System Center 2012 SP1 Beta is now available!

Oh yes.

Finally, System Center 2012 SP1 Beta is now available and this is the version that will work together with Windows Server 2012 RTM.

What’s new? (From Server & Cloud blog at http://blogs.technet.com/b/server-cloud/archive/2012/09/10/system-center-2012-sp1-beta-available-evaluate-with-windows-server-2012.aspx ) :

 

Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 Support
With this Beta release, all System Center 2012 SP1 components are now enabled to manage and run in a Windows Server 2012 environment.  System Center 2012 SP1 Beta also now supports the use of SQL Server 2012. 

Network Virtualization
With System Center 2012 SP1 you can take advantage of the Virtual Machine Manager’s ability to manage Hyper-V network virtualization across multiple hosts, simplifying the creation of entire virtual networks. 

Hybrid Cloud Management and the Service Provider Foundation API
System Center 2012 already enables optimization of your organization’s private cloud and Windows Azure resources from a single pane of glass, using the AppController component. In System Center 2012 SP1 we’ve extended AppController’s capabilities to include cloud resources offered by hosting service providers, giving you the ability to integrate and manage a wide range of custom and commodity IaaS cloud services into the same single pane of glass.

Service Provider Foundation API
The Service Provider Foundation (SPF) API is a new, extensible OData REST API in System Center 2012 SP1 that enables hosters to integrate their System Center installation into their customer portal and is automatically integrated with customers’ on-premises installation of AppController. A simple exchange of credentials enables enterprises to add the Service Provider cloud to App Controller for consumption alongside private and public cloud resources. SPF also has multi-tenancy built-in enabling operation at massive scale, controlling multiple scale-units built around Virtual Machine Manager.

Windows Azure Virtual Machine management
System Center 2012 SP1 now integrates with Windows Azure Virtual Machines enabling you to move on-premises Virtual Machines to run in Windows Azure and then manage from your on-premises System Center installation enabling a range of workload distribution and remote operations scenarios

Enhanced backup and recovery options
System Center 2012 SP1 Data Protection Manager adds the option to host server backups in the Windows Azure cloud, helping to protect against data loss and corruption while integrating directly into the existing backup administration interface in System Center. More details.

Global Service Monitor Support
System Center 2012 SP1 includes support for a new Windows Azure-based service called “Global Service Monitor” (GSM). GSM extends the application monitoring capabilities in System Center 2012 SP1 using Windows Azure points of presence around the globe, giving a true reflection of end-user experience of your application. Synthetic transactions are defined and scheduled using your on-premises System Center 2012 SP1 Operations Manager console; the GSM service executes the transactions against your web-facing application and GSM reports back the results (availability, performance, functionality) to your on-premises System Center dashboard. You can integrate this perspective with other monitoring data from the same application, taking action as soon as any issues are detected in order to achieve your SLA. To evaluate System Center 2012 SP1 with GSM, sign up for the customer preview of GSM.

Begin your evaluation of System Center 2012 SP1 with Windows Server 2012 today:

• Download the Beta
• Visit the TechNet System Center 2012 SP1 Beta library for technical documentation to support your evaluation

I will test and play with every component, but first thing first: Virtual Machine Manager.

Oh, and you will of course not be able to Live Migrate a running VM from your private cloud to Windows Azure. You will have to store it in the library and make it accessible for Azure before you can run it in Microsoft’s cloud datacenter.

Until next time,

Kristian