FastCGI 1.5 for IIS6 & 5.1 is RTW

Wanted to update that the FastCGI module v1.5 has been released for IIS 6 and IIS 5.1. A lot more details can be got from Ruslan’s blog on this release: http://blogs.iis.net/ruslany/archive/2010/01/18/fastcgi-extension-1-5-for-iis-5-1-and-iis-6-0-rtw.aspx

Fast CGI Forum with announcement and where to send folks with technical questions: http://forums.iis.net/t/1164235.aspx

Some fast features. See blog post for the details -

  • Monitor changes to a file (php.ini as an example). Will recycle FastCGI processes for the process pool.
  • Real-time tuning of MaxInstances setting. Set by default now.
  • STDERR stream handling.
  • Sending a termination signal to FastCGI processes for cleaner shutdowns.
  • _FCGI_X_PIPE_ environment variable for communication between the extension and FastCGI process.
  • Relaxed enforcement of response headers syntax.
  • Per-application FastCGI process pools. Allows for two different PHP version used for different applications within the same web site.
  • Using UTF-8 encoding for server variable values.
  • More descriptive error messages
  • Changes in default values for configuration settings.
Have fun …
Posted 01-20-2010 by vinodkumar | no comments
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SSMA for MySQL to SQL Server

Just wanted to make sure you were aware that the new free MySQL to SQL Server migration assistant (“SSMA for MySQL”) is now available.

More info: http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/archive/2010/01/11/free-download-microsoft-sql-server-migration-assistant.aspx

- Download SSMA SQL Server 2005 for MySQL v1.0 CTP1

- Download SSMA SQL Server 2008 to MySQL v1.0 CTP1

It is interesting to tryout once atleast :) …

Posted 01-15-2010 by vinodkumar | no comments
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VS 2010 Beta resources

There have been tons and tons of resources on the MS.com website that one can download from. I am just trying to consolidate them for your quick reference. MS released a new Visual Studio 2010 & .NET Framework 4 Training Kit. This is a downloadable version of the training content used in Training Workshops and includes 17 presentations, 21 Demos and 26 Hands-on Labs. The January preview adds content for Office, SharePoint and Application Lifecycle Management. The content in this training kit has been tested with Beta 2 and is ready for you to use.

Download: Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit

Visual Studio 2010 and TFS 2010 Virtual Machine

This VM includes everything you need to learn and demonstrate the ALM capabilities of Visual Studio 2010 beta 2 (with the exception of Lab Management). This VM is available in the virtualization platform of your choice (Hyper-V, Virtual PC 2007 SP1, and Windows [7] Virtual PC). Hyper-V is highly recommended because of the performance benefits and snapshotting capabilities. The lab also works with 7 hands-on-labs that are included in the Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit.

Download:

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 (Hyper-V)

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 (Windows [7] Virtual PC)

Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2 (Virtual PC 2007 SP1)

TailSpin Travel Demo

In Bob Muglia’s keynote at the PDC, Cameron Skinner presented a demo focused on some of the most exciting new features coming in Visual Studio 2010, .NET Framework 4, and the server platform. The demo was built to align with the following release announcements: ASP.NET MVC 2 beta, Windows Identity Foundation RTM,  and the beta of the new Windows Server AppFabric. The demo did a great job of highlighting the value of the next wave of Microsoft developer tools and as such we wanted to make sure that it is readily available to everyone.

You can download the Tailspin Travel application from Codeplex. In addition to the feature use cases that were presented in the demo, the released version of Tailspin contains many additional scenarios to help developers see a broader view of possibilities with the respective technologies.

Download:

Tailspin Travel Demo

10-4 on Channel9

The 10-4 show on Channel9 is a regular web cast focused on new features of Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4. There are 37 episodes with total views of over 3 million. This is a great resource for you and your customers to learn about what’s coming in the next release.

Download:

Episode 37: Leveraging Model Metadata and Validation with ASP.NET MVC2

You can download the rest from this starting link.

Posted 01-13-2010 by vinodkumar | no comments
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Instructions on using Windows Azure Blob Storage and retrieving content onto SL

Here are a number of interesting videos that help you understand step-by-step in storing data onto the Azure Blob storage and use the content via Silverlight.

· Provisioning Windows Azure

· Setting up Windows Azure for video storage

· Creating and publishing a video in a Silverlight player to a Windows Azure storage account (using Expression Encoder 3)

· Embedding a published video in a blog (using Windows Live Writer)

· How to retrieve content that is stored on Silverlight Live Streaming

With this post, it is quite important to figure out how to activate your Azure account if you have MSDN subscription. With your MSDN subscription you can refer to this blog post by Eric Golpe for details on how to activate your Azure benefit: http://blogs.msdn.com/ericgolpe/archive/2010/01/05/step-by-step-windows-azure-signup-for-msdn-subscribers.aspx

Posted 01-11-2010 by vinodkumar | no comments
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End of Service Pack Support for SQL Server 2005 SP2 and SQL Server 2008 RTM

I would like to remind all users that Service Pack Support for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) will end on January 12, 2010 and support for SQL Server 2008 RTM will end on April 13, 2010.  Microsoft is ending support for these products as part of their Service Pack support policy, found in http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle. 

Both SQL Server 2005 SP2 and SQL Server 2008 RTM will no longer receive assisted support or security updates from Microsoft after their respective end of support dates.  Self-Help online support will continue to be available for a minimum of 12 months after the product reaches the end of support.  Self-Help options include public knowledge base articles, FAQs, troubleshooting tools which are typically available from http://support.microsoft.com and the Microsoft Download Center.

http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlreleaseservices/archive/2009/10/08/end-of-service-pack-support-for-sql-server-2005-sp2-and-sql-server-2008-rtm.aspx

Posted 01-08-2010 by vinodkumar | no comments
Creating PHP CRUD Apps with SQL Server on your Server or in the Azure Cloud

As part of getting Interoperability Bridges there is a new post out, Creating PHP CRUD Apps with SQL Server on your Server or in the Azure Cloud that helps PHP web users to build SQL Server, SQL Azure or Windows Azure Storage bound applications via a helper CRUD application that developers can modify. The post includes simple code snippets and images that show the end product working on a PHP web site running on Windows.

References:

Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/interoperability/archive/2010/01/06/creating-php-crud-apps-with-sql-server-on-your-server-or-in-the-azure-cloud.aspx

Twitter: http://twitter.com/OpenAtMicrosoft/status/7458878145

Posted 01-08-2010 by vinodkumar | no comments
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Windows Azure Platform Training Kit – Dec’09

It is holiday season and I am sure that doesn't deter you from trying the hot technologies round the corner. Get ready to grab the new Azure Platform Training kit released for the holiday season with tons and tons of content. Outlining the content inside the kit for quick reference.

Hands On Labs

  • Introduction to Windows Azure
  • Exploring Windows Azure Storage
  • Deploying and Monitoring Applications in Windows Azure
  • Windows Azure: Worker Role Communication
  • Federated Authentication in a Windows Azure Web Role Application
  • Building ASP.NET Web Form Applications with Windows Azure
  • Introduction to SQL Azure
  • Migrating Databases to SQL Azure
  • SQL Azure: Tips and Tricks
  • Intro to Dallas
  • Introduction to the .NET Service Bus
  • Introduction to the .NET Access Control Service
  • Service Remoting with Service Bus
  • Eventing with the Service Bus

Presentations and Videos

  • Windows Azure Platform Overview (C9 - VIDEO)
  • What is Windows Azure? (C9 - VIDEO)
  • Windows Azure Storage Overview (C9 - VIDEO)
  • Deploying Applications on Windows Azure (C9 - VIDEO)
  • Windows Azure Compute (C9 - VIDEO)
  • Introduction to Windows Azure (PPTX)
  • Building Services with Windows Azure (PPTX)
  • What is SQL Azure? (C9 - VIDEO)
  • Introduction to SQL Azure (PPTX)
  • Building Applications using SQL Azure (PPTX)
  • Scaling out with SQL Azure  (PPTX)
  • What is Microsoft Codename "Dallas"? (C9 - VIDEO)
  • Introduction to Microsoft Codename "Dallas" (PPTX)
  • What is the Access Control Service (C9 - VIDEO)
  • Introduction to the Service Bus (C9 - VIDEO)

Demos

  • Deploying Windows Azure Services
  • Hello Windows Azure
  • Windows Azure Guestbook Demo
  • Windows Azure Logging and Configuration Demo
  • Windows Azure using Blobs Demo
  • Windows Azure Worker Role Demo
  • Windows Azure Using Queues Demo
  • Windows Azure Using Tables Demo
  • Preparing your SQL Azure Account
  • Connecting to SQL Azure
  • Managing Logins and Security in SQL Azure
  • Creating Objects in SQL Azure
  • Migrating a Database Schema to SQL Azure
  • Moving Data Into and Out Of SQL Azure using SSIS
  • Building a Simple SQL Azure App
  • Scaling Out SQL Azure with Database Sharding
  • AppFabric Service Bus Direct Connection Demo
  • AppFabric Service Bus webHttpRelayBinding
  • AppFabric Service Bus Publish and Subscribe
  • AppFabric Service Bus Service Registry
  • AppFabric Service Bus NetOneWayRelayBinding

Do feel free to download the same and enjoy your much needed vacation :) …

Posted 12-30-2009 by vinodkumar | 4 comment(s)
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Evangelism beyond boundaries with an Evangelists !!!

I love the title of “Technology Evangelist” and it is because of this inspiring title that I am where I am today. Though “Technology evangelism” is a relatively recent phenomenon, today's Evangelists have transformed the term “evangelism” into a household word. My long time friend Jani posted about the same topic a month back and I have been thinking of writing this post - it surely did take sometime. I couldn't agree more to all the points that Jani brings out in his post. But here are my take on Evangelism & Evangelists.

There are two dimension – Understanding Evangelism and Being an Evangelist. If one does the former, the later is just a way to live that life :). I had an opportunity to read my favorite book on evangelism, Selling the Dream by Guy Kawasaki during vacation and there has been some yes-no that I have gone through on some of the concepts. For me, people like Guy Kawasaki, Don Box, Robert Scoble, Jani live an evangelists life though they might not officially hold such titles today. Infact, this is one of the qualities of True Evangelist.

Getting back, it is so true that Evangelism cannot be quantitatively defined and built with-in boundaries. The core genesis of Evangelism is all about going out of your way to convince, transform and passionately energize like minded people. Atleast, the explanation that Wikipedia outlines for this standard title is quite inadequate. Being an Evangelist for the 3+ years, I have done tons of work that have gone beyond what the standard title warrants me to do as per the job description. In fact, evangelism might be too broad a term to explain to others, but their influence end-of-the-day is very real to organizations. I have felt each and every employee is an ambassador of their organizations technologies and hence an Evangelist intrinsically. So every employee is an CTE (Chief Technology Evangelist) for their organization.

I do concur with the fact that Evangelists do need to do it for a cause they believe in. “Evangelistic causes catalyze selfless actions”**. The very first example that comes to mind is - M.K.Gandhi Evangelized the concept of non-violence for a cause of freedom, how he made the non-cooperation movement a cause for Billions to follow.

Infact, so true in Technology companies, one needs to believe in their company Vision, Products roadmap and finally the product itself (which they tend to talk about later). An evangelist is a bridge between the product and the outside world before & after adoption. If we have compelling products then each and every customer of ours also become our Evangelists automagically. Now this spawns another thought - an Evangelist needs to be an avid tester of all products (Self & Competition). Though there are debates on this topic, I personally feel an Evangelist is an explorer by nature – part of their DNA. Hence, they talk with full conviction, passion and authority provoking change in perception ultimately leading to adoption. They “command respect” by their depth in technology – hence “Tech. Evangelist”.

Let me outline some of the traits that I think which make Evangelists:

  • Bundle of energy – Passion is their middle name
      • I can think of many people here, but let me give you a real-life example. One of the person who inspired me into Evangelism was my friend Kumar Gaurav Khanna (now with Microsoft CLR Team). Infact, the energy, passion, conviction and authority he showed during presentations was amazing. You can always be sure a flock of people around him anytime talking technology post his sessions. Fundamentally, this involves in understanding your audiences mind-set and empower, involve them into your story to convert them before end of your interaction. That leads us to next trait -
  • Wonderful Story tellers
      • This by definition an Evangelist must be great at. I have seen times when people crib about writing what their product can do in 140 character (eg twitter). Typical Evangelist will be ready to evangelize their product in 1 sentence or 1 min or 1 hour or even 1 day without much fuss. Even today most of the session from Mark Russinovich make me think how much of product depth a typical evangelist must be at. And if I were to watch any of Guy Kawasaki’s session, they are so practical, lucid yet dramatic (eg his 10-20-30 rule). Just check any of their presentations, I can assure you will have instances when you get “the Aaahaa” (WOW) in the talk. Just check the “Thinking Vs Speaking Vs Breathing” skills at their talks – you can see how seamless all these are done. Clarity of thoughts combined with their above special skills makes them the most sought-after speakers. Getting there is a journey … after reaching that destination staying there is yet another journey.
  • Empathy, Trust, Loyalty, Openness, Accessibility and Warmth
      • An Evangelist needs to have great public-relation skills with customers / partners. More often one is seen as “Trusted Advisors” and you surely put your organization and your own credibility at risk if you tend to be a fanatic. Being reasonable will always earns you more brownies and trust which will come to your help someday later.
      • Evangelist inspires others who start "carrying the torch forward" for the same cause by “Selling the idea”. They plant their feet firmly on the ground to wade long and difficult battles yet keeping their dreams high up in the clouds.
      • “Evangelists are open to anything that will increase their effectiveness as evangelists”. **
  • Technology Enthusiast – Doers
      • Explorer by heart and enthusiast in every aspect, evangelists will install the latest and greatest bits almost instantly :). You can always find atleast “2 Beta products” (if not more :)) running on my host machine. For me, evangelist needs to get hands-on, dirty and must be able to demonstrate the “HOW” factor of technology and with his story paint the “Why (Objective) –> What (Content)”. Just like the post from Guy on Evangelism on his blog mentions - An “evangelist who cannot give a great demo” is an oxymoron. This brings to the analogy I always give to many - true evangelist becomes synonymous to what they talk. Eg, Mark with SysInternals (aka Windows Internals), Guy with Evangelism, yours truly for SQL Server :) (couldn’t resist) …
      • “People who are far ahead are geniuses while people who are slightly ahead are evangelists” **
      • Technology evangelists can often be perceived as superficial and "talking too much”. This is the exact reason why I felt it was important to highlight the never-die, never-give-up attitude in exploring / trying new things. I can think of another close friend of mine who inspires me even today – Deepak Gulati. An ex-MS employee who always glees with passion, conviction for technology, photography skills, Mac exploration or in the MS days his love for WPF, ASP.NET, Localization, music etc. He always had that within him – people who showed me how to live an evangelist life.
      • An Evangelist earns his credibility by his actions and doesn’t beg for it !!! Even today every session however big or small, I still have butterflies before a session starts. It takes lots of time to build strong credibility but takes one bad session to destroy everything. One needs to understand an Evangelist holds personal credibility which transcends beyond the organizations they works for. Even today people like Mark Russinovich have credibility that is beyond boundaries of where they work or will work - SysInternals or MS doesnt really matter to these Evangelists (in my opinion :)).
  • Love people, people and more people – Community oriented
      • If you get back to the Wikipedia definition they do callout - it is to influence people. Evangelists go to where people are and people flock where ever evangelists live (FB, Twitter, Blogs, Websites, sessions etc). I have seen times when people attend sessions because a specific speaker is doing the session rather than the session content itself. A true evangelist does bring these strong sentiments.
      • Every evangelist will be proactive in connecting with people, grab every opportunity and will be generous in spending time to those who have ears to listen to them and learn.
      • Evangelists need to be extremely extrovert, informal, dynamic, approachable and there for you whenever you need them. For them, the pleasure of sharing is more important than their own personal gains. For instance, even today I do sessions at my hometown colleges (in Madurai) whenever I visit my family during vacations. I just cant stop myself from doing this – its in our DNA :)
  • Unique Style and Leadership qualities !!!
      • Evangelist have solid, rational and tangible technical skills which awe people around them. Interestingly, typical evangelist is possibly antagonistic at times in their mode of functioning. They are big time risk takers with technology and never shy away from being critic of it. Post exploration, they start motivating and inspiring others to accept, adopt and later evangelize the ideas on their behalf.
      • Evangelist sessions are factual, direct and in a structured manner will be able to communicate large volumes of content rapidly and clearly. Infact, you can realize how detail oriented they are on every subject they touch. - (I am still learning this art)
  • Self-Confident, Self-Motivated but a student
      • Evangelist are independent producers of the concept of “Selling the idea”. They don't need any incentive to try self-starter kits for learning or more so will develop their own kits for others to use.
      • They find opportunities to learn and advance reasonably quickly; changing the job content, nature of problems addressed, and the scope of responsibility. They pave their own paths for others to follow and emulate.
      • “Evangelists are so committed they can illuminate a room with their faith” **
      • Learning is a journey an Evangelist will never forget to take. You will always find something new to hear from them every time / every day you meet them. They are a perpetual students reading / exploring and getting excited.

These are my take on Evangelism as an Evangelist and I am overly passionate on how I want to be in future someday. With all the above definition even I have a long way to go to get into your hearts as an accepted Evangelist. But I did fail to address some of the modern trends via Twitter, Facebook and other social media that Evangelism can reach different levels of engagement. Infact, I am still exploring the same and will post someday as time permits and when I get a hang of them.

PS: these are purely my personal opinions and not to be confused with the way Evangelism is defined by my Employer.

** – concepts from Selling the Dream by Guy Kawasaki.

Please share me your views via comments. Really looking forward !!!

Posted 12-23-2009 by vinodkumar | 12 comment(s)
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ExtremeExperts: ResourceDB Tip

I recently wrote a tip around ResourceDB changes with SQL Server 2008. You can read the same on my website here. Feel free to drop in your comments.

I have been on vacation for the past two weeks and hence have been silent here. Nevertheless, I got hold of a number of useful links that might be of interest to you.

The Parallel Computing Developer Center on MSDN has a new look, and it’s now live for the public: http://msdn.com/concurrency

In the coming years, Data Visualization will become one are where everyone will try to hit a gold mine. I recently saw this great Data mining using SL - http://www.data-applied.com/Web/TryNow/Video.aspx

Posted 12-22-2009 by vinodkumar | no comments
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MDS Nov-CTP release

Master Data Services (MDS) with Master Data Hub and Stewardship Portal

This is one of those much awaited features. If you are wondering its need, let me explain you the scenario. As organizations grow in size and complexity, their data becomes more distributed and difficult to manage.  Meanwhile, mergers, acquisitions and asymmetrical solution development compound the problem, resulting in IT organizations containing numerous independent and non-interoperable systems. Each of these systems uses key business entities (such as customer, product and vendor), yet they maintain this information independently. For instance, a call center application, billing application and marketing system may have different contact addresses for the same customer and they may utilize different hierarchies and semantics for financial rollups. This is exactly the space where MDS comes into picture.

Using MDS, customers can manage critical data assets by enabling proactive stewardship, enforcing data quality rules, defining workflows around data changes, notifying impacted parties, managing hierarchies, and sharing the authoritative source with all impacted systems.

History: In June 2007, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Stratature, a privately held company based in Alpharetta, Georgia, and a leading provider of master data management (MDM) software. This was the first step in Microsoft establishing a presence in the master data management space, and will accelerate Microsoft’s delivery of technology in the MDM market. Read this whitepaper which outlines The What, Why, and How of Master Data Management.

Note: Install is available as part of the Nov-CTP. Just search for the 1033_enu_lp folder and you will have the masterdataservices.msi inside the Setup Folder. MDS doesn’t get installed by default.

Have fun and do send me a note on your experiences …

Posted 11-27-2009 by vinodkumar | 1 comment(s)
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Download StreamInsight November CTP refresh

The November CTP release of Microsoft StreamInsight went live as part of the SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP. In this post we are introducing the November CTP refresh, which already contains further improvements.  You can find the download page here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=161910

StreamInsight CTP2, was well received and generated a lot of excitement. The improvements over previous beta include -

  • New extensibility API through user-defined aggregates and operators
  • Declarative specification of CTIs through AdvanceTimeSettings
  • More temporal windows in LINQ (and other LINQ improvements)
  • Improved error messages and exception handling
  • Many debugger tool improvements
  • New samples

This release of StreamInsight provides the documentation (also online on MSDN) and the samples package as part of the installation. Strongly recommend to use the samples to become familiar with the product and its capabilities. Moreover, to guide you through various aspects of the product visit the Product Teams blog at - StreamInsight Blog. The StreamInsight Forum is a great place to discuss questions and issues with the community and the development team.

If you are interested in other SQL Server CTPs, please visit this site as well: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ee315247.aspx

Posted 11-25-2009 by vinodkumar | no comments
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InterOp on Windows Azure

This recent PDC over the couple of days has tons of announcements to go a look forward from a Microsoft technologies point of view. One of the important announcement which I had the privilege to watch is the InterOp story esp around the Cloud Platform. At the PDC Keynote, we did see how WordPress was ported to make it work on Windows Azure. So I thought I will bring some of these interesting InterOp stories and resources you might love to go ahead and read.

Windows Azure SDK for Java™
The Windows Azure SDK for Java is an open source project that gives Java developers a speed dial to leverage the Windows Azure platform.

Windows Azure SDK for PHP
The Windows Azure SDK for PHP is an open source project that enables PHP developers to take advantage of the Windows Azure platform.

Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse
The Windows Azure Tools for Eclipse plug-in offers PHP developers a series of wizards and utilities allowing to write, debug, configure and deploy PHP applications to Windows Azure. The plug-in bundles the existing Windows Azure SDK for PHP into the Eclipse PHP project. The plug-in includes also a Window Azure storage explorer that allows developers to browse data contained into the Windows Azure tables, blobs or queues.

.NET Services SDK for Java™ Developers
This an interoperable open source SDK - set of libraries, tools, prescriptive patterns & guidance & real world sample applications that will enhance productivity for Java developers with Window Azure service bus and access control.

Ruby SDK for .NET Services
.NET Services for Ruby is an open source SDK that helps Ruby programs communicate with developers with Window Azure service bus and access control using plain HTTP.

.NET Services SDK for PHP Developers
This an interoperable open source SDK that enhances productivity for PHP developers with Window Azure service bus and access control. This is an interesting location to lookout if you are an PHP developer.

Comments welcome !!!

Posted 11-20-2009 by vinodkumar | no comments
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Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 - CTP

The Solution Accelerators Team is offering customers and partners added inventory and assessment capabilities with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 Community Technical Preview (CTP).  The MAP Toolkit 5.0 CTP provides customers and partners with new features such as inventory of heterogeneous server environments; the ability to determine usage of deployed System Center Configuration Manager (a member of the Core Client Access License Suite); and readiness assessment for migration to Office 2010.

Register for the MAP Toolkit 5.0 CTP and complete the survey. 

image

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 CTP is an agentless tool designed to simplify and streamline the IT infrastructure planning process across multiple scenarios through network-wide automated discovery and assessments.  This tool makes it easier for Microsoft customers and partners to quickly identify critical assets in their IT environment. It performs key functions including hardware and software inventory, hardware compatibility analysis, virtualization readiness planning, and generation of actionable, environment-specific IT proposals for infrastructure planning.

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0 CTP includes the following new features:

  • Heterogeneous Server Environment Inventory for Technologies including Windows Server, Linux, UNIX and VMware.
  • Ability to determine usage of deployed System Center Configuration Manager, a member of the Core Client Access License Suite. 
  • Office 2010 Readiness Assessment.

Additionally to these are -

  • Windows 7 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment.
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 Hardware and Device Compatibility Assessment.
  • Virtualization Candidates Assessment for Hyper-V Server Consolidation.
  • Inventory of VMware Server Hosts and Guests.
  • User Interface and Proposal Customization for Partner co-branding.
  • Enhanced Usability and Improved Inventory Performance.
  • SQL Server Instance Discovery.
  • Desktop Security Assessment for Anti-virus and Anti-malware Programs Installation.
  • Forefront Client Security/NAP Readiness Assessment.

Do give it a try and Read more about the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit on TechNet. Get the latest news from the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit Team Blog. Also, Check out other members of the Solution Accelerators family—Server, Desktop, Security, and Virtualization Solution Accelerators.

Posted 11-10-2009 by vinodkumar | no comments
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Free useful Tech-Books

clip_image002Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2

http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/C/0/5C0BD0AB-040D-4C56-A60B-661001012DDA/Windows_Server_2008_R2_e-book.pdf

Learn about the new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 in the areas of virtualization, management, the Web application platform, scalability and reliability, and interoperability with Windows 7. Download Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2, written by industry experts Charlie Russel and Craig Zacker along with the Windows Server team at Microsoft.

Microsoft Press / Oct. 2009 / Version 1.0 / 200 pages / 11.1 Mo / PDF

clip_image004Deploying Windows 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=ee2a1d38-88a9-43b3-95bc-7e962f0b6030

Microsoft’s eBook Deploying Windows 7 Essential Guidance from the Windows 7 Resource Kit and TechNet Magazine combine selected chapters written by industry experts Mitch Tulloch, Tony Northrup, Jerry Honeycutt, Ed Wilson, and the Windows 7 Team with select Windows 7 articles from TechNet Magazine. Sample topics include: Deployment Platform, Planning Deployment, Testing Application Compatability, and 8 Common Issues in Windows 7 Migrations.

Microsoft Press – Microsoft TechNet / Oct. 2009 / Version 1.0 / 332 pages / 6.5 Mo / PDF

clip_image006Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions

http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urmvs17u33

This guide will teach you about the benefits of the latest virtualization technologies and how to plan, implement, and manage virtual infrastructure solutions. The technologies covered include: Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization, and Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.

Microsoft Press / Oct. 2008 / 452 pages / 14.4 Mo / PDF

NB : This download requires a Windows Live account

clip_image0087 Development Projects for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services Version 3.0

http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/2/f/02f0f661-88e1-43c2-b523-88d2e9e6802f/7%20Development%20Projects%20with%20the%202007%20Microsoft%20Office%20System%20and%20Windows%20SharePoint%20Services%202007.pdf

Get a hands-on introduction with seven practical projects. This guide highlights architectural underpinnings, the latest enhancements for developers, and code samples to get you started with building custom applications and solutions with Windows SharePoint Services products and technologies. (Note For developers)

Microsoft Press – Microsoft TechNet / May 2006 / 236 pages / 7.76 Mo / PDF

Enjoy the goodness …

Posted 11-09-2009 by vinodkumar | no comments
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IronRuby and IronPython CTPs for .NET 4.0 Beta 2

Now to continue from what I posted in my last post around the VS2010 and .NET Beta 2 update, here is another. This is the third preview of IronRuby and IronPython running under the Dynamic Language Runtime that is built directly into .NET 4.0. As before, this release allows you to use IronRuby objects and types as .NET 4.0 dynamic objects from within C# and Visual Basic code. These binaries are roughly equivalent to the functionality found in IronRuby 0.9 and IronPython 2.6.

Take a look at Harry Pieimagerson’s blog post about this release as well to get an hang of what is in store :) …

 

To build IronPython or IronRuby for .NET 4.0 Beta 2 from source, get the sources from:

Posted 10-24-2009 by vinodkumar | no comments
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