Thomas Maurer MVP

Oct062018October 6, 2018October 6, 20181 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Backup Windows 10 to Microsoft Azure Backup

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Windows, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server, Work

This is not really a new feature, it exists already for a while, but it seems that still a lot of people don’t know about it. Azure Backup not only allows you to backup services in Azure or Windows Server and services on-premises, Azure Backup can also backup your Windows Client PC.

Azure Backup for your Windows 10 PC allows you to backup Files and Folders and store and backup them to the cloud. You can use this for small environments, VIP machines or for remote workers which are always on the road. Data is encrypted on the on-premises client machine using AES256 and the data is sent over a secure HTTPS link. Backups are stored encrypted in Azure with the customers own key.

I use Azure Backup for my own devices. I am often on the road and working on different documents and files. Obviously I also use OneDrive and OneDrive for Business, which also allows you to restore files after you delete them. However, the retention rate is way to short and it is not a backup. Azure Backup in that case is a great addition. You can backup your files where ever you are.

Setup Azure Backup for Windows Clients

First you will need to setup a Azure Recovery Services Vault in Microsoft Azure. This is the service which your backups will be stored.

Oct042018October 4, 2018October 4, 20180 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Microsoft Learn – A Great Place To Learn!

Posted in Certification, Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, PowerShell, Work

In a world with always evolving and fast changing technology, it can be hard to keep up with the latest innovation. However, in our just we need to keep learning and be more efficient. It can be difficult to find the right resources and the right content. This is why Microsoft launched Microsoft Learn, a new platform to learn technology and keep up with the fast pace of our industry.

Microsoft recently switch the certification programs for Azure to role-based certifications, for example Azure Administrators, Azure Developers and Azure Architects. The new Microsoft Learn platform also gives you a training and modules based on your role selection.

Microsoft Learn Guide

The platform has a guided experience, explaining you the technology with text, videos, control questions, but also with hands-on training using sandboxes in Azure for free.

Microsoft Learn Sandbox and Hands-on

You cannot only read and watch videos, you also have a hands-on expierence. You can get a sandbox environment to live try code or even the portal experience to work with Azure or other Microsoft technology. In this example, I have the Microsoft Learn Guide on one site and Azure Cloud Shell on the other. I don’t even need to jump out of the learning experience, I just simply can try out the code.

Get started with Microsoft Learn

The Microsoft Learning platform is much more than I just explained. And Microsoft is working hard on adding even more content for more products and services to the page. If you want to get startet with Azure Certifications or just Azure in general, Microsoft Learn is the place to be!

And the best thing, it is free. You get amazing content guide and explained with labs to even try it out by yourself. The only thing you need is time and the willingness to learn. To try it out, just visit the Microsoft Learn homepage and let me know what you think!

Oct042018October 4, 2018October 5, 20182 Commentsby Thomas Maurer

Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate

Passed Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator

Posted in Certification, Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, PowerShell, Work

After the announcement of the new Microsoft Azure certifications at Microsoft Inspire in Las Vegas, I decided to take the beta exam which was available to upgrade my current Azure certifications. Since I had already passed Exam 70-533 Implementing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, I needed exam AZ-102 to do the transition. Today I got confirmation that I passed the Microsoft exam AZ-102 and earned the Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate certification.

I already took the new available beta Exam for the Microsoft Certified Azure Architect at Microsoft Ignite, however for the results I still need to wait a bit.

What is Exam AZ-102 Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate

The new certifications are based on different job roles, like Azure Administrator, Azure Developer and Azure Architect. You can read more about the new Azure Certifications here on my blog.

Earning Azure Administrator Associate certification demonstrates understanding of services across the IT lifecycle, and ability to take requests for infrastructure services, applications, and environments. Candidates for this certification are typically Azure Administrators who manage cloud services spanning storage, security, networking, and compute cloud capabilities. They recommend services to use for optimal performance and scale, as well as provision, size, monitor, and adjust resources.

This is great news to start in the day while I am flying to a customer in Paris today for some more Azure work.

Exam Preparation

The skills measured in AZ-102 are a mix from AZ-100 and AZ-101 and will focus on Azure Infrastructure and deployment, Azure Integration and Azure Security.

I often get asked how I prepared for exams such as this. Obviously it makes sense to certify the knowledge you already have. I usually use Microsoft free online courses on Channel 9, Virtual Academy and now the new Microsoft Learn. However, I realized that also the Azure Documentation is a great resource to learn. I recommend you check the skills needed for the exam, in this case AZ-102 and read the specific Azure Documentation for these topics, and also try it out.

Oct032018October 3, 2018October 3, 20180 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Speaking at Cloud Camp 2018 Dublin

Posted in Containers, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack, Microsoft MVP, Nano Server, Server Core, Speaking, Virtualization, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019, Work

I am very excited to announce that I will be speaking at Cloud Camp 2018 in Dublin. Cloud Camp is Irelands Inaugural Conference for Microsoft Cloud & Server 2019. The conference takes place on October 17th 2018 in the Dublin Convention Center. In my sessions I will be speaking about Microsoft Azure Stack and Windows Server 2019, the latest and greatest new features.

Cloud Camp

Azure Stack - Your Cloud Your Datacenter

Microsoft released Azure Stack as an Azure appliance for your datacenter. Learn what Azure Stack is, what challenges it solves, how you deploy, manage and operate a Azure Stack in your datacenter. Learn about the features and services you will get by offering Azure Stack to your customers and how you can build a true Hybrid Cloud experience. In this presentation Thomas Maurer (Microsoft MVP) will guide you through the highly anticipated innovations and experience during the Azure Stack Early Adaption Program and Azure Stack Technology Adoption Program (TAP).

Cloud Camp

Windows Server 2019 - The Next Generation of Software-Defined Datacenter

Join this session for the best of Windows Server 2019, about the new innovation and improvements of Windows Server. Learn how Microsoft enhances the SDDC feature like Hyper-V, Storage and Networking and get the most out of the new Azure Hybrid Integration and Container features. You’ll get an overview about the new, exciting improvements that are in Windows Server and how they’ll improve your day-to-day job. In this presentation Thomas Maurer (Microsoft MVP) will guide you through the highly anticipated innovations in Windows Server 2019 and the Semi-Annual Channel including: ○ Windows Server Containers ○ Azure Integration ○ Hyper-V features ○ Storage ○ Networking ○ Security ○ Windows Server Containers And more!

About Cloud Camp

In a time of rapid changes to “the cloud” – with continuous and frequent changes to Windows Server; Azure and even Microsoft 365. Add in the ever increasing importance to security and the challenges of compliance at its too easy to fall behind.
Cloud Camp brings together international speakers to one event where you will learn the latest about digital transformation, IT modernisation, productivity, security and compliance and governance.

Oct022018October 2, 2018October 2, 20181 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Windows Server 2019 released, get it now!

Posted in Cloud, Containers, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Private Cloud, Virtualization, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019, Work

Microsoft announced Windows Server 2019 a while ago and also showed of a lot of new features and improvements at Microsoft Ignite last week. Today Microsoft announced the release of Windows Server 2019. Windows Server brings improvements in four key areas, such as Hybrid, Security, Application Platform and Hyper-converged Infrastructure (HCI). Together with Windows Admin Center, Windows Server 2019 becomes a powerful platform to run your workloads on-premise or in the cloud.

You can also read more about Windows Server innovations on my blog:

I have some other blog post in the pipeline, covering new features in Windows Server 2019.

Download Windows Server 2019

You can download and get Windows Server 2019 form different Microsoft source:

MSDN and the Microsoft Partner Network will get Windows Server 2019 later in October.

At Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft showed also some great Windows Server demos and I hope you check it out!

Oct012018October 1, 2018October 1, 20180 Commentby Thomas Maurer

Windows Server 2019 Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Virtualization, Windows, Windows 10, Windows Server, Windows Server 2019, Work

Windows Server 2019 comes with a lot of new feature. One of the large investment Microsoft is making in this Windows Server release, is in security. And one of my favorite new security features in Windows Server 2019 is the support for Windows Defender Advanced Thread Protection. Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) is a unified platform for preventative protection, post-breach detection, automated investigation, and response. It was available for Windows 10 devices for awhile, and now it is available for Windows Server 2019 and other version of Windows Server.

What is Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection

Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection brings some great security features to your platform.

Agentless, cloud-powered – No additional deployment or infrastructure. No delays or update compatibility issues. Always up to date.
Unparalleled optics – Built into Windows and Windows Server for deeper insights. Exchanges signals with the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph.
Automated security – Take your security to a new level, by going from alert to remediation in minutes – at scale.

Onboard Windows Server 2019 to Windows Defender Advanced Thread Protection

If you’re already using Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), preview these features by simply installing the latest preview build of Windows Server, and onboard it to Windows Defender ATP.

Otherwise, sign up for the Windows Defender ATP trial on Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection.

Quick Look at Windows Defender ATP for Windows Server 2019

Using Windows Defender ATP is pretty simple. It is also very simple with Windows Server 2019. After you have onboarded your Windows Server you can already see alerts and recommendations in your dashboard.

To have some active alerts, you can create a test alert. This is also recommended to do after you have onboarded your machine. With that you can see if the connection is working.

You can find alters, events and actions in the machine page in the Windows Defender Security Center.

I hope this just gives you a short overview about Windows Defender ATP for Windows Server 2019. If you have any questions just leave a comment.

Sep262018September 26, 2018September 26, 20182 Commentsby Thomas Maurer

Microsoft and OEMs working on Azure Stack GPU Support

Posted in Cloud, Microsoft, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure Stack

This week at the Microsoft Ingnite 2018 conference in Orlando FL, Microsoft invited customers and partners from all over the world. In one of the sessions about Azure Stack, Daniel Savage (Principal PM Manager at Microsoft) announced that Microsoft is working on GPU support for Azure Stack. Azure Stack GPU support will bring Azure n-series virtual machines to Azure Stack which then can be used for various scenarios. This was not publicly announced yet in the Azure Stack roadmap, which was last updated in February 2018 and will soon see a refresh.

Microsoft was not mentioning the exact timeline, but it looks like when can expect this in the near future.

For Azure Services on Azure Stack, Microsoft also announced that Microsoft is not only working on bringing Azure IoT Hub to Azure Stack (which was announced a while ago), but also bringing Event Hub down to Azure Stack. One of the main reasons for this is that IoT Hub has some dependencies on Azure Event Hub.

You can watch the full session on the Microsoft Ignite page.

Microsoft Learn – A Great Place To Learn!

Microsoft Learn Guide

Microsoft Learn Sandbox and Hands-on

Get started with Microsoft Learn

Windows Server 2019 released, get it now!

Download Windows Server 2019

Microsoft and OEMs working on Azure Stack GPU Support

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