RunAs Radio

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

SCCM or Intune? Do you need to choose? Should you choose? Richard chats with Greg Shields about device management using SCCM and/or Intune. Greg admits that it is his own journey coming from SCCM but developing an Intune class that led him to admire what Intune is good at. The two products definitely overlap, and understand each other - you can run both very successfully. It comes down to your organization's needs!Links:Configuration ManagerService ManagerIntuneGreg's Pluralsight CoursesInternet-Based Client ManagementAzure VPNWindows Autopilot

What does incident response look like during the pandemic? Richard talks to Julie Gunderson of PagerDuty about what it takes to respond to an incident effectively when you can't necessarily be in the same room together. The conversation starts out with the fundamentals of incident response - how to report an incident, how an incident unfolds, what it looks like to resolve an incident and then, most importantly, the post mortem. The pandemic just makes it harder - communication is remote, documentation is essential, trusting your people is critical. We'll get through this!Links:PagerDutyJ Paul Reed

What is your preferred SQL Server tool? Richard chats with Vicky Harp, who oversees the development of many of the tools you count on to manage all sorts of databases in the Microsoft world. From SSMS to Azure Data Studio to SQL CLI - there's a lot of ways to manage and maintain databases on-premises and in-the-cloud. What tool is right for you? Don't worry, you can use more than one!Links:SQL Server Management StudioAzure Data StudioJupyter NotebooksMicrosoft Azure NotebooksMS SQL CLISQL CMDSQL PowerShellAzure Data Studio on Twitter

Ready for some cloud snark? Richard chats with Corey Quinn, the cloud economist and snarky commenter on all things cloud. The conversation digs into how the use of the cloud has evolved rapidly during the pandemic, and the reality that people may want to spend less on the cloud, but more importantly, they want consistency in their spend. Getting off virtual machines and into "real" cloud services can help, but understanding how you are using cloud technology is critical. Lift and shift is not enough!

Are you ready to become Ansible? Richard chats with Josh Duffney about his book on Ansible - using a play on the term "become," which is the privilege elevation command in Ansible. The conversation turns to how you evolve as an infrastructure-as-code person, doing basic automation tasks first, but ultimately turning into a source-code-controlled library-building-team that makes deployment of applications and resources easy, reliable, and powerful. If you're coming from the Windows world and trying to learn Ansible, this is the book for you!

The pandemic has sent everyone home to work - how do you support them? Richard chats with Jessica Deen about her work doing remote support both before and now during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jessica starts out talking more philosophically about support work in this challenging time, with lots of patience and empathy. But that also takes effective remote communication - being able to see the person you're supporting is incredibly valuable! Ultimately effective remote support comes down to understanding the person battling the issue and working with them - like working locally, only harder!