Part 1: Windows 101
This first class in the Master Series will give you a quick level set of key Windows technologies and principles before we dive into key security, deployment, and management best practices for Windows desktop and server deployments. Session Details
Session 1: Windows Fundamentals - 61 min
This session will look at the key concepts of Windows, including the structure of the operating system and file systems and how applications and services actually work and communicate with each other and other systems. We’ll explore components such as the registry, event viewer, performance monitor and task manager—and how to get the most benefit from them. We’ll also explain key networking concepts and services such as DHCP, DNS, and file sharing. By understanding how the building blocks of Windows work you’ll be able to troubleshoot and resolve any problems with greater ease and far more efficiency.
Session 2: Deploying, Managing, and Maintaining Windows - 53 min
As the number of Windows installations in organizations grows the methods to deploy, manage, and maintain must be highly efficient. In this session, we’ll examine technologies and techniques for the deployment of servers and desktops and we’ll discuss the best way to keep the deployments maintained. We’ll look at free technologies such as Windows Deployment Services, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, Windows Software Update Services, Server Manager, and PowerShell—and we’ll provide a basic System Center 2012 overview. We’ll use third-party tools such as those from SysInternals to demonstrate advanced troubleshooting techniques.
Session 3: Security Best Practices for Windows Environments - 54 min
Security is a top concern and priority for almost every organization today. This session will look at securing your datacenter and desktops, both at the office and when mobile. We’ll cover securing corporate data and services from non-corporate devices and we’ll look at ways to enable users to have a flexible work style without compromising the organization.
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Part 2: Active Directory & Group Policy
Almost every Microsoft server application and almost every organization uses Active Directory at a minimum to provide authentication and authorization services but often more as a complete directory service. In this class, we’ll explore the full capabilities of Active Directory and how to architect and manage Active Directory to meet your organization’s needs. Group Policy provides very advanced policy capabilities for Windows clients. We’ll provide best practices for application of Group Policy and discuss when to use Group Policy and when not to.Session Details
Session 1: Key Features of Active Directory from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2012 - 60 min
From its initial introduction in Windows 2000 the Active Directory has grown in capability and scalability. This session will look at Active Directory fundamentals and how to get the most from Active Directory in your organization through all the features, including those in Windows Server 2012.
Session 2: Architecting and Managing Active Directory the Right Way - 74 min
A poorly architected Active Directory will prove a hindrance for the entire organization’s IT while a well architected Active Directory will guide every other service to be as optimal and functional as possible. This session will focus on architecture guidance in addition to using the latest features to provide extra capabilities in your bag of tools. We’ll cover architecture best practices from small to large multi-geographical organizations including utilizing the various types of trust relationships available. This session will include both Microsoft management features and those from third parties to aid in using features that Microsoft has been a little “slow” providing configuration interfaces for.
Session 3: Leveraging Group Policy in Your Environment - 50 min
Although Group Policy can bring huge benefits to organizations it is often poorly implemented, causing performance issues and unpredictable results. In this session, we’ll explain Group Policy and how to get the most from Group Policy policies and preferences. We’ll also look at using tools to report, troubleshoot, and resolve Group Policy problems.
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Part 3: Hyper-V
Windows Server 2008 R2 and SP1 turned Hyper-V into one of the three big machine virtualization solutions. Windows Server 2012 takes Hyper-V even further. In this class, we’ll explore Hyper-V from a capability, scalability, and implementation view and compare Hyper-V with other hypervisors and complete management solutions.Session Details
Session 1: Hyper-V Architecture and Features in Windows Server 2008 R2 - 56 min
There are different types of hypervisors. In this session, we’ll explain the Hyper-V architecture and the benefits of the VMBus. We’ll cover Hyper-V features and architectural options, as well as options for providing high availability and protection for virtual machines including Live Migration technologies and Cluster Shared Volumes. Backup options for virtualization will be covered for both VSS aware and non-VSS aware workloads. Looking beyond Windows, we’ll also cover support for Linux workloads.
Session 2: Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V and Complementary Features - 60 min
Windows Server 2008 R2 and SP1 added a huge number of capabilities to Hyper-V, making it a true contender for the hypervisor championship. But the changes in 2008 R2 pale compared to those introduced with Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V and the Windows Server 2012 platform in general. In this session, we’ll cover the major new features that will matter to your organization for unmatched scalability and availability.
Session 3: Deploying, Migrating to and Managing Hyper-V in Your Organization - 63 min
Most organizations already have some kind of hypervisor and virtualization in place. In this session, we’ll look at how to add Hyper-V to your datacenter, how to provide management across multiple hypervisors in a heterogeneous environment, and how to migrate to Hyper-V from other hypervisors. We’ll also cover how to manage large-scale Hyper-V environments using Windows tools, PowerShell, and System Center 2012.
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Part 4: Implementing a Private Cloud for Your Organization
It’s impossible not to use the word “cloud” in any conversation about future initiatives with any C-level executive today. The private cloud is a hot topic but what exactly is it and what is the benefit? In this class, we’ll compare private cloud public cloud solutions and look at how you can get your very own private cloud. Session Details
Session 1: Understanding what the Private Cloud Is and How it Differs from Public Cloud - 53 min
This session will provide a solid level set of what the cloud is, the types of service available, how the services work, the difference between private and public cloud, and which one you need. We’ll cover the benefits to the IT team, the business users, and the organization as a whole—as well as what the various end-user experiences would be like.
Session 2: Architecting a Private Cloud using Microsoft Components and a Heterogeneous Datacenter - 64 min
There is no private cloud product, rather many components are brought together to provide a private cloud service. In the Microsoft world the key components of a private cloud solution are System Center 2012 and Hyper-V. This session will look at the role of each of the components and how they fit together to offer a complete private cloud solution.
Session 3: How to Offer Services to Your Organization from your Private Cloud - 62 min
Once a private cloud is in place the next step is to provide services to the organization. First, private cloud features might be used only by IT; then you might gradually roll out the features to the business units with a show and charge back model where needed. This session will provide guidance for how to roll out self-service and the private cloud to an organization without risks of VM sprawl and a loss of control while providing a new level of responsiveness for the business.
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Part 5: Become a PowerShell Master
To automate the management of large environments IT departments must move past graphical interfaces and instead look at scripting and automation capabilities. PowerShell has gone from strength to strength and should be the scripting and automation solution of choice for all IT administrators. This class will show you how to use PowerShell effectively in your organization and automate many of the tasks that are done manually today. Session Details
Session 1: Understanding the Goals and Features of PowerShell - 56 min
This session will look at the PowerShell structure, how to use PowerShell, the structure of commands, and passing objects from one PowerShell command to another PowerShell command to achieve very powerful sequences of actions with very little code. We’ll cover how to get help with PowerShell and provide hidden gems that will make your PowerShell life much easier. We’ll also cover the PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment (ISE) and provide best practices for creating PowerShell scripts.
Session 2: Using PowerShell to Automate Common tasks in the Datacenter and on the Desktop - 50 min
PowerShell is a mainstream part of the operating system and this session will look at using PowerShell in unexpected places, such as in policies for the desktop. Then we’ll look at using and triggering PowerShell to help manage your datacenter both for single machines and entire groups of servers using the advanced remote machine features of PowerShell. At the end of this session you will have the skills to create PowerShell commands and scripts that you can use on the entire datacenter to automate processes that have previously been highly manual and error prone. We’ll explore applications that leverage PowerShell, as well as ways to easily find the PowerShell used behind many graphical interfaces to quick-start your scripting needs.
Session 3: A Look at PowerShell v3 - 55 min
New to the Windows Management Framework version 3 and Windows Server 2012 is PowerShell version 3. In this session, we’ll cover PowerShell improvements, including workflows to manage long-running PowerShell activities, new robust sessions to handle network failures, improved scheduled PowerShell jobs and numerous improvements to the PowerShell language and help. We’ll also look at the top new cmdlets in Windows Server 2012.
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Part 6: Backups, Disaster Recovery, Failover Clusters, and Protection for Your Infrastructure
As an organization’s IT infrastructure grows and becomes distributed over many locations the need for protection and the ability to continue offering services—even with the loss of a site—becomes critical. This class will focus on technologies that enable services to scale and become highly available, even across locations.Session Details
Session 1: Where to Use Backups vs. DR vs. Clustering and How They Work - 69 min
The session will focus on key technologies that can help make services resilient to failure. We’ll offer a comparison of where each technology works best. We’ll cover backups, VSS, clustering, network load balancing, and replication—as well as best practices to implement Disaster Recovery and to test regularly to ensure that when you need it your Disaster Recovery plan will actually work.
Session 2: Using Virtualization Recovery Processes in Your Datacenter - 59 min
Virtualization is a great advancement to datacenters, consolidating operating systems onto a smaller number of physical boxes and providing the foundation for services such as the private cloud. However, the consolidation onto a fewer number of physical boxes can magnify the effect of a single hardware failure. This session will look at how virtualization features can increase availability and how the virtualization technologies work. We’ll cover high availability for virtual machine workloads and provide guidance for when you should use the various technologies.
Session 3: How to Use Backups and Replication to Provide Local and Remote Site Protection - 57 min
This session will look at the options for providing disaster recovery for an organization and how to implement and test your disaster recovery plan. We’ll explore traditional backup restoration processes and then discuss replication options and how to automate failover using technologies such as PowerShell and System Center Orchestrator. We’ll also look at key processes needed to keep your disaster recovery process functional and ensure key systems are always protected.
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Part 7: Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 promises to be a major release for Windows Server—not only for internal use by IT organizations but also to become THE cloud platform for private and public cloud services. In addition to sporting a brand new version of Hyper-V that has a vast number of new capabilities, Windows Server 2012 also brings major changes throughout the operating system and a completely new approach to managing Windows Server. In this class, we’ll explore all the major features and show you how to manage Windows Server 2012.Session Details
Session 1: How to deploy, Upgrade, and Manage Windows Server 2012 - 51 min
This session will look at the options available for upgrading existing servers directly to Windows Server 2012, how to upgrade clusters, how to upgrade Active Directory, and how to migrate all other services you have in your datacenter. You’ll gain the knowledge you need to best deploy Windows Server 2012 without losses in availability of services—and how to take advantage of new functionalities.
Session 2: Using the Network and Storage Features in Windows Server 2012 - 58 min
The storage and network capabilities of Windows Server 2012 are not evolutionary but rather are revolutionary, enabling Windows Server 2012 to provide very powerful file and network capabilities that can rival many storage area network implementations. In this session, we’ll cover new features such as SMB 2.2, continuously available file shares, iSCSI, storage spaces, thin provisioning, data deduplication, remote VSS, VHDX, chkdsk improvements, and more. We’ll talk about how you should use these new features in your organization and the benefits they will bring.
Session 3: The Best of the Rest - 51 min
In addition to major changes like new versions of Hyper-V, there are many changes to other services that provide great benefit. This session will look at the best of the rest, including Remote Desktop Services capabilities around application publishing and VDI, Active Directory domain controller cloning, DHCP fault tolerance features, cluster aware updating, dynamic access control for improved management of access control, IP address management, native NIC teaming and Quality of Service.
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Part 8: Windows 8
In this class, we’ll shift our focus from the back-end datacenter and core infrastructure to the client platform, Windows 8. We’ll look at changes in the Windows 8 interface, the new touch capabilities, and the new Metro application model. We’ll also cover other Windows 8 features, including enterprise-specific features and complementary technologies like the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack.Session Details
Session 1: What’s New in Windows 8 for the Desktop - 50 min
The Start screen is a huge change in Windows 8, bringing touch as a first-class input method for Windows alongside keyboard and mouse. This session will look at changes to the Start screen, the new charms and interaction methods, Metro applications, and the Windows Store. We’ll also look at changes to key components such as searching the operating system, integration between services, explorer, Task Manager, and integration with the cloud.
Session 2: Understanding, Using, and Managing the New Application Model in Windows 8 - 45 min
The new chrome-free, immersive applications that are at the heart of the new Metro style experience offer a completely new experience. This session will look at the new Windows Run Time (WinRT) environment and how Metro style applications behave differently than traditional desktop applications. We’ll explain how to load Metro applications on your corporate Windows 8 machines and how to control Metro applications using technologies such as AppLocker. We’ll introduce and explain the new Metro style Internet Explorer and Remote Desktop client—and how they compare to their desktop counterparts.
Session 3: Planning Your Organization’s Windows 8 Upgrade and Supporting Any User Device - 48 min
Any operating system deployment is a big undertaking and Windows 8 is no exception. The good news is that Windows 8 maintains application compatibility from Windows 7. For organizations running Windows 7 the migration to Windows 8 should not require large amounts of application testing. Windows 8 will also run on any hardware that can run Windows 7, negating the need for large-scale hardware refreshes. However, there are still major changes and in this session we’ll explore considerations for migrating to Windows 8 and the processes for migration. We’ll look at new features such as Windows-To-Go, measured and trusted boot plus restoration of Windows state and we’ll demonstrate new MDOP capabilities that work with Windows 8. Last, we’ll show ways to make Windows 8 available to any device in any location and we’ll look at the relative advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
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