We are entering the dog days of summer here in the south, but don’t let that fool you. TechEd North America 2013 is still in full swing with breakout sessions, hands on labs, Ask the Experts sessions, and more. We want to draw your attention to some fresh blog posts from the Windows Server, SQL, and Intune teams as well as some sessions for day three.
Windows Server
The Windows Server team posted a blog post this morning about “Storage Transformation”. Every good article should grab the reader right away and they captured my imagination with a single statistic. “90% of the world’s data has been created in the last two years” just boggles the mind. If that is true, can you imagine the next two years? How about twenty? Be sure to read the blog post referenced above. It is thought provoking. After that, feel free to browse the storage information on Microsoft.com.
SQL Server 2014
As you probably noticed, we are pretty proud of SQL Server. That doesn’t mean we’re done innovating and improving the product. The SQL Team posted “SQL Server 2014: A Closer Look” on their blog this morning. In that post the product group goes into more detail on the features that will support your mission critical solutions. In-Memory OLTP, enhanced security and scale, always on high availability, and cloud disaster recovery are discussed. And don’t forget, the registration link for the SQL Server 2014 CTP is at the bottom of the article.
Windows Intune
On the Windows Intune blog this morning you’ll find the “Power, Beauty and Soul - How Aston Martin is Using Cloud Technologies to Enable Quicker Business Decisions” blog post. As you know, the Aston Martin is the preferred coach for James Bond and if it’s good enough for him, it’s certainly good enough for us. On a serious note, the article details how the Aston Martin IT team has a challenge to manage and secure their global staffs’ laptops, mobile devices, and smart phones, as these employees rarely set foot into the offices. You know how tough that can be so give it a good read and see what they did to meet the challenge.
Day 3 Sessions to Consider
- Microsoft SQL Server High Availability and Disaster Recovery on Windows Azure - This session discusses high availability and disaster recovery technologies for SQL Server in Windows Azure virtual machines. Through demos, learn how to ensure high availability of SQL Server on Windows Azure VMs, and how to use SQL Server on Azure VMs as a disaster recovery solution for on-premise SQL Server instances. (June 5, 2013 from 10:15AM to 11:30AM, Room 353) http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/DBI-B306
- Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Storage Performance - The Hyper-V team has performed extensive analysis of the performance characteristics of Hyper-V Storage. Come to this session to learn detailed information about how Hyper-V storage works, and what you should be considering as you are planning storage for your private cloud. (June 5, 2013 from 8:30AM to 9:45AM, Room La Nouvelle Ballroom B) http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/MDC-B345
- Unified Modern Device Management with Microsoft System Center 2012 SP1 - Configuration Manager Integrated with Windows Intune - System Center 2012 - Configuration Manager Service Pack 1 and Windows Intune provide a unified approach for device management on-premise and through the cloud. Come and learn how this can help organizations address the complex issues raised by Bring Your Own Device scenarios. Go deep into the deployment options and how these will enable single pane of glass management of Windows, Mac OS X, Windows RT, Windows Phone 8, iOS, and Android devices. (June 5, 2013 from 1:30PM to 2:45PM, Room 391) http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013/WCA-B343
- Ask the Experts – On-Premises IaaS with Windows Azure Compatibility Pack – 11:15am – 12:15pm
- Ask the Experts – Stump the MVPs – 3-5pm. This should be fun!
As you can see, there is still a lot of information being delivered from New Orleans at TechEd North America 2013. There’s plenty more to come so keep an eye out for our Day 4 highlights.
Computex 2013
We wanted to bring some other announcements to your attention and certainly tie that in with the sessions at TechEd. Yesterday in Taipei City Taiwan, Intel launched their next generation Intel® Core™ processors at the Computex 2013 conference. A number of our OEM partners also launched innovative form factor Windows 8 devices. See the Microsoft OEM Newsroom for more information. Follow the links to the Windows Blog for more information and detail on some sweet new machines that are coming to market.
Keep in mind there were a mix of consumer and enterprise class devices announced yesterday and today. How are you going to manage the coming wave of new machines your employees will purchase? Be sure and watch the Windows Intune session referenced just above for some great ideas on how to accomplish just that. Enjoy!