Infrastructure Optimization

From the Awesome Ideas Department, Brian Tucker has raised the idea of an SCCM Ranger training event that would encourage a team-based deep-dive into the management software, and would do so in a casual setting - a house on a beach, for example, rather than YACRIAMH (yet another conference room in a mediocre hotel.)

While this might conjure visions of a ServerNerd reality show, the less-sarcastic part of me loves this idea. Get a bunch of smart people together, and discuss advanced scenarios for SCCM configuration and real world applications for complex architectures. Do it with pizza, beer and s’mores. Provide a Microsoft “title” - “SCCM Ranger” or something less evocative of a merit badge, and make the training pass/fail.

What do you think? Is this a good idea? Does it sound better than sitting in a training room looking at another PowerPoint deck? I sure think it does.

Brian Tucker’s SCCM 2007 Ranger Training Class poll

And yes, Brian, 249 of us are probably lazy or busy, but I still think your idea rocks!

Buckle up AppVirt drivers! Microsoft has just released a set of “hands-on labs” for those of us that need to break something before we learn it. Good thing it’s virtual!

Books, papers and PDF’s are great but if you’re looking for a way to check out many of the features and concepts through a set of step-by-step, hands-on exercises these labs are for you.

Some of the topics covered include:

• Basic Sequencing
• Advanced Sequencing
• Advanced Sequencing for VFS (virtual file share)
• Active Upgrades
• Publishing

The easiest way to see all of the lab offerings and their course discriptions is through the SoftGrid Team Blog.

Now, get out there and break something - virtually, of course.