December, 2007 | Aidan Finn, IT Pro

I’m Back!

I’m back on the market once again. I’ll be available from January 7th onwards – definitely not beforehand because I need a break to unwind. If you’re looking for a consultant/contractor to come in and work on an infrastructure project then please check out my CV. And please feel free to contact me on website <at> highwaycsl.com if you have any questions.

So do call if you need someone with Windows Server 2003/2003R2/2008, desktop management/deployment skills, Active Directory, SMS2003/CM 2007, MOM 2005/OM 2007, VMware, enterprise management/deployment, etc, skills. Give the blog a read to see what I’m about.

Mastering Windows Server 2008

Anyone who’s been seriously interested in reading about Windows Server from an independant and trusted source probably has read one of Mark Minasi’s "Mastering Windows …" books in the past. Mark has written and worked with some incredible people to put together boosk that teach you the fundamentals of the products, advanced techniques and solutions to real world problems.

He and his co-authors are currently beavering away at the next publication … or should I say publications! Mastering Windows Server 2003 came in at nearly 2000 pages … it was huge. It was also an excellent source … I learned a tonne from it when designing and deploying Windows Server 2003 soon after it was RTM. Mastering Windows Server 2008 will actually be 3 books. And they won’t be small either! Windows Server 2008 introduces tonnes of new technology and improvements to existing features that need to be covered. Mark and the publishers have come up with a novel solution:

Mastering Windows Server 2008 Networking Foundations : This is a book for people new to Windows server administration.
Mastering Windows Server 2008: Essential Technologies : This is the book that will coverenough of the new material for 90% of administrators.
Mastering Windows Server 2008: Enterprise Technologies : This book will covere advanced functionality that maybe 10% of administrators will need.

These books are available on pre-order from Amazon now. I think it’s safe to say that they will be a good purchase and a worthy investment.

EDIT:

The first book is published. The other two are taking a little longer than expect but they are being worked on at present. 28/Jan/2009.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 User Group – Ireland

I’ve been attending Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 ("Longhorn") Academy every month since mid summer here in Dublin to learn more about this new product. The sessions were run by Microsoft’s Dave Northey and were very succesful. At the end, Dave announced that he wanted to establish a user group using people from the academy that were interested. He looked for volunteers to join and a leader. Muggins here volunteered to lead and it was all said and done after a show of hands.

So, what’s the mission?

My aim is to get people interested in the product, how it can make their jobs easier and how it can solve business problems. The most common question we’re going to hear is "Why should I deploy Windows 2008?". There’s lots of good reasons and I intend to not only share them but have experts demonstrate real world problems and solutions. We’ll grow the group steadily and bring it on tour around the country to make it more accessibe. There will be a managed online presence where people can interact and continue the learning, teaching and sharing process. And I think there might just be one or two pints drank along the way 🙂

If this sounds like it might be of interest to you then give me a shout (website <at> highwaycsl.com). I’m going to be kicking this thing into high gear next month and I’m really looking forward to seeing the group membership grow in numbers and in influence.

More details will follow pretty soon!