SQL Server 2019

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Microsoft SQL Server 2019DevOps, the cloud, and new database technologies mean our jobs as database administrators (DBAs) are changing at an ever-faster pace. If you’re fascinated by data and all the things you can do with it, it’s a thrilling time to be in the business. Here are five of the skills we see as essential parts of the modern DBA’s toolkit.

  1. Expertise with multiple technologies: The one-size-fits-all approach to databases is fading. Just as application developers are moving toward a microservices model that focuses on the right tool for the job, organizations are choosing databases according to specific workload needs. The more you know about Hadoop, NoSQL, graph, and other technologies, the better-positioned you will be to make a positive contribution to the conversation.
  2. Collaboration: Speaking of conversations, DBAs will increasingly need to become contributing members of application teams rather than siloed specialists off in their own corners. DevOps tend to break down the barriers between IT functions. Understanding how applications work, and, even better, how they deliver business value, puts you in a position to be a creative problem solver and all-around data expert.
  3. Data science skills: Machine learning and AI are some of the fastest growing uses of data in the enterprise today. Making these technologies work efficiently and getting superior results depends on good data, which depends on you and your specialized skills.
  4. Cost optimization: In an on-premises world, most DBAs aren’t deeply involved in cost conversations unless there’s a big IT capital investment taking place. In the cloud, database configuration has a direct impact on the bottom line. Understanding how to manage the technology in cost-optimized ways can help your organization do more with its IT budget.
  5. Cloud (and edge) everything: There will be on-premises databases around for a long time, but the cloud is going to continue growing in importance. The good news is that it can help automate a lot of the infrastructure-related drudgery that characterizes classic DBA jobs. The even better news is that it frees you to do more creative things. In many industries such as retail, manufacturing, and aerospace, edge computing is becoming even more interesting than cloud and requires further evolution of database approaches. If you’re an expert here, you can write your own ticket for several years to come.

IT has always been a fast-evolving field and it’s only going to accelerate for DBAs. Now’s the time to skill up and take the lead. To learn more about what you can do with Microsoft SQL Server 2019, check out the free Packt guide, Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2019. If you’re ready to jump to a fully managed cloud solution, check out the Essential Guide to Data in the Cloud.

Bose Soundlink

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Bose Soundlink Micro

Bose (bluetooth) Soundlink Micro, I have just purchassed a new Surface Laptop 2 to replace my Surface Pro 4. The transfering of date from my old Surface Pro to the new Laptop 2 went according to plan. I was able to test most things before my next trip to Edmonton to train the final course CompTIA Security + for the 3rd intake.

During my presentation I needed to play a video to the class and I connected my Bose (BT) Soundlink Micro, well what can I say, there was absolutly no volume, so I had to revert back to my build in speakers. The volume was enough for the students to hear the content but nowhere like it should have been, had my Bose speaker been working.

After much testing on various devices I proved that the issue was with my new Surface Laptop. How very sad, searching online for a solution I quickly realised that hundreds of people had the same issue with different hardware, something that Bose themselves had not yet been able to resolve. Realising that it could not be my Laptop, I of course couldn’t give up and revert to the Surface pro. I have just gotten used to the slightly larger screen of the Laptop 2. After many hours I found an inconspicuous post that said we had to add a registry setting. Me I had to check this first in the registry myself, and found setting was already there but needed to have its value changed from 1 to 0.

Below is the command to add the registry entry, but as I said above my entry already existed, so all I did was change the DisableAbsoluteVolume REG_DWORD to 0

reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Bluetooth\Audio\AVRCP\CT /v DisableAbsoluteVolume /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Once that had been changed my volume was back to loud.

I can now go back to Edmonton and not have to worry about the volume when showing videos.

Outlook View

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I use Outlook daily and I do not want the preview pane when I look at my emails. Its easy enough to change the view by going to the view tab and setting the reading pane off, however when you have a fully structured inbox with various folders the reading pane off setting does not propagate to all folders, so here is a tip on how to change this. Do remember that you can change to any view and propagate the view to all folders using this way.

In the Ribbon on the View tab is where it all happens. Once you have changed the layout by using the option in the layout group of the view tab you are ready to proceed with the propagation to all folders and any other mailboxes.

Select the dropdown next to the Change view and click the Apply Current View to Other mail Folders this should open up the selection box.

In the Apply View selection, check the boxes where you want to propagate the view to and then at the bottom of the view you will see another checkbox for the Apply the View to Subfolders.

login Issues

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There are over 300 million fraudulent sign-in attempts to the Microsoft cloud services every day. Cyberattacks aren’t slowing down any time in the near future, and it’s worth noting that most attacks have been successful simple means. It only takes is one compromised set of credentials (user name/password), a legacy or an unpatched application to cause a data breach. This shows how critical it is to ensure password security and a strong authentication process.

Learning about common vulnerabilities and the single most important action that you can take to protect your accounts from attacks is MFA.

Common vulnerabilities

  • Business email compromise, an attacker can gain access to a corporate email account, through phishing or spoofing, and can use it to exploit a system for many reasons. Accounts protected with only a user account and password are the easiest to compromise.
  • Legacy protocols can create a major vulnerability because applications that use basic protocols, such as SMTP, were not designed to manage Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). So even if you require MFA for most use cases, attackers will search for opportunities to use outdated browsers or email applications to force the use of less secure protocols.
  • Password Usage, Considering that up to 73 percent of passwords are duplicates, this has been the most successful strategy for many attackers and it’s easy to do. The process of password spray and credential stuffing attacks make it easy to compromise a system. Common passwords and credentials compromised by attackers in public breaches, social media share and tell sessions are used against corporate accounts to try to gain access.

Multi Factor Authentication (MFA)

What you can do to protect your organization

You can help prevent some of these attacks by banning the use of bad passwords through group policies and enabling a stricter password policy, blocking legacy authentication, and training employees on phishing attacks. However, one of the simplest and most effective things you can do is to just turn on MFA. By providing an extra barrier and layer of security that makes it incredibly difficult for attackers to get past, MFA can block over 99.9 percent of account compromise attacks. With MFA enabled, knowing or cracking the password won’t be enough to gain access.

According to the SANS Software Security Institute there are two primary obstacles to companies adopting MFA implementations today:

  1. A misconception that MFA requires external hardware devices.
  2. Concerns about potential user disruption or concern over what may break.

Matt Bromiley, a SANS Digital Forensics and Incident Response instructor, says, “It doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing approach. There are different approaches your organization could use to limit the disruption while moving to a more advanced state of authentication.” These include a role-based or by application approach—starting with a small group and expanding from there. Bret Arsenault shares his advice on transitioning to a passwordless model in Preparing your enterprise to eliminate passwords.

Passwordless authentication technologies are not only more convenient for end users but are extremely difficult and costly for hackers to compromise. Learn more about Microsoft passwordless authentication solutions in a variety of form factors to meet user needs.

Server Technician

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What Is a Server Support Technician?

A server support technician manages, repairs and analyzes an organization’s servers, making sure everything is running, up to date and secure.

Other duties of a server support technician may include the following:

  • Running routine security and vulnerability scans
  • Assemble and install physical hardware as and when required
  • Maintain an accurate inventory of equipment and connections
  • Oversee the disposal of obsolete and sensitive equipment
  • Install and support software packages
  • Operate and monitor complex computer systems, and network infrastructure
  • Know the different server types; Authentication, database, mail, web, file and print, virtual and host servers

A server technician needs to analyze the performance of an organization’s servers and resolves any issues that may arise. Someone in this role should have great problem-solving skills and be highly knowledgeable in Windows and other Server Operating systems. They are also responsible for installing hardware, racks and operating systems.

Many technical staff may work remotely and on a contractual basis, working where the problems occur. Strong verbal and written communication skills are an essential requirement for this position. People in this role must be able to work independently, with minimal to no supervision. Some of these people may very well end up as server or network design architects.

Clip board

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Do more with your New Windows 10 (May update) Clipboard.
Discover an easy way to pull up a history of the past 25 things you’ve copied, including URLs, text from web pages and docs—and even screenshots.
First go to your settings, > system > Clipboard
Enable the Clipboard History (1).

You can now use The (Windows key) & V to open the clipboard and choose what to past, up to 25 clips. Remember that you can still use the (Ctrl) & V to do a regular past.
If you are logged in using your Microsoft account the clipboard will work across all devices (2).
See the screen clip to see all options (3).

Leadership

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In Business, one thing we all have to learn is how to work with and lead people that are not like us, and normally don’t even think or act like us either.

In my experience as a business owner, its probably one of the biggest challenges that I encountered and prevented me from achieving my goals and success. I had to understand and accept that not everyone has the same goals and values that I have.

Our biggest challenges will always be members of your own family, some of your closest friends, maybe even some of our best customers, an investor and or key business partners. Working only with people like our selves will stunt the business growth. We need to understand that we may need a more diverse set of people around us that can help with innovation, and we do need to learn how to work with them.

Some key things for us all to learn! Do not presume that people not like us are intentionally being difficult, but learn to capitalize on their strengths. Trying to change people to conform to our ways is a huge mistake. People may actually change, if they respect you as a role model, or feel that you are courteous and have respect for their position, ideas and abilities. Real innovation can only come from people who think and see things differently to others, thinking out of the box is a gift that needs to be nurtured. Never generalise in conflict, but always stick to the issues that needs to be solved.

For true success, we all need to build more relationships with people who are different from us. Leading a donkey by holding a carrot in front will only work for a while, but to be truly innovative; learn to be a great leader and assemble a team of unique and different individuals around yourself. Care for them, nurture them and mentor them to become great leaders who will never leave you.

To your success.

IT Career

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Changing Career

Mainly (but not only) for my students in the Edmonton area, attending the ITC program at MCG Career group. You are attending a course that will propel you into a new career, an IT career, and one that you should be excited to be part of. The following tips may help you move forward and enjoy the ride.


1. Don’t just step, but jump out of your comfort zone.

2. Don’t worry too much about the first test, “IT Fundamentals”. Just focus on the content being covered each day and keep moving forward.

3. You are in a class that has various levels of IT competence, but don’t compare yourself to these. The only person you have to compete with is yourself. Attend classes at all costs and concentrate on learning something new each day.

4. One thing, don’t be afraid to ask for help from your instructor / mentor or teammates. Peer learning is always an essential skill builder for today’s technology workforce.

5. Know your 30-second “About Me” by heart and be able to give it at a moment’s notice. This statement requires that you know exactly where you want to be and what it takes to get there. I will post more about this next week.

6. Have a short term career plan ready to discuss during interviews, and consider how potential managers and other company leaders might serve as mentors and role models to get to your goals.

7. Connect and build relationships with co-students from the current class and if possible past classes to. Building a professional network should begin on the first day of class or as soon as possible thereafter.

8. Technical skills are essential to a good IT career but mastery of soft skills like communication and active listening are just as important. The critical soft skills for any IT professional are communication, collaboration, critical observation, problem solving and leadership. Possessing any or all these will set you up ahead of the crowd.

9. Great interviews begin with research, so start with the companies website and document their strong points and vision statement and work around them. The interviewer wants to know that you will fit in with the current employees and not disrupt the status quo.

10. Professional organizations and networking events are a great way to network and meet potential employers. This informal environment will be less pressure to discuss potential opportunities than a formal interview.

11. Great interviews are a conversation that is the result of planning and questions prepared ahead of time.

12. You are in the ITC program for a reason, so as soon as possible set goals for yourself, both short and longer term. This will help give you direction, and help you ask the right questions ahead of time.

13. LinkedIn is a great career tool while climbing the IT ladder. Get a head start on establishing an online presence by setting up an account. Do remember that past achievement will be an asset no matter what industry it comes from. Recruiters are always scouring here to find new clients. Connect with others and professional groups. Be there when the recruiters or companies post or search for professionals in your area.
Reflecting on the above, you have to start somewhere, so keep calm set yourself a goal and a task list, work through it one step at a time and you will be amazed how soon your actions will get you to where you want to be. You have to remember the golden rule! you control your own destiny, if you wait on others for direction, you will never be able to really go out and have fun in your new career.

We Share Knowledge

Update content

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Never set it and forget about it, connect to Google analytics and monitor success and update content when necessary.

Many small business owners make the mistake of leaving their site be after they publish it, yet website management is not a “do it once – and – done” task. Instead, you should consistently refreshing the website based on how well it’s performing. Take a lead from the web analytics (use Google Analytics). If you have a page with low traffic, you may need to find ways to link to it from other pages, this could help to it to get page hits and increase the number of visits.

Other benefits of keeping fresh content on a website has to do with SEO. Blogs and social content give small business owners the opportunity to produce fresh content, which is one of Google’s many ranking considerations.