Oh, Pearson Vue, How I Missed You... Sort Of.

If you are a Microsoft MCP, MCSA, MCITP, MCSE or have historically taken Microsoft exams for a few years now, you'll likely already been through the switch from Pearson Vue to Prometric and now here it is, coming full circle again, back to Pearson Vue.

Years ago, I LOVED my local Pearson Vue test center. It was in building on the same block as my place of employment and I had taken so many exams around that time that they greeted me by name when I walked into the office.  When things switched to Prometric, well, it was like I lost a friend.  But there was a local Prometric test center not far from work as well and my testing life went on.

So here we are again, switching back to Pearson Vue.  Check out the blog BornToLearn blog to find out more about some of the new features you can take advantage of, including being able to schedule exams directly from the Microsoft Learning portal using your Microsoft Account.  If you haven't checked out the updated portal for tracking your certification and reviewing you transcript, you should.  It's much easier to navigate than in the past.

Plus they are beta testing being able to take exams from home or at work!  Alas, there doesn't seem to be any testing centers within walking distance of my office (or in my city at all) so I might consider trying that out.

You can schedule with Prometric OR Pearson Vue until the end of the year. Starting in 2015, Pearson Vue will be the sole testing provider for all your MCP needs.

Good luck on your next test!

It's Week 6! Week 6 of Modernizing Your Infrastructure with Hybrid Cloud

In part 6 of the “Modernizing Your Infrastructure with Hybrid Cloud”  series, Blain Barton and Tommy Patterson discuss how to get started migrating server workloads to Windows Server 2012 R2 and Microsoft Azure. Tune in for this great session on server migration from on-premises, to the cloud or a combination of both and learn which option is best for your organization as well as what tools are available to make this process as efficient as possible.

• [4:13]  What does end of support for Windows Server 2003 mean?
• [5:23] Migration vs. Upgrade. Which option is best?
• [15:02] What migration tools are available?
• [16:01]  Migrating foundation services (Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, File Services & DFS, Web Servers, SQL, Exchange, and SharePoint

Speaking of moving workloads to the cloud, the Azure blog just announced a new series of VM sizes, with more memory and SSD storage.  They are approximately 60% fast too! 

Later this week, be on the lookout for more blog posts in this last week of the series - I will send out tweets!

Don't forget! MVP-led "Transform the Datacenter" Events all next week!

Just a quick reminder about some upcoming "Transform the Datacenter" events next week, led by a variety of Microsoft MVPs!  All of the events are free to attend. 

FL	Tampa	Monday, September 22	Adnan Cartwright, Telmo Sampaio, Max Trinidad (coordination w/Kevin Weilbacher)	Register to Attend
IL	Chicago	Monday, September 22	Trevor Sullivan, Annur Sumar, Brian Desmond	Register to Attend
WA	Bellevue	Tuesday, September 23	Brian Desmond (Coordination with Zubair Alexander)	Register to Attend
AZ	Tempe	Wednesday, September 24	Jason Helmick, Rory Monaghan, David Lundell, Tom Ziegmann	Register to Attend
CO	Denver	Thursday, September 25	Greg Shields	Register to Attend
TX	Houston	Friday, September 26	Anil Desai	Register to Attend
MI	Detroit	Saturday, September 27, 2014	Andy Syrewicze	Register to Attend
OH	Cincinnati	Saturday, September 20, 2014	Kevin Royalty	Register to Attend

Week 5 of Modernizing Your Infrastructure with Hybrid Cloud

This is the 2nd to last week of the  "Modernizing Your Infrastructure with Hybrid Cloud"  series and in part 5, Yung Chou and Keith Mayer demonstrate ways in which you can manage and automate your hybrid cloud environment. Tune in for this demo heavy session as they showcase System Center, Microsoft Azure and the Windows Azure Pack as well as PowerShell for Azure, PowerShell DSC for configuration management and Azure Automation for automated runbooks.

•  [1:15] When architecting a Hybrid Cloud infrastructure, what are some of the important considerations relating to management and automation?
• [4:09] You mentioned PowerShell for automation ... how can PowerShell be leveraged for automation in a Hybrid Cloud?
• [7:54]  Is PowerShell my ONLY choice? Are there other automation and configuration management solutions available for a Hybrid Cloud?
• [11:12] DEMO: Let's see some of this in action
• Brief tour of System Center and Azure / Azure Pack management portal interfaces
• Getting started with PowerShell for Azure, Azure Pack automation
• Intro to PowerShell DSC for configuration management
• Intro to Azure Automation for automated runbooks

Also upcoming for the blog posts related to this week:

• Tue: Getting Started with On-Demand Private Clouds with Azure Pack by Keith Mayer
• Wed: Automating the Hybrid Cloud with PowerShell and Azure Automation by Keith Mayer
• Thu: PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) by Kevin Remde
• Fri: Monitoring the Hybrid Cloud by Dan Stolts

Tools to Help Convert from VMware

Are you interested in the benefits of Microsoft virtualization with Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2, and how they compare to VMware virtualization with vCenter 5.5? Watch Microsoft's Matt McSpirit, as he provides an overview of several solutions that can convert VMware virtual machines to Hyper-V (or Microsoft Azure) virtual machines. 

Review different migration options in more depth, with experts in each technology, including Microsoft and partners 5nine Software, NetApp, Vision Solutions, and Xtreme Consulting Group. Don't miss this opportunity to get the details on Hyper-V migration.

Modules

1. Introduction to VMware to Hyper-V Migration & Partner Solution Overview
2. Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) 2.0 for VMware to Hyper-V & Azure Migration
3. Xtreme VM Migrator for VMware to Hyper-V Migration
4. NetApp MAT4SHIFT for VMware to Hyper-V Migration
5. 5nine Software V2V Easy Converter 4.0 for VMware to Hyper-V Migration
6. Vision Solutions DoubleTake Move for VMware to Hyper-V & Azure Migration

Take the course for free on the Microsoft Virtual Academy: http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/training-courses/vmware-to-hyper-v-migration 

Also, don't forget to check out the Azure Migration Accelerator (in Preview):  http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/features/migration-accelerator/?linkId=9516861

If you need some additional suggestions for things to watch on MVA, don't miss out these as well:

• Moving to Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure
• Virtualizing Your Data Center with Hyper-V and System Center
• The Microsoft Hybrid Cloud: Best Practices Guidance

Week 4 of the Hybrid Cloud! More TechNet Radio and Upcoming Blog Topics

The “Modernizing Your Infrastructure with Hybrid Cloud” series continues with Part 4 featuring Blain Barton and Keith Mayer as they tackle the topic of virtualization in a Hybrid Cloud environment.  Tune in as they discuss how virtualization is no longer constrained to the physical capacity of an on-premise environment and then showcase some tools and techniques that are available in Microsoft Azure that can help assist your move to Hybrid cloud virtualization.

• [1:26] What do you see as some of the differences or new opportunities that IT Pros need to consider when planning virtualization for a Hybrid Cloud environment?
• [3:31] How do traditional IT Pro virtualization skills translate into Hybrid Cloud?
• [5:05]  When planning Hybrid Cloud virtualization, how should IT Pros approach it?
• [8:01]  You mentioned Azure Pack – what is that?
• [10:51]  If I already have an existing Hyper-V environment with custom VM templates defined, can I leverage them with Azure Pack?
• [11:03] DEMO: Let’s see some of this in action

Then check back later in the week as the series blog posts cover the following topics:

• Migrating Physical Servers to Virtual Machines
• Migrating VMware VMs to Hyper-V and Azure
• Implementing VM Templates and Service Templates
• Using Custom VM Images and Resource Group Templates in Microsoft Azure

The Microsoft Government Virtual Summit is on Sept 10th

When talking to people about using Azure or adopting a hybrid cloud solution I often hear, "But what if you are government?"  If you are looking for answers, mark your calendar for September 10th.

The Microsoft Government Virtual Summit is streaming LIVE on Wednesday, September 10th. 

Connect with government leaders, partners, and Microsoft executives for Federal as well as State and Local Government on an open discussion panel and receive first-hand insights into the Microsoft productivity and platform, services and devices approach—the Cloud on your terms designed for Government.

There are two tracks: Federal Government Track (8:30 am PST) and State and Local Government Track (10:00 am PST).  Choose the track that best fits your needs and interests, and of course, you are welcome to join both.

Ask the experts!  Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions LIVE online to:

• Nancy Adams, Sr. Account Executive of Catapult Systems 
• Bob Ballard, Principle Cloud Strategist for Planet Technologies 
• Shan McArthur, CEO/CTX at Adxstudio 
• Cliff DuPuy, Technical Services Director with Mecklenburg County 
• David Ulmer, CIO of the NC Department of Transportation 
• Sandra Weightman, Network Manager with City of Fort Myers, Florida
• Jimmy Barfield, ITS Director with City of Fort Myers, Florida

Check out the agenda and then REGISTER!

The Summer of 2014: In Tweets

September starts to mark the end of summer for me in my mind, even if the weather might not completely agree. So as students return to school, the leaves begin to turn and all the fall fashions start to make their way into the storefronts, I bring you some highlights from this summer on the Internet, via tweets.

Microsoft

• @thomasclaudiush (Aug 19) - Blogged: How a #Surface RT became the most reliable server in our house: http://www.thomasclaudiushuber.com/blog/2014/08/19/how-the-surface-rt-became-the-most-reliable-server-in-our-house-co-starring-azure-and-windows-phone/ #wpdev #windev #winrt #windows /cc @surface
• @girlgerms (Aug 17) - New blog post! See, I *TOLD* you it was coming! "AD Security & Administration - righting the right rights" (http://girl-germs.com/?p=459 ) #fb
• @JeffHicks (Aug 6) - How to Create a Windows 8 USB Recovery Disk http://ift.tt/1odxNEc  #Petri
• @pzerger (Aug 1) - Day 1: Intro to PowerShell DSC and Configuring Your First Pull Server: Welcome to Day 1 of the “100 Days of DevOps... http://bit.ly/1m7N4AK
• @nhawkins (May 12) - New blogpost - Super pumped about Azure Site Recovery: http://www.nickahawkins.com/2014/05/microsoft-azure-site-recovery-announced/

Social / Culture

• @WIRED (Aug 2) - The weird reasons why people make up false identities on the Internet http://wrd.cm/1zEBi9d
• @WIRED (Jul 24) - The Fasinatng … Frustrating … Fascinating History of Autocorrect http://www.wired.com/2014/07/history-of-autocorrect/ 
• @joe_elway (Jun 25) - The Daily Show researches the intolerance shown towards "Glass Explorers" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClvI9fZaz6M … #Google
• @grantimahara (Jun 7) - Take heed, brethren. An entertaining and very logical analysis of the whole "fake geek girl" phenomenon. http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2014/06/06/fake-geek-girls-fiction-or-reality-video/#31s9y5wHYYWJIpAu.01 …
• @kathrynschulz (May 13) - In an accident, should your self-driving car veer right to kill you or left to kill 2 strangers? http://goo.gl/mYXTmK  Dark & fascinating.
• @MarleeMatlin (Aug 19) - This is so FANTASTIC!!! Pharrell's 'Happy' Is Even Happier in Sign Language http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pharrells-happy-is-happier-sign-726488 … via @THR

Science / Tech

• @WIRED (Aug 12) - How isolation units contain the world's deadliest diseases http://wrd.cm/1ppPgZk
• @adfskitteh (Aug 3) - RT @danpi: How do we relate Cloud services to food?  Pizza as a Service of course! pic.twitter.com/HvWfeb9mu6 => Best. Cloud. Analogy. EVER.
• @noblewb (Aug 1) - NASA tested an impossible space engine and it somehow worked http://theverge.com/e/5723678  via @verge
• @engadget (Jul 27) - Microsoft explains quantum computing in a way we can all understand http://engt.co/1AdQFqs  
• @macsound (Jun 18) - Interesting video focusing on technical data from Challenger. I've learned heaps. http://vimeo.com/97129318
• @melodybliss (Jun 17) - Building the Part of Facebook No One Ever Sees http://fb.me/2Grml8b7k

Modernizing Your Infrastructure with Hybrid Cloud - Week 3 Has Arrived!

This week's focus is on networking. It starts out with Kevin Remde and Keith Mayer continuing the series on “Modernizing Your Infrastructure with Hybrid Cloud” and in today’s episode they discuss various options for networking. Tune in as they go in depth on what options are available for hybrid cloud networking as they explore network connectivity and address concerns about speed, reliability and security.

• [2:46] What components are involved in Hybrid Cloud Networking?
• [5:30] What are some of the technical capabilities of Hybrid Cloud networking?
• [9:25]  Which VPN gateways are supported with Microsoft Azure?
• [11:28]  What are some of the common scenarios that customers are implementing for Hybrid Cloud networking?
• [15:40]  Besides Site-to-Site IPSec VPNs, are there any other connectivity options for Hybrid Cloud networking?
• [20:10] DEMO: Can you walk us through the basic steps for setting up a Hybrid Cloud network?

Check back at http://aka.ms/ModernCloud as the week progresses for some related blog posts:

• Tuesday: Step by Step: Setting a Static IP address on your Azure VM by Brian Lewis
• Wednesday: Building Microsoft Azure Virtual Networks by Matt Hester
• Thursday: Cross-premises connectivity with Site-to-Site VPN by Kevin Remde
• Friday: Cross-premises connectivity with ExpressRoute by Keith Mayer