Dear Enda,

The big news this week is the recent launch of the new offerings collectively known as the 'Windows Essential Server Solutions' (hence the banner above!). That's right, mid November saw the arrival of the long-awaited new version of Small Business Server - Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 - along with its big brother, a brand new product designed to bring SBS-like value to slightly larger organisations - Windows Essential Business Server (EBS) 2008. It is fantastic that Microsoft actually has an explicit midsize business offering in place now, which can deliver strategic value to businesses this size at an affordable price.

SBS 2008 is ideally suited to organisations with 5-50 PCS, whereas EBS 2008 has been designed with 50-300 PC organisations in mind. Both solutions address key small to midsize business priorities of protecting company data, keeping IT up and running and allowing remote workers to stay connected to the business. See how these products do this at www.microsoft.ie/ebs and www.microsoft.ie/sbs or download the product trials for free here.

Continuing with the security focus this week, I wanted to bring some useful security resources to your attention, starting with BitLocker Drive Encryption - which is a data protection feature available in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate for client computers and in Windows Server 2008

Protect your Data with Bitlocker Encryption
Protect your Desktop from Malware & Viruses
Protect your Server Infrastructure
Protect your Remote Workers
Protect your Network

You may also be interested in attending our Security Seminar which is taking place in Dublin on the 9th of December. Learn how you can improve your security strategy and make cost savings and you will receive a Free IT security Assessment following your attendance at the event! Learn more at http://www.microsoft.com/ireland/connect/

Finally, you have another chance to catch a 'Desktop Deployment' seminar deliver by top Microsoft Consultants based in Ireland. From the event description... 'For organisations considering the deployment of either Windows Vista or the 2007 Office system - or both, this interactive training session has been specially designed for Technical decision makers, IT implementers and Infrastructure architects, to show how straight-forward deploying these technologies can be'.

Click here to register or simply to learn more.

Thanks for reading!

Enda Flynn
TechNet Manager
Microsoft Ireland

Trying to Save Money on IT Security?

Dublin, 9th December 2008 from 09.00am to 1.30pm. Register now

Summary: Come and hear Microsoft's EMEA Security Manager Frank O'Keefe and from Irish customers about how you can improve your security strategy and make cost savings. You will also receive a Free IT security Assessment following your attendance at the event.


Delivering Business Value through Deployment - Vista and Office 2007

Dublin, 17th December 2008 10am to 1pm. R egister Now

Summary: For organisations considering the deployment of either Windows Vista or the 2007 Office system - or both, this interactive training session has been specially designed for Technical decision makers, IT implementers and Infrastructure architects, to show how straight-forward deploying these technologies can be.


Microsoft/DNM Virtualisation Event

Dublin City Centre, 29th January. Register your interest here

Summary: Microsoft and DNM are hosting a Virtualisation event in Dublin City Centre on the 29th of January. Both DNM and Microsoft have ext ensive a proven track record in both server and desktop virtualisation. At this event you will hear from a number of speakers with extensive experience sharing their views on Virtualisation and how you can put it to the best use in your business. You will also hear first hand from some customers and their experiences with Microsoft Virtualisation.


Microsoft Business Intelligence Workshop with Rafal Lukawiecki, Project Botticelli Ltd

Dublin, 20th January 9.30am to 4.30pm. Register now

Summary: This full-day interactive workshop will be hosted by Rafal Lukawiecki renowned consultant and extremely popular speaker who will demons trate how you can apply BI in your organisation to can make faster, more informed decisions. The event will also feature Irish customers sharing their experiences with Microsoft Business Intelligence solutions.


Reducing Business Costs - through Technology

Dublin City Centre, 16th December 08.30am to 10.00am. Register Now.
Who Should Attend: Everyone who is interested in reducing business costs! Including CIOs, CFOs, IT Directors & Managers

Summary: What's your take on the economy? We believe that through leveraging your existing IT investments you can improve efficiency in your organisation while also deliverin g the cost reductions your organisation demands. In this breakfast briefing we'll outline how our Unified Communications and Collaboration technologies - and Virtualisation, can help deliver tangible cost savings across travel, energy, accommodation and hardware. Visit www.microsoft.ie/economy to find out more.


Microsoft Licensing Clinics

Dublin, 16th December Register now

Due to the continuing complexity of product licensing, Microsoft is offering Licensing Clinics to help you get to grips with the fundamentals. These clinics outline all the licensing options available to you and the best solutions for your company. A brief presentation is followed by a Q&A session. These morning sessions will be kept to a small number to encourage discussion The clinic will give a high-level overview on the following areas:

The various licensing programmes
How products are licensed
Software Assurance
Online licensing management tools
Overview on licensing virtual machines



Microsoft Consultancy Services Presents: Microsoft Virtualisation Technology Day
Microsoft Premier Support are delighted to announce a 1 Day Technology Event focused on the Microsoft Virtualisation product stack.

This event is aimed at providing skills to deploy and administer a Virtualised Data Centre, using Microsoft Server Virtualisation products and System Centre Virtual Machine Manager 2008.

It will be delivered by experienced engineers and consultants, all whom have worked with Virtualisation in the field. Expect lots of demo's, notes from the field and an opportunity to speak to and share experiences with the team who have been designing, implementing and supporting these Technologies!

There are a limited few number of places remaining for a delivery of this seminar in December, however there is another date scheduled for February. Please register your interest by emailing trcunnin@microsoft.com with the subject line 'Microsoft Virtualisation Technology Day'

SharePoint User Group Up and Running in Ireland!
Wahoooo!...Last week saw the inaugural meeting of the SharePoint User Group in Ireland and it got off to a flying start! The meeting took place in Sandyford in Dublin and the introductory topic was 'Setting up a MOSS Farm'. Stephen Cummins (local SharePoint User Group Lead and SharePoint MVP) presented for the kick-off session but attendees from customers, partners and MS all contributed to open discussion.

You can expect to see SharePoint UG meetings taking place in Dublin on a monthly basis, the next topic is planned to be 'SharePoint Governance'. A meeting is also planned for Belfast in January and watch this space (or http://www.sugie.org/) also for details of a meeting taking place in Munster.

Here's some of the useful resources that were mentioned by the Microsoft Consultants at the meeting (thanks Aidan and Donal):
. Patterns and Practices SharePoint Guidance: http://www.codeplex.com/spg
. Best Practices Resources Center: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/bb736746.aspx
. Governance Resource Center: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/bb507202.aspx
. Interactive Road Map: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/bb497969.aspx
. Application Templates for WSS 3.0 (Fab 40): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/bb407286.aspx
. The same Fantastic 40 but deployed on a MOSS site so potential users can try them before downloading: http://www.wssdemo.com/application/default.aspx


SQL Server Ireland User Group: Kimberly Tripp presents SQL Server 200x: Optimizing Procedural Code
6pm-8pm Dec 4th, Microsoft Atrium - Block B, Carmanhall Road, Sandyford Industrial Estate
Register here (you will have to sign up to the user group first - free of course)

Incredible - lightning does actually strike twice! Kimberly Tripp is visiting Ireland for the second time in three months and Niall Flanagan was not going to let an opportunity like this pass the SQL Server Ireland User Group. Those of you who attended her presentation last September will appreciate why she is constantly called out as the world's #1 speaker in SQL Server today. See presentation abstract here.


Small Business Server User Group
Remote Monitoring tools (11th December Dublin 5.30pm-8.30pm): Presenting - Hound Dog, N-Able, and Microsoft System Center Essentials. Places are limited for this event, so please register early. To register click the link and login: http://www.sbsireland.com/Events/tabid/55/ModuleID/514/ItemID/37/mctl/EventDetails/Default.aspx?selecteddate=12/11/2008


A casual affair: SBS 2008 BusinessSpeak and GeekSpeak with Harry Brelsford and Philip Elder LIVE SBS 2008 Server-side Setup: (7th December, 6.00pm - 8.30pm ) Your chance to see the SBS 2008 server-side setup process, learn more about the pre-requisite step of configuring your router\firewall.
6pm, location tbc. Please register to receive updates. You must be logged in to register for this event. There is a ?5 charge for this event, all money raised is to be given to charity, decided by attendees. To register click the lick, become a member of the site and register for the event here: http://www.partneroutreach.com/Events/tabid/54/ctl/Details/Mid/373/ItemID/4/Default.aspx?selecteddate=12/7/2008


Windows User Group
With the recent launch of Small Business Server 2008 - which is packed with great new features - the Windows User group is going to an SBS 2008 special update at its January meeting. The provisional date is January 15th. Please see : http://ws-ugi.spaces.live.com for final details on timings and location.

Note the Windows Server User Group has be rebranded as the 'Windows User Group' - this has been done for two reasons:
1. To include client operating systems in the user group content.
2. The successor to Windows Server 2008 (Windows Server 2008 R2) is already in the works and will be a public beta sometime in the coming months.


Watch this space in future editions for news of forthcoming User Group meetings...additional local User Groups are planned to launch in the coming months too!

MS PRESS BOOK OF THE FORTNIGHT

01/12/2008, Belfast (BT): Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services
3 days, 400 euro. Register Your Interest Here

02/12/2008, Cork (PFH): Advanced SharePoint Development
4 days, 799 euro. Register Your Interest Here

08/12/2008, Galway (New Horizons): Updating Your Skills from Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server or Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.
3 days, 400 euro. Register Your Interest Here

08/12/2008, Dublin (New Horizons): Visual Studio 2008: Windows Presentation Foundation
3 days, 400 euro. Register Your Interest Here

15/12/2008, Dublin (Global Knowledge): Managing System Center Operations Manager 2007
3 days, 400 euro. Register Your Interest Here

15/12/2008 Dublin (New Horizons): Developing Web Applications Using Microsoft Visual Studio 2008
4 days, 533 euro. Register Your Interest Here

Why Small Business Server 2008?

68% of the readers of this newsletter work in or for small businesses so hopefully most of you have heard of Small Business Server (SBS). You may also be aware that there is new version out and, as ever, this leads into a discussion about what's wrong with the one you have now?

If I were to use one word to highlight why SBS 2008 is good, or why it may cause a few headaches, that word would be 'Exchange' or, specifically, Microsoft Office Exchange 2007. This is a great email server. It's fast, extensible and secure, and it allows users to have the massive in-boxes they need today. It's also 64 bit only and, by association, so is SBS which is the cause of a lot of the effort required to migrate. In common with all of the Windows servers, it's impossible to do an in-place upgrade and keep your settings.

Security is a concern for all of us and because SBS is built on Windows Server 2008 it automatically inherits the general security (reduced attack surface, for example) and specifics like a pretty good firewall and BitLocker.

I would then talk about how easy SBS 2008 is to manage. I think the remote assistance is great as it allows you into a user's session rather than just their PC, without leaving your office. If administration has been your main job until now and you are concerned you won't have a job with SBS 2008, don't worry! It will leave you more time to extend its capabilities by doing cool things with SharePoint (if you need any inspiration you might want to check these templates) or working on the company's website.

Finally, as the data guy on the evangelist team, I am pleased that this premium edition of SBS gives you a separate box with SQL Server 2008 standard. This 'wildcard server' could be used for other things as well, like:

- Running terminal services (another vastly improved element of Windows Server 2008)
- Virtualising some legacy applications
- Moving up to Office SharePoint 2007
- Running Data Protection Manager to protect exchange SQL Server and SharePoint by providing precise point-in-time recovery
- Running the many supported third-party applications for SBS.

Andrew Fryer
IT Professional Evangelist
Blog

Azure for Business
For business, there are three key areas in which we are delivering on this strategy:

1) Windows with Live and Mobile
2) Office providing the right experience at the right time
3) Azure from the server to the cloud

The Azure Services Platform enables businesses to run critical applications with a higher price-performance ratio by running them on the services platform's data centres on a pay-as-you-go basis. Whether you are building new applications, augmenting established systems or connecting with trading partners, you can take advantage of the Azure Services Platform to do it quickly, inexpensively and across the web and a range of connected devices. Two key advantages are that you can pay as you grow and reduce costs, as well as accelerate innovation.

White Paper: Introducing the Azure Services Platform
Video: Experience the Azure Services Platform

How-to Articles

How to Configure Certificate Based Authentication for OWA - Part I

Hotfixes

Description of the Outlook 2007 post-Service Pack 1 hotfix package: September 24, 2008

Stop error message on a Windows Server 2008-based computer that has the Hyper-V role installed: "STOP 0x0000001A"

Knowledge Base Articles

Windows Server System software not supported within a Microsoft Virtual Server environment

Error message when you call the OpenCluster function against a Windows Server 2008 cluster from Windows XP or from Windows Server 2003: "The RPC Server is unavailable"

After a user is deleted from a role in the Authorization Manager in an Active Directory domain environment, the user can still unexpectedly access that role from a Windows Vista-based or Windows Server 2008-based client computer

You cannot perform NetSH commands by using a user account that belongs to the "Network Configuration Operators" security group on a Windows Vista-based computer or on a Windows Server 2008-based computer

See a selection of new Knowledge Base articles on the TechNet website. Knowledge Base articles feature an Article Translations box in the right column. You can select a language from the drop-down list and read the article in the language of your choice.

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