A new big release of Windows Azure SDK V1.3 is available. If you haven’t installed it before follow instructions at bottom of download link. One of features I am interest in is Virtual Machine (VM) Role still in Beta, which allows you to create a custom VHD image using Windows Server 2008 R2 and host it in the cloud. If you think you could host VHD with BizTalk, you could bit please review these considerations recently posted by Sam Vanhoutte.
microsoft azure
Since it announcement Windows Azure is getting more and more attention also by us BizTalk guys lije myself in Holland. I witnessed the announcement of Windows Azure by Ray Ozzie during the keynote at PDC 2008 and I was amazed by it in fact that is a was brand new wave that is heading us: Cloud Computing. Currently it is at is at highpoint of hype-cycle and it has everybody’s attention. Coming year Microsoft in The Netherlands will fully focus on Azure, it’s coming issue of .NET Magazine in March will have Windows Azure as its theme and also Developer Days will have a very strong focus on Windows Azure.
I myself in future will expand my scope and will add some of my experiences from this platform here on my blog. I have joined the Dutch Windows Azure User Group and hopefully I can gain and share knowledge with other members the same way as in the BizTalk User Group.You can expect some stories coming in the near future. I did some post on the subject in the past, but I will try to do so more frequently. I would encourage you if you have not do so already to start investing time in this new technology. A good starting point is the Windows Azure Portal and reading Azure In Action, which is definitely an great resource for learning and understanding Azure.
Cheers!
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The BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 provides connectivity to SAP, Oracle E-Business Suite, Siebel and SQL and Oracle Databases. The BizTalk Adapter Pack can be installed in conjunction with, or separately from, BizTalk Server.
The BizTalk Adapter Pack 2010 includes support for new versions of the following line-of-business applications and databases: SAP 7, Oracle EBS 12.1 and SQL Server 2008 R2. The Adapter Pack also provides support for Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.
It is included in both the Enterprise and Standard Editions of BizTalk. When you install the adapter pack on x64 environment you have to perform a few steps. These steps were described in earlier versions through installation guides, although for some it was not always clear (i.e. I saw couple of questions on forum about how to install or problems people had). There is documentation to install adapters pack, but now during installation one is guided through the necessary steps.
This is a definite improvement towards installing Adapter Pack on for instance x64 environment as shown on the screenshot above. So first step is installing WCF LOB Adapter SDK and by clicking on the first step an installer of SDK is launched.
By clicking next and selecting one of installation options the SDK is installed. After installation you will see that first step is completed in the overall process. Second step is installation of the Adapter Pack (x86). By clicking Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack needs to be installed an installer is launched again.
After installation of this pack the screen is updated again stating second step is completed successfully.
You will sometime see windows update screen or screen with question if you want to join the improvement program. Next step is installing the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack(x64). Before installing this pack you have to install x86 first, which is overlooked a lot of times in past by people. Can’t happen having guidance.
Having installed the x64 Adapter Pack the final step can be performed.
By clicking on Install Microsoft BizTalk Adapters for Enterprise Applications an installer is launched.
As this installation has been successfully completed the process of installing the LOB Adapters is complete.
I recommend to always choose complete installation of SDK, Adapter Packs and Microsoft BizTalk Adapters for Enterprise Applications.You the have documentation at you disposal. Going through this process you now have full set of adapters ranging from new WCF Adapters to old (non-WCF) Adapters. Next step is adding the appropriate adapters in BizTalk Administration Console.
You have to go navigate to Platform Settings –> Adapters and then right click New –> Adapter.
Note: When installing the adapter pack you do not see a new adapter show up under the Adapters folder or in the drop down for Add new Adapter. The adapter pack installs new custom bindings.The BizTalk "adapter" for instance for the Oracle database shows up in BizTalk as the OracleDBBinding. The standard bindings are wsHttpBinding, netTcpBinding, etc. OracleDbBinding and SqlBinding are themselves custom bindings. (Ben Cline explained this on forum few weeks ago).
You can also download the interactive or normal poster of BizTalk Adapter 2010. The BizTalk Adapter Pack is included with BizTalk Server 2010 and you can download the BizTalk Server 2010 Evaluation if you want to try it out.
When completing this process you also have installed all the prerequisites for AppFabric Connect. When starting a WCF Workflow Service you will see BizTalk Mapper.
On AppFabric connect see also Thiago post: Microsoft AppFabric Connect in BizTalk 2010 – licensing and installation, what’s the deal?
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biztalk server 2010 
biztalk server adapter pack 2010
I have never been in Berlin before and this was the city TechEd 2010 in Europe was hosted. I arrived Saturday and was able to look around area near Brandenburger Tor. Next day some more sightseeing going to some museums (Pergamon with beautiful islamic art, National Historic Museum where I visited the Hitler and the Germans. Nation and Crime exhibition ) and walking around Unter den Linden.
The Brandenburg Gate (German: Brandenburger Tor) is a former city gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city center at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which Berlin was once entered. One block to the north stands the Reichstag building. The gate is the monumental entry to Unter den Linden, the renowned boulevard of linden trees which formerly led directly to the city palace of the Prussian monarchs (more on wikipedia).
We as in myself and my colleagues stayed at Scandic Hotel near Potsdamer Platz. Within walking distance of earlier mentioned Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag, and Unter den Linden. It is a brand new hotel with lots of facilities with reasonable pricing. Good hotel if you spend a few days in Berlin.
Monday
The preconference's started together with workshops and hands-on-labs ending with the key-note at 16:00. There were some BizTalk labs available and I did the Monitoring BizTalk Operations using System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2. This lab I was able to do the following: import the BizTalk 2010 Management Pack, observe the status of various items in the OpsMgr console at different health levels, create a custom alert, and monitor BizTalk performance.
In the evening we went to nice restaurant/bar near Arkaden called Mommseneck (House of 100 beers!). Nice beers and food.
Tuesday
I first had opportunity to speak to my MVP lead William Jansen and had a good long conversation with him before I went to my first breakout session of the day: BizTalk Server Performance with Mikael Håkansson and Paolo Salvatori.It was great session and Mikael Sand has written an interesting post on it. Through Microsoft Tech.Ed Online you can watch sessions online for free. Watch this session here. What I have learned from that session is that you will have to prevent that BizTalk will become hotspot. This can be prevented by follow best practices for configuring BizTalk Server environment (see optimization guide for BizTalk).Followed up by using BizTalk Best practices analyser and base lining your environment using Benchmark Wizard found on codeplex.
A went for a couple of other sessions like:
Last session of that day was a really good one called IASA’s Five Pillars of IT Architecture by Jim Wilt. I was accompanied by Mikael (see post) and we enjoyed this session, because one he was a great speaker and two he pointed out BizTalk pro’s know it all.
After day of sessions I went with a couple of colleagues to Tony Roma’s Berlin near Potsdamer Platz where we had an awesome meal.
Wednesday
It was another busy day with a lot of breakout sessions. I kicked off with session by Ron Jacobs called: Using Workflow and Windows Server AppFabric in your Applications. Again Mikael was there (see his post). And he accompanied me during Lunch with also Mikael Håkansson, Johan Hedberg.Food was not so great, but conversation was. Other sessions I attended that day were:
After day of sessions I again went with a couple of colleagues to another fine restaurant near Postdamer Platz called MidTown Grill. This one had excellent food and if you ever have the chance you should eat here.
Thursday
Yet another day with interesting sessions and meeting some interesting people like Oliver Hauth I know from BizTalk forums. We contacted each other months before TechEd started and finally we met. He is a BizTalk professional from Germany, very skilled and with a lot of knowledge in integration with SAP using BizTalk. We hooked up during the session BizTalk Server – What is it, What is new, What is Next? First 20 minutes were a bit boring if you have been running around in BizTalk space for years, but then it got more interesting and in the end astonishing to see that some functionality is going into the cloud (i.e. Azure). Oliver has made nice post (yes I am lazy) on this session. Other sessions I attended that day were:
In the evening I went with my colleagues for our last diner in Berlin to Lindenbräu.The „Lindenbräu“ is a Brewery in Berlin in the Sony Center, that started Berlins high art of beer brewing under supervision of the Bavarian brewery „Hofbräuhaus Traunstein“ in February 2000. We had great meal there together with some nice beers.
Friday
It was last day of the event with three sessions combined with lunch. Between session I had another conversation with Wade at Azure stand. While talking Brain Prince also joined in and we talked about BizTalk old days, Azure and AppFabric.Sessions I attended were:
Yes, a lot code the last day before I drove back with a colleague home. I enjoyed Berlin, and had great TechEd.There is a ton of material out there like TechEd Online, and so on (see links in this post). If you ever go to Berlin I can recommend the places I have eaten and stayed.
Cheers!
