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Azure Noob
October 28, 2025
Everyone writes about building AI solutions. Nobody writes about using AI as a daily tool. Here's the technical breakdown of two different approaches to AI-assisted Azure operations.
October 28, 2025
You've written the perfect KQL query. Three months later, you can't find it. Here's the simple Git workflow that saves me 10+ hours a month searching for queries I already wrote.
October 28, 2025
How I migrated from a cramped 127GB Windows 10 AVD to a spacious 512GB Windows 11 environment - including the gotchas nobody tells you about disk partitions, authentication, and user assignments.
October 27, 2025
Most guides say 'comment the why, not the what.' Azure admins need more: comments that double as runbooks, audit trails, and change-board briefs.
October 27, 2025
Every guide says 'configure diagnostic settings.' Nobody shows you which button to click. Here's the step-by-step tutorial that actually works, written for someone who's never done this before.
October 27, 2025
The grill assembly manual for capturing Azure AD audit logs - app registrations, consent grants, sign-ins, and role assignments. Every click, every command, every verification. Part 2 of fixing the 90-day audit gap.
October 27, 2025
Tenable finds a vulnerability. Security creates a ticket. Change management wants approval. App teams say not my problem. Infrastructure doesn't own the apps. Welcome to the operational reality nobody talks about.
October 26, 2025
Most Azure environments are silently non-compliant with regulatory audit requirements. Here's the three-part problem everyone faces, how app registrations create blind spots, and the architecture to fix it before your next audit.
October 25, 2025
I earned AZ-103, AZ-303, and AZ-304 in 2020. Microsoft wants me to renew them. I'm not renewing. I'm investing those 100 hours in AI-102 instead. Here's the data behind that decision.
October 24, 2025
Understanding Microsoft's global support organization helps you navigate it effectively. Here's what actually happens when you click 'Submit Ticket' - from TAM metrics to contractor handoffs to backend access.
October 24, 2025
Everyone learns KQL in Log Analytics. Nobody warns you about Resource Graph, Sentinel, App Insights, or Defender. Here's the decision framework you need before you build the wrong thing in the wrong place.
October 17, 2025
Microsoft says AI will revolutionize Azure operations by 2028. I tested it in October 2025 in a regulated enterprise with PCI/HIPAA requirements. 60-70% is deployable RIGHT NOW. Real ROI: Saved 15 hours/month, found $4,327 in waste, passed compliance audits easier. Here's what works, what's broken, and the 30-day roadmap.
October 16, 2025
One tag can’t tell the whole story. Here’s how I built a practical Azure tagging model that connects operations, finance, and security — and finally made chargeback for shared services accurate and defensible.
October 15, 2025
Nobody asks for ROI on paying Verizon instead of building cell towers. But Finance wants ROI on Azure vs on-premises servers. The apps are the business. Azure is just the platform that runs them.
October 15, 2025
Microsoft's official migration tool assumes single domains and flat networks. Here's why it's architecturally incompatible with multi-domain hybrid environments.
October 15, 2025
Finance celebrates retiring 100 apps instead of migrating them. Six months later: Why are we still paying for the old data center? Because 'Retire' isn't a decision, it's a $300K decommissioning project nobody budgeted for.
October 15, 2025
Nobody questions paying Verizon instead of building cell towers. Apps on your phone = value. The network = enabler. Finance gets it. So why do they question the same model for Azure?
October 14, 2025
Finance compares Azure VM costs to server costs and declares cloud expensive. They're missing the entire point: no VAR meetings, no hardware refresh, provision in minutes instead of months. The value isn't in the spreadsheet.
October 14, 2025
Deploy one VM to learn the variables. Deploy three VMs to learn you're wasting time. Code your fourth deployment or admit you're just clicking buttons for a living.
October 13, 2025
Chris Bowman's CCO Dashboard is 200+ pages of Power BI. I needed to understand it to build CCO 2.0. Built a tool that extracts all queries, measures, and relationships in seconds. .pbix files are just ZIP archives.
October 13, 2025
Azure Workbooks hide 110+ items and complex KQL queries in nested JSON. Built a Streamlit tool that extracts everything in seconds. Parsed Billy York's workbook: 41 queries, full structure, exportable. No more clicking through Azure Portal.
October 11, 2025
I spent 3 months bridging the gap between ServiceNow records with no context, RVtools exports mixing servers with virtual desktops, and ManageEngine tracking 21 AD domains. Then Azure Resource Graph gave me 31,000 accurate, tagged resources in 30 seconds.
October 11, 2025
Microsoft says subscriptions are billing boundaries. Two years later you're maintaining manual spreadsheets. Here's what nobody tells you: count your applications first, then design subscriptions around teams.
October 09, 2025
VMware admins: That 'Connect' button isn't console access. Serial Console is hidden in Help > Boot Diagnostics, works without networking, and doesn't require Azure Monitor Agent. Here's what Microsoft didn't tell you.
October 09, 2025
Three Microsoft reps gave me three different answers about patching Azure VMs. Here's what each tool actually does, which workloads need which tool, and why you need multiple tools during enterprise migration. The decision matrix Microsoft won't publish.
October 06, 2025
AI has changed when you should stop debugging and open a Microsoft support ticket. If Claude can't solve your Azure problem after reading every doc, GitHub issue, and Stack Overflow post, you've hit the boundary of public knowledge. Time to use the support you're paying for.
October 06, 2025
Track IPs across Azure subscriptions with this free IPAM tool. Search IPs, detect conflicts, reserve ranges, visualize network topology. Built for enterprise consolidation managing 44+ subscriptions. Full source code on GitHub.
October 06, 2025
Your admin workstation still has ISE installed. Server 2025 still ships with PowerShell 5.1. Modern Azure automation needs PowerShell 7. Here's the gap nobody explains.
October 06, 2025
Azure certification courses teach you Portal, CLI, and PowerShell. Nobody mentions the tool that will save you more time than all of them combined: OneNote. Here's why Send to OneNote should be muscle memory for every Azure admin.
October 06, 2025
Azure Private Endpoint DNS not working in hybrid environments? Learn how to fix DNS resolution by duplicating zones in on-prem AD instead of using forwarders or Azure Private Resolver. Real-world solution managing 1,500+ private endpoints.
October 06, 2025
Microsoft's Cloud Adoption Framework is 1,500 pages. Here's what matters: Structure (Management Groups, Subscriptions), Governance (Policy, RBAC), Operations (Monitor, Backup). CAF simplified for real Azure teams without the consultant buzzwords.
October 03, 2025
New Azure admins are told to 'use workbooks' the same way students are told to 'solve for X' - without understanding what problem it solves.
October 02, 2025
Everyone links to Chris Bowman's template. Nobody explains why it's 19GB and needs Premium. Here's what's actually happening.
September 29, 2025
Three hours debugging certificate errors on fresh marketplace VMs. The culprit? Microsoft's own infrastructure serving outdated dependencies.
September 28, 2025
Free Azure Monitor Workbook template with 200+ services, security monitoring, cost optimization, and global filtering. Enhanced version of Billy York's inventory workbook with full source code on GitHub.
September 24, 2025
Azure Cost Management works perfectly. Your finance team still can't figure out who should pay for what. Here's why cost center tagging doesn't solve enterprise chargeback.
September 24, 2025
Opened Azure Update Manager and saw 1,791 VMs that need updates? Here's the uncomfortable truth about what that number really means and the KQL queries to find your real target.
September 24, 2025
Azure Migrate works perfectly. The problem is no one remembers how their applications actually work. Here's why enterprise migrations fail before they start.
September 23, 2025
Order, capitalization, spelling, and the Type tag that will save your sanity. Hard-earned lessons from real Azure environments.
September 23, 2025
Build a single KQL query that inventories every VM, cleans up OS details, and assigns the right patching workflow—Intune, Azure Update Manager, or Linux package managers.
January 15, 2025
Complete KQL cheat sheet for Azure admins. Query VMs, NICs, disks with Resource Graph. Copy-paste examples, join patterns, troubleshooting tips. Free PDF download via email.
January 01, 2024
Azure bills are messy, dashboards don't always add up, and tags are a nightmare. Here's how I'm making sense of it — and how you can too.
January 01, 2024
Your Azure invoice isn’t a report — it’s a receipt. What your board needs is a story about cloud spend, risk, and ROI. Learn how to connect Azure costs to departments, apps, and business units with reporting and tags.
Join Azure pros getting practical KQL queries, cost optimization tips, and real-world solutions.