In Case You Missed It: New Azure Features Announced

Yeah, I nearly missed it. With Halloween and the SF Giants winning the World Series for the 3rd time, I almost let this slip by... but some really great new features were announced this week in Azure.

A few of my favorites are:

• Network Security Groups - Now you will be able to control access to subnets and individual VMs over the internal IP addresses using security groups, not just via ACLs on the external endpoints.  Right now you can only do it using PowerShell, so look for more details and those commands here. 
• Virtual Machines with Multiple NICs - The possibilities really opened up here with this new addition.  However, there are some caveats to keep in mind - You need to set this feature up when creating new VMs and those VMs must live in a VNET. Also the size of the VM matters.  Those little A1 and A2 VMs don't get to play.  For A3s, you can have 2 NICs, for A4s you can have 2.  And if you can't have extra NICs in the machines with Infinband (A8 and A9).  This is also only available via PowerShell, so look here for the commands.
• New Validated VPN devices - devices from Barracuda and Palo Alto Networks specifically.

Also, one of my new favorite resource pages for Azure right now is this one: Virtual Machine and Cloud Service Sizes for Azure. Lots of information and links that lead you to all sorts of handy tips.

Resources from the MVA Modernizing Your Datacenter Jumpstart

If you happened to join Matt Hester and I during our MVA Jumpstart, thanks for hanging out with us! We hoped we brought you some good ideas and resources for modernizing your datacenter.  

I think that one of the best things you can do when you are looking at refreshing technology for you business is to take the time to think about how you can leverage improved software, hardware and cloud technologies to make your server room (regardless of size) work better for your customers and become easier to maintain, protect and recover.

If you want to work more some of the things we covered, particularly DSC, please check out the Microsoft Virtual Labs.  I highly recommend the Windows Server 2012 R2 – Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration lab.

If you want to learn more about deploying Scale Out File Servers visit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831359.aspx

For more details about the Windows Server Migration Tools that Matt covered check out http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj134202.asp

And for Azure, learn more about Security and Compliance, install that nifty Cost Estimator Tool or learn more about the Migration Accelerator for Azure.

Matt and I were happy being able to spend the day telling you about things we really enjoy. If you want us to do more of that kind of thing, please drop us note or reach out to us on Twitter. If you missed it, the recordings will be available on demand in a few weeks at Microsoft Virtual Academy.

In the Seattle Area? Check out the Upcoming SITPUG Meeting!

I don't often get a chance to hang out in Washington, but one of the long standing MVPs in the area runs this quarterly meeting for Seattle IT Pros. 

Date/Time: November 7th, 6-8pm

Location: Microsoft Civica Office, 205 108th Avenue NE, Suite 200 (4^th floor)

Bellevue, WA 98004

The guest speaker will be Teju Shyamsundar of Microsoft.  Teju is a System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) Premier Field Engineer. The topic of the presentation is “What’s New in System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager.”

Looking for an easier way to manage all devices in your organization? In her presentation, Teju will go through some of the new features available to manage devices with Configuration Manager 2012 R2. She will focus on integrating Windows Intune with Configuration Manager to manage mobile devices, including Windows Phone 8, iOS and Android.

As a Premier Field Engineer, Teju has extensive experience with SCCM. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer & Information Technology from Purdue University. Her complete bio is available here.

Future meetings for 2015 are scheduled on February 4th, May 6th and August 5th! 

Upcoming Events - In-Person and Online!

If you haven't heard about the upcoming Microsoft Virtual Academy event I am doing with Matt Hester on October 28th, this TechNet Radio teaser might entice you - click for part 1 and be sure to register for this FREE, live online training event. While Matt and I are presenting live, the chat room will be monitored by some of my other evangelist friends from across the US. 

And for those of you who know developer types who want to learn more about Azure, give them a chance to roll up their sleeves and learn about the latest Microsoft Azure development tools and technologies. Join Microsoft technical experts at a local Microsoft Cloud DevCamp and leave with code running in the cloud!   

Learn how to use the new Microsoft Azure features and services like Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines, Websites, and Visual Studio 2013 to build and move a variety of apps to the cloud, including websites, mobile applications, and enterprise-class applications. 

Developers of all languages are welcome. With Microsoft Azure, you can use practically any language, framework, or tool to build or move existing applications to the cloud. Plus, I will be talking about IaaS at the San Francisco event next week!

Finally, don't forget to check out AzureConf on the 21st. This event will feature a keynote presentation by Scott Guthrie, along with numerous sessions executed by Azure community members. It will all be streamed live on Channel 9.

Microsoft Virtual Academy - Modernizing Your Data Center JumpStart is Coming!

Worried about Windows Server 2003 end of support?

Fear no more. You can get ahead of the game with a look at modernization and data center transformation options in Windows Server 2012 R2 and Microsoft Azure. Want to decide what works best in your environment? Check out “Modernizing Your Data Center,” on October 28, and learn from the experts exactly what you need to update your data center to match your workloads.

Join me and Matt Hester for a look at administration tools, storage improvements, Hyper-V, and best practices for virtualizing domain controllers, plus how to simplify day-to-day server management with PowerShell and Desired State Configuration. Explore Microsoft Azure and how to make hybrid cloud a reality. And review the four major steps for planning a migration project. 

Take this opportunity to get your modernization questions answered!

Course Outline

·       Windows Server 2012 R2 and Automation

·       Azure Infrastructure as a Service

·       Migration Processes, Roles, and Tools

Register now!

Modernizing Your Data Center Jump Start

Date:  October 28, 2014
Time: 9am‒2pm PDT
Where: Live, online virtual classroom
Cost: Free!