Intel TST & Microsoft TS2 Registration Now Open

We have been attending Intel’s Technical Solutions Training (TST) events for quite a few years now.

This year, the desktop and server events are being held on the same day instead of being on separate dates/quarters. This makes it a lot easier for us to attend as we tended to miss the desktop TST sessions due to timing.

The Web site for registration can be found here: Intel TST & Microsoft TS2 Building Solutions Together.

We will be attending both desktop and server TST events being held in Calgary on June 21st.

Note that only US cities get the evening networking event.

The take home desktop configuration from the registration site:

As an added bonus, you will also get to keep this amazing desktop system featuring the Intel® Core™ i7 2600K, Antec* Skeleton Chassis and Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (NFR) at a value of $1,460!

• Intel® Core™ i7 2600K
• Intel® DH67CLB3 Desktop Board
• Antec*  Skeleton Chassis
• Blu-ray Optical Drive
• Crucial* 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit
• Intel® Solid State Drive 320, 80GB
• Microsoft Window 7 Professional (NFR)

The take home server configuration from the registration site:

As an added bonus, you will also get to keep this incredibly powerful uni-processor server featuring the brand new Intel® Xeon® E3-1240 Processor, 2 - 1TB Western Digital Enterprise Drives (w/ 64MB cache!), and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard (NFR), a total value of $1,940!

• Intel® S1200BTL Server Board
• Intel® P4304 Server Chassis (pedestal)
• Intel® Xeon® E3-1240 Processor
• 16GB Memory Kit (4 X 4GB) ECC UDIMMS
• 2@1TB SATA HDDs
• DVD-RW Optical Drive
• Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 Standard (NFR)

Registration costs are as follows:

• Intel Desktop TST AM: $600.
• Intel Server TST PM: $650.

Hopefully there will be an opportunity to help facilitate the afternoon session that is based on Small Business Server 2011!

For the desktop build we will bring a flash drive with Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and the most current drivers and BIOS for the board.

For the server build we would probably bring along the following hardware to augment the server’s configuration:

• Intel RS2BL040 RAID Controller + Battery Backup
• 4x (four) 300GB Seagate 15K SAS drives (or 450GB depending on what is available).
• Intel Remote Management 4 for out-of-band KVM over IP management.
• RMM4 User Guide page.

Remote Server Management

We are now installing Intel RMMs into our client’s servers because of the following feature set:

Essentially we can manage the server as though sitting at the server’s console from anywhere as long as an Internet connection is alive at the client site. Note that a static IP is preferred for the RMM NIC.

We would also be bringing along a flash drive with the SBS 2011 OS, latest drivers, and the latest BIOS/Firmware updates on it too.

In the end, we benefit from the training plus we get to network with our fellow IT Solution Providers and IT Consultants. Walking away with a couple of systems and Microsoft software is indeed a bonus.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer