Tech Talk with Kazeem – Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes for Beginners

I was a guest on Tech Talk with Kazeem again! The topic of discussion was Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes for Beginners.

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@KazeemCanTeach & @buchatech@buchatech Azure Arc K8s book with O’Reilly

In the discussion with me and Microsoft MVP Kazeem Adegboyega, we talked about Azure Stack, AKS, Azure Arc: K8s, and GitOps! We talked about each technology and when to use them for what purpose and more.

You can check it out here:

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Dok Talks #121 – Running Stateful Apps in Kubernetes Made Simple

I am giving a talk for the Data on Kubernetes Community (DoKC) Community next week. They are a user group like community that focuses on how to build and operate data-centric applications on Kubernetes. Be sure to check them out! The DoK website is: https://dok.community.

My talk is titled: “Running Stateful Apps in Kubernetes Made Simple

ABSTRACT OF THE TALK

Eventually, the time will come to run a stateful app in Kubernetes. This can be a scary thing adding more moving parts to a Kubernetes cluster and deploying as well as managing your app on Kubernetes when it requires state.

In this talk, Steve Buchanan will take you through a journey of understanding how storage works in Kubernetes, how to Persistent state with pods, what storage options are available with Azure Kubernetes Service, best practices, and a demo of deploying a stateful app to AKS.

In the demo, I will show how to deploy stateful Worpress & Jenkins workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service using the GitOps model with Argo CD.

KEY TAKE-AWAYS FROM THE TALK

Overview of Storage in Kubernetes covering Storage Classes, Persistent Volumes, & Persistent Volume Claims. Overview of Azure Storage, Best Practices to running stateful apps in Kubernetes.

Register here:

https://www.meetup.com/Data-on-Kubernetes-community/events/284283907/

——-Update——-

If you missed the session you can stream it here:

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Cloudbusting Podcast Guest EP130 – Diving into Jucy Lucy, & Root Canal’s with a little Kubernetes, Azure Arc, & GitOps on the side

This was a fun podcast with Jez Ward, and Dave Chapman of Cloudreach. They run a podcast called Cloudbusting. On the podcast they focus on transformation, leadership, ways of working and emerging technology they explore the significant impact that cloud is having on people and businesses.

On this podcast episode, we set out to answer very important questions such as what are Jucy Lucy’s?, what are root Canals like today? oh, and yeah we also spend some time talking about what Containers, Kubernetes, & GitOps are and how they fit in the cloud.

Check out the podcast episode here:

https://www.cloudreach.com/en/podcasts/diving-into-kubernetes-azure-arc-gitops-episode-130

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Speaking on the Metaverse at GatherVerse Summit 2022

GatherVerse is a new conference about the MetaVerse. GatherVerse is the creation of entrepreneur & tech leader Christopher Lafayette. The GatherVerse is a global gathering discussing humanity first standards of education, safety, privacy, wellness, equality, community development and accessibility in the next steps of the metaverse. Here is the GatherVerse website: www.gatherversesummit.com

I will be a part of a panel discussing EdTech’s role in the Metaverse. This panel will be on day 2 – February 23rd, 2022 @ 2:00pm pst – 2:48pm pst

I will join a great panel of esteemed tech professionals. On the panel, I will give my personal point of view of how companies and technologies such as Accenture (who recently bought of 60k Oculus headsets), Microsoft, FlipGrid, TakeLessons, LinkedIn Learning, Roblox, Pluralsight, and more fit into the Metaverse.

This event is free. Here are links to learn more and sign up:

Free Tickets
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gatherverse-summit-tickets-217609685427

Website
www.gatherversesummit.com

LinkedIn Event Link
https://www.linkedin.com/events/gatherversesummit20226871478586432454656/about/

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Guest on the Disrupting the Cloud Podcast

Recently I was a guest on the Disrupting the Cloud Podcast. This podcast is hosted by some of my fellow Microsoft colleagues LaBrina Loving and Brandon Martinez!

On the podcast episode, we discussed a number of topics starting with transitioning from working with hardware and software in the field to consulting, GitOps and its role in the DevOps ecosystem, authoring books/Pluralsight courses, SharePoint, System Center, Azure Arc, Kubernetes, and more!

More info about the podcast is here:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/disruptthecloud
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/disruptingthecloud

The hosts Twitter accounts:

LaBrina on Twitter: https://twitter.com/chixcancode
Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brandonmartinez

You can listen to the podcast episode here:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1216931/9991415

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New Rancher Course Published for Multiple Kubernetes Management

My 14th course has been published on Pluralsight! This course is titled “Getting Started with Rancher” and can be found here: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/rancher-getting-started

With the growth of Kubernetes, the complexity & needs have also grown. IT Professionals need help with the operational & security challenges of managing Kubernetes clusters across multiple clouds, on-premises, & the edge.

My new course will teach you how to use Rancher for multi-Kubernetes cluster management, streamlining Kubernetes cluster deployments, & unified multi-Kubernetes cluster app management. When you’re finished with this course, you’ll have the skills and knowledge of Rancher needed for multi-K8s cluster management.

There is a learning path on Pluralsight focused on Kubernetes management. This is my 3rd course in the Kubernetes Management path titled “Kubernetes Tooling and Techniques” on Pluralsight. My other courses in the path are: “GitOps: The Big Picture” and “Getting Started with Argo CD“. You can get to the path using this link: https://app.pluralsight.com/paths/skills/kubernetes-tooling-and-techniques

Again you can check out my new Rancher course here: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/mulesoft4-big-picture

I hope you find value in this new Getting Started with Rancher course. Be sure to follow my profile on Pluralsight so you will be notified as I release new courses related to Kubernetes and other topics! 

Here is the link to my Pluralsight profile to follow mehttps://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/steve-buchanan

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Next Chapter – Joining Microsoft

I am excited to announce the next chapter in my career. It has been a long time coming, I am joining Microsoft (going to the mothership). I will be joining an elite team focused on Azure product improvement in one of the engineering orgs as a Principal Program Manager. I will be focused on improving Azure’s end-to-end open-source & Kubernetes experiences as well as working with multiple clouds. Several things excite me about this role such as; the talented folks on the team, being a part of improving the Azure, continuing to expand my open-source skills, continuing to expand my multi-cloud skills, and working with various product groups as well as leadership.

I am really looking forward to this change in my career as I will be moving from the consulting discipline to the product/cloud provider discipline. I view this as a soft reboot to my career, the next chapter in my book, and the 3rd lap in the race of my career. The possibilities where this will lead are endless and will open many new doors.

With this move, I will no longer be a Microsoft MVP. Microsoft employees cannot be Microsoft MVPs. After 10 years as a Microsoft MVP, I will surely miss being a part of the MVP family. However, I will continue to contribute to the technical community through blogging, speaking at conferences, user groups, creating content such as e-books, sharing my insights on podcasts, and creating more Pluralsight courses! Sharing my knowledge is a part of who I am. Buchatech will live on! I look forward to working with folks from the other side of the table and continuing to interact/collaborate with folks in the community!

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Published new course on MuleSoft

Today my 13th course was published on Pluralsight! This course covers MuleSoft. API’s are everywhere today where technology is used. API’s are the glue behind the technologies we all use. The app you use on your phone, those videos you stream from home, the software you use at work all have API’s powering them connecting across many systems. With the increased amount of applications needed to run enterprises today the need for API integrations has increased along with the complexity.

MuleSoft has been a leader for some time in the API space. For anyone in technology, it is a good idea to gain an understanding of API’s and learning MuleSoft is one way to do that. Check out my course MuleSoft 4: The Big Picture.

This course will teach you how MuleSoft and the Anypoint platform can be utilized as a key part of your enterprise API strategy. You’ll learn about MuleSoft and the Anypoint platform as an end-to-end API solution. First, you’ll explore what MuleSoft and Anypoint are. Next, you’ll discover the various Anypoint platform components. Finally, you’ll learn how to build APIs & Integrations. When you’re finished with this course, you’ll have the skills and knowledge of MuleSoft needed to recommend and architect a solution for your API needs.

Check out the new MuleSoft course here: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/mulesoft4-big-picture

I hope you find value in this new MuleSoft 4: The Big Picture course. Be sure to follow my profile on Pluralsight so you will be notified as I release new courses

Here is the link to my Pluralsight profile to follow mehttps://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/steve-buchanan

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Azure Arc Book Published

I am excited to kick off the new year announcing that my 8th book has been published! This book is “Azure Arc-Enabled Kubernetes and Servers“.

I had the honor to co-author this book with a long-time friend and fellow Microsoft MVP John Joyner. This is John’s latest book since his last 8 years ago!

The forward was written by Thomas Maurer a former MVP and now Microsoft Azure Evangelist. This book was reviewed by fellow Microsoft MVP Adnan Hendricks and a chapter contributed by a buddy of mine Fred Limmer.

This book covers an exciting technology from Microsoft exploring Azure Arc-Enabled Kubernetes and Servers. This book is for DevOps professionals, system administrators, security professionals, cloud admins, and IT professionals that are responsible for servers or Kubernetes clusters both on-premises and in the cloud.

Author copies!

This book covers:

  • Introduces the basics of hybrid, multi-cloud, and edge computing and how Azure Arc fits into that IT strategy
  • Teaches the fundamentals of Azure Resource Manager, setting the reader up with the knowledge needed on the technology that underpins Azure Arc
  • Offers insights into Azure native management tooling for managing on-premises servers and extending to other clouds
  • Details an end-to-end hybrid server monitoring scenario leveraging Azure Monitor and/or Azure Sentinel that is seamlessly delivered by Azure Arc
  • Defines a blueprint to achieve regulatory compliance with industry standards using Azure Arc, delivering Azure Policy from Azure Defender for Servers
  • Explores how Git and GitHub integrate with Azure Arc; delves into how GitOps is used with Azure Arc
  • Empowers your DevOps teams to perform tasks that typically fall under IT operations
  • Dives into how to best use Azure CLI with Azure Arc

You can order the book and watch for its official release here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1484277678

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End of Year (2021) Review

This year was another abnormal year with ups and downs for many. Salute to everyone that kept pushing through any and all hardships you experienced. For me, my focus continued to be family and seizing all presented opportunities while blocking out as much unnecessary noise as possible.

Highlights:

I consider 2021 a spectacular year with several milestones and firsts for me. This year kicked off with me being featured in the Star Tribune (the 5th largest newspaper in the United States) in Superbowl Sunday’s paper! Other major highlights included being renewed as a Microsoft MVP for the 10th year, being promoted to an Azure Platform Offering Lead at work, developing 6 new courses for Pluralsight, publishing my 7th and 8th book one of them being my 1st book with O’Reilly, appearing on 5 podcasts/webinars, & speaking at 7 conferences/user groups of them being DevOpsDays MPLS! I also continued my virtual world tour speaking at events in Africa and even Jamaica!

Here is the full list of activities from 2021:

February 2021: Featured as a technology leader in Minnesota’s largest newspaper Star Tribune. Was a full page story. Bonus this was the super bowl Sunday newspaper.  https://m.startribune.com/twin-cities-technologist-steve-buchanan-sees-a-more-inclusive-expanding-future-for-young-minorities/600019839

February 2021: Published GitOps course on Pluralsight showcasing knowledge in AKS, Azure Arc, Kubernetes and GitOps.

February 2021: Presented at Omaha Azure User group on Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes & GitOps. 

February 2021: Presented on Containers in Azure for Lago’s (Nigeria) LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY (LASU) TECHX CONFERENCE. 

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