Which version of HYPER-V should I use?

Normally when you have top many options in the same products it makes too much confusing. Sometime this is given for you to make your life easier but still there are chances it can burden you when you don’t have proper instructions and guidance. Same story goes in HYPER-V as well. Microsoft offer HYPER-V in several editions and knowing which version to purchase or get free depend on what are you going to do with it. Apart from that I wanted to highlight the new command available in HYPER-V configuration in server core edition. “sconfig.cmd” is a graphical command available in the server core to configure server. This is updated with new sets of commands which make HYPER-V managing administrator’s life easier.
Now without further due let me introduce one of the charts available in the Microsoft web site which explains which edition to choose.



Apart from server consolidation some of the other areas where you can use HYPER-V are,

* Test and Development
* Server Consolidation
* Branch Office Consolidation
* Hosted Desktop Virtualization (VDI)

Microsoft free HYPER Visor is good option for testing and R&D. If you are planning to consolidate more than 4 servers in one physical server then moving to Data center version will do huge cost saving to you. More information of these licensing and how to maximize your investment on this HYPER-V can be get on Tech.Ed 2010. Look forward to see ya in there.

Tech.Ed 2010 in Sri Lanka

Hi everyone, we’re so proud to present Tech.Ed in Sri Lanka. Microsoft Sri Lanka has taken great initiate step organizing this event. We believe year 2010 going to be the ICT year and there will be so much improvement in our ICT sector in Sri Lanka. Same time we expect a boom in the Enterprise sector the usage of IT to increase their productivity and reduce the cost.

Tech.Ed will be starting on Feb 09th. Currently registration is open to everyone. This is one of the updated news I received via FB.

“Tech.Ed Sri Lanka 2010 standard price: SLR 12000/=
Register for Tech.Ed Sri Lanka now and save 10% on the standard price. Don’t delay… This Offer Expires 25th of January 2010.
http://www.teched.lk/register.aspx”

So go ahead and grab your seat guys. As I mention this will be a great opportunity to experience a whole new level of Microsoft Technology and get in touch with industry experts and raise your questions.

SCVMM 2008 R2 documentation update is out!

If you’re using Microsoft HYPER-V  as you main stream virtualization platform then you know SCVMM is the centralized management console to mange several HYPER-V hosts.  Apart from that is have the capability to manage cross different virtualization technology hosts as well (Eg: ESX)

Since SCVMM is a dynamic product which keeps on evolving all the time new updates and hot-to guides appear frequently. Microsoft team recently released some of the documentation updates. You can reach them here. Apart from that one of the best place to hang around and get the latest info would be HYPER-V @ TechNet.

As per my personal view year 2010 –2012 would be the peak time Sri Lankan market would adopt Virtualization. Most of the time Enterprise companies has been in the observation and internal review about virtualization and how to adopt for that. Since virtualization is a vast area ISV’s will have a great opportunity to provide the ideal solutions.

HAPPY VIRTULIZATION YEAR TO ALL!

CCleaner supports Windows 7

How many times you have notice or suffered from PC / Laptop getting slow and sluggish compared to your initial usage with that system. We tend to keep filling it up with various software and downloads. Even though we try to do disk cleanup and disk defragment that doesn’t going to clean the windows registry (The nerve system of Windows)

As a solution I have been using registry cleaning software from windows 98 stage.  When it comes to Windows XP  have found out CCLeaner is the best for that plus it is free. Apart from registry cleaning it has the capability to tweak the registry, remove stale software records from control panel…etc. Removing browser cache and temporary files is one key improvement in this software. Not only internet explorer , CCleaner support can identify most popular web browsers as well. So much options under the category of free :) Unfortunately when I moved to Windows 7 it didn’t had official plans or release dates to support for Windows7. Despite of running the application under Windows XP compatibility category I didn’t wanted to run this application. One main reason is it won’t recognize the Windows 7 registry and can make severe damage.

Recent visit to their web site gave me the eye opening about the compatibility with windows 7! Some of the key improvements in the latest release are,

CCleaner v2.27
- Added support to Wipe MFT Free Space.
- Added cleaning for Windows Explorer breadcrumb bar.
- Added cleaning for Opera beta versions.
- Added option to turn off CCleaner jumplist tasks on Windows 7.
- Added menu option to Registry Cleaner to add key to exclude list.
- Improved support for SeaMonkey 2.0.
- Improved Windows 7 Taskbar progress accuracy.
- Improved minimize to system tray functionality across all platforms.
- Improved Opera cleaning by including opcache and temporary_downloads folder.
- Improved performance of Compact database routines.
- Improved Wipe Free Space code to avoid locks.
- Improved security when deleting files.
- Minor GUI and interface improvements.
- Minor bug fixes.

Give it a try and see how it perform for you. You can download the latest version from here.

Microsoft Rental Rights Licensing scheme

Beginning of the 01st January 2010 Microsoft has started the rental scheme of their Operating system and Office products. If you’re a partner who is renting or lending machine to customers for projects or for training this will be a good news for you. You don’t have to put a hefty price on your rental price tag for the OS you’re preinstall and delivering. As per Microsoft resellers advantages are as follows,

Rental Rights licensing offers Microsoft resellers a range of benefits, including:

• Customer satisfaction. You now have a way to sell licenses that fit your customers’ business models, help ensure their compliance, and solidify your role as a trusted advisor.

• Convenience. No special tools, processes, reporting, or paperwork are necessary; the transaction works like any other license transaction.

• Revenue. Selling the new licenses means new revenue.

• Flexibility. Just like with other Volume Licensing SKUs, you have the flexibility to determine the pricing for your customers and to run promotions.

In way this is a welcome method to reduce the piracy of software and give the freedom to comply with licensing as well. More information can be found over here.

Apart from that their are certain restrictions for this scheme as well, Those are as follows,

Rental Rights licenses are user rights licenses only (they do not include software), so no media fulfillment is involved. The following important limitations apply to the Rental Rights licenses:

• Perpetual license. A Rental Rights license is permanently assigned to a specific device and may not be reassigned to another device. When the device reaches its operational end-of-life, so does the license.

• Remote access. Rental Rights do not allow for remote access to software.

• Separate devices. Use of additional copies of the qualifying software on a separate portable device or a network device is not allowed.

• Additive license only. Rental Rights licenses are not stand-alone product licenses and do not replace customers’ underlying Windows desktop operating system or Office system licenses; Rental Rights are additional licenses that modify the underlying license terms, allowing for rental, lease, and outsourcing of desktop PCs with licensed, qualifying Windows desktop operating systems and licensed, qualifying Office systems.

• Virtual machines. Rental Rights do not account for software used within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system. In other words, the primary customer may not create and rent virtual machines.