The purpose of this paper is to help you choose how to deploy Microsoft Exchange: as Exchange Server 2010 on-premises, Exchange Online with Microsoft Office 365 in the cloud, or using both in a temporary or permanent hybrid scenario.

Knowing the benefits and limitations of each deployment option can help you make the right decision for your organization. Whatever you decide, the deployment flexibility that Microsoft provides with Exchange makes it easier for you to get the right solution for your business

Download Exchange Deployment Options Whitepaper

Windows Thin PC (WinTPC) is a smaller footprint version of Windows 7 that allows customers to repurpose existing PCs as thin clients without requiring the VDA license to access VDI desktops. WinTPC replaces WinFLP. In addition, WinTPC will offer:

• Rich VDI experience through support for RemoteFX
• Improved end point security by denying certain disk writes via filters
• Enterprise-grade management support through System Center

WinTPC is available as an .iso file. The Quick Start Guide is your first step in the Windows Embedded Thin PC Community Technology Preview, including installation steps and instructions for submitting feedback. This document can also be found under Downloads on the left side of the page. Microsoft also included a step-by-step Deployment Guide.

The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target has been available for production use as part of Windows Storage Server since early 2007. It has also been available for development and test use by MSDN and TechNet subscribers starting in May 2009. However, until now, there was no way to use the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target in production on a regular server running Windows Server 2008 R2. This new download offers exactly that.

Now available as a public download, the software is essentially the same software that ships with Windows Storage Server 2008 R2. Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 and the public download package will be refreshed (kept in sync) with any software fixes and updates. Those updates are described at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg232597.aspx.

This release was preceded by intense testing by the Microsoft iSCSI Target team, especially in scenarios where the iSCSI Target is used with Hyper-V and with Windows Server Failover Clusters. We do imagine these to be amongst the most commons deployment scenarios.

Testing included running the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target in a two-node Failover Cluster and configuring 92 individual Hyper-V VMs, each running a data intensive application and storing data on a single node of that iSCSI Target cluster. The exciting part of the test was to force an unplanned failure of the iSCSI Target node being used by all the VMs and verify that we had a successful failover to the other node with all 92 VMs continuing to run the application without any interruption.

How to download and install

To download the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 for Windows Server 2008 R2, go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=45105d7f-8c6c-4666-a305-c8189062a0d0 and download a single file called “iSCSITargetDLC.EXE”. (Note: This was just released at 10AM PST on 04/04/2011, so the download might still be replicating to your closest download server. If the link does not work, try again later).

The following list  of tools and scripts could be in use if you need to do an Active Directory (AD) Health Check, or if you simply would like to know more about your network infrastructure.

Of course, this is not a full list, but I think this is a most important and ... Feel free to send me an email or put a comment if you know addition tool or script :) .

• Server documentation using SYDI-Server scripts
• MS Baseline Security Analyzer
• Performance Analysis the PAL tool (lets you script and start the counters)

Not a tool but from Microsoft is the Security Compliance Manager helps to document and harden DCs by applying GPOs:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc677002.aspx