Essential deployment tools for Microsoft admins

The deployment process can make or break your experience with any given technology solution; the tougher ones may even deter you from rolling out a solution. Nearly every admin has scraped through a difficult deployment that resulted in improper setup of a technology or one riddled with problems that left you worrying.

Admins will be happy to note that a series of updates to Microsoft’s deployment tools is vastly improving the experience for many of the company’s higher-end solutions, including Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync. Microsoft’s reason for investing in these deployment tools may be obvious, as the more difficult a deployment, the less likely you’ll adopt that solution. But the results of that effort are rewarding to admins as well.

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Here’s a rundown of essential deployment tools for your Microsoft server environment.

Essential tools for deploying Exchange and Lync

Deployment Assistant for Exchange is a great example of Microsoft lending admins a helping hand. The tool, which is updated continually, will soon include Exchange 2013 assistance. Another useful example is Remote Connectivity Analyzer. This online tool, also updated continually, can be used to test your Exchange environment and Office 365.

Microsoft has great incentive to improve Lync deployment. Otherwise, admins might be more content to stick with their enterprise voice solution if Lync installation turns out to be a headache.

Topology Builder for Lync provides checks and balances to ensure that you don’t deploy an incorrect topology. The tool, required in rolling out Lync, won’t publish your topology if it isn’t configured incorrectly. Topology Builder didn’t exist with OCS (Office Communication Server), and anyone who deployed OCS can attest to the fact that the omission complicated those earlier deployments.

But there’s more! The Lync 2010 Planning Tool is a simple 2MB download you can use to map out your topology before deploying any servers. It helps you put together a .tbxml file that can be pulled into your Topology Builder, which you then use to publish the Lync design for your environment to SQL. This optional tool is a no-brainer for deployments and should be your first step in deploying Lync. (Note: Lync 2013 uses the same type of Planning Tool/Topology Builder for deployments.)

Another way Microsoft assists in deployment strategies: Its Service Pack releases allow for scenarios that didn’t exist prior to that SP. Exchange Server 2010 SP3, slated for release in the first half of next year, will include coexistence with Exchange 2013 and support for installation of Exchange 2010 on Server 2012 — SP3 is essential to both deployment scenarios.

Power tools for Windows 8 deployment

Windows 8 is another example of must-have deployment assistance. While many organizations will hold off on Windows 8, instead shifting over to Windows 7 from XP, others will be keen to find out that Microsoft Deployment Toolkit can assist with a move to Windows 8. The new MDT 2012 includes improvements and features to make the rollout of OSes (including both Windows 8 and Server 2012) easier than in the past.

MDT 2012 helps with deployments using LTI (Lite Touch Installation), ZTI (Zero Touch Installation), and UDI (User Driven Installation) methods. In addition, there are several tools in the deployment kit for further easing your migration, including Windows ADK (Assessment and Deployment Kit) and the Microsoft DaRT (Diagnostics and Recovery Toolkit).

Unfortunately, earlier deployment tools were so complicated that you needed training just to find out you would’ve been better off hiring deployment experts rather than doing it yourself. It’s not like the old days where you just double-click setup.exe and move to the next system. Hopefully the new MDT helps reduce the stress of deploying Windows in your enterprise.

Whether through online planning and testing tools, service pack updates to assist with deployment options, or entire toolkits with a bevy of tools to assist with unique deployment scenarios of your OSes, Microsoft is well aware that deployment is the first hurdle to getting its solutions up and running productively in your enterprise environment. The above tools can ease admins’ pain points with high-end and high-profile solutions.

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