Archives 2010

Hey guys, it’s been a long while since I’ve done a Post-Mortem on an exam.. I just didn’t feel like it from the last few betas I took – So here you go, with so much interest in the Hyper-V exam here is my post-mortem analysis and not to mention what I felt about it, and why I said “Wow” :)

Pro: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator

About this Exam

This exam validates a candidates knowledge of Microsoft virtualization technologies.

Audience Profile

Candidates should have one to three years of experience using Microsoft virtualization products, including Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, and Remote Desktop Services (RDS), in a Windows Server 2008 R2 infrastructure. Candidates for this exam are IT professionals who have jobs in which managing or deploying virtualization technologies is their main area of responsibility.

Credit Toward CertificationExam 70-693: Pro: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator: counts as credit toward the following certification(s):

Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator

So, there is the high level view of the exam as listed at Pro: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator and one of the most useful tools you will find on that page is the “Skills Measured” tab which happens to give you a comprehensive overview of what kind of content there is on the exam – If you follow that list and rule, you will indeed be prepared if you study against the skills measured!  I do want to note, I HIGHLY encourage you to check out the ‘Skills Measured’ from TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring – Seriously!  – A slight disclaimer here.. I mistakenly wrote the reference material against last years 70-652 TS: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring – But take it for what it is.. Combine the two ‘skills measured’ from both exams and your chances of passing will increase exponentially!

Now what may be beneficial is a comprehensive understanding of… competitive pressures? Would you call it that? I have to say, I saw a damn lot of another vendors virtualization product (Some might call it, the largest virtualization product in the industry, not to mention the most deployed)   In the “Installing Hyper-V” section, as seen in Skills Measured, it mentions very briefly a coverage of clustering, storage – shared and otherwise – accounting for 14% of the exam.  To me it honestly felt more like 45% of the exam had some focus on Storage or Clustering.  I haven’t seen that much iSCSI, and FCP touted in a long time! (Take my NFS and CIFS Please! – Oh, yea while not mentioned, you probably want to ensure you’re up on the entire protocol stack, grin :))

Next, if you look across all 4 Skill areas, you’ll notice SCVMM is included in there.   Yea, there’s a reason for that.   Infact, I’d be surprised if there were any questions which DIDN’T include SCVMM! I say ‘mostly’ in jest, because it makes you wonder ‘Is this Hyper-V, or a purely SCVMM exam?!?” :)

As far as annoying faults in the tests go, I only found one major syntactical error which I reported, but on the whole the test itself was well formed and the questions were free of Grammatical mistakes.   Now, let’s get into the Wow section.

Perhaps I was a bit hasty when I said “Wow” about this exam.  Perhaps I should have placed myself more into the category of WTF?!?   So, feel free to see an intermingling of my thoughts on the exam now :)   The questions were well formed, perhaps even a little too well formed.   A number of them looked as though they were struggling to find examples of what WASN’T the right answer, because they were all pretty damn easy to answer in and out!   Am I saying I passed? There’s a pretty good chance, but I place no bets!    If you are NOT up on the competitive landscape as far as where Hyper-V plays in the industry, you better be to take this exam.  I wasn’t sure if I was sitting for the VCP, a minor in Citrix, or if this was infact an actual Microsoft Exam! (Yes, I know it was a Microsoft exam because all of the questions WERE very well formed, and a number of them… were sadly still written to the old adage of ‘Choose the microsoft answer’ ;)

This exam also included the recent name changes to products, so I commend it’s accuracy!    And the intimate level of focus on VDI – was quite amazing, but sadly I reach a saddening point.

If I am to fail in this exam under any circumstances? It is because of the number of ‘it depends’ questions they had in there.   What does that mean?   I’m sure providing details about how many interfaces you should have and factual information backing it is PERFECTLY okay, I can sign off on that – No problem, albeit Best Practice and ‘minimal acceptable’ is further subjective.   But when it comes to degrees of scale and how many VM’s I can actually host on a particular server?   Without raw details, a breakdown of workload, and not to mention this isn’t a different vendors solution so the pure economies of scale require me to be EXTREMELY conservative.   I’m not being negative I’m being factual, we all know that – and we know JUST how subjective things are when it comes to VM density.   With that said be very careful, I have no guidance there other than try to find out what the proverbial ‘microsoft answer’ is for what density looks like I’ve always seen it published as ‘not as much as others’ and some of the deployments in the exam outright scared me – And I don’t get scared by technology, I put fear into it’s heart!

I’m FAIRLY certain I didn’t say anything which violates NDA, since pretty much everything included here is referenced in the Skills Measured page Pro: Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator but incase I did… don’t spank me! preferably fix the questions which are wrong (glares in Liberty’s direction ;)) And… Well, have a good time – Use of the technology and understanding these skills are pretty much all you need in order to pass!

Now on a personal note! I’m going to be running the Boston Marathon in a few months in order to raise money for disabled children and every single dollar helps, so if you can help me in my cause these children and their families will greatly appreciate it!   Even if you can only afford $1 that’s perfectly fine! The more people who contribute the better!

http://www.firstgiving.com/cxi – Help sponsor my run in the Boston Marathon on behalf of disabled children!

So, thank you all and I hope you find something useful from this post-mortem and truly every $1 helps, and I greatly appreciate it!  Thanks!

So, I promised you guys in Iomega ix4-200d data reconstruction, ssh and more! that I would expose the password to login to the ix2 and ix4 as soon as I could.    Well, your wait is finally over!

Let’s start as you normally would, by logging into the support console!

http://192.168.1.1/support.html

Whoa, what’s that I highlighted there and even tossed in an arrow?! Can I MAKE it any more straight forward? Psst.. Click on Support Files :)

Ooh, what’s that little guy down there? Dump? Yea, I didn’t even notice this before (because I had shell access myself ;)) but this is for your benefit!

The system will go through "Gathering system state…"

Why yes, I did go mad with clicking colors and arrows in the win7 version of MSPaint.. Okay, but I digress. :)

Click that bad boy, which will include dump data about your system! Download it, and open it!

Drill down into the dump –> config –> etc –> and open up the file named “shadow”   (dump-20100107225620.tar.gz\dump-20100107225620\config\etc)

Find your shadow File in there, and lo and behold, you will have your Iomega root users hash!    Now it’s just a matter of cracking it!

It is beyond the scope of this article to tell you how to actually crack the pwd.. (giggle) go here, download john the ripper and you’ll do just fine :)

Taking my seed from my system and running it through a simple alphanumeric search, I come up with username root, password soho! That was easy! That works if you have NO Password set!

Through a collaborative effort with @randyjcress @Kiwi_Si @VirtualisedReal and @gabvirtualworld we were able to determine that by using soho and whatever password you use on the system, that should do it! And really, the credit does primarily go to @randyjcress for leading us in that specific direction so props randy! :)

ie: admin pwd is apples, so login using sohoapples – This is still undergoing verification, but I thought I’d share it out there, while we sort it out!

Disclaimer: The means to perform all of these tasks has been replicated and verified in the wild without requiring any intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the system. 

Hopefully you’ve been able to take advantage of the tips from NYE Resolution #1 “Getting Fit and watching what I eat” because this one is likely to take your professional career to new leaps and bounds!   For those of you who know me about careers know that I’m almost ultra-annoying on this particular topic!  Whether you’re one of my friends or mentee’s where I take an ‘oh too much focus’ on your careers and trying to take you to the next step(s) usually with a 5-10 year plan, or you’re someone I just met who’s out of a Job (RIF’s are a bitch!) and I just want to help – It’s total win-ville here, so let’s take advantage of not only staying relevant but driving things to the next step!    As always my own personal disclaimer: This is not a resolution for me, this is PART of my life.  I’m fortunate to OMFG love my job, have a great team I work with, have an amazing community and audience to evangelise to which is constantly growing every day.   Do I take advantage of these steps I’ll be mentioning? I always stay aware of them and continually build up my own career as well, so you’ll be getting it from my own and the others I’ve worked with experiences!  So let’s get started!

Finding a job

This is not always as harsh a situation as it seems, but the particular audience this speaks to are people who have been RIF’d, people who have never even had a formal job (re: college graduates or esteemed HS drop outs), or even people looking to change careers (such as going from a train engineer to being a systems engineer!)   But where do I start?

I would be remiss if I did not highly advise you to read this amazing FREE book! (No registration required!) 100 Job Search Tips from Fortune 500 Recruiters read it, and then read it again as it will apply in all of these roles but will definitely give you the guidance you need to get yourself started and start getting organized.   You’ll come across references to having a profile on social networks, and while many will be mentioned – the top three sites I HIGHLY advise you ensure you have a filled out profile on are LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter.   And just so I can use some relevant examples of exactly Why?!    Several years ago, I was found and recruited by someone who found me on LinkedIn.   Most recently I was found via FaceBook which lead to my resume on my blog, and last and most importantly… I’ve helped numerous people get jobs which all started and ended with Twitter – So don’t dismiss the hype! I’ve met those guys, don’t be them!

The following area speaks directly to those who have been RIF’d and/or those who happen to have families.

• #1 – and this is important.  Now is NOT the time to have some kind of stupid pride or EGO!  
• DON’T go it alone – There are lots of people out there who CAN and WANT to help. 
• DON’T bear this burden on your own. 
• DO accept the charity of references and contacts with recruiters.  
• DON’T default to ‘what I did in HS’ or something if you were a highly qualified, passionate and driven person, GET the contacts you need to get yourself employed again.
• DO file for unemployment.   IMMEDIATELY actually.  We are STILL in a recession, so expecting a job to manifest over night may not be practical unless you’re highly sought after and even then, those bills aren’t going to pay themselves nor will your table fill itself with food unless you have a horn of plenty (If so, let me know I need a vegan one :))
• DO ask for help, there’s never been a better time to not have any stigma associated with losing your job, again – people WANT to help their friends

Now, hopefully you’re not all in the same situation where you’ve been RIF’d and are instead just looking for a job or career change – we’ll call you hs/college graduate, or career changer.

So for you career changers or graduates, take the following words of wisdom with a grain of low sodium salt! (WTF?! :))

• Be current.  Ensure that your Resume AND your online presence and profiles happen to reflect you, and especially in a positive light – Any recruiter who is serious WILL google you
• Be relevant.  If you’re just out of HS or College – that 3 month internship with a business is relevant, but those 6 weeks working at McDonalds? Not so much
• You have to ask yourself – Will the information in my resume help me get this job? Do they care about this information.
• Even when changing careers, having a history of being a part-time house sitter isn’t going to get you the next big break in your career you’re looking for.
• If you have to ask “Is this really relevant to the job I’m looking for” then the answer is no, and leave it off.
• If you are an Eagle Scout, or similar long and arduous journey in your youth which you can share stories and experiences of? Leave it IN!

Let me discuss that for a moment.  You’re saying my years as a fry clerk at McBurgers isn’t relevant but my time spent collecting badges is?   Honestly, Eagle scout and equivalent is the closest you get to saying someone if committed to a journey, they stick it out, they come prepared, they can get things done, and they understand steps in a process – equal to certification.   Long ago I questioned this but Eagle scouts are like Green Beret’s or even Ninja’s – experts in their own right who have gone the test of time and can extol those virtues elsewhere in life.

And for you tech or even graphics folks here are relevant and non-relevant items (though if you can defend them in your case I will stand down :))

• Tech: Seriously? You’re putting MS DOS 5.0 on your resume?  We all CLEARLY know that MS DOS 6.22 was the best and ONLY version worth mentioning.  If you’re going to put EXTREMELY dated material on your resume to show longevity (which I respect) don’t show ignorance and choose the worst possible version since DOS 3.3 (which rocked mind you)
• Graphics:  You want to show you’ve been doing this awhile, I get that. But Harvard Graphics? SERIOUSLY? Harvard Graphics? It’s not 1985, I don’t want to hire you 25 years ago!
• Tech: Random gibber jabber of versions and code really tells me nothing, unless you actually deliver your resume IN C# or something, don’t try and confuse me by telling me a bunch of keywords (Key words CAN and ARE important, but not 100% keyworded resumes)  Instead, entice me with something we can engage in a story about!
• General: Keep it interesting.  Draw me in somehow, not telling me that you like black and white movies, but a discreet line in there intended to make the interviewer laugh (in a field respective way) where they clearly know you meant a joke like “I know chmod” will help lighten the mood.  I’d probably specifically want to talk to the candidate who gets resume humor :)
• General: Most importantly, if there is something you DO NOT want to have a job doing, DO NOT put it on your resume.   I leave more off my resume than I put on, including voicemail systems, fax, pbx, Wireless, systems management, operations – I can do these things but I am an architect, a designer and above all an evangelist – let’s not stray from our paths :)

Going back to the points above, if I had three additional things to say and was limited to a word each I urge you to be Positive, Passionate, and be Professional and if I could slap one more into the fold which doesn’t start with P (that was sheer coincidence!) I cannot urge you enough to BE YOURSELF!   You’ll be happier and more positive passionate and professional for it!

Be Honest, and Don’t lie

This deserves it’s own highlight and mention as this is something I would discuss with candidates I’ve mentored over the years.   (I’ve had some initially argue the two mean the same thing, they don’t)     When you’re looking for this newfound job regardless of the circumstance you need to be honest with yourself, honest with your resume and honest with the people you’re talking to.   You don’t want to end up like Cisco Fatty who mind you was honest to a fault, but if they were honest with themselves they wouldn’t have been considering an improper fit driven only by $$.

Don’t lie.   Falsifying a public document such as your resume is no way to get a job, as it will come back and bite you – and the truth is FAR easier to remember than a lie!  Do not lie in an interview! If you don’t know something, say it, however also be honest that if it’s something you COULD know, you can certainly learn [be warned though depending upon the interview this could be perceived as not being prepared, so it’s a double edged sword.. it’s usually just better to know what they’re asking in the first place ;)]   Also, don’t claim to have done something you never did.   We once interviewed a guy who claimed he built out a whole series of systems – so during the [group] interview when one of our interviewers decided to ask the candidate details about this build he was unable to provide details, twisting and turning in the wind in a torrid rain of lies.  Oh, why did the interviewer ask? He had actually built those systems when employed in the environment the candidate claimed to have done the work.   I cannot stress it enough.  Don’t lie. :)

Keeping and upgrading your job

I had excellent plans of breaking these two out into two separate sections, but seriously – they’re the exact same thing effectively! And frankly the people who are usually good at keeping their job are typically the types sought after to upgrade their job (whether within the company or moving to a whole new business!)

I am so fortunate that this very exact topic was covered by the smart and amazing Polly Pearson with  "How To Get A Better Job?" A post for employees and job seekers alike. which if you read nothing more from this post – Be sure to read her post, it will change your perspective on career changes with real hard actionable information you can act on immediately!

Oh, and I would be remiss to not mention 100 Job Search Tips from Fortune 500 Recruiters again – you thought it was important finding a job? It’s even more relevant when it comes to upgrading or literally just keeping your job!

So here are some tips from me which fall into the realm of both keeping and upgrading – ultimately staying relevant is what it comes down to:

Get Certified

The best example I’ve ever found of the illogical failure for people to get certified is this: Did you ever go to school for 4 years, get all of your credits and yet choose to fail to get your diploma because you feel “I have the experience, I really don’t need the piece of paper”.   Any qualified person who chooses to not get certified because they ‘know it’ is like saying that the experience (while VERY important) trumps your college diploma.   Now putting that to the side a moment and still comparing college.    Did you know that for each Microsoft certification exam you complete, it could be worth 1-3 credit hours?  Oh, and the PMP is worth even more.   But wait, are you seriously telling me that the EMC Proven Professional Expert certification is worth 50% of the Masters of Information Technology at some schools?  So put your ego aside a moment, and if you really DO know the knowledge prove it with an exam and you’ll make your resume ALL that more credible.

Certification shows that you not only know information, but it also proves that you invest in yourself, your employer and your future.   It typically says to employers “Whoa, hey they likely stay up on their technology and perhaps even read a book and care about their job”   Nothing says you care, like investing in yourself which turns around into better productivity!

I know I’ve said this one an infinite amount of times, but I still do have discount vouchers for Microsoft Exams – 10% for the entire world, and 20% for some places (USA, England, etc)

Get Networked

The first thing I say every morning when I wake up is “I’ve met enough people, my network is big enough, I don’t need to meet or know anyone else” which is usually followed by me telling myself that I obviously know everything and I don’t have to prove anything so I’ll never show anyone that.     Yea… I don’t have that conversation, and anyone who does either needs a wake up call, or has actually ascended and hats off to them – Breaking from your physical form to go pure energy is harsh and definitely requires your dedication!

So what does this mean? How do I get networked? WTF IS NETWORKING, IM CONFUSED! err.. Whoa, hold on there!  Let’s cover some real basics

• Use LinkedIn.  And that doesn’t mean spend every waking hour staring at everything linkedin.  But fill out your profile, add a picture (shows commitment) and connect with people you actually know.  Chances are, people you know are on LinkedIn! And people you’ve known over the years, they’re probably out there too, so reconnect with them.
• It’s not about who you know, it’s about who knows you.   That rule doesn’t always apply, but in order to be ‘introduced’ to someone, someone else has to know you, so the more of your associates, friends, colleagues and more that you’re connected to – the easier it will be for people to get to know you :)
• Use Facebook.   I’m in no way saying you need to have a hybrid personal/professional FB Profile like I do.  At the very least, HAVE a profile, put a picture, post things on occasion so people know what’s going on with you! This does default back to the ‘its not who you know but who knows you’ remember you can get a job off of Facebook :)
• Use Twitter.  Do you know how many of your peers are out there twittering about their daily jobs? Even talking to others!  Countless people use Twitter as a means to solve problems, learn new things and wait, what? Network with people!   Not everyone in the world is on twitter, and the ones who are, are typically sharp and moving forward.. move with them :)
• Attend Trade shows, conferences, conventions.   Whichever happens to apply to your circumstance.  Is there a user group for whatever it is you do? Go attend a meeting! Meet your peers! Your peers strangely are NOT only the people you work with, you may find that something you or your business are doing could be done better – result, you’re the winner! :)
• Visit a Toastmasters club.   Yea, I know you’re the best presenter in the world, would you mind delivering this keynote to 20,000 people? kthxbye! (Okay, I wouldn’t mind! Got a keynote, I’m there!) But if you find yourself not as comfortable presenting to large groups of people, OR you want to meet and watch others speak to improve Attend a toastmasters meeting in your area!
• Find a mentor, collaborate with a peer – Talk to others who are in the position you want or you see accelerating like you’d like to.   Find out how they got to where they are today and what kinds of steps you might need to take in order to get there.   You are in charge of your career not your manager or anyone else.  Take charge.

I hope you’ve found these various steps useful in taking charge of your career with this new years resolution  (feel free to mention what works well for you in the comments) these few steps alone can make a paramount difference in your career, family, future and well being for the rest of your life.    I wish you the absolute best and let me know how I can help :)

Allow me to preface this by saying – This is one in a series of tips, tricks and step in order to stay true to your “new years resolutions” furthermore, I personally do not set ‘new years resolution’ myself.  Why?  Because, one year I set new years resolutions.  I had a few very specific and precise resolutions which were VERY tangible, and I blew them out of the water! We’re talking multitudes and ratings which cannot even be calculated upon! So I don’t resolve things.. I just solve things ;)

But a lot of people like to set resolutions, which are often intangible and hard to meet, reach and exceed – Here in the following series of blog posts will be real tangible ways to achieve you’re often intangible resolutions! To make them accountable, and moreso, to make YOU accountable to your resolutions! (Ever actually keep one of yours? Here’s how!)

One of the top resolutions people will set falls within the realm of “Health” which often has stipulations such as “I want to get fit” “I want to watch what I eat” “I want to drop x pounds” or even “I want to get x amount of sleep this year”  Well, other than the tangible and concrete ones, there is absolutely no accountability for ‘getting fit’ or what ‘watching what I eat’ means, nor any real means of tracking in the others (they’re nice to haves, often controlled by your rather inaccurate scale! :))

Well, now with the power of the internets, and technology… You could very well meet these objectives in a concrete and tangible fashion!

I want to watch what I eat track my calories activity weight and sleep

So, you’ve decided to watch (for a few days) what food you’re about to eat “I’ll eat this pasta, but not this cake” whereas behind the scenes the cake may have been more healthy than the pasta?! wtf?!  Damnit! I can’t keep track of all of this on my own!”

Allow me to introduce to you numerous options available at your disposal!

Our friends at FitBit, the makers of the FitBit offer a free dashboard for logging food, activity, weight and more!

• As you can see from this dashboard, it tracks some pretty cool stuff! Calories burned (You manually enter it, or with the FitBit device for $99)
• Calories eaten is controlled by you manually entering the food you eat on a regular basis, whether through meals or individual items
• And weight is tracked manually by you as well (Hey, it’s not gonna weigh you itself! Though that’d be nice a mass indexer.. ;))
• And lastly.. it’ll also track your sleep efficiency! (again, this requires the purchase of the device!)

So, you’re telling me there is a website where half the functionality isn’t available unless I buy some kind of device for $99?!@?  No. Not in the least bit.

I’m telling you there is a website where half the functionality IS available, that you usually have to pay for from other sites (which I’ll mention in a bit ;))

Let the record show I do not own one of the FitBit devices (though I’ll gladly take one to do a formal review and comparison! wink wink, psst :))

In the event the hint is not taken and I am not sent a free FitBit to review.. I had intended to buy one anyway to do a formal assault/assessment of the device and how it compares to other similar devices intended to help you keep track without burdening you with trying to keep yourself accountable on paper. (Formal review of all devices will be coming soon!)

Now, something I can talk about even further is an actual device that I DO wear! The GoWearFit – This helps give me accountability on whateverthehell I am doing, and lets me know that if I want to obtain some level of fitness… I have a tracking mechanism build into me practically! :)

Yes, that is my actual arm! I took that with a camera, OMFG?! And yes that is my little sensor I took a photo on my lenovo with.. :)

But the real key to this, is the (PAY) subscription where it tabulates all of this data online for you to work with! Take a look at the BodyMedia dashboard!

• Calories Burned is tracked from the unit on my arm – the target is defined by me either manually or by accepting a ‘default’ series
• Calories Consumed is tracked by filling in what you’ve eaten for a given day, from a comprehensive list or manually entering in details
• Calorie Balance is the difference of the two above (Jan 2nd was a busy day and I never entered my foods I ate for that day! :))
• Physical Activity is a tracking of any activity which usually falls in the 1-3 or 3-6 MET’s range, I defined my target as 60mins of Moderate daily activity
• Steps Taken is literally just that – every step you take! You should walk 10,000 steps a day! I usually walk around 5000, so my target is low ;)
• Sleep Duration is my FAVORITE Part! It inspired a whole series of conversations on Facebook on the subject! I’ll show you more on it!
• Weight (and waist size) are manually entered, if you want to track things over time!

I’m not gonna too deep in this, because I’m saving that for a separate deep dive post later on, but let me show you the sleep duration bit, because people love that ;)

So, you may look at this and say “Whoa, You didn’t meet your sleep target of 8hrs a day!” Well, first of all, let me put a few things straight.. 5 hours and 55 minutes of undisturbed sleep! totally rocks! I average 4-5 hours of undisturbed, no tossing, no turning, not evening moving, just flat out sleeping! (and lucid dreaming if I agree to it before I sleep ;))

And to further that defense.. when It’s the weekend or a day off.. and I don’t have somewhere to be in the morning (rare) I sleep until 2PM, but this only calculates until noon, so.. :)

It looks like I have poor efficiency from my lying down time vs sleep time, but I lay down a lot (with laptops on top of me) with no intention of sleeping :)

So, when it comes to saying “Man, I’m tired every day, why is that” I have a tangible and very concrete place to reference to see just how much sleep I’ve been getting, and whether I’m well rested at all “Wow, I thought I got 8hrs of sleep, but I only got 2?!?” Etc, so on and so forth :)

Also, there is another tool which is very similar to these other two, the BodyBugg which is extremely similar with various differences – I’ll go into depth on that later, as @skyyogastudio is using that tool, I’m using this one, and if FitBit sends us one to test, Both of us will test it out (and then probably give it away as a prize at Sky Yoga Studio hint hint :))

So, what is the moral of this story and resolution?  You have tools at your disposal whereby you don’t have to do anything and it’ll keep track of half or more of your health.  And if you do a little effort, you can also keep track of how many calories you burn – whether it be for free using the FitBit dashboard, or paying and using the other tools by BodyBugg or BodyMedia