The Security Swarm Podcast

In this episode, we welcome security expert Gil Blumberg to the show! Gil has been working in various roles in security for several years now and has some highly useful insights into the world of cybersecurity and M365!

We discuss the findings of our survey on email security in which we polled a large cross-section of the IT community with questions about M365 security. Email continues to be the primary method of communication for business today, and with that in mind, it’s no wonder that threat actors continue to use email to make inroads into target organizations. With this survey, we wanted to find out what types of attacks respondents are seeing, what common vectors they’re running into, as well as the impact of these attacks.

Some of the findings have huge implications for the M365 security landscape. For example, did you know that there are some organizations not leveraging features like MFA and Exchange Online Protection? We were shocked as well!

In This Episode

• Is Microsoft 365 Keeping you Safe - A Survey Introduction? - 3:13
• 1 in 4 companies reported a “known” email security breach - 5:24
• What are common vectors of attack for email security threats? - 7:10
• Are there still companies out there not using MFA? - 12:11
• How does Conditional Access help with MFA? - 18:06
• Are people using digitally signed messages or message encryption? - 23:32
• Are the Data Loss Prevention features in M365 helpful for organizations? - 30:01
• Does company size play a factor in whether or not they are a target by attackers? - 39:00

Resources for This Episode

Hornetsecurity Email Security Survey Findings

Security Incident Survey Findings

Conditional Access on the DOJO

A History of Message Encryption

Podcast Episode with Paul on Microsoft 365 Licensing

In this episode, we welcome Luke Orellana from Microsoft to the show! Luke is a Software Engineer for Infrastructure during his day job, and he’s also a VMware vExpert and a Hashicorp Ambassador! I invited Luke on the show specifically because of his high degree of skill when it comes to today’s topic - Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Luke does a fantastic job of walking us through this new management method, use-cases, why you would want to learn it, resources to get start, and much more. After watching this episode you’ll be armed with enough knowledge to go start learning more and figure out how IaC concepts can help you in your own datacenters!

In this episode on Infrastructure as Code

• What is Infrastructure as Code? - 4:45
• Why would I want to learn how to use Infrastructure as Code? - 7:55
• What are some of the core tools that are involved in Infrastructure as Code? - 14:58
• What platforms does the Infrastructure as Code method work with? - 19:45
• What are some good resources for those that are looking to get started with Infrastructure as Code? - 22:00
• An Example of Infrastructure as Code in Action - 26:57

Resources for Infrastructure as Code

• Terraform Resources on the DOJO
• Bicep vs. Terraform on the DOJO
• GitHub CoPilot
• Exercism - Learn Programming
• Cloud Posse Community

For more on this episode on Infrastructure as Code >

We’ve got Microsoft MVP Eric Siron for a conversation about the end of Hyper-V Server (the free SKU of Hyper-V). Again, to confirm, we’re talking about the free SKU of Hyper-V. The normal paid SKUs - the well-known role within Windows Server - will be remaining.

This announcement came abruptly and was something of a shock to many people. Hyper-V server was the primary test/dev hypervisor for many organizations, not to mention it was great for licensing in VDI scenarios. News of its untimely demise has created some angst in the community. Many IT Pros see this move by Microsoft as a way to takeaway a great free tool and use the situation to start pushing Azure Stack HCI, which many organizations are not ready to adopt at this time.

The good news is that Hyper-V Server 2019 is going to continue to be supported until its extended support lifecycle runs out in 2029. This means that many organizations will have plenty of time to migrate to an alternative.

What do you think? Is this change going to be impactful for you? Let us know!

In this episode on free Hyper-V:

• What is Hyper-V Server? - 2:10
• Is Hyper-V Server being discontinued? - 11:04
• Where do Hyper-V Server users go from here? - 18:15
• What are some alternatives to Hyper-V Server? - 21:49

Resources for Hyper-V Server:

• Hyper-V Server on the DOJO
• Azure Stack HCI on the DOJO
• ESXi Hypervisor on the DOJO
• Link to Communities Thread discussing Hyper-V Server’s discontinuation
• Hyper-V Server Lifecycle
• Episode with Ben Armstrong on Hyper-V Server
• Episode with Ben Armstrong on AKS on Azure Stack HCI
• Client Hyper-V vs. Virtualbox - Which is Best for You?
• Azure Stack HCI Webinar on the DOJO

For more on this episode on free Hyper-V > 

We talk with IT Consultant Paul Schnackenburg about the concept of cloud-native architecture, who it’s for, and ultimately… is it better? We also spent a bit of time talking about common stumbling blocks to becoming cloud-native, and how to navigate those challenges.

In this episode on being Cloud-Native:

• What does it mean to be Cloud-Native? - 1:23
• How is on-prem AD seen as a roadblock to becoming Cloud-Native? - 4:51
• Where does Group Policy fit into the Cloud-Native discussion? - 18:55
• How do Cloud-Native businesses handle storage? - 26:04
• Is being Cloud-Native better? - 33:39

Resources for Cloud-Native Architecture:

• M365 Resources on the DOJO
• AAD Kerberos Authentication Process Info on the DOJO
• Azure Files Article from the DOJO
• Azure AD Connect
• Azure AD Join

We’ve got Microsoft’s very own April Dunnam on the SysAdmin DOJO Podcast to talk to us about the Power Platform! If you’re un-aware, the Power Platform is a component of the Microsoft 365 suite of tools and is often overlooked by many organizations. The fact is, the Power Platform can provide a number of benefits to any organization, by enabling key stakeholder in the business and knowledge workers to create apps, automations, bots, and reports in a low-code/no-code fashion. In this podcast we talk through a number of these concerns from the viewpoint of the system administrator. April provides a number of resources and strategies to help you get your organization started with the Power Platform.

In this episode on Microsoft Power Platform:

• How could the Power Platform fit into an existing organization? - 2:50
• What are the different components of the Power Platform? - 6:00
• What is the value of the Power Platform for system administrators? - 14:03
• What is the value of the Power Platform for my End-Users? - 18:43
• How do system administrators manage and secure the Power Platform effectively? - 22:16
• Resources for helping my organization get started with Power Platform - 26:40

Resources for Microsoft Power Platform

• M365 Resources on the DOJO
• The Power Platform on Microsoft Docs
• The Power Platform Team Blog
• Power Platform Resources on April’s YouTube Channel

Learn more on this SysAdmin DOJO episode and Microsoft Power Platform >

We’ve got Paul Schnackenburg back to talk about licensing in Microsoft 365.  To those that have even glanced at the licensing sections of the Microsoft 365 admin portal it comes as no surprise to find out that licensing in Microsoft 365 is horribly complex. We discuss how we ended up here, what different options are there for licensing in Microsoft 365, frontline workers, and most importantly, which license to choose! In this episode on Microsoft 365 licensing

• What is the difference between the business packages and the enterprise packages in Microsoft 365? - 4:46
• What are the differences between the E3 and E5 licensing levels in Microsoft 365? - 9:05
• What is Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS) in Microsoft 365? - 19:03
• E-series packages versus smaller SKUs with addon licenses - 25:34
• What is the F-Series of Licenses in Microsoft 365 for? - 30:30
• What Microsoft 365 License is right for my organization? - 34:13
• What resources are available to help deal with Microsoft 365 licensing? - 39:24

Resources for Microsoft 365 licensing

• Microsoft 365 resources on the DOJO
• More Information on Microsoft 365 Frontline Workers on the DOJO
• Paul’s eBook on Microsoft 365 Security
• Microsoft 365 Service Descriptions
• M365 Maps
• Microsoft 365 Price Increase Blog Post
• DOJO Webinar on Azure Stack HCI

Learn more on this SysAdmin DOJO episode and licensing in Microsoft 365 >

We welcome back Mike Bender for an episode entirely focused on cloud networking! Many IT Pros charge headfirst into cloud networking with the same assumptions and fundamentals in mind from traditional on-prem networking. It often comes as a surprise to many that this isn’t the best route to take when it comes to connecting workloads in the cloud. Most sysadmins have only had to worry about the four walls of their organization, so cloud networking in Azure, AWS, and other cloud can pose some unique challenges.

Azure vWAN can help address some of those challenges. That said, Azure vWAN is a highly complex service that requires quite a bit ok skill in order to leverage effectively. In this episode Mike and Andy talk through these challenges and even provide some resources that IT Pros can use to get a leg up on the steep learning curve!

In this episode on Azure Networking:

• Why are Cloud networking skills important? - 3:11
• What is Azure vWAN? - 15:05
• What some good resources to help getting skilled up on Azure Networking? - 22:59
• A discussion around different certification options - 34:42
• Does Azure networking knowledge “transfer” to other clouds? - 38:48

Resources for networking in Azure

• SysAdmin DOJO Podcast PowerShell episode with Mike
• Azure vWAN on the Altaro DOJO
• Azure vWAN on Microsoft Docs
• IT Pro Resources at the DOJO
• Microsoft Learn
• AZ-700 Course at Pluralsight
• Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework

We talk Hybrid Cloud Management via Azure Arc with Thomas Maurer from the Azure Advocacy team at Microsoft! This episode features a lot of discussion around Microsoft’s hybrid cloud strategy, planning, and management with Azure Arc. Azure Arc brings together management of different clouds into the same UI. You can even setup your on-prem Azure Stack HCI deployments as “Custom Locations” inside of Arc so they appear as sites within the Azure control plane.

This management story is becoming critically important. Many IT Pros see Hybrid Cloud as a destination and not a temporary state. The need for these kinds of management tools is only going to grow. With that said, Andy and Thomas spend a good chunk of the episode talking about Hybrid cloud deployments, technologies, and where Azure Arc fits into it all!

We hope you enjoy!

In this episode

• What is Azure Cloud Advocate? - 2:12
• The Focus on Hybrid Cloud at Microsoft - 10:40
• Examples of Hybrid Cloud Deployments - 12:50
• What are the different options for Hybrid Cloud in the Microsoft Stack? - 16:14
• How does Azure Arc Fit into Microsoft’s Hybrid Cloud Story? - 24:51
• What Azure Stack option fits best where? - 32:34
• For someone new to Microsoft Hybrid technologies, what are some resources to get started? - 36:26

Resources for Azure Stack HCI and Azure Arc

• Learn more about Azure Arc on the DOJO
• Webinar on Azure Stack HCI
• IT Pro Resources at the DOJO
• Azure Stack Products on Microsoft Docs
• Microsoft Learn
• Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework
• Thomas’s Blog

Carsten Rachfahl and Andy Syrewicze hosted a webinar focused on Azure Stack HCI and Hybrid Cloud. The webinar covered several aspects regarding Azure Stack HCI, including:

• What is Azure Stack HCI?
• Installation
• Networking and Storage Considerations
• Example Use-Cases for Azure Stack HCI
• And more!

The other thing the guys discussed was some of the findings from our recent survey on hybrid cloud technologies and adoption. One of the most interesting aspects was the fact that most IT Pros see hybrid cloud as a permanent destination and not necessarily a temporary state. This showed in the amount of questions that were asked during the webinar as well! In fact, we had so many questions that Andy and Carsten wanted to use this podcast to expand on some of the most interesting questions from the webinar!

In this episode on Azure Stack HCI

• How can I get up to speed with Azure Stack HCI while spending little to no money? - 3:30
• What are my options for migrating existing workloads to Azure Stack HCI? - 7:17
• Can Azure Stack HCI run in a disconnected fashion? - 11:23
• Does the $10/Core/Month cost include guest licensing for Windows Server? - 15:15
• Am I able to host multiple different customers within the same Azure Stack HCI Cluster? - 21:27
• Would you recommend Azure Stack HCI for small business? - 25:27
• Is Hyper-V Replica supported with Azure Stack HCI? - 30:52
• Is it possible to upgrade a Windows Server Cluster to Azure Stack HCI via cluster rolling updates? - 31:36
• Can you mix different versions of Azure Stack HCI in the same cluster? - 33:31
• Can you install Azure Stack HCI on uncertified hardware for testing purposes? - 36:12

Watch the on-demand webinar

• How Azure Stack HCI is forcing changes in your datacenter

Resources for Azure Stack HCI

• Altaro Azure Stack HCI Webinar
• MSLab Github Repo
• Free Azure Trial
• Azure Stack HCI Preview Program
• Altaro VM Backup with Azure Stack HCI
• Azure Stack VM Migration Info on MS Docs
• Azure Stack HCI Catalog

Welcome to the second of a two-part series on the management and tooling ecosystem for Hyper-V, for on-prem and hybrid cloud. In part one, our host Andy Syrewicze and guest Eric Siron discussed the traditional on-prem Hyper-V management tools at length. This included tools such as Hyper-V Manager, PowerShell, and Failover Cluster Manager amongst others.

In part two, the guys peer into the modern era and the future of virtualization management in the Microsoft space. For example, Windows Admin Center is Microsoft’s next generation Windows Server management tool, but how does it stack up to managing Hyper-V? Where does Azure Arc fit in? Are they ready for prime-time? All these questions and more are covered in the episode!

Join the webinar

• How Azure Stack HCI is forcing changes in your datacenter

In this episode on Hyper-V management tools for hybrid cloud:

• Hyper-V management and Windows Admin Center - 0:52
• Where does Windows Admin Center work best? - 8:14
• What is Azure Arc? - 12:00
• Which Hyper-V Management tool should you use and when? - 14:30

Resources for Hyper-V Management Tools

• Eric’s Windows Admin Center eBook
• Introduction to Windows Admin Center on the DOJO
• Learn more about Azure Arc on the DOJO
• IT Pro resources at the DOJO
• The DOJO Forums
• Webinar on Azure Stack HCI