Daily Check-In with Ned1313: Recent Episodes
Ned Bellavance
A 10-minute, daily podcast from Ned1313 discussing technology, career advancement, and anything else relevant to the IT Professional in a brief, conversational style.
I hosted a podcast called Buffer Overflow for about 4 years and 200 episodes. The company I worked for took down the podcast and all of its episodes. Should I host them on my own? Would anyone listen? I want to hear from YOU!
I'm going to Disneyland! Er, World. I went to Disney World, and naturally it got me thinking about technology, in-groups, and market share. Sounds strange? It'll all make sense once you listen.
There's an age old debate in tech about the utility of certifications. It's an argument we've had a hundred times. So let's have it again! This time I'm thinking about how a certification can help someone early on in their career and how the advent of the cloud and virtualization has lowered the barrier to entry for most certifications.
Is there anything inherently good about decentralization? Is one approach always more effective or equitable than the other? The realm of technology is lousy with example of both centralized and decentralized systems, and a constant flux between the two. As any complex system evolves, the more efficient solution will evolve as well. For all the folks proselytizing the inherent beneficence of decentralized solutions, the reality doesn't seem to agree.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Tools and technology are mostly amoral. What matters is the intent of the individual using the tool. A system is what it does, or more accurately what one does with it. Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and web3 are neither net positive or negative. However, their implementations certainly can be. NFT scams, crypto pump and dumps, and Bitcoin global warming are great examples of the worst impulses of humanity. But can all of these also be used for good? I think the answer is a firm maybe.
Folding ideas NFT video: https://youtu.be/YQ_xWvX1n9g
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I read an interesting article today talking about how you don't need the cloud. Which is true! You don't need the cloud. Then the article went on to detail all the ways they are using cloud services without calling it cloud. And I felt confused! You don't need cloud, but you're using Cloudflare? Cloud is kinda in the name! Anyways, here's my thoughts about it.
The article: https://80daystartup.com/day-11/you-dont-need-the-cloud/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Furthering my thoughts on when to script and not, let's turn our focus to live training, presentations, and keynotes. Also, guess what I just committed to at Pluralsight? Hint: it's a bunch of courses that don't deal with Terraform!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
A listener asked about my thoughts on writing scripts for creating training videos or doing it off the top of my head. I've tried both approaches, and the answer for me is a hybrid mix. Scripted presentations and unscripted demos. If you're wondering what to do for your content, check out this episode!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Are you feeling nostalgic about 15 years ago? Was it really that good back then? When I take an honest assessment of the things I'm nostalgic for, the rose-tinted lenses drop away and I realize that now is better than then. Yes, even with the pandemic. On the whole, my life is better now than it was 15 years ago, and I hope yours is too.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Most things worth doing take time to do them. And time is a commitment. As I've mentioned before, you should avoid overloading yourself, so it's important to think about whether the payoff is worth the grind. That's going to depend on your own personal value system. Personally, it's worth the grind to me if I enjoy it, it will eventually make me money, or it's helping someone else.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I'm a restless person. It's hard for me to do a single thing for any period of time. I'm always looking forward to the next thing. Trying to achieve more, better, faster. And that is exhausting. A few key conversations and a little reflection brought me some clarity today. Maybe enough is enough. It doesn't need to be more.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I recently had a conversation with someone about what it takes to run components of a web3 application, and where web3 apps fit into the larger picture of applications in general. It was fascinating to hear from someone deeply involved in the space, and a chance to cut through some of the sturm and drang, getting down to the fundamentals of the technology.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Seems like everyone is changing jobs to celebrate the new year. Is this unique to 2022, or is it a more common thing? What would it take to drag me away from my life of luxury and self-employment. The answer seems to be DevRel, but don't quote me on that.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Being a generally contrary person, I find it hard to create habits. As soon as I have a steady schedule or solid set of expectations, my contrary nature wants to subvert it. I've used that to hack my own workflow, but it's still kinda weird.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Except they aren't. The reality is more nuanced and complicated, especially for folks early on in their career. As you grow more senior and build your professional network, the need to have a resume ready to go lessens. Personally, I haven't had to submit a resume in the last decade. Each job was through my professional network and I don't expect that to change. But early on in my career, applying to jobs required a resume and a whole lot of luck.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
2022 is upon us! And it's already off to a shaky start. Let's look back on 2021 and I'll share some of my accomplishment and things I'm proud of from the year. There was a lot of technical content created, podcasts recorded, and posts blogged. Even if it was a challenging year personally; professionally I learned a ton.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I've found a renewed focus on writing and I believe it is improving my presentations and courses. The process of writing out a technical topic forces you to really think through how things work. It also forces you to structure your thoughts with a narrative bent. By embracing writing, I believe that even unrelated content, like videos and podcasts will also improve. Also, I forgot how much I simply enjoy the process of writing.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
As I prepare my course on Getting Started with Terraform Cloud, I am learning a lot about how companies might want to manage Terraform Cloud at scale. The answer is to use automation, and what better tool to use than Terraform itself. And if you're going to use Terraform, you might as well use Terraform Cloud. Which means I am writing a module for you to run on Terraform Cloud to manage organizations and workspaces on Terraform Cloud. What a time to be alive!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
This year was a fantastic year for creating educational content. My Pluralsight catalog grew by six courses, and I started working on a series of liveProjects for Manning. I thought I would reflect on what I accomplished in the past year, and look to the future and my plans for 2022.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The Terraform Associate exam is meant to test those with an associate level understanding of Terraform and about six months of solid experience with the software. How can you prepare yourself to pass the exam? What can you do beyond videos and books? The answer, of course, is time in front of the keyboard! To learn it, you must use it.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
A few things have coalesced in my brain in the last couple weeks. The first is something I've strived to do in my career, and it has really paid off. That thing is being kind and approachable. The second is to approach interactions without a transactional mindset. If you go into a conversation with genuine empathy and interest, not only will you be rewarded with a better conversation, you'll also find new opportunities you weren't even looking for.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Blockchain, cryptocurrency, web3? Is it all just a solution in search of a problem? Or is there something real underneath. I believe there is a real use for blockchain, but it's not the revolutionary technology that will free us from the shackles of our oppressors. At best, it's a way to have a non-fungible identity you can use on a platform. And that's not totally useless!
Blog post: https://stratechery.com/2021/the-great-bifurcation/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Continuing my thoughts on the need for a CDK when developing IaC, I came across an interesting post (hat-tip Scott Lowe) about Crossplane and the concept of Infrastructure as Data. While I'm not convinced that Crossplane is the way of the future, it does push me closer to the idea of static IaC files as an artifact of the build process.
Blog post: https://hackernoon.com/infrastructure-as-code-the-next-big-shift-is-here
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The software that HashiCorp creates has had a profound effect on my life. And the people behind that software are some of the best folks I know. I've never been prouder to be part of the HashiCorp Ambassador programs, and I wish nothing but the best for them as they move into this new phase as a publicly traded company. Well done!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
In Terraform, I was trying to do a data transformation and it broke my brain for a bit. I've since recovered, but it got me thinking about the proper place for data manipulation for infrastructure as code. The solution might be to use a general purpose programming language and a CDK, instead of the domain specific languages directly.
Blog post: https://nedinthecloud.com/2021/12/07/data-transformation-in-terraform/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Yes. Yes you can. The recent AWS outage today served as a reminder that even cloud services fail, no technology is infallible, and you should always plan for downtime. It will also be a chance for people who know nothing to spew platitudes about availability zones and multi-region architectures into the social media ether. Please ignore those people. You know what is best for your applications, not them.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
This week's Day Two Cloud is all about Azure Arc and Microsoft's Hybrid strategy. Is hybrid cloud really a thing? You bet your sweet bippy it is. 78% of respondents to the 2021 Flexera State of the Cloud report said they were functioning in a hybrid capacity, and I only expect that to grow.
Day Two Cloud episode: https://daytwocloud.io/podcast/day-two-cloud-126-azure-arc-and-building-a-hybrid-cloud/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
For the first time in a while, I wrote a technical post on my blog and it immediately got attention from Microsoft. It reminded me that there is a significant difference between writing and other forms of media. I think it might be time to start writing more, maybe even weekly.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Do you need a platform team at your organization? The answer is probably yes. The platform team delivers a consistent experience to your application development teams, and works with specialized folks like InfoSec and Compliance to make sure your organization is following best practices.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Every overnight success is years in the making. The recent growth of the Day Two Cloud podcast has caused me to reflect on how much work it took to get to this point, and how that applies to more than just podcasting.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Sending good vibes your way, I had myself an excellent Monday. Excellent podcast recording, got my home lab working, and finished the demos on a project for Manning. I know it's a short week, but I already feel like I'm three steps ahead!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Today was all about automation in my corner of the world, and it got me thinking about some lessons learned. In a nut shell, automation is hard, try not to make it harder. Don't do too much at once. Do processes manually the first time. And never trust a pipeline that passes on the first go. You missed something.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
My YouTube channel has been a bit stagnate lately. In case you're wondering why, I've got some answers and some plans for the future. More content is on the way, but it's gonna be a minute.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Multi-cloud is a reality for many organizations, as is multi-region. The question becomes, how do you effectively tie together the networking for your cloud presence and your on-prem datacenters and branch offices. Prosimo told us at #CFD12 they have a solution that can leverage the native constructs in each cloud and their massive backbone to provide high-performance, low-latency connectivity from an orchestrated SaaS solution. I only wish their website did a better job of breaking down the details for engineers like me.
Their presentation: https://techfieldday.com/appearance/prosimo-presents-at-cloud-field-day-12/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The folks at Ondat presented their solution for Kube-native storage at #CFD12. The term kube-native was new to me and I struggled a little at how it's different from cloud-native. Ondat set me straight, they are laser focused on supporting stateful workloads on Kubernetes and nothing else. Their solution seems solid, but it lacks some features I see in competitors. Will their recently launched SaaS offering be enough, or have they got some work to do on the core product? Time will tell.
https://techfieldday.com/appearance/ondat-presents-at-cloud-field-day-12/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
MemVerge presented their AppCapsule technology at #CFD12 and it got my mind buzzing. There are so many potential applications for this technology! I think the team at MemVerge is doing the right thing by focusing on developing the product further and listening to their customer base. But there is a chance for them to make a huge impact in the next five years as their solution matures and they discover new use cases. This is a company to watch!
https://techfieldday.com/appearance/memverge-presents-at-cloud-field-day-12/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Yotascale was one of the presenters at #CFD12 and I was impressed by the depth of analytics and integrations offered in their multi-cloud cost management solution. It's clear that they are heavily focused on creating and enforcing consistent tagging across providers to gain real insight into cloud spend. While their recommendations engine is a little undercooked, I don't think that should be their primary focus. Let the cloud economists worry about recommendations, Yotascale can give them the data they need to do their job.
Cloud Field Day 12 presentation: https://techfieldday.com/appearance/yotascale-presents-at-cloud-field-day-12/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Even at the best of times, my endurance for continuous social interaction is not that high. #CFD12 last week showed me just how out of practice I am. Now that I'm back home, I'm ready to hole up in the basement and hibernate until the Spring.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Yesterday I successfully recertified for the AWS SA Professional certification. I remember studying for months to pass the first time, and this time I studied for 6-8 hours before sitting the exam. There really is no replacement for practical experience I guess! If you're curious about my strategy for taking the exam or what I used, let me know!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
We look at your cloud. We tag your cloud. Yota, yota, yota. You save money. What we can't yota over the money saving part? That's right, you can't. Yotascale is looking to control cloud costs through automatic tagging and anomaly detection. But will that really make a big difference? Can they provide deeper insight into my cloud architecture? And what about alternative clouds? I've got questions. Let's see if they have answers at Cloud Field Day 12.
Cloud Field Day 12: https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd12/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Multi-cloud networking is still in its infancy. Lots of vendors are vying to be the right solution. @Prosimo_io is one of those vendors, and I think their solution is intriguing. They are trying to leverage the best of virtual appliances and native cloud constructs to deliver a robust solution. I can't wait to hear more at Cloud Field Day 12 (#CFD12).
Cloud Field Day 12: https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd12/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I always felt that PMEM was a solution in search of a problem, but @MemVerge has built a whole platform on the premise that I am wrong. At Cloud Field Day 12 (#CFD12) they will be presenting their solution and I have a TON of questions. Hybrid storage arrays were notoriously finnicky and I want to know how they are solving for those problems in memory.
Cloud Field Day 12: https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd12/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Cloud Field Day 12 (#CFD12) is happening in-person next week! I'll be one of the on-premises delegates serving as a proxy for you. One of the presenters is Ondat, formerly StorageOS. I thought I would do a quick review of Ondat's solution and what I know about it so far. Consider this a bit of homework for next week's main event.
Cloud Field Day 12: https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd12/
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
All my life I've been reticent to deeply identify with a pursuit. To go all in on a hobby. To join and participate in a community. I'm not a joiner. Never have been. There's a certain level of freedom that comes with not being a joiner, but it can also be a lonely gig. Can't change it though, it's who I am.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
My buddy Keith Townsend had an interesting post on his substack about whether VMware should buy HashiCorp? I like his reasoning, especially the light criticism of how they have developed their Tanzu product portfolio. Do I think VMware should buy HashiCorp? Maybe. Do I think HashiCorp should accept the offer? Definitive No.
https://ctoadvisor.substack.com/p/should-vmware-buy-hashicorp
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Yesterday Ethan and I recorded a fascinating episode of Day Two Cloud with Ben Weissman. He brought the knowledge about Azure Arc and its Data Services. That led to me thinking deeply about the plans Microsoft laid back in 2017 with SQL on Linux and investments in Kubernetes, and how its paying off now in Azure Arc. Don't be surprised if there's some big stuff coming down the pike for Arc, especially with Microsoft Ignite around the corner.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Is just a fancy reverse proxy if we're being honest. HashiCorp announced the preview of Consul API Gateway during the day two keynote of HashiConf Global. Initially, I was feeling pretty sceptical about Consul entering such a crowded market. But as I considered the state of the market and the rationalization of ingress gateways, API gateways, and service meshes, I started to realize this might be a really canny move. Time will tell!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
HashiConf Global is this Tuesday and Wednesday. I thought I would review what I've watched so far and make some recommendations on what to watch once everything is available on demand. If you're invested in the HashiCorp stack, there are going to be some awesome sessions!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
For the first time in a while, I've had to edit my own Pluralsight course. It's reminded me how essential the editing process is to improving my presentation and communication skills. Since I no longer edit a podcast on a weekly basis, the outlet to listen to myself and look for improvement has dried up. Taking the chance to edit my own course has shown me that there is always room for improvement, and I have embraced the opportunity.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I'm tired of talking about tech and content creation today. Let's talk about awesome music we're listening to! We got good stuff like Spiritbox, Manchester Orchestra, Remi Wolf, and a tiny bit of Turnstile. What are you listening to? Let me know!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
There's this tacit assumption that all things will go the way of the cloud. And it implies that anything on-prem is old, old-dated and should be put on life support until it expires. Times they are a-changin' though. Those assumptions are being questioned and vendors are coming up with new and interesting answers. Call it what you will, the future is hybrid.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
It's exhausting how precious people are about their preferred technology and what lengths they will go to show you how very wrong you are about your preferences. Sometimes its good natured ribbing, but most of the time it's pointless in-group BS and I'm kind of tired of it.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Abstractions are a tricky things, especially when they are presented in a UI or CLI as a complete whole. Look a little closer and soon you see the seams, duct tape, and twine holding it all together. Abstractions are leaky, and mask complexity. Hiding that complexity further complicates matters, as the user can become flummoxed when they learn the object they thought they constructed doesn't exist.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
With 20+ Pluralsight courses under my belt, I am looking for ways to shake things up. Should I add live video to my courses to better engage with learners and give them a face to match the voice? Or should I stick with the status quo, since things seem to be going fine. I'm in a pickle!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Being injured sucks. Maybe this is something lifelong athletes build up a tolerance to, but I came into running later in my life and I never developed that particular trait. Fortunately, the best medicine is to keep yourself busy and boy am I doing that. With three new projects and one AWS recertification on the horizon, October is going to be a packed month!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The Book of Face is going into its fourth hour of being down. I'm tempted to laugh maniacally and cite karma, but I also have to remember that more than Zuck's bottom line is impacted. Ops folks are struggling, users are unable to connect with each other, and authentication to other sites is probably impacted. Empathy is the name of the game folks.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I'm working on a talk for an event coming up and I thought I would hash it out live for all to hear. That's right! Extemporaneous thoughts from my mouth to your ears. That was weird wasn't it? Shouldn't have said that. The topic is all about staying on top of tech when you're a busy IT professional. I suspect many of you can relate.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I still have thoughts! Let's dig into the methodology of the survey and report, see who the respondents were and how that might color the data. I also have some mixed feelings about the cloud cost numbers. Cost is important, but margin is a much bigger deal!
The report is available here: https://www.hashicorp.com/state-of-the-cloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Skills shortage, security concerns, and multi-cloud everywhere. Those are some of my key takeaways from the report. Join me in this episode where I live read through the report and give me honest first impressions of the data within.
The report is available here: https://www.hashicorp.com/state-of-the-cloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Many vendors have a community recognition program that rewards folks that make an impact. What do you expect to get out of such a program, when does it make sense to apply, and why might you leave? Those are questions I'm considering on today's episode.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
If I were evaluating a new tech startup, I would want their offering to embrace three key things. First, their solution needs to be cloud-agnostic. Second, it must take advantage of cloud-native offerings for scaling and flexibility. Third, it has to be SaaS with customer data staying resident.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Most research points to a multi-medium experience when you are trying to learn a new concept. Audio, reading, video, and tactile experiences all work together to increase retention. After attending the Author Summit for Pluralsight, I have a fresh perspective on how to improve my content and a renewed drive to do so. Expect to see some great stuff coming soon!
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Attending my first in-person event since the start of the pandemic, I am struck by how much better it is than a virtual conference. It isn't just the Zoom burnout that I was already feeling. There is something about meeting people in person. A natural, organic formation of dynamic groups exchanging ideas in real time. You cannot recreate it in a virtual space, and for that reason I don't think in-person events are going anywhere.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Two things that I need to work on are brevity and efficiency. I need to become ruthless in paring back my instruction to the essentials and become more efficient with my word choice. These are some of the things I am thinking about as I attend this year's Pluralsight Author Summit in SLC.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I started a Patreon to offset the opportunity cost of my YouTube channel content, but it didn't really work out. So I am retiring the Patreon in favor of pursuing sponsorship opportunities. Check out my thoughts on why Patreon didn't work for me and why I started it in the first place.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
When I see a long screed about how people are using a term or concept incorrectly, I wonder what that post says about the person who wrote it. Chances are it doesn't say anything kind. Pedantry has long been used as a form of gatekeeping in the technical world and beyond, and whether or not you intended it that way doesn't matter. Exercise some empathy and keep your "well, actually" to yourself.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Books have been written on this topic and I don't think I'll cover all the pertinent pieces here, but I've assembled a few thoughts. For starters, try asking other people in your field what they charge. Next ask yourself how much you need to make off a deal to hit your revenue goal. Third, ask your potential client what their budget is and see if they'll share.
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
There are some situations where I would rather do a job for free than do it at a discount. Free can build goodwill and social capital. Doing it at a steep discount fails to build the goodwill and sets a ceiling on your market value. Demand what you're worth or do it for free, but don't do it for cheap.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Worried about AI or ML taking your job? Don't. Because organizations are made up of people, and people do incredibly weird things with technology. Things that an AI would struggle to understand. But you know who does understand? You, a fellow human.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
As much as I enjoy the summer, after a while I crave the structure of the autumn. Children go back to school. Bedtimes get a little earlier. And I can feel myself becoming more productive. This year in particular, with the additional disruption of the pandemic and frankly ludicrous weather patterns, I am craving structure and predictability.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
There was an interesting blog post, more of a rant really, that dug into some problems with the modern DevOps movement. Many of the central points resonated with me, but I also got some "back in my day" vibes I found concerning. Here are my thoughts on nostalgia, personal experience, and statistical analysis.
Blog post: https://matduggan.com/operations-is-not-developer-it/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Looks like people have some strong feelings about salary sharing! Well, I kind of knew that. But I have to say, this is the most feedback I've ever received from an episode of the Daily Check-In. I thought I would go over some of that feedback and share some additional thoughts I've had on the topic.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Should you share your salary with your coworkers? What is the impact on yourself for doing so? Is it all a zero sum game where you have to get yours, or can the pie get bigger for everyone? There's yet another tweetstorm about the idea, and I thought I would work through my feelings on the topic in this episode.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
You keep saying best practices. I do not think it means, what you think it means. When it comes to best practices, chances are you're going to get a generalized set of recommendations that may or may not suit your technical and business environment. What do you do with that information? How do you actually set up best practices? And who was that masked man?
Will's blog post: https://willgallego.com/2021/08/14/rethinking-best-practices/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Many of you are bloggers or have written tech tutorials. Explaining concepts and ideas is hard! Writing with clarity and economy is something that I have struggled with, and I am constantly trying to improve. I recently read an article from Julia Evans that includes a list of 13 patterns to avoid when writing. I've definitely done all of them, and now that I have a list I hope to avoid them in the future!
Julia's post: https://jvns.ca/blog/confusing-explanations/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I have three pillars that I try to practice professionally and personally: embrace discomfort, plan to fail, and be kind. The last one used to be "be nice", but I have recently revised it based on feedback from a friend. What is the difference between nice and kind? And what does that have to do with empathy? That is the topic of today's episode.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The esteemed Ethan Banks ran a survey about how IT Pros are learning today. The survey is still going, so you can check it out now and leave your response! I thought I would run through the questions and my reaction to the answers so far.
Here's the blog post from Ethan. And the survey itself.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I was a panelist for the Tech Field Day Extra portion of #NGINXSprint 2.0. During the past two days I learned a lot of cool stuff about what NGINX has been doing and where they are going. I thought I would share my thoughts with you!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
We get so caught up in the hustle culture, sometimes we forget the reason we're doing this. The hustle is not the end, it's a means to an end. We need to recognize when we get there, and remember to enjoy it. Otherwise you're just caught in the hamster wheel of sadness, and no one want that. Not even hamsters.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
When you're developing course content on a constantly evolving technology, it can be a real challenge to keep things up to date. Is there a better way? Do you prefer tightly-couple course modules or loosely-coupled courses where content can be swapped out. I'm curious to hear from YOU dear listener on what works for you!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I thought I would do a check-in with myself and see how this whole Ned in the Cloud LLC endeavor is going. The short answer is that things are going well and I've got a solid plan for the next 6-9 months. Honestly, I feel like planning beyond that is almost an exercise in futility.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
When a process moves to a cloud environment, it's probably time to evaluate whether the process still makes sense. This is especially true of security, where you have so many more options when it comes to managing network and application security. Don't just look at the process, look at the intention behind the process and aim to solve for that.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
One or my frustrations with open source projects and vendor products is a lack of clear communication and simplicity in getting started. The copy on most websites should be burned and those ashes thrown into the sun. Don't give me empty platitudes and vapid buzzwords. Tell me what your product does, and what problem it will solve for me. Be specific. Then help me test it out quickly with minimal friction.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
In June of 2009, IE had 65% market share. In July of 2021 it has less than 1%, with Microsoft's replacement Edge only holding 3.5%. What was once the dominant force in the browser wars has declined into irrelevance. What lessons can we learn from IE's slide into obscurity?
Statscounter data: https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share#monthly-200901-202107
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
There are so many different communities and platforms out there, it's really hard to focus on a narrow few. But if you don't prioritize, then you can't focus on anything at more than a surface level. I've been thinking about how I engage with different communities and I need to make some difficult decisions on where to engage and where to cut ties.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Sit right down and I'll tell you a tale of bad assumptions, unintended consequences, and incomplete troubleshooting. It's a story of mice, manuals, and one man lived through it all. That man? It me.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
As a follow-up to yesterday's episode, we are going to take a look the financial and operational models enabled by cloud outposts. It's not just AWS and Azure get in on the action either. We've got the traditional OEMs honing in with their hardware as a service.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
There was an interesting article from The Next Platform that looked at data from IDC and other sources on the sales of cloud outpost hardware. What is this cloud outpost thing? In this episode, I'll give you some background on AWS Outposts and Azure Stack and why they matter for the cloud outpost tsunami.
The Next Platform post: https://www.nextplatform.com/2021/07/30/spending-on-cloud-outposts-is-climbing-the-hockey-stick/
Architecting IT post on HCI: https://www.architecting.it/blog/hci-market-segment
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Two big thoughts in today's check-in. First, if someone asks you to create content for your company or organization, then they should be paying you for it. Second, content creators who aren't working in the field need to listen to those that are.
Blog post: https://www.stephaniemorillo.co/post/the-unpaid-labor-that-drives-tech-forward
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
One of the things I've learned in my career is there's too much to hold in your head at one time. You will forget commands, and arguments, and syntax. And that's fine. You can always look it up. In fact, I encourage you to look it up! Programming shouldn't be an RPG. Bonus points if you get the mc chris reference.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
That is my question. Do I use Kubernetes extensively in my next HashiCorp Vault course or stick with an IaaS deployment. The answer, of course, is to do both. I think I'll end up leaning more into the K8s side of things, but I don't want to leave the VM folks out!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Microsoft, Apple, and Google all reported record earnings. But the pandemic hasn't been so kind to everyone. Are tech companies getting too big? Can small companies still posed a threat? How does the inherent unfairness of life tie into all this?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The annual State of DevOps report from Puppet is out and some of the conclusions mirror what I've been hearing in the industry. DevOps teams are out, Team Topologies are in. Using the vanilla cloud is out, and building an internal platform is in. This is an opportunity for infrastructure engineers to get their programming merit badge while providing real value to the business. Cool stuff!
Link to the report: https://puppet.com/resources/report/2021-state-of-devops-report/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Mitchell Hashimoto has announced he is stepping away from a leadership position at HashiCorp to focus on an engineering, individual contributor role. That is a massive change, but I also think it will be great for HashiCorp and for Mitchell himself.
Mitchell's post: https://www.hashicorp.com/blog/mitchell-s-new-role-at-hashicorp
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
When it comes to outages and incident response the most important is people. Having the right people is going to make all the difference when production breaks, and I can guarantee that it will. We're all testing in production and hoping for the best. Plan for the worst and have the right people that can help!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Sometimes you have a good day as a content creator. Today was one of those days. So I am going to take a moment and just enjoy it.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Google and Microsoft have very distinct design philosophies and nowhere is that more obvious than on GCP vs. Azure. Microsoft's approach boils down to simplicity and ease of use. But there's a cost to simplicity, and that cost is usually paid by security. Google, in contrast, prefers lean and efficient systems, at the cost of consumer experience. I don't think either approach is fundamentally better, but I think I know which the market prefers.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
To learn to program or not? That is the question. Whether it is nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of IaC infrastructure, or takes arms against a sea of troubles and by learning Python end them? Every three months or so I find myself pondering the question once again, and still I am undecided.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I mean you can, if you really want to. But there are so many possible paths to take in tech and not all of them include managing people. Some folks are great at it, others learn to be great at it, and then there's those of us who just can't. If you can't, don't.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Sometimes I am asked why the applications and infrastructure I deploy in my demos and videos is so simplistic. And there's a good reason, several in fact.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
It's easy to get caught up in the numbers game of social media. But even the most famous folks in tech aren't actually that famous. With the exception of an Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, tech famous folks aren't going to get stopped in the street and they're certainly not signing autographs. Tech famous folks are just like you and me, and that's a relief.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Cloud empowers you to do stupid at scale. That could be a fat-fingered value, a major security hole, or a poorly written application. Cloud isn't going to fix everything for you, it just let's you do it harder, faster, and more expensively.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Technology moves too fast for us to accurately predict the future. How do you plan for the next two years when you can barely predict the next six months? The answer doesn't lie in technology. It's people. Always has been.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Not sure this release deserves an increment in the major version counter, but here we are. Things to get excited about? Snap groups. Things to ignore? Android apps on Windows. Everything else is incremental and cosmetic improvements. Which is fine, but not worth the bluster. Unless you're a newly appointed executive in charge of the Windows Experience and trying to leave your mark.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
It's not necessarily a bad thing, but let's not view the whole decade through rose-tinted glasses. There were some pretty heinous things happening in the 90s, and if we romanticize the past we fail to learn from it.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I ran out of time. No really, that's the answer to the big mystery. Too many projects and not enough time to do them all. But I've got plans. Ooooh, I've got PLANS.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Could you get all your work done in four days instead of five? I bet you could. Sure you'd need to be a bit more focused and a bit more miserly with your time. But I bet you could do it, and then you'd have a three-day weekend every week!
The Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/06/four-day-workweek/619222/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
You've just finished your shiny new project and made it available to the world. And they love it! That's great. Now you've got to maintain it until people don't love it. How many projects can you sustain and when do you cut off the unwashed masses from your sweet, sweet awesomeness?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Slogging through a difficult project is challenging for anyone. A conversation today made me think about my approach and consider if there was a better one. It also motivated me to fix some issues with a Terraform course, so that was positive.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Sure we can create Infrastructure as Code, but does it make more sense to create infrastructure using software? This was an idea put forth by Kris Nova, and I have to admit I find her logic a-pleasing.
Blog post: https://nivenly.com/lib/2021-06-13-ias/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
With the explosion of popularity in podcasting, I start to wonder what will happen to us small fries out there. Will we get steamrolled by the Spotify's of the world, or will we sneak by unnoticed as lumbering giants traverse the pod-o-sphere?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
This weekend I got to run in my first race since the pandemic. It was a little weird, a little awkward, and I was a little out of practice. And that's a solid analogy for all of us post-pandemic. Seems like the keys is to take it slow, expect it to be strange, and give yourself and others grace to stumble.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Should you be in the data center business? What is the big benefit of moving into a colocation facility? The answer is connectivity. To the cloud, to your users, and to other businesses. Colocation providers aren't just providing rack space and power. They're providing a robust set of connection options to the edge, the cloud, and everything in between.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
If Edge is the future, why is it taking so long? The answer is routing. There's no real advantage to dropping solutions at a tower if you can't get them directly. Public and private 5G networks are going to fix the routing problem. And that is going to change everything.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I do a lot of project based work, and the goal is to accomplish projects within a set timeframe. As long as I produce high quality content within an agreed upon timeframe, it shouldn't matter how long it actually took me to do the work. And yet, I still have this nagging idea in the back of my head about working 40 hours.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
At HashiConf EU 2021, the Terraform team announced that Terraform version 1.0 is generally available. What does 1.0 mean for Terraform? Are there any big improvements? And what does the future look like for Terraform after reaching this milestone?
Official announcement post: https://www.hashicorp.com/blog/announcing-hashicorp-terraform-1-0-general-availability
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Behavior and motivation is a super-complicated topic and parsing out how an organization will react to the way its measured is a enigma many an MBA have failed to crack. Ultimately, you have to know what your organization is trying to accomplish, figure out what you need to measure to get there, and make the process transparent for your employees.
The post that inspire me: https://rachelbythebay.com/w/2021/06/01/count/
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
And yet… There's a perception that upgrading systems should be a difficult affair. It's how sysadmins prove their mettle. You know what? I don't have to prove a damn thing. Upgrades should be simple, predictable, and uneventful. We've managed to crack that nut on consumer devices, now it's time to apply the same logic to enterprise apps.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The first impression many engineers and admins have of your software is the docs. They need to be clear, correct, and easy to find. Great docs aren't easy, but they make customers happy. And you want happy customers right?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Following quickly on the acquisition by Vista Equity Partners, Pluralsight (now flush with investor capital) has made the move to acquire A Cloud Guru for an undisclosed sum. ACG itself had acquired Linux Academy in late 2019 and is still working through the integration process. Reddit is displeased, but I think it's necessary consolidation in the marketplace.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
When we're trying out a new career development program or something for our personal fitness, it can become quickly apparent that it doesn't work for us. It's a bad match. And just like you wouldn't run a marathon in tap dance shoes, you shouldn't force yourself to adopt a program that's a bad fit.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Does public cloud cost more than on-prem? It depends. Should companies repatriate their workloads? It depends. Could software companies save billions by running their own infrastructure? It depends. Regardless of the alluring titles and promise of hard numbers, there's a lot of context missing in this a16z article.
The Cost of Cloud, a Trillion Dollar Paradox: https://a16z.com/2021/05/27/cost-of-cloud-paradox-market-cap-cloud-lifecycle-scale-growth-repatriation-optimization/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Learning the concepts behind a technology will serve you better than memorizing implementation. Concepts are transferrable and reusable. You can apply a concept to different situations that go beyond the technology.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Pluralsight courses, domestic travel, and a new Day Two Cloud episodes are among some of what I have planned for the second half of 2021. It's going to be an exciting time and I'm looking forward to seeing some of you in person!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Whenever I try to learn a difficult new concept or product, I will eventually hit a wall of frustration. And if I'm not sufficiently motivated, that's where I might give up and walk away. It's important for vendors to think about the product experience and try to remove friction and frustration whenever possible.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
There's a lot of pressure in consulting to stay billable, learn new things, and get certifications. Whether or not we want to admit it, brain dumps helped a lot with that last one. But now, certifications are adding a practical component to the exam. What does that mean for a consultant who's already burning the candle at both ends?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I suffered through it, so you have to. It's an approach I've seen far to often. We should be willing to assess the suffering we had to endure and really question whether it had a positive impact on our life.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I get many unsolicited requests for my time, both paid and unpaid. Often these request are terribly written and serve no purpose beyond annoying me. Here are some tips for increasing your chances of getting a positive response.
Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/Ned1313/status/1395386286588956676
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
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GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
At least in the cloud datacenters and megascalers. And not just AMD, but also ARM processors. The megascalers have the deep pockets to experiment with new tech. At the SMB datacenter though, I think it will stay Intel now and in the foreseeable future.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
It could happened to you! No, no, seriously. It can and probably will happen to you. As long as paying the ransom is cheaper than implementing and maintaining an anti-ransomware solution, we are going to keep seeing it in the headlines.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I participated in my first Twitter Space today and I'm not sure about the medium. As much as I love consuming audio, I also love time-shifting it to when is convenient for me. It also left me wondering how Spaces plans to monetize.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Lots of Microsoft info in my reading feed this week. I though I would highlight a few things. The death of Windows 10X, the deep discount on the Surface Duo, and discontinuing of Azure Blockchain. I appreciate that Microsoft is willing to experiment with new ideas and drop those ideas when they don't pan out.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Spoiler alert! It's super-complicated. Identity started out relatively simple. You had your on-premises Active Directory or LDAP organization and you were good to go. The cloud era has brought new challenges to managing identity between cloud providers and SaaS solutions.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
And just like that, poof, it's dust in the wind. Well, maybe not right away. But I'm thinking Windows as a server and desktop operating system has about ten years left in it. What will replace it? Hint: it's already here.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Your career is going to be a long series of failures, punctuated by occasional success. Learn from those failures and bask in the success!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The beginning of May marks the two year anniversary of my self-employed life. I thought I might reflect on what I've learned over the last 24 months, and what the future holds.
May 6th is World Password Day and that means two things to me. First, start using a password manager. Second, enable 2FA on any sites you use frequently. Together we can make passwords better, or even better make them disappear.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
May 6th is World Password Day and that means two things to me. First, start using a password manager. Second, enable 2FA on any sites you use frequently. Together we can make passwords better, or even better make them disappear.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The magic of cloud isn't the elasticity or the cost model, it's the API candy store! If on-prem wants a fighting chance to host new applications, it needs to adopt the magic of cloud and offer services developers care about.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Keeping yourself a little removed from a technology or a fandom helps tremendously with perspective. Whether its Star Wars, Kubernetes, or BTS, having perspective allows you to place things in the proper context and act appropriately.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Have you ever found that you do better on a task the first time you try it than the subsequent attempts? Does it take you five or six tries to get back to the same level as that first attempt? That happens to me a lot, and I think I know why.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
It might be tempting to hitch your wagon to the latest trend, but don't let it consume you. Externalizing your identity means you loses control over that identity. That can be damaging for your self image and your career.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
As much as I like the shiny and the new, sometimes I have to admit that we may have overcomplicated things. I spent a whole day frustrated with a piece of software that has failed at every turn to tell me what is wrong.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I am flummoxed. Seriously, I just don’t understand the decision or the way it was approached. Your employees are the reason you have a business. You might want to consider that before you do something stupid.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I participated in the Tech Field Day Extra event with Scality and HPE today. Scality announced their new product called Artesca, which is a cloud-native, light-weight object store. The sales motion of selling DevOps tooling to an enterprise crowd got me thinking.
Tech Field Day Extra: https://techfieldday.com/event/tfdxscality21/
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Do you build a platform or rent one? Do you host your own content or put it on a platform? What if the platform goes away? There's a lot of risks and rewards to consider when building a brand and a career.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Got my second shot and super excited! Also, I'll be participating in a Tech Field Day Extra for Scality and Turbonomic's Apps On Cloud Summit. Definitely check both out!
Apps On Cloud Summit: https://turbonomic.events.cube365.net/events/apps-on-cloud-summit-2021
Tech Field Day Extra: https://techfieldday.com/event/tfdxscality21/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Well, not exactly pointless, but making long-term detailed plans is a lesson in futility. That's doubly true in the world of technology, where things change at such a rapid pace. It's really not worth making a plan more than two years into the future.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Coming for you with the multi-cloud reality! Sorry, got a little excited. Here's a topic people feel passionately about, and their passion doesn't matter one iota. Multi-cloud is here and it's here to stay. The best we can do is deal with it.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Complexity and feature bloat are a natural by product of listening to the customer. I don't envy the product manager who has to decide between opinionated software and customer requests.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Taking the long view on technology, we tend to commoditize, standardize, and abstract away complexity. I don't need to know how a car works to drive, how electricity works to turn on a light, or how to operate a web server to have a website. Why on earth would I need to know how Kubernetes works to run my application?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
What is your overarching goal? What drives you? Is your current list of projects supporting that goal? If not, it's time to do a little triage and drop the things that aren't fulfilling. Sometimes quitting is good.
Freakonomics Podcast - https://freakonomics.com/podcast/goal-hierarchy/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Good news everyone! I've been awarded HashiCorp Ambassador status again for 2021, which made me reflect on the program and people I've met. It also got me thinking about the Microsoft MVP program and how much my career has benefited from being a part of that excellent community.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
There are many things I'm looking forward to as we get closer to herd immunity through vaccination. Chief among them are tech conferences/gatherings and concerts. What are you most excited to do this coming autumn?
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The future of computing is going to vastly change what we think of as a server. The promise of composable architecture will be ushered in by silicon photonics and specialized processing units. At least, that's what I think.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I find I am most successful when I am intrinsically motivated to complete a task or project. While external motivations certainly play a part, internal factors will always win out. Recently, I've been thinking about how to structure my business to include more projects that satisfy that intrinsic itch.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
We recorded three episodes of Day Two Cloud this week and the common theme was Modern Applications. What does that mean and how does it impact operations and infrastructure? Tune in to find out.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Low-code and no-code solutions seem particularly poised to take advantage of serverless. Their structure matches what serverless excels at, especially functions as a service. The more business logic I have to do, the more I appreciate tools that don't force me to write code.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I really struggle with focusing on a single area of technology or specialization. I want to do ALL THE THINGS. But that's not a recipe for success, is it? I've been making some hard calls on what I want to focus on and I think I've got more work to do.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Today was my last episode of Buffer Overflow, and it was an emotional adieu. I'll miss the BO crew and all the ridiculousness we got up to. But it was time to move on. I wish the crew all the best for the future of the podcast, whatever new form it may take.
Buffer Overflow: https://anexinet.com/resources/podcasts/buffer-overflow/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
And it wasn't a pleasant ending, but it was probably the best outcome for software development houses out there. Oracle got a black eye. Google got their way. And now you can make "fair-use" of copyrighted APIs in your software. Congratulations!?
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Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Creating your own content serves as a resume to prospective employers and clients. Nothing demonstrates your personality and abilities as well as content that you create and make available to others.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
What's the right balance of structure and chaos for you? What makes you most productive? Are you driven by spite? Oh, I guess that's just me.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The adoption of cloud computing brings with it some serious security challenges. Let's ponder on the difference between on-prem and cloud security.
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When someone is creating a toxic environment, it has a much larger impact than you might think. The opportunity cost is high! Are they valuable enough to make it worthwhile? I doubt it.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
On Cloud2030 there was a debate about Jevon's Paradox as applied to complexity. To me that sounds like the wrong concern. It's not the complexity of the platform, it's the maturity.
Referenced episode: Jevons Paradox for Complexity? by the2030.cloud Podcast [was L8ist Sh9y]
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When you bring your applications to the cloud, it's important to realize that cloud is not a solution. It is an enabler; a toolkit; a service allowing you to build something for your company. It is NOT a panacea, not matter what you might have heard from your friendly cloud provider.
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Lately I feel a constant craving to consume more content. And I don't think it's healthy. Time to put myself on a content restricted diet!
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The major public cloud vendors will try to convince you that migrating to the cloud will save you money. That is almost never true. But why is that? The answer is Jevon's Paradox.
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Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
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When you try something new, you're probably going to be a little uncomfortable. The secret is to embrace your discomfort and let it propel you to greater success!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
StorageOS presented at Cloud Field Day 10, and I was one of the delegates. I found their product intriguing. Here's a quick summary of my thoughts.
StorageOS free trial: https://resources.storageos.com/try-for-free
StorageOS presentation - https://techfieldday.com/appearance/storageos-presents-at-cloud-field-day-10/
Twitter thread - https://twitter.com/Ned1313/status/1370041536784785409
Cloud Field Day 10 page - https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd10/
Nominate yourself as a delegate! - https://techfieldday.com/delegates/become-field-day-delegate/
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Yesterday I came across a site that was scraping other blogs and publications and republishing as their own. This is the story of my fun adventure as I dug deeper into what was going on.
Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/Ned1313/status/1372545266805530631
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
You know it. I know it. Even tacos know it. Meetings are the great timesuck, and you should Just Say No.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Building a network is not a script you can follow, or a program you can run. It's about building personal relationships that will support your career for years to come.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Even if the software you use has a slick GUI and great wizard, if you are responsible for support it, make sure you know the CLI and configuration files. Know where the bodies are buried before they bury you.
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GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Last day of Cloud Field Day 10! We have Veeam, Dell Tech, and Oracle Cloud. And I never thought I would say this, but Oracle Cloud got me interested in learning more. Wowza!
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Second day of Cloud Field Day 10! Lots of good content today, and a few misses. How do you craft a great presentation? And what if you don't?
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Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
It was a packed day with Cloud Field Day 10! Presentations from NetApp, Scality, and Intel. My brain is cooked! See you tomorrow.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
In this episode you'll be privy to me walking through how to approach my Terraform Tuesday videos. I think it turned out to be an interesting process of deciding what I want to do.
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Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
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I know this seems obvious, but the deeper question is how you actually go about those two things. And how can you use public cloud to do it?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
You've probably heard it before. In the era of digital transformation, all companies are technology companies. Here's why that is wrong.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
How long does it take me to create a training course? How do I decide what goes into a solid demo? Here are my brief thoughts on the topic.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Passive income is amazing and potentially life changing. I'm going to share my experience creating courses for Pluralsight, but I think this applies more broadly.
The Tweet: https://twitter.com/Ned1313/status/1367185345574494208
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
What's going on at Microsoft Ignite 2021 Spring Fling? There's a few things that I thought were worth sharing.
Azure Mover is pretty cool, move resource to different regions: https://aka.ms/AAb326i
Private marketplace is now GA: https://aka.ms/AAb326m
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Why are there so many Getting Started courses and so little 301 content? Why does so much research deal with the fundamentals and never go in-depth? The problem is simple, niche content is not profitable.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
My career path is not going to be yours. And there is no "right" path when it comes to the tech world. You don't even have to stay in the tech world! You can branch out to other disciplines. Remember to keep your eyes open for what suits you best!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The changing of the guard at AWS makes me curious about the future of Microsoft. Here's what I think might happen in the next two years.
Day Two Cloud episode 86: https://daytwocloud.io/podcast/day-two-cloud-086-aws-succession-does-it-matter-whos-the-next-ceo/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
A thread on Twitter from Corey Quinn and a conversation with a friend got me thinking about assessing my market value and whether I would ever consider going to work for a vendor. Short answer? No.
Corey's thread: https://twitter.com/QuinnyPig/status/1364184010692259844
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Developing content for education takes thought, planning, and focus. You can't just put the pen to paper, you need a plan to guide you through the process.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Developing a product takes a lot of thought, consideration, and LISTENING. Talk to potential customers, investors, and other folks in your field. Find a problem and develop a solution that matches your customer's expectations. Sounds easy? It's not.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
After using PowerPoint so much in the last week, I'm starting to wonder if it is the best way to communicate complex ideas. Or ideas at all! Maybe it's time to explore some alternatives.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I was so pumped when I started working from home 100%. Much less so when my kids started school from home 100%. But it was the pandemic. As we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I'm a little concerned about how work and school have infiltrated the home.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
When I find myself hesitant to adopt a new technology, I have to ask. Am I resistant because I'm being pragmatic, or do I just not want to learn a new thing?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
For as productive as I am, I am also amazingly disorganized. For the most part I've learned to accept it, but I'm curious if there's something out there which works for you?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Naming products is hard, but don't just jump on the latest product marketing bandwagon by adding Ops or spelling your product with a K. You can do better! I know you can.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
There's a reason I originally started with such a simple setup for The Daily Check-In, and then I absolutely let myself run away with it. That was a bad idea and here's why.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
This day has been a total drag. And sometimes it's important to know when to say enough and walk away instead of beating your head against a wall. You win today wall, but I'm coming back tomorrow with a sledgehammer.
HashiTalks Registration: https://events.hashicorp.com/hashitalks2021
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Are you working in a consulting role or thinking about becoming a consultant? I have one word of advice, and that is to lead with empathy. It will make you a better consultant and probably a better human.
Day Two Cloud Episode 084: https://daytwocloud.io/podcast/day-two-cloud-084-so-you-want-to-be-a-consultant/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The way that we think about retirement is weird, and is probably in for a big kick in the grandpa pants.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
And here I thought magnetic tape would be consigned to the dustbin of history. Boy was I wrong!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Going into consulting was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I did in my career. In this episode I will talk a bit about my experience, and some of the pitfalls of being a consultant.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
One of the best things you can do for yourself is go outside and breath some fresh air. Get up close to some nice trees and maybe even give them a hug. No I am not kidding. In this episode I talk a little about my journey of becoming a runner, and how I came to it late in life.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Could access to the internet and cloud computing be a fundamental human right? Here are my thoughts on the topic.
Also, check out this episode of Day Two Cloud to hear more: https://daytwocloud.io/podcast/day-two-cloud-083-should-cloud-be-a-public-utility/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Each thing you choose to do also means you are choosing not to do something else. Here are my thoughts about how that applies to work and personal life.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I was meditating on the way that snow starts out pristine and unblemished, but is soon ruined by people. And that got me thinking about immutable infrastructure and where the promise falls short of the practice. It was an interesting thought, and I hope you enjoy it!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Hey y'all! I'm bringing The Daily Check-In back, but only in audio format. This is a stripped down version that I can easily do over a cup of coffee in the afternoon. The videos were getting far too elaborate to keep up with the daily cadence. But this? This I can do.
Check out this episode of Day Two Cloud that inspired my thoughts: https://daytwocloud.io/podcast/day-two-cloud-082-you-dont-need-a-service-mesh/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
I've been giving this a lot of thought, and I have decided to stop doing the daily check-in videos. Let me clarify:
- I am STILL going to do YouTube videos on a regular basis.
- I am STILL going to do Terraform Tuesdays.
- I STILL LOVE TACOS!
In many ways there is not much actually changing, except the daily nature of my videos and the greeting.
https://leanpub.com/vault-certified/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The first objective of the "Cluster architecture, installation, and configuration" domain is to Manage RBAC. In this video, I am going to review what I've learned so far regarding RBAC in Kubernetes. You can read the docs for yourself here: https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/rbac/
And you can check out my guide thus far here: https://github.com/ned1313/CKA-Study-Guide/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
As part of my preparation for taking the CKA exam, I am going to be creating a lab environment for installing Kubernetes. Let me take you through what I have set up so far, and a few speed bumps I encountered along the way.
Plurasight course: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/kubernetes-installation-configuration-fundamentals/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I was a delegate for Tech Field Day 22 going December 9th through the 11th of 2020. Quantum presented on the first day, December 9th, about their ActiveScale product that provides object-based storage at scale for customers that need an on-premises solution. It's clear that the solution is well engineered and designed for high-durability and availability, as long as you don't mind a little delay in getting your data. Here are my thoughts on what they presented and how it might fit into your organization.
You can check out the event details here: https://techfieldday.com/appearance/quantum-presents-at-tech-field-day-22/
And here's my Twitter thread during the live event: https://twitter.com/Ned1313/status/1336730126843830272
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I've had a couple viewers ask me about doing a video about using Terragrunt. After going through the getting started, and playing with it a bit, I'm left scratching my head. Don't get me wrong, the tool works. I just don't know why I would use it. Here's where I think it made sense, and why it might not anymore.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I was a delegate for Tech Field Day 22 going December 9th through the 11th of 2020. Red Hat was one of the presenters on December 10th, and they came to talk about two things: OpenShift for Developers and OpenShift at the Edge. Since I am no developer, my area of interest was in what Red Hat is doing at the Edge. We talked about some interesting architectural challenges and maybe got a hint of things to come.
You can check out the event details here: https://techfieldday.com/appearance/red-hat-presents-openshift-at-tech-field-day-22/
And here's my Twitter thread during the live event: https://twitter.com/Ned1313/status/1337084279256473607
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I was a delegate for Tech Field Day 22 going December 9th through the 11th of 2020. VMware present on the final day, December 11th, about their Cloud DR product, based on the acquisition of Datrium. Product market fit is a tricky thing, and it's something that VMware's Cloud DR team is working on. Their product certainly fits a specific type of customer. And if you're that customer, you'll be pleasantly surprised! If not, you will be a sad puppy. So is VMware Cloud DR good enough for you? Let's see.
You can check out the event details here: https://techfieldday.com/event/tfd22/
And here's my Twitter thread during the live event: https://twitter.com/Ned1313/status/1337428062393262083
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I was a delegate for Tech Field Day 22 going December 9th through the 11th of 2020. Veeam presented on December10th, and there was a focus on disaster recover and mobility. I found the mobility conversation really interesting. What do I mean by mobility? Glad you asked! Let's chat about why you might want to have mobility as an option on your data protection software.
You can check out the event details here: https://techfieldday.com/event/tfd22/
And here's my Twitter thread during the live event: https://twitter.com/Ned1313/status/1337027249699172356
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
I was a delegate for Tech Field Day 22 going December 9th through the 11th of 2020. Commvault was the first presenter of the event, and they came out swinging for the fences. We looked at the updated Commvault Command Center, services offered through Metallic, and their software defined storage acquisition Hedvig. I had three big takeaways:
- Commvault is serious about adopting cloud
- Commvault is experiencing a SaaS/legacy tension with Metallic
- Kubernetes is still an emerging category for data protection
You can check out the event details here: https://techfieldday.com/event/tfd22/
And here's my Twitter thread during the live event: https://twitter.com/Ned1313/status/1336670059549306891
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Terraform 0.14 is now GA and it brings with it a whole host of new features that I am excited about. Let's talk about a few of them including:
- Marking variables as sensitive
- Terraform providers lock file
- Support for future state file versions
- Concise diff renderer and terraform plan refresh
- Terraform console enhancements
Full list of changes is here: https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/blob/v0.14.2/CHANGELOG.md
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
When you start to create technical content, it's usually spurred on by an issue you encountered or a discovery you want to share. You're feeling passionate about the tech, for better or worse. The best content out there is made by those who have a connection to the technology and not just a passing interest. How do you select which tech to talk about? And what if you pick the wrong one?
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
To help me focus and study for the CKA exam, I have started a public GitHub repository to function as a CKA study guide. Each week I will focus on working through the domains and objectives in the exam, and I will add them to the study guide. Hopefully, I will add some code examples as well. Others are welcome to contribute or just follow along!
Repo here: https://github.com/ned1313/CKA-Study-Guide
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
My goal was to get my Raspberry Pi 4 to PXE boot, and I failed. A lot. Like multiple times over the course of four hours. And that's normal. That's just how technology works. We tend to talk a lot about our successes and how awesome the things we do are, but not enough about failure. Well, here you go. A whole video that ends in my failure. Enjoy!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
There were a lot of announcements made at the day one re:Invent 2020 keynote, and they all followed the reinvent idea very closely. They also embraced the fact that not everything is going to move to AWS, and maybe it doesn't have to.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Here's a basic overview of what modules are and how to create one in Terraform. We'll also get into some best practices for creating modules, where you can publish them, and how to use existing modules. It's gonna be a hoot!
https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Today I am joined by Larry Smith Jr., CTO of Aspec Core Services. Larry has been in the IT industry a long-time and recently started his own consulting company. We talk about the events that led up to that decision and how much work it takes to get a new company off the ground. Spoiler alert: It's more about the people than it is the technology.
You can find Larry on Twitter (https://twitter.com/mrlesmithjr) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrlesmithjr/).
And you can find out more about Aspec Core Services on their website (https://www.aspeccore.com/).
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
0:00 Intro
1:04 Larry's Background
3:14 The Lightbulb Moment
7:40 Making the Leap
10:18 Evolving Your Business
16:39 Summing It Up!
The final objective in the Vault Certification is all about using the Transit Engine. In this video we'll go over how to enable the Transit engine, create and rotate keys, and encrypt/decrypt data.
Vault certification guide: https://leanpub.com/vault-certified/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
This is based off a viewer question I received via Twitter. They wanted to know about moving resources from one configuration to another when using remote state. How can they do this without recreating anything? Specifically, they have resources deployed in two regions of AWS, with the remote state being stored in a single S3 bucket. They would like to split the state file into two S3 buckets, each in the region associated with the resources. In this video, I will show how to do exactly that.
Here's a really good Medium post that also details the process, including what to do if you have an existing state file: https://medium.com/@lynnlin827/moving-terraform-resources-states-from-one-remote-state-to-another-c76f8b76a996
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
The best way to motivate myself is to set a goal or a date and plan towards it. It worked for my first marathon, my first half iron man, and most of the certifications I've achieved. Now I've signed up to take the CKA exam on January 22, 2021. Let's talk about why I chose to sign up for the exam, how I plan to prepare, and what my current skill set looks like.
Study posts:
Jamie Phillips: https://www.phillipsj.net/posts/my-cka-experience/
Chris Wahl: https://wahlnetwork.com/2020/10/02/certified-kubernetes-administrator-study-guide/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Rounding out the Vault Architecture objective, we are going to get into response wrapping and short-live, dynamically generated secrets.
Vault certification guide: https://leanpub.com/vault-certified/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Let's talk about PXE booting! Before we set anything up, it's important to get a grasp on the fundamentals. In this video I am going to cover DHCP, the DORA process, and how PXE and TFTP fit into the process. It'll be a hoot!
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
On the first day of KubeCon the thing I heard most clearly was that you don't need a Service Mesh. There were two panels, both of which had Matt Klein in them, that were talking about Service Mesh. The gist of the conversation was that Service Meshes are not quite ready yet. That they add tremendous complexity along with clear benefits, but those benefits are only realized by certain types of applications and organizations. I thought I would reiterate this a bit and compare it to the larger tech world and Kubernetes at large.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Terraform comes with a ton of functions, and often you might be unsure of how they work. Luckily, you can use a combination of terraform console and local values to test out every function they have.
Terraform Tuesdays repo: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
Terraform certification guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Today I am joined by Betty Junod, VP of Marketing at Solo.io. She shares her career history becoming an accidental marketing person, crafting words into stories and messages. The best piece of career advice she ever received had to do with the perception of time and planning for the long-term instead of constantly fretting with FOMO.
You can find Betty on Twitter (https://twitter.com/BettyJunod) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bettyjunod/).
And you can find out more about Solo.io on their website (https://www.solo.io/).
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
HashiCorp Vault doesn't require an agent, but there are some benefits to using their agent and secrets caching. We're going to get into those two objectives in this week's Vault Certification video.
Vault certification guide: https://leanpub.com/vault-certified/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
After setting up my new lab gear, I discovered that my wireless router wasn't able to handle VLANs and NAT-P for the lab networks. Total bummer! That meant it was time to upgrade to a new router and get my layer 3 on. I ended up going with the Edge 10X router from Ubiquiti and it does not disappoint. Let's take a look at my updated network and the config on the Edge 10x router.
EdgeRouter 10X: https://store.ui.com/collections/routing-switching/products/edgerouter-10x
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Intel has fallen on hard times. Their stock price is down, they can't seem to get chips out on time, and AMD is eating their lunch. What caused this precipitous fall? What is driving the market right now? And what can Intel do to get back on top? That's the topic for today's video.
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nedinthecloud
Website: https://nedinthecloud.com
Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313
Terraform keeps it's view of the world in a state data, but what if you need to make changes to your configuration without impacting the real-world resources? Enter the mighty 'terraform state mv' command enabling you to do wonderous things like:
- Change the address of a resource in your config
- Move resources into a module
- Move resources into a new state file and config
Shout out to VamsiB for suggesting this as a topic!
You can find my Pluralsight courses here: https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
And you can always find the example files here: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
And, and you can find my Terraform certification guide here: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
This is the 150th video I've done for The Daily Check-In and I thought it was time to do a little introspection. Not that I'm trying to pat myself on the back for getting to 150 videos, it just seemed like an auspicious moment to consider the future of the channel and podcast. Which appeals most to you?
-
Increase quality and effort with a Patreon
-
Simplify and lower intricacy
-
Reduce output and improve quality
Check out the Day Two Cloud podcast: https://daytwocloud.io
One of the many ways to run HashiCorp Vault is within containers. Typically you would do this with Kubernetes or ECS, but what if you were looking for a way to run Vault with a public endpoint for the lowest cost possible? Why not use containers on demand? Specifically, using Azure Container Instances.
Today's check-in includes a lightning talk I did during HashiConf Digital 2020 outlining exactly how you could go about run Vault on ACI, using Azure Key Vault for auto-unseal and Azure Files for state storage. You can find the deployment files on my GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313/Vault-on-ACI
You can also check out the Day Two Cloud episode where I talk about the talk and much more from HashiConf here: https://packetpushers.net/podcast/day-two-cloud-073-ansiblefest-hashiconf-2020-announcements-analysis-awesomeness/
It wouldn't matter much that you can run ESXi on a Raspberry Pi if you couldn't also fire up some virtual machines on it as well. Let's take a look at firing up Ubuntu 20.04 LTS ARM edition on a virtual machine. Then we'll see if we can VMotion that VM from one RPi to another without shared storage. Finally, we'll check out deploying from a template, just like you would on regular ESXi. It's wicked awesome!
Ubuntu ARM download: https://ubuntu.com/download/server/arm
VMware Tools for Ubuntu on ARM: https://www.virten.net/2020/10/vmware-tools-for-ubuntu-20-04-lts-arm64-on-esxi-arm/
Samsung 128GB thumb drive on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D7PDLXC
What is my prediction for 2021? I think we will see the continued rise and expansion of disaggregated computing driven largely by Edge and alternative cloud providers. In this video, I'll get into why I think that and what other factors support that change.
Boundary is a new product from HashiCorp and in this video, we'll take a look at how you can deploy Boundary on Microsoft Azure with a reference architecture. In the next video, we will deploy the Boundary architecture in Azure using Terraform. And then we will add hosts and grant access to those hosts also using Terraform. Should be fun!
Terraform Tuesday GitHub Repo: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
Bobby Allen got on the cloud computing train back in 2012 and hasn't stopped moving! He's got some great advice for you about how to move your career forward, get great advice, and take proper care of yourself to avoid burnout.
You can find him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ballen_clt
His big three pieces of advice:
Change
Three things you can change: role, residence, and relationship
Change one is hard, two is difficult, three is dangerous
Relationships
Listen to your partner/spouse
Don't let your pride stop you from hearing
Rest
Quote from Rick Warren
Divert daily
Withdraw weekly
Abandon annually
Angela Andrews is a Solutions Architect at Red Hat, a recovering sysadmin, and organizer of #PythonForAll. In this episode she shares some of the best advice she ever received, and they are super-pragmatic!
- Learn how to do everything on the command line
- Start your own blog to host original content
You can find her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScooterPhoenix
You can find Michelle Laverick on Twitter too: https://twitter.com/m_laverick
Time to get into the internal guts of HashiCorp Vault by discussing its architecture. This is the third video for that objective. We're going to talk about Vault clustering, high availability, and replication.
Vault Cert Guide - https://leanpub.com/vault-certified/
Day Two Cloud podcast - https://daytwocloud.io
We are going to take a set of Raspberry Pi's running the new EXSi ARM Fling and get them joined to a vCenter server. Along the way I learned a few things about NTP and certificate issues.
HashiCorp introduced Waypoint at HashiConf last week, and I wasn't going to do a video about it, but more than one person asked me to. It's a developer-centric tool and I'm not a developer. That being said, I do work with things like SCM, CI/CD, and IaC. So maybe there's something in Waypoint for little old me. Check out the project here: https://www.waypointproject.io/
Over the next two videos, I am going to dive into Boundary's Terraform provider. In this video, we'll talk a little about what Boundary is, how Terraform can assist with it, and go through an example of how to create resources on Boundary using Terraform. In the next video, we will build out a Boundary architecture in Azure using Terraform. And then we will add hosts and grant access to those hosts also using Terraform. Should be fun!
Check out the Boundary project here: https://www.boundaryproject.io/
GitHub for Terraform Tuesdays: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
Terraform cert guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Holly Lehman, Program Manager at Microsoft and all around incredible human being joined me to share her thoughts on build a tech career from the outside.
Her tips are:
-
Embrace your impostor syndrome and challenge it
-
Focus on the unique things you bring to the table
-
Participate in a mentorship program
-
Get out of your comfort zone
You can find her excellent YouTube channel, Head in the Cloud, Heart in the Community here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb7bTWzm764ixDEm8TAJjJA
And follow her on Twitter: @Lehman__Holly
Time to get into the internal guts of HashiCorp Vault by discussing its architecture. This is the second video for that objective. We're going to talk about the storage backend of Vault! It's pretty exciting stuff, especially with integrated storage in 1.4.
HashiConf Digital - https://hashiconf.com/
Vault Cert Guide - https://leanpub.com/vault-certified/
VMware recently released their Fling for running ESXi on ARM-based CPUs and that includes Raspberry Pis. Let's walk through the process of getting ESXi installed on a Raspberry Pi in my home lab.
Here's the fling page where you can get the official bits for yourself: https://flings.vmware.com/esxi-arm-edition
At HashiConf Digital today, HashiCorp revealed one of two new products. Called Boundary, it is a secure access management solution aimed at providing on-demand access to dynamic infrastructure environments leveraging multiple authentication methods. You can read more about the project here: https://www.boundaryproject.io/
You can use the Terraform Kubernetes Operator to deploy Terraform configurations using Kubernetes constructs like ConfigMaps, Secrets, and the custom resource Workspaces. In this video, I'll walk through what's involved with using the Terraform Operator and what it actually does.
GitHub Page: https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform-k8s
Setup Instructions from HashiCorp: https://www.terraform.io/docs/cloud/integrations/kubernetes/index.html
Terraform Tuesdays GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
The amazing Tanya Janca joined me to talk about some of the best career advice she ever received, including such highlights as:
-
Do more of what you want and less of what you should
-
Don't let guilt or money stand in your way
-
Consider the worst case scenario
-
Take the leap!
You should go check out Tanya's new company: https://wehackpurple.com
AND you should go pre-order her book! https://www.amazon.com/Alice-Bob-Learn-Application-Security/dp/1119687357/
Time to get into the internal guts of HashiCorp Vault by discussing its architecture. This is going to be the first of several videos on the objective. We're going to start with how data is encrypted in Vault, and how the seal and shamir secret plays into that.
HashiConf Digital - https://hashiconf.com/
Vault Cert Guide - https://leanpub.com/vault-certified/
I bought a Cisco 3560-X switch for my home lab. Here's how I set up my networking, and also how I ran into a bit of an issue. Hint: home WiFi routers are not very smart.
Here's the router I bought: https://www.ui.com/edgemax/edgerouter-10x/
On October 6th, Pure Storage presented at Tech Field Day Extra for VMworld. There were two big takeaways for me: FlashStack shows HCI isn't all that and Port Worx was a really good idea.
Tech Field Day presentation: https://techfieldday.com/appearance/pure-storage-presents-at-tech-field-day-extra-at-vmworld-2020/
Pure Cloud Block Storage post: https://nedinthecloud.com/2019/05/17/going-cloud-native-with-pure-storage-purity/
Terraform 0.14 is in alpha, but I've been tracking some features, you can see them here: https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform/tree/v0.14.0-alpha20200923
There also some interesting stuff with Terraform for CDK and Kubernetes Terraform for CDK - https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform-cdk/
Terraform for CRD let's you deploy a Terraform config using a Terraform operator and custom resource definitions Which one do you want to see? Let me know in the comments and I'll create a demo for next week.
Time to tackle some basics with the Vault API using our good friend curl. We are going to review how to authenticate, access a vault secret, and navigate the API in general.
Objective 8: Be aware of the Vault API
8A: Authenticate to Vault via Curl
8B: Access Vault secrets via Curl
Certification Guide: https://leanpub.com/vault-certified/
I recently purchased some new Supermicro servers for my homelab. This video will show how to install components into a Supermicro SYS-E200-8D server, including RAM, SSD, and NVMe storage. And it will show how to install the rail kit for this 1U mini-server.
Server on MITXPC: https://mitxpc.com/products/vm-epm-012i4l
- You can get 2% off your purchase with the code: VIRTUALLYGHETTO2OFF
32GB DIMMs: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DTJ8EU6
1 TB SSD: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077SF8KMG
500GB NVMe drive: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M7Q21N7
Thanks to David Davis for the tip!
VMware announced Project Monterey yesterday during the keynote at VMworld 2020. Let's talk about what the project is, how different networking vendors are involved, and how ARM factors into it.
Summary: https://www.oaoa.com/news/business/vmware-unveils-project-monterey-re-imagining-hybrid-cloud-architecture-to-support-next-generation-applications/article_e0c651fb-5b2b-5d8e-b66f-085478d838ac.html
Pensando PR: https://pensando.io/pensando-vmware-and-project-monterey/
Amazon Nitro: https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/nitro/
Eric Wright's blog: https://discoposse.com/2018/11/23/vsphere-arrives-on-arm-but-not-for-the-reason-most-admins-are-thinking/
I'm working on a project to use Terraform with Google Cloud. It's complicated! Things I learned:
-
Google does not have a native MongoDB service
-
Everything lives in a project
-
APIs are NOT enabled by default
How to create a Terraform Service Account to create Google Cloud projects: https://cloud.google.com/community/tutorials/managing-gcp-projects-with-terraform
Terraform cert guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Vault cert guide: https://leanpub.com/vault-certified/
Terraform Tuesdays Github: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
Jeremy Morgan joins me today to share his three H's of career advancement: stay hungry, stay honest, and stay humble.
We are going to cover how to use the Vault UI to do some common tasks.
Check out my new Vault Certification guide: https://leanpub.com/vault-certified
After doing a bunch of Raspberry Pi things, I've been consider what I want to do with my home lab and what I want to get out of it. Here's what I've come up with.
Let me know what you want to see in the home lab! I'm going to be building, configuring, and all kinds of other 'ings.
Power to the Polls!: https://www.powerthepolls.org/
These are not referral links:
-
SuperMicro SYS-E200-8D server: https://mitxpc.com/products/vm-epm-012i4l
-
Server Monkey for used servers: https://www.servermonkey.com/
The highlights for me are around Azure Arc, Azure Stack, and Azure VMware Service. In this video I'll explore each on in turn and explain why each one matters for Microsoft and the larger tech ecosystem.
You don't have to use a version control system to get in on Terraform Cloud! In this video, I'll show you how to get start with Terraform Cloud from the CLI.
Keith Townsend joins me today to share what the best career advice he ever got was and how it changed his life.
Keith's BCAE moments?
-
It takes 10 years to get 10 years of career experience
-
You don't like management
-
Remove every excuse others will use to stop you
We're going to wrap up the topic by looking at enabling and configuring secrets engines, and checking out Vault environment variables.
SD cards have a pretty high failure rate on Raspberry Pi's. The Raspberry Pi 4 recently started supporting boot from a USB mass media device. Here's a little tutorial on how to get started. FYI - the boot from USB 100% worked after the video. It grabbed the same IP address and I was able to SSH into it.
With the acquisition of Portworx by Pure, it got me thinking about the evolution of storage for Kubernetes and what the landscape looks like.
Terraform Cloud is free for up to five users and it has some pretty cool features. In this video, we'll see how it can be integrated with GitHub to create your infrastructure automagically!
David Davis joins me today to share what the best career advice he ever got was and how it changed his life.
-
Stay hungry
-
Don't be complacent
-
CANEI - Constant and Never Ending Improvement
We are going to continue our little journey into the Vault CLI by focusing on configuring authentication methods and policies.
GitHub Repo: https://github.com/ned1313/vault-fridays/
This time we're going to try and set up a full cluster and see what happens. I'm using v1.19.1 of K3s which is experimental, and that equals fun. SPOILER - using experimental features doesn't always work out the way that you want, i.e. epic fail.
As I'm learning more about Web Assembly and its potential, I'm also realizing how blended Dev and Ops are becoming. This is going to continue, so if you're a pure Ops person, now is the time to change, learn, and adapt.
Looking around this week, I found a cool repository of Terraform configurations that translate existing Azure Quickstarts to use Terraform. Let's see how far I can get!
The GitHub repo: https://github.com/kpatnayakuni/azure-quickstart-terraform-configuration
Azure Quickstarts repo: https://github.com/Azure/azure-quickstart-templates
What is the best career advice you ever got and how did it change your life? I can point to two separate occasions where someone said something to me that shifted my perspective forever.
We are going to get into the Vault CLI in this episode. Specifically, we'll talk about using the Vault CLI at a high level and some of the various authentication methods to log into Vault.
I tried to set up a K3s cluster using three Raspberry Pis. It did not go smoothly. In this first part of the series I will cover the initial setup, difficulties I encountered, and what I hope to accomplish.
There has been an explosion of Service Meshes out there. What does the current landscape look like, and are there some common patterns or things to remember?
How can Terraform and Vault work together?
- Terraform can configure Vault
- Terraform can get secrets from Vault
- Terraform can get dynamic credentials from Vault
Check out Josh Duffney's new Ansible Book: https://becomeansible.com/
As the pandemic drags on many of us are hitting a breaking point. We all collectively hoped that Autumn would bring some semblance of normality. That's not going to be the case. What can you do to step back and avoid burnout?
This is part 2 for Object 5 in the Vault certification. We'll be talking more about Vault Secrets Engines, including the Transit Engine and selecting an engine based on used cases.
5 Compare and configure Vault secrets engines
5a Choose a secret method based on use case
5b Contrast dynamic secrets vs. static secrets and their use cases
5c Define transit engine
5d Define secrets engines
I'm now over 100 episodes of the daily check-in. How are things going? How have things changed? And what's the plan for the future?
What do you think cloud computing will look like in the year 2030? Rob Hierschfeld and friends have started a group to discuss this very topic. Why not join into the conversation?
Link to Mighty Networks: https://cloud2030.mn.co
Link to L8ist Sh9ny podcast: https://l8istsh9y.com/2020/08/08/announcing-the-cloud-2030-online-community-event/
Intro video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lw-WtnVdjY&feature=youtu.be
How do you use GitHub actions to automate the validation and deployment of Terraform code to your environment? That's the topic for this week. You can hear more about GitHub actions on an episode of Day Two Cloud we did with Chris Wahl.
Dot Net Liverpool Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Dot-NET-Liverpool/events/272306762/
Day Two Cloud Episode: https://daytwocloud.io/podcast/day-two-cloud-050-nerding-out-on-github-actions-with-chris-wahl/
Terraform Cert Guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Interesting Twitter post last week asking about what service job you had as a youth and what lessons you learned. Here's what I learned from working food service and retail.
We're going to get started on Objective 5 by talking about Vault secrets engines. I think the objectives are in a weird order, so let's do them in reverse. First up, we'll define a secrets engine.
5 Compare and configure Vault secrets engines
5a Choose a secret method based on use case
5b Contrast dynamic secrets vs. static secrets and their use cases
5c Define transit engine
5d Define secrets engines
My Terraform certification guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Data being generated at the Edge is going to increase exponentially. How do we apply proper data governance to an immense volume of data? Do existing approached work? How does AI factor into it?
Unpopular opinion I guess. Multicloud makes sense and you're probably already doing it.
The Terraform Active Directory provider is now available. I took it for a spin and found some interesting challenges.
Here's the GitHub repo for Terraform Tuesdays: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
Here's the link to the Active Directory provider: https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/ad/latest/docs
Here's my Terraform Certification Guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
A post I read over the weekend really got under my craw. And it made me think about the differences between an assertive person and an asshole.
Let's talk about Objective 4 for Vault - Leases!
4 Manage Vault leases
4a Explain the purpose of a lease ID
4b Renew leases
4c Revoke leases
Mark Thiele and Subhan Jahromi have founded Edgevana and officially launched the site. Service coming soon. What is this thing and why should you care? https://www.edgevana.com
Does Nutanix on AWS make sense? I'm not convinced.
CTO Advisor series on VMC: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCTOAdvisor/videos
What are the new features to watch out for?
Module improvements : Count, depends_on, and for_each
Providers: Third-party auto install, required providers block
Variable validation!
Kubernetes for remote state storage
Output changes now reported
Check out the Heavy Networking Podcast on August 28th: https://packetpushers.net/series/weekly-show/
My Terraform Study Guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Google announced a 6 month cert and people lost their minds. https://grow.google/certificates/
Finishing objective three for the Vault Certification. We're going to look at orphaned tokens and combine what we've learned so far.
My Terraform cert guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
The Vault Cert objectives: https://www.hashicorp.com/certification/vault-associate/
Is Edge a natural progression of compute? How do bottlenecks play into Edge? Why is a tree like a traffic system is like our circulatory system?
L8ist Sh9ny podcast episode: https://soundcloud.com/user-410091210/james-urquhart-on-edge-computing-and-flow-evolution
James Urquhart blog post: https://www.infoq.com/articles/edge-flow-evolution/
Geoffrey West's book: https://www.amazon.com/Scale-Universal-Innovation-Sustainability-Organisms/dp/1594205582
Diamanti presented at Cloud Field Day 8 (#CFD8). Here are my thoughts on their products.
The Cloud Field Day presentation: https://diamanti.com/cloud-field-day/
Cloud Field Day 8 home page: https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd8/
They're kinda weird. A bit wacky. And 100% useful!
Terraform Tuesdays GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
Terraform Certification Guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Continuing our exploration of Vault tokens. We're going to cover token accessors and TTLs. You'd think TLLs were simple, but they get complicated quickly.
My thoughts on a recent panel from The CTO Advisor.
The CTO Advisor discussion panel: https://youtu.be/WRxnEeTrJUI
The Day Two Cloud episode with Sam Erskine: https://daytwocloud.io/podcast/day-two-cloud-058-using-curiosity-and-mistakes-to-advance-your-career/
Zerto presented at Cloud Field Day 8 (#CFD8) last week. Here are my thoughts are what they presented and where I think they can go from here.
You can validate your variable input using Terraform 0.13 beta in both the root module and child modules. I'll show you how in this demo.
Terraform Certification Guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Terraform Tuesdays GitHub: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
You are more than your title. Think beyond what you do today, and think about what you could do tomorrow.
Moving on to objective three: Assess Vault Tokens:
3 Assess Vault tokens
3a Describe Vault token
3b Differentiate between service and batch tokens. Choose one based on use-case
3c Describe root token uses and lifecycle
3d Define token accessors
3e Explain time-to-live
3f Explain orphaned tokens
3g Create tokens based on need
I had a briefing with #SemTech and they reminded me that it isn't all just Kubernetes at the edge.
SemTech website: https://www.semtech.com/
Cloud Field Day 8: https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd8/
Veeam presented at #CFD8. Here are my thoughts.
You can watch the whole thing at https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd8/
Three things I focused on:
-
Veeam is in a good position grow and expand
-
Their cloud products are decent, but need to embrace PaaS
-
Veeam loves their CSPs and MSPs and that's good
Some resources are super complicated. How do you figured out how to use them? You can read the docs, but what really helps is the cloud CLI. #TerraformTuesday
Terraform Certification guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Building your career is all about context and capital.
- Career capital
a. This is stuff you know and no one can take away from you
b. When you leave a company, you leave with the accumulated knowledge while you were there
c. Consulting is a great way to bulk up fast
d. The capital is what makes you valuable
e. How do people know about that capital
i. Blogging
ii. Certs
iii. Videos
iv. GitHub
f. It's not just technical skills, it's soft skills, it's abstraction and architecture
g. It's understanding the why and not just the how
- Context
a. You need a little empathy when you're job hunting
b. What does the person you are talking to know?
i. Probably not much
ii.1 It isn't bragging if it's true
c. Empathy is going to serve you well in consulting or just in general
d. Requires active listening You need to focus on what's relevant
Continuing the objective of Creating Vault Policies
Covering Objective 2 of the Vault Certification Exam:
- Create Vault Policies
2a. Illustrate the value of Vault policy
2b. Describe Vault policy syntax: path
2c. Describe Vault policy syntax: capabilities
2d. Craft a Vault policy based on requirements
https://www.hashicorp.com/certification/vault-associate/
Yesterday I talked about K3s a little bit. Let's take a look at what is out there for K8s on the edge.
Why use K8s at the edge?
- Consistent platform for development
- Test on the cloud, deploy to the edge
- The power of CRDs and operators
- Doesn't fix the hardware and true edge device issues
- Do we really need something on top of Linux and is K8s it?
What's out there?
- #KubeEdge - resource optimized, open-source, ARM or x86, cloud-edge model
- #K3s - sub 40mb executable, ARM or x86, no cloud needed, Server and Agent model
- #MicroK8s - canonical, pure upstream K8s, ARM or x86, single-node or cluster model
SUSE is going to acquire Rancher. What's that all about?
Day Two Cloud episode with Tanya Janca: https://daytwocloud.io/podcast/day-two-cloud-055-securing-cloud-infrastructure-and-applications/
We are going to look at how root modules interact with child modules and how variables and outputs are used to pass information between the two.
Terraform Certification Guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Terraform Tuesdays GitHub repository: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
TerraformTuesdays
Covering Objective 2 of the Vault Certification Exam:
- Create Vault Policies
2a. Illustrate the value of Vault policy
2b. Describe Vault policy syntax: path
2c. Describe Vault policy syntax: capabilities
2d. Craft a Vault policy based on requirements
https://www.hashicorp.com/certification/vault-associate/
Hivecell has an interesting solution for edge deployments. Let's explore it a bit. Check out their website here: https://hivecell.com/
Can HPE compete with what AWS, GCP, and Azure have to offer?
HPE Greenlake
• Hardware as a service
• Dell is doing similar things with their
• Edge to Cloud
• Built to order
• Rapid rollout
• Pay-as-you-go
HPE Ezmeral
• Unification of software portfolio
• I've not been bullish on HPE software in the past
• Plus they killed Helion
Terraform 0.13 features:
• For_each and count for modules
• Depends_on for modules
• Automatic install of 3rd party providers
• Custom validation rules for module variables
Terraform Cert Guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
Buffer Overflow: https://www.anexinet.com/resources/podcasts/buffer-overflow/
I'm going to learn #Python by creating an application in Azure Functions and use Azure Tables. It's going to replace the way that I use Zapier today. Should be interesting!
This time we're covering objective: 1. Compare authentication methods
Check out my Vault course on Pluralsight: https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/getting-started-hashicorp-vault
Highlights of the conference so far and the road to Terraform 1.0.
https://hashiconf.com/
My key takeaways -
Learn scripting: PowerShell or Python
Learn a cloud, doesn't matter which one
Learn basic software development lifecycle and concepts
What is Vault and why would you use it? #HashiConf next week: https://hashiconf.com/ Vault website: https://www.vaultproject.io/
Let's talk about how networking has evolved for the enterprise and what Edge is going to do to it. Hint: it's going to have a massive impact.
CFD8
Cloud Field Day 8 website - https://techfieldday.com/event/cfd8/
My previous Tech Field Day video - https://youtu.be/6QxrqacCE34
What is Terraform and why would you use it?
Check out my new course on Plurasight, Implementing Terraform on AWS (https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/implementing-terraform-aws/table-of-contents) and check out my Terraform Certification guide on Leanpub (https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/)
My three pillars
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Embrace discomfort
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Fail often
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Be nice
Where you can get more Ned (if that's what you want)
Podcasts
Daily Check-In - https://anchor.fm/ned-bellavance
Day Two Cloud - https://daytwocloud.io/
Buffer Overflow - https://www.anexinet.com/resources/podcasts/buffer-overflow/
Tech Analysis on GigaOm - https://gigaom.com/analyst/bellavance-ned/
Pluralsight courses - https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/edward-bellavance
Book on Leanpub - https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
The facts, IBM cloud went down for 4 hours. Does that mean we should all go multi-cloud?
Edge terminology is evolving. Let's do a deep dive into the User Edge and Service Provider Edge distinctions.
LF Edge Primer: https://www.lfedge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/LF-Edge-web-june2020.pdf
GigaOm Edge Colo report: https://gigaom.com/report/key-criteria-for-evaluating-edge-colocation/
Short answer is no. The real question is have we built a suitable abstraction layer for mass consumption.
Day Two Cloud episode with Bobby Allen: https://daytwocloud.io/podcast/day-two-cloud-052-moving-back-home-from-the-cloud/
Using conditional logic in #Terraform for resources and values is super fun! Shout out to @epanting1 for the idea. #TerraformTuesday Terraform cert guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
What is the process for creating the Daily Check-in? In this episode I talk about what I do and how I do it.
Viewer question: I made my career as a specialist, but the trend has been towards generalization. As public cloud usage grows, will the trend swing back to specialization again?
The intersection of edge and enterprise. There's a tension here between the priorities of IT and OT.
Edge infra report: https://gigaom.com/report/gigaom-radar-for-edge-infrastructure/
It's #TerraformTuesday and we're talking about storing config data using Consul.
My new repo for Terraform Tuesdays: https://github.com/ned1313/terraform-tuesdays
Here's a list on GitHub of bail funds: https://bailfunds.github.io/
Please help if you can.
It's not great out there. How can we all help make it better?
Great post from Tatiana Mac which is a guide for white guys to make a difference: https://tatianamac.com/posts/white-guyde/
List on GitHub of bail funds: https://bailfunds.github.io/
Questions: What are some of your favourite bands? Converge, Coalesce, Coheed & Cambria, Thank You Scientist, and Rivers of Nihil
How do you make money? What do you do all day? Where did you get your logo?
What's at the Infrastructure Edge and who is using it? You can find my Edge based analysis at GigaOm: https://gigaom.com/research/topic/connectivity/
How being active in the hardcore and metal scene gave me skills that are applicable to my IT career.
Going deeper into the certification.
My original video about the cert: https://youtu.be/Z190OtRXAPI
A video about taking an online proctored exam: https://youtu.be/8kZkG6_b4a4
My blog post about the cert: https://nedinthecloud.com/2020/04/27/preparing-for-the-hashicorp-terraform-certification/
The exam guide I wrote: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/
How do you make the transition from an infrastructure ops person to development? I have NO idea! But here are the roadblocks I've encountered. If you've made the transition, let me know how you did it and what advice you'd give to someone else.
Data and the Edge - How does the generation of data at the edge impact infrastructure design? It's an inversion of the traditional model, and requires new approaches.
The public cloud providers will! Microsoft #Azure is Coke, #AWS is Pepsi, and #GCP is Segrams (I guess).
What different loop constructs are available in #Terraform and how do they work? #TerraformTuesday
The idea was floated that Microsoft should buy Ubuntu. Does that make any sense? TL;DR, not really. The post that sparked it all: https://build5nines.com/microsoft-to-acquire-canonical-ubuntu-should-they/
Let's start this series with a primer on edge. #LFEdge @LF_Edge
Overview deck https://www.lfedge.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/LF-Edge-web-may2020.pdf
Open Glossary for Edge: https://www.lfedge.org/projects/openglossary/
If you want to do something new, don't wait! Figure out the minimum steps to get started and dive in.
Make friends with awesome people! Related blog post: https://nedinthecloud.com/2020/05/07/ned-in-the-cloud-first-year-review/
A year ago I started the journey as a self-employed freelancer. How are things going after 365 days? Pretty frackin' awesome.
It's #TerraformTuesday and I'm talking about #Terraform Variables and Locals. Here's my Terraform certification guide: https://leanpub.com/terraform-certified/ and checkout the Day Two Cloud podcast: https://daytwocloud.io/
What is #OpenShift Cluster Management and why would you care? From Red Hat Tech Field Day #TFDx
Presentations: https://youtu.be/WsvKhagxoPc and https://youtu.be/Xo9FI8RdnBo
KubeVirt, not Q-Bert - #OpenShift virtualization is a really cool idea, but does it make sense? Here's the #TFDx presentation: https://youtu.be/vHAjvX8QfhE
Red Hat Tech Field Day my big takeaways #OpenShift #TFDx https://techfieldday.com/event/tfdrh1/
Red Hat Virtual Summit and Tech Field Day Extra! You can watch live tomorrow, April 29th at this link: https://techfieldday.com/event/tfdrh1/ @OpenShift #OpenShift #TFDx
Tech Field Day! What is Tech Field Day and why would you want to get involved? I've got answers.
We talked about Terraform certifications, new HashiCorp courses on Pluralsight, what's up with my white sunglasses, and more!
Is VMC a good idea? I didn't think so 3 years ago, but my opinion has shifted a bit. Here's the original blog post from 2017: https://nedinthecloud.com/2017/09/27/vmware-on-aws-youre-doing-it-wrong/
Have you been thinking about taking an exam at home during the quarantine? Here's some quick advice and pointers.
With so many things to learn in tech, what should you focus on next? I try to come up with some strategies for making a decision.
HashiCorp is preparing to launch their Terraform Certified Associate program. What do you need to know and how can you prepare?
After tackling audio recording, I'm back to talk about video recording for demos and presentations.
What have I learned about recording podcasts and video courses? A bit. Tune in to find out.
How do you move accelerate your career, build your skills, and help others? Raise your hand, silly.
A bunch of on-premises managed Kubernetes offerings have cropped up. What's out there and what should you consider?
Taking on a daunting task, like surviving a pandemic? Break it up into manageable chunks.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and probably the best way to advance your career.