Subscribe to the TST RSS Feed

RSS Feed

    Subscribe to Train Signal Training via RSS

    get real-time updates   •   more info

RSS by Email

    Or Subscribe via Email

    no spam   •   more info

Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure Training

Posted on January 27th, 2009 by Ben Culbertson 2 Comments »

Ben CulbertsonHey gang, Coach here with hot-off-the-presses news that we’re releasing my Server 2008 Windows Applications Infrastructure course for the 70-643 exam. I had a blast building this course, because it encompasses some of my more favorite tech.

A while back, Kasia the brilliant web mistress interviewed me, and I know that this week she’s super busy, so I thought I’d help her out by interviewing myself this time.

So here it is, with tongue firmly in cheek, Coach interviewing, umm, errr, Coach!



Coach: So Coach, what is it about the content in this course that’s got you so jazzed up?

Coach Culbertson: Well Coach, while the whole networking thing is nifty and all, building out stuff for people to actually use is fascinating to me. Most folks think that being a network tech is all about being able to allow users to log in and fixing the server when it becomes a shivering mass of slag, but being able to build out and create stuff for users to get stuff done faster and easier can create a higher level of visibility for a tech.

This course is all about building out features that make an administrator look like a real wizard, and when the Server Roles and Features that I cover in this are implemented and everything is working well, you can legitimately take credit for all that extra productivity that’s being generated.



Coach: Which feature of the course will allow me to play more World of Warcraft while I’m at work?

Coach Culbertson: Now that’s a great question, and one that I’m sure all our readers will want to know about. Windows Deployment Services, or WDS if you’re cool, is a new image-based deployment system that allows you to install a whole lot of Servers at once, but you can also install Vista clients as well. In the past I’ve used Altiris and Ghost to build and deploy operating systems to large amounts of machines easily, and WDS definitely competes with the big boys on this.


In the course, I show how to not only deploy new Server 2008 machines; I also demonstrate how to create a reference machine and then grab the image of the hard drive to use over and over again. It’s a great technique when you’re building out Network Load Balancing clusters or even Failover Clusters. And on the financial side of the IT equation, you won’t have to use more of your IT budget to buy expensive deployment software — it’s included!



Coach: That’s pretty neat. I loved Ghost and Altiris.

Coach Culbertson: Yes, I know.



Coach: Now, what would I need to know before taking this course? Are there any pre-requisite courses that I should take? And you know, I really like to play along while I’m watching the video. What would I need to practice the stuff you do on-screen?

Coach Culbertson: It’s a really good idea to have some Active Directory experience under your belt, and some basic DNS experience as well. Of course, you can get what you need from my 70-640 course, and also from my partner-in-crime Ed Lieberman’s 70-642 course. But even if you’re a complete n00b, you can still get a lot from this course.

As far as being able to have a play-along-at-home machine, you can get by with a 4GB machine with a couple of 250GB hard drives. You’ll need at least a 64-bit processor that supports virtualization, as pretty much everything I do in the course is in the Hyper-V machines that we build along the way.

You can download a free trial of Server 2008 64-bit Edition from Microsoft, and you’ll probably want to grab a trial of Vista as well to create a virtual client machine to play with. While I was building the course, I had a Domain Controller running in VMWare Workstation on a separate machine, but you can build a Hyper-V Domain controller just as easily on your Hyper-V box.

Now if you don’t have a machine available, or don’t have the dollars to get one, you can just sit back and watch the videos and still gain massive amounts of knowledge. But if you’re going to go take the 70-643 exam, I highly recommend practicing the techniques on a real machine and pushing buttons in the different Server 2008 interfaces that look fun. Explore, break stuff, learn how to fix it, it’s a critical part of the learning process. And also, don’t practice on a production network. Blowing stuff up is part of the learning, and if you blow stuff up at work, that’s, ummm, yeah, really bad. So don’t do that.



Coach: Anything else about the course that folks will want to know?

Coach Culbertson: Oh yeah, Terminal Services in Server 2008 has had a huge upgrade, and I have three full videos devoted to just that. I also tackle Windows Media Services, which allows you to create your own little TV station over the network, so you can put those drunken video highlights from the company holiday party on your network in beautiful streaming quality. Great for blackmail. “You will increase the IT budget or your karaoke rendition of ‘You Light Up My Life’ will go on the network!” You can totally see the possibilities, I’m sure.



Coach: Yes I can. Oh the possibilities. Coach, I hear you’re quite the dancer, and that someone at Train Signal has some very interesting footage from Tech Ed this last summer.

Coach Culbertson: Absolutely! And it’s footage I would happily endorse being put on YouTube or any other network. The world really should see that — it might just fulfill someone’s existence.



Coach: So, do we have a clip of your Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure course for the 70-643 exam we can show?

Coach Culbertson: Of course. Like we’d do this whole long interview without showing folks a little taste. This clip is from the 2nd video in the course, “How To Make Believe You Have More Servers Than You Really Do: Setting Up Hyper-V for Fun and Profit.”



Coach: What’s up with your really long titles?

Coach Culbertson: They’re really more to challenge my Product Manager Gosia’s ability to fit them into the menus. You know, it’s good to keep her skills sharp.



Coach: Yes, I’m sure she really appreciates that. Watch your back when you come into work tomorrow. Ok, let’s watch a clip from your course:

play video

Coach: Thanks for doing this interview, Coach. I really appreciate it. And by the way, you look fantastic today!

Coach Culbertson: You’re welcome, Coach, glad I could be of service. Oh and thanks, you’re not so bad yourself.

Coach: Hey, isn’t there a discount or something going on right now for my course?

Coach Culbertson: Yes, there is. Our readers can take a look at the complete Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure Training and when ready they can enter Coupon Code: APP2008 during checkout and save $50 off the regular price.



Coach: Neat.
Coach Culbertson: Yes, yes it is.



 

Related Posts:

Tags: , , , , ,


 

2 Responses to “Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure Training”

Leave A Comment: