This poster provides a visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server “8” Beta. This new Hyper-V poster focuses on Hyper-V Replica, networking, virtual machine mobility (live migration), storage, failover clustering and scalability.

If you haven’t seen them previously, the following posters are also available:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Component Architecture (with Service Pack 1)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Component Architecture
• Windows Server 2008 R2 Feature Components poster
• Windows Server 2008 Component Posters

Adam Carter has created a brief video to overview the above new features of Remote Desktop Services (not a complete list of all new features) on the Edge Show. A must see video.

Edge Show 16 – Windows Server 8 VDI

To fix the issue you have to set parameter on the XenServer comand line interface (CLI). Create a VM with a Win7 template and copy the virtual machine UUID from the general tab in XenCenter or use xe vm-list in the CLI. Next you run the command

xe vm-param-set uuid=<VMUUID> platform:viridian=false

Once you’ve done this modification, you’ll be able to install Windows 8 (all edition) within the vm. Have fun testing out the new Windows 8 OS from Microsoft.

And if you want some videos:

• http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-preview
• http://res2.windows.microsoft.com/resbox/en/6.2/main/b452ae5c-4ac4-4418-ad74-743b53927d2c_56.mp4
• Download the product guide

Windows 8 Desktop Consumer Preview ISO files (.iso) are provided as an alternative to using Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup. If you are on a PC running Windows and want to install the consumer preview on another partition, another PC, or a virtual machine, i recommend you download Windows 8 Consumer Preview Setup and use the built-in tools for converting an ISO image into installation media, such as a DVD or USB bootable flash drive. You can find additional information, including a list of supported upgrades, in the FAQ.

English 64-bit (x64) Download (3.3 GB) Sha 1 hash — 1288519C5035BCAC83CBFA23A33038CCF5522749

English 32-bit (x86) Download (2.5 GB) Sha 1 hash — E91ED665B01A46F4344C36D9D88C8BF78E9A1B39

Product Key: DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J

The next release of Windows Server, Windows Server “8″, offers businesses and hosting providers a scalable, dynamic, and multitenant-aware, cloud-optimized infrastructure. It securely connects across premises and allows IT Professionals to respond to business needs faster and more efficiently. Register to access technical product resources such as forums, solution accelerators, white papers and webcasts at the Windows Server “8″ Beta Resource Page.

Download here: Link

Windows Server “8″ beta documentation site is updated, here are some links:

• Windows Server 8 Beta Overview  Windows Server Next Version
• Install, Deploy, and Migrate to Windows Server 8
• DataSheet

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 Consumer Preview includes Server Manager, Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins, consoles, Windows PowerShell cmdlets and providers, and command-line tools for managing roles and features that run on Windows Server “8″ Beta. In limited cases, the tools can be used to manage roles and features that are running on Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008. Some of the tools work for managing roles and features on Windows Server 2003.

Download here: Link

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview Product Guide for Business provides a detailed look at the many new and improved features in Windows 8. The guide is designed as an accurate source of information that can help businesses understand how Windows 8 enables users to be ready and productive practically anywhere, allows for a personalized user experience, and provides IT with more secure, easy-to-manage intelligent infrastructure.

Download here: Link

You can set these registry settings within the 2008 computer policy’s with the registry but there is a problem with the rights. Standard the system and the administrators don’t have rights to set the settings. You have to change the acl to set the registry keys!

1. To remove the Favorites, the key is:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}\ShellFolder]
“Attributes”=dword:a0900100

Changing a0900100 to a9400100 will hide Favorites from Navigation Pane.

2. For Libraries, the key is:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}\ShellFolder]
“Attributes”=dword:b080010d

Changing b080010d to b090010d will hide Libraries from Navigation Pane.

3. For Network, the key is

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}\ShellFolder]
“Attributes”=dword: b0940064

This first part is, in the 32-bit world, the solution for the Windows Explorer ánd the Common File Dialog. But in the 64-bit world you need another registry key edited. This is basically the same key, but in the Wow6432Node ‘folder’ within the registry.
The trick!:

1. To remove the Favorites X64 , the key is:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}\ShellFolder]
“Attributes”=dword:a0900100

Changing a0900100 to a9400100 will hide Favorites from Navigation Pane.

2. For Libraries X64, the key is:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}\ShellFolder]
“Attributes”=dword:b080010d

Changing b080010d to b090010d will hide Libraries from Navigation Pane.

3. For Network X64, the key is

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{F02C1A0D-BE21-4350-88B0-7367FC96EF3C}\ShellFolder]
“Attributes”=dword: b080010d

Changing b080010d to b090010d will hide Libraries from Navigation Pane.

Few points to note about installing 2010 SP1 in hosting mode:

• The installation can only be done in command line.
• You need to use /InstallWindowsComponents while running the setup to install all windows components required for Exchange. This will not install the pre-requirements only the windows components! Always install the pre-requirements first.
• You need to use /Hosting switch while running the setup to install Exchange in hosting mode.
• 2010 SP1 is required.
• Exchange Management Console will not be installed.

Exchange 2010 SP1 doesn’t support the following features in Hosting mode (from Technet):

• Exchange Management Console
• Public Folders
• Unified Messaging Server role
• GalSync
• Federation
• Business-to-Business features such as cross-premises message tracking and calendar sharing
• IRM
• Outlook 2003 support (EnableLegacyOutlook)
• Edge Transport Server role
• Same forest upgrade from Exchange 2007
• Resource forest
• Parent-child domains
• Discontiguous namespace
• Disjoint namespace

Here is based on the blogs zerohoursleep and howexchangeworks how its done! This step-by-step tutorial that will guide you to installing your first Exchange 2010 SP1 multi-tenant organization to a fully operational mode.

Lab setup

For this lab I am using 2 servers running Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 one of them acting as a domain controller for the lab domain lab.com and the other will be running all roles of Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP1 CAS,HUB and Mailbox.

Of course in a live environment exchange roles will be most probably split among multiple servers but the concept is pretty much the same.

I will assume that the Domain Controller is already installed and that the exchange server to be has already Windows 2008 R2 installed with all the required patches to deploy Exchange 2010 SP1.

Installing Exchange 2010 SP1 in hosting (or multi-tenant) mode

Installing Exchange prerequisites on Windows 2008R2

I am used to this script to automate installation of the prerequisites since I find it very clean.
We will start by running the powershell administrator “right click -> run as administrator” and allow the script execution using

Set-ExecutionPolicy unrestricted

Running the script will then offer you a menu, in my case I need to select option 6 since all roles will be installed on the same server and restart the machine after.

Installing Exchange

As you may already know Exchange 2010 multi-tenant can only be installed using the command line by adding the /hosting parameter, we will initiate the installation by running

setup.com /m:install /r:m,ca,ht /installwindowscomponents /hosting /on:ExchLab

Let me first explain the above command

• /m stands for /mode and we are running the installation mode
• /r stands for /roles and we want to install the m (mailbox) ca (client access) ht (hub transport) roles. Of course you will need to change this if you don’t want to install all roles
• /hosting is required to tell the setup to run the hosting installation
• /on stands for /OrganizationName and you will define here the name of your Exchange organization. I called mine ExchLab

We will now wait for the installation to finish

A few differences with Exchange not hosted

The first thing I have noticed after the installation is differences in Active Directory Users and Computers like the presence of a brand new Organizational Unit “Microsoft Exchange Hosted Organizations”

And the addition of new Exchange Security groups (plus the absence of the UM one)

Now of course the absence of the Exchange Management Console should have been first however this I was expecting since it is all over the place so I was expecting this.

A look at Service Plans

Before doing a jump start and create an organization we need to take a look at some files located on your CAS server called Service Plans.

Service plans are located by default in “C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\ClientAccess\ServicePlans” of your CAS server and they define the different services your hosted organization provides to its customer.

We have 2 things to notice here

1. Since the files are located on the CAS then editing a file means updating it on all your CAS servers
2. You have 2 kinds of files the .ServicePlan files that actually defines all permissions you give to an organization and the .csv file that maps Hosting Plans with Service Plans

.ServicePlan files

Each .SevicePlan above presents a set of permissions/features/quotas etc.. and their names are self explanatory. However if you need to change or create you own ServicePlan the file itself is an xml file, just start with the HostingAllFeatures_Sample.ServicePlan and remove any entry you don’t want and/or change any value.

N.B.: Make sure NOT to use the sample plans if you edit them since they will replaced by any update done on the server.

.csv file

The other kind of file in this folder is the ServicePlanHostingRemap.csv that is pretty simple as it maps a specific hosting plan name and offerID to a service plan defined above. Nothing really complicated her but definitely worth a look

Creating your first organization

So now that you have grasp the general idea about ServicePlan files let’s create our first organization. We will start by first creating the Serviceplan whitin ServicePlanHostingRemap.csv file we have just discussed. Because i am using the sample i won’t but normaly i would delete the samples and create your own here.  

Then running the command.

$c = get-credential

This will prompt you for a username and password, you can input any fake username you want since only need and use the password from this command. The password specified is going to be used for the administrator of the organization you are about to create.
Then run

New-organization -name TestOrg -DomainName TestOrg.com -ProgramId HostingSample -OfferId 2 -location en-US -AdministratorPassword $c.password

Let’s focus on this command a bit

1. Name parameter defines the Organization name you are about to create
2. DomainName parameter defines the SMTP domain of this organization, so users in the TestOrg organization will have emails @TestOrg.com
3. ProgramID is coming right from the .csv file we have just discussed so this organization will have the HostingSample hosting plan<
4. OfferID is also defined in the .csv file above, so we need to match HostingSample with ProgramID 2 we are giving to this organization the HostingAllFeatures_sample ServicePlan
5. AdministratorPassword: As you can notice the parameter is only concerned with the password of this organization’s administrator, not the username, so we are using on the password provided in the get-credentials command only by using $c.password

That was not that complicated right ! But what happened on the Active Directory side ?

As you can see a dedicated OU was created for the TestOrg organization with its Administrator user and its own Security groups. Pretty cool hein !
Don’t worry yet about the extra user “Antoine Khater” we will see how to create it in the Part 3 of this tutorial.

Deleting an Organization

To finish today’s article I will go over the process of deleting an organization.

Deleting all mailboxes

You will not be allowed of purging an organization as long as it has mailboxes so we will need to, as a start, delete all the mailboxes of the organization. You will now notice that the “get-mailbox” command has, in hosting mode, an extra parameter -organization. So to delete all mailboxes in the TestOrg organization we will run

get-mailbox -Organization TestOrg | remove-mailbox

Deleting the organization

Now that the organization is empty of all mailboxes it can be deleting using

Remove-Organization TestOrg

And as you can imagine in will do all the cleaning from Active Directory as well.

Managing mailboxes as a hosting company

Creating mailboxes

We need to make the difference here between you, as a hosting company, creating users in a specific organization and the Organization Administrator creating users for its own organization.

To create, as a hosting company, users for a specific organization you will need to use the powershell command new-mailbox that, also, got new attribute -Organization.
Assuming I want to create a new mailbox for myself in the Organization “TestOrg” the command will be

New-Mailbox "Antoine Khater" -UserPrincipalName akhater@testorg.com -Organization TestOrg

As you can see the mailbox was created with the quotas define in the service plan of the TestOrg organization and with an email address of akhater@testorg.com, and you can guess it will be located in the TestOrg organizational unit in Active Directory.

Deleting mailboxes

Well this is a really funny one and I think it is a bug actually. The remove-mailbox cmdlet didn’t get the -organization parameter which make it impossible to delete a mailbox unless you use the combination of get-mailbox and remove-mailbox as follows

get-mailbox akhater@testorg.com -Organization TestOrg | remove-mailbox

Managing Organization as Organization Admin

Well I know that most hosting companies provide their customers with panels to do the management however exchange 2010 provides a decent management interface which is nothing but the Outlook Web App ECP.

Remember that administrator password we have used when we first created our TestOrg in earlierof this tutorial? Well it is now time to use it …

From the web browser reach https://casserver/ecp and logon with the organization username/password.
(one thing I’ve noticed is that now the OWA authentication page asks by default for the email address instead of Domain\Username)

After logging on you have the option to manage your organization

And there you will presented with the options of Creating new mailboxes/managing Mailboxes/reseting password and even creating SMTP rules and tracking emails

A look at address lists

I would like to add that, even if address list segregation is not supported yet on Exchange 2010 SP1, when installed in hosting (or multi-tenancy) mode each user will only see their Global Address Lists accounts that belongs to the same organization. So a user in the TestOrg organization will not see users in any other organization and vice-versa.

Receiving email

It is well known that if your exchange 2007/2010 is internet facing you will need to add “Anonymous” to the permission groups of the “Default Receive Connector” on your Hub transport server. Exchange 2010 running in hosted mode is no exception however there is no Exchange Management Console anymore to do this change so we will need to do it through powershell by running the following command. Of course don’t forget to replace “Exchange” by your Hub server name.

Set-ReceiveConnector -PermissionGroups 'AnonymousUsers, ExchangeUsers, ExchangeServers, ExchangeLegacyServers' -Identity 'Exchange\Default Exchange'

Sending emails

Sending external emails

We also know that Exchange 2007 / 2010 will not send external emails before creating a send connector, so we will create on using powershell also.

To create a Send connector using DNS MX for routing. You will also need to replace “Exchange” by the name of your Hub server

new-SendConnector -Name 'To Internet' -Usage 'Custom' -AddressSpaces 'SMTP:*;1' -IsScopedConnector $false -DNSRoutingEnabled $true -UseExternalDNSServersEnabled $false -SourceTransportServers 'Exchange'

To create a Send connector using smarthost relay for routing. You will also need to replace “Exchange” by the name of your Hub server and 1.1.1.1 by the IP of the smarthost

new-SendConnector -Name 'Using SmartHost' -Usage 'Custom' -AddressSpaces 'SMTP:*;1' -IsScopedConnector $false -DNSRoutingEnabled $false -SmartHosts '[1.1.1.1]' -SmartHostAuthMechanism 'None' -UseExternalDNSServersEnabled $false -SourceTransportServers 'Exchange'

Sending Inter-Organization emails

Well this is where things are new! I started by simply sending an email between 2 users in different organizations and, instead of reaching its destination, it went directly to the unreachable queue !

What does it mean?
Well it means that Users in different organizations are treated as completely independent, the user will not be resolved “locally” in Active Directory and delivered it will use the send connectors just like any other alien domain.

How to solve this?
Well I am sure there are a lot of ways to do this but, since I am in a lab environment with only one server I have created a send connector for all the organizations smtp domains and set it to use the loopback IP address as smart-host connector

new-SendConnector -Name 'TestOrg' -Usage 'Internal' -AddressSpaces 'SMTP:testorg.com;1','SMTP:lab.com;1' -IsScopedConnector $false -DNSRoutingEnabled $false -SmartHosts '[127.0.0.1]' -SmartHostAuthMechanism 'None' -UseExternalDNSServersEnabled $false -SourceTransportServers 'Exchange'

Well congratulations, if you made it that far you should have now a fully functional Exchange 2010 SP1 hosted environment. I hope this was of help.

Citrix continues to innovate in the desktop virtualization space and build on the on the market leading trajectory established with first with XenDesktop 4.0 — the industry’s first VDI offering to provide integrated app and desktop delivery in a single product – and extended with XenDesktop 5.0 —  focused on simplification and scalability for the administrator to deploy and manage virtual desktops.   With the release of XenDesktop 5.5, Citrix  takes it up a notch yet again and sets the new standard for desktop virtualization — including the ability to deliver personal VDI desktops, provide an unparalleled user experience with more than 150 new HDX features and enhancements, deliver “headquarters-like” experience across the  WAN to  remote workers and branch offices and new Citrix Receivers for Windows and MacOS.  Whew!  That was a long sentence

You can read about all of the news here.

Personal VDI desktops and reducing cost

The Citrix focus on end user experience and reducing costs of virtual desktop deployments was the driving force behind the RingCube acquisition and today’s announcement of the availability of the personal vDisk technology as a feature of XenDesktop 5.5.

If you haven’t heard about it, the new personal vDisk technology enables IT to realize the cost saving and management of pooled virtual desktops, while providing  personalization capabilities for profiles, data and applications that is typically found in a dedicated VDI deployment model.   Since we announced the acquisition of RingCube two weeks ago, my inbox has exploded with requests for more information regarding pricing,  packaging and availability.  I am pleased to confirm today that the personal vDisk technology will be included in all editions of XenDesktop at no additional charge.  The personal vDisk technology is available today as an “Early Access” feature for customers with Software Assurance to use in their labs and proof of concepts to get familiar with the technology.  In less then two weeks since the closing of this acquisition, we have delivered on the first release that is integrated with XenDesktop.  Using XenDesktop Studio, administrators can quickly create and deploy virtual desktops that take advantage of the personal vDisk technology.  The combination of the user acceptance of the personal VDI desktop and the IT cost savings allow organizations to deploy virtual desktops to a wider based of end users – truly creating a win-win situation.

You get additional technical information on the personal vDisk here.

System Center Virtual Machine Manager Self-Service Portal 2.0 SP1 is a free, partner-extensible solution that allows you to dynamically pool, allocate, and manage datacenter resources. Using the Self-Service Portal, you can reduce IT costs, while increasing agility for your organization. The Self-Service Portal works with products and technologies you know and trust, like Windows Server and the System Center product suite. This solution delivers:

Citrix Integration Pack for Self-Service Portal

The integration pack integrates Essentials for Hyper-V with System Center by automatically provisioning the storage whenever a virtual machine is commissioned though the Self-Service Portal.
Learn more >

Compellent Solution Pack for Self-Service Portal

Utilizing Windows PowerShell® with the Compellent Storage Center SAN, Compellent’s Solution Pack enables the integration and support for self-service provisioning of data storage resources with Virtual Machine Manager and Windows Server Hyper-V™ through the Self-Service Portal.
Learn more >

F5 Solution for Self-Service Portal

The F5 solution for Virtual Machine Manager Self-Service Portal adds the option for traffic management by the BIG-IP application delivery controller (ADC) within the service role section of a user request. Executing this option automatically configures the BIG-IP for the request of VMs as they come online.
Learn more >

HP Services Using the Self-Service Portal

Accelerate your journey to the private cloud with HP’s Converged Infrastructure and HP Technology Consulting services. Begin with a short assessment, then continue to implementation based on HP’s deep experience in the datacenter. HP uses pre-developed scripts, portals, and cmdlets to integrate into your environment and build a self-service infrastructure.
Learn more >

Intel Cloud Builder Guide: Cloud Design and Deployment on Intel Platforms

The Intel reference architecture will assist organizations that require their cloud data and assets to reside on premises and those that need to support a new business domain with a separate IT infrastructure that is scalable and flexible.
Learn more >

NetApp ApplianceWatch PRO 2.1.1

Accelerate virtual machine provisioning, and increase storage efficiencies in private cloud implementations managed by the Self-Service Portal with the integration scripts and PowerShell cmdlets included in ApplianceWatch PRO 2.1.1 that enable rapid provisioning of space-efficient VMs using NetApp FlexClone technology.
Learn more >

VKernel Chargeback with Hyper-V

VKernel Chargeback with Hyper-V enables private clouds to automatically map virtualization costs to applications and customers by reporting on allocated costs and by measuring and expensing the actual consumption of server and storage resources by cloud customers.
Learn more >

Dynamic Management Views for increased supportability:

sys.dm_exec_query_stats DMV is extended with additional columns to improve supportabilities over troubleshooting long-running queries. New DMVs and XEvents on select performance counters are introduced to monitor OS configurations and resource conditions related to the SQL Server instance.

ForceSeek for improved querying performance :

Syntax for FORCESEEK index hint has been modified to take optional parameters allowing it to control the access method on the index even further. Using old style syntax for FORCESEEK remains unmodified and works as before. In addition to that, a new query hint, FORCESCAN has been added. It complements the FORCESEEK hint allowing specifying ‘scan’ as the access method to the index. No changes to applications are necessary if you do not plan to use this new functionality.

Data-tier Application Component Framework (DAC Fx) for improved database upgrades:

The new Data-tier Application (DAC) Framework v1.1 and DAC upgrade wizard enable the new in-place upgrade service for database schema management. The new in-place upgrade service will upgrade the schema for an existing database in SQL Azure and the versions of SQL Server supported by DAC. A DAC is an entity that contains all of the database objects and instance objects used by an application. A DAC provides a single unit for authoring, deploying, and managing the data-tier objects. For more information, see Designing and Implementing Data-tier Applications.

Disk space control for PowerPivot:

This update introduces two new configuration settings that let you determine how long cached data stays in the system. In the new Disk Cache section on the PowerPivot configuration page, you can specify how long an inactive database remains in memory before it is unloaded. You can also limit how long a cached file is kept on disk before it is deleted.

Fixed various issues:

This update fixes many knowledge base issues that are listed in this Master KB article.
Link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2463333

For a detailed list of new features and improvements that are included in SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1, review the What’s New Section in Release Notes.
Link: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9764593

Now Sp1 is officially released, you can download the service pack from the Download Center:
Download: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26727

If you’re looking for SP1 for SQL Server Express:
Download: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26729

And the updated feature packs can be found here:
Download: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26728

The build number is 10.50.2500. SELECT @@VERSION will now yield something like this:

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 (SP1) – 10.50.2500.0 (X64)
Jun 17 2011 00:54:03
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation
Developer Edition (64-bit) on Windows NT 6.1 (Build 7601: Service Pack 1)

Tech blog ConceivablyTech spotted the date on Mozilla’s official release schedule yesterday and a message to developers from Mozilla senior engineering director Damon Sicore indicated the first and only Firefox 4 release candidate would likely ship as the final version of the browser. Firefox 4 RC1 was made available on March 9.

”As of now, there are no known issues that would stop us from shipping RC1 as final…March 22nd is the day we would ship.  Both IT and Marketing have indicated that March 22nd is an acceptable final launch date.  If at any time we discover issues that would block final release, we would issue an RC2 as soon as possible, reset the ship date, and communicate to everyone,” he said.

Despite Mr Sicore’s mention of the possibility of a second release candidate, Mozilla planning notes indicate the company would most likely push Firefox 4 out the door on March 22 and follow-up with an incremental update to fix any minor issues.

”Several issues have been identified as potential ridealongs, meaning we might do a 4.0.1 release,” the notes said.

The final version of Firefox 4 was originally scheduled to ship in November 2010, but repeated delays saw the release schedule revised on more than one occasion. Given that rather chequered history, it remains to be seen if Firefox 4 will actually ship on March 22 as planned.

Based on the Gecko 2.0 engine, Firefox 4 will bring an updated user interface, new ways to organize tabs, a revamped add-on manager, support for HTML5 video standards, multitouch support on Windows 7 and a range of performance and security enhancements.

Mozilla has indicated a desire to move to a faster release schedule following Firefox 4, with mozilla.org co-founder and Mozilla CTO Brendan Eich telling developers users could be running the fifth version of Firefox just months after Firefox 4 is released.

To start experiencing a more beautiful web with IE9 and to visit a small set of the top 250 web-sites globally that have created a more beautiful experiences for all of us with IE9, go to http://beautyoftheweb.com/experience.

Internet Explorer 9 has now been downloaded 2.35 million times in the first 24 hours since its Monday night release. That is over 27 downloads every second, or over 240 downloads every 9 seconds. Wow!.

They want to thank everyone around the world for downloading IE9 and the enthusiastic reception. 2.3 million downloads in 24 hours is over double the 1 million downloads we saw of the IE9 Beta and four times that of the IE9 RC over the same time period.

In case you missed it, check out the collection of videos from the SxSW launch event. Ze Frank’s demo of Star.ME is one not to be missed!

You can see all of the demos and the complete launch event by clicking play below. And to download Internet Explorer 9 for yourself, visit http://www.beautyoftheweb.com.

Ze Frank’s demo of Star.ME is one not to be missed!

You can see all of the demos and the complete launch event by clicking play below. And to download Internet Explorer 9 for yourself, visit http://www.beautyoftheweb.com.

Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 1 (App-V 4.6 SP1) updates App-V 4.6 with the latest security and stability enhancements to help keep computers running App-V up-to-date, reliable, and more secure. The goal of this service pack is to increase the overall quality of the existing product features while maintaining a high level of compatibility with previous releases. ‘
Feature Summary:

• Streamlined application sequencing – Improvements to the App-V 4.6 SP1 Sequencer make packaging applications for App-V easier and faster.
• Support for using a read-only cache on RDS – App-V 4.6 SP1 now supports using a shared, read-only cache in both VDI and RDS environments.
• Support for sequencing Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 – App-V 4.6 SP1 now supports sequencing the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0.
• Customer Feedback and Hotfix Rollup – App-V 4.6 SP1 also includes a rollup up of fixes to address issues found since the Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 release.

Download details Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 1

Consumer end-users can find general information about Windows 7 SP1 at the following Microsoft website:

http://windows.microsoft.com/windows7sp1

Public downloads will be here

Windows 7 Service Pack 1

To obtain Windows 7 SP1, visit the following Microsoft website:

http://windows.microsoft.com/installwindows7sp1 (http://windows.microsoft.com/installwindows7sp1)

Windows 2008 R2 Service Pack 1

To obtain Windows 2008 R2 SP1, visit the following Microsoft website:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=199583

The following documentation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 is provided here.

Deployment Guide for Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 and Windows 7 with SP1.doc 213KB Download

Hotfixes and Security Updates included in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1.xls 465KB Download

Installing Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1.doc 94KB Download

Release Notes for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1.doc 87KB Download

Release Notes for Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1.doc 87KB Download

MS KB Information about Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and for Windows Server 2008 R2

The purpose of these settings is to set up a specific NIC for IMA use when You have multi homed XenApp Servers.
Registry Values to Set;

Purpose(s) is specify if the server has several NICs or not;
Registry Hive : HKLM\Software\Citrix\IMA
Value : MultipleNICMySelf
Type : REG_DWORD
Data : 1 (1 = This Server has several NICs)

Purpose(s) is to specify the NIC to dedicate;
Registry Hive : HKLM\Software\Citrix\IMA
Value : NICToUse
Type : REG_SZ
Data : Mac adress of the desired NIC (example : 00-C0-4F-74-68-E5 )

If one of the previously specified reg values is set on any server you’llo have to set the following reg value to ALL SERVERS within the Farm.

Purpose(s) is to specify that IMA will try to communicate with all remote server NICs
Registry Hive : HKLM\Software\Citrix\IMA
Value : MultipleNICOtherServer
Type : REG_DWORD
Data : 1