Things have settled down a little after last week’s surprise Azure announcements.
Hyper-V
- Another Update on the VMQ Issue with Emulex and HP: MVP Hans Vredevoort has the latest news for poor HP blade customers running Hyper-V.
Azure
- Azure AD Connect – One simple, fast, lightweight tool to connect Active Directory and Azure Active Directory: A new preview tool to make life easier because the menu just got too big and complicated. There will no longer be separate releases of Azure AD Sync and Azure AD Connect. And we have no future releases of DirSync planned. Azure AD Connect is now your one stop shop for sync, sign on and all combinations of hybrid connections.
- Azure Backup – Announcing Support for Windows Client Operating System: Support for backing up data to Azure from Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 machines.
- Authoring Integration Modules for Azure Automation: Expanding Azure Automation. Heavy stuff.
- Using Chef, Puppet and Docker for managing Linux VMs: This post provides information on creating Linux VMs in Azure and using tools like Chef, Puppet and Docker for managing Linux VMs.
- Simplified workflow to configure backup to Azure from DPM: No need to create self-signed certs with Update Rollup 4 for System Center 2012 R2 Data Protection Manager. Please read the FAQ.
- Active Directory from on-premises to the cloud – Azure AD whitepapers: Identity management, provisioning, role management, and authentication are key services both on-premises and through the (hybrid) cloud.
Office 365
- How to Configure S/MIME in Office 365: This post is for people who want to move from on-premises to Exchange Online and want to continue to use S/MIME.
Microsoft Partners
- How to activate Microsoft Azure internal-use rights licenses? And Experience Azure: Discover and use those IURs. You can’t sell it if you don’t use it.
Licensing
- Price increases in 2015!! SPLA/hosting licensing costs are going up. Hosters will have no choice but to pass that on to their customers.
Miscellaneous
- Microsoft’s ‘Arcadia’ team is building a streaming app and game service: Sounds interesting.
- Apple and Amazon (and others) back Microsoft in data row: Lots of interested parties are filing statements with the courts in support of Microsoft’s stance against the US government.
- Business, Media and Civil Society Speak Up in Key Privacy Case: Official statement by Microsoft.