Posts Tagged ‘Virtualization’

New on “Database Trends & Applications”

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

In last month’s column, “2012 Might Really Be the End of the World as We Know It,” I described a number of major developments in the IT industry that are likely to disrupt the life of database professionals everywhere.  I categorize those four disruptors – virtualization, cloud computing, solid state drives (SSD), and advanced multi-core CPUs – into two broad groups.  I’m going to continue an analysis of these disruptive technologies in inverse order.  Today, let’s discuss SSDs.

[READ MORE ON DATABASE TRENDS & APPLICATIONS ]

Microsoft Windows Platforms Blog Watch

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Remote Desktop Services Component Architecture Poster

Grab your own poster! A visual guide to key Remote Desktop Services technologies in Windows Server 2008R2

 

Virtually Free

Get the latest update rollup package for the Hyper-V role in Windows Server 2008 R2 and be sure to bookmark the Windows Virtualization Team Blog.  Be sure to check out blog World Simplified is a Virtual World. And doncha evah neglect application virtualization, such as the goodness at the App-V Product Team Blog.

 

Let’s Optimize Some Desktops (Assuming You Have Gone Full Cloud Yet)

Check out The Official Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) Blog where you can get cool tools like the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DART), currently in its v7 beta release.

 

We Can Always Perform a Little Better

Have you checked out the Ask the Performance Team blog yet.  You should!  Then there’s the Microsoft Enterprise Networking Team blog.  And if you’re looking for help with the Windows Server Core, be sure to check out the Ask the Core Team blog.  Excellent stuff!

As the Tool Time columnist at SQL Server Magazine, I’m always on the lookout for great free tools that get on-going support from their creators.  One common experience is finding a nice debugging tool, only to discover that there’s no information on how to interpret the debugger result sets!  (SQLIOSim anyone?)  That’s why I love the Microsoft Advanced Windows Debugging and Troubleshooting blog.  Another must-have on your Favorites list.

 

Enjoy!

-Kev

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Video: Clock drift and virtualization

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

Watch Kevin discuss what clock drift is and how it occurs in a virtualized environment and how to avoid this issue.

Posted August 27, 2008.

Got a slow holiday seaons? Why not spend it learning?

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Traditionally, the time between Christmas and New Years is a bit slow.  Many people take time off from work and, for those of us still working, it’s a good time to catch up on all of those low priority projects that have been on the back burner for the last several months.

If you find yourself with a few extra hours, why not engage in some first-hand learning with the new features of SQL Server 2008 R2?  Here are two great resources to get you started.

First, take a look at betaforsqlserver.com, a partnership between MaximumASP, Dell, PASS, and Microsoft.  When you register, you get your own sandbox SQL Server 2008 R2 including support for .NET and PHP, along with Reporting Services, Analysis Services, and Integration Services.  It almost makes me believe that there is such a thing as a free lunch!

Second, why not try your hand at one of the most exciting new features in SQL Server 2008 R2, PowerPivot for Excel?  You can play with it to your heart’s content at the new Microsoft Virtual Labs, another great service for learning in real albiet sandbox VM Hyper-V labs.

I know in my own case, it’s often tough to find a free server somewhere where I can set up and install the sandbox environment.  On top of that, even during a slow week, I rarely enjoy spending my time configuring an entire environment.  Why not solve both problems at once with this fast and easy method of learning the news features?

Hope this helps!  Happy New Year,

-Kevin

New at SQLMag – Disk2Vhd

Friday, October 9th, 2009

I just posted a new entry on my SQLMag Tool Time blog that you might enjoy. Thanks to my friend and fellow MVP John Paul Cook for bringing Disk2Vhd to my attention on his blog. The free tool is enables migration of a physical machine (PM) to a virtual machine (VM), while the PM is running.  You can download it from Microsoft here.  John also has lots of other great information about VM migration here.  Note that John’s content relates to Hyper-V. So if you’re looking for VMWare tools, keep looking. Of course, if you find similar free tools for VMWare, let us know by posting here!

Thanks,

-Kev
Twitter @kekline
More content at http://KevinEKline.com/