Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Learning PowerShell

Whilst pursuing my goal of earning my MCSE: Server Infrastructure, I am also going to be adding other skills that may not be specific to any one exam, but may apply across many exams. This will also enhance my skills as a sysadmin, and my understanding of the Windows Server products.

The first of these "add-on" skills, is Windows PowerShell. It have often heard it stated that it is one of the most critical skills required by Windows administrators today. I do have a little bit of experience with PowerShell, but I do feel that it is important to extend that knowledge significantly.To this end, I am going to sprinkle in liberal amounts of PowerShell training while I study for my MCSE.

If you are not familiar with PowerShell, and would like a quick overview of what PowerShell is, you can head over to Wikipedia's entry on Windows PowerShell.

I have also found a nice article summarizing why PowerShell is important. "It's an older article sir, but it checks out.". It does a great job of explaining the key points as to why you need to know PowerShell. That article is on TechRepublic and is titled: 10 reasons why you should learn to use PowerShell

Today marks the first day of my studies. As promised in a previous post, I will keep a record of my learning activities in this blog. My thoughts are that I will provide an update on the weekends, thereby sparing everyone from daily updates. In addition, a list of the learning resources that I am using to study can be found in this post. I will keep that list updated as I add more resources.

Well, onward and upwards in our never-ending quest for more bandwidth!

Have a great day!
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MCSE: Server Infrastructure - Learning Resources

Listed here is the collection of books, videos, online courses and various other articles I have used to aid in my studies in preparation for taking the MCSE: Server Infrastructure exams. In most cases, I have provided a link to the resources, and have also mentioned which exam or technology I primarily applied it to.

This post will be continually updated as I proceed through my studies, and I will reference it often as I post updates to my progress. If you feel I have missed a particularly good resource, please, let me know about it in the comments below. I am always keen to find out what other people are using to enhance their knowledge.

Have a great day!


Books
Online Courses
Podcasts
Blogs Posts
TechNet Articles
Other Misc. Sources

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Sunday, May 25, 2014

To re-certify or not to re-certify?

That is the question...

The last professional certification* that I earned was the MCSE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) on the Windows NT 4.0 platform, which I earned on January 26, 2001. Whether or not to re-certify is a question I have been asking myself off and on since Windows 2000 was released.

In the "Do not re-certify" column:
- I do not require a certification for my current job.
- It is a very large time, effort, and monetary investment to earn a Microsoft certification.

In the "Re-certify" column:
- Some companies look to see if candidates have a certification when hiring new employees.
- It is a way to prove to myself that I thoroughly know and understand the Windows Server 2012 R2 technologies.
- I feel it allows me to bring some extra value to my employer and to myself as I further my skills as a sysadmin.

When I earned my MCSE on NT4, I was employed part time, wasn't married, and didn't have kids. Time was not an issue. I did however, have to muddle through learning Windows NT Server on a collection of cobbled together PCs ranging from 486DX2-66 all the way down to a 386SX-25. Needless to say, performance wasn't always as high as I would have liked, but they weren't expensive systems. Many of them were scrounged from people who were upgrading PCs and had components they wanted to dispose of. The training resources I used were the Sybex Windows NT 4 MCSE training kit consisting of four books, the Sybex training guides for TCP/IP and IIS 4.0, and Mark Minasi's "Mastering Windows NT Server 4". Along with those, I had also purchased the Exam Readiness Review for each of the six exams I was planning to take.

Fast forward to 2014. I now have a full time job (sometimes more than full time), a wife, kids, and far less time than I used to have. What I do have that differs, is resources. I now have a nice training server running a quad-core 3.6 GHz CPU and 32 GB of RAM with plenty of disk space and running vSphere 5.5. I also have purchased the Microsoft Training Guides and the Exam Refs for the MCSA exams, Mark Minasi's "Mastering Windows Server 2012 R2", and a few other books. I have access to live, online instructor led training, day-to-day experience with Windows Server technologies at work, access to TechNet, Microsoft Virtual Academy, and the entirety of the rest of the Internet's resources at my fingertips. Getting the knowledge is not going to be a problem this time around.

As I have reviewed the Pros and Cons of re-certifying, and my past and present situation with regards to time, and resources, I am left feeling that it will be no easier, and yet no harder to earn an updated certification. The challenges are simply different now than they were then.

All things considered, I do plan to re-certify. The reasons are many, but some of the big ones include personal satisfaction, enhanced skills that I can bring to my employer, and guarding against becoming a technological has-been. I do not think I will complete my MCSE (Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert) certification as quickly as I had before**, but I do plan to complete the exams, and then stay on top of upgrading it when new Windows Server products come out.

How long will this re-certification process take? I do not know. I do know that it will be quite challenging, and ultimately rewarding. I will regularly chart my progress here, as much for my own benefit as for keeping everyone else up to date. In case anyone is interested, I have also listed below the previous exams that I took and the exams that I plan to take over the coming year.

Wish me luck! It's time to bring my A-Game!

Have a great day!


MCSE - NT4 - Completed Exams
70-067 - Implementing and Supporting NT Server 4.0
70-068 - Implementing and Supporting NT Server 4.0 in the Enterprise
70-073 - Implementing and Supporting NT 4.0 Workstation
70-058 - Networking Essentials
70-059 - Internetworking with Microsoft TCP/IP on Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
70-087 - Implementing and Supporting Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0

MCSE - Windows Server 2012 R2 - Planned Exams
70-410 - Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012
70-411 - Administering Windows Server 2012
70-412 - Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services
70-413 - Designing and Implementing a Server Infrastructure
70-414 - Implementing an Advanced Server Infrastructure


* During this post, whenever I mention certification, I am referring to the Microsoft Certified Professional certifications, and unless otherwise stated, I am referring specifically to the MCSA/MCSE certification tracks for Windows Server 2012 R2.

 ** My last MCSE was earned in 4 months, 16 days, from first exam to last exam. It worked out to approximately one exam every three weeks.

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Friday, May 23, 2014

Six Years Later

Some might say that six years away fom a blog is a sure sign that it has been abandoned. Well, this blog has not been abandoned, just neglected. I intend to correct that oversight starting now.

I cannot believe how fast the last six years has gone by. So very many things have changed, and I think all of the changes are for the best. There have been many ups and downs, but I can honestly say I'm a better person for it. I've learned many things including how to be a better sysadmin, a better father, and a better husband than I was just a few short years ago.

At work, I have been made responsible for several projects over the last few years, and at times have struggled as to how to handle this new role. Adding project management skills on top of my well worn sysadmin skills was a challenge at first, so I muddled through it the best I could. It wasn't until recently that someone I consider a friend and mentor revealed to me that while my job performance hadn't dropped, it was not really at the level it should be for a sysadmin with ten years of experience. It stung. It was one hundred percent accurate, but it stung. So, I have spent my time since then making sure I take every opportunity to develop my skills. Time to bring my A-Game. More on this in a later post.

Becoming a better father is by far the most challenging aspect of my learning. It's not easy, often thankless, but always rewarding, especially when you hear those magic words "I love you daddy!". There really isn't space here to document all I have learned about being a father. Mostly it has been trial and error, and whilst I wish I could say the errors have been few, they haven't. It is in those times, however, that we all learn the most. So, I am looking forward to learning much more over the coming years as I watch my children grow.

As for becoming a better husband, it has been 11 years since I was lucky enough to marry the most wonderful, kind hearted, and generous woman I have ever had the privilege of knowing. I think one of the biggest things we learned was to never go to bed mad at each other. Always work out the problems before going to bed, even if it means staying up until the sun rises before you resolve the issue. Some of our other best learning comes from Mark Gungor's Laugh Your Way to A Better Marriage seminar. I have never laughed so hard in my life, but it revealed to us that whilst we are different people, we don't have to change the other person for us to be happy. We just have to understand the differences between us and work with them, not against them. We have been together for over 20 years now, and I cannot imagine spending the rest of this grand adventure called "Life" with anyone else. Love you babe!

In closing, I'll just say that I intend to keep on reading, learning, and improving myself in any way possible. For those of you, especially recent graduates from high school who say "I'm so glad that school is over.", allow me to say never stop learning! Learn something new every day! It is through learning that we become better people.

Have a great day everyone!


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