Archives March 2009

If a cloud falls from the sky and it is in pre-release tech preview, will anyone notice?

Apparently, the answer is a resounding Yes.

(Repost from Microsoft Cloud has an Azureism)

This past weekend, the Microsoft Cloud Computing Platform “Windows Azure” appeared to have gotten caught up in the currents of a storm.  And like many storms, it’s not understood what happened, why it was down and after 22 hours was able to be recovered from.    Not exactly the feeling that many within the Cloud community are feeling as a great success, though in Microsoft’s defense – they are in Pre-Tech Preview, and while there is no worse time for something like this to happen; it is equally no better time as it’s not a fully released “product” yet.

Fortunately during this situation there was complete transparency of what was going on communicated by Steve Marx.

This is a very sore point for Microsofties with the MIX conference this week, but nonetheless this is indicative of past Microsoft Performance, so it is not as if it brings any shock or feelings of strangeness.   For anyone with a history of solid Microsoft Performance, it tends to involve pretty severe hiccups before settling into a hearty solid nesting period where it’s hard to penetrate or get an upper hand on it.

For those not familiar with the Microsoft Azure Services Platform, here is a breakdown:

Other links on this subject:

Azure Services Outage 3/13/2009 – A Brief History

22-Hour Outage for Windows Azure

Microsoft Azure Goes Dark For 22 Hours

Thanks to our friends at Windows 7 Center for this post

I’ll break it down for you!

Windows 7 RC2 scheduled for May 2009 release.

Windows 7 “scheduled” RTM/Release looks like November of 2009 (Whoa!?!)

Office 14 RTM is looking like March 2010 (Which means Exchange should be in alignment with that)

Here’s a consolidated list of a number of the resources I regularly put up here, so you can find them easier!

Free Training

5 Free Virtualization Training Courses for the Holidays! (HyperV)

I’m not sure how long this is going to last, so I highly encourage you to sign up, get your class registered in and taken!

This course is highly recommended and valuable!

How much does Free Microsoft Learning Cost? (Hint: Free!)

A whole series of Free E-Learning which used to cost a substantial amount of monies, but is Freeeee! Thanks Microsoft! :)

Free Books!

Sign up for the Microsoft Press Book Connection Newsletter now

Just go there, sign up and monthly you’ll receive an email which has the latest free E-books from the MS Press Team! Caveat: the books are typically only available for 5-7 days at a time – so you should act as soon as you get the emails!

More Free Training?!

Microsoft Elevates America with Social Responsibility

More Free Training at the High and Low level, in addition to some kinds of assistance for furthering education!

Microsoft Virtual Labs

Every wanted to try out a product you’ve never installed, or even downloaded.  Or you want to learn a new application, or even Programming language.  The Microsoft Virtual Labs are the perfect solution there.   They include not only immediately available applications for you to test in a real lab environment, but they also have ‘training labs’ so you can go through an educational process in order to learn the material.   The best part is, you’re not bound by the material either – So if you want to think outside the box of training you can, but if you’re not sure what to learn they provide guidance there!

We’re still waiting for the launch of more Beta Certification exams and other/more free stuff, but definitely take advantage of the resources above as they’re infinitely useful!

What do you get when you bring a bunch of technical people together in a community setting to learn about technology and ask them to bring food for charity? Well, I hope to see more food than we can carry!

In an effort of community interest, good will, and what I rightly see as a good Experiment at this point, this month (March 19th) CWUG will involve not only a brown bag lunch, but also a request to bring unopened items to donate to the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

Honestly, it sounds like an amazing idea, one of which I think every user group, or even “Meet Up” and “Tweet Up” in Chicagoland and beyond should start doing on a regular basis – What better way to bring community together than by helping build out a part of community which is in need.

The agenda for next week’s CWUG is as follows:

Bring an item for the Pot Luck Dinner:

Last name A – F: Loaf of Bread + 1 bag Chips
Last name G – L: 6 pack Bottled Water
Last name M – R: Peanut butter
Last name S – Z: Jelly

5:00 – 5:30 Brown Bag Potluck and Networking
5:30 – 6:00 Room Introductions
6:00 – 6:15 Welcome/Meeting Kickoff
6:15 – 7:30 Microsoft Virtualization Technologies (App-V, MED-V, Hyper-V and Boot to VHD)
7:30 – 7:45 Break
7:45 – 9:00 Hands on labs – Windows 7 boot to VHD

Event URL : http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032407001&Culture=en-US
Event Title : CWUG: March Meeting – Chicago Loop
Event Date: Thursday, March 19th
Event Address : 200 E. Randolph, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60601

Event URL : http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032407003&Culture=en-US

Event Title : CWUG: March Meeting – Downers Grove
Event Date: Thursday, March 19th
Event Address : 3025 Highland Pkwy. Suite 300, Downers Grove, IL 60515

Also, check out the group online, on Facebook and on Twitter!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to let me know via email, @cxi on twitter, etc!

RamSan-20 highlights:

• 450GB Flash storage
• 120,000 IOPS
• 700 MB/s random sustained external throughput
• ECC and RAID
• Embedded CPU controller.

Wowza! this makes the Fusion-io solution seem like a ‘good try’ but Texas Memory Systems comes through again with amazing throughput and more!

Alright, crashing! but yowza! ;)