Midlands Azure User Group #7 - NetApp Files and the CSA Role
Important: For our next meet-up (Wednesday 11th March) we have secured two speakers that we have being trying to get from the very first meet-up.
Adam Stuart is a Technical Specialist in Azure Networking and will be covering Azure Private Link. Private Link provides private connectivity from a virtual network to Azure PaaS, customer-owned, or Microsoft partner services. It simplifies the network architecture and secures the connection between endpoints in Azure by eliminating data exposure to the public internet. This is going to make a huge difference to everyone interested in using PAaS services, but particularly those in Public Sector and Financial Services.
Our second speaker is Andy Nash. Andy hails from Bridgnorth and has been a long time friend and colleague of Nick and Phil's having originally worked for Microsoft Services and been one of the original CSAs at Microsoft. Andy is currently a Principal Program Manager in Azure Engineering and will be talking about Architecting Mission Critical Apps on Azure.
These sessions will be more technical than usual. If you're serious about Azure then you really should come along to meet Adam and Andy, and hear what they have to say - so please register early to avoid disappointment!
This time we had an introduction to Azure NetApp Files, presented by Carl Durnford from NetApp. Carl explained how to migrate and run enterprise file applications without the need for code changes. How to set up in minutes and seamlessly migrate your Linux and Windows applications, with a consistent Azure experience and on-premises-like performance. By popular demand, we will be arranging a technical deep dive in a future meet-up.
After the usual beer and pizza (shout up if someone would like a change from this)...
We didn't have a speaker lined up for the second slot, but rather than panic and try to strong-arm someone into it, we decided to do a general Q&A session with the Microsoft CSAs in the room. So Nick Hill, Phil Marsh, Paul Grimley, Russell Bradford, John Metzger and a new member of the team Peter Smallbone talked about:
- How they came to be a CSA with Microsoft
- What the job entails
- What was the recruitment process
- What is the induction like
I don't know about you, but I thought it was one of the best sessions we have held yet - much laughter and lots of great questions?
I really got the feeling that the user group is starting to work with this session :-) I think this might give us confidence to try to do some design sessions or advice clinics out in the breakout area at forthcoming meet-ups.
Thanks also to Darren Johnson and Paul Grimley for their 5 minutes chats on their recent experience taking Azure Certifications.
I don't usually mention this, but this time I would really like to thank our friends, partners and sponsors from Sol-Tec. Nik Topham, Paul Johnson, Ryan Williams, Paul Collins, Wes Jackson and Jim Gregory have all played a huge part in getting the group up and running, without asking for anything in return.
We really appreciate it people! If you're looking for help getting up and running with your Azure Infrastructure and Landing Zone you could a lot worse than clicking here.