Manage network, directory, and group policy management: To keep IT labor costs down and to keep end users productive, many IT departments are turning to a greater use of automation and more centralized configuration and policy setting. They are seeking the ability to remotely monitor and maintain the health of the organization’s PCs.

To learn more about short-term cost savings, download this white paper. Or, learn how Getronics upgraded their operating system for reduced IT costs.

Long-term cost savings

After an organization has experienced success employing projects to achieve short-term cost savings, it looks to savings opportunities that extend beyond a year. These long-term best practices, while less immediate in impact, are crucial for substantial improvements in effectiveness and efficiencies down the road. Here are three cost-saving steps you can take tomorrow and are part of the five desktop optimization best practices.

1. Fleet deployment by role: Understanding PC lifecycle costs leads to better fleet strategy decisions, such as prioritization of investments and optimal configuration choices. For example, an average desktop PC and monitor, left on, will consume $400 electricity over a four-year lifecycle. This cost can be significantly reduced by standardizing power management configuration of the PC operating system.

2. Group-based image configuration: By enabling greater automation and increasing efficiency, a standardized software image helps reduce costs for deployment, image management, and ongoing patches and updates.

3. Full automation with remote support: Your organization can streamline PC management through the use of effective tools for remote monitoring and support. This setup can increase uptime and reduce the costs of IT support. With a more controlled desktop environment and faster problem resolution, end users benefit from fewer disruptions and greater productivity in their jobs.

To learn more about short-term cost savings, download this white paper.