Infrastructure Optimization

Seen on The Deployment Guys: An excellent video containing a walkthrough on how to set up SCCM 2007 OS Deployment and integrating Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008.

Download Video Here (51.28 MB)

Great kick-start for those of you just getting into this.

From the Awesome Ideas Department, Brian Tucker has raised the idea of an SCCM Ranger training event that would encourage a team-based deep-dive into the management software, and would do so in a casual setting - a house on a beach, for example, rather than YACRIAMH (yet another conference room in a mediocre hotel.)

While this might conjure visions of a ServerNerd reality show, the less-sarcastic part of me loves this idea. Get a bunch of smart people together, and discuss advanced scenarios for SCCM configuration and real world applications for complex architectures. Do it with pizza, beer and s’mores. Provide a Microsoft “title” - “SCCM Ranger” or something less evocative of a merit badge, and make the training pass/fail.

What do you think? Is this a good idea? Does it sound better than sitting in a training room looking at another PowerPoint deck? I sure think it does.

Brian Tucker’s SCCM 2007 Ranger Training Class poll

And yes, Brian, 249 of us are probably lazy or busy, but I still think your idea rocks!

Some folks talk about Service Oriented Architectures, some talk about Virtual Desktop Infrastructures, and some folks do something about it.

Stoneware, Inc. has been gaining momentum on its flagship product, webOS (due to ship April 200 and as a result has been getting some pretty healthy media attention.

Well, their latest release (5.3) is going to directly incorporate Google Apps in its Virtual Web Desktop, which is slated to incorporate “Windows, web and hosted applications in a single, ubiquitous web desktop interface.”

The tight integration of Google applications will definitely make Stoneware an interesting player in the space, and perhaps make them even more attractive as an acquisition property for one of the competing giants.

These are exciting times - when the humble world of HTML and JavaScript have been leveraged to the hilt, and AJAX applications now rival traditional executables in functionality and behavioral metaphors. Stoneware seems poised to deliver what many of us have dreamed about for as long as bandwidth has been increasing.

Check these guys out. I especially like the screenshot (above) that shows Excel running remotely through a web page. So much potential here.

And - for those of you about to rally back with “Citrix already does this!” - think again. Yes, they both do presentation virtualization, but consider what having it all web-based does for you, and how most of your organizations computers probably already have all the software they’d ever need to run it.

It’s not a revolutionary prediction, but expect a web-based desktop in your organization soon.

If you’re a user of Microsoft Deployment 1.x and upgrading to Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008, then you’ll want to pop over to Michael Niehaus’ blog, where he’s posted instructions on this scenario. Seems they included BDD to MDT migration, but not MD to MDT migration.

One thing of note from this posting (as we ourselves are getting down with MDT):

• Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) has been updated to 1.1 - this was a big download before, so clear the pipes, folks, if you’re planning on deploying Vista SP1.

Is anyone out there planning on deploying Vista SP1 in the near term? I’d love to hear your experiences, you brave souls!

I certainly hope this is the last of the name thrashing on this product for awhile. For those of you just getting used to the name change from Business Desktop Deployment Solution Accelerator to Microsoft Deployment, the folks in Redmond have changed the name of this product again, and it’s now being referred to as the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008. Some official verbiage:

Microsoft® Deployment Toolkit 2008—Unified Tools and Guidance for Desktop and Server Deployment Automation. Download it today!

We are pleased to announce that Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2008 has been released! This is an update to Microsoft Deployment, released in November 2007.

MDT 2008 extends existing functionality to deploy Windows Vista® SP1 and Windows Server® 2008 for both Lite Touch and Zero Touch deployments using Systems Management Server 2003* and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007. This release of MDT supports Windows AIK 1.1 and configuration of Active Directory® directory service, DNS, and DHCP server roles. To learn more and download the latest content, go to http://www.microsoft.com/deployment.

As of this posting, the MS Deployment site had not been updated with the name change, but expect that very soon. Start downloading today - this product has only gotten better and better, and I expect that this version will not disappoint. Of course, now that I’ve said that…

We’ll be watching this one very closely, as it’s our bread and butter.

Brian Tinham over at Manufacturing Computer Solutions leads with a posting about Window’s 2008 Server Core offering - cool stuff. Even cooler for the virtual-set is the prospect of using the application formerly known as SoftGrid in a “what if” scenario to virtualize OS’es in a way that we don’t have in today’s Microsoft SoftGrid. Richard Edwards from the Butler Groups has this to say:

“He (Edwards) makes the point that by stripping away some non-essential elements of the operating system, Windows Server 2008 gains a significant performance boost, as well as a reduced attack surface – and while services are reduced, Microsoft adds its next-generation hypervisor-based server – Hyper-V.”

“Importantly, Edwards characterises that as a “juice carton” – an operating system providing just enough capability to contain a virtualised server or application. “Microsoft Application Virtualisation [formerly known as SoftGrid Application Virtualisation] could turn out to be a very powerful ‘juice extractor’ if applied to operating systems as well as applications, as the technology is able to analyse patterns and dependencies to create a virtual application package,” he explains.”

Check out Brian’s full article and have a glass of juice.

Amy Newman over at ServerWatch.com in her VirtualzationWatch column helps to clear the virtual haze that is virtual presentation. Glad someone is speaking to this - in the 30 plus years of virtualization each market segment hasn’t been able to define itself all that clearly. Thanks Amy.

The cool thing about application virtualization with Microsoft’s SoftGrid is that it plays nicely in all the virtual spaces - including virtual presentation.

With the Terminal Service Client for SoftGrid virtualized applications can be streamed to a TS client enabled desktop, laptop or thin term for presentation via RDP and even further if you really want to extend it with an ICA client with Citrix.

“Application Virtualization allows any application to run alongside any other – even applications that normally conflict, multiple versions of the same application, and many applications that previously could not run under Terminal Services. This eliminates the need for server silos and significantly improves server utilization. As a result, the number of servers needed is much lower, operational costs for managing the remaining servers is reduced, and the server farm ROI is increased.” - Microsoft

Speaking of ROI - we haven’t even begun to speak to the documented 30 plus percent reduction in server silos when you add Application Virtualization for Terminal Service.

Endusers just want their apps - be it on their local desktop, laptop, thin term or securely from a kiosk at the airport - Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization for Terminal Services can help you achieve that - with out the virtual haze.