In my article about creating an Azure virtual machine, I walked us through the very basic wizard to create a VM. There is an entire segment of the virtual machine build process dedicated to optional features. These features allow new virtual machines to integrate a VM into an existing Azure environment. When we created our first machine we accepted the default settings, which created new network and storage accounts. That works perfectly for a first look but it wouldn’t be appropriate for use in a real life Azure Infrastructure.
One of the most basic tasks a VMware administrator will perform is deploying a virtual machine. Whether it is creating a VM from scratch or using a template, we’ve all worked through the wizard.
As I dig deeper into Azure I can’t help but bring my experience with vSphere along with me. The Azure Resource Manger is a very different experience from the vSphere Web Client but there also quite a few similarities.
I recently created a blog post about Getting Started with AWS. I like what they do and think they’re a great platform but there is more than one horse in the public cloud race. Microsoft Azure is a close second to AWS and getting better every day. Microsoft has many advantages that AWS doesn’t: They are probably already in your datacenter and you probably have an ELA with them. If you do, check and see if there are Azure credits in there.
A little while ago I wrote about getting started with AWS. I have since been reintroduced to Qwicklabs and felt I should talk a little about this resource.
I have always been a hands-on learner. I built a home lab to teach myself VMware, I had a Windows domain in my house, and so on. The easiest way to learn AWS is to dig in and with the free tier you don’t even have to pay.
I have been skimming the surface of AWS and Azure for various work projects and as part of my new role as a vBrownBag crew member. I feel it is safe to say that public cloud has arrived for the enterprise. It is a very scary transition for Operations. Cloud reminds/infers layoffs and reorgs. If we don’t manage hardware why have a hardware team. I think education is the easiest way to cut through fear.
The end of the calendar year brings family, travel, and performance evaluations. A big part of mine is training and tech development. It’s never too soon to start thinking about what is new and where your are interested in strengthening your skill.
I asked some tech experts what skills are the stuff to learn for 2017. Keith Townsend @ctoadvisor responded with
Scripting (ie Cloud Formation, Powershell, Python)
Hybrid infrastructure networking (AWS VPC>VPN integration)
I’ve never been a person to shy away from a technology or educational challenge. When I was presented with AWS as a platform to move forward with in my consulting days I jumped on it. I went from “couch to AWS” within a couple weeks and did my first deployment six weeks after starting my journey.
I wanted to replicate this journey. Jumping in the deep end and having a deadline to learn something well enough to really use it excites me.
Discussion of the cloud seems to be popping up around me daily. Part of it is my own instigation but other people are starting the discussions as well. It is always a lively debate with three sides. There’s very pro-cloud, cloud for specific use cases, and there are the totally anti-cloud people. A member of that political faction contributed the following quote to the meeting’s chat:
Cloud n. /Kloud/ def.
About two years ago I just happened to read an article in CIO magazine about “The Cloud”. I’ve always been a huge fan of virtualization and getting the most computing for my money. Reading about AWS in particular really excited me. I thought of Amazon as a fantastic retailer and this article and the research done afterward really opened my eyes.
I’m all about infrastructure and approached my studies from that perspective.