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Wow! When we announced the IT Virtualization Boot Camps in the TechNet eNewsletter last week, the response from you has been overwhelming. Many of you emailed me saying you wanted an IT Virtualization Boot Camp in your city. The folks on the West Coast, were especially vocal. Well, I am happy to announce that we will be holding IT Virtualization Boot Camps in Vancouver on Friday, February 10th and Saturday, February 11th.  IT Virtualization Boot Camps are brought to you by your local user group and Microsoft TechDays Canada.
The Vancouver IT Virtualization Boot Camps will take place downtown at 1111 West Georgia in the Georgia Room on the ground floor on Friday, February 10th and Saturday, February 11th. he IT Virtualization Boot Camp provides a fun and collaborative environment where you will get hands-on experience to: - Prepare your Windows Server-based computer for virtualization
- Configure an iSCSI storage server
- Create a Windows Failover Cluster
- Make Hyper-V virtual machines highly available and using Live Migration to move running workloads between hosts with no loss in client connectivity
- Integrate non-Microsoft-based virtual machines into your cluster
- See how Windows Failover Clustering can help to make dealing with hardware failure easier
 The cost to attend an IT Virtualization Boot Camp is $25 with proceeds going to your local user group. This means that not only are you getting 6 hours of hands-on experience with Hyper-V, iSCSI, Windows Failover Clustering, and more – you’re also helping your user group to support you and your peers with ongoing activities.
Register now for one of the two IT Virtualization Boot Camps taking place in Vancouver on Friday, February 10th and Saturday, February 11th. Tentatively we are also planning to hold IT Virtualization Boot Camps in Ottawa on February 17 & 18, as well as in Calgary on March 11 & 12 and will provide more details and registration links once available. If you are interested in having an IT Virtualization Boot Camp take place in your area, contact your local user group, leave a comment on the blog, or send me and email using the link above. 
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Hello folks,  This is my compilation of some of the online resource available to you in February 2012. This list featuring both live and on-demand content including webcasts, videos, virtual labs, and podcasts by product and topic. this is not the WHOLE list of the available content. but these are the ones i thought were relevant to customers and IT pros. Microsoft webcasts are 30-90 minutes in length and feature interactive presentations, product demonstrations, and question-and-answer sessions. Virtual labs give you an opportunity to test drive Microsoft’s newest products in an online environment. It's simple—no complex setup or installation is required. Stream or download audio podcasts and quickly access content with RSS feeds. Microsoft podcasts are free — just click and Learn! You can View all the podcasts for IT professionals here. (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9637723.) Or visit the Interactive IT Professional Webcast Calendar.
Live Webcasts: TechNet Webcast: From Virtualization to Private Cloud with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 (Level 200)
Wednesday, February 01, 2012 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
John Baker, Senior IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032501891&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Becoming the Next Private Cloud Expert Now (Level 300)
Wednesday, February 08, 2012 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Yung Chou, Senior IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032501893&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Information about Microsoft Security Bulletins for February (Level 200)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific Time
Jerry Bryant, Senior Program Manager, Group Manager, Response Communications, Microsoft Corporation
Dustin Childs, Senior Security Program Manager, Microsoft Security Response Center, Microsoft Corporation
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032499501&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: You've Got a Cloud: Familiar Tools to Manage It (Level 300)
Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Blain Barton, Senior IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032501897&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Integrating Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 with SAP for Expense Management (Level 300)
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
Ade Ajayi, Microsoft IT Senior Solution Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Shiran Sathananthan, Microsoft IT Principle Program Manager Lead, Microsoft Corporation
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032499676&Culture=en-US Microsoft Office System Webcast: Excel 2010: Create Named Ranges, and Use Them with Advanced Formulas (Level 100)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM Pacific Time
Jed Warren, Training Specialist / Office Systems Expert, Microsoft Corporation
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032503405&Culture=en-US Microsoft Office System Webcast: PowerPoint 2010: Control and Manage the Flow of Your PowerPoint Presentations (Level 200)
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 - 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Pacific Time
Jed Warren, Training Specialist / Office Systems Expert, Microsoft Corporation
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032503407&Culture=en-US IT Manager Webcast: How Microsoft IT Takes Initial Steps Toward the Consumerization of IT (Level 200)
Thursday, February 02, 2012 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
Chris Dieringer, Microsoft IT Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
Paul Selsor, Microsoft IT Field Infrastructure Technology Strategist, Microsoft Corporation
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032502281&Culture=en-US Highly Rated On-Demand Webcasts: TechNet Webcast: Career Progression: Getting Ready for the Cloud (Level 200) TechNet Webcast: IT Pro's Heaven: The Private Cloud (Level 200) TechNet Webcast: Troubleshooting Office 365 and BPOS-S Services Using MOSDAL 4.0 (Level 200) TechNet Webcast: Private Cloud Q&A (Episode 2) Office 365: Transforming Your Business with Lync Online Elevate Your Bottom Line with Microsoft Dynamics GP Microsoft Office Tips and Tricks: Do More with Data in Excel 2010 Popular Virtual Labs: TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager: Advanced Software Distribution TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager: Basic Software Distribution TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager: Software Updates TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center 2012 Configuration Manager: Endpoint Protection RC New Videos: TechNet Radio: IT Time - New Features in Exchange Server 2010 SP2 TechNet Radio: IT Time – Using the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit for Office 365 TechNet Radio: IT Time – Email Migration to Office 365 with MigrationWiz TechNet Radio: SharePoint Online Administration Panel Discussion New Podcasts: TechNet Radio Community Corner: Microsoft MVP, Mitch Garvis talks Private Cloud MP4 | WMV TechNet Radio: IT Time - Private Cloud Security Basics (Part 1) WMA | MP3 | WMV TechNet Radio: IT Time - Private Cloud Security Basics (Part 2) WMA | MP3 | WMV Small Business Content: Office Tips and Tricks with Jed Warren
Are you interested in utilizing Microsoft Office to its fullest extent? Join us as we discuss some of the valuable tips and tricks you can use throughout the entire Office Suite. From how to best create vibrant PowerPoint presentations to how to use Excel to its highest potential, these helpful webcasts can give you the inside track as to get the most out of Microsoft Office. Learn the Benefits of Business Ready Licensing
Gain an understanding of how you can take your business solution to the next level by transitioning from module-based licensing (MBL) to business-ready licensing (BRL). Expand the impact of your existing business solution by leveraging one of BRL's two license editions—Business Essentials Edition or Advanced Management Edition. BRL streamlines the pricing of your Microsoft Dynamics solution to a model that is based on the number of users who actually use the software, rather than MBL's more-complex module/granule + users mechanism. Microsoft offers a program to Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, and Microsoft Dynamics SL customers who are interested in making a license model transition. We highlight the details in this webcast.
Please let me know if this is something you find valuable. or if there is something specific you’re looking for. Also, if you’re in the Toronto area, i highly recommend the IT Virtualization Boot Camps. They are brought to you by your local user group and Microsoft TechDays Canada. The first two IT Virtualization Boot Camps will take place at the Microsoft Mississauga offices on January 21, 2012 and January 23, 2012. The IT Virtualization Boot Camp provides a fun and collaborative environment where you will get hands-on experience to: - Prepare your Windows Server-based computer for virtualization
- Configure an iSCSI storage server
- Create a Windows Failover Cluster
- Make Hyper-V virtual machines highly available and using Live Migration to move running workloads between hosts with no loss in client connectivity
- Integrate non-Microsoft-based virtual machines into your cluster
- See how Windows Failover Clustering can help to make dealing with hardware failure easier
you can get more details in Damir’s post “Get Hands-On With Microsoft Virtualization & Help Your Local User Group” There is so much to learn. we should take advantage of every opportunities. As always, please contact me should you have any comments or questions. Cheers! 
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | Senior Technical Account Manager | Directeur de Compte Technique Senior
IT Pro blog | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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Hello folks,  This is my compilation of some of the online resource available to you in January 2012. JANUARY 2012 !!! My god… Where did 2011 go??? Time really flies by, and that’s one more reason to review this list and plan our learning opportunities. This list featuring both live and on-demand content for December including webcasts, videos, virtual labs, and podcasts by product and topic. this is not the WHOLE list of the available content. but these are the ones i thought were relevant to the conversations I've had with customers and IT pros. Microsoft webcasts are 30-90 minutes in length and feature interactive presentations, product demonstrations, and question-and-answer sessions. Virtual labs give you an opportunity to test drive Microsoft’s newest products in an online environment. It's simple—no complex setup or installation is required. Stream or download audio podcasts and quickly access content with RSS feeds. Microsoft podcasts are free — just click and Learn! You can View all the podcasts for IT professionals here. (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9637723.) Or visit the Interactive IT Professional Webcast Calendar.
Live Webcasts: TechNet Webcast: Information about Microsoft Project and Project Server December 2011 Software Update (Level 200)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032493964&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Live! IT Time: Private Cloud Chat (Episode 3) (Level 200)
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032496992&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Information about Microsoft Security Bulletins for January (Level 200)
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032499498&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Integrating Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 with SAP for Expense Management (Level 300)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032499676&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Career Progression: Getting Ready for the Cloud (Level 200)
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032501883&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: IT Pro's Heaven: The Private Cloud (Level 200)
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032501887&Culture=en-US Highly Rated On-Demand Webcasts: TechNet Webcast: Security Talk Series: Toward Privacy by Design, the Microsoft Experience TechNet Webcast: A Tale of Two Clouds: The Microsoft Hybrid Cloud Solution TechNet Webcast: The Public Cloud: What It Is and Why You Should Care? Popular Virtual Labs: TechNet Virtual Lab: Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 SP1 Sequencing Lab TechNet Virtual Lab: Windows Server 2008 R2 for Embedded Systems : Implementing Centralized Publishing Using Remote Desktop Services TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center Operations Manager 2012: Infrastructure and Application Performance Monitoring TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012: Building Your Cloud Infrastructure TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012: Building a Service Template New Videos: TechNet Video: (Part 1) An Interview with Mark Minasi – Thoughts on Windows Server 8 TechNet Video: (Part 2) An Interview with Mark Minasi – Thoughts on Cool Technology TechNet Video: (Part 1) Interview with Jeremy Moskowitz – Overview of the PolicyPak application New Podcasts: TechNet Radio: A Preview of Windows Server 8 Storage Management WMA | MP3 | WMV TechNet Radio: System Center VMM and Configuration Manager 2012 MVA Preview WMA | MP3 | WMV TechNet Radio: Microsoft Private Cloud Community Evaluation Program WMA | MP3 | WMV TechNet Radio: Vlab Insider - System Center Configuration Manager 2012 WMA | MP3 | WMV Small Business Content: New Customer Events for Office 365
Join us for a Microsoft Office 365 Customer Event to experience Microsoft Office 365 first-hand, along with related cloud technologies such as Microsoft Windows Intune and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. New and Exciting Uses for the New Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is a suite of Microsoft Office collaboration and productivity tools delivered through the cloud. Office 365 can revolutionize your organization by helping to empower individuals through the best productivity experience, deliver business insights quickly, support compliance requirements, connect various devices, and cut costs for maintenance and training.
Please let me know if this is something you find valuable. or if there is something specific you’re looking for. Also, I encourage you to take advantage of the “Double Double” promotion that Rick mentioned earlier this month (http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2011/12/16/how-would-you-like-a-doubledouble.aspx). it’s a great way to learn. go ahead, get your hands dirty… As always, please contact me should you have any comments or questions. Cheers!
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | Senior Technical Account Manager | Directeur de Compte Technique Senior
IT Pro blog | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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Yes – you can have this feeling of accomplishment these two guys are feeling when we took this picture. Do you want to have that feeling of fulfillment and spontaneous celebration like these two dudes? You can get it after you take the leap of faith and attend one of our Hands On Labs at TechDays Montreal in order to know that you have maximized your time and experience at TechDays! As we try to improve upon what we have done in the past in order to make a better experience – we added Hands On Labs to the schedule – denoted with an ILL in the session code. These sessions are delivered by the same experts who are delivering the technical sessions. There is at least one Hands On Lab per content area – focusing on current or soon to be released technologies you can walk away with today. You will have the opportunity to go through one of 9 labs while you are attending the conference. At the start of the session, the instructor / expert will review the different steps, concepts and tasks required to complete the lab. You will then have your turn while they (along with the proctors) can assist you if you have issues. This gives you the most flexible time to complete each lab in the allocated time while understanding all the important concepts. Oh yeah – this is a BRING YOUR OWN COMPUTER/LAPTOP event. There will be instructions on how to connect up to the network and launch each virtual hands on lab using your own computer. Minimal configuration is Windows Vista SP1, wireless network card, Internet Explorer 7 or higher and a resolution minimum of 1280 x 800. We will supply the internet connection for the lab as well as a desk and power connections. There WILL be a LIMITED NUMBER of computers that are setup in the room – first come first served – for those of you who do not have laptops – but their numbers are limited. Note: manuals and instructors are English for the hands on lab. There are bilingual proctors to assist as well as bilingual slides and simultaneous english/french translation services in the room. Here are the different Hands On Labs available: ARCILL201 Introduction to Test Planning with Microsoft Test Manager 2010
In this lab, you will learn how to create and configure a new Test Plan in Microsoft Test Manager 2010. This test plan can be used, for instance, to test the new release of your software. Next, you will learn how to add test suites and existing test cases to a test plan and finally, you will learn how to create a new requirement and add that requirement to your test plan. You will also learn how to create a new test case for the new requirement. CLDILL200 Introduction to Windows Azure
In this hands-on lab, you will explore the basic elements of a Windows Azure service by creating a simple GuestBook application that demonstrates many features of the Windows Azure platform, including web and worker roles, blob storage, table storage, and queues. DATILL301 Bare Metal Business Intelligence Part 2
In this Hands-On Lab you will configure the integration of SQL Server Reporting Services in Sharepoint 2010 by enabling Reporting Services and configuring a Report Library. Next you will configure SharePoint 2010 for PowerPivot and test the PowerPivot Client in Excel 2010. Finally you will configure PerformancePoint and enable a Business Intelligence Center. DATILL402 Bare Metal Mission Critical Part 2
This lab discusses the various options available in SQL Server 2008 R2 database mirroring configurations and demonstrates how to configure and maintain a database mirroring solution. By the end of this lab, you will understand: - The benefits of database mirroring.
- How to configure database mirroring in high-performance mode.
- How to configure database mirroring in high-availability mode.
- How to manage database mirroring configurations
DEVILL301 Building a LightSwitch Control Extension
In this Hands-on Lab you will be walked through the creation of a LightSwitch custom control. This control will be used to display an address in a Silverlight BingMap control. Through this process you will learn the solution structure that is required to create LightSwitch extensions, the various interfaces that should be implemented to make the custom control similar to a native control, and how to package this extension as a VSIX installer. MGTILL305 Getting Started with System Center Orchestrator
The objective of this lab is to provide a basic overview of the Orchestrator architecture and functionality, and an introduction to the process of creating and running runbooks. By the end of this lab you will: - Understand the basic Orchestrator architecture
- Be able to build, test, and monitor simple runbooks
VIRILL300 Getting Started with System Center Virtual Machine Manage 2012
In this lab, you will explore System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2012 Beta. This lab is designed to walk you through a configured VMM infrastructure to help you understand the new concepts, terms, UI elements, and configuration tasks. You will accomplish this by exploring the three key elements: Clouds and Services, Fabrics, and the Library. Clouds and Services are collections of virtual workloads which provide services on slices of infrastructure. The fabric is a collection of hardware based resources including virtualization hosts, storage, and network devices which provide the physical implementation of clouds and services. The library is a collection of predefined objects which are the building blocks for clouds and services VIRILL301 iSCSI Software Target 3.3 - Enabling Hyper-V Storage on Windows Server 2008 R2
This lab will help you learn how Windows Server 2008 R2 provides economical, highly-available storage that can scale to meet any business requirements. The exercises in this lab include: Exercise 1: Managing iSCSI LUNs. In this exercise you will learn how to manage iSCSI LUNs in the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target. You will learn how to manage iSCSI LUNs using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target console and Windows PowerShell™ cmdlets. Exercise 2: Using iSCSI LUNs with Virtual Machines. In this exercise you will learn how to connect virtual machines to iSCSI LUNs using three different methods. You will use the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator to connect to the iSCSI LUNs you created in the previous exercise. Exercise 3: Booting Virtual Machines from iSCSI LUNs. In this exercise you will learn how to boot diskless virtual machines directly from iSCSI LUNs. You will use a network boot program to connect to an iSCSI LUN and initiate the boot process for Windows Server 2008 R2 from the iSCSI LUN. Exercise 4: Deploying a Highly-Available Microsoft iSCSI Software Target. In this exercise you will learn how to make the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target highly-available using Windows Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008 R2. You will observe how an iSCSI LUN can be accessed continuously without interrupting a script running in the active cluster node. WINILL201 Using SketchFlow for Windows Phone
In this lab you discover principles of good UX design. You also discover how to start and build your prototype using the SketchFlow Template for Windows Phone. Along the way, you find out how to add sample data, and customize the look and feel of your data. You also find out how to add interactivity with objects that you create right in Expression Blend, or that are imported from other sources, such as Adobe Illustrator. I you don’t have the time to try or finish off one of these Hands On Labs – don’t worry. They will ALL be available ONLINE from the Techdays.ca website once it switches over to our new “TechDays Online” site. That being said – the HOL opportunity at Techdays is not one to be missed – you get the experts in the room and the dedicated time to focus on the tasks at hand. 
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After having the pleasure of talking about technology and connecting with people in Toronto and Vancouver – it’s now Montreal’s turn. Techdays Montreal is coming quickly and the whole team is giving 200% effort to finish things up with a Bang. This year – lots of diverse sessions are on hand to choose from. If you are interested in Agile, Cloud Computing, Application Testing with Visual Studio, HTML5 or Mobility and consumerization of IT – everything is here for you. Yes – there are even 3 tracks dedicated to Infrastructure, Virtualization, management and client deployment – it’s not just for Devs. You can now access the PDF version of the schedule – or download this iCal format schedule for all the sessions in Montreal. I don’t know about you – but when I attend conferences like TechDays – there are normally multiple sessions at the same time that I am interested in attending. I need to make a personal schedule. There is an online schedule builder you can use that you can create your own schedule – or you can use the iCal schedule and delete what doesn’t interest you. Take some time to browse around and read the full abstract of each sessions that is in conflict to make the right choices. Once at TechDays – you are free to move about and switch on the fly – but it’s always good to know your options. Don’t forget – you are encouraged to explore the partner fair, connect with attendees and local experts – it’s also about networking, not just the content. We’ve made up a cool conference with local speakers from Montreal as well as experts from across the country. TechDays Montreal will be quite the event. We’ll see you next week! 
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Après avoir eu le plaisir de discuter technologies avec les gens de Toronto et de Vancouver, c’est maintenant le tour d’aller à Montréal. TechDays Montréal arrive à grands pas et toute l’équipe donne son 200% pour finaliser le tout, question de vous donner une expérience plus qu’intéressante. Cette année encore plusieurs sujets de l’heure sont au menu. Que l’on s’intéresse à l’agilité, à l’infonuagique (Cloud Computing), aux tests avec Visual Studio, à HTML5 ou à la mobilité, tout y est. Nous avons du contenu pour plaire à tous, que vous soyez développeur ou IT Pro. Vous pouvez, dès maintenant, consulter l’horaire complet (fichier PDF) ou meme télécharger un copie au format .iCal. Je ne sais pas pour vous, mais lorsque j’assiste à des conférences tel TechDays et qu’il y a plusieurs sessions en même temps, il y a tellement de possibilités qui m’intéressent, que je me fais moi-même un horaire personnalisé. Pour ce faire, nous vous avons facilité la vie en mettant en ligne une application vous permettant de construire en quelques cliques, votre horaire personnalisé. Profitez-en pour lire la description des sessions et choisir celle qui vous intéresse le plus. Une fois à TechDays, vous serez emporté par le flot des présentations, des questions, des discussions avec les experts et avec vos pairs. C’est donc le bon moment de prendre quelques minutes pour regarder le tout et maximiser votre expérience à TechDays. On vous a concocté un horaire fort intéressant avec les experts de Montréal, mais aussi d’ailleurs. TechDays Montréal sera tout un évènement. On se voit la semaine prochaine! 
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One of the things that goes on while we’re in town for TechDays are “extra” events that are generally open for all to attend free of charge. I mean we have all these speakers from all sorts of backgrounds, passions and technology expertise focus areas – why not “share the love” with local community events. Cloud Camps are usually the day before – great format – something we started last year and continued this year.   Make Web Not War event is the evening of the first day – lots of local stories from the community and cool stuff going on in the startup world.  
During breakfasts and lunches – we partnered with Can WIT – Women In Technology to have roundtables and conversations. You never know who might show up – including MaryJo Foley.   
We kicked off our west coast swing of a new format for IT / Infrastructure professionals modeled off of the *Camp format. IT Camp was well attended and had plenty of demos and fun stuff going on – including me trying to co-build a cluster from scratch in 15 minutes.  
It can make your days a little long – being at the venue from 7 am until 9 or so at night – but honestly – these extra events are the ones I find myself having a lot of fun both Attending AND helping organize/put on. 
The Cluster was eventually completed – but it took a little longer then expected. All these events / activities are going on in Montreal – sign up and register – they are free to attend. 
Regular IT Guy blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn Check out my about.me profile! 
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WOW oh Wow. it has been a fun ride here in Vancouver – and the first day is only half over! Since I last checked in – we’ve had a speaker dinner and CloudCamp. Had the Microsoft Showcase and Partner Fair setup An AWESOME keynote by Scott Hanselman. Took a networking break with all the Attendees before sessions started. Even took the time to record an online TechTalk episode with MaryJo Foley! Busy times – lots of fun. I have to get ready for my session – Gotta run! 
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As I was packing up this afternoon – I decided to snap a photo of what was mostly going into my Carry On Bag. Have a look – can you identify everything that an Evangelist brings along with him on a trip out to Vancouver TechDays and a User group in Saskatoon? 
- Dell XT2 tablet – my corporate machine
- XT2-XFR Tablet – Same spec as corporate machine, but ruggedized (because sometimes I need some extra help). This is backup system for the HP as my 2 node cluster demo box.
- Polycom CX100 USB SpeakerPhone – still have concalls to make and attend while on the road.
- Bose QuietComfort 3 headphones. I spoiled myself for a birthday once. Unbelievable headphones for travel with active noise cancelation.
- M-Audio MicroTrack II Podcast recorder – Always carry it! never know when you want to record a podcast on the road.
- Microsoft BlueTracker mouse – need a blue tracker to work on desk surfaces that are glass (like most hotel desks).
- Gears Of War III – hey – I gotta have fun in the xBox area in the Microsoft Showcase after setup is complete, right?
- Eye-Fi 8Gb SD card – New thing I picked up to help speed up the process of transferring and uploading photos to the Flickr TechDays_ca photo pool.
- Charger for Li Battery for the Nikon D90 workhorse camera.
- Nikon D90 with “the bazooka” lens. (70-200 F2.8) Absolutely the Killer lens for this camera for “no flash” indoor candid conference shots. Nikon Canada was nice enough to loan the team this kit – it works GREAT! Come see me to check it out.
- Dell Precision M6500 a.k.a. Dellasaurus. My main bread and butter demo system that is node 1 in my 2 node cluster for Hyper V. Quad core CPU, 16 GB ram, dual HD – one 7200RPM HD, other 250GB SSD. wicked system and I love the colour.
- Domo “stuffy” that my daughters gave me. He’s the Geek version with glasses and bow tie.
- CradlePoint portable hotspot. Love it for impromptu internet HotSpot via cable plug in OR USB based internet stick.
- Bell internet stick – for the aforementioned Cradlepoint hotspot OR going solo on my laptop.
- Samsung Focus – my Smartphone of choice – running Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) of course. sick phone
- WD USB 3.0 500 GB drive. Backup of all the VMs I use on my 2 node cluster demo hardware.
- HP EliteBook laptop – Node 2 of the two node Cluster.
- Belkin USB powered 2 node KVM switch. Godsend for presentations on the go – awesome and simple for switching between two systems.
Monday is setup day and logistics as well as Cloud Camp. 
Regular IT Guy blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn Check out my about.me profile! 
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In case it got missed in the communications to you about TechDays Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal – there is a new component available to continue your learnings on site and after the event takes place. You Asked for it… We Provided it!!! Instructor Lead Labs. My freakin AWESOME colleague Susan Ibach is running (quite literally) the onsite Instructor Lead Labs which span ALL the content areas throughout the day. How do you know what they are? Check the schedule and look for session codes that contain ILL in them. Day 1 has the following LABS scheduled. 
Day 2 has the following labs scheduled 
What do you need to know? BRING YOUR OWN LAPTOP. There will be power and internet access FOR THE PURPOSE of the lab. If you don’t have a laptop to bring or can’t – you are welcome to come and shoulder surf. There are some laptop systems that will be able to be used – but they will be on a first come first served basis. Check out what Susan has to say about the experience of setting them up and running them in Toronto. I’ll be helping Proctor VIRILL300 (getting started with SCVMM2012) and VIRILL301 (ISCSI). Maybe I’ll see you in there! 
Regular IT Guy blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn Check out my about.me profile! 
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 Welcome to your one stop shop for links to all the online resources and references from a TechDays 2011 event. By now – you have been back to work, eager to apply / learn more about the things you saw while attending TechDays. But you still have to wait a little longer to get access to the PowerPoints and recorded Videos from Toronto or Montreal – they will be up by the end of November / early December as part of our year long / ongoing TechDays Online experience.
So now what? I asked members of the team to compile a master list for their “content area” and sift through the best stuff in order to write a blog post about where they would send you for more! They have completed their work and I’ve compiled a master list from THEIR master lists so you now have a one stop shop to continue your learnings. Look no further – Here are the blog posts for each of the content areas – each done in the style of the team member who created them. But it doesn’t stop there – join in on the conversation online in the medium of your choice. Make sure to check out the TechDays LinkedIn group, TechDays Facebook page, and/or the TechDays Twitter feed. We’ve got your medium covered. 
Regular IT Guy blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn Check out my about.me profile! 
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So you attended TechDays in one of the cities OR you have teleported back from the future where TechDays Online has referred you back to some additional resources for anything and everything to do with the Virtualization Content Area sessions. This is the one stop shop for all things virtualization resources wise for you to peruse and enjoy. First off – SIGN UP for Microsoft Virtual Academy at www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com . It’s your one stop shop for short snippets of online modules that are organized into tracks / online courses. We’re talking 20 minute chunks of courses that have skill testing questions (for bragging rights) to validate you’re on the right track and know your stuff. If you haven’t checked it out yet – GO DO IT NOW. Secondly – GET THE SOFTWARE. What are you waiting for? go to http://www.microsoft.ca/evalcenter to get the bits and start working with these products in your lab environment today! Direct links: Session specific resources of interested – not already mentioned above: VIR213 - Breaking the Virtualization Limits VIR316 - Building your VDI Infrastructure with XenDesktop and Hyper-V ![signature_thumb[1]](http://blogs.technet.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-48-12-metablogapi/6505.signature_5F00_thumb1_5F00_thumb_5F00_51BD17AE.jpg "signature_thumb[1]")
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 OK – it’s not what you think. 
- There are no formal presentations.
- It’s not death by PowerPoint.
- It’s NOT marketing / Sales
- It’s for Technical Professionals / Geeks / Pro-Sumers / SysAdmins / LanAdmins / Security Experts / basically anyone that works in IT or has a passion / interest in IT.
- It’s not your traditional “event” from Microsoft – or at least one that you would expect.
Using the *.Camp approach to a dynamic event (i.e. audience PARTICIPATION), IT Camps are something that our team is putting on whenever / wherever we can as we’re out and about for TechDays, DevTeach or quite frankly – any port of call – provided there is interest in having an “IT Camp”. We’ve decided to mix it up a little and using an “un-conference style” of format – we’re looking to partner with anyone who would like to host an IT Camp and participate. So what do you get when you decide to show up for one? - Find out who’s coming! Registration is encouraged, not not mandatory. We’re using Eventbrite to keep thinks non intrusive. Registration gets the word out AND it gives us an idea for how many people could be in attendance.
- Personal networking opportunities. Grow your support network. There’s normally 30 minutes or so of time set aside from when the doors open to when the camp actually starts.
- It’s dynamic / interactive. Whoever is hosting the event locally would be able to get a feel for what people wanted to talk about or see over the course of the event – heck, people can request “content” demos on the fly, if the participants are willing to step up and show something. We’ve come prepared with some cool demos that are 10-15 minutes each in chunks – they could follow a theme or if like the IT Camp last night at TechDays Toronto – Damir opened it up to the crowd to decide.
- Reverse Panel or Mystery Panel. Time permitting – we’ll throw out some topics and hold a panel discussion on relevant topics – you choose!
- Hands on Challenges – again – time permitting or logistics permitting – there’s an option for some “capture the flag” infrastructure challenges or team competitions to solve issues as a group. I mention “logistics permitting” because it depends on what we can bring together as resources for the camp – each and every Camp is different.
- Lightning talks – got a story to share? you’ve got your opportunity for 5 minutes of fame to talk about how you solved an issue, implemented a cool technology or helped out someone in a bind – whatever. If you can fit it into 5 minutes – you can talk about it.
- And MORE. Got an idea – share it with us. We’d love to talk about what to include.
We’ve been noodling with the format and we’ve tried it out in Toronto this week. Next week as part of ITPRO Teach / Dev Teach – we’ve got an opportunity to try again. Here’s a list of events we’ve committed to over the next while and their registration links. Sign up – it’s FREE and it’s cool. Want to host one in YOUR city – give me an Email and we can talk about options and opportunities. rick.claus@microsoft.com Ottawa (Nov 3) http://itcampottawa1.eventbrite.com Vancouver (Nov 15) http://itcampvancouver1.eventbrite.com Montreal (Nov 29) http://itcampmontreal1.eventbrite.com you never know – you might end up saying… “… and one time… at IT Camp… “ 
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TechDays is THE conference for technical training in Canada and it’ll be hitting these cities on these dates: This year I’m putting together the speakers and sessions for the security, identity and management track. It’s going to be great – we’ve got a number of really good, in-depth sessions. Below is a sneak peak at the sessions as well as a video recording of my intro to the track. Don’t delay – get your registration in as the conference is filling up fast. Early bird pricing of $399.99 is available for Toronto until October 11, after that it’ll cost $799.99. Early bird pricing for Vancouver is available until October 25 and for Montreal, until November 8. I hope to see you there! The ongoing task of managing and securing infrastructure is of key importance to the IT professional, both in the datacenter and on the client. Helping to ensure users are properly authenticated to access corporate resources whether on premise, across the Internet, or in the Cloud, are vitally important to helping to secure the resources of an organization. Here you will learn how to leverage Active Directory and tools in Windows Server 2008 R2 to provide a foundation for a security enhanced and well-managed infrastructure. You will also learn how to extend the built-in capabilities of the Microsoft platform with Microsoft System Center and Microsoft Forefront to help manage and help secure your heterogeneous environment and help you sleep better at night. You will see how the full set of Microsoft tools and technologies provide a robust solution to deploy and manage your datacenter, as well as how to help secure your organization from external and internal threats. You will also learn how to implement key technologies to monitor your infrastructure, and use automation to help increase availability at the same time. MGT207 - Overview of Microsoft System Center Orchestrator 2012 The next version of Opalis will be known as System Center Orchestrator. In this session, we cover the new capabilities that Orchestrator will bring to the System Center integration, orchestration and automation solutions, and how these align to the Microsoft Private Cloud offerings. Session Lead: Islam Gomaa
Cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal
Technologies: Microsoft System Center
MGT272 – What’s New in System Center Configuration Manager 2012 System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2012 incrementally builds on the strengths of SCCM 2007 and adds entirely new functionality. This session will highlight both the improved features and the new functionality introduced in SCCM 2012 such as user centric management, Configuration Settings Remediation, Software Center & Application Catalog, Collection based settings, etc. Learn how to take advantage of the improved and new features of SCCM 2012 in your organization by attending this session. Proposed by Colin Smith
Cities: Toronto, Montreal
Technologies: Microsoft System Center MGT302 - Get Out of Dodge: Migrating to Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 You can't wait any longer. Your infrastructure is still clinging to the 2003 x86 server architecture but with every day that goes by, you worry more and more that the other shoe will drop. You know you have to bite the bullet and get these critical services over to more modern hardware paired with the current supported revisions of the server platform. These are the services that keep the lights on, the servers running and most importantly: the users happy! This demo-intensive session covers how to migrate essential services like DHCP, DNS, File/Print, Certificate Services and more. If you or your customers are stuck in the x86 migration frontier - show them the path to x64 2008 R2 nirvana. Session Lead: Rick Claus
Cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal
Technologies: Windows Server 2008 R2: Server Management, Windows Server 2008 R2: Active Directory MGT303 - Diagnosing the Diseases of DNS Network troubleshooters soon learn that the first place to look when the network stops working is DNS... and soon after that, they learn that the in-the-box DNS troubleshooting tool, nslookup, is a pretty basic answer. So if keeping DNS working is part of your job, don't miss this "beyond the basics" DNS troubleshooting session originally created by Mark Minasi. We start with "dig," the nslookup replacement that is a must-know for DNS techies. Then we see how to give your troubled DNS queries a thorough workup with Network Monitor (even if you've never used Netmon), where you'll be able to find out why those dynamic updates aren't happening. From there, get the scoop on "EDNS," a feature of DNS servers since 2003 that has been blamed - wrongly - for a host of DNS ills. After that, see how to take your DNS system's pulse with DNSLint, a free, not-to-be-missed utility. Then see how to understand what those DNS logs are REALLY saying. Attend this talk and you'll soon be known as "Doctor DNS!" Session Lead: Rick Claus
Cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal
Technologies: Windows Server 2008 R2: Server Management, Windows Server 2008 R2: Active Directory MGT310 - Helping to Protect the Microsoft EndPoint Effective endpoint security is implemented using 3 golden rules 1) Run Anti-virus software, 2) Keep your system patched and 3) Use a personal firewall. This session will show how to use Microsoft Forefront, SCCM/WSUS and other Microsoft tools to implement these 3 rules for Microsoft Windows-based systems. Session Lead: Stewart Cawthray
Cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal
Technologies: Microsoft Forefront, Microsoft System Center MGT373 – Managing SharePoint Using System Center Helping to ensure that your SharePoint Farm infrastructure is running smoothly is one of the most important areas that an administrator of SharePoint is concerned with. In this session you will learn how Microsoft System Center can be configured to assist you in helping to keep your SharePoint-based infrastructure running well. You will find out how to tune alerts according to configuration and internal governance policies, help to increase overall service levels, as well as proactively manage incidents using the family of System Center products. Session Lead: Jason Kaczor
Cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal
Technologies: Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft System Center MGT374 - System Center in the Data Center - Putting Together the Puzzle This session will take you through a full life cycle at a Data Center. The process will start with a request for a new server from a business unit that comes into System Center Service Manager. The Web Server is deployed into the environment using System Center Configuration Manager. It’s a hit and the site is over loaded with web requests. System Center Operations Manager sends an alert on the situation. The Data Center operator gets the alert and decides to allow additional Web Servers. The Site Goes Dark…..Critical outage. A new alert comes into the Data Center operator and he chooses to allow a full Disaster Recovery Plan to execute to a backup data center with a click of a single button. Once again the site is up and running. In this session you will see how the System Center Suite of products integrates and executes automated processes in the Data center environment. This will be a very active demo-filled session that you don’t want to miss. Session Leads: Islam Gomaa and William Bressette
Cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal
Technologies: Microsoft System Center MGT375 – Helping to Secure your Wireless Network with 802.1x and Active Directory Wireless networks are in use in almost every business and every home, yet many suffer from security vulnerabilities that are easily protected. In this session you will learn how you can help lock down your wireless network and integrate Active Directory to control and manage access to your wireless network thereby helping to keep unauthorized connections and users out. Session Lead: Todd Lamothe
Cities: Toronto, Montreal
Technologies: Identity & Access Management, Windows Server 2008 R2: Active Directory
MGT377 - Leveraging Legacy Systems with Windows PowerShell There is a misconceived notion that moving to Windows PowerShell to administer your IT infrastructure means a rebuild approach, in other words - dropping the old for the new. In this session you will learn how you can easily use PowerShell to not only work with and manage Legacy systems but also help improve your experience in maintaining them. Want to find out how – come to this session. Session Lead: Sean Kearney
Cities: Toronto
Technologies: Windows Server 2008 R2: Server Management MGT378 - SAM and IT Asset Management using Microsoft System Center The implementation of Software Asset Management (SAM) and IT Asset Management (ITAM) is a means of helping to drive down IT costs, reducing security and compliance risk, and improving operational efficiency. This presentation describes how highly effective SAM and ITAM programs are delivered and supported using the powerful capabilities of Microsoft System Center. You’ll see how different capabilities of the System Center family of products, including Service Manager, Configuration Manager, Operations Manager and Orchestrator/Opalis are combined with technology partner solutions to provide visibility and control of hardware and software through the full asset life cycle, to minimize asset expenditure and to help maintain software license compliance. The solution shows how existing infrastructure, volume agreements and suite licenses, and expertise can be leveraged for rapid, highly cost-effective program implementation. Session Lead: Gord Watts
Cities: Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal
Technologies: Microsoft System Center Pretty awesome, eh? So go register now before it’s sold out! 
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 On the continuing Eastern leg of the Virtual Reality community tour – I drove from Sydney to Halifax yesterday morning in order to make an up time, avoid the fog (which closed the airport) in order to talk with professors and IT staff at Nova Scotia Community College. The meeting was setup by my friend David Jelico – a prof that is very passionate about Technology and teaching students a balanced approach to surviving a career in IT. Topic was about private / public cloud and how the college could incorporate it into their curriculum as well as embrace some of the technology themselves.
As is always the case with David – his passion shines through and lots of lively conversation ensued with a full Q&A back and forth with everyone in the room. Nothing like keeping “the Microsoft guy” on his toes, eh?
After grabbing a bite to eat between sessions at “The Q” (best damn rib and BBQ joint in Halifax hands down) we hopped the ferry to cross over and setup for an evening event at the NSCC Waterfront campus – overlooking the beautiful harbour. If I had to choose a campus with a view – this would be the one.
The event itself was a bit modified. We had lower numbers then previous cities, so I modified the content to be better suited to a smaller crowd and focused on engaging and talking with the guys and showing / building the environment collaboratively with them. I say “building” mainly because I had a hardware issue that made it so I had to completely rebuild one of my Host Hyper-V servers which was left in a default install state. The demos were extended to literally build the second Host and enable it to work as the second node cluster for the highly available VM system.
After the event – I offered up a round of drinks for good measure at my favourite local establishment “The Old Triangle” where it happened to be jam night – bring your own instrument for traditional down home kitchen party. I kind of regret not picking up the Bohran to play a tune myself – but I was otherwise engaged in talking with Rob about his plans to setup a Canadian Home Grown Hosted Datacenter service using the full suite of MS technology (System Center Virtual Machine Manager, System Center Opalis, System Center Operations Manager, Hyper-V and more). I look forward to sharing his story with you here as they build it out and how they use these technologies to offer up hosted infrastructure to their Canadian customers.
I’m writing this post the day after – enjoying a rare day in the sun on the wharf downtown in Halifax. I was working at a Co-Working space called “The Hub” earlier today, but the sunshine was calling and I had a lunch meeting with a friend so I took advantage of some mobile technology and charged laptop in order to write with a view of the ocean.
{ This article also appears on The Regular IT Guy } 
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