TechNet Event – Los Angeles, CA (November 14, 2011) Recap

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***************** Updated on 11/16/11 to include link for Forefront Identity Manager PPT Deck Presentation ***************************

A big thank you to all who made it to the TechNet Event in the Los Angeles Office on Monday morning!!!

There were three presentations given:

  1. Get Ready for Tomorrow, Today!
  2. Private Cloud 201 – How to Build a Private Cloud
  3. Forefront Identity Manager <--- Link Added

One of the biggest confusion points I’ve encountered when talking about Cloud, is what is the difference between “On Premise servers / infrastructure” and “Private Cloud”??? In my second presentation, I spent the first 10 – 15 minutes clarifying that point. I do want to recap that here to make sure we are indeed all clear.

Most (if not all) companies have On-Premise servers and infrastructure to support their business. These servers include Domain Controllers, Email servers, file servers, database servers, etc. I think that definition is pretty clear and everyone understands this point. The real confusion is how a Private Cloud fits into this environment. Depending on who you talk to, you will get different answers. If we all believe VMware, then Virtualization is equal to Private Cloud. However, this is NOT the case. Let’s first talk about Cloud – which I will refer to as a methodology. Cloud Computing has 5 key characteristics as defined by the NSIT – elasticity, self service, pooling of resources, ubiquitous access and measured service / pay per use. If you are using virtualization, then you are using one of the building blocks necessary to implement cloud computing. But, virtualization by itself does not equal private cloud since that really only addresses one (maybe two) of the characteristics I listed previously. What you really need to do is spend the time to create a self service portal where the internal customer can go request services such as services to host a new three tier application. The process has quite a few automatic steps that can provide approval of the request and then automated build out of the services and components (storage, network, etc.) necessary to host the three tier application. This usually involves provisioning at least three virtual servers – web server, middle tier server and database server. The requestor is then notified when the services are available to be used. As the requestor needs more or less resources, they would go to the portal and make the request. Based on the amount of resources utilized by the requestor, their department would be billed for the consumption of the resources.

For those of you who would like to download trial versions of the different software products I discussed during the event, you can find the links in the PPT Decks as well as here below:

I would highly encourage you to download the System Center 2012 pre-release products and start testing them out in your lab. It took about 45 minutes for me to download every 2012 pre-release product at home and the process is very easy since you can download the entire group from one central location.

For those of you who would like to get a hold of Adam Bresson (person who presented on Forefront Identity Manager), his contact information is below:

Adam Bresson
Security, Identity & Access Management (SIAM)
Technical Solution Professional (TSP)
W: (650) 693-2230
Email: adam.bresson@microsoft.com

Adam has not had a chance to send me his presentation yet, but as soon as he does, I will get it uploaded to my SlideShare location – www.slideshare.net/harold.wong so please do check back there in the next day or two.

If I missed something, please let me know so I can get all the questions addressed. Thanks!!

Harold Wong