Lab Update

A few small investments in the lab recently, I got rid of the Openfiler server a while back and replaced it with dedicated NAS boxes. I had purchased a Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ but it was abysmally slow. I replaced it with a QNAP TS-419 Pro which worked quite well but I couldn’t use clustering features of Windows 2008 with it.

Then I bought a 2nd NAS, a QNAP TS-659 which has all the support I wanted. “Enterprise features” at a reasonable price

So the lab is now running ESXi on the same two Intel DQ35JOE motherboards, that I rackmounted to save space. The TS659 is configured with 4 x 1TB disks, configured as two RAID1 arrays. One  holds the VM Guests, the other holds the templates, backups, Guest OS installation ISOs. I still have two empty slots in case of future storage needs. Both arrays are presented as iSCSI targets to the ESXi servers. As for the TS419, it is used as general data storage (file server, backups for the workstations, etc.)

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Security+

I added a new certification to my belt this morning. The CompTIA Security+, which covers basic security concepts. While about 70% of the content was already known to me, from experience, there was some valuable information in it. I probably should have gone for the SSCP® – Systems Security Certified Practitioner certification, as it has more recognition but I didn’t do this to become a security expert. My goal was to add something to my CV that showed I was conscious of security issues in my day to day work.

Most of my posts these days relate to training or certifications I have done. I am in between mandates and I try to use this time wisely, gaining knowledge that I hopefully will be able to apply in future mandates!

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MCITP: Enterprise Administrator

Well, I have passed the Windows 7 exam yesterday and have completed the requirements for the MCITP certification. 14 years after completing the MCSE on NT4, I did it again. Should have done the upgrade exams

While the certification itself has some value, it’s more the understanding and discovery of some obscure features that I enjoy reading about while studying. Windows 7 was really fun.

I look forward to deploying it this year (I hope) and seeing the impact it will have on support staff. Is it more stable? Easier to troubleshoot and deploy? Looks like it to me. Time will tell

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2010 Career Plans

While 2009 had it’s share of challenges, I am very motivated this year to make myself a better IT architect, more versatile and more marketable.

I have started in December by updating my Microsoft credentials, since a large majority of corporate environments use their products. So i focused on Windows 2008 and Windows 7 as well as maintaining my VMware certification (since 2.x) and adding Hyper-V to the virtualization toolkit.

I intend to work on various certifications this year, like CompTIA’s Security+, and possibly the CCNA. I have am not planning on becoming an expert in either field for now, but demonstrating overall knowledge in various related fields definitely adds depth to the architect profile I have and want to project to clients.

I hope this year will bring great projects and stimulating environments!

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Another certification…

Well, while I have been a long time supporter of VMware, new players are playing in that field now and I felt I had to take a look. While doing my latest certifications, I set up an Hyper-V server and experimented with it. While I feel the product is still not at the level of the vSphere line of products, there is definite improvement. I have to admit that I am a bit biased towards VMware, as I love the product. But Hyper-V being Windows based feels too…. easy (not a bad thing!).

Being that most concepts are pretty much the same as VMware, I’m tackling the Microsoft 70-652 Virtualisation exam this morning. Next step is Windows 7 to complete the MCITP in January.

Update: Passed the exam, it was pretty easy, as expected. Windows 7 might be a bit more of a challenge!

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