By Will Kelly
Virtualization has been a real hot topic in some professional circles I run in, thus I wanted to come up to speed with the new features in Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 and wanted to get an overview of Microsoft’s approach to Server virtualization.
Enter the Technet Webcast: A 360 View Inside the Virtual World presented by Adam Bogobowicz, a senior product manager for Microsoft Corporation. I find briefings and presentations from Microsoft product managers like Bogobowicz because the information is coming directly from the source responsible for leading product development.
Tip: Download the presentation and you can play it from any Windows Media compatible player at your leisure.
The Webcast starts out with a refresher on server virtualization including the technologies, economics, and security drivers that make a server virtualization solution a must have for your organization. The coverage of Microsoft’s Dynamic System Initiative also helped bring home Microsoft’s virtualization strategy for me. His coverage of Microsoft’s virtualization roadmap also illuminated a picture of their strategy and how they plan to keep pace in the white hot virtualization market.
After breaking down the concepts underlying Microsoft’s virtualization strategy, he walks through a common usage scenario of application migration and server consolidation with an eye on conserving IT costs. The Bogobowicz fires up Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 and walks through some common virtualization scenarios that should ring true for IT managers seeking to leverage the benefits of server virtualization.
Desktop deployments can be a pain point and Bogobowicz uses an Office 2003 deployment and demonstrates the ease of deploying the Office suite through Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007:
Next, the Webcast takes on the features of the TS RemoteApp Manager with Bogobowicz’s expert introduction to this important management tool:
Once Bogobowicz finishes with the TS RemoteApp Manager he delves expertly into the Virtual Machine Manager Overview – a valuable management tool for managing virtual servers:
Managing virtual hosts is integral to a virtualization solution like Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 and Bogobowicz walks through the host management options:
His attention and smooth pace walking through the Wizard step by step for configuring a virtual server makes it look easy for even new users:
He also walks through the Systems Center Operations Manager console, the core management console for the product with its clean interface:
The Webcast ends with Bogobowicz covering disaster recovery and summarizing the Webcast plus benefits of virtualization with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007. He also drives home the benefits of server virtualization one last time making you want to learn more about Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 above and beyond this well done Webcast.
You can view the Webcast yourself here: A 360 View Inside the Virtual World