Sep 22

setting up a virtual machine using azure

For those who don’t know already: these days you can setup your own personal virtual machine using the Microsoft Azure Cloud platform. As this Azure feature is fairly new many of us (including for me) I decided to give it a try and to explore the opportunities of what this platform can give.

Personally I was under the impression that Azure only offered a platform which you could use to host websites and certain applications. Obviously I was wrong. These days Azure provides you a platform which you can use to host websites, virtual machines, SQL databases, Storage, ….
More details of what Azure offers can be found at http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/manage/overview/

Well I wanted to setup a virtual machine so I logged in on the http://www.windowsazure.com website using my Live ID. Please note that a Live ID is required in order to use the service. Once logged in some further steps are required if it’s the first time you are using the Azure service.

To complete the registration you are required to have a mobile phone and a valid credit card near you. Next step is to provide your (mobile) phone number. Microsoft requires this as they send you an account verification number for completing the account registration. I  provided my phone number and selected my country and went further with the registration process by pressing the arrow pointing to the right.

Shortly after going to the next step you will receive a text message with a code to verify the account. That code is required for continuing to the next step.

Next step is providing your credit card details. Once provided you can go to the next step.

5 - fill in credit card detailset voila! our Azure acount is ready for use! If all goes well next screen you’ll see is the  main welcome screen for Azure. Note that the website is shown in the language of your computer’s localization setting (Dutch – Belgium in my case).

 My next step was to create a “pay by use” subscription. As I want to create a VM which I intent to use for a very short time, I only want to pay for that VM the time that I’m using it. Creating a pay by use subscription can be done in your account centre (add subscription). Next I need to subscribe for the function “Virtual Machines”. This can be done in the account centre as well using the option “Example of functions”. (“Voorbeeld van functies” in dutch). Scroll down to “Virtual Machines” and press the button “Try it now”. Next select your “pay by use” subscription and confirm.

Once confirmed I was asked to use the preview version of the administration center of Azure, which I confirmed by pressing the green “Use the preview portal” button.

My portal (which can be accessed by going to https://manage.windowsazure.com) was ready to use, now I want to create my Virtual Machine. For that I pressed the + button and did a quick create of a virtual Machine. The only details I was asked to create the VM were: DNS name, image I wanted to use (selected Windows 2012), administrator password (password complexity is required!), size (for extra-small to extra large) and the location where I want to host this machine. I always think big so I selected Extra Large as size!

After a couple of minutes of provisioning my machine was ready to use. I clicked on the machine’s name and on the bottom of my screen I was presented a button for connecting to the machine. Pressing that button will download an RDP file which connects you to your VM by using the MS Remote Desktop Protocol. Note that no RDP Gateway is being used: it is connecting directly by 3389/tcp.

The provisioned virtual machine will be given a DNS name and external IP address and if you log on to your machine you will notice that your machine is having a private IP address which means that it is being NATed.

I need to admit that I’m really impressed by the ease and performance of the VM provisioning process within Azure. The complete process from subscribing to the Azure service until logging on to my virtual machine took around 15 minutes which is less than the time required to install your own machine. For those who are wondering what the pricing is for the pay by use subscription:

 

Last edited: 2012-09-22 – By Didier D’Joos

 

Aug 16

Microsoft Virtual Academy: Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 (previously known as Windows Server 8.) is almost available… Changes in UI, Active Directory, Hyper-V and so on make it very important to get information as soon as possible, to become familiar with this new product family. For SMB, Windows Server 2012 Essentials will be the successor of Windows Small Business Server 2011…

Take a head start, and explore the free courses, made available for you by Microsoft!

http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/colleges/windowsserver2012

Jul 06

Small Business Server will be no more. The end of an era….

Small Business Server will be no more. Transition up (or down) to Windows Server 2012 essentials

source: http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/D/B/4DB352D1-C610-466A-9AAF-EEF4F4CFFF27/WS2012_Licensing-Pricing_FAQ.pdf

Windows Server Essentials and Foundation editions

Q30. What is Windows Server 2012 Essentials?

Windows Server 2012 Essentials is the latest version of Windows Small Business Server Essentials. It is a cloud enabled first server with an intuitive user interface. It can run on physical servers with up to two processors and has been designed for small businesses with up to 25 users.

Q31. What are some of the features that are now available in Windows Server 2012 Essentials?

Windows Server 2012 Essentials incorporates best-of-breed 64-bit product technologies to deliver a server environment well-suited for the vast majority of small businesses. The product technologies include:

 Windows Server 2012 operating system

 Data protection

 “Anywhere” access

 Health monitoring

 Workload flexibility

 Extensibility

 Add-ons for many small business solutions, including a connector to Office 365

Customers can use Windows Server 2012 Essentials as a platform to run critical line-of-business applications and other on-premise workloads. It can also provide an integrated management experience when running cloud-based applications and services, such as email, collaboration, online backup, and more.

Q32. What are the different editions available withWindows Server 2012 Essentials?

There is only one edition—Windows Server 2012 Essentials. It is a flexible offering that provides a platform for running on-premises or cloud-based workloads.

Q33. Will there be a next version of Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard?

No. Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard, which includes Exchange Server and Windows server component products, will be the final such Windows Server offering. This change is in response to small business market trends and behavior. The small business computing trends are moving in the direction of cloud computing for applications and services such as email, online back-up and line-of-business tools.

 

Q34. Will there be a next version of Windows Small Business 2011 Premium Add-on?

No. Windows Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-on, which includes SQL Server and Windows Server as component products, will be the final such Windows Server offering.

Q35. If I have Windows Small Business Server2011 Essentials with Software Assurance when Windows Server 2012 is released, which editionwill I be entitled to receive?

If you have Software Assurance on Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, you will receive one Windows Server 2012 Essentials license.

This grant will be reflected upon your agreement renewal; however you are entitled to use the granted product upon availability.

Q36. If I have Windows Small Business Server2011 Standard edition with Software Assurance when Windows Server 2012 is released, which editionwill I be entitled to receive?

If you have Software Assurance on Small Business Server 2011 Standard edition, you will receive one Windows Server 2012 Standard edition license and one Exchange Server Standard 2010 license.

This grant will be reflected upon your agreement renewal; however you are entitled to use the granted product upon availability.

Q37. If I have Windows Small Business Server2011 Premium Add-on with Software Assurance when Windows Server 2012 is released, which editionwill I be entitled to receive?

If you have Software Assurance on Small Business Server 2011 Premium Add-on edition, you will receive one Windows Server 2012 Standard edition license and one SQL Server 2012 Standard edition license.

This grant will be reflected upon your agreement renewal; however you are entitled to use the granted product upon its availability.

//Bart

May 18

Experience Windows Server 2012 – june 7

By choosing to attend the “Experience Windows Server 2012” event you’re preparing yourself and your organization for the future. During this one day event you will discover how Windows Server is going beyond virtualization by scaling and securing workload, how it will enable the modern work style by giving people access to information and data regardless of the infrastructure , network, device or application they use to access it. And you will discover the power of many servers with the simplicity of one by efficiently managing infrastructure while maximizing uptime and minimizing failures and downtime.

Attend this event and be amongst the first to learn more about the new capabilities in Windows Server 2012.

During this 1 day event we will cover following but not limited to topics:

  • – New Hyper-V Virtualization Platform
  • – What’s new in Active Directory
  • – Storage and Management Improvements
  • – Clustering Improvements
  • – And much more

 

Reserve your seat today and join us for this free event.

Apr 22

Presentation: Introduction to Group Policies

At COMBELL, we held our second technine user meeting. One of the speakers: yours truly. As promised, you can find the powerpoint presentation here . Enjoy reading, and feel free to comment or ask questions!

 

Apr 21

Communityday 2012 – utopolis Mechelen – june 21

Get ready for the Belgian community at its very best!

The Belgian community is organizing the sixth edition of Community Day! Community Day 2012 will take place on June 21st 2012 in Utopolis Mechelen.

17 user groups will outperform themselves to bring you their view on Microsoft products in 30+ sessions and panel discussions. With the upcoming releases, a lot of the talks will focus on the things you’ll learn and use tomorrow. We even have a full track committed entirely to Windows 8. But, just as always, we aren’t forgetting about the present and the things you use today either in our several best practices and deep-dive talks!

The Microsoft Community Day 2012 is powered by:

  • AZUG
  • Belgian C++ user group
  • BESUG (soon PIRAD)
  • BIWUG
  • CLUG
  • IT-Talks
  • Pro-Exchange
  • SCUG
  • SQLUG
  • ACCB.net/VBIB
  • Visug
  • WinSec
  • XNA-BUG
  • DotNetHub
  • MyTIC
  • Wiphug
  • Technine

We hope to see you on June 21st!
The Community Day Team (Gill – Davy – Alexandre)

Practical event details
Location: Utopolis Mechelen (Map)
Address: Spuibeekstraat 5 2800 Mechelen
Event date: Thursday June 21th
Start & end time: 8.30 – 19.00
Add Community Day 2012 to your agenda: Outlook *.ics file

Social
Community Day on Twitter: @ComDayBe

Apr 13

next event 18 april – Combell offices Gent – subscribe !

Second  in-person event will be held in the Combell offices on April 18 -from 18h00 -till 21h00

SBS 20xx(x) -integration and interop

Six SMB Pro’s tackle some common issues while maintaining  SBS 20xx.

Subscribe by clicking Here

Apr 05

Join the Private Cloud Roadshow in Brussels (25 April) and Ghent (26 April)

Join the Private Cloud Roadshow in Brussels (25 April) and Ghent (26 April)

Join experts Kurt Roggen (MVP) and Mike Resseler (MVP) for the Private Cloud Roadshow.

In this half day you will learn more about private cloud infrastructure setup and how you can monitor this. Learn how to create your private clouds and how to deploy standardized applications or services into these clouds. And as a final session you will learn how you can provide automation in your private cloud.

There are 2 options to attend (same content, different location):

 

25 April 2012 in Brussels

 

26 April 2012 in Ghent

 

This TechNet event is free of charge and Microsoft will be giving away one Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone in each location.
Detailed agenda:

13:00 : 13:30 Welcome & Coffee

13:30 : 14:30 Building your Private Cloud Infrastructure
Learn how to build your Private Cloud infrastructure, by dealing with Fabric Management (Compute/ Hypervisors, Storage, Network), which will serve as the basis for the Private Cloud that you will be creating. We will discuss how to deploy, configure and manage each of these different elements in your datacenter.

14:30 : 14:50 Break

14:50 : 16:30 Creating, Monitoring & Operating your Private Cloud
Learn how to create your private clouds and how to deploy standardized applications or services into these clouds. Learn how to monitor your clouds and how to can handle change requests. All this key area’s will be addressed to give you an idea of what is happening in a private cloud after it is up, running, and into production.

16:30 : 16:50 Break

16:50 : 18:00 Automating & Delivering Services in your Private Cloud
Learn how you can provide automation in your private cloud. Discover also how your cloud services can be offered and consumed using different self-service portals and what their differences are.

18:00 : 19:00 Networking & Drinks

Apr 05

Pro Exchange – Lync User group event : Lync for SMB

Today a lot of small businesses hear good things about Microsoft’s UC solution, but they are wary of implementing it.  Decision makers or company owners don’t have hands-on experience and sometimes cannot rely on an independent technical user with experience in these products.  This session will give an overview of the options every SMB should be aware of, either on-premise (your own network) or in the cloud (as a service).

 

Pro-Lync is convinced that Microsoft UC can be a valid solution for smaller organisations, provided you size and configure your environment well.  Careful planning and design, virtualisation, intelligent licensing and the right choice of interconnections (SIP/gateways) can result in a solution that is suited for SMB’s while remaining competitive in comparison to other or legacy PABX solutions that are limited in features.   We also will tackle the extensive server diagram for on-premise installations and explain why such an infrastructure is not required for an SMB.

 

This event will feature limited technical content and is targeted to SMB owners and decision makers who are not experienced in Microsoft UC, but want to learn how their SMB might benefit from this new way of working.  To prove our point, we’ll be hosting the event at the first Belgian SMB customer (30 users) to rip and replace their PBX with OCS a few years ago.

 

Location:   Brepols Publishers NV – CCBK, Begijnhof 39, 2300 Turnhout.

Please set your GPS for the corner of  Sint-Beggaplein and Begijnhof and park in the surrounding area.  The location is a short walk from there, next to the church of this 13th century Begijnhof  where no parking is allowed.

 

Program:
18h30 – 19h00:                 Registration / drinks
19h00 – 20h00:                 Lync server in an SMB
20h00 – 21h00:                 FAQ & Demo

 

Speakers:

Ruben Nauwelaers: Ruben Nauwelaers is a consultant who works for Uw ICT Partner BVBA and is a core member of the Pro-Lync user group. His primary focus are Microsoft UC related projects in small and large organisations.

Wim Borgers:   Wim  is the IT manager of Brepols Publishers,  and a core member of the Pro-Lync community. He evaluated and decided to go for UC in his own SMB environment of about 30 users.  It was the first rip-and-replace SMB installation in Belgium of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007.

Feb 15

Update Rollup 2 for Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials

Hi All,

Together with Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 Essentials,  Microsoft released an update for the Windows Storage Server 2008R2 Essentials as well.

No less than 15 major issues have been resolved with this Update Rollup, some of them being specific to the Windows Storage Server product, others being related to the Microsoft SBS 2011 Essentials product. Likewise with the SBS 2011 Essentials rollup, this update will automatically and silently deploy the client-side package of the update to its clients once the update has been applied succesfully to the running server.

Detailed information about the update can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2630436 – the update itself can be obtained via the Windows Update channel.

Enjoy!

Didier D’Joos