Interview with Harold Wong about TechMentor 2012

With TechMentor almost upon us, we turn to myITforum fan favorite Harold Wong to give us some additional insight into the event.  Harold is giving two presentations at TechMentor this year:

• MS11 Deploying Server Core
• MS05 Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012

 

Harold took some time out of his hugely busy schedule to answer some questions for us.  Harold has been traveling to TechEd and also producing some online content.  Harold recently interviewed Don Jones about Windows PowerShell 3.0. You can watch that interview here on myITforum TV:  Don Jones and Harold Wong Talk PowerShell

 

Harold Wong is a Sr. IT Pro Evangelist with Microsoft and has been focused on Private and Public Cloud technologies. As an Evangelist with the US Developer and Platform Evangelism organization, Harold spends his time supporting the IT Pro community with blog entries that provide content, resources and solutions. You can also find Harold speaking at different events, tweeting (@haroldwong) and generally “geeking out” on all things IT Pro.

Let’s dig into the interview…

 

Me:  Can you give us some brief info about yourself as an introduction?

Harold:  Sr. IT Pro Evangelist is my primary title.  Within US DPE, I am also the Chief Technical Evangelist for Private Cloud.  I’ve been with Microsoft for 13 years.

Over the past twelve plus years with Microsoft, I have engaged with thousands of IT Professionals working in various sized companies to help them better understand the different infrastructure technologies offered by Microsoft. Historically, I’ve been known for my work with the Unified Communications stack (Exchange and Lync) but over the last year and a half, I have also made a name for myself with Private and Public Cloud. I am a big proponent of certification and have taken the time to obtain the following certifications: MCITP Enterprise Administrator, MCITP Server Administrator, MCITP Enterprise Messaging Administrator and VMware Certified Professional on vSphere 5 (VCP5).

One of the building blocks that an organization needs to adopt and understand to get to the private cloud is Virtualization. With that in mind, I have also taken time to focus on virtualization and helping IT Pros get more familiar with the technology and how to best utilize it within their IT shop. Virtualization is much more than just cost reduction and server consolidation. If I consolidate 50 physical servers by virtualizing onto 3 hypervisor hosts, I still have to manage 50 servers plus the three hypervisor hosts. Therefore, the virtualization strategy has to take into account more than just the hypervisor but also the end to end management of the environment. That’s why I believe there is so much more to this topic than just choosing one hypervisor over another or how many VMs to put on one hypervisor host. I will be discussing these different areas in my posts while having some fun too.

Outside of work, I really enjoy spending time with my wife and two kids. I also happen to be a big caffeine addict and usually start my morning off with a mocha that I make at home or that I purchase at Starbucks. When purchasing from Starbucks, my poison of choice is a triple, venti, soy, no whip, no foam, 3 pump mocha with 5 scoops of matcha (not steamed). When I save up enough money, I also like to go grab some sushi.

 

Me: This year, TechMentor is at Microsoft HQ in Redmond.  Can you give readers any unique tips for visiting Microsoft?

Harold: The campus is huge so make sure you get a map showing building locations so you know where you are and where you need to get to: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=map+of+microsoft+main+campus&qpvt=map+of+microsoft+main+campus&FORM=IGRE.  Be sure to visit the Commons area and check out the store and museum.

 

Me: Do you have any preferred tourist destinations in Redmond or Seattle? Like special eateries?

Harold: Not really.  There are so many different restaurants that have great seafood that it’s hard to pick only one or two to recommend.  Also, depending on whether king salmon is in season or not will also dictate choice of restaurants.

 

Me: You are speaking at TechMentor this year.  What can attendees expect to hear about each technology?

Harold: The two sessions I have are Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 and Deploying Windows Server 2012 Core.  Attendees can expect to hear the latest on virtualization capabilities in Windows Server 2012 and steps needed to deploy a functioning Server Core of Windows Server 2012.

 

Me: For those that couldn’t attend TechEd 2012 or MMS 2012, can TechMentor attendees expect the same level of technical knowledge shared in your sessions?

Harold: Yes!

 

Me: What different kind of content can attendees expect in the TechMentor sessions?

Harold: Not 100% sure, but I know there will be a lot of Windows Server 2012 sessions.