I am a “new joiner” at dbi services and had the opportunity to attend the IT Pro day at the Microsoft Techdays in Lausanne. Let me give you a few insights on my day there. Being a SharePoint specialist but also ramping up on Microsoft SQL Server I tried to balance between SQL and SharePoint related sessions.
BYOD
As usual, the day started with a Keynote focusing on an overview of the new Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 features.
Well… it is not “just” an update!!! You will find a lot of new features especially around BYOD trend (Bring Your Own Device)
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Workplace Join
To remotely register a non-Domain joined device in Active Directory (AD) to gain secure “single sign-on” access to permitted corporate network resources.
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Selective Wipe
To identify protected files in app that can be revoked when a user is no longer authorized to access an app data.
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Work Folders
To store and access work files on personal computers and devices
SQL Server
I have been to the “SQL Server & PowerShell” session presented by David Barbarin, MCM SQL Server.
SQL Server 2012 supports PowerShell, the scripting shell you will find in Windows. Administrators and developers can automate server administration and application deployment.
The PowerShell language supports more complex logic than Transact-SQL scripts, giving SQL Server administrators the ability to build robust administration scripts (not only for SQL Server as more and more products from the Microsoft stacks are coming with their own set of PowerShell Cmdlets).
The feature was released with SQL Server 2008 with a mini-shell but with 2012, it is definitely more convenient to use as fully integrated with PowerShell (programming, load other modules…).
For more details, see following link on TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh245198.aspx
SharePoint BI & Azure
I did not attend my two dbi services colleagues Stéphane Haby and Stéphane Savorgnano session while they were presenting the “SQL Server 2014: In-Memory OLTP” feature and live demoing with millions rows.
But I was sitting in the “BI with SharePoint & SQL Server on Azure IaaS: a user case” where Microsoft provided an overview on how to quickly setup a complete SharePoint/SQL Server BI solution on Azure IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service).
Once all the servers are configured and authentication with Claim to Windows Token Service (C2WTS) and Kerberos is working for the SharePoint & SQL Server BI integration (see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee806870.aspx#section2) you have different options to connect your corporate workstation: Site-to-Site VPN or Point-to-Site VPN.
Unfortunately, those might not be possible (to implement in a short timeframe or not friendly enough for end-users)
Here come the trick, deploy ForeFront TMG as a reverse proxy on the Azure IaaS side providing a smooth access to the Azure hosted solution from the corporate workstations.
That was a interesting day at the TechDays in Lausanne where we all had the opportunity to view the latest trends on Microsoft technologies for IT Pros.
In future blog posts I will try to provide a step by step deployment of SharePoint & SQL Server BI on the Azure IaaS.