Columbus, OH, Q/A TechNet Event: Transforming IT from Virtualization to the Cloud (3-24-2011)
Thanks for everyone for coming out to the Columbus event on the 24th. Thanks for all of the great questions and feedback from the event. As promised here are some resources and the Q/A from the event.
I will also be placing the slides here: TechNet Slides: Transforming IT from Virtualization to the Cloud and here: TechNet Event Slides
I also wanted to share with you another place to get your Azure questions answered: Windows Azure Office Hours. There are a lot of people that are interested in the cloud, but they don't know how to get started. Maybe they just have a lot of questions before they decide to get going. This is what we are here for. During office hours we will have the door wide open. Come on in, toss out your questions, and we'll help you anyway we can. The office will be staffed with cloud computing experts from Microsoft, and some of our leading partners. No agenda, just show up and pitch us your questions. No Registration. No emails. No commitments. Just show up. Go here to learn about the hours:
You can also get a 30 day trial (no credit card required!!!) of Azure by use the code TNAZURE at Windows Azure Pass: https://www.windowsazurepass.com
Q: What about HIPAA compliance and the cloud?
A: Security and compliance is one of the hottest topics centering around the cloud. There are a few resources to look at:
- Windows Azure and HIPAA Compliance
- Biggest cloud security “hot spots” according to this article: “The Microsoft cloud undergoes annual audits for PCI DSS, SOX and HIPAA compliance, as well as internal assessments throughout the year. The Microsoft cloud has obtained ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification and SAS 70 Type 1 and II attestations. “
- Older article but good general info: Securing Microsoft’s Cloud Infrastructure
Q: Where can I find information about HIPPA compliance for Microsoft products (SharePoint, Exchange..etc.)
A: SharePoint: https://www.microsoft.com/industry/healthcare/healthplans/moss.mspx Exchange: https://whitepapers.msexchange.org/enterprise-applications/hipaa-compliance/
Q: What about Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), for Office 365
A: Yes, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), FERPA was achieved for Business Productivity Online Suite ( BPOS the predecessor to Office 365), so I would imagine the certification would carry over.
Q: What is the upgrade path to Office 365?
A: The transition center is a great place to start: Welcome to the Microsoft Office 365 transition center
Q: Is there an ETA for SBS essentials?
A: While I have not seen a ETA an update, here is the place to check: The Official SBS Blog,
Q: How do we handle legal discovery if the data is in China data centers and the suspect is in the US?
A: All I know is that we follow all local laws and regulations. There is eDiscovery at the app and data level, and then at the customer level. If the court showed up at a datacenter with the right paperwork, we would assist them in what we have to do. We even have a team that handles this full time. While I do not understand the political differences, but they are there.
Q: How do you accomplish a hybrid deployment with SharePoint on-premise and the SQL DB in the cloud (SQL Azure)
A: Here is a great set of articles talking about cloud deployment and hybrid deployments with SharePoint and SQL Azure: CASI Kit Part 6 - Integrating SQL Azure with SharePoint 2010 and Windows Azure
Q: What is the bottleneck of the cloud?
A: Bottleneck to me means performance and this would most likely mean bandwidth, not the badwidth out of the data centers, but your connections bandwidth. If you are trying to upload 1TB of data, then that will take as long as you have bandwidth available. There aren’t really any other things I can think of I would call a ‘bottleneck’