System Center: 2012 Product Families released!

I've not posted in a while because I've been int he thick of a Configuration Manager 2012 rollout at work. I've had some interesting experiences with setting this up and I plan to blog about them in the near future. For now here's some links if you are planning to get started on this yourself:

Microsoft Server & Cloud Platform Products & Solutions Site:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/

System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Survival Guide:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/7075.system-center-2012-configuration-manager-survival-guide-en-us.aspx

Good luck getting started! Just remember its a beast if you don't set things up properly out the gate so take your time, plan-plan-plan and test-test-test!

I Use This: Keepass

This is my favorite password manager. Loaded with features, F-R-E-E and cross-platform compatible (I use it on my Windows PC's, Macs and my Ubuntu rig). Keepass is a great way to get a handle on your passwords:

Windows version:

http://keepass.info/

Other Platforms:

http://www.keepassx.org/

Lots of great new 2012 releases from Microsoft...

Looks like 2012 will be a busy year for Microsoft SysAdmins. Microsoft has been on a roll here lately with the System Center and MDT product line. Check out these three great tools from Microsoft that just went RC1 or Beta 2:

System Center 2012 - Configuration Manager:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/system-center/configuration-manager-2012.aspx

System Center 2012 - Operations Manger:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/system-center/operations-manager-2012.aspx

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguys/archive/2011/11/11/mdt-2012-beta-2-released.aspx

I have high hopes of successfully rolling these out at my company in 2012. If you're a SysAdmin working in a Windows environment, I suggest you make similar plans.