@scottalanmiller said in Any good DRaaS suggestions?:

@PhlipElder said in Any good DRaaS suggestions?:

SPX supports instant-on via file convert to VHDX/VMDK. Having those files sent to a DR site that is set up to fire the VMs up on short order would work well.

Not many cloud providers will take that format. So that can be a complication if you aren't ready for it. Then you need the networking, in most cases, to handle connecting the new cloud pieces to the existing network transparently.

Yeah, the whole process sounds easy but ...

@scottalanmiller said in Any good DRaaS suggestions?:

@PhlipElder said in Any good DRaaS suggestions?:

A quick "hack" way to do it would be to sync a copy of the SP files to a repository and have that repository hooked into BackBlaze. They would then be sync'd up to BB. Cost wise, it would be cheap, cheap, cheap.

That's good for the backup portion. But for full DR you have to handle the recovery, hosting, networking failover and those parts. That's where "putting it all together" comes in.

SPX supports instant-on via file convert to VHDX/VMDK. Having those files sent to a DR site that is set up to fire the VMs up on short order would work well.

And on the StorageCraft side of things, we've been a partner since the v3.x days. Their product was second to none for the longest time. We pulled off some spectacular recoveries because the product was just that good. It still is to some degree, it is just that managing in-guest backups for more than six or eight VMs gets to be a bear after a while. Dedupe and Compression in Veeam has saved us gobs of storage.

As far as StorageCraft goes, it became noticeable that things were going awry when their Partner mailers were promoting third party webinars and "grow your MSP" type stuff. In the v3.x, v4.x, and v5.x days the product was king with in-person training being awesome and costly but worth it.

The fact that Veeam secured $500M in investments recently points to where all the action is today. All backup vendors whose products don't work well, and believe me there are a lot of them which is really sad, are put on notice and I, IMNSHO, am very happy about that.

I'm a bit biased but we're in the process of setting up a BaaS And DRaaS service using Veeam's Cloud Connect.

What is the volume of backups in GBs/TBs?

A quick "hack" way to do it would be to sync a copy of the SP files to a repository and have that repository hooked into BackBlaze. They would then be sync'd up to BB. Cost wise, it would be cheap, cheap, cheap.

@valentina said in Random Thread - Anything Goes:

@PhlipElder Oh, this is funny because they are playing UNO in a "combi" which is a common transportation method in mexico (don't know if in Latin America in general). And usually people don't talk to each other lol

Heh ... neat!

@scottalanmiller said in Random Thread - Anything Goes:

@PhlipElder said in Random Thread - Anything Goes:

We play UNO, Dutch Blitz, and a bunch of other card games regularly in our family. I'm not sure I get this one ...

On a public bus?

Just noticed the one guy on the left may have one card left that's a colour changer?

@valentina said in Random Thread - Anything Goes:

We play UNO, Dutch Blitz, and a bunch of other card games regularly in our family. I'm not sure I get this one ...

@JaredBusch said in Random Thread - Anything Goes:

@jmoore said in Random Thread - Anything Goes:

@JaredBusch My dad used to work for Sumitomo and he got sent to Japan a couple of times for training. He is 6"6' and told stories like this where things just were not sized for larger people.

Meh, that is the only station I know of with a passage like l that. Those are just supports running parallel to the flow of traffic. You have to intentionally try to have a need to go under them.

We set up a home school tour of the Genesee coal power generation plant that's not too far down the highway from us.

The newest generation system was set up be a Japanese firm whose name slips my mind at the moment. When looking into the service tunnels I commented on their size and the fellow I was chatting with laughed and said yeah, some of the taller and/or more filled out guys can have problems getting around in there. Not for the claustrophobic for sure!

@garak0410 said in Network Issues on Copiers and HP Enterprise Printers:

Security Error 33.05.13

You've probably already seen this one:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04921512#AbT1

No mention of .13 either. Hmmmm

The fact that the printer boots okay until a network is present indicates it is probably reaching out and hitting a "you're bad" response (best guess).

If the firmware is up to date then one "workaround" would be to set up on the edge an Address Object (using SonicWALL terminology here) for the affected printers and their IPs (if range then do the range), then set a block for HTTP/HTTPS for them/their range. One could also set a full port block in place since they shouldn't be contacting the Internet anyway IMO.

We received quite a few warnings from HP to update firmware due to a bad vulnerability in their firmware. Were these printers updated? I can dig back in if need-be.

My daughter just finished reading The Illiad (Fagles) for one of her online classics reading courses (we home school).

We had great discussions about the very descriptive gore sequences so it's sitting on top of my Next to Read pile as I'm reading a new canon "Last Shot" which is meh. I'll finish it just 'cause.

EDIT: And the gods, and the characters, and their crazy ways as far as the Illiad goes.

@scottalanmiller said in Random Thread - Anything Goes:

"Yes dear!"

@scottalanmiller said in Random Thread - Anything Goes:

I don't know about you, but what the chicken is the kid doing in the background of pic 2?!?!?! 8*O

@scottalanmiller said in Random Thread - Anything Goes:

Are we in polite company because there is a joke or two in there ... shop humour though.

@scottalanmiller said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

@PhlipElder said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

Getting into the details of the how/what/where/when/why of licensing, client management, and all of the peripheries associated is something to be had over a libation not a forum.

The problem there, is that this is critical to decision making around how Hyper-V is deployed. The fact remains that there is a risk to that deployment method and the only way to avoid it is to force tech and business decisions and not allow the customers the freedom to decide what is best for them (or for you to do the same on their behalf.) It's the absolute number one factor in any Hyper-V discussion. If that shouldn't be had over a forum, this implies that Hyper-V is so problematic that our field shouldn't be considering it because it's not a business factor like it should be.

I don't agree with that, I think Hyper-V is an acceptable business product. But that means that the factors involved with how to manage it must be able to be approached like any business decision - be weighing costs, risks, benefits, and so forth. Nothing "business" can be moved from forum to libation, that implies an emotional approach (hobby) rather than analytical (business.)

I'm not saying that there aren't reasons for both approaches. There are, certainly. What I'm saying is that they can be analyzed on a case by case bases using standard business decision making to determine which approach is appropriate for any given situation.

SAM, I am no longer going to answer or address any of these comments/opinions. They have happened before and frankly I'm done with them.

TTFN

@scottalanmiller said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

The reason that the metrics would be misleading is.... this example.

Customer A is yours. They are current on Windows 2019 licensing. You deploy Hyper-V with licensing encumbrance. In five years they decide that Windows doesn't need the constant updates. They drop SA. You fire them for not being on the latest version.

Now another MSP picks them up and gets stuck with the encumbered Hyper-V. The customer suffers the problem of Hyper-V being unable to be reasonably updated for free. They don't show up in your metrics because you fired them, but the original deployment of Hyper-V is what led them to the situation that they are in.

As an MSP that regularly has to clean up for that very scenario, I can tell you, even if you can avoid it, it's a huge industry issue.

SAM we're on a totally different plane here.

Suffice it to say, we have our methods of operating and doing business. We have done well by them as have our clients/customers.

Getting into the details of the how/what/where/when/why of licensing, client management, and all of the peripheries associated is something to be had over a libation not a forum.

Just for Ghits and Siggles I did a side-by-side install using the previously linked but earlier version of Hyper-V Server 2019 and the GA bits of Server 2019 Datacenter installed in Server Core mode with just the Hyper-V Role enabled.

The only difference between them is about 1.1GiB of space on the VHDX file they were installed into. Given the number of additional roles that can be installed on DC the extra space is fairly reasonable.

@scottalanmiller said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

@PhlipElder said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

@scottalanmiller said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

@PhlipElder said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

We have a very simple policy: Not licensed correctly? Either get there with a commitment and we will help them get there or we walk. Period.

You would drop clients simply because they don't see the price of being always at the latest version as being a good business decision for them? Even when they are correct? Because, while it is almost always good, it isn't always.

Being "licensed correctly" and "always on the latest" aren't the same concept.

Huh?

We are discussing how your clients never get stuck on an older version of Windows. You can get, for example, 2012 R2 licensing and run that for many, many years (and still be supported, even) and be completely licensed, but not current.

Where did I say that?

Our clients run Software Assurance for both the ability to be flexible for an upgrade but there are other benefits to SA beyond that. So, I don't get that point?

I said "correctly". That has nothing to do with SA and keeping current.

@scottalanmiller said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

@PhlipElder said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

We have a very simple policy: Not licensed correctly? Either get there with a commitment and we will help them get there or we walk. Period.

You would drop clients simply because they don't see the price of being always at the latest version as being a good business decision for them? Even when they are correct? Because, while it is almost always good, it isn't always.

Being "licensed correctly" and "always on the latest" aren't the same concept.

Huh?

@scottalanmiller said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

@PhlipElder said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

@scottalanmiller said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

@PhlipElder said in Hyper-V 2019 on a domain:

Moot point for us as all of our clients run either Software Assurance or we are supplying the licenses via SPLA as we manage their infrastructure.

If you can truly control that, we find that clients tend to like to drop SA or avoid it over time. They might start with it, but it only takes dropping it once to cause an issue. And if Hyper-V is the "one reason" why they would need it, they then see Hyper-V as a problem. It's just easier and more consistent to avoid the problem and not have to have the more complex decision structure.

Our longest standing client is spanning two decades. We have not had any issue with software licensing with our clients. None. Nadda. Zippo.

You are in a miraculous situation. For most everyone, clients don't have 100% software assurance (or purchase updates immediately on release every time.) It is not in any way normal to have 100% always current licensed customers. Literally have never heard of any MSP claim that level of saturation before, it is that rare.

We operate our business 100% above board and expect any company/client/customer we work with to operate the same way.

We will never work with a company that sees software as something they can pilfer at will.