RunAs Radio

You're moving virtual machines to the cloud - how do you keep them organized and maintained? Richard chats with Samuel Erskine about all the things Azure provides to make the life of a virtual machine better. The conversation starts on organization, using dynamic groups and tags to identify servers - not the machine names! Samuel digs into patch management and monitoring as well. Virtual machines are not going away; keeping them organized and maintained continues to be a crucial part of the job!Links:Sam's Books on AmazonSam's Blog Series on IaaS ManagementPhoenix ProjectAzure AnalyticsAzure Update Management

Is the deployment of IPv6 impacted by the pandemic? Richard talks to Ed Horley about how IPv6 deployment has continued through the crisis - and also how enterprises continue to lag behind home services when it comes to IPv6! Ed discusses the latest data around IPv6 usages showing that work-from-home has actually increased the amount of IPv6 traffic because the majority of consumer ISPs now provide IPv6 services. This leads to an interesting discussion on the instrumentation of IPv6 traffic for business. If you're not using IPv6 in your work network, you likely aren't watching what traffic moves across it!Links:National Suicide Prevention LifelineCrisis Services CanadaPractical IPv6 for Windows AdministratorsIPv6 Fundamentals 2nd EditionIPv6 BuzzIPv6 Deployment Stats

What does it take to get started with data science? Richard talks with Ayodele Odubela about her new book on learning data science. Ayodele talks about how often data science starts out just defining a good question to ask - and how that question evolves as you learn more. The example explored is getting new customers - which starts with understanding what customers you already have. Often we are unconsciously filtering potential customers, so knowing what bias you have in data is key - as is improving the quality of the data you collect! Visit Ayodele's web site (links below) and use the code RunAs to get a 50% discount on her book!Links:Getting Started in Data ScienceJulia Computing

Ever had a conversation take a twist you didn't expect? Richard talks to Lauren Malhoit about the state of networking during the pandemic. The conversation evolves into a broader view on IT in the pandemic, thinking longer term, and that the changes we're making today are not going to magically disappear with the virus. While it may not be the conversation planned, it is two experienced IT folks sharing their tales of coping in these challenging times!

Windows can protect itself from exploits – but you need to turn it on! Richard talks to Chris Jackson about his recently published document about exploit protection. Chris talks about the long list of mitigation strategies that exist inside of Windows to stop arbitrary code (read: malware) from executing. Each strategy comes with the risk of breaking your application. You need to apply the mitigations on an application-by-application basis, and with some testing around it. But if you want to make your Windows desktops more secure, these exploit protections are enormous!Links:Enable Exploit ProtectionMicrosoft Security BaselinesImage File Execution OptionsEnable Code IntegrityMicrosoft Defender Advanced Threat ProtectionAppCompat ShimsExploit Protection Reference

Enterprise Mobility is no longer optional! Richard talks to Richard Hicks about his work during the pandemic around remote connectivity. The early days of the pandemic were a scramble to get folks working from home, often needing to scale up VPN services. Now that a few months have gone by, other problems have appeared: Are the remote workstations getting patched? How do you know? What about self-service password changes with remote machines? Richard digs into the details of not being on the local network and how you can tune up your remote connectivity to bring back all the goodness!Links:Defender Advanced Threat ProtectionAlways On VPNNetMotionWindows AutopilotDirectAccessRichard's Blog on Forced Tunneling

Can you go serverless with databases? Monica Rathbun says yes! Richard chats with Monica about Microsoft's serverless mode for SQL Azure. Same SQL database, but now it is billed by the second and will automatically suspend itself after a set amount of time - incurring no costs to you while suspended! It doesn't work for every database scenario, but Monica talks through some options that have great potential. You need to understand the limitations as well as the benefits, but serverless SQL is a great new tool!Links:Azure SQL Database ServerlessSQLEspresso Blog

How can Windows Virtual Desktop improve productivity? Richard chats with Jen Sheerin about the kinds of applications better served by virtualization. Jen talks about her work with Citrix XenDesktop and Windows Virtual Desktop, and how the pandemic has accelerated adoption. The challenge is especially acute for thick client applications - you can deploy them to a home machine, but that is a security risk and has VPN performance challenges. Windows Virtual Desktop gives you more control, more security, and more ability to keep your users working efficiently. Get the power of "any any" - any location on any device with desktop virtualization!Links:Windows Virtual DesktopAzure Active DirectoryAzure ExpressRouteWindows 10 Enterprise Multi-SessionWindows Virtual Desktop for Windows 7FSLogix

Perimeter security is one thing - what about beyond the edge? Richard chats with Ned Pyle about a series of blog posts (links in the show notes) to help you harden security on every machine in your network. Ned talks about various settings available on Windows clients and servers that can help protect your systems from bad actors - and there's nothing to install, just adjusting policy and settings! In the end, you can make your security much deeper and difficult to exploit.Links:SMB1 Product ClearinghouseIT Ops Talk BlogBeyond the EdgeSMB over QUICInterception Attack ProtectionsUNC Hardening Group PolicyWindows Hello for BusinessKerberos ArmoringADSecurityPasswordless Strategy

How can compassion help during the pandemic? Richard talks to April Wensel about the importance of compassion at this difficult time. April talks about how compassion has always been important and powerful for work and the rest of life, but today it's essential. Everyone has been affected by the pandemic to some degree, and everyone is grieving, whether they know or not. We all need more compassion in our lives, for ourselves, family, neighbors, co-workers, and the world.Links:Practicing Compassion During a PandemicJane Goodall on the Pandemic