Windows Server 2008

Today, AMD has launched the AMD Opteron™ 6000 CPU series. This represents the latest AMD advances in server CPU technology and promises to work well for Windows Server 2008 R2 customers and partners.

“Microsoft has partnered with AMD in the data center since the original AMD Opteron processors were launched in 2003, and we naturally have been working together to deliver enhanced efficiencies with the new 8- and 12-core AMD Opteron 6000 Series platforms,” said David McCann, General Manager, Windows Server Marketing at Microsoft. “Customers running Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V and SQL Server will benefit from the balanced price, performance and power these new server platforms offer.”

The new Opteron 6000 Series addresses three key data center trends directly, namely virtualization, power management and value. On the virtualization front, the Opteron 6000’s ability to support up to 48 cores in a 4P configuration means enough horsepower for large virtual machine configurations. Additionally, the Opteron 6000 also includes AMD-V software virtualization acceleration technology, which is fully supported by Windows Server 2008 R2’s Hyper-V.

AMD also designed the 6000 series with power management in mind, including the AMD-P suite of power management features, which minimize the usage of the whole CPU, individual cores and even specific logic within each core based on current workload. Windows Server 2008 R2 supports this AMD-P technology as well as the 6000’s C1E Power State feature, that turns off memory controller and HT3 links during idle times.

The Opteron 6000 also represents an excellent server CPU value, delivering twice the performance of its previous generation as well as double the cores at the same price point. With Windows Server 2008 R2’s support for dense virtualization infrastructures and granular power management, the combination of Microsoft’s Windows Server platform and AMD’s Opteron 6000 series gives customers the power, performance and value they need to deliver next generation data centers today.

This series of articles on deploying Windows 7 continues examining how to build a custom WinPE tools CD you can use to determine the UUID of a bare-metal target computer.

ServersCheck Monitoring Software was selected the winner in the Network Monitoring category of the WindowsNetworking.com Readers' Choice Awards. GFI Network Server Monitor was runner-up while ActiveXperts Network Monitor and ManageEngine OpManager were second runners-up respectively.

Continuing the discussion on the Application Compatibility Toolkit by examining the process for building a data collector package, and determining which workstations should be used for compatibility testing purposes.

Today, Microsoft is announcing Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. Detailed information regarding SP1 will be released over the next several months; but today Windows Server 2008 R2 is announcing that SP1 will deliver two important new features that directly affect Microsoft’s desktop virtualization stack: Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.

 

Dynamic memory is an enhancement to Hyper-V in R2 and allows IT administrators to pool all the memory available on a physical host and dynamically distribute it to virtual machines running on that host as necessary. That means based on changes in workload, your VMs will be able to receive new memory allocations without a service interruption. For a deeper look at Dynamic Memory check here.

 

RemoteFX is the latest addition to Microsoft’s desktop virtualization stack. Using this new feature in Windows Server 2008 R2, you’ll be able to deliver an even richer and more user-transparent desktop virtualization experience. RemoteFX functions independently of any graphics stack and supports any screen content, including rich content like Silverlight or Flash. Because it uses virtualized graphics resources, RemoteFX works on a wide array of target devices, which means you can deploy it over both thick and thin client hosts and a wide variety of network configurations. For some more information on RemoteFX check here.

 

We’ll be sharing more information on the contents and of SP1 in the coming months; however, Microsoft executives and IT industry leaders discussed SP1 at the Microsoft Desktop Virtualization Hour earlier today and even presented a demo (check the link in the post below).

Taking a look at PowerGUI, used to create Microsoft PowerShell scripts by using a GUI interface. This tool is perfect for Windows Admins who are new to scripting or just do not feel comfortable with the PowerShell command line.

Don't forget to join Microsoft executives, industry experts and IT leaders on Thursday, March 18 at 9am Pacific for the Desktop Virtualization Hour. This will be a valuable session for both IT pros and business executives interested in desktop virtualization. Hear from top experts and companies using Microsoft's comprehensive desktop virtualization technologies to help drive down costs, improve flexibility and control, and streamline desktop management.  And learn about Microsoft's latest array of virtualization technologies, spanning from the datacenter to the desktop.

In addition to the interactive live broadcast, you'll be able to view deeper sessions on several desktop virtualization topics, including: 

• The critical importance of integrated management to desktop virtualization.
• Getting started with application virtualization.
• Microsoft and Citrix deliver comprehensive VDI solutions.
• Quick views on desktop virtualization, VDI and application virtualization.
• And more...

Please join Gartner analyst Mark Margevicius and Microsoft executives Garth Fort and Gavriella Schuster for this can't-miss session on one of today's most compelling IT technology advances. We'll also be live tweeting during the event, follow and participate via the hashtag #MSVirt.

Taking a look at seven free networking tools that will help the busy Admin.

Today, Microsoft announced the final release of IIS URL Rewriter 2.0 RTW.

 

Now the first reason might be obvious why you would want to rewrite a URL – when you are at a cocktail party with loud music and tasty appetizers and a potential customer asks you where they can get more info on your snazzy new idea. And you proudly blurt out next to their ear over the roar of the bass, “Just go to h-t-t-p colon slash slash w-w-w dot my new idea dot com slash items dot a-s-p-x question mark cat ID equals new”.  The now not-so-potential customer stares back at you with a puzzled look. The waitress overhearing the conversation shakes her head and mutters “You shoulda used URL Rewriter.”

 

So, what exactly does URL Rewriter do besides rewrite URLs? URL Rewriter makes Web addresses simple for customers to remember and search engines to find. URL Rewriter will help you implement simple and consistent Web addresses, generate customer and search engine friendly results, and leverage seamless integration with existing IIS features.

 

There are now several new scenarios available to the Microsoft Web Platform with version 2.0 of URL Rewriter. My personal favorite is the ability to easily replace Web application URLs to produce user and search engine friendly results. URL Rewriter permits Web administrators to easily replace the URLs generated by a Web application in the response HTML with a more user friendly and search engine friendly equivalent. Links can be modified in the HTML markup generated by a Web application behind a reverse proxy. URL Rewriter makes things easier for outbound response content and headers rewriting with outbound rewrite rules that work with HTTP request and response headers and with IIS server variables.

 

And now, URL Rewriter 2.0 even allows Web administrators to easily build powerful rules using rewrite providers written in .NET. All of this will help you define powerful rules to transform complex URLs into simple and consistent Web addresses. Not to mention the seamless integration with existing IIS features that improves management, performance, and troubleshooting.

 

Did I mention it’s free? And it’s available to download and install today with the Microsoft Web Platform Installer, your one-stop shop to get everything for the Microsoft Web Platform – including URL Rewriter 2.0 RTW. From IIS Extensions to the Windows Web App Gallery, there is sure to be something useful for your Web site endeavors.

 

For more information or to download, please visit the Free URL Rewriter page.

 

Eric Rezabek

Senior Product Manager

IIS/Web

 

This article discusses Microsoft's Application Compatibility Toolkit, and its role in the Windows 7 compatibility testing process.