Tech Days 2010 Edmonton Presentation On Clustering

I will be doing a Tuesday October 5th presentation at the Edmonton Tech Days 2010 event at 15:40Hrs (3:40PM) on Hyper-V Clustering!

• Tech Days 2010 Site

The slide deck will be minimal with most of the presentation focused on a live Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 cluster running on an Intel Modular Server setup.

Looking for a Tech Days discount code?

• MVPInvite

The above will discount the entrance cost to $349. Not a bad deal for two days of technical content with no marketing fluff!

Every Tech Days that I have attended have always had bits and bytes to take away. There are lots of ways to get the creative brain juices flowing, this is definitely one of them.

One such bit was fellow MVP Dana Epp’s (his company site) security presentation a few years ago that included a good discussion on using AZMan (John Howard’s explanation) to manage access permissions on a Hyper-V setup.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

TechDays 2010 – LFE240 – Clustering with Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Presentation

I will be doing a Local Flavours track presentation on Tuesday October 5th at the Edmonton TechDays 2010 event!

• LFE240 – Clustering with Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 Presentation
• Link to the calendar on our site.

My presentation is at 1540Hrs to 1645Hrs (3:40PM to 4:45PM).

An invitation code can be found in the above calendar link for an event fee reduction to $349.00 too.

Some of the topics to be discussed will be:

• Intel Modular Server
• Compute module, storage, and network configuration
• Cluster Integration
• How to create if new or existing domain.
• Cluster Configuration
• Hyper-V OS
• Networking structures
• Cluster Storage
• Cluster Shared Storage
• Promise VTrak integration
• Cluster Maintenance
• Live Migration
• Troubleshooting

There are all of five or six slides for this presentation with most content being demonstrations based on a live cluster setup.

This will be a highly technical dive into Hyper-V clustering on the Intel Modular Server with a little business perspective tossed into the mix.

I will make sure to address some of the key technical points to successfully standing up a Hyper-V Cluster as there are a quite a few of them.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

TechDays Calgary – WSUS Presentation Soon

My presentation on Best Practices in Architecting and Implementing Windows Server Update Services will be starting in just about an hour.

It is the last Server Track presentation of the day.

• TechDays 2009 

So far, the content here has been excellent and the quality of the speakers has also been excellent.

It was well worth the trip.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

TechDays Calgary – WSUS Presentation Soon

My presentation on Best Practices in Architecting and Implementing Windows Server Update Services will be starting in just about an hour.

It is the last Server Track presentation of the day.

• TechDays 2009 

So far, the content here has been excellent and the quality of the speakers has also been excellent.

It was well worth the trip.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

MVP Oliver Sommer Interview at TechEd Europe 2009

Have a few minutes to burn?

Fellow MVP Oliver Sommer, along with other Microsoft MVPs, were interviewed by Karen Young while attending TechEd Europe recently.

• YouTube: MVP Oliver Sommer at TechEd Europe 2009

Besides Oliver’s interview, there are a number of other Microsoft MVPs from various disciplines interviewed by Ms. Young.

Check them out! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Presenting on WSUS At TechDays In Calgary On Wednesday!

A little while back, Kevin Kaminski gave a Windows 7 presentation to all of us at the Intel Technical Solutions Training event here in Edmonton.

Afterwards he and I got to chatting about various topics including the next TechDays event in Calgary which happens to be running tomorrow and Wednesday.

He was going to be giving three of the presentations at TechDays. After finding out which ones I volunteered to take over the WSUS Architecture presentation.

• What:
• TechDays Calgary - D2 S4 - Best Practices in Architecting and Implementing Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)
• Where:
• Palomino Room
• When:
• Wednesday November 18 @ 14:45Hrs (2:45PM)

So, if you have some time, need to get caught up on some in-depth technical information on Microsoft products in a short period of time, TechDays is the place to do it!

It is worth it.

UPDATE: Added the "I" in "he and I got to chatting" since I missed it the first time!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Microsoft Tech-Days 2009 – Calgary In November

It looks like I will be going to the Tech-Days event in Calgary. The dates for the event are November 17 and 18.

• Tech-Days Canada 2009 Web Site

The event last year was very well done. The sessions were well put together and gave us some very good looks into the various Microsoft technologies.

Some of the event benefits included:

One thing that was different in this year’s registration process was the lack of track and session assignment. There was no need to go through all of the tracks and sessions to choose which ones we will be attending.

So, we will be able to float between sessions depending on the content and our interest in them. This kind of flexibility is good to have since our interests today may not be the same as tomorrow.

This event will be a good place to gain a solid overview on current and upcoming Microsoft technologies. Given what we do, we need to stay on top of the products we work with or we risk falling behind and possibly becoming irrelevant to our clients.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

The Stats Are In on the Presentation – Needs Focus!

Yup. They are in.

The presentation is here:

• SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 SBSC Breakfast Presentation (WMV file – right click and Save As).

Even with a fairly clear understanding that my principle weakness is staying focused and being on topic, reading all of the “stay focused” or “needs to be more focused” comments from the feedback forms really brought that weakness to the fore.

Taking any kind of criticism can be really tough. Whether the criticism is constructive, as is the case here, or destructive, it is an opportunity to learn from my mistakes.

Some of the feedback was quite positive which will help to hone the presentation skills in even further.

Thanks to all of those that provided feedback after the presentation!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

EnergizeIT Windows 7 Install Fest – Edmonton

We had a lot of fun with the folks that showed up for the EnergizeIT Windows 7 Install Fest.

We got to see folks installing Windows 7 on Macs, using BootCamp, dual booting Vista and Windows 7 or XP and Windows 7 on Intel/AMD hardware, all manner of laptops, and even some brave fellows that brought along their PC systems.

There was a small group that came to help out with the installs and were designated Proctors. We walked about the large room checking with the people installing Windows 7 to make sure they were getting through the process with as little difficulty as possible.

Other than one laptop that did not have near enough RAM (256MB) or disk space (8GB) to install as it was too old, we had a 99% successful install rate. A few hiccups here and there with drivers and figuring out how to shrink an existing partition to enable dual booting were encountered.

For newer laptops, there were a lot of exclamation marks in the Device Manager. For older hardware, there were a few exclamation marks for chipsets and Intel motherboard management features.

Damir Bersinic, John Bristowe, and Qixing Zheng put on a very good EnergizeIT event for us. Across the three evenings we received some very valuable information on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Azure.

The three evenings were well worth the time.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

SBS 2003 to 2008 Breakfast Presentation Available

The breakfast presentation I did in Toronto (previous blog post) is now available for download.

• SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 SBSC Breakfast Presentation (WMV file – right click and Save As).

Have a watch and listen. And, please feel free to feedback by commenting here!

By the way, CDMA is cellular data modem technology. I missed explaining that during the presentation.

If there are any questions about anything in the presentation, please feel free to e-mail me, or post a comment here!

Thanks for reading and supporting us! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Yesterday’s Breakfast Presentation

A big thanks goes out to Constanza Zalba, our Canadian SBS/EBS Product Manager as she was the one who invited me out to speak to the folks.

Thanks to the folks that took valuable time out of their day to attend the breakfast.

This being my first speaking engagement, it was a very valuable learning experience.

All in all, things went okay, though there were some good constructive criticisms from a couple of folks in the crowd when asked at the end.

The event was recorded, so we will be able to post a link to the recording once it becomes available.

A migration checklist will follow this presentation shortly.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

I am Speaking at the SBSC Migration Breakfast April 23 in Toronto

Need a breakfast with some SBS 2008 migration technical and business prospects?

Then Click Here to Register Now! 

• When: April 23 from 08:30 to 10:30
• Where: Microsoft Campus 1950 Meadowvale Boulevard Mississauga

From Satish’s SBSC Canada Blog:

There’s an upcoming breakfast event in Toronto called Migration of Small Business Server 2008 and Sales Opportunities for SMB-focused partners. You can have breakfast with us and listen to guest speaker Philip Elder – SBS MVP, owner of MPECS Inc., and fellow SBSC from Alberta.

Philip will walk you through an SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 migration technical overview and sales upgrade opportunities from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008. The full agenda will include:

• Hard Cost Opportunities:  new desktop and server hardware and software, including the repurposing of existing hardware
• Soft Cost Opportunities:  migration, post-install service and support, ongoing monitoring
• Talent Opportunities:  improved technical skills, disaster recovery skills, staffing

SBS 2008 presents us with a number of great opportunities for our clients and our own business. We will spend a little time with those opportunities along with a look at the SBS 2008 migration process.

I am looking forward to it and I hope to see you there!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Hack and Defend Calgary is Registering Now!

From the Microsoft Canada Event’s Web site:

Hack and Defend Workshop (Calgary)

Date: May 08, 2009 9:00AM - May 08, 2009 4:00PM
Language: ENG

Location:
Delta Bow Valley Calgary
Calgary, Alberta
Show Map

General Event Information

Products: Microsoft Forefront Client Security
Recommended Audience: Developer, IT Professional, Technology Decision Maker

Description:

Have you ever wondered how hackers gain access to your computer? Are you interested in learning about some of the most threatening viruses online? Did you know that 90% of the application attacks use input fields? Do you want to learn how to protect yourself?
Join industry and Microsoft experts at Hack and Defend Workshop to get a hands-on demonstration of the most current hacking methods and practical ways to protect yourself against them. This is a great opportunity for you to network with your peers, share experiences and learn from experts. We will also giveaways books, software and related materials at the workshop . There is no cost to attend but seating is limited and will be allocated on a first-come first-serve basis. You can chose to attend the morning OR the afternoon session.

The Calgary event can be registered for here: Calgary Hack and Defend.

There are also events in other cities, but more than likely are already full:

• Hack and Defend Workshop (Vancouver) (May 7)
• Hack and Defend Workshop (Calgary) (May 8)
• Hack and Defend Workshop (Mississauga) (May 11)
• l’atelier sur les moyens de défense contre le piratage (Montreal) / Hack and Defend Workshop (Montreal) (May 12)
• Hack and Defend Workshop (Ottawa) (May 13)

These workshops look to be a great way to catch up on the nefarious attack methods of the bad guys.

I am registered! Woo Hoo! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Microsoft Canada Events RSS

While searching for the Calgary Microsoft Hack and Defend event, we stumbled upon this:

• Microsoft Canada Events RSS Feed

While it is a busy feed, it will provide a quick at-a-glance of all upcoming Microsoft events.

And no, it did not contain the Calgary event as that has yet to be scheduled. It looks as though the other cities are already booked too.

• Hack and Defend Workshop (Mississauga)
• Hack and Defend Workshop (Ottawa)
• Hack and Defend Workshop (Vancouver)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Tech Days 2008 - Microsoft's investment in us ... an investment we can make in us

Tech Days 2008 Canada:

Microsoft Tech Days Canada 2008

An early bird special of 50% off the price for either the one day or two day events is on until October 15, 2008.

Here are the grids for the two day that I will be attending in Calgary:

Microsoft Tech Days Day 1

The two tracks that I will be focused on are the Virtualization and the Infrastructure ones.

The decision for which session is going to be tough too, especially with the last one being a tie between SoftGrid application virtualization (MPECS Inc. and our clients are on Vista SA which includes SoftGrid) and the PowerShell and WMI session for the Infrastructure track.

For now, PowerShell and WMI will win out, with the ultimate decision being made when I can find out a bit more about the meat and potatos in each session.

Sessions registered for:

• Planning Successful Physical to Virtual Server Migrations with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit.
• Streamlining Administration of Your Active Directory Deployments Using Group Policy Preferences, Templates, and Scripting.
• Managing Your Virtual Infrastructure Using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008.
• Automating the Management of Windows Servers using PowerShell and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

The second day grid:

Microsoft Tech Days Day 2

The sessions that I will be registered for:

• Successful Migration Techniques For Migrating To Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.
• Windows Deployments the Way You Want Them: Unleashing the Power of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit with Customization.
• Security in a Virtual World - How to Lock Down Your Virtual Environments.
• Virtualization Chalk Talk.

Many of these sessions are directly applicable to the infrastructure solutions we have and are putting together for our clients and for our own company.

There is no replacement for taking the time to sit in the presence of experts who are demonstrating the abilities and features of the various products we work with.

Training, especially training that we pay for, is a very valuable part of our professional development. We work in an industry where things are constantly evolving and out right changing. Training is both an investment in our clients and our own businesses.

We cannot afford to sit on our laurels with what we believe to be a good knowledgebase and experience base in our heads and hands. Doing so places our client's infrastructure and thus their livelihoods at risk. We are responsible to provide our clients with the best possible solution to fit their business needs.

That infrastructure solution is not necessarily the one we think is the best, but the one that will be made up of hardware and software products that will best fit for them. If we don't know the products, then we either get to know them or get someone who does know them involved to collaborate with us in providing the solution.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

EnergizeIT 2008 Certification Boot Camp at EMUG last night

We had the Canadian EnergizeIT Certification Bootcamp hosted at our Edmonton Microsoft User Group meeting last night.

We had about 240 or so register and it looked as though most of them showed up.

Our presenters were Kai Axford and MVP Kirk Munro.

The presentations were awesome. Kai has an excellent ability to make his point very clear and get a few laughs in between. Among other things, we learned that VMs must be managed in the same manner as a physical system: They must be patched, have A/V running on them, and share similar access permissions structures as physical systems.

Kirk did a good job getting into Server Core as well as a good overview of PowerShell's capabilities.

While working on Server Core, Kirk demonstrated a neat GUI tool that allows one to configure a Core install:

Server Core Configurator

The Server Core Configurator allows one to work with a Core installation without needing to run the various configuration commands at the command line.

This is an excellent little tool for those who are looking to get a Core installation up and running and available for RSAT (x86 download site) management via a remote Windows Vista SP1 or Full Server 2008 installation.

All in all, the evening was very rewarding with both excellent speakers and great content.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Microsoft Event: Accelerate your Business - Calgary

We are currently on our way down to Calgary for the Microsoft Canada Event for Partners: Accelerate Your Business.

The focus of the afternoon will be on business opportunities in the new Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 product platforms.

There will also be an exclusive MSBS Small Business Specialist Community session at 17:00 (5PM) that is something to look forward to.

This event will also be held in the following cities:

• Acclelerate Your Business: Montreal May 27, 2008
• Acclelerate Your Business: Mississauga May 29, 2008
• Accelerate Your Business: Vancouver June 3, 2008

If you have the time, please come on down and check it out!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Heroes Happen {Here} was a success!

We had our Heroes even in Edmonton last Thursday.

There were two tracks, one for IT Pros and one for Developers.

In the Expert booth was Donald Belcham, a Microsoft MVP on C#, and myself, an expert on SBS, answering any questions that event attendees had.

For the presentations, there were a couple of technical problems that caused a bit of a struggle at first. But, in an event this complex, it is not too uncommon to have hiccups. They were essentially ironed out or circumvented and things moved on.

For the IT Pro presentations and demonstrations we had Damir Bersinic (Live ID may be required). As always, Damir has a great presentation style providing the IT Pros with a plethora of great Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 feature demos.

On the Developer track, we had John Bristowe. From the feedback we received, John's presentations went really well.

During the lulls while attendees were in the presentations, I got a chance to chat quite a bit with Donald, and listen to him chat with others around him about coding. It never ceases to amaze me how someone can wrap their minds around all of those lines of code and come up with a working software tool or product.

Donald took the time to explain and demonstrate the methodology behind the coding method he uses: Test Driven Development or Test-First development. After he ran through a number of different examples on the technique via his laptop, the methodology really made total sense to me ... a non-coder. That says a lot about Donald's ability to explain things in a language that can readily be understood ... a rare gift indeed!

After spending the day in the booth with Donald, it is pretty clear to me that Microsoft made a good choice in awarding him MVP status.

Some of the goodies - Swag - in the goody bag:

• Windows Server 2008 Enterprise x86 & x64 DVD with 365 Day Trial License
• Visual Studio 2008 Standard Edition NFR
• MS SQL Server 2008 Developer x86 & x64 DVDs (CTP 5.0)
• Windows Vista Ultimate x86 with SP1 DVD with 365 Day Trial License
• Windows Live OneCare 90 Day Trial
• Various vendor marketing materials.

It is literally a mixed bag! ;)

The 365 day limitation on the trial products brings in some breathing room for systems we would setup on trail based software for clients or students here in the shop.

There were also a couple of bonuses for sitting in the Experts Booth: A long sleeved Expert white shirt and a really nice red Heroes Happen Here jacket. Thanks to Microsoft for those gifts ... they are pretty neat!

And thanks too for the invite to sit in the Expert's booth and try and answer as many questions as I could.

For those who have not registered for the event yet, please do. It is well worth the time to get the creative "I can do that!?!" juices flowing around Microsoft's new products!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Heroes Happen Here - Edmonton

The Heroes Happen Here tour will be in Edmonton on Thursday.

The event is full and there is quite the waiting list.

If you registered, but are not able to attend, please visit Microsoft's Events Site and cancel your registration so that the seat can be released for someone waiting in the wings. A quick link was also included in the registration email sent out after you registered.

Releasing your seat will also make it easier for those managing the registration table to work with fewer no-shows.

This should be a fun event, with lots of information and demos of Microsoft's new products. Maybe even some swag for the attendees to take home too.

I personally will be helping in the "Experts Booth". That aught to be a lot of fun.

And, I may even know an answer or two! ;)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.