The Security Swarm Podcast

When we sat down to record this episode we ended up in a situation like we did with our episode with Ben Armstrong, too much content for one episode! To those familiar with Hyper-V, this likely doesn’t come as a surprise being we’re discussing the various management tools that are available for Hyper-V, along with the overall management story for Microsoft’s hypervisor.

In this episode, we sit down with Eric Siron to discuss modern day usage of the traditional Hyper-V management tools which include:

• Hyper-V Manager
• Failover Cluster Manager
• PowerShell
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM)

In the next episode, we’ll focus on the new management tools for Hyper-V such as Windows Admin Center and Azure Arc.

Join the webinar

• How Azure Stack HCI is forcing changes in your datacenter

• Hyper-V Management vs. VMware Management - 2:05
• An example of management assumptions for VMware admins trying Hyper-V - 8:43
• Networking woes in Windows Server - 12:12
• Why choice of tools is a strength of Hyper-V - 17:12
• Thoughts on System Center Virtual Machine Manager - 24:08
• An example of where VMM does NOT fit - 28:00

• Andy’s Hyper-V Datacenter Deployment Script
• Andy’s VMware Datacenter Deployment Script
• PowerShell Direct
• Ben Armstrong on Twitter
• Ben Armstrong as a Guest on the Sysadmin Dojo Podcast talking about Hyper-V
• Webinar on Azure Stack HCI

It’s an open source kind of episode! Andy and guest Mike Nelson talk about Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and what it means for IT Pros! The discussion also includes example use cases, tips and tricks and resources for getting started! That all said, you may be wondering what WSL is! Andy and Mike cover this in detail, but the short version is, WSL is a feature for Windows that allows you to run Linux CLI and GUI applications within Windows. This is useful for developers and IT Pros for a number of reasons. Listen or watch to find out why.

In this episode

• What is WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)? - 7:20
• Who is WSL for and what problem are we trying to solve with it? - 10:50
• We can now run Linux GUI apps in Windows? - 16:18
• Is this leading us to Android apps on Windows? - 20:45
• Custom distributions on WSL with Distro Builder - 22:10
• What are the current supported Linux distributions for WSL? - 25:09
• How do SysAdmins manage this feature? - 28:10
• What kind of hardware access does WSL have? - 32:00

Resources for WSL

• DOJO article on Getting Started with WSL
• Andy and Tara Raj from Microsoft Discuss WSL
• Windows Subsystem for Linux on Microsoft Docs
• WSL on Github
• WSLg on Github
• Distro Builder for Custom Distros with WSL on Github
• Ubuntu on WSL
• Debian on WSL
• Fedora on WSL
• OpenSUSE on WSL
• Pengwin Linux
• Gentoo Linux

We talk about some of the new features that Ben feels are most impactful and useful for IT Pros. More importantly, Andy and Ben spend some time talking about the recent Microsoft decision to discontinue future releases of the free Hyper-V Server SKU of Windows Server. For those not aware, Hyper-V Server is/was a free version of Windows Server that contained only the roles and features needed to run virtual machines. It came with no licensing and was often used to run open-source workloads on top of Hyper-V. Ben gives us the behind-the-scenes info that led to the decision to stop releasing future versions of this free SKU.

As Ben says, for those people that want to continue using Hyper-V Server, please keep sending in feedback. The feedback is heard.

Join the webinar

• How Azure Stack HCI is forcing changes in your datacenter

In this episode

• What’s new in Hyper-V that Ben is really excited – 1:05
• Dynamic Processor Compatibility in Hyper-V – 2:43
• VM Direct Access to GPUs with Clustering – 6:05
• Improvements and ease-of-use improvements to Software Defined Networking – 6:41
• Arc Provisioned Virtual Machines – 7:15
• Ben’s behind the scenes thoughts on the removal of the free Hyper-V Server SKU – 11.04

Resources for Hyper-V and Azure

• Tech Communities Thread on Discontinuation of the Free Hyper-V Server SKU
• Windows Server 2019 Life Cycle Information Relevant to Hyper-V Server 2019
• Azure Stack HCI Resources
• Altaro Webinar on Windows Server 2022 that Includes Discussion on Hyper-V Server Alternatives
• Dynamic Processor Compatibility in Azure Stack HCI
• Overview of Software Defined Networking in Windows Server
• What is Azure Arc?
• Cosmos Darwin - Program Manager Lead at Microsoft

We sit down with Ben Armstrong from Microsoft to talk about Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) on Azure Stack HCI! Being a Group Program Manager for AKS on premises, Ben spends his time making life easier for infrastructure administrators running compute workloads on premises. In previous roles for Ben, this meant VMs, but now his focus is on Containers and Kubernetes! In this episode we cover what AKS is, why it’s important for IT Pros, adoption outlook and more!

Also worth mentioning is that we changed things up with this episode. The conversation with Ben was so engaging that we’ve split this episode into a two-part episode, with this one focusing on the AKS discussion. Part two will focus on Hyper-V, including some behind the scenes information on Microsoft’s decision to stop development of the free Hyper-V Server SKU. So, keep a look out for part two next week! Enjoy!

Join the webinar

• How Azure Stack HCI is forcing changes in your datacenter

In this episode:

• What is Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) - 4:30
• Where does AKS run on premises? - 12:20
• What is the value-add for Kubernetes and Containers for the sysadmin? - 13:17
• Are there any concerns with Serverless computer (like Azure Functions) eventually overtaking containers? - 28:33
• What does the adoption of containers look like today? - 39:40

Resources for Azure Kubernetes Service:

• Azure Kubernetes Service
• Azure Kubernetes Server on Azure Stack HCI
• Azure Stack HCI Resources
• Jeff Woolsey - Principal Program Manager at Microsoft
• Taylor Brown - Group Program Manager at Microsoft

More about this episode, and others:

The SysAdmin DOJO Podcast page

In this episode, our host Andy Syrewicze is joined by Eric Siron, and Xavier Avrillier (both DOJO authors) for a look back at the last year or two of progress in both VMware and Hyper-V. Do config maximums matter anymore? Is licensing still a pain? Is VMware’s management story better? These are all questions covered in this edition of The SysAdmin DOJO Podcast!

In this episode:

• The Contender Lineup - 2:59
• What are Eric’s favorite recent Hyper-V Features - 5:30
• What are Xavier’s favorite recent VMware Features - 7:56
• CPU vulnerability mitigations in VMware and Hyper-V - 11:24
• Does the industry care about config maximums anymore? - 14:40
• Licensing comparisons - 19:00
• Management and Tooling Differences - 31:49
• Hybrid Cloud Integrations - 35:45
• Which hypervisor should you choose? - 47:07

VMware and Hyper-V Resources:

• Windows Server Licensing eBook
• VMware Licensing Help
• Windows Server Editions
• VMware on AWS
• VMware on Azure
• Azure Stack HCI
• Windows 365
• Altaro Dojo Forums
• Xavier’s Website

More about this episode, and others:

The SysAdmin DOJO Podcast page

Andy Syrewicze and guest co-host Mike Bender talk about Microsoft’s new Windows Server Hybrid Administrator certification. This certification combines on-prem Windows Server technologies with key cloud technologies to help system administrators become well-rounded when it comes to hybrid cloud. This announcement in Sept 2021 came as something of a pleasant surprise to the community and quickly entered its beta period. It is expected by end of Feb 2022, rank-and-file IT pros in the community will be able to start working on this certification!

Wondering if this certification is for you? We cover that question throughout the episode. On top of that we discuss the exam from both the standpoint of an on-prem administrator as well as from the standpoint of an administrator that has only worked with cloud technologies in their career! Windows Server certification is back, and Andy and Mike are excited to share their thoughts in this episode.

In this episode:

• Hybrid Cloud is a Destination - 4:30
• Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate Certification - 6:30
• Exam Objectives Discussion - 7:50
• Mike’s Recommendations and Tips on Exam Objectives - 16:56
• How this certification helps you get started with cloud technologies - 25:32
• Certification Exam Availability - 29:11
• Why is this certification important for system admins? - 32:28

Windows Server Certification Resources:

• Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate Certification Info
• Orin Thomas’s Twitter Account
• Jeff Woolsey’s Twitter Account
• Orin’s AZ-800 Study Guide
• AZ-800 Certification Course from Pluralsight

More about this episode, and others:

The SysAdmin DOJO Podcast page

Andy Syrewicze and guest host Eric Siron talk about The Backup Bible, of which he is the author! For those that are unaware, The Backup Bible is an all-encompassing, vendor-agnostic guide to all things backup and recovery. The eBook has a little something for everyone. Whether you’re a white belt, just getting started with backup and DR, or a black belt looking to brush up on this crucial topic area, this eBook won’t disappoint. We cover Eric’s main motivations behind authoring this eBook, why he feels not enough care is given to backup strategies, and more. We even get into the discussion of why backup and DR is more than just an IT department concern and how you can work with the key stakeholders within your organization to make backup and recovery the high priority it should be.

BACKUP AND DISASTER RECOVERY RESOURCES:

• Read The Backup Bible eBook
• Visit the Altaro DOJO
• Join the DOJO Forums

MORE ABOUT THIS EPISODE, AND OTHERS:

The SysAdmin DOJO Podcast episode page

This episode features host Andy Syrewicze and guest host Michael Bender, an author evangelist with Pluralsight and former Microsoft Cloud Advocate, to talk about how junior sysadmins can get started with PowerShell, with resources, suggestions, and why it’s such an important skill to master if you want to progress in the IT industry.