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Download – Free Microsoft Azure Essentials eBook

Microsoft Azure Essentials - Fundamentals of AzureTitle: Microsoft Azure Essentials: Fundamentals of Azure
Authors: Michael S. Collier and Robin E. Shahan
Published: Feb 2015
Publisher: Microsoft Press
ISBN: 978-0-7356-9722-5
Pages: 246
Price: FREE
Download URL: Click here for download

E-BOOK FORMATS

PDF: 9780735697225.pdf (6.7 MB)
EPUB: 9780735697225.epub (12.0 MB)
Kindle / Mobi: 9780735697225.mobi (24.6 MB)

DESCRIPTION

The “Microsoft Azure Essentials” series helps you advance your technical skills with Microsoft Azure. “Microsoft Azure Essentials: Fundamentals of Azure” introduces developers and IT professionals to the wide range of capabilities in Azure. The authors—both Microsoft MVPs in Azure—present conceptual and how-to content for seven key areas and describe management tools and business cases.

CHAPTERS

  1. Getting started with Azure
  2. Azure Websites and Azure Cloud Services
  3. Azure Virtual Machines
  4. Azure Storage
  5. Azure Virtual Networks
  6. Databases
  7. Azure Active Directory
  8. Management Tools
  9. Business Cases
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Download – PowerShell Hyper-V Cookbook

The Altaro PowerShell Hyper-V CookbookTitle: The Altaro PowerShell Hyper-V Cookbook
Author: Jeffery Hicks, PowerShell MVP
Twitter: @JeffHicks
Published: 2014
Publisher: Altaro Software
PDF: Altaro-PowerShell-Hyper-V-Cookbook.pdf
Size: 6.9 MB
Pages: 63
Scripts: Altaro-PowerShell-HyperV-Cookbook-Scripts.zip
Size 44.7 KB
Download URL: Click here for download

DESCRIPTION

  • Understand the basics of Hyper-V Cmdlets and how to create
    a Hyper-V VM
  • How to display and discover information about your VMs and Hyper-V host
  • Get mounted ISO files & identify orphaned VHD/VHDX files
  • How to delete obsolete snapshots and query Hyper-V event logs

SAMPLE POWERSHELL SCRIPTS

  1. Get-HyperVEvents.ps1
  2. Get-ImageFromISO.ps1
  3. Get-MyVM.ps1
  4. Get-ObsoleteVHD.ps1
  5. Get-VHDInfo.ps1
  6. Get-VMMemoryReport.ps1
  7. Get-VMOS.ps1
  8. Get-VMSnapshotUsage.ps1
  9. New-HVHealthReport.ps1
  10. New-VMfromISO.ps1
  11. New-VMFromTemplate.ps1
  12. Remove-OldVMSnapshot.ps1
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Free eBook – Hyper-V 2012 Hands-On Guide

eBook - Hands-on Guide: Understanding Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012Title: Hands-on Guide: Understanding Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012
Author: Brien Posey with additional chapters from Pete Zerger and Chris Henley
Published: 2013
Pages: 392
Price: FREE*
* Registration required for download
(email address & job description)

FORMATS

  • PDF: 23.5 MB
  • MOBI: 31.4 MB
  • EPUB: 15.4 MB

Download URL: Click here for download

File name: veeam_brien_posey_hands_on_guide_understanding_hyper_v_in
_windows_server_2012_wpp (.pdf, .mobi or .epub)

DESCRIPTION

If you’re just getting started with Hyper-V, you’ll really like this eBook because it shows screen-by-screen how to enable and work with Hyper-V features.

You will learn how to:

  • Build clustered Hyper-V deployment
  • Manage Hyper-V through PowerShell
  • Create virtual machine replicas
  • Transition from a legacy Hyper-V environment, and more

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. An Introduction to Hyper-V 3.0
  2. Failover Clustering
  3. Migrations
  4. Managing Virtual Machine Failover
  5. PowerShell Management
  6. Virtual Machine Management
  7. P2V Conversions
  8. Replication
  9. Hyper-V Management
  10. Networking
  11. Backing up Hyper-V
  12. Automation and Orchestration

Source: Veeam ‘Best of 2013’ blog post

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Free eBook – Introducing System Center 2012 R2

Introducing Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 - Technical OverviewTitle: Introducing Microsoft System Center 2012 R2 – Technical Overview
Author: Mitch Tulloch with Symon Perriman and the System Center Team
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Published: Dec 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7356-8283-2
Pages: 180
Size: 12.4 MB
Price: FREE
Download URL: Click here for download
File: Microsoft_Press_ebook_Introducing_System_Center_2012_PDF.pdf

DESCRIPTION

Microsoft System Center is one of the three pillars of Microsoft’s Cloud OS vision that will transform the traditional datacenter environment, help businesses unlock insights in data stored anywhere, enable the development of a wide range of modern business applications, and empower IT to support users who work anywhere while being able to manage any device in a secure and consistent way. The other two pillars of the Cloud OS are, of course, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Azure, and Microsoft Press has recently released free Introducing books on these platforms as well.

Whether you are new to System Center or are already using it in your business, this book has something that should interest you. The capabilities of each component of System Center 2012 R2 are first described and then demonstrated chapter by chapter. Real-world and under-the-hood insights are also provided by insiders at Microsoft who live and breathe System Center, and those of you who are experienced with the platform will benefit from the wisdom and experience of these experts. We also included a list of additional resources at the end of each chapter where you can learn more about each System Center component.

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Free eBook – Secrets of PowerShell Remoting

eBook - Secrets of PowerShell RemotingTitle: Secrets of PowerShell Remoting
Author: Don Jones with Tobias Weltner and Dave Wyatt
Publisher: PowerShell.org
Published: Nov 2013
Pages: 92
PDF: SecretsOfPowerShellRemoting.docx
Size: 6.58 MB
Price: FREE
Download URL: Click here for download

DESCRIPTION

The authors set out to write this guide because they were getting a lot of questions about some of the trickier bits of PowerShell Remoting, and wanted to provide an authoritative resource for people seeking to configure Remoting properly for a variety of situations. The guide was started by Don Jones, and Tobias Weltner came aboard to provide a great deal of additional material and improvements. Along the way, numerous members of the PowerShell community contributed their expertise as technical reviewers, suggested additional content to include, and so forth – truly making this a collaborative, group effort.

This eBook is updated so check the download URL above from time-to-time to check for newer / updated versions.

Also, other free eBooks from PowerShell.org can be found here:
http://powershell.org/wp/newsletter/

  • Secrets of PowerShell Remoting
  • Creating HTML Reports in PowerShell
  • The Big Book of PowerShell Gotchas
  • Making Historical and Trend Reports in PowerShell
  • The Community Book of PowerShell Practices

If you really want to follow what’s going on in the PowerShell community, check out the PowerShell.org and following Don Jones on Twitter: @concentrateddon

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Free eBook: Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals

Free eBook: Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT ProfessionalsTitle: Introducing Windows 8.1 for IT Professionals
Author: Ed Bott
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Published: 10/14/2013
Pages: 136
ISBN: 978-0-7356-8427-0
PDF: Microsoft Press ebook Introducing Windows ITPro PDF.pdf
Size: 9.3 MB
Price: FREE
Download URL: Click here for download

OTHER FORMATS

  • ePUB – coming soon (same URL above).
  • Mobi (Kindle) – coming soon (same URL above).
  • Hard copy – available from Amazon.com on 11/04/2013 for $8.99 US.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. An overview of Windows 8.1
  2. The Windows 8.1 user experience
  3. Deploying Windows 8.1
  4. Security in Windows 8.1
  5. Internet Explorer 11
  6. Delivering Windows Store apps
  7. Recovery options in Windows 8.1
  8. Windows 8.1 and networks
  9. Virtualization in Windows 8.1
  10. Windows RT 8.1
  11. Managing mobile devices

DESCRIPTION

The goal in this book is to help you on the upgrade path by presenting the
facts and features about Windows 8.1 as clearly as possible. If you’ve been living in an environment built around a previous version of Windows, you have a lot to absorb in the transition to Windows 8.1. This book tries to lay out those facts in as neutral a fashion as possible, starting with an overview of the operating system, explaining the many changes to the user experience, and diving deep into deployment and management tools where it’s necessary.

By design, this book focuses on things that are new, with a special emphasis on
topics of interest to IT pros. So you might find fewer tips and tricks about the new user experience than your users want but more about management, deployment, and security—which ultimately is what matters to the long-term well-being of the company you work for.

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Training – Windows Server 2012 R2 Storage Jump Start

I have been VERY impressed with the Microsoft Jump Start courses! It’s great to hear that they have another one coming later this month – perfect timing before General Availability (GA) hits for Windows Server 2012 R2.

Microsoft Virtual AcademyTopic: Windows Server 2012 R2 Storage Jump Start:
New Choices
Date: Tuesday September 24, 2013
Time: 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM Eastern (9-5 PDT)
Venue: Online – Microsoft Virtual Academy
Cost: FREE

JumpStartDescription: IT leaders struggle with the costs and complications associated with data growth and are looking for new solutions and tools to help them scale and keep costs down. Come to this Jump Start to find out how the new tools in the R2 release of Windows Server 2012 can help you move workloads to less costly and more robust and scalable storage solutions. Learn more about Automated Tiering, Data Deduplication, Scale-Out File Server, shared VHDX files and Hyper-V live migration over the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol (SMB Direct and SMB Multichannel).

Prerequisites: Having a solid understanding of Windows Server 2012 storage concepts. Preview Windows Server 2012: Storage and What’s New in Windows Server 2012 R2 Jump Start.

Registration: Registration for this event IS required.
Register today!

http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/liveevents/windows-server2012-r2-storage-jump-start-new-choices

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Download – Claims-Based Identity Guide eBook

A Guide to Claims-Based Identity and Access Control (Second Edition)Title: A Guide to Claims-Based Identity and Access Control (Second Edition)
Authors: Dominick Baier, Vittorio Bertocci,
Keith Brown, Scott Densmore, Eugenio Pace,
& Matias Wolosk
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Version: 2.0
Published: 9/3/2013
Pages: 411
PDF: Claims-based Identity Second Edition device.pdf
Size: 19.3 MB
Price: FREE
Download URL: Click here for download

Also available in ePUB format (same URL above)
ePUB: ClaimsBasedIdentityandAccessControl.epub
Size: 9.1 MB

Table of Contents

  • Chapter 1 – An Introduction to Claims
  • Chapter 2 – Claims -Based Architectures
  • Chapter 3 – Claims-Based Single Sign-On for the Web and Windows Azure
  • Chapter 4 – Federated Identity for Web Applications
  • Chapter 5 – Federated Identity with Windows Azure Access Control Service
  • Chapter 6 – Federated Identity with Multiple Partners
  • Chapter 7 – Federated Identity with Multiple Partners and Windows Azure Access Control Service
  • Chapter 8 – Claims Enabling Web Services
  • Chapter 9 – Securing REST Services
  • Chapter 10 – Accessing REST Services from a Windows Phone Device
  • Chapter 11 – Claims-Based Single Sign-On for Microsoft SharePoint 2010
  • Chapter 12 – Federated Identity for SharePoint Applications

 

Description

Claims-based identity seeks to control the digital experience and allocate digital resources based on claims made by one party about another. A party can be a person, organization, government, website, web service, or even a device. The very simplest example of a claim is something that a party says about itself.

As the authors of this book point out, there is nothing new about the use of claims. As far back as the early days of mainframe computing, the operating system asked users for passwords and then passed each new application a “claim” about who was using it. But this world was based to some extent on wishful thinking because applications didn’t question what they were told.

As systems became interconnected and more complicated, we needed ways to identify parties across multiple computers. One way to do this was for the parties that used applications on one computer to authenticate to the applications (and/or operating systems) that ran on the other computers. This mechanism is still widely used—for example, when logging on to a great number of Web sites.

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Download – Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2 eBook

Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2 - Preview ReleaseTitle: Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview Release
Author: Mitch Tulloch with the Windows Server Team
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Published: © 2013 by Microsoft Corporation
Pages: 108
ISBN: 978-0-7356-8293-1
File size: 5.1 MB
Price: FREE preview*
Download URL: Click here for download

Table of Contents

  • Chapter 1 – Cloud OS
  • Chapter 2 – Hyper-V
  • Chapter 3 – Storage
  • Chapter 4 – Failover Clustering
  • Chapter 5 – Networking
  • Chapter 6 – Other Enhancements

Description

Introducing Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview Release (ISBN 9780735682931), by Mitch Tulloch with the Windows Server Team, introduces new features and capabilities, with scenario-based advice on how the platform can meet the needs of your business. Get the high-level overview you need to begin preparing your deployment now. This book is based on the Preview release and will be updated to cover Windows Server 2012 R2 RTM.

Download the PDF version of this title here (108 pages, 5.1 MB). UPDATE: The EPUB format is here and the MOBI format is here.

Watch for the lengthier RTM edition of this ebook later this year!

If you prefer a hard copy of the book, you can order it here from the official distributor, O’Reilly Media, for $9.99.

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Download Even More Free Visio Network Stencils

But wait, there’s more!

Here are a bunch of Microsoft Official Visio Stencils.

Visio Stencils for IT Pro PostersTitle: Visio Stencils for IT Pro Posters
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Published: 03/02/2009
Version: 1.0
Filename: ITPostersVisioTemplate.zip
File size: 603 KB
Download URL: Click here to download

Description:

Download this zip file of Microsoft Office Visio stencils to create your own diagrams for models of server deployments. For examples of how the IT pro content publishing team for Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Office Project Server 2007, Microsoft Search Server 2008, and Windows SharePoint Services used these shapes, see these pages:

Sample content:

Visio Stencils for IT Pro Posters
More Visio Stencils for IT Pro Posters

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11616

 

Visio shapes for SharePoint Server, Project Server, Search Server, and Office postersTitle: Visio shapes for SharePoint Server, Project Server, Search Server, and Office posters
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Published: 2/06/2010
Version: 1.0
Filename: ITPro_PosterStencils.zip
File size: 1.0 MB
Download URL: Click here to download

Description:
Visio shapes to use to create models of server deployment environments.

Sample content:

Visio shapes for SharePoint Server, Project Server, Search Server, and Office posters

More Visio shapes for SharePoint Server, Project Server, Search Server, and Office posters
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21480

 

New Office Visio StencilTitle: New Office Visio Stencil
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Published: 12/18/2012
Version: 1.0
Filename: FLEX_Stencil_121412.vss
File size: 3.9 MB
Download URL: Click here to download

Description:
This stencil contains more than 300 icons to help you create visual representations of Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office 365 deployments including Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, Microsoft Lync Server 2013, and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013.

Sample content:

New Office Visio Stencil
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35772

 

Office Visio Stencil for Exchange 2013Title: Office Visio Stencil for Exchange 2013
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Published: 1/25/2013
Version: Jan 2013
Filename: Exchange 2013 Office Visio Stencil.vss
File size: 2.0 MB
Download URL: Click here to download

Description:

This stencil contains Exchange 2013 specific icons to help you create visual representations of Microsoft Exchange 2013 deployments, including on-premises, hybrid, and Office 365.

Sample content:

Office Visio Stencil for Exchange 2013
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36448

 

Microsoft Exchange 2010 Visio StencilTitle: Microsoft Exchange 2010 Visio Stencil
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Published: 11/05/2010
Version: Nov 2010
Filename: Exchange2010.vss
File size: 6.2 MB
Download URL: Click here to download

Description:

Use this stencil to create Visio drawings that contain Exchange 2010 objects. These shapes include icons for the following:

  • Exchange 2010 server roles
  • Features new to Exchange 2010 SP1
  • Networking, telephony, and Unified Messaging objects
  • Active Directory and directory service objects
  • Client computers and devices
  • Other Exchange organization elements

Sample content:

Exchange 2010 Visio Stencil
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=6977

 

imageTitle: Lync Server 2010 Visio Stencil
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Published: 2/09/2011
Version: Feb 2011
Filename: LyncServer2010VisioStencil.vss
File size: 19.4 MB
Download URL: Click here to download

Description:

This stencil provides over 125 shapes to help you create a visual presentation of your Lync Server architecture.

Sample content:

Lync Server 2010 Visio Stencil
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20891

 

Rack Server Virtualization Template for Visio 2010Title: Rack Server Virtualization Template for Visio 2010
Publisher: Microsoft Corporation
Published: 10/17/2011
Version: 1.0
Filename: Rack_Server_Virtualization.vst
File size: 468 KB
Download URL: Click here to download

Description:

Get started with diagramming a virtualized rack server or data center environment with this Visio 2010 template.

Sample content:

Rack Server Virtualization Template for Visio 2010
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27735

And some older ones…

Network Equipment Shapes for Microsoft Visio (38.3 MB)
(24 stencils, lots of older network objects from Dell, Compaq, Panduit, etc.)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4604

Software and Database Shapes for Microsoft Visio
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=25110

Office Communications Server 2007 and 2007 R2 Visio
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=9194

Microsoft Office Visio Stencil Containing Shapes for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 (2.1 MB)
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=4290

Microsoft Office Visio Stencil Containing Shapes for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

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