We have a look at what benefits
having a TechNet subscription offers
The best way to gain experience with a
particular piece of software is to actually roll up your sleeves and get stuck
in. Installing it multiple times, trying out different installation
combinations, setting the product up, customising it and getting used to its
common features will give you more experience than could ever be garnered from
the pages of a book or magazine.
Like many of you, we suspect, if we were
given a pound every time we broke an operating system, or program, by fiddling,
tweaking or generally toying with its inner workings, then we’d begin to rival
Croesus in terms of wealth. The fact is, though, by doing so we gained a deeper
understanding and arcane knowledge of products, which enabled us to customise
some systems to the point of near perfection, and have the ability to recognise
a problem on somebody else’s.
Microsoft
TechNet, where you can evaluate to your heart’s content
Many have an unfair advantage, though:
working in the IT sector. As a result, they get their hands on software to
test. The rest of us, the enthusiasts, who loved to tinker and would have sold
their Mother-in-Laws for the chance of getting their hands on new products have
to wait, and subsequently pay a heavy sum, for the software.
Things have changed slightly these days,
and getting legal access to the latest software is far easier than ever before.
If you read on, it could save you a pretty penny or two, because the software
I’m talking about here belongs to Microsoft, and includes their operating
systems, office products, server operating systems, data centres, productivity
applications and communications products.
Microsoft TechNet
Microsoft TechNet is a resource and
technical project that started some years ago. Built on top of the popular
business and educational volume licensing side of the company, TechNet formed a
one-stop shop for companies, large and small, and IT professionals to manage
their software and licensing. In addition, TechNet provides valuable
documentation and discussions for the IT professional, through their TechNet
forums, blogs and Wiki’s, which cover all manner of Microsoft, and
non-Microsoft, related topics.
The
TechNet Portal, once you have a subscription, login and download.
Back in the ‘good old days’, volume
licensing, and the MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network), provided the subscriber
with huge batches of software, operating system both desktop and server, office
products etc. arriving monthly in CD or DVD format, and in every conceivable
language, along with the complete Microsoft Knowledge Base, which were the
relevant service packs, security updates, resource kits and many other
resources. In fact, those of you who can recall those days of brown/red CD
sleeves will no doubt remember fishing out a disc and taking it to a machine
only to discover that you picked up the Brazilian language version of Windows
XP.
Nowadays the technical content is all online
although you can still order the media - and managed through the new TechNet
Subscription Portal. The portal works the same way as the old library systems,
in that you simply browse for the product you are looking to install, download
it, access one of the license keys allocated to your (or the company’s) account
and then proceed to install it and test it.
TechNet, however, still remains the focus
of the professional and the company, but it can also be used to benefit us, the
enthusiasts, the students of technology, the advanced users and those who want
to improve their expertise and keep up to date and on the cutting edge of
Microsoft products.
Subscription Benefits
To start with, let’s look at the
subscription levels, and what they cost. There are three different levels:
TechNet Standard, Professional and Professional with media.
There
are three different levels: TechNet Standard, Professional and Professional
with media.
TechNet Standard
This base subscription still affords you
such luxuries as exclusive access to the portal, in order to download the media
and have access to the evaluation of Microsoft software (although it doesn’t include
Enterprise or Microsoft Dynamics software), which includes a number of
scenarios such as install/uninstall, defining the software’s security prior to
deployment, compatibility, comparison, stability, performance and end- user
environment. You also have access to TechNet live, a 24/7 chat support for
assistance on any of the TechNet software, as well as priority support for
questions asked in the TechNet forums. In addition, you’ll also get one
collection at Microsoft E-Learning, a set of courses, equating to twenty hours
per year, on a variety of subjects and software.
A 12 month subscription costs an initial
$213, with a $160 renewal after the initial twelve months.
TechNet Professional
This takes things up a gear or two; you get
all of the above, plus access to the Enterprise software, two collections from
the Microsoft E-Learning courses and professional support calls, which include
two complimentary calls and a 20% discount on additional calls after that. The
cost is $374, with a $267 renewal after the end of the twelve month period.
TechNet Professional With Media
The name says it all, really. It’s the same
as the above professional level, but with the added nicety of having a
disc-based media to add to your collection of coasters. Interestingly, although
you may have the media at hand, it will won’t generally appear on your doorstep
until at least three to six months after the software is available online. This
is due to the manufacturing lead times and the shipping of the media to every
corner of the globe. The cost of this level is $643, and the renewal after
twelve months will set you back a cool $482.
TechNet
Professional With Media
Naturally, you can draw your own
conclusions as to what level of subscription is required, but for the sake of argument,
the TechNet Standard represents the best value to the advanced user, enthusiast
or those who are improving their skills.
License Restrictions
By signing up for a TechNet subscription
you are adhering to strict rules, as laid out by Microsoft. TechNet
subscription licensing terms can be something of a pain to follow, reading, as
you would expect, like any other legal document. Moreover the terms and
conditions are based on you as the subscriber, and can only be used for
evaluation and deployment planning purposes, and not in a full production
environment. Once you install the software, you are bound to protect it, and
especially the license key, from leaving your evaluation environment, and you
can only use it for as long as you hold a TechNet subscription.
In other words, as according to Microsoft
‘The TechNet Subscriptions Software License Terms grant one user the right to
install the program software on any devices for evaluation purposes, including
those located at his or her home, so long as the user fully complies with all
of the License Terms, no matter where the device is located. In other words,
one user may install and use the evaluation software, only to evaluate it. You
may not use it in a live operating environment, a staging or production
environment, or with data that has not been sufficiently backed up. You may not
use the evaluation software for software development or in an application
development environment.’ And each subscription is licensed to one person and
only the designated subscriber can use the software, access the support
incidents and TechNet Portal.
Although paying a minimum of $212 for
evaluation software may seem a little odd, there is the benefit of having that
software to evaluate for the entire time of your subscription. Alongside this,
is the added experience of having access to the likes of Windows 8 Pro,
SharePoint Server 2013, SQL Server 2012, Windows Multi-Point Server 2012,
Exchange Server 2013 and Windows Server 2008. Armed with six months’ worth of
working, hands on, experience of these, and your CV will suddenly take on a
certain, much needed, glow that could help grab the attention of a potential
employer.
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Using TechNet
software
Legal grey issues are the order of the day when reading the
licensing terms and agreements but, to sum it all up, under the auspices of a
TechNet subscription...
You may...
·
Use the software, subject to the license terms
provided with the software - such as click-through license terms - except for
any changes to those terms that are provided in this agreement
·
Install and use the software on your devices
only to evaluate the software
·
While you may not...
·
Use the software in a live operating
environment, in a staging environment, or with data that has not been backed
up
·
Use the software for software development or
in an application development environment
·
Use the software if you do not have an active
subscription
·
Separate the components and install them on
different devices. The components of each software program are licensed as a
single unit
·
Share, transfer, resell, or assign your
subscription or the software
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