Many companies I interact with have expressed an interest in migrating their legacy SQL Server databases to Azure. Typically this is due to End of Life for SQL Server 2008 (and 2008 R2) and other times it’s a desire to… Read More »Anonymizing and masking sensitive data in SQL databases before migrating to Azure SQL
I think I’ve written once or twice I’m a great fan of building Proof of Concepts and prototypes. This allows me to rapidly learn without fear or risk of failing in front of an important customer. And all customers who… Read More »Tracking, resolving, storing and presenting AKA.MS short links from social media using Serverless capabilities in Azure
I sometimes find myself struggling with a technical issue that I just can’t seem to resolve in a timely manner. Over the years I’ve learned that once you’ve spent maybe 15 to 30 minutes troubleshooting without any noticeable progress, there’s… Read More »Fun with Azure Functions: Building a lookup tool for Azure AD tenant IDs
“This is a quick one”, I thought. A customer asked me to have a look at their old CRM environment, that was running in a local physical server in their datacenter. The plan was to decommission the server, but rescue… Read More »Migrating SQL Server 2008 databases to Azure SQL
[Update October 1, 2019: I’ve published another blog post on Azure Bastion Host, which complements the findings and services I go through in this post. Perhaps have a look at it here!] I’ve had some fun times lately with Azure.… Read More »Building a secure remote access solution for Azure-based virtual machines using Azure AD and Windows Admin Center
I’ve used a Synology NAS solution at home since 2012. It’s simply great – very affordable, runs everything I need and has consistently given me uptimes of 60-90 days (I reboot it mostly to patch things up). In 2015 my… Read More »An adventure in containers and command-line tools: Running MongoDB in Azure
(or: making life better by fixing one small issue at a time) I love designing and building solutions for my customers. Lately they’ve been more on the Microsoft Azure side, especially with serverless and security. The problems I encounter are… Read More »Building a simple and secure DNS updater for Azure DNS with PowerShell
I started using Microsoft Azure in the very early days in 2008 when the whole idea with cloud computing was something very different than it is today. During recent years I’ve found myself working mostly with Azure-related architectures, deployments, and… Read More »Managing your costs in Microsoft Azure with Sharegate’s Overcast
During Christmas break in late 2016, I started planning for my upcoming presentations and demos for the first half of 2017. I’ve held talks on a wide range of topics, including all things SharePoint, Microsoft Azure Security, PowerApps and Flow,… Read More »Embracing the future: Integrating SharePoint Portal Server 2001 with Microsoft Azure Functions
I’ve been looking for a robust and affordable storage solution for use at home, and possibly at the office also. A few years ago I found the Synology devices, and started my journey by purchasing a Synology DS 412+ device… Read More »Configuring Synology to synchronize with Microsoft Azure
(This post is updated March 30th, 11 am PDT) Build 2016: Announcements and thoughts (this blog post) Build 2016: Second day This week I am in San Francisco for the yearly Microsoft Build-conference. I try to attend at least one… Read More »Announcements and thoughts from Microsoft Build 2016