MCSE Studying - Week 9

Overview
I have completed week nine of studying for my MCSE exams. I finished the Chapter 5 Practice Exercises, and started Chapter 6 in the 70-410 Training Guide. I finished the 70-410 Live Learning course from KnowledgeNet, and finished Lab 1 in the 'Learn PowerShell in a Month of Lunches' book.

Cool Stuff
Once again, this past week has been more of a review for me. I am looking forward to some challenges in the upcoming week as I learn more about DNSSEC and IPv6.

Stats
Total time studying: 8 hrs. 35 min.

• Exam 70-410: 8 hrs.
• PowerShell: 35 min.

Resources used:
Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2: Mitch Tulloch
KnowledgeNet Live Learning Course: Installing and Configuring Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches - 2nd Edition: Don Jones & Jeffery D. Hicks

* I have decided not to include all of the TechNet articles I read throughout the week, as they are quite numerous. I will however, still list them in the Learning Resources post.

In Closing
Time management issues, a higher task load at work, and a general lack of enthusiasm on my part seems to have contributed to this past week's activities being less than I had planned for. I think I need either more coffee, more pizza, or both! This sysadmin needs to get focused, and quickly. The information isn't going to get into my head by itself.


Have a great week everyone!

MCSE Studying - Week 8

Overview
I have completed week eight of studying for my MCSE exams. I started and completed all of Chapter 4, and finished the lessons in Chapter 5 in the 70-410 Training Guide. I continued the 70-410 Live Learning course from KnowledgeNet, and listened to four more PowerScripting Podcast episodes. I especially enjoyed the PowerScripting podcast episode with ScriptRock (272), and the interview with Jeffrey Snover (274). There was a lot of eye opening information revealed in these episodes. I also ordered myself a PowerShell coffee mug. It really spoke to me, and I had to have it!

Cool Stuff
This past week has been more of a review in terms of the subject matter covered. Approximately 75% of my training this week has been review of things I had learned quite some time ago, some of it almost two decades ago. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that reviewing these topics is a bad thing, it's just a little hard to pick out something cool when it all feels like review.

The best information came from two of the PowerScripting Podcast episodes. Episode #272 with ScriptRock covering their GuardRail product. It helped me understand a little more about configuration management and how, with the right tools, almost magical things can be done. The second episode of note was #274, an interview with Jeffrey Snover, the creator of PowerShell. The most significant thing I learned about was JEA (Just Enough Admin), which from what I understand, is a way to reduce the attack surface of the sysadmins. This is accomplished by reducing the number of tasks that require elevated privileges, thereby reducing the chance that an attacker will be able to glean admin credentials from a compromised system. Both were very interesting topics, but I really cannot do them justice here. Just go listen to them!

Stats
Total time studying: 14 hrs. 30 min.

• Exam 70-410: 9 hrs. 35 min.
• PowerShell: 4 hrs. 55 min.

Resources used:
Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2: Mitch Tulloch
KnowledgeNet Live Learning Course: Installing and Configuring Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

PowerScripting Podcast - Episodes 271, 272, 273 & 274
* I have decided not to include all of the TechNet articles I read throughout the week, as they are quite numerous. I will however, still list them in the Learning Resources post.

In Closing
I am planning to focus a little more in the coming week on 70-410, and PowerShell. I did not get anywhere near enough PowerShell training into the mix this past week, which has been a little disappointing. There have been many distractions throughout the week, not the least of which seems to be that I'm spending most of my days at work just putting out fires. I think the problem comes down to not having enough hours in the week, but I think that's a problem everyone seems to have.


Have a great week everyone!

MCSE Studying - Week 7

Overview
I have completed week seven of studying for my MCSE exams. I started and completed Chapter 3 in the 70-410 Training Guide, started the 70-410 Live Learning course from KnowledgeNet, listened to six more PowerScripting Podcast episodes, and finished chapters 5 & 6, and started Lab 1 in the "Learn PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches" book. It has been an incredibly busy week, both at work, and at home.

Cool Stuff
Whilst there hasn't been anything specific that I would say is really cool, the one thing I enjoyed the most was getting into the Lab 1 exercises in the "Learn PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches" book. Being given nothing more than a couple of hints, and a whole list of tasks to complete using PowerShell was challenging, educational, and a whole lot of fun!

As always, there is a lot of stuff every week that is really cool that I would love to add here, but it would take up way more space than I have planned for. A lot of what I learn falls into three categories; "That is the coolest thing I have ever seen!", "Wow! This will be really handy at work over the coming weeks.", and "Gee, I wish I had known about this six months ago.". Unfortunately, the last one seems to come up quite often.

Stats
Total time studying: 18 hrs. 15 min.

• Exam 70-410: 9 hrs. 15 min.
• PowerShell: 9 hrs.

Resources used:
Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2: Mitch Tulloch
Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches - 2nd Edition: Don Jones & Jeffery D. 
Hicks
KnowledgeNet Live Learning Course: Installing and Configuring Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

PowerScripting Podcast - Episodes 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, & 270
* I have decided not to include all of the TechNet articles I read throughout the week, as they are quite numerous. I will however, still list them in the Learning Resources post.

In Closing
I have had quite a productive week this week. Learning is starting to get easier now that I have managed to train my brain how to learn again. Listening to the PowerScripting Podcast has been a fantastic eye-opener into the latest news around not only PowerShell, but also the Windows Server communities. I did not realize how much I was missing out on by staying inside the little bubble I had for myself at work. Over the coming months I would like to start getting into more forums and discussions with some of my peers in the industry. I think it will prove most valuable. Who knows, maybe I'll look into attending some of the conferences that are hosted throughout the year.

Have a great week everyone!

MCSE Studying - Week 6

Overview
I have completed week six of studying for my MCSE exams. I started and completed Chapter 2 in the 70-410 Training Guide, listened to two more PowerScripting Podcast episodes, and finished chapters 3 & 4 in the "Learn PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches" book. It was a very busy week, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time.

Cool Stuff
There has been many things that I learned this week that qualify as cool, but I think that the most practical and useful one is how to update PowerShell help files from a local source vs. the Microsoft site. In order to retrieve the files, you will need an Internet connection, then create a folder, in this example I used C:\PowerShellHelp

New-Item -Path C:\PowerShellHelp -Type Directory

and then run the following PowerShell command to save the help files:

Save-Help -DestinationPath C:\PowerShellHelp

In order to update PowerShell help from these files, use this command:

Update-Help -SourcePath C:\PowerShellHelp

There you have it! PowerShell help has been updated.

Also, I especially enjoyed spending time learning about converting Windows Server 2012 R2 with a GUI to a Server Core install that strips away all of the extras, and then being able to re-install the GUI if desired. I can certainly see where that is useful for reducing a server's vulnerability to exploits along with reducing the disk space requirements.

Stats
Total time studying: 11 hrs. 25 min.

• Exam 70-410: 7 hrs. 45 min.
• PowerShell: 3 hrs. 40 min.

Resources used:
Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2: Mitch Tulloch
Learn Windows PowerShell 3 in a Month of Lunches - 2nd Edition: Don Jones & Jeffery D. Hicks

PowerScripting Podcast - Episodes 263 & 264

In Closing
This past week was far more productive than some of the previous weeks. I cannot say for sure why I was able to get more time in, but I'm glad I did. As long as I can put in the same amount of effort in the coming weeks as I did this past week, I should be well on my way to earning my MCSE.

Have a great week everyone!

MCSE Studying - Week 5

Overview
I have completed week five of studying for my MCSE exams. I managed to make a good start into the 70-410 Training Guide. I completed Chapter 1, along with the practice exercises. The other thing I started this week, was listening to the PowerScripting Podcast. I had intended to start listening to it quite some time ago, but had not had the opportunity to do so until this past weekend. While it isn't as technical as some of the training resources I usually use, it is still quite valuable, as it provides an opportunity to see how other sysadmins, and other companies are utilizing PowerShell. In episode 260, there is an excellent discussion (rant) about taking responsibility for your own career development, and not relying on your employer to do it for you. For those who are interested, the rant starts at about the 1:08:30 mark.

Cool Stuff
One of the most useful, and well timed things I learned this week, was about the website www.windowsservercatalog.com. From this page you can look to see which server hardware from various vendors is certified for the various editions of Windows Server. This was especially useful this past week, as I was preparing to upgrade a physical server to Windows Server 2012 R2. It was nice to see that the server I am going to be upgrading was in the list of certified servers.

Stats
Total time studying: 7 hrs. 10 min.

• Exam 70-410: 3 hrs. 15 min.
• PowerShell (non-technical): 3 hrs. 55 min.

Resources used:
Training Guide: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 R2: Mitch Tulloch

TechNet Article - AD DS Design Guide

TechNet Magazine - Export, Compare, and Synchronize Active Directory Schemas

Knowledge Base Article - Description of Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8.1 and Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8

TechNet Article - Automatic Virtual Machine Activation

TechNet Article - System Requirements and Installation Information for Windows Server 2012 R2

TechNet Article - Inventory in Configuration Manager

PowerScripting Podcast - Episodes 259, 260, & 261

In Closing
It's nice to get into the training and almost daily find things that I can use in my job. For example, this past week I was able to make use of the Windows Server Catalog, review the process we are using to upgrade our servers, and started writing a couple of basic PowerShell scripts. All in all, it has been a great week. I'm looking forward to next weeks challenges and opportunities!

Have a great week everyone!