Weekly Update 69
In this weekly update I talk about the recording woes I have had to trying to get a session recorded for an online event next week, and also share some of the Azure news that has happened this week! During my update I mentioned the following things: Azure Stack HCI announcement Denmark datacentre region Chile datacentre region Azure Unblogged Video Series <img...
Azure Unblogged – Security
I had the chance to speak to Yuri Diogenes about Azure Security for this new episode of Azure Unblogged. Yuri Diogenes, is a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft C+AI Security. Yuri and I discuss Azure Security Centre, get to the bottom of what Azure Defender is. Yuri also shares some information about his latest book and some tips for passing the AZ-500 exam.. You can watch the full… Continue Reading ‘s Article on their...
Weekly Update 68
This week has went so fast, been busy with work meetings and pulling long days. Crazy to see meetings pop into my diary talking about 2021 events and activities! But we’ve had some snow here in Scotland this week and it’s made me smile and given me a boost of energy, I love snow! ❄ During my update I mentioned the following things: Cloud Adoption Framework | Azure Enablement Show Azure… Continue Reading ‘s...
Azure Unblogged – GitHub
I had the chance to speak to Martin Woodward for this new episode of Azure Unblogged. Martin Woodward, is Director of Developer Relations at GitHub. Martin and I discuss why GitHub is something that IT Pros and System Administrators should look at learning. We also discuss the new features GitHub Actions and GitHub Codespaces and how they integrate with Azure as well as the forthcoming Continue Reading ‘s Article on their blog...
GET-IT Azure and DevOps 1 Day Virtual Conference
I am pleased to announce that I am part of the speaking line up for the GET-IT Azure and DevOps 1 day Virtual Conference being hosted by Petri on the 16th December. The event is a virtual event that is free to attend, you don’t even have to sign up, the content will be streamed live on the website started at 9:30 AM EST/6:30 AM PST/2:30 PM GMT. The event is full of content for IT Pros and… Continue Reading ‘s Article...
Azure Enablement | Cloud Adoption Framework
Over the last few months I have been working with some of my colleagues and peers to create a new video series, called “Azure Enablement” focussing on the Well-Architected Series and the Cloud Adoption Framework. Both series are aimed at tackling some of the questions or obstacles organisations might come across when tackling cloud adoption. There are 13 different videos in the Cloud… Continue Reading ‘s...
Weekly Update 67
This week has a little bit busy, I had a melt down on Sunday when my laptop completely barfed on me and I need to rebuild it followed by a presentation at the UK Cloud Infrastructure User Group and then I’ve been busy recording some videos for Azure Unblogged. During my update I mentioned the following things: Cloud Adoption Framework | Azure Enablement Show Azure Cloud Shell Update Continue Reading ‘s Article on their...
Festive Tech Calendar – Cloud Advocate AMA
As part of this year’s Festive Tech Calendar event which is being run by Gregor Suttie and Richard Hooper, myself and a couple of my colleagues will be doing a fun Q&A or Ask Me Anything session. On the 16th December at 3pm UK time, 4pm Switzerland time and 10am Ottawa time, myself, Pierre Roman and Thomas Maurer will be answering your questions on Azure, Hybrid cloud, Windows Server or even… Continue Reading ‘s...
Migrating legacy .NET application with Microsoft Azure
Most organisations have a range of legacy applications many of which are written in .NET. Moving these applications to the cloud has a range of benefits, providing great accessibility, performance and resilience. In this article we will discuss the best way to modernise .NET applications by migrating to Microsoft Azure. There are 3 main migration approaches to modernising .NET application using Microsoft Azure. Each...
Rebuilding my Laptop
My laptop is well overdue a rebuild, a reinstall from scratch, starting new. I’ve been putting it off for a while now, as if you’ve ever done it, it can be a daunting prospect and lengthy one. However it needs done, it’s well over due. To help make the process go quicker and hopefully easier, I have started to compile a script I can run after the operating system is reinstalled that will… Continue Reading...
Weekly Update 66
Join me as I catch up on the news within the Azure world and talk about how school kids in Scotland used technology to find a new colony of emperor penguins! During my update I mentioned the following things: Bastion VNet Peering Support Public preview: Application Insight in UAE North Public preview: Azure Log Analytics in Germany West Central, UAE North, and Switzerland West General… Continue Reading ‘s Article on their...
Powertoys
I’m late to the party in regards to PowerToys, but I wanted to share some of the thoughts around the awesome free tool that is available. What is PowerToys? PowerToys is a project inspired by a project back in the Windows 95 era providing the end user with some utilities to help be more efficient and help create individual workflows. Fancy Zones Fancy Zones is the part of PowerToys that I… Continue Reading ‘s Article...
Weekly Update 65
I am officially on some annual leave from work, enjoying some much needed down time after a hectic few weeks. Am hoping for some good weather (which is a relative term in Scotland) so I can enjoy some walks and time outside. However, I don’t like to break my cadence of weekly updates, so let’s catch up with some Azure news. ? During my update I mentioned the following things: New… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
My Presentation Setup
This year I have done over 30 presentations to user groups, conferences and recorded even more videos all from my home office. Last week I released a video sharing some of my tips for presenting remotely, which you can find below: However, I want to share what I see, what my setup looks like and how it works for me. Physical Layout The above pictures shows what my desk looks like when I… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
Weekly Update 64
This week I have been focussing on prioritising my workload and making sure I hit the deadlines I need to as I have some time off work booked for next week. Which has been refreshing, as for the last few weeks I have just been context switching and do a lot of things and not really achieving anything (or at least feeling that way), so I feel like this week I have accomplished quite a bit. … Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
How to Present Remotely
I started my public speaking journey back in 2017 and have had the pleasure of speaking at many great events in person in the UK and abroad, I never imagined I’d enjoy public speaking the way I do. With the world as it is in 2020 everything changed and moved from in person events to virtual. I admit to being a bit naive in thinking that presenting virtually or remotely would be a similar… Continue Reading ‘s Article...
YouTube Time Sections
Over the last year or so I’ve been building up my YouTube channel, learning new things and experimenting trying to figure out the best way to do things that are useful to my audience. A new feature that YouTube have launched this year is the time sections which is a great feature for longer videos, I kind of stumbled across it by accident and wanted to share some info on it as I’m finding it… Continue Reading...
Weekly Update 63
This week I’ve been having fun with video, either recording it for future videos my my YouTube channel or as an interviewer for a video series that will launch on Channel9 later this year or playing with the intro to my weekly video. ? During my update I talked about a couple of things, if you want to check them out in more detail here are some links: Public Preview: Azure Log Analytics… Continue Reading ‘s Article...
Azure at a Glance
I have started to curate some videos on my YouTube channel where I share short videos showing off some of the features within Microsoft Azure. The hope is that not only will it keep me up to date with features but also help showcase some features that will help within your work environments. ? Please do check out my playlist of videos and if you haven’t already, please do subscribe to… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
Microsoft Teams Meeting Recordings
We’ve all become use to having meetings virtually these days and if your calendar is anything like mine you often have days where meetings overlap and you can’t attend them all. Microsoft Teams can record meetings so you can catch up on those meetings you’ve missed when you have a chance. I’ve heard a few people say that viewing the recordings or sharing them can be a bit tricky to… Continue Reading...
Weekly Update 62
This week has been a tough one for me, lots of things going wrong and needing redone, or last minute changes. Been tough for me, and I’m definately going to be logging off at the end of today and taking the weekend to look after myself and not focus on work or social media. During my update I talked about a couple of things, if you want to check them out in more detail here are some links:… Continue Reading ‘s...
Cloud Terminology Explained
I was helping out at an Azure Fundamentals training day event and one question that came up a lot was could you provide some examples of IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, so I thought I’d share my take on the answer to that questions. Infrastructure as a Service Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) refers to components such as compute, networking and storage. On prem IaaS would be your virtual machine… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
Azure Migrate Dependencies Script
I am a big fan of Azure Migrate, and have written a couple of blog posts on the subject Getting Hands on with Azure Migrate Azure Migrate Dependencies To make the most of Azure Migrate’s functionality you need to install two agents on to each of your servers, the Microsoft Dependency Agent and the Microsoft Monitoring Agent. The Microsoft Monitoring Agent is a service that is used to watch… Continue Reading ‘s...
Weekly Update 61
This week I have been working away on blog posts and planning for the upcoming video series I am working on as well. I’ve also doubled down on plans for the Glasgow Azure User Group, hoping to go out with a bang in terms of meetups this year. So please do sign up to join us on the 28th October and the 16th December. I am also having some issues with my back, which I think is a touch of… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
STEM Career Videos
Back in 2018 I became a STEM Ambassador which is a large network of volunteers from a wide variety of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related jobs who offer up their time to try and inspire the next generation. Over the last two years I’ve loved going out to schools and talking to the young people and also judging competitions etc, however with the world in the… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
Speaking at TechUG Glasgow, October 2020
Technology User Group (TechUG) was the first event I ever spoke at and I’m pleased to say I’ve been invited to speak at the next event that is being hosted virtually later this week. I spoke at an earlier TechUG event that was hosted online and have to say the team did a great job of getting the community together and interacting. The event this month should have been in Glasgow, so it’s… Continue Reading...
Weekly Update 60
This has been a busy week for me, I’ve been drafted in on a new project, or at least it’s new to me, it’s been running for a few weeks and deadlines are fast approaching as release of what we are working on is November, so I’ve been working hard to meet the deadlines that have been set so not to drag the project back. I’m also working on things for the last remaining meetups for the Glasgow…...
My Microsoft Ignite 2020 Sessions
Last year I had the honor of speaking at Microsoft Ignite for the first time, it was also my first Ignite conference. ? This year with the world in the state that it is, Microsoft turned the Ignite conference into a virtual event, which was disappointing in terms of missing out on meeting up with old friends and making new friends in person, however with the event turning into a virtual… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
Weekly Update 59
This week has been another quick week, I’ve been busy trying to catch up on admin that I missed last week when I was focussing on Ignite and also I’ve been trying to catch up on creating some content. I had fun recording an Ignite recap podcast did an Ignite roundup meetup with the WinOps team and I’m also prepping for a talk at TechUG Glasgow later this month on Ignite news. ? So ever… Continue Reading...
500 Subscribers!
Back in September 2019 I really started to create content on my YouTube channel both as a method of sharing knowledge as well as a way for me to get use to speaking to the camera. It’s been great fun creating content, learning how to handle Camtasia, Premiere Pro (check out my review of both products here), learning how to make thumbnails as well as all the video and audio fun that goes with… Continue Reading ‘s...
Look back at the chat from a Microsoft Teams Meeting
How often have you been in a Microsoft Teams meeting and seen a really useful link to somewhere shared in the chat, or some great piece of advice and then tried to find it later and had trouble? Yip, I’ve been there. Let me into a little secret, you can find the chat history from previous Microsoft Teams meetings really easily! If you open up teams and click on the Calendar button, it will… Continue Reading ‘s...
Weekly Update 58
So this week has been absolutely crazy with everything that has happened with Microsoft Ignite. In my weekly update I give a round of some of the news that has stuck out to me this week and also give some insight into what it was like “backstage” at Ignite and what it looked like when I was interviewing my guests for the main livestream. During my update I talked about a couple of things, if… Continue Reading...
Migration Journey from on-premises to Azure
Migrating to Azure is something that a lot of companies are exploring and embarking on. And we are seeing a lot of things trigger those conversations. However, I always maintain that regardless of what is triggering your migration, or what industry you are in, or what size your organisation is the process for your migration project will be the same. Let’s talk about the different stages… Continue Reading ‘s Article...
What is an Azure Landing Zone?
You’ve heard the term, but what does it mean? Azure Landing Zone If you’ve been working in the Microsoft Azure eco-system at all you’ll probably have stumbled across the phrase “Azure Landing Zone”, or even “Minimum Viable Product”. But what do either of them mean? The Azure Landing Zone is basically, in it’s simplest form a bunch of services within Azure that give you a place to...
Azure Migrate sessions at Microsoft Ignite 2020
As I’m sure you are all aware I am a massive fan of Azure Migrate and I enjoy talking about the migration journey that is possible due to it. Let’s take a look at what sessions are covering it and migrations during Microsoft Ignite 2020! I’ve listed the session below in either Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) or British Summer Time (BST). Digital Breakout: Be prepared for what’s next: kick… Continue Reading...
Microsoft Teams Configure Meeting Presenters
When you set up a Microsoft Teams meeting by default everyone invited to that meeting will be able to present. Which is find for a lot of meetings, however, when you are in larger meetings or even maybe in an education setting you would like to limit that to certain people. There are three ways to do this, when you set up the meeting, after you’ve set up the meeting or during the meeting…. Continue Reading ‘s Article...
Weekly Update 57
This week has again been all consumed with prep for Microsoft Ignite, it’s been awesome meeting and catching up with the people that I will be interviewing during the event and also preparing for the session that I will be delivering. If you want to catch the sessions I am involved in here are the details: Real world Azure Architecture with Kristian Nese Azure Advanced Threat Protection… Continue Reading ‘s Article...
Azure Migrate and Availability Zones
Migrating workloads from on prem to Azure is something a lot of businesses are looking at and Azure Migrate is a great tool for helping to discover, assess and migrate those workloads. One thing to consider with all workloads is the resiliency of the workloads that you are moving, chances are you will have some kind of resilience and redundancy built into the workload on prem, and it’s… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
Jabra Evolve2 85 Headset Review
I’m a long term fan of the Jabra headset range, and was given the Jabra Evolve2 85 by the Jabra team to review and I can say I’ve had a ball trying it out. So let’s get into the review of the headset. 😊 What is the headset? The Jabra Evolve2 85 is a headset designed for those that need a good a good headphone and microphone while working either at home or in the office for all the virtual… Continue...
Weekly Update 56
This week has been a hectic one with lots of prep for the upcoming Microsoft Ignite digital event, there are a lot of cool things being planned and although I am disappointed we aren’t all heading to New Orleans for the event in person I am excited that we are still able to run the conference and share knowledge together and interact with each other still. My team and I have set up a Discord… Continue Reading ‘s...
What is PowerShell Direct?
PowerShell Direct is a feature that was rolled out with Windows 2016 and Windows 10 that enables you to interact with a virtual machine (VM) that you have running inside Hyper-V even if that VM isn’t connected to the network. It’s a great time saver as you can issue commands and carry out tasks without having to log into the VM. As I mentioned you don’t have to have the virtual machine… Continue Reading...
Use Azure Cloud Shell on your local machine
During a talk when I was talking about how I transitioned from an on prem engineer to a Cloud engineer I was asked if you could run Azure Cloud Shell on your local machine, and the answer is yes. ? The way I do this is by using the new Windows Terminal Client. You first of all need Windows Terminal installed on your machine, I installed my client via Chocolatey. When it opens click on… Continue Reading ‘s Article on their...
Weekly Update 55
This week I have been working on content creation in the form of blogs and also some presentations that I am looking forward to delivering. It’s also time to dig out the hoodies as autumn has kicked in. ? During my update I talked about a couple of things, if you want to check them out in more detail here are some links: Azure Blob versioning is now general available Visualize and… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
Install Windows Terminal With Chocolatey
At Build 2019 the team announce a new Windows Terminal and that it would be open-source. I remember hearing the announcement and being excited about what it could offer. In May 2020, we say this new Windows Terminal go generally available and I’ve seen a lot of people adopt it and share information about it. I’m a big fan of installing software on Windows machines with Chocolatey, it’s a… Continue Reading...
Find Your Local Azure User Group
When I started the Glasgow Azure User Group back in 2017, I wasn’t aware of a lot of Azure focussed user groups, I think there was one other user group in the UK. Over the last few years a good number of user groups have formed in the UK and further afield as well, which is great to see. However, it can often be hard to find your local user group, or a user group in a area you might be… Continue Reading ‘s Article on...
Azure Update Management with AWS Virtual Machines
Azure Update Management is something I’ve been using and advocating for a long time. Back in 2018, I wrote about how I was using Azure Update Management to patch my home lab and a month later I was writing about an issue I had hit patching Server 2008 R2 servers with it. And I’ve been pretty much extolling it’s capabilities to everyone that will listen since. ? Recently when I was… Continue Reading ‘s...
Weekly Update 54
I am back at work this week, and getting back into the swing of things after a week off last week. Thankfully I was off last week, as the weather in Scotland has been weather for ducks only! lol During my update I talked about a couple of things, if you want to check them out in more detail here are some links: Support to assess physical, AWS, GCP servers now generally available within… Continue Reading ‘s Article on their...
summer-of-talks
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Azure Security Centre Recommendation Refresh
Azure Security Centre can help give you visibility of your secure posture across your Azure workloads and also on your non Azure workloads. It’s a great product within the Azure range, that has both a free and a paid tier available. One really great feature of Azure Security Centre is that it gives you recommendations on things you can do to improve the security posture of your workloads. … Continue Reading ‘s...
Weekly Update 53
This week I have been off work, and although I haven’t went away anywhere on vacation I’ve been taking the time to explore a bit of Scotland and disconnect from social media and work. So it feels very wierd to be checking in on what has been happening with Azure news this week, but here goes. ? During my update I talked about a couple of things, if you want to check them out in more… Continue Reading ‘s Article...