Mitch Irsfeld

TechNet Flash, Volume 14, Issue 21 - September 19, 2012
TechNet Flash Editor's Note from Mitch Irsfeld

System Center Ready to Manage It All

With the recent launch of Windows Server 2012 and the great anticipation surrounding next month's launch of Windows 8, it's a good time to loop back on the very important task of systems management with these new platforms. System Center 2012 Service Pack 1, now in beta, introduces support for Windows Server 2012, including Windows Azure virtual machines, Windows 8 clients, and SQL Server 2012.

With SP1, Microsoft also added the Service Provider Foundation API, which extends the AppController component to include cloud resources offered by hosting service providers, giving you the ability to integrate and manage a wide range of custom and commodity IaaS cloud services into the same single pane of glass. Hosters can now integrate their System Center installation into their customer portal and be automatically integrated with customers' on-premises installation of AppController.

Why is this cool? With System Center 2012 SP1 you can take advantage of the Virtual Machine Manager's ability to manage Hyper-V network virtualization across multiple hosts, simplifying the creation of entire virtual networks.

Got some VMware-based virtual machines that you'd like to convert to Hyper-V? Try the new Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter. This free, stand-alone solution also supports conversion from VMware to Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012.

If you downloaded the Windows Server 2012 Trial, you can also manage your evaluation environment with System Center 2012 SP1. And if you're ready to upgrade your evaluation version of Windows Server 2012 to the full version, learn how you can easily upgrade from the trial version to the full retail version.

Speaking of Windows Server 2012, be sure to check out the free ebook Introducing Windows Server 2012 from Microsoft Press, which has been updated to include feature descriptions based on the RTM release instead of beta.

Thanks for reading,

Mitch Irsfeld
Editor, TechNet Flash

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