Software Defined Networking (SDN) and TechEd North America 2013, Day 4 Highlights

Welcome to day four for TechEd North America 2013.  We hope you’ve been pacing yourself because we still have a full day of information for you, then of course there is the closing party tonight. 

First up on the list of information we wanted to bring to your attention is the blog post “Transforming your datacenter with software-defined networking (SDN)” by the Windows Server group. Software-defined networking is about enabling software – rather than the hardware – to dynamically manage the network in a way that helps you better meet the requirements of your applications and workloads. Be sure and read the post to get more information on our approach to solving this complex problem.  There is another TechEd session titled “Everything You Need to Know about the Software Defined Networking Solution from Microsoft” that was delivered a couple of days ago.  The on-demand recording is now available.

Next, take a look at "Nine More Reasons Everyone Should be Excited about the Microsoft Cloud" written by Microsoft Vice President, Brad Anderson. "The cloud is the future of business". That pretty much says it all but Brad includes some interesting data points to back it up.

Next up are a number of sessions taking place today in New Orleans.  Here are some selections from the Modern Datacenter track.

• Internet Information Services: What’s New in Window Server 2012 R2 - IIS continues to grow as a key investment area for web hosting, with new and exciting improvements in scalability and more.  This session includes demos of how these new features can be key parts of your real-life web deployment. (June 6, 2013 from 8:30AM to 9:45AM, Room 291)  https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/MDC-B303
• Storage and Availability Improvements in Windows Server 2012 R2 - Regardless of whether you’re building on a private infrastructure, in a hybrid environment, or deploying to a public cloud, there are optimizations you can make in storage and availability that will improve the manageability and performance of your application and environment.  Join this session to hear more about the end-to-end scale, performance, and availability improvements coming with Windows Server. We dive into deploying and managing storage using SMB shares, show the improved experience in everyday storage management such as deploying patches to the cloud, and share how to leverage faster live migration when responding to new load demands. (June 6, 2013 from 8:30AM to 9:45AM, Room 279) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/MDC-B333
• Desired State Configuration with Windows Server 2012 R2 - In this instructor led lab, use a new feature in Windows Server 2012 R2 called Desired State Configuration to deploy fully functional websites to multiple unconfigured Windows servers. Get familiar with Desired State Configuration by creating and deploying basic configuration to a single server.  Then use a Desired State Configuration Data file to deploy a website to multiple servers; cause a configuration drift and correct it by redeploying configuration. (June 6, 2013 from 8:30AM to 9:45AM, Room Hall B2 Room 3) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/MDC-IL206
• Deploying and Managing Your Small Business with Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials - New as a fully available role in Windows Server 2012 R2, Essentials allows you to provide a fully configured experience for your small business.  In this instructor led lab, deploy and configure a server with the Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials Experience role through the Server Manager UX, and via PowerShell. In addition, use the Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials Dashboard to manage users, user groups, and devices in the network. (June 6, 2013 from 8:30AM to 9:45AM, Room Hall B2 Room 2), https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/MDC-IL209
• Monitoring the Microsoft Private Cloud Fabric with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Operations Manager - This session covers best practices for monitoring fabric with System Center Operations Manager and Virtual Machine Manager. Operations Manager combined with Virtual Machine Manager provides best-in-class monitoring for your Microsoft Private Cloud. Come join us to learn how Operations Manager provides an all-up view of your entire environment and facilitates in-depth troubleshooting at the same time. (June 6, 2013 from 10:15AM to 11:30AM, Room 261) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/MDC-B374
• Ask The Experts - Going Deep with System Center 2012 Data Protection Manager - 11:15am - 12:15pm

This is just a small selection of sessions from a single track.  There are many more sessions taking place.  Enjoy the day.  Enjoy the party.  Enjoy the city and stay safe.