June, 2008

Released today, a good overview in this press release: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2008/jun08/06-26hyperv.mspx

Time to upgrade your EPM VPCs: http://blogs.msdn.com/chrisfie/archive/2008/06/25/how-to-upgrade-microsoft-project-vpc-to-hyper-v.aspx

Hyper-V RTM Packages

This is the complete Hyper-V RTM package for Windows Server 2008 x64. This package must be installed on the Hyper-V Parent Partition. It includes the Hyper-V Server components for Full and Core installations. In addition, is contains the Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Management components for Full installations. Note This package is permanent.  Once installed, it cannot be uninstalled.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F3AB3D4B-63C8-4424-A738-BADED34D24ED

Hyper-V Management

• Windows Vista SP1 x64 Management package http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=88208468-0AD6-47DE-8580-085CBA42C0C2
• Windows Vista SP1 x86 Management package http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BF909242-2125-4D06-A968-C8A3D75FF2AA
• Windows Server 2008 x86 Management package   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=6F69D661-5B91-4E5E-A6C0-210E629E1C42

What is the bandwidth requirement for Project Web Access (PWA)? How long does it take to load specific PWA pages? What are all HTTP calls for each component that make up a page? Why is the page taking so long to load? etc… If case you did not know, the easiest way to gather this information and answer the previous questions is to use this free tool called Fiddler.

What is Fiddler?

Fiddler is a Web Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP(S) traffic between your computer and the Internet. Fiddler allows you to inspect all HTTP(S) traffic, set breakpoints, and "fiddle" with incoming or outgoing data. Fiddler includes a powerful event-based scripting subsystem, and can be extended using any .NET language.

Fiddler is freeware and can debug traffic from virtually any application, including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and thousands more.

We have just launched a new “TechCenter” dedicated to Project Portfolio Server in TechNet, expect more documentation in the future:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/projportserver/default.aspx

Assuming you have downloaded the latest EPM 2007 demo VPC, please find below the procedure to convert it to Hyper-V (from Virtual PC); yes I have upgraded my Lenovo T61P from Windows Vista to Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 64-bit to run Hyper-V anywhere!

First, run Hyper-V Virtual Network Manager to setup a virtual network.  Select the hard-wired network adapter (Hyper-V does not support wireless network)
Then assign the Legacy Network Adapter the Hyper-V virtual network set up above
Within Hyper-V Add Hardware –> Legacy Network Adapter (required to activate Windows later on)
Since the host is now 64 bit (Hyper-V requirement in case you missed it) the guest OS needs to be re-activated
Activate Windows 2003 again
If the network connection worked fine you should see this ->
Un-install the Virtual Machine Additions (Add/Remove Programs) and restart the Virtual Machine
Using VMConnect, go to Action –> Insert Integration Services Setup Disk
Accept all updates and restart the Virtual Machine. You can also un-install the Legacy Network Adapter and use a regular Network Adapter.
And voila!

More info on Hyper-V can be found here:

• Virtualization Web site
• Virtualization TechCenter
• John Howard
• Virtual PC Guy's WebLog

Microsoft Project Fx (mpFx) is a class library that wraps the Project Server Interface (PSI) to foster code reuse, reduce complexity, and increase productivity for those developers building solutions with Microsoft Office Project Server 2007.
Version 1.0 will be released as a community project to CodePlex in the next few weeks.  The development team needs your help!  The class library provides easy semantics for doing many operations in PSI.  Here is an example:

// Create an instance of ProjectServer using Windows authentication
using(ProjectServer projectServer = new ProjectServer(Settings.Default.ProjectServerURL, DataStoreEnum.WorkingStore))
{
    
    //  Create a proejct
    using(ProjectDataSet projectDataSet = EntityFactory.NewProject("Colby Test", Guid.NewGuid()))
    {
        try
        {
            projectServer.Projects.Create(projectDataSet, false, true); 

        } 
        catch(SoapException exception)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(Errors.ProcessMSProjectErrors(exception));
            Console.ReadKey();
            return;
        }                    
        
        EnterpriseProject project = projectServer.Projects["Colby Test"];

        // Write the project name and calendar name to the console        
        Console.WriteLine(project.Name);
        Console.WriteLine(projectServer.Calendars[project.DataSet.CAL_UID]);
        Console.ReadKey();
        Console.WriteLine();

        string errorString;

        // Clean up
        if (projectServer.Projects.Delete(project.ProjectGuid, true, true, true, out errorString))
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Project Deleted");
        }
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine(errorString);
        }
    }
}

The development team would like suggestions for functionality, such as "I would like a function that allows me to easily set projects on security categories".  Even better, if you have method signatures from current projects, send them in for consideration for inclusion in the class library.

Please send your suggestions to colby.africa@live.com, you can also check Colby’s blog.

Thank you!

While there are a lot of books on Microsoft Project 2007 (the desktop application), for instance:

• Microsoft Office Project 2007 Inside Out
• Microsoft Office Project 2007 Step by Step

as far as I know only two five books have been published so far on Project Server 2007:

Microsoft® Office Project Server 2007: The Complete Reference by Dave Gochberg and Rob Stewart (Paperback, 647 pages, Jan 22, 2008)	Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 Unleashed by QuantumPM LLC (Paperback, 1296 pages, Nov 1, 2007)

Both books are excellent and even though Unleashed had “Customization” chapters I found the Complete Reference easier to read, it also had a good section on the added benefit or using SharePoint Server. Both books could benefit having a References sections with URL to key resources for IT Professionals and Developers such as these:

• Project Server Developer Bookmarks
• Project Server IT Professionals Bookmarks

Both are also missing deployment project templates such as these:

• Microsoft Office 2007 deployment (clean installation or upgrade from Office 2003)
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 deployment
• Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 deployment (clean installation)
• Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 deployment (migration from Project 2003)

Post update on 6/19/2008 thanks to Gary Chefetz from MSProjectExperts, there are other books on Project Server 2007 that go deeper into deployment guidance for instance:

Implementing and Administering Microsoft Office Project Server 2007	Managing Enterprise Projects using Microsoft Office Project Server 2007	Collaborating on Enterprise Projects using Microsoft Office Project Server 2007

Check the following two sites:

• http://projectservertraining.com/learning/courseware.aspx
• http://www.projectserverbooks.com

Happy reading and happy deployment!

PS: if I have missed any other Project Server 2007 books, please send me an email and I’ll be happy to complement this list!

Thanks to Roger Lamb please find references to improve SharePoint’s and Project Server performance:

• Case Study: Using Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server to implement a large-scale content storage scenario with rapid search availability (TechNet)
• White paper: Database Maintenance for Microsoft® SharePoint® Products and Technologies  (TechNet)
• White paper: Scaling SharePoint 2007 - Storage Architecture (Knowledgelake)
• Physical storage recommendations (Office SharePoint Server) (TechNet)
• How to defragment Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 databases and SharePoint Server 2007 databases (KB)
• White paper: Planning and Monitoring SQL Server Storage for Office SharePoint Server: Performance Recommendations and Best Practices (TechNet)
• Configuring Caching, IIS Compression, and Other Performance Options for SharePoint (Video)

Development specific tips:

• MVP Andrew Connell (AC): Building High Performance Solutions On Microsoft Office Server 2007 (Presentation ppt)

Upcoming book: Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007 Best Practices

Achieve your IT objectives with proven, best-practice guidance on using SharePoint solutions.

Get field-tested best practices and proven techniques for designing, deploying, operating, and optimizing Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0. Part of the new Best Practices series for IT professionals from Microsoft Press®, this guide is written by leading SharePoint MVPs and Microsoft SharePoint team members who’ve worked extensively with real-world deployments and customers. You’ll find out how to deploy the software, design your environment, manage content, analyze and view data, perform disaster recovery, monitor performance, and more. You'll learn how to create SharePoint sites that help your organization collaborate, take advantage of business insights, and improve productivity—with practical insights from the experts.

Are you a Microsoft partner? Would you like to see these reports live ?:

• New SQL Reporting Services Sample Reports for Project Server
• New Excel Services Sample Reports for Project Server

What is Innovation Process Management?

Why should you consider using Office SharePoint Server and not just WSS V3 when you deploy Project Server or Project Portfolio Server 2007?

To find out these answers and more, check out the following two VPC available on our Partner portal:

(under Sales and Marketing –> Sales Demos –> Product Demos)

Demo Videos

• Watch this: Use lag and lead time  This demo shows how to use lag and lead time to create gaps and overlaps between tasks in a project.
• Watch this: Create a project  This demo shows how to create a project, set project properties, and set file properties.
• Watch this: Set up a recurring task  This demo shows how to create a task that repeats on a set schedule throughout a project.
• Watch this: Split a task  This demo shows how to interrupt a task, creating a gap between two portions of the task. It also shows how to move the entire split task, adjust the length of the gap created by the split, and rejoin the split portions of the task to remove the gap.
• Watch this: Insert a task  This demo shows how to insert a new task between two existing tasks in a project.
• Watch this: Group tasks or resources  This demo shows how to group tasks, remove the grouping, and create a new resource group using multiple criteria.
• Watch this: Create a cross-project link  This demo shows how to create task dependencies across separate Project 2007 files.
• Watch this: Link tasks in your project  This demo shows how to create task dependencies within a single project, and how to adjust the link type for the dependency.

TechNet Content

• Best practices for managing the Microsoft Office Project Server Queue Service  This article describes best practices for managing and troubleshooting the Queue system in Office Project Server 2007.
• View the ULS logs for queue job entries  This article describes how to view Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 queue job entries in the ULS logs. It can be used in conjunction with the Manage Queue page in Project Web Access Server settings to help troubleshoot queue job issues.
• Configure maximum job processor threads for the Project Server Queue service  This article provides guidance about how to configure the maximum job processor threads for each queue type for the Project Server queue service.
• WhitePaper: A phased approach to deploying Enterprise Project Management  This whitepaper by Chris Vandersluis provides business decision makers, network administrators, and Project Server administrators guidance about various challenges you can face when planning to deploy the Enterprise Project Management solution in your environment. It is the feature article of the From the Trenches – Deploying EPM in the Real World column available on the Project Server 2007 TechCenter.
• Back up and restore the Shared Services Provider  This article gives you an overview of the task of backing up and restoring the Shared Services Provider for Project Server 2007, and includes task requirements and best practices.
• Back up the Shared Services Provider  This article provides procedural steps for backing up the Shared Services Provider for Project Server 2007, and includes task requirements.
• Restore the Shared Services Provider  This article provides procedural steps for restoring the Shared Services Provider for Project Server 2007, and includes task requirements.

And also check this post in May 2008: Project Content Recently Published

Last week we released Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, and with it comes an out of the box integration with Project Server 2007.

Both products address a common scenario: Line Of Business Integration (LOBI) between an ERP system and Project Server; in this case no need for custom code (check out the LOBI session code sample Brian Smith and I did at TechEd Developer last week in Orlando)!

• Press Release: http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2008/jun08/06-02DynamicsAX2009GAPR.mspx
• Dynamics Website: http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/ax/default.mspx
• Editions (http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/AX/product/editionsandfeatures.mspx)