Please join as an AWS Solution Architect discusses the steps and available tools necessary to design, setup, and deploy infrastructure for running a multi-server, Microsoft SharePoint Server Farm on AWS. In this webinar we will also cover how to architect for high availability and provision the relevant AWS services and resources to run SharePoint Server workloads at scale on the AWS Cloud. We shall also review available content and tools, such as AWS CloudFormation Templates and a new Advanced Implementation Guide that will help you quickly customize and implement a scalable, enterprise-class SharePoint Server farm on AWS.

1. How to Architect & Deploy a
Multi-Tier SharePoint 2013 Farm in AWS
Presented by Jason Miller & Wayne Saxe
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2. Agenda
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Introductions
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SharePoint 2013 challenges and
CloudFormation
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Microsoft workloads on AWS
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Typical SharePoint 2013 architectures
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SharePoint 2013 in AWS
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Migration approaches
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High availability considerations
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Questions
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3. Wayne Saxe - Ecosystem Solutions
Architect
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10+ years of technology
industry experience
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Focus on empowering the
enterprise with the AWS Cloud
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Developing reference
architectures to showcase the
Microsoft platform within AWS

4. Jason Miller - Senior Consultant
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MCSE, MCSA + Messaging, MCP, MCITP,
MCTS
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18+ years of technology industry experience
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2 years at Summit 7 Systems
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Prior: Chief Engineer for NASA Exchange
consolidation project
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Originally a theater major
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Loves all aspects of tech
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Hates vanity slides
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@s7JasonM
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5. Enterprise IT Challenges
Meeting business growth
Data center limitations
Inflexible architecture
Disaster recovery & high
availability
Finding/retaining talent

6. Benefits of the AWS Cloud
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No up-front investment
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Low ongoing cost
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Flexible capacity
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Speed and agility
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Apps not ops
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Global reach
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7. AWS Cloud Layers
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8. AWS Global Infrastructure
9 Regions
25 Availability zones
Continuous
expansion
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9. Key AWS Services
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10. AWS “Virtual Private Cloud”
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Launch AWS resources in a virtual network you define
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Environment closely resembles traditional network
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Control over IP address ranges, subnets, routes, gateways and
security settings
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Create encrypted VPN connections
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11. Extending Your Data Center
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12. Microsoft Platform on AWS
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Microsoft “License Mobility through Software
Assurance” gives Microsoft Volume Licensing
customers the flexibility to deploy Windows
Server applications with active Software
Assurance (SA) on Amazon Web Services
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Partnership to support running Windows
Server-based workloads on AWS
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Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) with
Windows Server and SQL Server today that
were jointly developed by Microsoft and AWS
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General info on AWS and License Mobility for a variety of MS server
products:
http://aws.amazon.com/windows/mslicensemobility/
SharePoint Server and other Microsoft server
products can be licensed to run on AWS
Detail on AWS and License Mobility with SQL Server:
http://aws.amazon.com/windows/mslicensemobility/sql/
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13. SharePoint 2013 Challenges: On-Premises
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High availability is expensive
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Licensing can be expensive
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Hardware and support agreements
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Skilled personnel to develop and operate
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Office client harmony
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14. SharePoint 2013 Challenges:
Cloud
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Licensing (maybe!)
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Some third party solutions may be difficult to implement
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Data privacy and security
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Network throughput
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Office client harmony
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15. SharePoint Common Workloads
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Enterprise collaboration, content management and team/project sites
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Web applications:
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ASP.NET++ documents/team, SharePoint services, social computer
workflow, backend connectivity, web-part personalization, etc.
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Search services - SharePoint Search Server
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MS Office services: Excel, Word, etc.
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16. SharePoint Scenarios
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Enterprise internal deployment of SharePoint
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•
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All or partial deployment of corporate SharePoint infrastructure on AWS
Intranet-only: user experience identical to running on-premise SharePoint
Public-accessible Web Application/Website
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Web-based application built on SharePoint server
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For instance: customer service portal
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17. Intranet SharePoint on AWS
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Enterprise (Intranet) SharePoint farm:
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•
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Completely or partial (hybrid) hosted in AWS
Extension of enterprise infrastructure into AWS
Key points:
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Typically for corporate group collaboration, content sharing, team sites
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Internal only: access only from within corporate
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Active Directory on-premises: authenticate using corporate credentials
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18. Typical SharePoint 2013 Architectures: Intranet
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19. Typical SharePoint 2013 Architectures: Public
Website
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Public Website
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•
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Hosted public website/application on AWS
Leverage SharePoint Server capabilities for web- based application
(content, workflow)
Key points:
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Complete solution deployed within AWS – Accessible via public internet
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DMZ for threat management
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20. Typical SharePoint 2013 Architectures: Public
Website
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21. Considerations for Multi-Functional Farms
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Search farms
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Workflow Manager
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Lots of content? Consider a separate search farm
High availability requires minimum of three servers
Office Web Apps
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OWA are independent of SharePoint 2013 farms
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22. SharePoint 2013 in AWS
Sequential approach similar to a setup on-premises:
1. Create foundational infrastructure:
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Network, Routing, Security
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2nd Datacenter for High Availability (2nd AWS Availability Zone)
2. Setup AD, Sites, Subnets, Site links
3. Set up MS SQL Server – primary, secondary, (witness)
4. Set up Application Servers
5. Set up Web Front End (WFE) servers
6. Network load balancing
7. SSL/DNS, etc.
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23. SharePoint 2013 in AWS
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Consider VPC and public IP’s carefully
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RDS is not supported because it is SQL authentication only
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Automate deployment with CloudFormation templates
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Consider use of availability zones
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Understand AWS high availability features very thoroughly!
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24. SharePoint 2013 in AWS:
Intranet
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25. SharePoint 2013 in AWS: Public
Site
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26. Bonus: SharePoint 2013 Hybrid
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Many hybrid implementation considerations
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Intranet/AWS: Use AWS VPC and Direct Connect to get two farms
running
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•
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Publish/consume farm services where required
Leverage the flexibility of cloud and security of data simultaneously
Hybrid farms:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj838715.aspx
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27. Active Directory in AWS
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Active Directory setup in VPC to provide user authentication for
SharePoint farm on AWS
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•
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For the intranet scenario, AWS AD contents are replicated from
the AD on-premises via VPN (periodic refresh)
For website scenario, users are created and maintained in AWS
AD
If on-premises alternate directory exists (LDAP etc), then ADFS
should be considered to federate those with SharePoint
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28. Active Directory in AWS: Intranet
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29. Active Directory in AWS: Public Site
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30. Search in AWS
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Used to be FAST Search for SharePoint 2010
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SharePoint 2013 Search can be integrated into an existing farm or
broken out into a separate service
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For larger deployments, Microsoft recommends building a separate
search farm
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Publish the search service, consume on the user farms
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Read many different content sources on farms or federated
search
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31. SharePoint 2013 Workflow Services
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SharePoint 2013 introduces a new Workflow Manager service (for
2013 workflows)
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Separate install from SharePoint 2013 - not installed automatically
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Entire separate farm for SharePoint 2013 Workflow Manager can be
used that is not on the user-facing servers
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Or hook up to Windows Azure for processing workflows
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32. SharePoint 2013 Workflow Services
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Workflow Manager focus areas:
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High Density & Multi-tenancy
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Elastic Scale
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Activity / Workflow Artifact Management
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Tracking and Monitoring
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Instance Management
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Fully Declarative Authoring
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REST and Service Bus Messaging
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33. Server Setup
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Map Microsoft guidance for on-premises and virtualized SharePoint Server
setups to EC2
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For each distinct server type/role:
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Select (or create/derive) AMI for the role – Windows, MS SQL, etc.
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Select EC2 Instance Type – pivot around CPU, RAM, storage, and networking
performance
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Serves as an initial starting point for sizing/testing
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Test/tweak against your metrics and usage patterns, e.g. number of concurrent
users, type and amounts of content, etc
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34. SharePoint Server Scaling
Tier/Role
Scenario
Processor
RAM
Hard disk
Web/App Tier
All
64-bit, 4 core
12 GB
80 GB
Database
Small deployment
64-bit, 4-core
8 GB
80 GB
Database
Medium deployment
64-bit, 8 core
16 GB
80 GB
Domain Controller
All
64-bit, 4 core
8 GB
80 GB
Tier
EC2 Instance and Range
AMI to Use
Web Front End
Extra large: m1.xlarge
Windows 2012 or 2008 R2
App Server
Extra large: High Memory Quad Extra Large (m2.xl–
m2.4xl)
Windows 2012 or 2008 R2
Database Server
High Memory Quadruple Extra Large
(m2.4xl)
Win2012 + SQL 2012
Domain Controller
Extra large: m1.xlarge
Windows 2012 or 2008 R2
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35. High Availability in AWS
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Core Concepts of AWS High Availability
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Multiple Regions
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Availability Zones
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Elastic Load Balancers (ELB)
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Rapid Provisioning and De-provisioning of Servers
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CloudWatch and Auto Scaling
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36. High Availability in AWS
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37. High Availability for SharePoint
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Before you Design, Plan!
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Characteristics of High Availability for SharePoint
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Failover Events should have minimal Effects
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Reduce Single Points of Failure
Farm Continues to Function
Build Redundancy into each component of the Farm
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38. High Availability for SharePoint
Stretched Farms
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Use Two or More Availability
Zones
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Use Private Subnets for Each
Tier
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Database Mirroring for SQL
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Control Ingress and Eagress
with Security Groups
Synchronous vs.
Asynchronous

39. High Availability for SharePoint
SQL 2012 Always on Availability Groups
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HA solution provides alternative
to Database Mirroring
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Provides Automatic Failover
almost Instantaneously
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Builds on SQL Availability
Groups
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•
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Doesn't Require Shared Disk
Storage
Very Similar to Deploying in an
on-premise environment

40. Deployment Tools
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AWS CloudFormation
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Specify creation and configuration of AWS resources in a JSONbased template
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Deploy template using AWS CloudFormation to create a ‘stack’ of
running resources
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Integrates with other deployment scripts/tools
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Private AMI Creation
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Windows PowerShell
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Execute on instance at provisioning time via instance Metadata
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Use PowerShell to orchestrate CloudFormation template launches
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41. Migration Strategies
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Existing SharePoint 2013 on-premises deployment project
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Detach and copy to AWS
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Set content databases to read-only
Attach content database
Third party utilities to hot-migrate data
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AvePoint DocAve
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Dell Migration Manager
Metalogix
Migration project whitepaper:
https://software.dell.com/whitepaper/best-practices-for-migrating-tosharepoint-online-in-office-365825430/
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42. Advanced Implementation
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Available in pdf format:
https://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/sharepoint-implementation-guide
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Comprehensive guide detailing all of the components of the AWS
CloudFormation templates, AMI and instance configuration, parameters
that can be varied, etc
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Walks through ALL of the AWS CloudFormation details, PowerShell scripts,
cfn-init details, etc
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Targeted to customers and systems integrators that want to understand all
the details, to customize, extend, etc

43. More Reading
Web Pages
Whitepapers
Microsoft on AWS
http://aws.amazon.com/microsoft/
Microsoft SharePoint Server on AWS: Reference
Architecture
SharePoint on AWS
http://aws.amazon.com/sharepoint/
Secure Microsoft Applications on AWS
Implementing Microsoft Windows Server Failover
Clustering (WSFC) and SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn
Availability Groups in the AWS Cloud
Windows on AWS
http://aws.amazon.com/windows/ (includes pricing)
Amazon EC2 Windows Guide
http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 in the AWS Cloud:
Planning & Implementation Guide
Microsoft AMIs for Windows and SQL Server
https://aws.amazon.com/amis?ami_provider_id=1&platform=
Windows &selection=ami_provider_id%2Bplatform
Microsoft License Mobility
http://aws.amazon.com/windows/mslicensemobility/
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44. Contact us!
Microsoft (general)
https://aws.amazon.com/microsoft/contact-us/
SharePoint
https://aws.amazon.com/sharepoint/contact-us/
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