@scottalanmiller said in Is the CompTIA A+ Certification Right for IT? SAMIT Video:

@dashrender said in Is the CompTIA A+ Certification Right for IT? SAMIT Video:

@scottalanmiller said in Is the CompTIA A+ Certification Right for IT? SAMIT Video:

@dashrender said in Is the CompTIA A+ Certification Right for IT? SAMIT Video:

Not on purpose or anything, but I skipped right over the A+ and studied for and passed the NT 4.0 MCSE as my first certifications.

It's not really skipping it any more than you likely skipped your automotive certification. It's not in the path between "interest" and the MCSE. And the Network+ didn't exist back then, so the MCP was the starter cert in that arena.

Well the job I had at the time was hmmm... install/fix end user PCs, run cabling, move (but not program) phones. We did eventually take over image deployment with a Partition Magic for Win 3.1 and 9x machines.

So, is that bench or IT?

That's bench.

This was my assumption.

I definitely didn't to be in that department for long. At the company, the pay topped out at like $28K for a bench tech.

Move to the LAN department (as it was called - the department that was responsible for the network switches/firewalls/servers) ranged from $40K - $130K. remember this is in NE, 15 years ago, and cost of living is still low compared to a lot of places, but apparently it's moderate compared to where Scott likes to live.

Yeah I liked this too. I totally believe all that too. I even experienced this recently too from talking to a Windows admin and yet the average Linux person who may not even be an admin just knows vastly more it seems. Anyway, good video and thanks!

The way you pronounce "hypervisor" sounds Irish. #justsayin

Good video. Possibly another video idea, if you want to get into it, is a break down on how you make the decision on what operating system or software to use and how to run the numbers. I hear that a lot and I personally would not know how to do this reliably. Maybe others would not either .

@scottalanmiller said in What Exactly Is a VPN, Is HTTPS a VPN SAMIT Video:

@coliver said in What Exactly Is a VPN, Is HTTPS a VPN SAMIT Video:

@scottalanmiller said in What Exactly Is a VPN, Is HTTPS a VPN SAMIT Video:

@coliver said in What Exactly Is a VPN, Is HTTPS a VPN SAMIT Video:

@scottalanmiller said in What Exactly Is a VPN, Is HTTPS a VPN SAMIT Video:

@wirestyle22 said in What Exactly Is a VPN, Is HTTPS a VPN SAMIT Video:

This was an interesting video. Thanks.

Don't forget to upvote it on YouTube ;)

Like, Comment, and Subscribe. You've got to get the youtuber lingo down.

I said it at the end!

I haven't watched it yet. I find video media extremely hard to watch while at work.

It's there to give you a break ;) Or watch while commuting.

Watch while commuting...

Listened to this on Friday. Thank you for reinforcing what I have been saying for about a year now around my company.

People in production brings in equipment that requires network connection and ports open to a cloud server, but does not inform us of these needs until after the equipment hasn't been installed and wonders why its not working.

"Well no wonder why it is not working. We have to run a network connection into a production environment, give your equipment (that I just met, potential security issue) an IP address, and open ports to a cloud system that I have no idea about and no control over. All because you did not value IT enough to include us in the decision making processes to figure out if it would be compatible with our environment."

The basic information on how the certs work from 1996 still apply today. That's 21 years and counting. It's not expected to change for the next several years at least. The MTAs were a pre-pro cert added later, but as they are pre-pro and are not on the roadmap, that's not really a change. They've very slightly altered the MCP name, but that's fine as it was so ridiculous and pointless anyway. It's a bit like the SATs, after the mid-2000s they had to "dumb it all down" a little bit as it was just too hard for their audience.

But the MCSA and MCSE have remained pretty staunchly in place except for a really brief rebranding period that they immediately reverted, for decades and while they are much easier than they used to be, they remain in the same market position as always.

@dashrender said in How Many Windows Server VMs Can You Run on Hyper-V SAMIT Video:

@jaredbusch said in How Many Windows Server VMs Can You Run on Hyper-V SAMIT Video:

@msff-amman-itofficer said in How Many Windows Server VMs Can You Run on Hyper-V SAMIT Video:

@jaredbusch said in How Many Windows Server VMs Can You Run on Hyper-V SAMIT Video:

@msff-amman-itofficer said in How Many Windows Server VMs Can You Run on Hyper-V SAMIT Video:

@jaredbusch said in How Many Windows Server VMs Can You Run on Hyper-V SAMIT Video:

@msff-amman-itofficer said in How Many Windows Server VMs Can You Run on Hyper-V SAMIT Video:

@tim_g

@tim_g said in How Many Windows Server VMs Can You Run on Hyper-V SAMIT Video:

@msff-amman-itofficer said in How Many Windows Server VMs Can You Run on Hyper-V SAMIT Video:

Oh and they provide the hyper v integration as cab file (guest agent):
windows6.x-hypervintegrationservices-x64.cab
I cant belive I complained when VIRT IO Tools was repackaged some time ago and they changed some folders in there ISO image, while MS gives you a .cab file and not even an executable.

What do you mean? What VM are you trying to install? You shouldn't need any integration tools at all for any modern operating system on a VM. They come built in and are updated via Windows Update (if running Windows OS)

If you install RHEL or CentOS, you can download a Linux Integration Services .ISO if you need to. You simply run the ./install.sh file. All other modern Linux OSs already have the Hyper-V Integration built in to the kernel.

This is what i am talking about:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-US/help/3063109/hyper-v-integration-components-update-for-windows-virtual-machines

Method 2: Microsoft Download Center

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center.

Operating system Update
All supported x86-based versions of Windows 8.1 Download Download the package now.
All supported x64-based versions of Windows 8.1 Download Download the package now.
All supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2012 R2 Download Download the package now.
All supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2012 Download Download the package now.
All supported x86-based versions of Windows 7 Download Download the package now.
All supported x64-based versions of Windows 7 Download Download the package now.
All supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 R2 Download Download the package now.

Go to the download, and it is all .cab files.

WTF are you talking about. This is not DVD media. You are doing it wrong from the beginning.

Ofcourse I know this is not DVD media, those are the Hyper-V agents that MS wants you to install on your guest machine, MS calls them Hyper-V integration components.

ESXi and KVM Virt IO all provides much better ways to get this installed on your guest machines, and dont provide you a dumb .cab file.

Just because you are not capable of providing a share to get access the files from within the VM does not mean the process is stupid.

Who wants to mount ISO files from the hypervisor all the time just to update software in a guest VM? That is the stupid thing.

Okay, granted what are the commands to create share in Windows hyper-V standalone? I tried and failed, or the only way to do so is to have share outside hyper-V like NAS ? if so both KVM and ESXi can be easier in sending files directly to the host.

I dont want to go to fight about who is the best Virtualization platform cause that is pointless, but my trial wit Hyper-V is everything required 2 extra steps to get it configured. While the competition it can be done with one step.

Why are you trying to put these files on the hypervisor? They have no need to be on the hypervisor. You cannot download them there anyway why are you trying to put them there? The guest VM does not care where they are shared from. Just put them someplace accessible. or even download them directly in the guest VM.

I am not arguing best hypervisor platform. I am simply stating you are doing things wrong and causing your own problems.

I'm guessing that he might be saying that he has no NAS, and doesn't want to create a share from his desktop machine to make those ISOs available to the hypervisor.

ESXi allows you to have a folder on the DataStore that you can then reference. I did this for my ESXi server. Same goes for my XS, I had a local piece of storage on the hypervisor for ISOs.

I don't see an actual issue with this. The biggest one I seem is that you might be using more expensive disk to store ISOs instead of storing them on a NAS.

And Hyper-V lets you access share a folder too. It is all windows, so the admin share is there and active.

\\hypervservername\c$\somefolder

Oh that's funny and interesting! Might I ask what sort of work so I can see a little bit about what is done?

@dustinb3403 said in Microsoft Isn't Crazy:

@jaredbusch said in Microsoft Isn't Crazy:

Video content, did not watch.

Guy didn't know how to set the timezone on a Windows system, and jumped the conclusion that Microsoft just royally screwed up / couldn't figure out time zones, and gave up.

We had a client's onsite IT guy put in a ticket that the exchange server was 2 hours off! Nope, what recently changed?
You rebuilt your laptop and just changed the time and not the default pacific timezone.
Point us, -100 for you being the IT guy.

@jmoore said in If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It:

Oh that's interesting, I didn't know that. Thanks for the information. Yeah I don't want to rock the boat at all but was just surprised by their point of view. I'm personally big on maintaining things at home, digital or otherwise.

Yeah... its' a little like hiring a security guard who actively tells people to STOP locking the doors or doing the rounds "until things are stolen". It's basically the same as "make sure things get stolen."

@EddieJennings If IT doesn't do it then there could be environmental factors that weren't set up identically to prod that could influence who code runs, thus creating bugs and wasted time once the code hits production.

Great ideas. Thanks. Surprised by the number of views in the first half a day as well!

@BRRABill said in Linux: Using Top:

@scottalanmiller

But "respecting it" means nothing.

In WIndows, pressing a key for a function only does that function, or nothing.

I am taking about, for example, in top where

m

and

M

do two totally different things.

Right, an in WIndows it always does two different things. If you keep using it in places where both do nothing, you can make ANYTHING into "not sensitive". But that logic, nearly every letter on the keyboard does the same thing - nothing. So you just told me that WIndows isn't "key sensitive". See why that makes no sense?

@jmoore said in The Motivations of Sales:

I get that. I just know some are better at it than others. Just seems that it would be in a company's best interest to only have someone trained deal with salespeople if that were possible of course.

Right, but the theory is that the term for those people is "IT". Only the IT staff has the possibility of being this role, because if you had someone able to do this role that wasn't IT, they should be IT.

@scottalanmiller said in Always Virtualize Domain Controllers:

@black3dynamite said in Always Virtualize Domain Controllers:

It would help if Microsoft would also recommend to always virtualize domain controllers.

They do. They've been really clear on that from everything that I have seen.

Last recommendation seen on microsoft official docs - maybe the italian ones: virtualize the AD first instance, keep a phisical one as second instance...

don't understand the logic of this. but hey: their offical business support said I was not allowed to virtualise more than 2 VMs on hyper-v, even if there were linux :/

Simplistically speaking, when it doesn't work.
If it works, then it's a backup.
If it does not work, then it's a waste of time and disk space.

@scottalanmiller is right. The bottleneck is always the customer router. And not so much bandwidth as much as packets per second. Your dropbox sync is killing your phone calls 50 to 1 over bandwidth 99% of the time. Your $50 linksys router can't handle a million pps.

Most ISP's are little more than Broadsoft resellers with no interconnects in their local market. Even on the WISP side speeds are so good now that bundling voice isn't relevant.

Never used this but take a look...

http://www.smikar.com/

@Dashrender said in What Does Calling an Application Mission Critical Mean:

@scottalanmiller said in What Does Calling an Application Mission Critical Mean:

Knowing that the business was not taking their systems seriously might be the most important thing that he gleaned from this.

While I see what you're saying... I just don't buy it. the chances that a person would read your post and turn around and return to management and instead of being in a panic over patching say - hey, this is your bloody fault.. now what are you going to do about making sure this doesn't happen again? the answer is only SAM would do that, not another person I know personally.

You base the value on what you see as people likely doing, and there is rational to that. I'm basing it off what they are empowered to do. I like to give more options, faster. How they choose to leverage that is then up to them, but the info that they need is in their hands.

@crustachio said in The Most Needed Skills in IT:

I enjoyed this section of the article:

The second big skill needed in IT departments today is an understanding of business – both business in general and the business referring to the specific business of their own organization. As I said at the beginning of this article, IT is a business enabler. If IT professionals do not understand how IT relates to their business they will be poorly positioned to valuate IT needs and make recommendations in the context of the business. Everything that IT does it does for the business, not for technology and not for its own purposes.

With that in mind, what are some recommendations to improve one's business acumen from an IT perspective?

Hypothetical scenario: Someone has worked at a small IT shop for years and is a comfortable sysadmin, but is considering an IT administrative position at a much more "corporate" environment. Their role will involve a lot more interfacing with other departments or agencies, as well as driving "big picture" projects and purchasing decisions.

What resources could they use to improve their understanding of how to fit in in the business realm, and to develop the proper understanding of IT in such an environment? Are there any particularly good books on this subject?

This is an area where university classes can be really beneficial, if you have access to the right ones. Classes on communications, business, accounting, psychology and such can be huge. There are three main areas that I can think of that really matter:

Understanding people Understanding communications Understanding business

And you might add on the more specific "understanding THE business" as well.

The more that you have any of these, the easier things get. Even if you are a great communicator, if you don't understand the business and its needs at all, you won't have much to communicate.

I don't know of any specific books around this. Maybe things like Open University or something would have resources.

@coliver said in When You Think That You Need a Physical Server...:

@wirestyle22 said in When You Think That You Need a Physical Server...:

@JaredBusch said in When You Think That You Need a Physical Server...:

@EddieJennings said in When You Think That You Need a Physical Server...:

@coliver said in When You Think That You Need a Physical Server...:

@EddieJennings said in When You Think That You Need a Physical Server...:

I know there is a best practice that discourages an environment with only one domain controller.

Why? Do you really need two domain controllers? How many authentications are you doing? How much downtime can you afford? Would it be better to have a single domain controller on a VM that you can backup and restore in a few minutes versus having two running at all times?

Why = because a document from Microsoft said so and at the time when I made our domain I didn't know any better :).

What you're asking me is what I'm asking myself, which moves me to the conclusion that when it's time to make the VM for the accounting software, the old box should just go away. Especially since my tiny number of users would be able to log into their workstations with cached credentials until I can get the domain controller VM functioning again.

Who cares what some paper from the company selling you the licensing says.

What does your company need?

I have never used two domain controllers in the SMB space. Even before virtualization at my clients.

It is simply not something needed.

You don't think the downtime justified the cost for a SMB I'm assuming and load balancing isn't a concern

Rarely is downtime worth the cost of mitigating it in an SMB environment. They often don't actually understand what the true cost of downtime is and exaggerate it more often then not. If you're getting enough requests that you're hitting a performance threshold on the domain controller then you may be out of the SMB space.

And authentication often has a near zero impact for short durations. A DC down could easily go 30 minutes and literally have no one notice.

Good read, thanks.

Too many people become enthralled in learning the technology they want to work with and seem to forget the purpose for the technology in the first place. Active Directory is great, and knowing how to setup, troubleshoot, and administer it is fantastic. But what's the reason for it? Centralized management, which allows for greater control and efficiency in the business. It's a problem of being taught facts without understanding the context behind those facts, and that's a problem that affects the job industry as a whole, not just IT, although IT is usually the field where it's most dramatically seen. People going for finance or business management understand that their tasks are to suit the business needs, and the skills they bring to the table are to serve that purpose. But IT seems to go down this rabbit hole that the technology is king above all else, forgetting what the purpose of the technology is in the first place.