On May 13 and May 20, Ben DeBow and I will be giving two days worth (six sessions) of webinars dedicated to the topic of consolidation with SQL Server. There is no requirement to attend both days, and you can do just one, or both. These webinars are not free, but are great value for the money and your boss does not need to send you anywhere - you can view them right on your computer screen! The cost for a single day is $99, or $178 for both (a savings of $20).

The six sessions we'll be doing are:
May 13 - Part I
11:00 am ET: SQL Server Consolidation Basics
1:00 pm ET: Gathering Information to Make Consolidation Decisions
3:00 pm ET: Applications and SQL Server Consolidation

May 20 - Part II
11:00 am ET: Considerations for SQL Server Consolidation
1:00 pm ET: Approaches for a Consolidated SQL Server Architecture
3:00 pm ET: Administering and Maintaining a Consolidated SQL Server Environment 

Each session will be about 75 minues with a live Q&A with both of us. For more details on each session and to register:

Part I Only http://elearning.left-brain.com/event/sql-server-consolidation-part-1-elearning-series.aspx?code=EP2905A1
Part II Only http://elearning.left-brain.com/event/sql-server-consolidation-part-2-elearning-series.aspx?code=EP2905A2
Both Days (with the $20 Savings) http://elearning.left-brain.com/event/sql-server-consolidation-parts-i-and-ii.aspx?code=EP2905AC

As if that wasn't enough to keep me busy, I've got more going on. Besides working on a few whitepapers which I hope will be released in the next two months as well as customer engagements, I'll be on the road quite a bit. Here's where you can catch me at public or semi-public events besides the webinar:

TechEd North America 2010
I'll be spending time in the SQL Server booth (and probably the Windows Clustering one as well), but the main reason will be my session DAT407 "Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008: Failover Clustering Implementations". It will be on Thursday, June 10th from 5 - 6:15 PM in Room 276 (subject to change, I'm sure; check the site and guide when you get there). I know it's late in the day and most likely before the attendee party (update: it is; actually this is arguably one of the last sessions of the conference), but I hope to see you there and your brains are ready for 75 more minutes of content!

Microsoft Certified Master - SQL Server
I was recently honored with being asked to give one day of sessions at the upcoming May rotation for the Microsoft Certified Master - SQL Server certification. That day is May 14th, so if you're in the rotation, I'll see you there.

I'll actually be on the West Coast quite a bit (mainly in the Pacific Northwest and California) in May and June (outside of TechEd, of course), so if you've got a user group that needs a speaker and I'm in town, let's see if we can't coordinate. Click the Contact link above to get in touch.

Puget Sound SQL Server Users Group
Since I will be in the area, I do plan on trying to attend the Puget Sound SQL Server Users Group meeting if my schedule permits on May 12th. I am not going to be speaking if I go; I'm rarely around to just attend user group meetings anywhere. So feel free to say hello if you spot me!

The answer: 4.
1. Failover Cluster Manager
2. Move-ClusterVirtualMachineRole PowerShell cmdlet (part of the failover clustering cmdlets)
3. System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2
4. Move-VM PowerShell cmdlet (part of the SCVMM 2008 R2 cmdlets)

At the end of the day, how you perform a Live Migration is going to depend on how you like to work - GUI or command line, and then it's down to preference under those. Not everyone will deploy SCVMM, so what you get natively with Windows Server 2008 R2 in Failover Cluster Manager and its PowerShell cmdlets.  

I live in the Boston area. Today, there were massive delays on the T trains (public transportation) all due to a power outage. The power outage which lasted about 7 minutes, was inadvertently caused by a maintenance crew accidentally tripping a breaker at one of the worst possible times - rush hour. To get everything back up and running took about 30 minutes, but the outage brought the trains to a standstill and things took awhile to get back to normal.  

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/05/power_outage_de.html

Imagine if someone did something similar to your IT infrastructure? This is why having clear processes, good plans, and fully testing everything BEFORE implementing in production is key.