@wirestyle22 said in Managing Hyper-V:

The issue with that is my lack of powershell knowledge

How often are you creating new VMs and all that? Just google it and you're good to go. The day to day stuff is pretty much menu driven:

@scottalanmiller said in Managing Hyper-V:

@Mike-Davis said in Managing Hyper-V:

@scottalanmiller said in Managing Hyper-V:

Not something that I've looked into yet. But if you use PowerShell to manage Hyper-V, is there anyway to get console access without another tool? Like can PS be used to activate an RDP session to a VM console redirect?

I've been able to install screen connect on it and manage it that way.

How do you get SC onto a fresh install of Windows? You need to make the base image somewhere with a console.

download the .msi installer and use the command line msiexec /i to install it the same way you install the open manage tools. In Screen Connect it's like you're sitting at the console:

@scottalanmiller said in Managing Hyper-V:

Not something that I've looked into yet. But if you use PowerShell to manage Hyper-V, is there anyway to get console access without another tool? Like can PS be used to activate an RDP session to a VM console redirect?

I've been able to install screen connect on it and manage it that way.

@wirestyle22 said in Managing Hyper-V:

How are you managing your non-domain connected hyper-v hosts?

5nine manager. I first had to use it to manager a Hyper-v 2016 box on a network where I didn't have any Windows 10 machines. It seems to work well.

In part of my strategy to prevent CryptoLocker or a bad actor from taking out my backups if a computer/server gets infected, I'm not domain joining my hosts now. I realized that even with a share on the network that used a service account, if a hacker elevates privileges and gets domain admin, they can reset the password on the backup service account and then wipe out my backups. If the backup target is not domain joined, they can't do that. Same idea with the host.

I'm curious as to what others are thinking. We love disk to disk backups, but it's really hard to air gap them with out physical interaction.

If that's the case I would fix all the folder permissions before trying to move stuff. The problem will keep coming back to bite you.

@DustinB3403 What are you using the airgap your backups? What is your backup target?

I would think taking ownership of the files makes the most sense. Does your backup account have access? If not, those files aren't getting backed up. How did files get created that an admin doesn't have permissions to? Were permission set on the drive where a user has full control?

What solutions do people have for rotating on prem backups so that if your system gets hacked or a variant of CryptoLocker like Samas.A can't encrypt your back up files as well? Are we pretty much back to physical tapes/USB drives that get plugged/unplugged?

I thought it was interesting that so many linux systems were hit. Has anyone heard of phishing attacks (or others) that went after linux boxes before?

@Kelly said in Vendor Neutral IT Strategist Conference:

Round table would be fine. I'm not biased for or against. I'd just like to hear what forward leaning organizations that see IT as a competitive advantage are doing to keep that edge.

I've been in that spot before. Looking back it didn't really matter what people were saying about what we might be doing in 5 years. - I was waiting for vaporware to materialize and hardware manufactures to SKU stuff so I could buy it.

At this point in my career, if I know that a manufacture has plans to come out with a new laptop docking station and I can plan my laptop purchases around that, I feel like I'm doing ok.

This whole conversation reminds me of a discussion between a manager and an employee. The employee wanted to go to a conference. The manager wanted a cost justification. The manager wanted the employee to tell him what they were going to learn there. The employee said I don't know what I don't know and won't know about it unless I go to the conference. If I knew about it, there would be no need to go.

@Dashrender said in Simple network discovery:

@Mike-Davis said in Simple network discovery:

I've used Advanced IP Scanner to quickly figure out if there are devices configured statically on certain addresses, etc.

Right, but will this run in 'nix?

Oh, I missed that requirement. Skipped right over the "not to mention I do not even have a Windows device to run it on." part..

I used Angry IP too, but it requires Java.

I've used Advanced IP Scanner to quickly figure out if there are devices configured statically on certain addresses, etc.

@scottalanmiller said in Hardware sources:

So you let a salesman determine the best fit for your needs? If you aren't doing any research, how do you know he didn't just screw your customer by selling the thing that earns him the most margin (CDW is famous for how extremely they do this.) And what's your role here? If the customer wanted to engage predatory salesman directly, they could. No need for an IT person.

My role was picking the specs for the laptop. When he quotes me the laptop and case, I can take a look and spot check the price if I want. After he finds a case, I can take a look at it and see what kind of reviews it has.

How would you handle a request like that from a customer?

@scottalanmiller said in Hardware sources:

A good rep is necessary, but other than placing your orders quickly, what value do they add? You can't use them for anything other than quotes and placing orders and RMAs, that sort of thing. You don't even need an account rep, just place orders. Account reps, even good ones, are just in the way. No need for them.

Also when buying new HPE stuff, there are often "smart buys" that are preconfigured options offered at a lower price. If you just use a website to search for what you're looking for, you might miss out on those and pay more than you need to for the same hardware.

@scottalanmiller said in Hardware sources:

A good rep is necessary, but other than placing your orders quickly, what value do they add? You can't use them for anything other than quotes and placing orders and RMAs, that sort of thing. You don't even need an account rep, just place orders. Account reps, even good ones, are just in the way. No need for them.

When I get requests like the one last week for a laptop with rubber bumpers, I could search the internet, or I just email my account rep, tell him what specs I want in the laptop and tell him I want a case for it protects the edges. Huge time saver for me. And if it doesn't fit or something, I just email him back and let him make it right.

In my experience a good account rep trumps the trivial differences between the hardware. I have a good rep at CDW and HPE gear has worked well for me. I haven't gone the way of buying refurb yet.

I bought different colored cables for the different VLANs.

For the documentation I used Dia to do a diagram. It only maps where the trunks are. I never got in to the weeds mapping patch panel jacks to switch ports.

Each site usually also has a floor plan showing jack locations.