#Microsoft Capacity Planner for #HyperV Replica

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V administrators can replicate their virtual machines from a primary server/cluster to a replica server/cluster for business continuity and disaster recovery purposes. The Capacity Planner for Hyper-V Replica provides server, storage and network provisioning guidance which would allow IT administrators to successfully plan for a Hyper-V Replica deployment.

You can download the Hyper-V Replica Capacity Planner here

Use Project Server Online in #Office365 to manage your Projects Successfully with #Cloud Services

 

 

 

 

Project Online is the Project Portfolio Management component service in Office 365.  It is procured as a standalone service or added as part of an Office 365 Enterprise (E ) Service Plan.

This white paper provides comprehensive guidance for technical decision makers who are considering a Project Portfolio Management Information System in the cloud with Office 365/Project Online rather than the traditional, on-premises version of Project Server.

The  Comprehensive Guide to Project Online download is here

 

Overview of Microsoft #WindowsAzure #Powershell for automated #Cloud Services

Windows Azure PowerShell is a powerful scripting environment that you can use to control and automate the deployment and management of your workloads in Windows Azure. Whether you are experienced with Windows PowerShell or a new user, instructions are available to help you get started provisioning virtual machines, setting up virtual networks and cross-premises networks, and managing cloud services in Windows Azure.

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Before you can start using the cmdlets in Windows Azure PowerShell, you will need to download and import the module, as well as import and configure information that provides connectivity to Windows Azure through your subscription. For instructions, see Get Started with Windows Azure Cmdlets.

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To learn about tips that can help you use the cmdlets, such as how parameter values, inputs, and outputs are typically handled in Windows Azure PowerShell, see Use Windows Azure Cmdlets. For instructions and examples that show you how to use variables and piping to simplify your commands, see the following:

• Create or Delete Virtual Machines Using Windows Azure Cmdlets
• Manage Certificates and SSH keys Using Windows Azure Cmdlets
• Manage Virtual Machines Using Windows Azure Cmdlets
• Manage Images and Disks Using Windows Azure Cmdlets
• Set Up and Manage Virtual Networks Using Windows Azure Cmdlets
• Set Up Communication for Virtual Machines Using Windows Azure Cmdlets
• Manage Cloud Services Using Windows Azure Cmdlets

For basic instructions about using Windows PowerShell, see Using Windows PowerShell in the Windows PowerShell Getting Started Guide.

If you develop Node.js, PHP, or Python applications for Windows Azure, you can use the cmdlets in Windows Azure PowerShell to get started developing and deploying applications.

• Node.js developers should start with the how to guide on the Node.js developer center.
• PHP developers should start with the how to guide on the PHP developer center
• Python developers should start with the how to guide on the Python developer center.

For reference information about the cmdlets, see Windows Azure management cmdlets.

On Hybrid Cloud blog via Yung Chou :

One-Click Windows Azure VM (IaaS) Deployment with PowerShell User Experience

Windows Server 2012 #HyperV and SMB 3.0 Best Practices with #SCVMM

When you have your hardware design ready in your datacenter, It’s handy to have a checklist.
As with all Best Practices, not every recommendation can – or should – be applied. Best Practices are general guidelines, not hard, fast rules that must be followed. As such, you should carefully review each item to determine if it makes sense in your environment.
From here you go to the Microsoft Checklist for Windows Server 2012 – Hyper-V best practices

In this post, Jose Barreto is providing a reference to the most relevant content related to Windows Server 2012 that is related to the File Server, the SMB 3.0 features and its associated scenarios like Hyper-V over SMB and SQL Server over SMB. It’s obviously not a complete reference (there are new blog posts every day), but hopefully this is a useful collection of links for Windows Server 2012 users.

From here you go to Jose Barreto’s blog Updated Links on Windows Server 2012 File Server and SMB 3.0

And off course Hyper-V Clustering and storage has to be managed by System Center 2012 SP1 Virtual Machine Manager.
Here you find a serie of great blogposts made by Nigel Cain & Damian Flynn :

Virtual Networking in VMM 2012 SP1 – Part 1

Logical Networks (Part II) – How many logical networks do you really need?

NEW :  Logical Networks (Part III) – Network Isolation

For more information on System Center 2012 SP1 Virtual Machine Manager you can go to :

TechNet WiKi VMM 2012 Guide

TechNet Library VMM 2012 Online

TechNet Private Cloud Blog Hyper-V Host Network Settings through VMM PowerShell

Test Lab Guides: System Center 2012 SP1 – Virtual Machine Manager #sysctr #SCVMM #Hyperv

 

You can download the Test Lab Guides System Center 2012 SP1 Virtual Machine Manager here

Implementing System Center Management Pack for #WindowsAzure SQL Database Monitoring #sysctr

Import the Management Pack

For more information about importing a management pack, see How to Import an Operations Manager Management Pack.

Import the Microsoft.SqlServer.Azure.mpb using the Administration pane in the Operations Console.  After running the installer the management pack is typically located on the system drive in the \Program Files\System Center Management Packs folder.

Creating Windows Azure SQL Database Run As Accounts

To monitor Windows Azure SQL Database servers first create one or more Simple or Basic authentication Run As accounts which contain the credentials for accessing the servers. To do this:

1. In SCOM Console navigate to Administration | Run As Configuration | Accounts, right-click it and select Create Run As Account…

2. On the Introduction page click Next. 

3. On the General Properties page select Simple Authentication in Run As account type combo box, populate Display name and click Next

4. On the Credentials page populate Account name and Password with the credentials that will be used to connect to Windows Azure SQL Database cloud service and click Next.

5. On the Distribution Security page select More secure option and click Create.
You can use Less secure option and skip steps 7 – 8 if your environment is secure enough. 

6. Click Close to close the window.

If you used Less secure option on step 5, you can skip next steps.

7. Right-click newly created account and select Properties.

8. Navigate to Distribution tab and add the SCOM Agent that you wish to use as a Watcher Node to monitor Windows Azure SQL Database cloud service.

See Managing Run As Accounts and Profiles for more information about Run As accounts.

Using the Windows Azure SQL Database Add Monitoring Wizard

To begin monitoring a Windows Azure SQL Database cloud service:

1. In SCOM Console navigate to Authoring | Management Pack Templates, right-click Windows Azure SQL Database and select Add Monitoring Wizard…

2. On the Monitoring Type page select Windows Azure SQL Database and click Next

3. On the General Properties page you haveto provide template Name and Description, as well as Select destination management pack where template will be stored. If you don’t have a management pack for this
purpose – you can create a new one by clicking New… button.

Note: It is recommended to use new MP for the template.

4. On the Service Details page provide Server Name (including database.windows.net) and select Run As Account containing username and password to access cloud service. Click Next.

5. On the Proxy Agent tab Browse available SCOM Agents and select one to use as Watcher Node.

Important! IP address of the proxy agent machine should be enabled through Windows Azure SQL Database firewall. Also, Run As account specified in previous step should be distributed to selected agent or Less Secure option should be used, otherwise management pack won’t work.

6. Review configuration on Summary page and click Create.

Enabling Federations Discovery

To reduce number of queries issued to the Windows Azure SQL Database, federations discovery is disabled by default. If you use federations and want to monitor them, you have to enable the discovery.

To do this:

1. In SCOM Console navigate to Authoring | Management Pack Objects | Object Discoveries and click Scope button on the toolbar or Change Scope… link if scoping is already enabled.

2. Look for Windows Azure SQL Database Federation.

3. Right-click Windows Azure SQL Database Federation Discovery and select Overrides | Override the Object Discovery | For a specific object of class: Windows Azure SQL User Database.

4. Select root database of your federation.

5. Check Enabled row and select True as Override Value. To store this override you can use the same management pack where monitoring template instance relies. Click Apply and OK.

Here you can download the Microsoft Management Pack for Windows Azure SQL Databases

#Microsoft #WindowsAzure #SQL Database Management Pack for System Center 2012 #sysctr

Overview

The Microsoft Windows Azure SQL Database Management Pack enables you to monitor the availability and performance of applications that are running on Windows Azure SQL Database.
Feature Summary After configuration, the Microsoft Windows Azure SQL Database Monitoring Management Pack offers the following functionalities:

• User-friendly wizard to discover Windows Azure SQL Database servers.
• Provides availability status of Windows Azure SQL Database server.
• Collects and monitors health of Windows Azure SQL Database databases.
  • Space monitoring:
    • Used space
    • Free space
    • Total allocated quota
  • Track the total number of databases per server
• Collects and monitors performance information:
  • Average memory per session
  • Total memory per session
  • Total CPU time per session
  • Total I/O per session
  • Number of database sessions
  • Maximum Transaction execution time
  • Maximum Transaction lock count
  • Maximum Transaction log space used
  • Network Egress/Ingress bandwidth
• Ability to define Custom thresholds for each monitor to configure the warning and critical alerts.
• Run-as profile to securely connect to Windows Azure SQL Database.
• Detailed knowledge to guide the IT operator with troubleshooting the problem
• Custom tasks to redirect the user to the Windows Azure SQL Database online portal
• Custom query support to enable application-specific availability and performance monitoring

You can download the Microsoft Windows Azure SQL Database Management Pack here