I recently needed to look up the warranty status on a couple of Dell servers that I don't have physical access to. I logged into ESXi and started to poke around. Tuns out you can find the service tag this way, it just wasn't where I thought it would be.
The service tag information can be found at the bottom of the Processors information window under the Configuration tab. Now I know!
The PMP certification from the Project Management Institute has been on my radar for several years. With a high barrier to entry in the form of demonstrated hours spent managing projects (more on this in a bit) and an actual auditing policy to verify applicant's submission, the PMP certification carries weight and legitimacy.
The PMP requires proof that applicants have at least 7,500 hours of leading and directing projects. If one possess a four-year degree, that number dips to 4,500 hours. That's over three-and-a-half years of managing projects (without a degree) before even being eligible to take the exam. Furthermore, concurrent projects cannot be counted. If your time is split evenly each day between managing two projects, only half of your time goes to fulfilling this prerequisite.
The second prerequisite isn't nearly so arduous. Thirty five hours of project management training, referred to by PMI as contact hours. Training providers must be accredited by PMI and present you with a certificate of completion that will be submitted along with proof of project management hours. I used and recommend this course by Joseph Phillips on Udemy.
Luckily for me, I have a construction background and in construction everything is a project. The formal definition of a project. by the way, is a unique and temporary endeavor that has a defined beginning and end designed to accomplish a singular goal.
For my training, I'm utilizing several resources.
This week marks the first time I've had the pleasure of configuring a switch from Cisco's Small Business line of products. The SG200 is a L2 switch, while the SG300 and 500's have L3 capabilities.
The switch I worked on is an SG500-52. I logged into the web interface (192.168.1.254 by default) and setup SSH capabilities.
Firing up PuTTY, I logged in and attempted to enable IP routing.
SG500-1(config)#ip routing
% Unrecognized command
What?
Turns out that the almost-IOS OS that the small business switches run requires a different command to enable routing. Specifically:
SG500-1#set system mode router
One last MASSIVE caveat; switching from L2 to L3 or L3 to L2 will wipe the running-config.
I recently finished Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz. Voss worked in the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit for 24 years and held the position of Chief International Hostage and Kidnapping Negotiator from 2003 to 2007. The book is full of great information and would be worth a read just for Voss’ career-related stories. The two major takeaways for me are as follows:
Listening is the most active undertaking – When Voss’ team would be on the phone, negotiating with a kidnapper, they would have as many agents as possible listening to what the kidnapper was saying, how they were saying it, as well as what the kidnappers weren’t saying. Invariably, different agents would pick up on different things and, as a whole, they would have a much better picture of what was going on at the other end of the line. If you aren’t actively listening to your clients, coworkers, friends, and family, you are leaving potentially valuable information on the table.
“No” is good – I found this to be an interesting bit of psychology. Being told “No” isn’t the end of a negotiation. It’s often a sign that progress is being made. Voss makes the point that saying “Yes” to anyone means we are giving up a tiny (or large) amount of control and puts us on guard. Saying “no” has the opposite impact. An example given in the book; “How would you like to make more money?” Who wouldn’t? However, if you were to be asked, chances are your defenses would immediately go up.
Code Newbie is one of my newest podcast subscriptions and I've recently been entertaining the thought of trying to do a small (10-15 minute) talk on a topic of interest to some local group. Naturally, this podcast piqued my interest and Kim Crayton is certainly an inspiration. In very little time she has created quite a name and is being offered speaking gigs at some amazing conferences.
http://www.codenewbie.org/podcast/the-michael-jordan-of-tech-talks
In keeping with the theme of sharpening my writing skills, I picked up Secrets of Story which holds a 4.49 rating on goodreads. I enjoyed the book. It's packed with a lot of information and probably deserves another read through to feel familiar with it. My key takeaways are thus:
"To nail your characters you have to use a hammer. If you use a hammer on your characters they become flat"
Let your characters surprise you and they will surprise the audience as well.
The more you can show, the less you need to tell.
I've read that last piece of advice in other places and have seen it stated even more emphatically; Never tell what you can show.
A (relatively) short book that’s part memoir and part “how-to”. King is one of the most recognizable names in all of fiction and nonfiction, let alone the horror genre. Indeed, the only horror book of King’s I’ve read is IT and that was last month. I am a huge fan of the Dark Tower series and in reading it, I became quite a fan of King’s prose and dialogue. This books starts with a semi-brief recap of King’s childhood and formational events in his life that lead to his becoming a successful author. Once it gets rolling, the book is filled with insightful information. Some of my favorite takeaways:
If you want to be a great writer, write every day. King recommends ten pages or roughly 2,000 words a day.
“The road to hell is paved in adverbs”
Never ever use a passive voice
Some pretty big changes since my last post back in January.
I was offered the CEO position at my former company. Yes, former. After a lot of consideration, we decided to uproot and leave the Mississippi Gulf Coast and move to Charlotte, North Carolina. We lived in Mississippi for just over two years and it seemed like both an eternity and an instant.
I've signed on with a MSP that, in many ways, seems a mirror image to my previous employer. More on that to come.
My goals for this personal / professional blog are constantly changing; however, the one I promised myself I would stick to above all else is frequency. A post a week come hell or high water. I was surprised to see my last post was exactly one month ago. Sheesh!
In the interim I watched a GaryVee video about content creation. His mantra? Document, Don't Create.
So, Resolution Numero Uno....a weekly post for 2017. I want to look back on at least 52 posts at the end of the year.
Number Two: Personal Finance. I'm embarrassed to admit how neglectful I've been when it comes to knowing how much I'm spending on what, what my credit score is (It was lower than I would have guessed), the intricacies of how one's credit score is calculated, etc.. So as with most things I'm looking to learn more about, I turned to Reddit. In just a few minutes I discovered the Personal Finance subreddit which is loaded with really good information and constructive back-and-forth discussions. I dusted off my old Mint account and updated it with all my current financial information. I categorized all transactions so the budgeting and goals graphs are actually relevant. I signed up with Credit Karma and took a thorough look at my credit report. Surprise, surprise! A closed collections in regards to a forgotten cable modem from our move to Mississippi. I remembered paying it in full the day the collections company called me (almost two years ago) and was told that due to my swift response, the collections would not be reported. I was able to dispute that with just a few clicks from inside Credit Karma. While researching some stuff that I read on the PF subreddit, I ran across Nerd Wallet. I'll be sure to post an update after more research
Number Three: Stretching. Remembering how amazing I felt after X Stretch days, I vowed to find a good stretching routine on YouTube that didn't take quite as much time as one from P90X. I found this routine that takes about twenty minutes. My goal is three times a week.
Number Four: Posture. I hate my posture....more to follow!
I received an email from VMware that they are moving to Acclaim for their certification badging as well. I definitely like the look of the VMware badges over the Microsoft. I wonder if Cisco will follow suite. I hope not. Cisco badges are the best looking in my opinion.
I admit that when I received an email from Acclaim regarding my Microsoft certification badges I thought it was a phishing attempt; however these actually are Microsoft's new badge design. I wasn't that crazy about them at first but they are growing on me.
For the last year or so I've had silent aspirations for pursuing Cisco's CCIE certification in Routing and Switching, one of the most revered technical certifications in the entire world. I've read blog posts and stories on Reddit of herculean study efforts and countless hours labbing in an effort to truly become an expert and, of course, to get your coveted CCIE number (as of September 1st, there have been 53,833 certified CCIE's across all tracts since its inception in 1999).
For Black Friday, INE put their entire CCIE R&S training bundle on sale, which includes their CCNP training material. I've been working my way through Chris Bryant's CCNP training course for the last couple months, so I decided that the best way to commit myself to going all in on the CCIE was by making a significant (for me) financial commitment.
My goal of posting weekly updates about my budding IT career didn't quite go as planned. Fortunately, things have been going much better at work. Since my last (and only) post, I've:
My role as vCIO is a business consultant to our clients. Budgeting, strategic planning...fun stuff like that. In general helping companies get the most out of their IT and IT budgets while keeping an eye down the road. I love it. More on that to come.
The MCSA kicked my you-know-what. I failed the 70-410 three times and the whole process took almost a year. What I learned from the journey, aside from server administration, was just how important it is to have a lab where you can implement, break, and fix everything covered in a particular exam. More on that to come as well.
In August of 2014 my girlfriend and I picked up and moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast so she could take a position at the Veteran's Hospital in Biloxi. Prior to the move I worked in the family business building custom residential homes. I knew when I moved construction was something I was going to leave behind. Armed with a CompTIA A+ and Microsoft MTA certificate (both entry level and fairly easy to attain), I applied for a Help Desk I position at AGJ Systems and Networks. Luckily, they gave me a chance to prove myself and my entry into the IT field was underway.