SPSLA SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles May 18th Session Schedule

The SharePoint Saturday Session Schedule is below with a link to the larger PDF that you can download from http://spsevents.org/city/LA/SPSLA2013 if your having issues with the links from the http://SPSEvents.org Home Page please use the link above…

Apparently the site works for FireFox and earlier versions of IE but not IE10…

The SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles Speakers you should follow on twitter

• @coreyroth Corey Roth
• @davidsamoranski  David Samoranski
• @delacruz_rafael  Rafael de la Cruz
• @ericoverfield  Eric Overfield
• @ginammontgomery  Gina Montgomery
• @givenscj  Chris Givens
• @hippopath  Walt Hodgson
• @iasanders  Ivan Sanders
• @jshuey  Jeff Shuey
• @KimFrehe  Kim Frehe
• @klopmp  Kenneth Lo, PMP
• @latenighttechie  Mayank Malik
• @mrbarrett  Matthew R. Barrett
• @msshushu  Shereen Qumsieh
• @nateauchter  Nathaniel Auchter
• @nmoneypenny  Naomi Moneypenny
• @olenickSP  Paul Olenick
• @ryanmcintyre  Ryan McIntyre
• @sharepointac  Andrew Clark
• @SharePointGiant  Shaun Nichols
• @sharepointninja  Michael Doyle
• @SLKRCK  Rick Taylor
• @spappcenter  Anthony Pham
• @tmccart1  Tim McCarthy
• @tomcastiglia  Tom Castiglia
• @tweetraw  Randy Williams
• @ZlatanDzinic  Zlatan Dzinic
• Also, I know you don’t want to miss my sessions on Business Intelligence:
• Self-Service Business Intelligence in SharePoint 2013
  Please join Ivan Sanders for this Business Intelligence session on the SharePoint and the Office set of BI features to build and integrate data-driven spreadsheets and applications with SharePoint 2013. This session will cover topics such as PowerPivot, PerformancePoint Services, Reporting Services, Excel Services, KPIs, and much more using SharePoint 2013 SQL 2012 with Windows 8

· Using something the know and providing the company with something they need

• · Building score cards from scratch using only Excel
• · Combining Scorecards and Reports into Dashboards
• · Using only Excel to create SQL Reports
• · Saving an Excel PowerPivot to a SQL Analysis Services Cube

Build Self-Service Business Intelligence Demos to Build your Business
Please join Ivan Sanders for this Business Intelligence session on Building Business Intelligence Demo without any effort. Through the use of Content Pack Concept for Self-service BI, ECM, Search and BigData, we hope to bring you the ability to use the same demos we have built based with examples like Contoso Medical, Great White Gears, Contoso Schools, AdventureWorks Camping Supplies, TailSpinToys, Contoso Casino, and more.  Using the Codeplex Project SharePoint 2013 BI & ECM Demo Builds with SQL 2012 SP1 and we will show you how ro do the following with just a few clicks”

· How to create a Domain Controller for the Contoso.com Domain

• · Add 300 Users to the Contoso Domain
• · Install SQL with 3 AS Instances Tabular. MultiDimensional and PowerPivot
• · Install SharePoint with reporting Services and PowerPivot Configured
• · Create the self Service Business Intelligence Demos for Tailspin Toys, Contoso, Auto Sales, Contoso Oil and Gas, and AdvertureWorks Cycle Shop

Also, If your going to be at TechEd NA 2013 in New Orleans stop by the O’Reilly Booth during the welcome session on Monday June 3rd between 715pm and 8pm  for and autographed copy of Business Intelligence in SharePoint 2013

If I miss you at SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles, hopefully I will see you soon at either SharePoint Saturday Chicago Suburbs, TechEd NA 2013, SharePoint Saturday Atlanta, SharePoint Saturday Silicon Valley or Teched EU 2013 in Madrid.

Have fun!! and if you live in the Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange County, or San Diego areas and want to get free content in addition to all of the sessions I will be giving away sixteen 16GB Flash Drives with nothing but free Content that includes Labs, Tools, Guidance, Best Practices, Scripts and Code for Business Users, Admins, Developers, and DBAs then don’t miss SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles…

-Ivan

TechEd North America 2013 New Orleans June 3rd - 6th

Microsoft TechEd North America 2013
June 3-6, 2013

Location:
New Orleans Morial Convention Center
900 Convention Center Blvd
New Orleans, LA 70130
www.mccno.com

I just registered for the Microsoft TechEd North America 2013 conference. This message confirms your attendance to the conference at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Also, I am staying at the Renaissance New Orleans Pere Marquette. I cant wait to see everyone and attend the awesome sessions this year while earning a few more certifications and spending time in the Labs

My confirmation, included the following information:

• Your Staff Portal
• Returning Services
• Attendee Party Passes
• Pre-Conference Seminars
• Name Badges
• Registration Policies
• Hotel Arrangements

For more details on the TechEd 2013 North America conference including agenda and content please visit the event website at http://northamerica.msteched.com.

Hit me up and let me know where you will be staying on twitter @iasanders

-Ivan

#SPSLA - SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles 2013 Registration Widget

Hi All,

In case you wanted something other than the the Count Down widget on your Website or embedded somewhere fun, if you like the Registration Widget below. I have included the code for you to embed wherever you want. The Registration Widget allow SharePoint Peeps to register for SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles 2013 wherever you embed the code.

Just embed the following code for the #SPSLA Registration Widget

<div style="width: 100%; text-align: left;">

    <iframe src="http://www.eventbrite.com/tickets-external?eid=6299661457&ref=etckt&v=2" 
        frameborder="0" height="260" 
        width="100%" vspace="0" 
        hspace="0" marginheight="5" 
        marginwidth="5" scrolling="auto" 
        allowtransparency="true">
    </iframe>

    <div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial; 
        font-size: 10px; 
        padding: 5px 0 5px; 
        margin: 2px; 
        width: 100%; 
        text-align: left;">
        
        <a style="color: #ddd; 
            text-decoration: none;" 
            target="_blank" 
            href="http://www.eventbrite.com/r/etckt">Event Registration Online</a>

    </div>

</div>

-Ivan

SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles 2013 Countdown Widget

Hi All,

I have included the code for the Countdown widget for the SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles event that everyone speaking, sponsoring, or attending should post up their blog, social network, website or wherever you think would be fun…

Just embed the following code for the #SPSLA Countdown Widget

   1:  <div style="width:195px; text-align:center;" >

   2:   

   3:      <iframe src="http://www.eventbrite.com/countdown-widget?eid=6299661457" 

   4:          frameborder="0" 

   5:          height="600" 

   6:          width="195" 

   7:          marginheight="0" 

   8:          marginwidth="0" 

   9:          scrolling="no" 

  10:          allowtransparency="true">

  11:   

  12:      </iframe>

  13:     

  14:  </div>

-Ivan

BRDLite Reference Templates

A friend of of mine John Spinella is an Visio Studio ALM Ranger and the first person I know who could get the SharePoint builds automated in TFS. He and the Team have just released a set of build process  / reference templates

The Build Release and Deploy (BRD) Lite is a set of build process reference templates that allows you to quickly setup a real-world build process in your environment. It leverages extensions from Community TFS Build Extensions, which provide capabilities for your Team Foundation builds such as automatic compile, build version number customization, build packaging, code signing, basic deployment functionality, and environment configuration file management into your Team Foundation builds.

The “Lite” comes from giving you a build template that you or your Build administrators can use “out of the box” for most scenarios. Of course, you can always customize and extend as needed.

Visual Studio ALM Rangers

This guidance is created by the Visual Studio ALM Rangers, who have the mission to provide out of band solutions for missing features and/or guidance. This content was created with support from Microsoft Product Group, members of Microsoft Services, Microsoft Most Valued Professionals (MVPs) and technical specialists from technology communities around the globe, giving you a real-world view from the field, where the technology has been tested and used.

What is included in the downloads?

The solution is divided in separate packages to give you the choice of selective downloads. The default download is the first of the listed packages:

• Hands-on Labs (HOL)
• Build Templates

The Epics included in the guidance are:

• As Abu, the build master, I would like to understand the changes and impact of Visual Studio 2012 on BRDLite  As Abu, the build master, I need guidance on extending the BRDLite reference template with new custom activities. As Abu, the build master, I would like a number of BRDLite reference templates, which implement scenario based custom activities.

External References

Build Customization Guide

• BRDLite was originally shipped with the Build Customization Guide as a practical build template that would provide hands on guidance on how to implement the TFS Build Extensions.   Refer to the Build Customization Guide for practical guidance on build customization, an overview of BRDLite and the BRDLite v1.0 templates.
• SPDisposeCheck
• The current version of the SPDisposeCheck can be downloaded from the SharePoint Dispose Checker site.
• CAT.NET 2.0
• The 2.0 CTP of Cat.NET can be downloaded from Microsoft Connect
• Community TFS Build Extensions
• Community TFS Build Extensions – this project makes use of the Community TFS Build Extensions which is a collection of custom build activities, templates and other resources for Team Foundation Build. Please visit and follow this project for the latest releases.
• Team
• Bijan Javari, Brandon Haw baker, Jim Lamb, John Jacob, John Spinella, Mike Fourier, Richard Fennell, William Bartholomew, Willy-Peter Scab
• How to submit new ideas?
• The recommended method is to post ideas to the Discussions Page or to contact the Rangers at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/ee358786.aspx.
• Feedback
• Post comments on the Discussions Page.

If you haven't downloaded and used the reference templates and guidance now is the time …

Thank you Jon it look pretty cool I will be post a follow-up and let you know what I find

-Ivan

SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles 2013

• Business Intelligence Demo Builds
• Self-Service Business Intelligence in SharePoint 2013

Check out a few clips from SharePoint Saturday Los Angeles 2011, and the Santa Monica College Campus

Call for Speakers Open

#SPSLA Call for Speakers is now open! You can submit speaker information and session abstracts using our online form: http://sps.la/spkrform

Deadline for entries is April 19th. However, we will be making early announcements of speakers. The final list of speakers will be announced April 30th. One more note, we have some different tracks that most of you may not have seen before:

• Business User: Includes end user and business executives.
• IT Pro / Admin: Infrastructure architecture, operations, management and administration including PowerShell.
• Developer & User Experience: Coded solutions, no code development, branding and end to end technical solutions.
• Integrations: Includes a product, add-on, or service. Could include Microsoft products like Exchange but also vendor products and services.
• Lightning Talks (15-20 min.): Held at a sponsor booth, you must list which Gold or Silver sponsor booth you'll be speaking. Attendee will have 25 mins between sessions.

Cheers,

-Ivan

PASS Business Analytics Conference 2013 – Return on Investment

Need help justifying your attendance at the PASS Business Analytics Conference?

-Ivan

SharePoint 2013 Databases Documented on Codeplex

A client requested recently that I document each of the SharePoint 2013 Databases and Compare them to the SharePoint 2010 Databases. I used ApexSQL Doc 2012 to document the databases and ApexSQL Diff 2012 to compare the differences . Apex is great I think its the only tool that is works with SQL 2012 at this time. I started with the ContenDbs. Below are screenshots fro the Admin ContentDb. Be sure to check out the Apex SQL Tools when you have the time..

All of the SharePoint 2013 Databases are documented on Codeplex at http://sharepoint2013dbdocs.codeplex.com. I have included a few screenshots below for folks who may not be familiar with database documentation tools like Apex and what they provide..

The first screen shot below is the DB Object Index

The next we will jump down to the datatypes

An just to keep drilling through we find the details of tContentTypeId that start with the properties of the datatype, the  lists all of the locations where the column is defined, all of the dependencies and this page lists where the columns are defined and all of the dependencies from tables, procs, and functions with every column, tables, procs, and functions rendered as links that will then provide you with the detail of the property you click on

For instance lets take a table we use quite often the AdminContentDB.dbo.AllDocs table and the first information you will see is the table properties

Next you will see the creation Options and all of the columns that are make up the AdminContentDB.DBO.AllDocs Table along with the detail of each column like Data Type, Max Length, Nullable, Default, isGUID and Sparse

If you would like to understand more about how SharePoint uses the databases to store information and the relationship between stored procedures, triggers, functions and the object model you should check out the SharePoint 2013 Databases Documented on Codeplex, I have included a few of the links for direct downloads below:

SQL 2012 AS PowerPivot Database Documentation

SharePoint 2013 Social Database Documentation

SharePoint Content Database Documentation

SharePoint 2013 Metadata Service Database Documentation

SharePoint 2013 Profile Database Documentation

SharePoint 2013 Secure Store Database Documentation

SharePoint 2013 All Search Related Database Documentation

SharePoint 2013 Configuration Database Documentation

SharePoint 2013 Application Management Database Documentation

But don’t stop, If you think this is pretty cool and even if you Don't, you should read everything on SharePoint Protocols, I have included a link as reference below:

• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj575611(office.14).aspx 

-Ivan

PASS Business Analytics Conference - Quick Facts

Key Dates

Highlights

• § 60 + technical sessions presented by Microsoft and Community Speakers
• § Steven Levitt Keynote – Bestselling co-Author of Freakonomics and Super Freakonomics
• § 5 session tracks including:
•    ▫ Data Analytics and Visualization
•    ▫ Advanced Analytics and Insights
•    ▫ Information Delivery and Collaboration
•    ▫ Big Data Innovations and Integration
•    ▫ Strategy and Architecture

Why Attend?

• § Top community speakers including big data ZDNet blogger Andrew J. Brust; BI experts Alberto Ferrari, Stacia Misner, Peter Myers, Marco Russo and Chris Webb; data mining and predictive analytics gurus Mark Tabladillo and Cristian Vava; data science expert Mark Whitehorn; and Decision Sciences professor, Mathletics expert, and two-time Jeopardy! champion Wayne Winston.
• § Hear from the Microsoft experts: Kamal Hathi, Director of the BI Group for Microsoft SQL Server; Ashvini Sharma, Group Program Manager in the Office Data Experiences team; and Tim Mallalieu, Principal Group Program Manager for Microsoft HDInsight.
• § Connect with us for real-word insights, prescriptive guidance, best practices, and strategic vision
• § Expand your ability to analyze, manage, and share information to predict business performance
• § Walk away with the tools and connections for maximum impact within your organization
• § Dig deeper into Microsoft’s collaborative BA platform – Excel, SharePoint, Azure, Hadoop,
• Parallel Data Warehouse, and SQL Server.

Connect with us:

-Ivan

Internet SharePoint & IIS News - Issue Resolution, Betas, & Lab Content

I have included below a few links on content on topics ranging from troubleshooting Claims Based Authentication to the new Application Router Beta and test labs available for download. All content is in line with learning more about SharePoint and the under lying technology and architecture that support your SharePoint environments.

Enabling modern SharePoint experiences on Windows 8 for students and teachers - ​The Contoso Learning Companion is a modern Windows 8 application built to work with SharePoint 2010 and 2013. It uses SharePoint sites as collaboration spaces for classes and study groups and integrates with the popular OneNote application for lessons and assignments. This popular starter kit provides everything you need to deliver tailored Windows 8 solutions for SharePoint. http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/blog/Pages/BlogPost.aspx?pID=1057

Troubleshooting "Claims authentication in SharePoint environments - To determine the root cause of an arbitrary problem and its solution, you can spend years developing deep technical understanding and experience. This article describes the primary tools that you use to collect information about claims authentication and make configuration changes in SharePoint 2013 to get you back on track. http://blogs.technet.com/b/tothesharepoint/archive/2013/01/17/troubleshooting-methodology-content-for-sharepoint-environments-with-the-new-claims-authentication-does-not-validate-user-topic.aspx

Customizing the SharePoint 2013 Developer Dashboard using custom scripts - The Developer Dashboard has undergone some significant changes in SharePoint 2013 and can now be extended by injecting custom JavaScript code into the developer dashboard window. This article explains how. http://blogs.technet.com/b/stefan_gossner/archive/2013/01/23/customizing-the-sharepoint-2013-developer-dashboard-using-custom-scripts.aspx

Announcing Application Request Router 3.0 Beta! - We are happy to announce that we have just released the Beta version for ARR 3.0. Click here to install ARR v3 beta using Microsoft Web Platform Installer. http://blogs.iis.net/harshmittal/archive/2012/12/07/announcing-application-request-router-3-0-beta.aspx

Announcing: Smooth Streaming plugin for OSMF - We are pleased to announce that Windows Azure Media Services team released a preview of Microsoft Smooth Streaming plugin for OSMF. http://blogs.iis.net/cenkd/archive/2012/12/19/announcing-smooth-streaming-plugin-for-osmf.aspx

IT Professional Reviewer's Guide for SharePoint Server 2013 - Read about how SharePoint Server 2013 builds on the investments of previous SharePoint releases to help you do the following: lower IT costs with a flexible and scalable collaboration platform; better manage risk by safeguarding your business with secure and reliable capabilities; increase productivity through cost-effective and efficient management. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34023

Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate Social Features for SharePoint Server 2013 - Introduction to the social features in SharePoint Server 2013 and step-by-step instructions for configuring and then demonstrating My Sites, Newsfeeds, Community Sites, and Team Site feeds. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34682

Databases that support SharePoint 2013 - This poster illustrates the databases that that support SharePoint 2013. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30363

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013 Architecture - This poster provides guidance about logical and physical architectures for SharePoint Server 2013 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35568

Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate Intranet Collaboration with SharePoint Server 2013 - This paper helps you configure an environment to demonstrate the intranet collaboration features of SharePoint Server 2013. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30379

Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate SAML-based Claims Authentication with SharePoint Server 2013 - This paper provides a brief introduction to SharePoint Server 2013 and illustrates how to create a three-tier test lab that uses SAML-based claims authentication. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30385

Test Lab Guide: Configure SharePoint Server 2013 in a Three-Tier Farm - This paper provides a brief introduction to SharePoint Server 2013 and illustrates how to create a three-tier test lab. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30386

Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate Forms-Based Authentication with SharePoint Server 2013 - This paper explains how to configure and demonstrate form-based authentication for SharePoint Server 2013 based on the Test Lab Guide: Configure SharePoint Server 2013 in a Three-Tier Farm (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30386). http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34684

Using a Data Collector to Troubleshoot Server Performance - Whether you have a Windows Cloud Server or a Windows Dedicated Server, having it run at optimal capacity is critical for the success of your business. You need to know about any performance issues before your customers or visitors are impacted. http://www.orcsweb.com/blog/peter/how-to-use-a-data-collector-to-troubleshoot-server-performance/

Using Classic ASP and URL Rewrite for Dynamic SEO Functionality How to use Classic ASP with the IIS URL Rewrite module to dynamically generate Robots.txt and Sitemap.xml files. http://blogs.iis.net/robert_mcmurray/archive/2012/12/31/using-classic-asp-and-url-rewrite-for-dynamic-seo-functionality.aspx

Professional Microsoft IIS 8 - This book is a must have for an IIS 8 administrator. Its chalked full of information not detailed as complete anywhere else I know of. I’d highly recommend you pick up a copy, either an e-book or paperback copy. http://blogs.iis.net/steveschofield/archive/2012/12/28/professional-microsoft-iis-8.aspx

Scaling up IIS Server - When it comes to the scalability of web servers, first thing customers think about is scale out. While scale out is great option, there are many scenarios which can benefit from scale up. In Windows Server 2012, IIS team has done a good amount of work to scale up IIS server on latest industry standard hardware. IIS team, along with HP and Microsoft EEC has recently published a case study on how IIS 8.0 performs on HP Proliant DL980, an 8 socket, 80 core machine. http://www.iis.net/learn/get-started/case-studies/case-study-iis-80-scaling-on-an-hp-proliant-dl980-g7-8-processor-socket-system

Web Deploy XML File Parameterization  - As part of its Parameterization feature, Web Deploy also supports parameterization of XML files.  If you are unfamiliar with parameterization, it's basically a feature that Web Deploy uses to change values of certain objects before committing them to a destination.  In this post, I'll walk you through some examples of how to do XML parameterization using XPath queries. http://blogs.iis.net/elliotth/archive/2012/12/17/web-deploy-xml-file-parameterization.aspx

phpMyAdmin on Windows Azure Web Sites - This post describes how to install and configure phpMyAdmin on Windows Azure Web Sites. - http://blogs.iis.net/ruslany/archive/2012/12/17/phpmyadmin-on-windows-azure-web-sites.aspx

Authenticated SMTP Using System.Net.Mail - Using system.net.mail to send email messages from your web site makes life so easy. - http://www.peterviola.com/authenticated-smtp-using-system-net-mail/

Using Wildcard SSL Certificates on IIS 7 - http://www.peterviola.com/using-wildcard-ssl-certificates-on-iis-7/

-Ivan

SQL 2012 Business Intelligence Automation of Demo Builds Part 4 – Visio Graphics Services

Prior to discussing the Visio Graphics Demo Builds I would like to say that it was a privilege to work with Mariano Teixeira Neto, Stacia Misner, Ken Brown, and especially Norm Warren who I owe the most gratitude for taking a non-author under his wing and somehow bringing me through the process.

If you haven't ever had the opportunity to write a book on technology of any kind prior to its release while maintaining your own business, it was a challenge to say the least. I worked more hours in the last 6 months than I would have ever thought possible. Business Intelligence in SharePoint 2013 is a great guide to the numerous Business Intelligence features to be found in the combination of SQL Server 2012 and SharePoint 2013. There were times, well most of the time I found parts difficult to write. In some ways I learned (always have know) I can build and automate anything. But what I didn’t know or have a clue about, though I have been writing technical guidance for years for clients is that when writing to a diverse audience you had better have folks on your team to learn from that have been there and delivered the end product many times before.

My difficulty was due in part to the the diversity of the audience, I don’t think I am eloquent enough to write to a non-technical audience in any meaningful way. This may be due in part to being a geek and all I speak is geek. It may have been I was so impressed with the other authors work that it made mine seem to me sophomoric. However, it was a great learning experience and allows me to share some pretty cool Demo Builds with you including this Visio Services Demo 2.0 Content Pack that you can download from Codeplex. http://SharePointDemoBuilds.codeplex.com.

In addition, though this work has been modified so there isn't any stuff that is broken. The diagrams broken or not  have been around in many forms for a couple of SharePoint Releases. So, I would also like to thank Microsoft for providing these diagrams as learning tools and though I don’t know the folks directly who created most of the diagrams I have modified most of them,  and left  a few in lace for you to go through the upgrade process. I would just like to thank everyone involved that I haven't mentioned previously from O’Reilly, Microsoft, and the folks that originally provided this collection of content. Though it is a work in progress it enabled me to learn Visio Services more quickly than I would have without having this work as a resource.

Its a pretty simple page with a few Visio Diagrams like the following network diagram

or it can be as simple as a wireframe as Contoso Casinos

We have even more content samples for everyone to play with so that you can learn Visio Services easily and have fun

Most people don’t realize that you can drop one the Visio Shapes on the page, then highlight and drop Excel Workbook information and if you had 50 rows of information you would end up with 50 labeled Visio Shapes in the diagram. Much like what's been done in the next Visio Diagram

In summary this is a way to build not code Visio Diagrams and then add them to dashboards attached to live meaningful data., Because we know that executives love red Light, Green Light, Yellow Light and who they need to get in touch with to find out what's up..

If you want to use these examples along with 30 or 40 more, we have the presentations, walkthroughs and scenarios on Codeplex at http://SharePointDemoBuilds.codeples.com and download / install the Visio Demo 2 Content Pack.

The following Demo installations are available for download now.

•   Visio Services Demo 2.0 Content Pack
•   Self-Service BI Demo 2.0 Content Pack
•   PeoplePack - UserProfile Provisioning Demo 2.0
•   SQL 2012 SP1 Content Pack Demo Build 2.0.0
•   Active Directory Content Pack Demo 2.0

-Ivan

Windows Server 2012 New Features - Data Deduplication

This is another post based on migrating the functions of a few of my Servers to Windows Server 2012. Another favorite features even better than DHCP Failover is Data De-Duplication.

Data deduplication optimizes the file data on the volume by performing the following steps:

1. Segment the data in each file into small variable-sized chunks.
2. Identify duplicate chunks.
3. Maintain a single copy of each chunk.
4. Compress the chunks.
5. Replace redundant copies of each chunk with a reference to a single copy.
6. Replace each file with a reparse point containing references to its data chunks.

I assume everyone is familiar with Server Manager in Windows server 2012, Click on Server Manager from the lower left of your task bar, then click on File and Storage services

Then Click on Volumes and one of the issues you notice immediately is the disk space savings if you have enabled data deduplication. I am saving 856GB out of 3258GB total space for a 26% savings and I am rounding down the benefit. I would think I might say it looks like you have another 465GB for 3723GB. well one of the rules is you should not deduplicate data on you Boot Partition and there are a few more that I will either mention later in this post or provide the reference on TechNet for your review and use.

Prior to walking through the 4 or 5 steps to enable Data Deduplication in the next post, there are a couple of issues that you need to be aware of, Data deduplication Requirements:

Data deduplication is supported only on the following:

1. 1. Windows Server operating systems beginning with Windows Server 2012 with NTFS data volumes

Deduplication is not supported on:

• 1. System or boot volumes
• 2. Remote mapped or remote mounted drives
• 3. Cluster shared volumes (CSV) (but it does support clustered configuration with NTFS volumes)

Deduplication skips over the following files:

• 1. System/ state files
• 2. Encrypted files
• 3. Files with extended attributes
• 4. Files whose size is less than 32 KB
• 5. Reparse points (that are not data deduplication reparse points)

2. Best Practices:
3. 1. Exclude your Virtual Server Volumes from Data Deduplication
4. 2. Always perform a full backup before and after the first time you run data deduplication on a volume.
5. 3. Schedule backups to be performed after your scheduled Garbage collection due to the number of changes that occur in the chunk-store during Garbage Collection
6. 4. By default Garbage Collection, is configured to run weekly

Note: using data deduplication on SSDs has not had any effect on the SSDs.

1. Requirements for Drive removal for use in other systems, if keeping the data on the drive
2. 1. The OS is Windows server 2012 
3. 2. You have configured Data deduplication on the new system.
4. 3. OR, You have removed data deduplication from the drive prior to moving the drive to a platform that does not support Data deduplication

Note: as mentioned above to get the drives to work without the documents / files having the appearance of corruption when you attempt to open them on the new system, you will to install and configure data duplication on the new system .prior to moving the drives to the new systems What this means is that you would need to remove data deduplication from the volume prior to installing the drive in ANY Operating System that is MOT Windows Server 2012, this includes Windows 8, I have been attempting to get Data deduplication on my Laptop and it would ne awesome if any of you have done so, I enjoy hearing the step's you took to get data deduplication to work ion Windows 8

-Ivan

Window Server 2012 New Features - DHCP failover

While replacing my 2 Domain Controllers today I also took the opportunity to clean up DHCP and DNS and DHCP which led me to one of my favorite new features in Windows server 2012 DHCP Failover. My only question is was there any reason beyond the lawsuits over giving away free software to end users that we didn’t have this years ago. If you haven't used Windows Server 2012 with DHCP failover, you are missing out.. I know we had Split DHCP and DHCP Clusters with Windows Server 2008 R2 but this is much cooler.

DHCP failover: This feature provides the ability to have two DHCP servers serve IP addresses and option configuration to the same subnet or scope, providing for continuous availability of DHCP service to clients. The two DHCP servers replicate lease information between them, allowing one server to assume responsibility for servicing of clients for the entire subnet when the other server is unavailable. It is also possible to configure failover in a load-balancing configuration with client requests distributed between the two servers in a failover relationship. For more information about DHCP failover, see Step-by-Step: Configure DHCP for Failover

• Reference:
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200226.aspx 
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831385.aspx

In Windows Server 2008 R2, there are two high availability options available for DHCP Server deployment. Each of these options is associated with some challenges.

1.DHCP in a Windows failover cluster. This option places the DHCP server in a cluster with an additional server configured with the DHCP service that assumes the load if the primary DHCP server fails. The clustering deployment option uses a single shared storage. This makes the storage a single point of failure, and requires additional investment in redundancy for storage. In addition, clustering involves relatively complex setup and maintenance.

2.Split scope DHCP. Split scope DHCP uses two independent DHCP servers that share responsibility for a scope. Typically 70% of the addresses in the scope are assigned to the primary server and the remaining 30% are assigned to the backup server. If clients cannot reach the primary server then they can get an IP configuration from the secondary server. Split scope deployment does not provide IP address continuity and is unusable in scenarios where the scope is already running at high utilization of address space, which is very common with Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4).

DHCP failover in Windows Server 2012 enables administrators to deploy a highly resilient DHCP service to support a large enterprise without the challenges of the options discussed earlier. The main goals of the feature are the following:

Provide DHCP service availability at all times on the enterprise network.

• If a DHCP server is no longer reachable, the DHCP client is able to extend the lease on its current IP address by contacting another DHCP server on the enterprise network.

1. Right-Click on the Scope you want to enable failover from, Choose Configure Failover

2. Choose the Network that you want to provide Failover for or Select All, Click Next

3. Either enter the name of your Partner server or Click on Add Server to choose from other DHCP Servers on you network, Click OK, then Click Next

4. You can choose from 2options from the Mode Dropdown, we left the default “Load balance” but you can also choose the alternate “Hot standby”

5. You can also choose the interval between State Switch Failover Interval. Last, as mentioned earlier review the options available in the drop-down menu next to Mode. You can choose Load balance or Hot standby. By default, Load balance mode is chosen. Click Next verify your settings., and Click Finish

6. Once Completed Verify Success, and Click Close.

Note: When you choose the DHCP Fail Over Partner the partner should not have the Network you are going to be using to Fail over configured as part of any scope..

-Ivan

Don’t Miss a good friend of mine tonight at SPUG San Diego Zlatan Dzinic, SharePoint Solution Architect Hitachi Consulting

Dear SharePoint Colleagues,

Join us for the San Diego SharePoint User Group (SanSpug) meeting on Feb 5th, 2013 at 6PM. Our meeting will include the following topics:

·         Introduction to SharePoint 2013 Search

SanSpug meetings are held at New Horizons Learning Centers and start at 6:00 PM.  Be sure to tell your business colleagues and friends!

7480 Miramar Road

San Diego, CA

Feb 2013 Featured Speaker(s):

Zlatan Dzinic, SharePoint MVP, Hitachi Consulting

Zlatan will review and demonstrate the new features of SharePoint 2013 Search.

Sponsored by:

The San Diego SharePoint User Group (SanSpug) was founded to serve the unmet needs of the Southern California SharePoint Community.  We are a formally structured group made up of members and an elected executive team.  Meetings are free to attend by all, but access to our more exclusive content and events will be presented only to our valued members.  The SanSpug mission is to strive to show and display unique and highly targeted SharePoint content of all flavors.  The information you will walk away with from our meetings will always be rich and interesting!

Meeting Agenda:

Time      

6:00 – 6:30 pm      Social Networking

6:30 – 6:45 pm      Opening welcome

6:45 – 8:30 pm     SharePoint Search 2013

8:30 - 8:45 pm      Closing Announcements

8:45 – 10:00          After meeting socializing in La Jolla

For more information, please see San Diego SharePoint Users Group, or contact Chris Givens at chris@sanspug.org.  Also check out our Social Pages:

-Ivan

SQL 2012 Business Intelligence Automation of Demo Builds Part 3 SelfService BI

The reason I created this project on CodePlex is that everyone has been asking in user groups, SharePoint Saturday events etc. When we will have a downloadable VHD like we did with SharePoint 2010 with the Information Worker VHD. Also, One of the issues that used to bug me was having to download 60 750MB files and then merge them together in get one SharePoint 2010 Demo VHD.

After learning how Microsoft was packaging their Demos I thought we could have many more of them available for folks to use and they are fun to share, there had to be a better way. Not including the Installation media Windows Server 2012, SQL Server 2012 , and SharePoint 2013. All of the Content packs we have deployed so far as a group are less than a 750MB download…

The reason I created this project on codeplex is that everyone has been asking in user groups, SharePoint Saturday events etc. When we will have a downloadable VHD…

Project Description
Through the use of Content Packs for SelfService BI, ECM, Search and BigData,  we hope to bring you the ability to use the same demos we have built based with exaples like Contoso Medical, Great White Gears, Contoso Schools, AdventureWorks Camping Supplies, TaolSpinToys,  Contoso Casino, and more. We have extended the Content Pack so that we can now install SQL 2012 SP1 and SharePoint 2013 in almost the same configuration as our environment, that allows us to give you these demos..

Evaluation Copies are OK, we will not be providing any way for them to be re-armed after the 180 day trial is over.

The entire installation is PowerShell with a GUI Interface….

Prerequisites: License Keys and installation media for the following:

1. Windows Server 2008R2 Sp1 or Windows server 2012
2. SQL Server 2012 SP1
3. SharePoint 2013

• Installed and Configured
• Windows OS from the list above
• AD Directory Services Installed and Promoted for the domain Contoso.com

After the SQL 2012 SP1 Installation you will have three instances of Analysis Services (Tabular, Multidimensional, and PowerPivot) this will allow us to share our data with you while reducing the amount of confusion there can be when setting up these services and using them with SharePoint for the first time.

Please let us know if you think we have missed anything we appreciate your feedback and are always looking for folks to beta test our deliverables before we upload them here…http://sharepointdemobuilds.codeplex.com

The Content Packs that we have up so far are the following

Active Directory Content Pack Demo 2.0 - Creates an Employees OU, adds the standard 200 or so Contoso employees to the Employee's OU with passwords, and Last adds the SPFarm, and SPAdmin service accounts to the Domain Admin's group

SQL 2012 SP1 Content Pack Demo Build 2.0.0 – Installs SQL 2012 SP1 with three instances of Analysis Services (Tabular, Multidimensional, and PowerPivot) and RS integrated SharePoint mode.

Self-Service BI Demo 2.0 Content Pack – Installs the Self-Service BI Demos with the following databases and models:

Databases
• AdventureWorksDW2012
• AutoSalesSourceDW
• ContosoEnergyDW
• ContosoSchoolsDW
• TailspinToys

Models
• AutoSalesModel
• ContosoEnergyModel
• ContosoSchoolsModel
• Customer Profitability
• TailspinToysModel

If you get a chance I would love to have some folks testing the deployment and providing feedback as I continue to add additional Content Packs, it seems I take less time testing the PowerShell scripts the more I use PowerShell because I know it right, lol.. Sad, but a true trap of using a technology everyday and taking your skills for granted..

What's Planned – Coming Soon

• People Pack with My Site Provisioning & Social networking Demo 2.0 
• Visio Services 2013 Demo 2.0
• Great White Gears demo 2.0
• AdventureWorks Camping Supplies E-Commerce Demo 2.0

http://SharePointDemoBuilsCodePlex.com 

-Ivan

MSDN Forum Jam 2012 Updates Cross Post Original by Chris Givens

Chris Givens put together a contest for fun and a couple of Beers. But there are so many MVPs that are more active in the forums than I am I don’t think I stand a chance..

I have included the results from 01/23/2013, but you will need to visit Chris’s Blog in order to be kept up to date… http://blogs.architectingconnectedsystems.com/blogs/cjg/archive/2012/12/07/MSDN-Forum-Jam-2013-Updates.aspx

MSDN Forum Jam 2012 Updates -Latest Results - 1/23/2013

In other new I have created 2 new sites on Codeplex

The first SharePoint Demo Builds http://sharepointdemobuilds.codeplex.com/ where I have created Content Packs for Populating Active Directory, Installing and Configuration of SQL 2012 SP1 with AS Tabular, Multidimensional, and PowerPivot modes and of course Integrated mode. Along with Self Service BI with documentation and walkthroughs of the Labs and Demos, ECM primarily Focused on Search and Social features, Big data which is all about data Mining and displaying the results in SharePoint 2013.

The second site SharePoint 2013 Databases Documented http://sharepoint2013dbdocs.codeplex.com/. I have used tools Apex SQL DOC to list all of the stored procedures, tables, dependencies, functions and much more for every SharePoint 2013 Database.

Anyway to all my felloow MVPs I cant wait to hang out with Everyone in 3 weeks in Redmond. As always it will be a blast… Have fun…

-Ivan

SharePoint Technologies Test and Hands on Labs

I HAVE INCLUDED A FEW OF THE SharePoint 2013 Labs hat are available for download. I hope everyone can make the time to download the LABs and walkthrough them, as this will give you a better Idea of the new features in SharePoint 2013

Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate SAML-based Claims Authentication with SharePoint Server 2013

• This paper provides a brief introduction to SharePoint Server 2013 and illustrates how to create a three-tier test lab that uses SAML-based claims authentication.
• http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30385

Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate Intranet Collaboration with SharePoint Server 2013

This paper helps you configure an environment to demonstrate the intranet collaboration features of SharePoint Server 2013.

• http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30379

Test Lab Guide: Configure SharePoint Server 2013 in a Three-Tier Farm

This paper provides a brief introduction to SharePoint Server 2013 and illustrates how to create a three-tier test lab. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30386

Test Lab Guide: Demonstrate Forms-Based Authentication with SharePoint Server 2013

• This paper explains how to configure and demonstrate form-based authentication for SharePoint Server 2013 based on the Test Lab Guide: Configure SharePoint Server 2013 in a Three-Tier Farm (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30386).
• http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34684

Hands-on Lab Online: Advanced Web and Worker Roles

Starts:  Thursday, January 17, 2013 9:00 AM  Time zone: (GMT-08:00) | Duration: 3 hour(s)

• Sign up for our Hands-on Lab Online (HOLO) event today. What is a HOLO event? It’s an online event where you listen to a live presentation and work on lab exercises. As you work on your labs, Microsoft experts can assist and provide guidance by chatting with you one-on-one or by virtually taking control of your lab. Sign up soon as registration and seating is limited.
• https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032537777&culture=en-US

Hands-on Lab Online: Introduction to Windows Azure Virtual Machines

Starts:  Thursday, February 14, 2013 9:00 AM  Time zone: (GMT-08:00) Duration: 3 hour(s)

• Sign up for our Hands-on Lab Online (HOLO) event today. What is a HOLO event? It’s an online event where you listen to a live presentation and work on lab exercises. As you work on your labs, Microsoft experts can assist and provide guidance by chatting with you one-on-one or by virtually taking control of your lab.  Sign up soon as registration and seating is limited.
• https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032540778&culture=en-US

SharePoint Composite Handbook

A SharePoint Composite combines data, documents, and business process in a useful, productive way by assembling, connecting, and configuring the basic building blocks of functionality available in SharePoint 2013 and Microsoft Office 2013 so you can rapidly create business solutions.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36055

-Ivan

SQL 2012 Business Intelligence Automation of Demo Builds Part 2

Reporting Services Installation using a Configuration.ini for use with SQL 2012. Probably next most asked question is how do I setup Report Server in SharePoint Mode. Just like in my last post we have a SQL 2012 Configuration File.ini (RSIntegrated.ConfigurationFile.ini) for the installation. The really cool thing is now SQL 2012 will be configured the same way every time.. The ConfigurationFile will ensure the installation of  Reporting Services 2012 and the Reporting Services Add-in are installed.

Just like my Last Post on SQL 2012 Business Intelligence the Automation of Demo Builds I discussed using a ConfigurationFile to configure PowerPivot. There are a couple changes that you will need to make for your environment and on depending how hands on you want to be with the installation.. You can choose to use the file as it is now in Simplified UI mode which is much faster and less tedious than waiting for all of the tests and entering the information by hand, I don’t know about you but whenever I have that many choices to click on I am bound to make a mistake.

However, you can also run it in silent mode by entering your Product Key, Uncommenting the PID parameter.

Then Comment out UIMODE and change either parameter QUITE or QUITESIMPLE value to True

The last change you will need to make unless your installing in the Contoso.com AD Domain is to Change the Service Account Username and Password  on Line 93

Then add or remove any additional Administrators on Line 130.

I have included a link to the file on SkyDrive so you can download all of the SQL 2012 Configuration Files.

1. MSSQL.ConfigurationFile – installs the default instance with SQL Server Database Engine, SQL Server Agent,  REPLICATION, SQL Server Full Text, Data Quality Server, , Analysis Services Tabular Mode, , Data Quality Client, SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT), connectivity components, Integration Services, backward compatibility components, software development kit, SQL Server Books Online, SQL Server Management Tools Basic& Advanced, SDK for Microsoft SQL Server Native Client, and the Master Data Services

2. MultiDimensional.ConfigurationFile – installs an instance named MultiDimensional with SQL Server Database Engine, SQL Server Agent,  REPLICATION, SQL Server Full Tex, Data Quality Server, Analysis Services Multidimensional mode, and Native Reporting Services

3. PowerPivot.ConfigurationFile – installs Analysis Services  Power Pivot Mode calculation engine, preconfigured for in-memory data storage and processing. PowerPivot solution packages, SQL Server Books Online, Database Engine, Configuration Tools, SQL Server Management Studio,

4. RSIntegrated.ConfigurationFile – installs Reporting Services for SharePoint Mode and the Reporting Services add-in for SharePoint Products.

The reason behind the configuration files will become more apparent in my next post. Needless to say it allows us to have the 3 Analysis Services Modes, both Reporting Services Mode and the environments are configured exactly the same way every time or perhaps with different UserNames and Passwords but for consistency that doesn't matter. However, between the 4 lines of Code that it takes to configure SQL 2012 and by code I mean Setup /CONFIGURATION=D:\My.ConfigurationFile.ini  for Erich of the SQL Instances we are creating then its pretty simple . Since we are calling the 4 lines from PowerShell it looks something like the following: Note: the Configuration Files I use are set with QUITE=”True”

cmd /c "Setup /CONFIGURATION=$Install:\MSSQL.ConfigurationFile.ini"
cmd /c "Setup /CONFIGURATION=$Install:\MultiDimensional.ConfigurationFile.ini"
cmd /c "Setup /CONFIGURATION=$Install:\PowerPivot.ConfigurationFile.ini"
cmd /c "Setup /CONFIGURATION=$Install:\RSIntegrated.ConfigurationFile.ini"

The next command that runs is in the PowerShell Script is cmd /c "AutoSPInstallerLaunch.bat" which I am sure everyone who is reading this post knows what happens next… Anyhow, SharePoint 2010 or SharePoint 2013 is installed by using an answer file (AutoSPInstallerInput.xml) much like the SQL Configuration File Approach…

However, it doesn’t stop there as we still have all of our SharePoint 2013, SQL 2012, and other customizations to work with in a repeatable manner that a SharePoint Admin can handle with having to Open Visual Studio to create WSP / Solutions to be deployed..

I look forward to Sharing the rest with you in my next post…

You can download the 4 SQL 2012 Configuration Files here http://sdrv.ms/RrMBi9

 

-Ivan

 

Technorati Tags: SQL 2012,SharePoint 2013,Demo Build Automation

SharePoint Saturday - Utah January 19th

Join us SharePoint architects, developers, and other professionals that work with Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and 2013 for ‘SharePoint Saturday’ event.  Follow Us On Twitter #SPSUTAH

SharePoint Saturday Utah is an educational, informative & lively day filled with sessions from respected SharePoint professionals & MVPs, covering a wide variety of SharePoint topics.  SharePoint Saturday Utah is FREE, open to the public and is your local chance to immerse yourself in SharePoint!

Come join us on January 19th! at the Miller Campus bears the name of its benefactors, Larry H. and Gail Miller owners of the Utah Jazz and Miller Enterprises which includes other sport and businesses in the region.

The Miller Campus houses SLCC’s Culinary Institute, continuing education classes, The Miller Business Resource Center, The Miller Business Innovation Center and a conference center. 

If you can take Friday off all your favorite SharePoint Peeps will be hitting the slopes at Brighton Park. 

Brighton Resort 12601 E. Big Cottonwood Canyon Brighton, Utah 84121 Phone: 801-532-4731

I will be speaking on the Practical Business Intelligence with SharePoint 2013

Registration is Open: http://spsutah2013.eventbrite.com/#

-Ivan

SQL 2012 Business Intelligence Automation of Demo Builds

Happy New Year!!!

Pretty much everyone one I know for the past year in the SharePoint community has been working on keeping their VMs up to date with the latest SQL and SharePoint Releases.

This is especially true if your Demos include Business Intelligence… In addition, unless you have a Shared environment in the cloud its difficult when writing books on Business Intelligence to keep everyone on the same page and see the really cool stuff they are doing…IN addition, at the end of the day its you the reader I think would prefer to be able to build the same environment that we are referencing when writing the books and doing the sessions.

This is my first post on hopefully making this easier as I know there are plenty of folks having problems with  Installing PowerPivot with SharePoint because I answer questions in the forums. Specifically the PowerPivot Installation and Configuration with SharePoint 2013. One of the many things I think is cool about the SQL 2012 SP1 Release is that PowerPivot Doesn’t have to be installed on any of your SharePoint Servers in your farm. Unless you want to schedule refreshes, have the PowerPivot gallery, or work with Power View and Reporting Services in SharePoint mode.

So I have attached below a copy of a SQL Server 2012 Configuration File PowerPivot.Configurations.ini that will Install anywhere in your environment in its own POWERPIVOT Instance.

There are a couple changes that you will need to make for your environment and on depending how hands on you want to be with the installation.. You can choose to use the file as it is now in Simplified UI mode which is much faster and less tedious than waiting for all of the tests and entering the information by hand, I don’t know about you but whenever I have that many choices to click on I am bound to make a mistake.

However, you can also run it in silent mode by entering your Product Key, Uncommenting the PID parameter.

Then Comment out UIMODE and change either parameter QUITE or QUITESIMPLE value to True

The last change you will need to make unless your installing in the Contoso.com AD Domain is to Change the Service Account Username and Password  on Line 93

Then add or remove any additional Administrators on Line 130.

I have included a link to the file on SkyDrive  so you can download today and check it out.

One last thing the syntax  to start the setup is really easy, if you mount the SQL 2012 SP1 ISO as D: then Run as an Administrator to open a DOS prompt and Change drives to D: Then enter the following.

Setup /CONFIGURATION=D:\PowerPivot.ConfigurationFile.ini

Note: You will still need to run the PowerPivot for SharePoint 2013 Configuration tool to configure the PowerPivot Service Application…

• Reference:
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms144259.aspx
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd239405.aspx

Cheers, and Happy New Year………..

-Ivan