Windows Server 2012 Jump Start videos

MS announces the release of the HD-quality video recordings available on TechNet Videos now!
Windows Server 2012 Jump Start | High-Level Overview
• Designed for Microsoft Partners, early adopters, and experienced IT Pros/ITDMs familiar with Microsoft server technologies
• All twelve (12) modules are under an hour and packed with engaging discussion and real-world demos — watch them all!

Links to Every Module from this Jump Start
The HD-quality video recordings of this course are published to TechNet Edge and are highly recommended. Windows Server 2012 is a game-changing release for so many reasons and this course will help experienced IT Pros truly understand why — check it out!
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (01): Core Hyper-V
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (02a): Virtualization Infrastructure, Part 1
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (02b): Virtualization Infrastructure, Part 2
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (03a): Storage Architecture, Part 1
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (03b): Storage Architecture, Part 2
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (04): Continuous Availability
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (05a): Multi-Server Management, Part 1
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (05b): Multi-Server Management, Part 2
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (06a): Security and Access, Part 1
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (06b): Security and Access, Part 2
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (07): Remote Connectivity and Networking
• Windows Server 2012 Jump Start (08): IIS, DHCP and IPAM

VMware vSphere vs. Microsoft Hyper-V: Which is cheaper?

Here are the few good articles I found on comparing the Price over the features on Hyper-V and vSphere,  which one is better choice

1.  VMware vSphere vs. Microsoft Hyper-V: Which is cheaper?

2. Microsoft, VMware offer deep discounts to gain virtualization market share

3. VMware vs. Microsoft: Cloud management is the new battlefield 

4. Are Hyper-V savings worth the cost of a VMware rip and replace?

10 cool things about HP ProLiant servers

06-2012 : 10 cool things about HP ProLiant servers 

A must read on cloud trend

A must read on cloud trend

IT Operations Managers Must Rethink Their Approach To Private Cloud

vSphere 5.0 Hardening Guide - Released Officially

VMWare has released vSphere 5.0 Hardending Guide, here are the links that can take you to it.

VMWare Blog Post :  VMware Security & Compliance

VMTN                     :  vSphere 5.0 Hardening Guide - Official Release

The Guide is in a excel spread sheet format for making it friendly and easy usage

HP Gen8 Servers NICs & vSphere Compatibility Matrix

Here is the HP Gen8 Servers NICs and vSphere 4.x / 5.x Compatibility Matrix

Make	Model	Ports	Speed	Format	ESXi 4.1	ESXi 4.1 U1	ESXi 4.1 U2	ESXi 5.0	ESXi 5.0 U1
HP	FlexFabric 10Gb 2-port 554FLB FlexLOM Adapter	2	10 Gb	Flex-LOM	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
HP	FlexFabric 10Gb 2-Port 554M Adapter	2	10 Gb	Mezzanine	No	No	No	No	No
HP	Flex-10 10Gb 2-Port 530M Adapter	2	10 Gb	Mezzanine	No	No	No	No	No
HP	Flex-10 10Gb 2-Port 552M Adapter	2	10 Gb	Mezzanine	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

VMware vSphere Storage DRS Interoperability technical paper available

A new whitepaper has been published by Frank Denneman titled “VMware vSphere Storage DRS Interoperability”  If you are designing a vSphere 5.0 implementation using the Enterprise Plus license then pay close attention to the capabilities and supportability when introducing datastore clusters and storage DRS.

“This white paper presents an overview of best practices for customers considering the implementation of VMware vSphere Storage DRS in combination with advanced storage device features or other VMware products. This document zooms in on Storage DRS interoperability with array based features, such as Auto-Tiering, Thin provisioning, Depulication but also explains VMware products such as Snapshots.”

FEATURE/PRODUCT	INITIAL PLACEMENT	MIGRATION RECOMMENDATIONS
Array-Based Snapshots	Supported	Manual Mode
Array-Based Deduplication	Supported	Manual Mode
Array-Based Thin Provisioning	Supported	Manual Mode
Array-Based Auto-Tiering	Supported	Manual Mode (only space load balancing)
Array-Based Replication	Supported	Manual Mode
VMware vSphere Raw Disk Mapping	Supported	Fully Automated Mode
VMware vSphere Replication	Not Supported	Not Supported
VMware vSphere Snapshots	Supported	Fully Automated Mode
VMware vSphere Thin-Provisioned Disks	Supported	Fully Automated Mode
VMware vSphere Linked Clones	Not Supported	Not Supported
VMware vSphere Storage Metro Cluster	Supported	Manual Mode
VMware vSphere (pre-5.0) Hosts	Not Supported	Not Supported
VMware® vCenter Site Recovery Manager	Not Supported	Not Supported
VMware vCloud® Director	Not Supported	Not Supported

HP Proliant Servers and and VMWare vSphere 5 Support Matrix

Helpful links for find HP hardware and VMWare vSphere 5 Support Matrix

HP Proliant DL Servers

HP Proliant Blade (BL) Servers

HP Proliant ML Servers

HP Proliant SL Servers

Note: For detailed information on supported processors for each of these servers, please refer to the VMware Compatibility Guide

Hp Gen8 Servers Tech Day videos

HP Tech Day recordings

These videos are a great source of information, do not miss to Listen and watch them:

Gary Thome @ HP Gen8 Tech Day

Jeff Carlat @ HP Gen8 Tech Day

John Gromala @ HP Gen8 Tech Day

Peter Groth @ HP Gen8 Tech Day

Doug Hascall @HP Gen8 Tech Day Keith Kirkendall @ HP Gen8 Tech Day in Houston TX

Mike Kendall @ HP Gen8 Tech Day in Houston, TX

Jeff Holderfield @ HP Gen8 Tech Day in Houston, TX

McLeod Glass @ HP Gen8 Tech Day in Houston, TX

HP Service Pack for Proliant

SPP 2012.06.0 (B) was released to SW Depot Yesterday (6/4/2012) and is available from www.hp.com/go/spp/download.  The Release Notes, Server Support Guide and Contents Report are making their way through the system and should be available soon at www.hp.com/go/spp/documentation.

The SPP 2012.06.0 (B) release summary includes

Added support for new HP ProLiant Gen 8 servers

• HP ProLiant BL460c Gen8 Server
• HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 Server
• HP ProLiant DL360p Gen8 Server
• HP ProLiant DL160 Gen8 Server
• HP ProLiant ML350p Gen8 Server
• HP ProLiant SL250s Gen8 Server
• HP ProLiant SL230s Gen8 Server 
• pdated to HP Smart Update Manager 5.1.0 
•  New reports
• Failed dependency details provides information on all component failed dependencies
• Installed details provides a summary of the installation process
• Report summary page
• Easy to read report format updates for all reports
• Target Firmware Details report allows user to filter components based on component criticality
• Pull from web enhancements
• Added bundle download support from ftp.hp.com 
• Ability to pull latest FC HBA drivers from ftp.hp.com
• New Systems Management Homepage configuration option in Linux environment