The first “C” of the Tech Conference Survival Guide is Climate where I explained how to prepare for the summer season and technology conferences in climates maybe outside your comfort zones. The next “C” on our agenda is Conference. This is where I’ll talk about how to survive the conference itself. With so much coming up this year at VMworld, you need to plan in advance.
Tech Conference Survival Guide: Climate
The transition from summer to autumn is the season of Tech Conferences. Once again, I’ll be traveling to Las Vegas to partake in the splendor that is VMworld. There are a few things to keep in mind when traveling to a technology conference. For me, it splits into the three C’s: Climate, Conference, & Celebration.
Patching Machines (or Shut-up Alerts!)
Over the years, I’ve worked for various organizations and most have had a fairly routine process for applying patches. The best of these uses a defined Change Management window during which the patches were deployed and the computers rebooted (if necessary). This post is not a recommendation on when to do this or how to do … Read more
Dungeon Mastering in IT
I’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) since I was about 16 years old. It was also about that time (possibly coincidentally) that I also became engrossed with computing. Not just watching-my-fake-family-die-from-dysentery computing, but how computers worked and why the field of computing was important.
Simulate User Message Sends leveraging EWS
If you’ve read any of my posts in the past, you know that I’ve got a lab at the office. Part of this includes a handful of Exchange Servers. To better simulate “real-world” (not stress-test) simulations, I want to send messages around the organization. Thankfully, I’ve had some experience with Exchange Web Services (EWS) in the past.
SAM & Multi-Statistic Component Scripts
In September I wrote a few things about how I use SAM Script Templates – specifically with PowerShell. One of the more powerful things in the SAM arsenal is the ability to return multiple components in a single script. I’ve used this in any number of ways, but the one that gives me the most satisfaction is a PowerShell script that I wrote for Linux.
Scripting SQL Server Installation
This is where I show that I’m really not a DBA. I’m an Accidental DBA at best, and a nuisance at worst. SQL Server already has the capability to be installed via command line parameters or a configuration file. If I setup the machine the same way every single time, this would be fine, but since I need to change the placement of certain file types, I need to have the ability to change on the fly.
Setup SQL Disks
Yesterday, I wrote about how I setup SQL Servers Virtual Machines using PowerShell and PowerCLI. Now that I’ve got the SQL Server imaged, it’s time to format the disks and prep the Page File. Let’s dig in.
SQL Server on VM’s in my Lab
I’m trying to automate as much as possible in my lab and part of that is building SQL Servers. I’ve taken to trying to scripting this out. For me, that involves using PowerShell to build out this machine.
Simple Automation Example using Orion SDK
A few months ago, I really stated digging into the Orion SDK and I wanted to know more about ways to automate adding nodes to Orion. Sure, I can wait for the Network Discovery to kick off, but I’m impatient. I’ve gotten many of the parts together over time, but this is my first post where I put everything together. For this version, I use the PowerShell Snap-In. I will add an additional post later using the PowerOrion Module.