The crux of this of course is Microsoft’s Azure and SQL Azure programs, which will be available as a paid service starting Jan. 1, 2010. While much of the new improvements surrounding SQL Azure were already talked up during the PASS Community Summit earlier this month, there were also a few new Microsoft cloud developments that made news this week.

The first is a new “Data as a Service” offering, codenamed Dallas. During his keynote, Ray Ozzie said that Dallas is designed to aggregate reams of public data to be parsed, reconfigured and displayed as needed and incorporated in other applications. It’s also built on Azure, and will be a paid service. It is currently available as a community technical preview (CTP).

Details were also shared involving Microsoft Pinpoint, an online catalog for cloud resources. My colleague Bridget Boltelho reported that “Pinpoint is integrated into the Azure developer portal and the partner network and it will be in the online portal for IT in the future.”

As for Azure itself, Microsoft is working on adding support for Windows Server virtual machines as a means of bridging the gap between “on-premise” computing and the cloud. There are a lot more details here regarding all the announcements in regards to Microsoft’s cloud vision.

For more information on Microsoft’s cloud services visit SearchCloudComputing.com.

While Windows Server 2008 R2 has certainly gotten its fair share of attention over the past year, it’s hard to argue that it still hasn’t been somewhat overshadowed by the hype surrounding Windows 7. After all, even Microsoft has dubbed it “Windows 7 Server” on occasion.

The new server OS is getting it’s due this week, however, at Tech-Ed Europe 2009 in Berlin. During the opening keynote, for example, R2 was featured prominently. Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet wrote a piece about this very subject, with details on some of the new R2 features Microsoft is touting.

Some of these enhancements underscore the fact that Windows is continuing to become greener and greener, which is evident by the operating system’s increased efficiency and power consumption improvements. Since this is one area that can have a direct (and potentially immediate) effect on the bottom line, it’s no surprise that Microsoft is shining a light on it this week.

“Out of the box, [with] no configuration changes, on the same hardware, [Windows Server 2008 R2] compared to 2003 is 18% more efficient,” said Robert Wahbe, corporate vice president of the Server and Tools Marketing Group at Microsoft. He added that combined with power controls with server hardware vendors, companies can expect massive cost-savings for the data center. “Taking all of these savings together, the overall study is that you can get your return on investment in less than six months with R2,” he said.

Jonathan Hassell wrote earlier this year that these improvements are focused on three main areas: adjustable processor speeds, lower power use on multi-core chip systems, and reduced power for SAN components. Group Policy settings have also been added to help reduce power usage during network slow periods, for example.

Virtualization is a factor as well. Results of a recent survey of over 800 respondents showed that 32% consider power savings and better resource utilization to be a key factor in adopting server virtualization. Still, not all companies have experienced the level of savings they had hoped, so perhaps the combined changes to virtualization and power management with Windows Server 2008 R2 will prove to be extra-enticing to those looking to shave a little more off the bottom line.

It’s important to note that Microsoft has been comparing power consumption details from Windows Server 2003 to Server 2008 R2, where the savings are more dramatic. However, many of these changes have also been included with the second service pack for Windows Server 2008, so that’s definitely something to be aware offer those who already have Server 2008 in production.

For more information on Windows Server 2008 R2, visit SearchWindowsServer.com.

Over the summer it was reported that Windows Server 2008 R2 would be out in October — without native support for Exchange Server 2007. Needless to say, this decision had many customers calling for Microsoft’s heads mildly dismayed.

Well guess what? The people have prevailed.

Due to high public demand, Microsoft has reportedly reconsidered, and the company is currently working on an update that will enable full Exchange Server 2007 support with Windows 2008 R2.

“We heard from many customers that this was important for streamlining their operations and reducing administrative challenges, so we have changed course and will add R2 support,” said Microsoft’s Kevin Allison, general manager of Exchange customer experience, in a post on the company’s Exchange Team blog. “We are still working through the specifics and will let you know once we have more to share on the timing of this update.”

There is no definitive timeline for when this update will be complete, though Allison said customers can expect it at some point in 2010. Still, at least they are working on it, right?

The major issue was that Microsoft didn’t exactly make a grand announcement when news first broke that R2 would not include Exchange 2007 support. The result was that many customers began to prepare for an upgrade to the new OS without even realizing they would have to migrate to the next version of Exchange Server as well.

Some people viewed this as the company strong-arming them into upgrading to Exchange Server 2010, which naturally didn’t go over too well. Thus, the Internet was flooded with questions from frustrated users.

The good news is that at least this time Microsoft seems to have listened, and those frustrations will be over soon – or at least sometime next year.

For more information on Windows Server 2008 R2, visit SearchWindowsServer.com.

We’ve been doing a lot of PASS coverage recently, but for those interested, here are some quick hits on a few of the more noteworthy topics:

• SQL Server 2008 R2 (formerly codenamed Kilimanjaro) is still set for general availability in the first half of 2010. A community technical preview (CTP) will be out this month.
• There will be two new editions of SQL Server this time around. The first is SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter, which is designed to run with the data center edition of Windows Server 2008 R2. The second is SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse, formerly referred to as Project Madison. The latter will boost SQL Server data warehouses from a 10 TB limit (as is currently the case with SQL Server 2008) to potentially hundreds of TBs.
• Microsoft’s long developed Project Gemini has been officially redubbed PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint. It is designed to create a self-service BI solution for customers, and will ship in the same timeframe as SQL Server 2008 R2.
• Master Data Services is another big R2 feature that’s starting to get a lot of attention. It comes from Microsoft’s acquisition of Stratature from a while back, and is a completely new BI service to go along with returning favorites SSRS, SSIS and SSAS.
• The CTP for SQL Azure Database is currently out and free to try. Microsoft won’t start charging for it until January 1, 2010. I did a Q&A recently with Brent Ozar that shed a lot of light on Microsoft’s cloud strategy, as well as cloud computing in general.

One thing we’ve found is that despite all the hoopla surrounding SQL Server 2008 R2, most organizations haven’t even started running SQL Server 2008 yet. Why? The consensus is that they are simply happy with their current version (SQL Server 2005), and have no immediate plans to upgrade off of it.

Microsoft has made a lot of improvements to help with database consolidation and virtualization, but virtualizing SQL Server is still considered more of a challenge than with other applications, even despite enhancements with SQL Server 2008. And the cloud? Forget about it; it’s still years away for most companies.

My guess is that BI will be the main draw when it comes to upgrading off of SQL Server 2005, but who knows when that will be. What are your organizations plans for upgrading to SQL Server 2008 or R2? Sound off below.

For more news and information from PASS Summit 2009, visit SearchSQLServer.com.

As Microsoft’s Lee Holmes said in a recent blog post, the Windows Management Framework provides “a consistent management interface across the various flavors of Windows.” What he means is that in addition to Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, PowerShell 2.0 remoting can now also be used to manage machines running Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008.

In a nutshell, PowerShell remoting allows administrators to manage machines through PowerShell … well … remotely. In other words, you can now execute PowerShell cmdlets on remote computers. In a preview article on the PowerShell 2.0 CTP from a while back, scripting guru Christa Anderson described the remoting functionality “as a fundamental requirement to make PowerShell widely adopted.” The article is a good read, as it also breaks down other 2.0 features such as new custom cmdlets and script internalization.

Windows PowerShell is a hot topic right now in regards to R2, and even folks who have been resistant to the technology in the past have started to come around. Denny Cherry, a database professional and self-proclaimed PowerShell avoider, echoed this sentiment recently on his SQL Server blog. “Windows 2008 R2 has some great new management features — much of which resolves around PowerShell. If you have been like me and avoided [PowerShell], apparently it is time to get over it. The new management tools look pretty good, and all use PowerShell under the covers,” he wrote.

In a recent InfoWorld article, IT author J. Peter Bruzzese agreed that PowerShell 2.0 functionality should be a key consideration when moving to Windows Server 2008 R2, notably in regards to Active Directory. When talking about the AD Module for PowerShell, he said “This provides command-line scripting for a host of administrative, configuration, and diagnostic tasks. Initially, this worked only if you had an R2 domain controller, but now you can install the free Active Directory Management Gateway Service (ADMGS) from Microsoft.”

So it’s clear that PowerShell isn’t going away, and most IT experts are touting an upgrade to 2.0. If you’re looking to learn more, here are some great PowerShell resources to check out:

• Prof. PowerShell with MCP Magazine’s Jeffrey Hicks (a weekly column with tons of scripting tips and tricks)
• Jonathan Hassell’s Top 25 PowerShell commands for Windows admins (collection of the most popular — and most useful — PowerShell scripts)
• Microsoft’s Windows PowerShell Blog (tons of news and tips straight from the horse’s mouth)

For more on working with Windows PowerShell, visit SearchWindowsServer.com.

Last week I spoke with John Welch about how data warehousing fits into a cloud-based model. Welch is a chief architect with North Carolina-based business intelligence consulting firm Mariner, and he’s scheduled to speak at PASS 2009 on BI and cloud computing.

During our conversation, I asked him a general question about whether he thought the security risks associated with the cloud are myth or reality. Here’s what he had to say:

“I’d say it’s really sort of knee-jerk reaction, and I say that for a couple of reasons.

First, a lot of companies already outsource significant processing of their data to other companies. For example, most companies outsource their payroll processing to a third-party. So right there you’re talking about fairly sensitive information, but no one hesitates about outsourcing that.

Secondly, the physical security in a cloud-based model of the actual data and the data center is probably higher in most cases than what people have on premise. The standards for those data centers are held to a much higher level than what internal data centers usually are. So I think it’s just a legacy of people thinking ‘Well if the data is not inside of our network, then we can’t control it.’ And that’s not really the case these days.

In fact if you look at recent exposure of data, a pretty fair percentage of it is [the result of] internal leaks rather than somebody accessing the data on the cloud and hacking into it. So the problems that a [software as a service] company faces are the same as what internal companies face. It’s basically the people that are the biggest security risk — not the technology or where the data is located.”

In other words, security is always an issue, but cloud computing doesn’t necessarily increase those risks. Then again, you also need to define exactly what you mean by security. From a pure data protection standpoint, there are still steps to take when moving data to the cloud.

Brent Ozar, a SQL Server expert with Quest Software who is also speaking on the cloud at PASS 2009, said in a recent interview that backups are a major concern for those considering cloud computing. “Before you put your data exclusively in someone else’s data center, you need to have solid backup and disaster recovery plans. Don’t assume everything is just magically taken care of in the cloud,” he said.

My colleague Steve Cimino argues that it’s the complications of cloud computing that sets off most security questions, and it certainly is a complicated matter with many (MANY) opinions. For every accusation of lack of security in the cloud (like potential vulnerabilities related to virtualization), there are new tools that are promised to make everything better.

But is this really any different than the issues and considerations involved with more traditional environments? It’s hard to say, but it’s certainly likely that unfamiliarity and the perceived “newness” of the cloud is its biggest obstacle right now.

One thing that never changes, however, is that the best way to avoid problems ahead of time is by following the proper best practices.

For more information on security and other cloud-related issues, visit SearchCloudComputing.com.

This month, IT author, speaker and consultant Greg Shields calls in to discuss some of the best reasons to use the two new operarting systems as a tandem, and shares some of his favorite Windows 2008 R2 features.

Nearly half of respondents ranked it number one (47%), followed by provisioning and configuration (37%), performance tuning (37%), backup and recovery (32%) and migrations (29%).

While these results are far from shocking, it doesn’t make them any less true. Here is a small collection of really great troubleshooting tips for a variety of common issues that will hopefully help speed up the process.

Server hangs
A three-part series explaining the possible causes of a hanging server, with details on the best tools and techniques for resolving it.

Server crashes
Forget about a hung server; these have completely crashed. A major problem — but not one without a solution. This tip walks you through the process of getting your server back up and running quickly.

Printer crashes
Which printer or driver caused your spooler to crash? This article will guide you toward the answer.

Application crashes
An unexpected app crash can be a pain to troubleshoot. This tip identifies some free tools and how to use them.

Memory leaks
Leaks are usually caused by poorly written apps or drivers. Here you’ll learn to identify the issue early and plug up the leaks before it’s too late.

Service failures
Misbehaving services are common issues — with proven troubleshooting methods.

Poor client logon performance
This tip dissects the reasons why users might experience delays when logging into their domain accounts, and then suggests a number of possible debugging techniques.

1. Forget Live Migration; AD is king in R2
   While most of the attention around Windows Server 2008 R2 has been given to Hyper-V enhancements and brand new features like Direct Access, when it comes right down to it, Active Directory is still No. 1 on the priority list for admins.
   
   AD and Group Policy ranked at the top of a recent survey asking users which R2 features they were most interested in. In the words of one analyst, “Let’s be realistic about Live Migration. Yes Microsoft needed to do it to compete with VMware, and large shops will likely use it, but the changes to Active Directory make my every day administration easier.”
2. Sysinternals has a new family member
   Mark Russinovich and company have made available a new utility to add to their already large list of free tools for Windows administrators. Dubbed Disk2vhd, the new tool is designed to convert physical systems to virtual ones without any downtime.
3. Compatibility issues should be easier to avoid with Windows 7
   Desktop managers weary of the compatibility problems that plagued Vista will be happy to know Windows 7 is set to make a (hopefully) smoother transition. Microsoft has made Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC available with Windows 7 as a means to circumvent issues with software or hardware that hasn’t been given the Windows 7 stamp of approval.
4. A major Patch Tuesday is on the way this October
   Microsoft is set to patch zero-days affecting Internet Information Services (IIS) and Service Message Block (SMB) this month, along with at least 6 other critical fixes. A total of 13 patches are expected to be release in all on October 13.
5. Exchange Server 2010 has reached RTM
   The next version on Microsoft Exchange Server is code complete, after a release candidate was out this past August. It is scheduled for general availability as soon as November.

Remember you can get updates on all the latest Windows news and advice on Twitter @WindowsTT.

The new pack will include Windows 7 support for nearly all of its components, including Advanced Group Policy Management 4.0 (AGPM), which will also support Windows Server 2008 R2.

In a post on the Group Policy Team Blog, Microsoft’s Michael Kleef touched on a subject that we will be delving further into on the blog this month – mainly, the pros and cons of running Windows 7 without Windows Server 2008 R2 (or vice versa). In the case of AGPM 4.0, Kleef cautioned that folks are better off running Windows 2008 R2 on the backend if they plan to edit policies for Windows 7. “While we do support Vista and Windows Server 2008 with AGPM 4.0, don’t mix the platforms,” he said.

The big additions to AGPM include new filtering and search capabilities for tracking Group Policy changes, as well as the ability to copy GPOs from one forest to another, even if the two domains are not physically connected. According to Kleef, this move is in response to customer feedback about a simpler way to move GPOs among change controlled environments.

Other MDOP 2009 R2 additions involve application virtualization. While desktop and app virtualization have been slow to develop for many organizations (partly due to the alleged high cost of implementation), Microsoft is promoting the idea that Windows 7 deployments are an ideal time to look at App-V in particular. In fact, Microsoft has made available the results of a cost reduction study to prove it to you.

Enhancements have also been made to MDOP components such as Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset, Desktop Error Monitoring and the Asset Inventory Service. We don’t have an official release date yet for MDOP 2009 R2, but I would expect it to be available soon after (if not the same day as) the big OS launch on October 22.

Software Assurance subscribers will be able to license MDOP through the platform Enterprise Agreement.