My life with Hyper-V so far

It has now been about 6 months since I converted basically all of my CIAOPS infrastructure to a single physical box running Microsoft Hyper-V so I thought I’d give you a progress report.

In summary, everything has gone much better than I ever would have anticipated. Previously I had converted most of machines to Microsoft Virtual PC’s so I was part of the way there. Going to Hyper-V has greatly increased performance, reliability and flexibility. Converting from Microsoft Virtual PC to Hyper-V machines was relatively straight forward (once you remove the Microsoft Virtual PC additions). After a few configuration changes for network cards and loading of the Hyper-V client software everything was up and running.

Probably the thing I like the most about Hyper-V is when it comes to update time. I simply shut the virtual machines down and take a snapshot backup. I found that sometimes a Hyper-V machine freezes if you take a backup when it is running, so I now always shut them down. I boot the machines back up, install the patches, reboot again and if everything is working ok I delete the oldest snapshot backup. That way I always have a backup copy I can roll back to if there are issues.

Because my Hyper-V host machine is running a standard version of Windows Server 2008 I also need to update that from time to time but again I can either shut the client Hyper-V machines down or I can simply freeze them while I install updates on the host Windows 2008 server. All in all a much quicker and easier process than when I had to install updates on all my physical machines.

In a perfect world I’d run one Hyper-V machine for production servers and one for test servers, but alas that is currently not the case. So on the one Hyper-V machine I am also running Windows Server 2008 Premium (i.e. 2 servers) again without issues. I am extremely please that I can get all these machines (6-8 in all) running on one piece of hardware, which also saves a huge amount on power bills.

If you haven’t investigated virtual PC technology like Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Hyper-V then I’d recommend you give it a serious look. It has greatly cut down my admin time as well as saving me on my power bills just to mention two things. There are some downsides like a lack of USB support but you can normally work around these and I fully expect these things to be supported in future releases.

So in summary, Hyper-V has proved a real bonus for my business and helped me do more with less.

Email frustrations

I’ve just created a document that provides details on what are probably the top 5 email frustrations experienced by people. You can download a copy and let me know if you agree.

As a promotion to those who download this document, I am also offering a discount on my Enhanced Email quick start booklet (was $45 ex GST) and my Enhanced Email quick start seminar (was $599 ex GST). Both are designed to improve your productivity with email but the seminar is designed as a more in depth study of how to use emails effectively and efficiently in a business.

I’d also like to hear from any people out there who maybe interested in reselling my document or seminars. If you are, then please do not hesitate to get in contact with me directly (director@ciaops.com).

Otherwise, download the document, and if it is of no use to to you then I ask that you send it onto someone who maybe able to make use of it.

Edit in datasheet without Microsoft Office

Normally in SharePoint if you want to edit a list or library in a datasheet the machine you are using has to have Microsoft Office installed.

But what happens in cases where machines aren’t going to need Microsoft Office otherwise? It seems a little silly to purchase a copy of Microsoft Office just to have the ability to edit in a datasheet with SharePoint.

The solution is to download and install Access 2007 Runtime from Microsoft which is a free download. So now all client machines can have the functionality of using the ‘Edit in Datasheet’ feature without having to purchase an additional Microsoft Office license.

Blogging for business

A few posts ago I was talking about Blogging being a living resume. I wanted to expand a little on this in the context of business. The best way is probably to give you an example of what I mean.

I have a contact who is small software developer. They are really smart and write really good software but they always complain to me that they need to do more marketing. I asked what they did now and the response was simply to maintain their main web site. I suggested that perhaps they consider blogging.

Initially the response was why bother? But I urged them, like I urge you, to hear me out on this. Now these guys write good software and solve a lot of tricky problems but who every knows? Their existing customers certainly don’t because they simply get the latest update from the software generally unaware of any improvements. The smartest way I can see to publicise this is to blog about it. Spend some time telling everyone what the problems was and how you solved in as much detail as possible.

What good will that do? Eventually, search engines will index that content and then if someone is running a search about software development they may find the blog. Reading the entries in the blog they get a better appreciation of what these guys do. They then contact the company about doing some work. People may also subscribe to the blog on a regular basis and others may even quote the blog as a reference to other topics. A blogs ability to grow in reach is a very powerful marketing tool.

I know there are plenty of if’s and but’s here however what benefit do you get by retaining all the the good work you’ve just performed inside your business? Blog it dude! Let the world know what you solved and how you went about it. In reality it only takes a few minutes to write a post and update it. As you add more and more content it starts to have real value and each item may generate a hit from search engines that could bring in business.

Now, it is no good just casually doing a blog, you need to look at in light of the marketing of your business. You therefore need to work at ensuring it is updated regularly, is professionally focused and provides value to readers. I don’t think this is particularly hard to do because all you simply need to do is get into a routine. However always examine the content in light of marketing for your business.

Blogging is cheap, easy to do, allows you to develop and enhance your written communications, demonstrates you understand the latest social networking benefits and more. In this economic climate you want to give your business every chance of obtaining revenue and to me blogging done right is an easy win for a business as well as an individual.

More cloud offerings arrive

Australia largest telco, Telstra, is now making available a range of hosted software application via its T-Suite brand. Interestingly, Telstra is also a big Microsoft customer so have I little doubt there is some sharing of resources going on here.

Because Telstra also provides broadband and 3G access you can appreciate how these Software as a Service (SaaS) model provides a good business model going forward.

Many experienced IT providers know that Telstra doesn’t always have the best name in the business for the services it provides yet it is big enough to overcome that and still be one of the largest ISP’s in the land. Due to their size, implementing something like this is pretty simple.

So what impact does that have on your average reseller? Probably not too much yet but it is a further warning that the landscape is changing. It is an indication that the big boys are able to offer services to traditional reseller customers on a month by month basis. This is not a model that is possible for most current resellers. Also, people like Telstra are going to be able to bundle Software as a Service with broadband, email and web hosting, mobiles and so on. Even if individual services are sub par their combined offering is enticing for many customers wanting the simplicity of a single supplier.

This is only the beginning of the cloud casting a shadow across the current landscape. It won’t be long before you see many other providers doing the same thing. I also expect Microsoft to come to the Australian market with something very soon.

If you are a traditional resellers you need to appreciate that your market is being changed by forces beyond your control. Your time to determine what direction you will take is slowly running out as more cloud offerings are forming on the horizon to blot out the sunshine of traditional IT market. Like it or not the change is coming.

Your blog is your living resume

I’ve just been reading 10 Essential Steps to Take BEFORE You’re Laid Off from the Get Rich Slowly blog and even though all the points are very valid the one that struck me was:

Start a blog that contains at least 50% professional material. If you don’t already have a blog, stop reading this one and go start one right this minute. It’s essential. Your blog is your living resume. It shows how you think. It shows how you write. It shows what’s important to you. While it is fine to blog about personal topics, devote half of your posts to professional content. What is that you do by trade? Mentor us through your blog. We employers love hiring mentors — they raise everybody’s performance.

I been talking to a few people lately who are changing positions both by choice and not by choice and one of the things I tell them is that they should start a blog. Recently, someone else asked me how to ‘break into’ the IT field, my answer again was to blog.

If I’m an employer and you show me your blog and it is at least 50% professional it goes a long way in boosting your stocks with me. Why? Firstly, you’ve taken the time to create and maintain a blog (that’s why regular entries are critical). Next, it shows me you are keeping up with the times and utilizing social networking. Next, it helps you stand above your peers who couldn’t be bothered blogging. It also shows that you have the confidence to promote your thoughts, musings, discoveries, etc for free. Only the paranoid try and hold every piece of information they come across. It also indicates to me that you are a good communicator and you have the ability to work with the written word. And that’s just for a start.

There’s no way that you could ever get that across in a resume. A blog is a far better indicator to me of your skills, personality and dedication. If you do a blog then you need to ensure it remains professional and thus if you want to also do a personal blog I’d recommend you simply create a separate one for those socially embarrassing photos. Because, done incorrectly a blog can sink your prospects as quickly as a good blog can boost them.

My recommendations if you don’t blog? Create a professional blog. Ensure that you update it regularly. Remember that anything that goes in here you want a potential employer to see. Include your own ideas, comments and feedback rather than just regurgitating information. Remember a blog is about your take on the information not simply you reporting it. It may seem awkward at first but if you keep at it you’ll improve. Practice makes perfect.

So there is really no excuse not to blog. Blogging sites are free, tools to promote your blog are free as are tool to monitor your blog so money is never going to be an issue when it comes to blogging. It simply comes down to your time on a regular basis because nothing looks worse than a blog that never gets updated (even worse than a web site that also never does). It doesn’t take much, just a few minutes here and there. Who knows, after a while you may even come to enjoy it. You may even find other people enjoy reading it as well. Utilize the power of social networking to your benefit.

If you want to add value to yourself professionally, use a blog to demonstrate to the world why you know your stuff. A blog is so much more than a CV because it it living.

New version of SharePoint will be 64 bit only

In light of other recent Windows upgrades (i.e. SBS2008) that are 64 bit only, the new version of SharePoint, when it becomes, available will also only be 64 bit. This will basically mean it will only run on Windows Server 2008 or better.

The reason I mention this is because if you are planning to build a SharePoint solution now it is probably a very good idea to consider a 64 bit environment. Windows SharePoint Services is already available in a 64 bit version so you could install it today and be prepared for when the new version become available.

It is my understanding that Service Pack 2 for the existing version of SharePoint v3.0 will be available in the first half of the 2009. However, you may want to consider making the move to a 64 bit platform today rather than when the new version of SharePoint is released.