Search results matching tags 'cloud computing' and 'Virtualization'

New On-Line Resources for Windows, Virtualization, and Cloud!

KKline — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:29:00 GMT

Ever since returning from the UK for the SQLBits conference, I've been snowed under a mountain of action items. I've got such a backlog of things to get done, emails to answer, and family to not ignore that I'm starting to feel really guilty.

So with that in mind, I wanted to whip out a quick blog post to let you know I'm still alive and thinking of y'all. What could be quicker and easier than some cool new resources you might not have seen? For your perusal:

Whitepaper: Managing Windows 7 and Windows 8 Side-by-Side
- http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=37144
Poster: Networking in Virtual Machine Manager
- http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=37137
Windows Server 2012: Core Network Companion Guide for Deploying IP Addressing in Branch Offices
- http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=37034
Become a Virtualization Expert in 20 Days ( Blog Article Series )
- http://aka.ms/VirtExpert
Build Your Private Cloud in a Month ( Blog Article Series )
- http://aka.ms/BuildYourCloud
Windows Server 2012 “Early Experts” FREE IT Pro Study Group
- http://EarlyExperts.net

Let me know what you think. Thanks,

-Kevin

- Follow me on Twitter!

- Google Author

What I'm Reading, July 22 2011

KKline — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:43:00 GMT

I read too much, and that, my friends, is an entirely separate topic for a blog post. But I thought I'd share with you a little more about what I'm reading because sometimes, if I'm lucky, it might be something you'd enjoy too. So I'm going to start sharing what I'm reading at least once per week, partly so that I don't firehose too many reading links directly into your brain (where I to do it say once per month) and partly to solidify in my own mind the information that I'm reviewing. So here are a few good links for the seven days leading up to July 22, 2001:

Microsoft and Whitehouse partnership on BigData: BigData isn't a particularly new concept. But I was intrigued to learn that the National Science Foundation, Microsoft, and 13 other teams were partnering on developing better BigData analytics for lots of government data from activities such as healthcare, economic development, education, transportation, and the power grid. Cools stuff! Plus, Microsoft has developed a new tool called Project Daytona to better harness the power of the cloud, in general, and Windows Azure, specifically.
While we're on the topic of Federal IT in the Cloud be sure to read this linked article from ComputerWorld. Say what you will about our government, but putting government IT in the cloud and increasing both its transparency and availability will make a huge difference in how the Federal government will be able to service the public. We're talking as big a difference as corporations experienced between the "catalog on the web" experience of the 1990's to the Web2.0 experience of today.
If you're the social media type, give this article a read discussing the Power of Hashtags in Social Media.
The Register, of the UK, whose tagline is "Biting the hand that feeds IT" has a great article on a spat over database technologies between the IT sage Michael Stonebreaker and Google. It's a great read if for no other reason than to prove that databases are worth fighting over.
And if you think Microsoft is still towing the relational database barge without thinking about other technologies, you need to read up on Projects Dryad and Daytona.
Finally, I'm still getting lots of questions about when and where to limit SQL Server's Max Degrees of Parallelism. Be sure to read Microsoft's Recommendations and Guidelines for 'max degree of parallelism' configuration option here.

And just because so many of us in IT are closet or former musicians, there's Live Guitar Lessons with Steven Krenz, sponsored by my hometown boyz at Gibson Guitar. Got a favorite article or tool tip? Let me know! Enjoy,

-Kev

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Should I learn Cloud Computing Next?

BuckWoody — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:45:42 GMT

My previous role at Microsoft was in the SQL Server team. I spent quite a bit of time there, and had some really great experiences. I was able to travel and speak as well as doing my “regular” job in the programming team, so I got to meet a lot of people. I also teach at the University of Washington, and see a lot of companies and students in that role. Last year I moved into the Windows and SQL Azure team, and from all of those sets of experiences I am now getting the same question quite frequently:

“What should I learn next in my technical career? Cloud Computing? Azure, something else?”

Well, I don’t think it’s a great idea to leave something that you know well to start out in a new area, just for the sake of change. If you enjoy what you’re doing and where you’re doing it, the key there is to enhance that value as much as you can. If, however, you are looking to stay on the cutting edge, or you’re looking to make a change for other reasons, there are a few places that I’m finding are evolving quickly. I’ve also found that in a new market, be a generalist, in a mature one, be a specialist. It’s all about supply and demand, so whatever is needed, try to fill that role.

Note that these are my observations. My particular set of customers and students stretch across the US and into Europe, so I don’t have as much visibility into the Asia region. You may find that your area has a different emphasis, so your mileage may vary. These are the areas that I am finding that have a growing interest, and places where I see people getting new jobs. Most of these are within companies, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use these skills as a self-employed consultant.

Security

Just like the “junk drawer” we all have in our kitchens at home, the data we store on our systems is often out-of-sight, out-of-mind in both IT and in a company. But with the latest high-profile break-ins, hacks, leaks and just plain thefts companies are starting to realize that a security breach hits the bottom line, in their reputation, and in their ability to attract and retain customers. So your next move - before you consider Windows Azure or anything else - should be security.

Am I suggesting that you leave your current role and become a general security specialist? Well, you could do that, but you would actually raise your profile significantly right in your current role if you become an expert in hardening the areas you are responsible for. Make sure that management and the rest of your team know that you’re the “go-to” person for security in your area. You’re not only helping your career, you’re helping your company and you’re helping my data - and yours - stay private.

Virtualization

Many companies are afraid to trust the cloud, often because of security. So they take an interim step of using Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), often on-site and controlled by the IT department, which is a “private cloud”. In all aspects of computing, this has an impact. While the service model (how things are deployed automatically) comes later, you first have to be familiar with virtualization. So take time after you learn about security and find out how virtualization works, how each vendor implements it, and how it impacts your area.

Cloud Computing Technologies

It’s everywhere. Open any technical magazine or navigate to any IT website and you’ll see the cloud mentioned. Your company is hearing it, so you need to learn it. I recommend understanding the difference between IaaS, PaaS and SaaS, and of course learning Windows Azure. I have a full learning plan here that will get you started. Again, it’s not something that will necessarily replace what you have today - but it should certainly be an option for your computing paradigms going forward.

Departmental Application Development

Wait - am I talking about something like <gasp> Microsoft Access programming? Why yes, I am. But not necessarily Access. Let me explain.

Because of the cloud, savvy technical business folks can “go around” IT with a simple credit-card. When they need to author a simple application to do what they need to do and share it amongst themselves, they may just do that without you. And they might use Access, or any number of other technologies. I’ve been seeing this quite a lot lately.

So why not help them? Hold some classes in proper, secure lightweight application design. I recommend Lightswitch, personally - it was designed for this very purpose. Or any programming language that you’re comfortable with. Just show them the right way to either write the code themselves, or the right way to engage you to do it.