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Free Microsoft eBooks are available in PDF, EPUB and Mobi for Kindle formats.
John McCabe and Michael Friis
With the introduction of container support in Windows Server 2016, we open a world of opportunities that takes traditional monolithic applications on a journey to modernize them for better agility. Containers are a stepping stone that can help IT organizations understand what key items in modern IT environments, such as DevOps, Agile, Scrum, Infrastructure as Code, Continuous Integration, and Continuous Deployment, to name just a few, can do and how these organizations can adopt all of these elements and more to their enterprises.
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Buck Woody, Danielle Dean, Debraj GuhaThakurta, Gagan Bansal, Matt Conners, Wee-Hyong Tok
The world around us—every business and nearly every industry—is being transformed by technology. SQL Server 2016 was built for this new world and to help businesses get ahead of today’s disruptions. With this free ebook, learn to install, configure, and use Microsoft’s SQL Server R Services in data science projects. R is one of the most popular, powerful data analytics languages and environments in use by data scientists.
Cesar de la Torre and Simon Calvert
Understanding and creating a mobile app development strategy is an important process for today’s development decision-makers opening up new business opportunities or empowering employees to be more productive with new capabilities. Microsoft defines an end-to-end platform for the agile creation of mobile apps that can target any platform (iOS, Android, or Windows), provides easy consumption of services in the cloud or on-premises, spans the requirements for consumer or employee scenarios, offers development teams DevOps tools to improve quality and to achieve faster time to market, and allows for integration with existing enterprise systems. This ebook outlines that end-to-end platform for organizations selecting technologies and tools for a mobile application development platform and for rapid mobile application development. It also describes the core decision factors that organizations should consider, and it outlines the technical capabilities available within Microsoft solutions and products.
John McCabe and the Windows Server team
Windows Server has powered a generation of organizations, from small businesses to large enterprises. No matter what your area of expertise, this book will introduce you to the latest developments in Windows Server 2016. Each chapter has been written by either field experts or members of the product group, giving you the latest information on every improvement or new feature that is included in this version of Windows Server.
Carl Rabeler
Part of the “Microsoft Azure Essentials” series, this ebook helps SQL Server database users understand Microsoft’s offering for SQL Server in Azure. Learn how SQL Server in Azure is similar to SQL Server in an on-premises environment, and how they are different. The author, a content lead for Azure.com, walks you through the steps of getting started with SQL Server in an Azure virtual machine and with Azure SQL Database. Follow the numerous screenshots to create a trial subscription, create SQL Server in an Azure virtual machine, create an Azure SQL Database, migrate an on-premises database to each Azure environment, create users, back up and restore data, and archive data.
Jeremy Taylor
This book is part of a series to provide readers from all over the world with a guide on how to connect SharePoint on-premises to Microsoft's cloud services. You will gain insight into planning, architecture, configuration, and management of SharePoint hybrid. This book covers foundational topics with which you will learn more about Office 365 and Microsoft Azure, architecture planning, platform hygiene and preparation, directory synchronization, and how to configure a seamless single sign-on experience for users.
Ed Bott
Dive in to Windows 10 with award-winning journalist and Windows Expert Ed Bott in this highly curated free eBook covering the top apps, accessories, and utilities included in the box with Windows 10. The sheer volume of Windows programs and accessories says a lot about the power and complexity of Windows—a fact that every IT pro knows from firsthand experience. There’s a tool for nearly every task, and a large part of the process of becoming a Windows expert is knowing how to find the appropriate one when you need it. This eBook contains descriptions and hands-on advice to help IT Pros work faster and smarter. Some of these tools are for everybody—end users and experts alike—whereas some are strictly for professionals. A few are so specialized that you’ll only need them once in a blue moon. Collectively, though, they make up a toolbox that can save you (and your company) time and money.
Andre Della Monica, Russ Rimmerman, Alessandro Cesarini, and Victor Silveira
Get a head start deploying Windows 10—with tips and best practices from experts in the field. This guide shows you how to deploy Windows 10 in an automated way without impacting end users by leveraging System Center Configuration Manager, which is the most used product to deploy Microsoft operating systems in the industry today.
Nigel Cain, Michel Luescher, Damian Flynn, and Alvin Morales; Series Editor: Mitch Tulloch
Part of a series of specialized guides on System Center, this book is specifically designed for architects and cloud fabric administrators who want to understand what decisions to make during the design process and the implications of those decisions, what constitutes best practice, and, ultimately, what to do to build out a virtualized network solution that meets today's business requirements while also providing a platform for future growth and expansion. This second edition includes coverage of the Hyper-V Network Virtualization gateway, designing a solution that extends an on-premises virtualized network solution to an external (hosted) environment, details of how to troubleshoot and diagnose some of the key connectivity challenges, and a look at the Cloud Platform System (CPS) and some of the key considerations that went into designing and building the network architecture and solution for that environment.
Rick Rainey
The “Microsoft Azure Essentials” series helps you advance your technical skills with Microsoft Azure. “Microsoft Azure Essentials: Azure Web Apps for Developers” focuses on providing essential information about developing web applications hosted on Azure Web Apps. It is written with the developer who has experience using Visual Studio and the .NET Framework in mind. If Azure Web Apps is new to you, this book is for you. If you have experience developing for Azure Web Apps, this book is for you, too, because there are features and tools discussed in this text that are new to the platform.
Shreesh Dubey, Vijay Tandra Sistla, Shivam Garg, and Aashish Ramdas; Mitch Tulloch, Series Editor
Part of a series of specialized guides on System Center, this book helps you optimize your System Center Data Protection Manager environment. It focuses on best practices, design concepts, how-to procedures, and in-depth technical troubleshooting.
This guide, by award-winning journalist and Windows expert Ed Bott, introduces new Windows 10 features and capabilities, providing a practical, high-level overview for IT professionals ready to begin deployment planning now. This edition was written after the release of Windows 10 version 1511 in November 2015 and includes all of its enterprise-focused features. The goal of this book is to help you sort out what’s new in Windows 10, with a special emphasis on features that are different from the Windows versions you and your organization are using today, starting with an overview of the operating system, describing the many changes to the user experience, and diving deep into deployment and management tools where it’s necessary.
Jeff Barnes
This third ebook in the “Microsoft Azure Essentials” series introduces Microsoft Azure Machine Learning, a service that a developer can use to build predictive analytics models (using training datasets from a variety of data sources) and then easily deploy those models for consumption as cloud web services. The ebook presents an overview of modern data science theory and principles, the associated workflow, and then covers some of the more common machine learning algorithms in use today.
Danny Hermans, Uwe Stürtz, Mihai Sarbulescu; Mitch Tulloch, Series Editor
Learn how to enhance your Operations Manager environment and better understand the inner workings of the product – even if you are a seasoned Operations Manager administrator. If you are responsible for designing, configuring, implementing, or managing a Microsoft System Center Operations Manager environment, this ebook is for you.
Michael McKeown
The “Microsoft Azure Essentials” series helps you advance your technical skills with Microsoft Azure. “Microsoft Azure Essentials: Azure Automation” will help IT pros and Windows PowerShell developers understand the core concepts around Azure Automation. Using a highly scalable workflow execution environment, Azure Automation allows you to orchestrate frequent deployment and life cycle management tasks using runbooks based on Windows PowerShell Workflow functionality.
Charles Petzold
Written by legendary author Charles Petzold, this 1200-page ebook is a deep dive for C# programmers who want to write applications using a single code base that targets the three most popular mobile platforms: iOS, Android, and Windows, encompassing the Universal Windows Platform and Windows Phone. Produced by Xamarin and Microsoft Press.
Mitch Tulloch
Get a head start evaluating Windows Server 2012 R2—with technical insights from a Microsoft MVP and members of the Windows Server product team. Based on final Windows Server 2012 R2 release-to-manufacturing (RTM) software, this guide introduces new features and capabilities, with scenario-based advice on how the platform can meet the needs of your business. Get the high-level overview you need to begin preparing your deployment now.
Michael S. Collier and Robin E. Shahan
The “Microsoft Azure Essentials” series helps you advance your technical skills with Microsoft Azure. This book covers the fundamentals of Azure you need to start developing solutions right away. It concentrates on the features of the Azure platform that you are most likely to need to know rather than on every feature and service available on the platform. This book also provides several walkthroughs you can follow to learn how to create VMs and virtual networks, websites and storage accounts, and so on. In many cases, real-world tips are included to help you get the most out of your Azure experience. In addition to its coverage of core Azure services, the book discusses common tools useful in creating and managing Azure-based solutions.
Scott Guthrie, Mark Simms, Tom Dykstra, Rick Anderson, and Mike Wasson
This ebook walks you through a patterns-based approach to building real-world cloud solutions. The patterns apply to the development process as well as to architecture and coding practices. The content is based on a presentation developed by Scott Guthrie and delivered by him at the Norwegian Developers Conference (NDC) in June of 2013 (part 1, part 2), and at Microsoft Tech Ed Australia in September 2013 (part 1, part 2). Many others updated and augmented the content while transitioning it from video to written form.
Avkash Chauhan, Valentine Fontama, Michele Hart, Wee Hyong Tok, and Buck Woody
In Introducing Microsoft Azure HDInsight, we cover what big data really means, how you can use it to your advantage in your company or organization, and one of the services you can use to do that quickly—specifically, Microsoft’s HDInsight service. We start with an overview of big data and Hadoop, but we don’t emphasize only concepts in this book—we want you to jump in and get your hands dirty working with HDInsight in a practical way.
Mitch Tulloch with the Windows Azure Team
Get a high-level overview of Windows Azure—and get a running start with this flexible cloud platform. Designed for IT professionals, this guide introduces core features and functionality, with technical insights and advice from a Microsoft MVP and members of the Windows Azure team. Topics include Windows Azure solutions, Compute services, Network services, Data services, and App services.
Marc Farley
Discover how a hybrid cloud model—combining cloud storage services with traditional on-premise storage—can solve multiple storage challenges cost-effectively, all under a single data management system. Focusing on the Microsoft hybrid cloud storage solution, this book offers concise insights on technical, strategic, and practical considerations—so you can begin evaluating potential benefits to your organization.
Get a head start evaluating Windows 8.1—with early technical insights from award-winning journalist and Windows expert Ed Bott. This guide introduces new features and capabilities, providing a practical, high-level overview for IT professionals ready to begin deployment planning now.
Kraig Brockschmidt
Microsoft Press is pleased to offer the second edition of Kraig Brockschmidt’s in-depth ebook on writing Windows Store apps using HTML, CSS3, and JavaScript on the Windows 8.1 platform. The ebook includes 20 chapters and 4 appendices. We’re delighted to welcome you into a world of Windows Reimagined!
Cesar de la Torre and David Carmona
This guide will help you select the right Microsoft development technologies and approaches for your custom .NET application development, depending on the priorities you have for your application and business domain. It is targeted to decision makers, software architects, development leads, and developers who are involved in selecting which technologies to use for their applications and projects, and specifically covers custom enterprise application development, although independent software vendors (ISVs) might also find the information and recommendations useful.
Alberto Ferrari and Marco Russo
Get started quickly with Microsoft Power BI! Experts Alberto Ferrari and Marco Russo will help you bring your data to life, transforming your company’s data into rich visuals for you to collect and organize, allowing you to focus on what matters most to you. Stay in the know, spot trends as they happen, and push your business to new limits. This ebook introduces Microsoft Power BI basics through a practical, scenario-based guided tour of the tool, showing you how to build analytical solutions using Power BI. Get an overview of Power BI, or dig deeper and follow along on your PC using the book's examples.
Microsoft TechNet and the Cloud Platform Team; Series Editor: Mitch Tulloch
This ebook covers a variety of aspects that make up the foundation of the software-defined datacenter: virtualization, storage, and networking. By the end, you will have a fully operational, small-scale configuration that will enable you to proceed with evaluation of your own key workloads, experiment with additional features and capabilities, and continue to build your knowledge.
Andre Della Monica, Chris Shilt, Russ Rimmerman, and Rushi Faldu; Series Editor: Mitch Tulloch
This ebook addresses some of the gaps and pain points you might encounter when implementing, administering, and troubleshooting Software Updates using Configuration Manager 2012 R2. The advice is based on the authors’ experiences working as Premier Field Engineers and Microsoft Consultants in customer environments on a daily basis. Enjoy this book and the shared experiences from the field.
Rob Costello, Richard Maunsell; Mitch Tulloch, Series Editor
Get advice from experts in the field on how to use Microsoft automation solutions! This free ebook introduces you to two Microsoft Automation solutions: Azure Automation and Service Management Automation. It explores both of these tools and how they can be used to meet the automation needs of your Microsoft Azure cloud solutions or your enterprise datacenter environments.
Dive in to Windows 10 with award-winning journalist and Windows Expert Ed Bott in this highly curated free eBook of essential Windows 10 support secrets. Whether you’re training a classroom full of office workers or working one on one with a harried small business owner, your first challenge in introducing Windows 10 is helping each user get comfortable with new ways of doing familiar tasks. The amount of change can be overwhelming, especially for nontechnical users who’ve grown accustomed to Windows 7 after years of everyday use. This book is for anyone who trains people to use Windows 10, including IT pros and those brave souls who staff the help desk in corporations. Most of all, it includes the incredibly large population of people who have earned a reputation for being “the person who knows Windows.”
Jeremy Taylor, Neil Hodgkinson, and Manas Biswas
Microsoft SharePoint hybrid consists of a growing list of advanced hybrid solutions that empowers organizations to consume benefits of the cloud and maintain their on-premises investments. This book is the second in a series of SharePoint hybrid books in which we show you how to configure, troubleshoot, and manage a SharePoint hybrid environment. As you move toward configuring a SharePoint hybrid environment, you will soon realize the need for a go-to manual to ensure a successful implementation. This book does exactly that! It contains step-by-step instructions to help you with configuring and managing SharePoint hybrid. Although, it is aimed primarily for a technical audience, it also addresses business benefits that you might need to present to your management. This book covers configuring these SharePoint hybrid capabilities in detail, along with scenario-based troubleshooting and recommended practices.
George Wallace, Chris Jones, Bill May, and Fred Lee; Series editor: Mitch Tulloch
This free ebook dives into how to extend the reporting capabilities within System Center Operations Manager. By using this information, Operations Manager administrations will have a more comprehensive approach to providing custom reports tailored to their environments. Learn how to create these custom reports and package them up in management packs for deployment.
David Ziembicki and Mitch Tulloch, Series Editor
This book is organized by cloud type and begins with a short overview of the Cloud OS strategy from Microsoft and a high-level hybrid cloud architecture. It also covers the design and deployment of private cloud solutions using Windows and System Center to deliver the software-defined datacenter where storage, network, compute, and management are all virtualized and delivered by the Microsoft platform.
Mitch Tulloch with Nader Benmessaoud, CJ Williams, Uma Mahesh Mudigonda
This brief book identifies some key usage and deployment scenarios for cloud computing to provide some deep technical background on the Microsoft SDN solution, enabling IT professionals to quickly learn the internals of HNV, how it works from end to end, and where and how it should be used.
Mitch Tulloch with Symon Perriman and the System Center team
Get a high-level overview of System Center 2012 R2—and get a running start transforming your datacenter and cloud-optimizing your business. This guide introduces core features and functionality, with technical advice and under-the-hood insights from a Microsoft MVP and members of the System Center team at Microsoft.
David Ziembicki, Aaron Cushner, Andreas Rynes and series editor Mitch Tulloch
Part of a series of specialized guides on System Center—this book delivers a focused drilldown on designing Orchestrator runbooks for workflow management solutions. Written by experts on the System Center team and with Microsoft MVP Mitch Tulloch as series editor, these titles provide concise technical guidance as they step you through key design concepts, criteria, and tasks.
Rushi Faldu, Manish Raval, Brandon Linton, Kaushal Pandey and series editor Mitch Tulloch
Part of a series of specialized guides on System Center—this book delivers a focused drilldown on using Configuration Manager for queries and custom reporting, with scenario-based guidance for deployment success. Written by experts on the Microsoft System Center team and with Microsoft MVP Mitch Tulloch as series editor, this title provides concise, from-the-field guidance as you step through key concepts and tasks.
Yung Chou, Keith Mayer, and series editor Mitch Tulloch
Part of a series of specialized guides on System Center—this book focuses on core tasks for App Controller to implement and manage hybrid cloud solutions. Written by experts on the Microsoft System Center team and with Microsoft MVP Mitch Tulloch as series editor, this title delivers concise technical guidance as you step through key concepts, processes, and tasks.
Rushi Faldu, Manoj Kumar Pal, Andre Della Monica, Kaushal Pandey, and series editor Mitch Tulloch
Part of a series of specialized guides on System Center—this book addresses the most common pain points for Configuration Manager administrators, providing insider and from-the-field insights to help you succeed. Written by experts on the Microsoft System Center team and with Microsoft MVP Mitch Tulloch as series editor, this title delivers concise technical guidance as you step through key concepts and tasks.
Thomas Ellermann, Kathleen Wilson, Karsten Nielsen, John Clark, and series editor Mitch Tulloch
Part of a series of specialized guides on System Center—this book provides a framework for planning and delivering a successful Service Manager project. Written by experts on the Microsoft System Center team and with Microsoft MVP Mitch Tulloch as series editor, this title delivers concise guidance, from-the-field insights, and best practices for optimizing and maintaining your Service Manager environment.
Ross Mistry and Stacia Misner
In this book, the authors explain how SQL Server 2014 incorporates in-memory technology to boost performance in online transactional processing (OLTP) and data-warehouse solutions. They also describe how it eases the transition from on-premises solutions to the cloud with added support for hybrid environments.
Brian Blackman, Gordon Beeming, Michael Fourie, and Willy-Peter Schaub
With this ebook, the ALM Rangers share their best practices in managing solution requirements and shipping solutions in an agile environment, an environment where transparency, simplicity, and trust prevail. The ebook is for Agile development teams and their Scrum Masters who want to explore and learn from the authors’ “dogfooding” experiences and their continuous adaptation of software requirements management.
Stacia Varga, Denny Cherry, and Joseph D’Antoni
With Microsoft SQL Server 2016, a variety of new features and enhancements to the data platform deliver breakthrough performance, advanced security, and richer, integrated reporting and analytics capabilities. In this Preview 2 ebook, we introduce three new security features: Always Encrypted, Row-Level Security, and dynamic data masking; discuss enhancements that enable you to better manage performance and storage: TempDB configuration, query store, and Stretch Database; review several improvements to Reporting Services; and also describe AlwaysOn Availability Groups, tabular enhancements, and R integration. This book is a preview edition because it’s not complete; the final edition will be available Spring of 2016.
Barry Briggs and Eduardo Kassner
Lead the journey to the cloud and drive innovation! Discover what makes the cloud so compelling to enterprises; with which applications you should start your cloud journey; how your organization will change, and how skill sets will evolve; how to measure progress; how to think about security, compliance, and business buy-in; and how to exploit the ever-growing feature set that the cloud offers to gain strategic and competitive advantage.
Michael Howard and Steve Lipner
Microsoft’s Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) is a software development process that helps developers build more secure software and address security compliance requirements while reducing development costs. This ebook, first published in 2006, was Microsoft’s first description of the SDL, and although this ebook isn’t an absolutely up-to-date description of the SDL—you can find that here—it is still full of useful information, including descriptions of many of the SDL’s core practices: threat modeling, banned functionality, fuzz testing, bug bars, correct cryptographic design, and more.
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