Make ‘less’ your first resolution

As we approach the end of another year, many people’s mind now turn to creating resolutions for the New Year. This is a very commendable thing to do, however the reality is that most fail to follow through with such resolutions and I have an idea as to why this might be.

The majority of resolutions that people make are additive. This means that they are things are in addition to what they are already doing. Herein lies the seeds of failure I would suggest, because the most important resolutions initially are subtractive ones.

The reasons why subtractive goals are more important is because they promote focus and build the resolution muscles. How is this you make well ask? Well, if you firstly go through your life and look at what you can eliminate or minimise there is no doubt that such processes are ‘hard’. Why is that? Over time you have accumulated all this ‘’extra’ stuff and you psychologically attach value to that accumulation even though that is logically invalid. In short, because you already have it, you think that is ‘worth’ something and thus, should be retained.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. How many time have you cleaned up your desk, closet, garage, etc. and come across an item that you honestly know no longer provides value and really should be eliminated? However, the internal dialogue steps in to tell you ‘not to throw this out because you may need it’ or ‘you just never know when situation X may arise when you will need this’. Pretty common eh? We’ve all been there haven’t we?

In these situations, your will power to eliminate and focus simply hasn’t been strong enough to over come the historical belief that the item still has value. However, conversely, it much easier to add ‘stuff’ isn’t? This because there is no historical baggage with the item or desire in question. You want because you don’t have so adding is easy you believe. The problem is that by adding without making room, you are adding more mental ‘load’ and spreading yourself thinner. Doing so greatly increases your chances of failure, not of just one item but of the whole system. In short, there comes a time when you are simply juggling too many items and they all fall out of the sky.

So, if your ability to eliminate is not strong then you are going to accumulate far more than you really need. Sound familiar? The solution therefore lies in exercising your elimination muscles first. The trick if to do the unpleasant and hard stuff first, when your resolution is at its strongest. Only when the hard tasks are complete should you move onto the easier tasks of addition. If you are unable to eliminate the truly unnecessary, then you are unlikely to keep any resolutions you add. It is really as simple as that.

The constant addition of items and resolutions increases the distraction and removes our focus. The more you have, the more that you need to maintain and more mental energy you devote to maintaining these. Eliminating give you focus, it makes you truly prioritise not only what is important but what is actually required rather than potentially useful. It allows you to devote your precious and limited energy you have to what truly matters, rather than a sea of unnecessary and irrelevant material.

So before you go making new resolutions, start with the resolution of elimination. If you can’t master that one simple one then your chances of mastering anything else are slim indeed. Only the resolution of elimination will set you free and allow you to achieve your goals. So, go forth and eliminate this New Year. I think be you’ll be surprised at how focused you’ll become.

Pricing a VM as an SMB share

I posted a recent article on pricing a 1TB file share using Azure that you can find here:

Clarification on Azure SMB file share transactions

The estimated cost for that was AU$115.35 per month.

Let’s repeat the exercise but this time price up the share in Azure using a virtual machine (VM) for storage.

I’m going to use the DS1_V2 machine as my base for two reasons. Firstly, it is low power, which is what we want if we are simply using it as a file share and secondly this machine supports premium storage, which I’ll also look at pricing as an option.

If I now price this using the Azure pricing calculator (and remembering that a DS2_V2 is the same as a D1_V2 in the calculator) I come up with an estimate of AU$139.30 per month.

However, this is just for the host machine. I now need to add additional storage of at least 1TB to host the file share.

You can see when I select basic storage (HDD) and 300,000 (i.e. 3 units) transactions as before, for 1TB of additional storage. This comes to a total of AU$104.36 for storage alone.

The total of the VM and storage here is AU$243.66.

Now, let’s say I select premium storage (SSD) for this additional 1TB rather than basic.

The first thing you’ll notice is that you are no longer charged for transactions, just a flat storage cost of AU$172.17.

I need to select the P30 to give me at least 1TB of storage. I could of course use multiple disks striped together but one big disk works out cheaper anyway. Thus, the total cost of the VM + premium storage is AU$311.47 per month. This is about a 28% premium over the basic storage option above.

So let’s now say I want to go with the cheapest VM (host) available. That would be an A0 machine as shown above. However, choosing an A0 machine now means I don’t have premium storage available as an option.

That means my additional storage option is back to AU$104.36, giving me a total cost of AU$131.84. Which is about a 50% discount on the basic storage option and 58% discount on the premium storage option.

So in terms of pure cost, Azure SMB file shares wins out at AU$115.34 while the cheapest VM share option is AU$131.34. However, in terms of flexibility the VM is probably the winner because:

1. You can potentially run other processes on the VM.

2. The VM supports low level NTFS permissions inside the share which the Azure file solution currently doesn’t.

3. It is easy to upgrade the base VM and add more storage if required.

But wait, there is still something else that hasn’t yet been considered here. How do you access the share?

With an Azure SMB File share you simply map a drive on any modern machine by running a command but how would an end user map a drive with a VM?

For an end user to easily map a drive letter to an Azure VM they are typically going to need to have in place a site to site VPN from on premises to Azure.

As you can see from above the cost of a standard Azure VPN gateway is AU$180.05 per month. There is also the need to factor transfers out of Azure (you don’t pay for data into Azure, only out from). Let’s say that half of our data (i.e. 500GB) is transferred per month out of Azure. That leaves the total cost of the VPN gateway to be AU$267.06.

The inclusion of the VPN gateway now inflates our original DS1_V2 scenario with basic storage to a cost of AU$510.71 which is much more expensive than the initial Azure SMB file share option considered previously. However again, a VPN to Azure is going to provide a huge amount of flexibility when it comes to the infrastructure going forward.

So what this means is that as a pure stand alone file share solution the Azure SMB file share option is going to be typically the most cost effective. However, in terms of an overall shift of on premises infrastructure to the cloud, the VM share option is going to provide the flexibility and growth capability that you are going to want.

Which should you choose? In reality, both. Why? The scenario for most SMB customers is a desire to move the majority, if not all of their infrastructure, to the cloud. However they are not going to do it all immediately. It will be a process undertaken over time. Thus, an Azure SMB file share makes good sense initially but in the long run a VM share solution is probably the most effective solution.

The great thing is that because everything is Azure you can set all of this up under one tenant and add and remove components as you need over time and only be billed for what you consume. That’s the real flexibility here. Azure gives you a range of tools that you can use to solve just about any infrastructure challenge. That’s why it needs to be part of your toolbox!

Yes, there are lot more ‘if’s and but’s’ than if you simply went out and purchased an on premises NAS for storage but that doesn’t give you the flexibility for what is ultimately the end game of migrating infrastructure to the cloud now does it?

We live in a world where everyone wants more options. SMB resellers also need to get comfortable with the fact that there is really no end to a ‘migration’ because it simply continues on in other forms. That should be music to IT resellers ears as it means growing demand by customers for assistance and the opportunity to generate more revenue.

Yes, the world may be different and pricing may be a little more involved than it used to be but there is no beating the flexibility that is now available thanks to Azure.

What is the correct price?

One of major pain points for SMB resellers is pricing Azure solutions. Here’s an example of why.

Let’s say that I want to price a DS1_V2 machine.

In this case I’ve chosen a DS1_V2 machine for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is a low power machine, and secondly, the DS machines allow the attachment of premium storage.

Now as you can see from the estimate from inside the Azure portal above the price of this machine alone comes to $79.60 per month.

Interestingly, if I now go to the Azure price calculator I don’t find an option for a DS1_V2 machine, so confusion point number one. It turns out that I need to use the pricing for a D1_V2 which is the same as the pricing for a DS1_V2 (but of course the DS1_V2 permits premium storage while the D1_V2 doesn’t).

Confusion point number two is that the price for a D1_V2 (which is the same as my desired DS1_V2) is listed as $139.30 per month. So what’s the right estimate here? Sure, the difference in price is only about $60 but as a percentage the difference is about 75% which is significant.

Let’s try another machine.

The difference in a D2_V2 is $119.40 or again a 75% difference.

Let’s try another family of machines.

The difference in an A1 machine is $69.17 or 182% difference!

So clearly I’m missing something here and would appreciate someone setting me straight as to:

1. Why the pricing between the portal and calculator is different and

2. Which one I should be using to get a correct estimate of cost?

I need to know.

**** Here’s the answer:

http://windowsitpro.com/azure/azure-msdn-virtual-machine-price-discount

Because I have Azure via an MSDN subscription I received additional discounts on VM usage per:

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/member-offers/msdn-benefits-details/

Low dev/test rates help you stretch your credit farther

Use the Microsoft software included with your Visual Studio subscription on Azure Virtual Machines for dev/test at no extra charge—you’ll just pay the Linux rate for VMs you run, even VMs with SQL Server, SharePoint Server, or other software that is normally billed at a higher rate. Upload custom virtual machine images yourself or use one of our pre-configured images from the Azure Gallery.

In addition to the low dev/test rates on VMs, you also get low rates on Cloud Services, HDInsight, and Web Apps.

So now I know. My oversight!

So in summary the Azure pricing calculator gives you the RRP without any discounts while the portal gives your effective costs taking into account any discounts you receive on that tenant alone! Thus, for pricing a solution for a customer, always use the calculator pricing.

OneDrive copy to Team Sites arrives

If you select a file in your OneDrive for Business and then select the Copy option you’ll find some new abilities.

You’ll now see that you get the ability to copy to a SharePoint Online Team Site. You can read more details about this ability at:

Copy files and folders from OneDrive for Business to a SharePoint Site

Note – Scripting must be turned off for personal sites If scripting is turned on for personal sites in your organization, the Copy command is restricted to copying within your OneDrive.

At this point in time the functionality is only available with Copy and not the Move command. Also, at this point in time the ability is not available in Team Sites.

Thus, for the time being, you can now Copy (but not Move) via a browser, files and folders from OneDrive for Business to a Team Site (but not the reverse). Hopefully, the other abilities such as Move and inside Team Sites also is not far away.

Providing admin access to OneDrive for Business

When a new Office 365 user is created they normally get provisioned with their own OneDrive for Business location. This is basically a dedicated SharePoint Site Collection per user into which they can upload and share their own private documents.

Each user is the only Site Collection administrator for their own OneDrive for Business location. This means, by default, even a global administrator doesn’t have access to a users OneDrive for Business location.

Of course, in a business, there can be the need for others to have admin access to a users OneDrive for Business, typically for compliance or even once the user has left the organisation. There are a number of ways of granting this access.

All of these methods will require you to have SharePoint administration rights in your tenant and then navigate to the SharePoint admin center.

Probably the easiest way to gain access to any existing user OneDrive for Business is simply to assign the appropriate administration user Secondary Site Collection rights to the site:

http://<tenant name>-my.sharePoint.com

You do that by firstly selecting the appropriate site in your list from the available Site Collections like so:

Once you place a check mark to the left of the OneDrive for Business Site Collections you will see a number of buttons become available to you on the Ribbon Menu across the top.

Select the Owners button.

Then select the Manage Administrators from the menu that appears.

As with any SharePoint Site Collection, you’ll see both the Primary Site Collection Administrator as well as any Secondary Site Collection Administrators. Remember, you can only have one Primary but many Secondary Site Collections administrators. So add the desired user in as a Secondary Site Collection Administrator field and then select OK.

The permissions for all the user OneDrive for Business sites will now update and when complete the added user will be able to access all users OneDrive for Business locations (typically by navigating directly to that URL).

Another way to achieve the same result, but for new or deleted users, is to navigate to the user profiles area from the menu on the left hand side of the SharePoint admin center.

This will take you to the following screen:

Here select Setup My Sites from the My Site Settings group at the bottom of the page.

Scroll down the list of options until you find My Site Cleanup

Here you can again effectively enter a Secondary Site Collection Administrator but for OneDrive for Business Site Collections where the user has been deleted.

If you continue to scroll down you will find a section called My Site Secondary Admin.

Here you can again effectively enable an automatic Secondary Site Collection Administrator to be allocated to a OneDrive for Business location when a new user is created.

Although really a double up from the first option shown is also worthwhile doing as a backup to ensure you cater for all new and any deleted users

The final way is of course to use PowerShell to enable permissions on users OneDrive for Business but I’ll leave that for a future article.

Beware that by adding additional Site Collection Administrators to a users OneDrive for Business users may see these additional admins as already having access as shown above when they go to share documents. It is recommended that you communicate this to your users in advance so they are aware of their compliance requirements.

So, in summary, remember that by default only the user has access to their OneDrive for Business location. You can easily assign rights for other users to access a users OneDrive for Business information using the methods outlined above. Once these rights have been assigned you can navigate to these locations using the URL for each users individual OneDrive for Business location.

Creating new permissions level in SharePoint Online [VIDEO]

Here’s a video to go with the article I wrote recently about

Creating a new permissions level in SharePoint Online

It is important to remember that you’ll need to be at top of the Site Collection to actually create the new permission level.

CIAOPS Online training special offer

With 2016 drawing to a close, I thought I’d do a special offer on the Complete Course Catalogue for my online training academy you can find at:

www.ciaopsacademy.com

The Complete Course Catalogue is an annual subscription that gives you access to every course I have created (including courses on Azure, Office 365, Yammer, SharePoint and more) and will create. Thus, if you sign up today you get access to the 25+ courses I have already created PLUS you’ll also get access to all the new courses I have in the works for 2017.

So the deal until December 25 and for a strictly limited number of takers is:

– 10% discount off the first year’s subscription ($60 value)

– a 1 hour remote consulting call with me that you can use for training, business mentoring or the like ($275 value)

– access to the private CIAOPS Facebook tech community to discuss and ask your questions in and share with other members ($120 value)

– free Getting Started With Skype for Business eBook ($10 value)

– free Beyond the Basics with SharePoint Online eBook ($10 value)

That’s over $450 in value plus what you’ll get from the online courses that include video lessons, downloadable notes, links and more.

As I said, this offer is strictly limited until the 25th of December 2016 or until sold out, so don’t delay. Sign up today to take advantage of this strictly limited learning opportunity.

To take advantage of this deal use the code MERRY2016 at checkout or click this link:

http://ciaops-academy.teachable.com/p/complete-catalogue/?product_id=153214&coupon_code=MERRY2016

I look forward to seeing you in the CIAOPS Academy and Facebook Tech group.

Creating a new permission level in SharePoint Online

When users are given access to SharePoint Online they are typically given the ‘edit’ permission. The ‘edit’ permission allows users to not only create and edit documents but also to delete them. In some cases it may not be appropriate to do this. Luckily, with SharePoint you can easily create a new permission levels that is exactly like the edit permission, just without the ability to delete. Here’s how to do that.

Firstly, visit the location where you wish to create the new permission and select the COG icon in the top right hand corner of the screen.

From the menu that appears select Site settings. If you don’t see this option then you most likely don’t have the appropriate permissions to make these changes.

In the Site Settings page under the Users and Permissions section in the top left, select Site Permissions.

From the menu that appears across the top of the page select Permission Levels on the right.

You should now see a list of all the different existing permission levels available as shown above.

You could select the Add a Permission Level option from the menu across the top but that would require you customising a new permission from scratch. It is much easier to copy and then modify an existing permission to the level that you desire.

Since the Edit permission is the closest permissions level to the one we desire, select that to display its current settings as shown above.

If you now scroll to the bottom of this screen you will find an option to Copy Permission Level, which you should select.

This will now create a new permission level for you but copy over all the existing permissions as shown above. Enter a new name a description for this permission. In this case I will call call it Edit no Delete.

Make the desired changes to the permissions listed by simply checking or unchecking the individual permission. in this case I have unchecked the options to Delete Items and Delete Versions as shown above.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and Create the new settings.

You should now see the new permission level displayed in the permissions list as shown above, here Edit no Delete. If you need to edit this further, simply select the permission name.

Now, when you visit a location and want to set the permissions you will see your custom permission level as shown above that you can select and apply.

SharePoint gives you the ability to create as many custom permission levels as you desire. The trick is that it is easier to copy and modify an existing permission, rather than create a new from scratch. This article has shown you how to do just that.