TechDays 2009 - Servers, Security and Management - final Draft

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While I can't say its final (only Damir can say that) - I can say that this is the final draft version of the vetted track sessions for Techdays 2009 - Servers, Security and Management Track. It has been reviewed and commented on by over 35 ICT community members across Canada.

 I am now actively seeking speakers to handle these sessions in ALL cities. Have you worked with these technologies in your environment before? Are you passionate about what they can do for your users? Do you have an itch to get up in front of a crowd and share your experiences? Here's your opportunity to stand out and shine!

A quick reminder – here’s the list of cities TechDays 2009 is going to.

  • Vancouver – September 14-15
  • Toronto – September 29-30
  • Halifax – November 2-3
  • Calgary – November 17-18
  • Montreal – December 2-3
  • Ottawa – December 9-10
  • Winnipeg – December 15-16

Do you have what it takes to present? I’ll be more than happy to provide you with as much support as you need to make it happen. Drop me an email – rick.claus@microsoft.com and we can start a conversation.

Day 1 theme – Virtualization and Management

Session 1: From Zero to Live Migration: How to Set Up a Live Migration - Live migration is one key feature of Windows Server 2008 R2 which brings Microsoft's dynamic datacenter vision one step closer. With live migrations, customers can move VMs from a host Hyper-V server to another without any perceived downtime. Come spend a session understanding what live migration is and how it will help you; and walk through setting up a live migration environment from start to finish..

Session 2: SCVMM 2008: Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) and Management Integration This session covers management integration for System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 via PowerShell and the Performance and Resource Optimization (PRO) feature. PowerShell enables remote management of Hyper-V and automates some of the management tasks from a deployment and operations perspective. PowerShell can be used to automate across the different System Center tools to dynamic balance and backup. PRO integrates Operations Manager 2007 and Virtual Machine Manager 2008 to provide host-level and application-aware optimization of virtual machines. Learn how PRO tips can allow administrators to dynamically balance and optimize their servers at the physical, virtual, and workload levels.

Session 3: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Virtualization Considerations and Best Practices - Virtualization is one of the key industry trends. Organizations are virtualizing small departmental workload to critical workload to cut cost, provide business continuity and easier management of server. In this session, learn about virtualized SQL Server deployment and some the best practices for creating a virtualized SQL Server infrastructure. We provide insights on performance tradeoffs and cover topics such as using virtualization for business continuity. We also talk about the future roadmap for SQL virtualization. Learn about all aspects of SQL Server virtualization in this session.

Session 4: Monitoring UNIX/Linux with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2- Any datacenter or IT environment generally has a number of hosts running applications on UNIX and Linux platforms, and these will often be an important component in one or more IT services being delivered to internal or external customers. This session presents the new and enhanced heterogeneous monitoring capabilities of Systems Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, and will show you how to help assure both the health and performance of the applications running across your Windows, UNIX, and Linux servers. You will learn about the Operations Manager Unix and Linux component architecture, module details, and management pack components. Demos will include how to Configure, Discover and monitor (both baselining and logfile monitoring) UNIX and Linux clients, as well as tuning the Management Pack and producing reports on UNIX and Linux clients.

Day 2 theme – Windows Server 2008 R2 and Security

Session 1: Reinventing Remote Access with DirectAccess - For years, end users have complained about the difficulty of using VPNs. IT managers have complained about the difficulty of managing and supporting those same users. With Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, these problems are a thing of the past. DirectAccess provides an "always-on" connection to the corporate network for remote users, anytime, anywhere. Users can seamlessly access the Internet and corporate resources. IT managers can monitor, patch, troubleshoot, and support remote users any time they are Internet-connected. In this talk, we discuss the deployment of DirectAccess. We cover the client, server, and infrastructure components. We describe underlying technologies such as IPv6 and IPsec. We also describe the policy options that allow DirectAccess to be customized to meet the security and connectivity requirements of particular enterprise networks.

Session 2: BranchCache: Helping You Save on WAN Bandwidth Consumption at Branch Offices - BranchCache is a new Feature in Windows Server 2008R2 and Windows 7 that helps reduces the bandwidth consumed and improves end user experience while accessing intranet-based HTTP and SMB content. This session introduces challenges in network performance often faced by remote branch offices which accessing content stored in servers located in DataCenters across trans-continental Wide Area Networks, and how BranchCache helps in addressing these challenges. The session includes details of how this technology works and includes a demonstration of this new feature in Windows Server 2008R2 and Windows 7.

Session 3: Server Management Improvements in Windows Server 2008 R2 - Come to this session to find out how to optimize your server management experience with Windows Server 2008 R2. We will discuss new features including the highly requested Server Manager Remoting functionality, RSAT Enhancements, server Migration and Best Practices analyzer (BPA). The new Server Migration Tools help ease the transition from one computer running Windows Server 2003 or later to another computer running Windows Server 2008 R2. Best Practices Analyzers allow IT Professionals to reduce troubleshooting overhead by efficiently and proactively diagnosing and addressing common server configuration problems and maintaining optimal server configuration. Demos include remote server management using Windows PowerShell, migration of Server Roles, data and shares and Best Practices Analyzer Scans and Reports.

Session 4: Best Practices in Architecting and Implementing Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) - You're using WSUS, but are you using it to its fullest extent? In this tips and tricks session, learn the best ways to architect and implement WSUS for the improved security of your organization. Learn the best ways to manage your updates on both servers and clients for high-reliability application. Plus, learn a few tricks to speed up the update installation process, as well as ways to enforce that updates are installed to computers in your environment.