The dodgy wifi at the Mandalay Bay finally conspired against me and I didn't get a chance to post this entry until today - a full week later. I'll probably type up the other notes as separate blog postings.
Keynote 2 - You! Empowered to Embrace Consumerization
This keynote is available to watch here.
As suspected, SCCM 2012 will be able to do lightweight management of iPad, iPhone, Android and Symbian devices through ActiveSync.
A new feature of SCCM 2012 is Intelligent Application Delivery. This can autodetermine if you're on a corporate machine, an untrusted machine, your primary work machine and so on. It can determine rules based on hardware or software features and then deploy the same Application in different ways based on these rules.
Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 is now part of the core CAL not just the Enterprise CAL. SCCM 2012 integration now reports on the top users that get viruses, not just the top workstations.
As reported elsewhere client settings can now be set at the collection level, so you don't need a new site just to have different Software Update settings for different machines. You can, however, set default client settings for the entire site and let other admins override them at the collection level. Editing of the sms_def.mof file shouldn't be necessary as you'll be able to enable custom hardware inventory through the client settings.
Windows Intune, a cloud based management service, was launched at the keynote. This looks like a potentially revolutionary way to manage desktop PCs in small to medium businesses.
Showing posts with label MMS 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MMS 2011. Show all posts
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Thursday, 24 March 2011
MMS 2011 Day 2
Day 2 - the first real day of the conference, and the day of the myitforum party!
Keynote 1 - You. Empowered by the Cloud
Surprisingly early start to day 2 with a Keynote at 8.30am. There were two keynotes at MMS 2011, the first focusing on cloud computing, the second on the consumerisation of IT.
First up was the announcement that Opalis has been renamed as System Center Orchestrator. Another new addition to the System Center family is System Center Advisor. This product, formerly codenamed Atlanta, allows you to track config changes on your systems, and compare them with best practices. The beta is available today.
A key theme in the keynote was separating the apps, data, and OS on servers to provide increased manageability and reliability. Server app-v is a key component here, which can also help reduce the number of OS images you have for your servers. To help with building and managing these private clouds, Microsoft released the beta of Virtual Machine Manager 2012 this morning.
We were given a quick demo of Avicode for client experience monitoring. The most impressive part of the demo was drilling down into exactly what part of a stored procedure is causing slowdowns.
Tomorrows keynote- the consumerisation of IT. On the slide deck they had a picture of an iPhone- does this mean we'll be managing idevices through sccm soon?
You can watch the first keynote here.
BA01 Configuration Manager State of the Union
After the keynote, comes the 'real' keynote for SCCM. The biggest announcement came at the end!
As usual, lots of top ten lists. Interestingly the User state migration hotfix is the 2nd most applied behind the r3 power management hotfix. I'll be blogging about this particular patch at a later date, it's a pain to apply and affects OSD builds even when you're not using USMT.
As mentioned in the keynote Opalis is now Orchestrator. Out fall 2011 with built in support for sccm 2012. Built in actions like add computer to collection are supported.
Adobe Reader X has had support for ConfigMgr since November 2010 for updates through SCUP.
Sccm 2012 beta 2 will be RTW any day now. There's new exclude/include rules for collections!
They provided a great demo of role based administration. Thankfully you can now scope users to collection, and hide features and collections a user doesn't have access to. And at last you can run two instances of the console at once with different credentials.
2012 has integrated global search across the entire product. They gave the example of searching for Flash. This search returned applications, deployments and software updates. You can drill down and see the context (eg properties of package) direct in the search dialog.
Supercedence is another new feature in SCCM 2012. This allows you to set rules based on versions of a product so that if you install version 9.2 of a product it will first detect and uninstall version 9.1. This also provides a graphical view of the supercedence of your apps.
SCCM 2012 also provides a graphical view of your site hierarchy. You can enter geographical locations and view a bing map with the location of all your sites.
An important point for those thinking of evaluating SCCM 2012 that are deploying/have deployed FEP - you'll need to wait for a compatible version of FEP.
They announced PCM (Package Conversion Manager) to ease the transition to the new application model. This tool analyzes and checks whether classic software packages can be converted to the new app model, and if so, can convert them for you. It has a cool dashboard which gives pie and bar charts for readiness and conversion status.
One potential point of confusion with the new application model that they cleared up - legacy software distribution is still there. You can continue to use the classic way of deploying apps if you want to.
The SCCM 2012 SDK has been updated with powershell cmdlets such as new-collection, get-package.
Server Configuration Packs look interesting. These are packs of DCM settings built and converted from the Microsoft Best Practices Analyzers. DCM is becoming much more important in SCCM, and has been rebranded as Settings Management for the 2012 release of the product. This now includes settings enforcement to remediate configuration drift.
They quickly mentioned the P2V Migration Toolkit, which will assist with virtualizing SCCM site systems. Yesterday's BA17 Virtualizing Configuration Manager went into much more depth about this tool.
The last announcement was the headline grabber. SCCM 2012 will support Linux/unix servers. They are planning to offer support for various versions of Red Hat, SuSE, Solaris, HP-UX and AIX. These appear to be the same supported platforms as OpsMgr. The client will offer a subset of current Windows ConfigMgr functionality, and will be available some months after SCCM 2012 RTMs. They revealed a previously hidden talk on Wednesday - BA16 Configuration Manager 2012: Cross Platform Management.
Finally, they will be uploading howto videos for SCCM 2012 on Connect.
BA03 Configuration Manager 2012: Technical Overview
The main change in SCCM 2012 seems to be the Application model. In SCCM 2012 you will be managing applications, not scripts. By managing the Application you get a host of nice new features - automatic revision management and supercedence. As mentioned above, supercedence can enforce the uninstall of a previous version before installing the new version. The Application model also allows a choice of deployment options based on the device the user is sitting at - so, for example, a full install on their primary PC, but a streamed app on any other PC.
The PXE Service Point role has been bundled into the Distribution Point role.
Client health has been greatly improved in SCCM 2012 - a new program ccmeval.exe runs on the client itself and can check and remediate problems with the client.
There's lightweight device management based on Exchange ActiveSync - this will provide limited inventory and tasks that can be run on mobile devices that connect to your Exchange server via ActiveSync.
They've improved the Settings Management (DCM) interface, and you can now browse for Registry keys to check/remediate!
MMS 2011
Day 1 of MMS
According to Brad Anderson Wednesday was day 2 of the conference, so I'm guessing this was day 0.
I went to a couple of nice talks-
BA17 Virtualizing Configuration Manager - What you need to know and how to get there
This was a pretty technical talk which went into a lot of detail about the hardware considerations when looking at virtualizing SCCM 2007.
After covering the hardware, the speaker went into detail about the different ways you could virtualize SCCM. Firstly, you could create a new site in a VM and migrate your existing site to the VM instance of SCCM. Or, you could just run a P2V tool (this is what we did). Looking at my notes, the only thing if importance I've written down is 'don't cluster your MP'.
BA37 Buried Inventory Treasure
A Sherry Kissinger talk, this was full of nuggets of information. I believe Sherry is putting a number of the reports from the demos on her blog. Some of the coolest bits involved DCM. It was a revelation to see SCCM 2007 DCM not just read values, but also set them via scripts.
Another cool demo was Mark Cochrane's RegKeytoMof- a nice tool to autogenerate the code to insert into SMS_def.mof for custom inventory. She's blogged about the new version here.
Hands on lab- Microsoft Bitlocker Administration and Monitoring
Nice solution to the Bitlocker key recovery issue if you're licensed for mdop. This tool backs up enterprise bitlocker keys to a SQL database. A web based portal then allows helpdesk agents recover keys without the need for a domain admin to go near active directory users and computers.
I'm about 2 days behind in my MMS updates, but I'll just blame that on the awful in-room wifi at the Mandalay Bay.
According to Brad Anderson Wednesday was day 2 of the conference, so I'm guessing this was day 0.
I went to a couple of nice talks-
BA17 Virtualizing Configuration Manager - What you need to know and how to get there
This was a pretty technical talk which went into a lot of detail about the hardware considerations when looking at virtualizing SCCM 2007.
After covering the hardware, the speaker went into detail about the different ways you could virtualize SCCM. Firstly, you could create a new site in a VM and migrate your existing site to the VM instance of SCCM. Or, you could just run a P2V tool (this is what we did). Looking at my notes, the only thing if importance I've written down is 'don't cluster your MP'.
BA37 Buried Inventory Treasure
A Sherry Kissinger talk, this was full of nuggets of information. I believe Sherry is putting a number of the reports from the demos on her blog. Some of the coolest bits involved DCM. It was a revelation to see SCCM 2007 DCM not just read values, but also set them via scripts.
Another cool demo was Mark Cochrane's RegKeytoMof- a nice tool to autogenerate the code to insert into SMS_def.mof for custom inventory. She's blogged about the new version here.
Hands on lab- Microsoft Bitlocker Administration and Monitoring
Nice solution to the Bitlocker key recovery issue if you're licensed for mdop. This tool backs up enterprise bitlocker keys to a SQL database. A web based portal then allows helpdesk agents recover keys without the need for a domain admin to go near active directory users and computers.
I'm about 2 days behind in my MMS updates, but I'll just blame that on the awful in-room wifi at the Mandalay Bay.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
A History of TechEd Europe in Conference Bags Part 2
Barring any last minute volcanoes I'll be at MMS 2011 next month, so I thought I'd have a look back over some past conferences I've been to. This is a continuation of the conference bag retrospective I started here.
TechEd: IT Forum 2007
13-16 November, Barcelona
SCCM 2007, Bitlocker and lots of security stuff made this a great conference. Well, that and the weather. And the food. And the architecture. And....
TechEd EMEA IT Professionals 2008
3-7 November, Barcelona
The last TechEd in Barcelona, and finally I get to the Camp Nou. A Champions League tie against FC Basel which ended 1-1. Messi scored for Barca, I can't remember who scored for Basel.
The talks from the conference are available online at msteched.com, here are some I'd recommend
Windows Security Boundaries by Mark Russinovich
Advanced Operating System Deployment Part 2 (Part 1 seems to be missing)
TechEd EMEA 2009
9-13 November, Berlin
The last European TechEd I attended was sadly the worst. I don't know what happened in the organisation of this event, but it was terrible in comparison to (at least) the five previous TechEds.
The scheduling was bad on two fronts. The first day of the conference was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. While it was great to be in Berlin for such a historic event it meant hotel rooms were hard to come by and expensive. The scheduling of the talks was poor too - similarly themed talks either clashed or were at different ends of the conference center. Popular talks were put in small rooms and there were a number of hastily arranged repeat talks.
The Messe conference center was nice, but they obviously didn't have enough room. Corridors were packed during transitional periods and some rooms didn't even have four walls. Some of the rooms had a curtain separating the auditorium from the corridor making it difficult to hear the speaker.
Bottled water was no longer available, instead provided by water coolers. Unfortunately there were no cups and they didn't have enough water bottles to supply with the conference bags.
Berlin as a city was great (I'd recommend the currywurst if you're visiting).
It's a pity the conference organisers had a nightmare.
TechEd: IT Forum 2007
13-16 November, Barcelona
SCCM 2007, Bitlocker and lots of security stuff made this a great conference. Well, that and the weather. And the food. And the architecture. And....
TechEd EMEA IT Professionals 2008
3-7 November, Barcelona
The last TechEd in Barcelona, and finally I get to the Camp Nou. A Champions League tie against FC Basel which ended 1-1. Messi scored for Barca, I can't remember who scored for Basel.
The talks from the conference are available online at msteched.com, here are some I'd recommend
Windows Security Boundaries by Mark Russinovich
Advanced Operating System Deployment Part 2 (Part 1 seems to be missing)
TechEd EMEA 2009
9-13 November, Berlin
The last European TechEd I attended was sadly the worst. I don't know what happened in the organisation of this event, but it was terrible in comparison to (at least) the five previous TechEds.
The scheduling was bad on two fronts. The first day of the conference was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. While it was great to be in Berlin for such a historic event it meant hotel rooms were hard to come by and expensive. The scheduling of the talks was poor too - similarly themed talks either clashed or were at different ends of the conference center. Popular talks were put in small rooms and there were a number of hastily arranged repeat talks.
The Messe conference center was nice, but they obviously didn't have enough room. Corridors were packed during transitional periods and some rooms didn't even have four walls. Some of the rooms had a curtain separating the auditorium from the corridor making it difficult to hear the speaker.
Bottled water was no longer available, instead provided by water coolers. Unfortunately there were no cups and they didn't have enough water bottles to supply with the conference bags.
Berlin as a city was great (I'd recommend the currywurst if you're visiting).
It's a pity the conference organisers had a nightmare.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
A History of TechEd Europe in Conference Bags Part 1
I'm off to MMS 2011 next month so I thought it would be fun to look back over the Microsoft conferences I've attended in the past. I've dug out the old conference bags from on top of the wardrobe - excuse the dust!
TechEd Europe 2004
29 June - 2 July, Amsterdam
Held in the Amsterdam RAI, this was the first major conference I attended. Some of the key topics covered were the additional security features of XP SP2, Windows ACS (which ended up in SCOM) and running Server 2003 on 64-bit hardware.
Sadly, the conference bag was possibly the worst ever conference bag in the history of conference bags. A bright orange courier bag with a special hook to hold your drum(!). I'm assuming the orange was to help you remember you were in the Netherlands, and the drum... believe it or not, the drum was handed out as part of the keynote. It was fun coming back through customs with this.
TechEd Europe 2005
5 - 8 July, Amsterdam
Again held in the Amsterdam RAI, the big topics in 2005 (for me) were WSUS, LTI and ZTI with BDD and security.
Looking at the bag, it would appear that SQL Server 2005 was a big deal this year. The bag seems a bit conservative compared to 2004!
TechEd: IT Forum 2006
14-17 November, Barcelona
The IT Forum and TechEd events merged in 2006 and TechEd: IT Forum was born. The conference center in Barcelona was excellent, but not quite as good as the RAI in Amsterdam.
I went to a lot of talks about Vista. This was sadly a waste of time thanks to the pain that was/is Volume Licensing 2.0. The original Reduced Functionality Mode in Vista made it impossible for us deploy Vista - we weren't prepared to take the risk that someone's workstation may end up a glorified web browser. Security talks were high on my list again this year - they were not only useful, but helped with the CISSP CPE credits!
TechEd Europe 2004
29 June - 2 July, Amsterdam
Held in the Amsterdam RAI, this was the first major conference I attended. Some of the key topics covered were the additional security features of XP SP2, Windows ACS (which ended up in SCOM) and running Server 2003 on 64-bit hardware.
Sadly, the conference bag was possibly the worst ever conference bag in the history of conference bags. A bright orange courier bag with a special hook to hold your drum(!). I'm assuming the orange was to help you remember you were in the Netherlands, and the drum... believe it or not, the drum was handed out as part of the keynote. It was fun coming back through customs with this.
TechEd Europe 2005
5 - 8 July, Amsterdam
Again held in the Amsterdam RAI, the big topics in 2005 (for me) were WSUS, LTI and ZTI with BDD and security.
Looking at the bag, it would appear that SQL Server 2005 was a big deal this year. The bag seems a bit conservative compared to 2004!
TechEd: IT Forum 2006
14-17 November, Barcelona
The IT Forum and TechEd events merged in 2006 and TechEd: IT Forum was born. The conference center in Barcelona was excellent, but not quite as good as the RAI in Amsterdam.
I went to a lot of talks about Vista. This was sadly a waste of time thanks to the pain that was/is Volume Licensing 2.0. The original Reduced Functionality Mode in Vista made it impossible for us deploy Vista - we weren't prepared to take the risk that someone's workstation may end up a glorified web browser. Security talks were high on my list again this year - they were not only useful, but helped with the CISSP CPE credits!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)