Category: Uncategorized

An Introduction to Azure File Sync Service

One of the exciting announcements for me that came from Microsoft Ignite 2017 was the announcement of a new Azure File Sync Service. This basically back ends into Azure SMB files shares but allows you to sync files between servers quickly and easily.

What I also really like about this service is the integration that exists (or is coming) with other Azure services, like backup. This makes it an extremely powerful and compelling solution in my books.

It is still early days for the service and I found it a little tricky to get set up initially so I created the above video to make it easy for you to get started. Here are also some handy reference articles about the services that I suggest you take a look at:

Announcing the public preview of Azure File Sync

How to deploy Azure File Sync

Planning for Azure File Sync

Troubleshooting Azure File Sync

I can see a very bright future for this product as I think it fills a major requirement many businesses have. Is it a replacement for something like SharePoint or OneDrive for Business in Office 365? Definitely not. It is simply another option you have to solve business challenges.

I’ll be posting further updates on this product, so stay tuned for more soon.

CIAOPS Need to Know Azure Webinar–October 2017

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Lots of news and updates to share care of the recent Microsoft Ignite conference in Orlando. We’ll also do a deep dive into Azure SMB files and hopefully a look at the new Azure sync offering. There will be open Q and A so you can answer all those burning Azure questions.

You can register for free at:

October Azure Webinar Registrations

The details are:

CIAOPS Need to Know Azure Webinar – October 2017
Friday 13th of October 2017
2pm – 3pm Sydney Time

All sessions are recorded and posted to the CIAOPS Academy.

There of course will also be open Q and A so make sure you bring your questions for me and I’ll do my best to answer them.

The CIAOPS Need to Know Webinars are free to attend but if you want to receive the recording of the session you need to sign up as a CIAOPS patron which you can do here:

http://www.ciaopspatron.com

or purchase them individually at:

http://www.ciaopsacademy.com/

Also feel free at any stage to email me directly via director@ciaops.com with your webinar topic suggestions.

I’d also appreciate you sharing information about this webinar with anyone you feel may benefit from the session.

CIAOPS Need to Know Office 365 Webinar–October 2017

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October is going to be very busy and hopefully not unlucky as I am scheduling this month’s free Office 365 webinar on Friday the 13th of October from 11am – 12pm. There is heaps of news to cover from the recent Microsoft Ignite conference in Orlando but we’ll also be taking a closer look at OneDrive during our deep dive section.

You can register for free at:

October Webinar Registrations

The details are:

CIAOPS Need to Know Webinar – October 2017
Friday 13th of October 2017
11am – 12am Sydney Time

All sessions are recorded and posted to the CIAOPS Academy.

There of course will also be open Q and A so make sure you bring your questions for me and I’ll do my best to answer them.

The CIAOPS Need to Know Webinars are free to attend but if you want to receive the recording of the session you need to sign up as a CIAOPS patron which you can do here:

http://www.ciaopspatron.com

or purchase them individually at:

http://www.ciaopsacademy.com/

Also feel free at any stage to email me directly via director@ciaops.com with your webinar topic suggestions.

I’d also appreciate you sharing information about this webinar with anyone you feel may benefit from the session.

Connecting Windows 10 Pro to Office 365

When you connect a Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise desktop system directly to Office 365 (thanks to Azure AD) you get seamless login to Office 365 without multiple password prompts.

It also allows you to directly login to the Windows 10 Pro machine with your Office 365 credentials. After that when you navigate to Office 365 in Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer you’ll automatically be logged into the service. If you also add the following extension to Chrome:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/windows-10-accounts/ppnbnpeolgkicgegkbkbjmhlideopiji?hl=en

You’ll get the same functionality.

This ability and integration is one of the real benefits of connecting Windows 10 to Office 365 (via Azure AD). This video will show you how to take a stand alone desktop and connect it directly to Office 365 and get single sign on to Office 365.

Look Ma, SBS running on Azure

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One of the challenges I set myself when I first started using Azure was to get Windows Small Business Server (SBS) working in Azure IaaS. Happily, I can announce that today I have achieved that goal as the above image shows hopefully demonstrates.

Why did I do this? Apart from the technical challenge I wanted to have a typical on premises SMB ‘legacy’ environment in Azure for testing, labs, training and migration scenarios. I am not planning to use it in production and STRONGLY recommend that SBS should no longer be run in production for many reasons anywhere, including on premises. I appreciate this is bordering on heresy for some, but I stand by the fact that you need to be off SBS. 

That said, I do appreciate that there are people out there running it and some may even be considering moving SBS onto the cloud. Although I would never recommend you do that in production I can tell you that it is 100% possible with Azure. This, to me, demonstrates the flexibility and power Azure provides as well as it’s ability to solve just about any IT challenge you throw at it.

So, if you wanna know how I did, just ask me.

Azure Cloud Shell

One of the best tools you can use when working with Azure is PowerShell. I have published an earlier article on how you can connect to Azure Resource Manager (ARM) via PowerShell on your desktop.

Some people still struggle with this as it requires additional software to be installed and configured as well as authentication to the Azure tenant.

Microsoft has provided an easy way to use PowerShell with Azure and it is known as the Cloud Shell.

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When you login to the Azure portal you should see a Script icon in the top right, just to the left of the Cog icon.

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When you select this icon a window should appear at the bottom of your screen, showing a command line.

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In most cases, the environment will default to BASH but you can select PowerShell in the top left of this window.

When you do a new command line environment will open up. It will run PowerShell AND (this is the really cool part) it will AUTOMATICALLY authenticate you to the Azure tenant tenant using the same credentials as you used in the browser to gain access to the Azure portal.

Now you can run your standard PowerShell commands directly in the browser as shown above.

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Now the super cool feature of this is that Azure is also available as a mobile app (here in iOS). When you run that app you will again find the option for the Cloud Shell (here in the lower right).

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When you select this icon, you’ll again be a command line environment that you can configure to be PowerShell as you see above.

Now you can run your PowerShell commands directly from any mobile device! How super cool is that?

Having the ability to run PowerShell from just about anywhere to work with Azure is a really, really powerful feature of Azure and makes the life of managing these resources much easier.

So, go and give it a try for yourself.

An introduction to Microsoft 365

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At the Microsoft Inspire conference back in July 2017 Microsoft 365 was announced. In essence, it is a combination of 3 core products – Office 365, Windows 10 and part of the Enterprise Mobility Suite.

Microsoft 365 will come in two flavours – Business and Enterprise with different capabilities an inclusions as you can see from the following table.

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The Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans are further broken up to an Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3 and Enterprise E5 offering. The prices shown in this table are US$.

Currently, the Microsoft 365 Enterprise offerings are available for purchase while it is expected the Microsoft 365 Business plans will be available before calendar (2017) year’s end. You can however, apply to obtain a trial of Microsoft 365 Business and you should do so through your distributor.

The power of Microsoft 365 is that it extends the functionality of Office 365 to environments that are moving more and more to the cloud. Doing so means many of the devices that access information are no longer inside or connected to a traditional network. This means a different set of tools and capabilities needs to be adopted to manage and secure this environment.

Likewise, customers expectations are to be up and running quickly with the latest software, no matter where they are and no matter what device they are all on. IT also expects to be able to manage and secure these devices and information from a single location. These are the benefits Microsoft 365 brings users and IT.

Technology is no longer about single monolithic solutions loosely coupled together. It is about making life easier and more productive for users and IT. It means being able to do all this via a single login and from a single console. That is what Microsoft 365 provides.

You’ll still get all the flexibility of Office 365, like the ability to mix and matches licenses with Microsoft 365. You’ll also get access to the latest updates and features of the products now and into the future and if you are a reseller you’ll also get the opportunity to help your customers solver more business challenges from within the Microsoft stack. This means more opportunity for your business.

I really like that Microsoft 365 brings together the best of Office 365 and Azure for customers. It does all this via a single identity and a feature set that continues to improve. If you haven’t as yet, take a look at Microsoft 365.