DAG DB’s flipping all the time randomly for no apparent reason

I have run into this issue several times in my travels and want people to be aware of this problem. In a DAG (Database Availability Group), if your databases are randomly mounting or flipping from one server to another, including across datacenters, you may be allowing your Network Interface Card (NIC) to go to sleep.

New Snipping tool

Just got my notification that Windows 10 is implementing a new snipping tool. The snipping tool was introduced in Windows Vista and is now being updated with the ‘Snip & Sketch’. You can download the toolset from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/snip-sketch/9mz95kl8mr0l#activetab=pivot:overviewtab

cmdlet: Get-DistributionGroupMember

Q: Is there a way to list or get members in a distribution group? A: Yes, there is the built in Get-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet available, both for an on premises Exchange Server environment and Exchange online tenants. Get-DistributionGroupMember -Identity GroupName -Member UserName  

Documentation made easy

I’m going to tell you a way that you can make change management documents with ease, build ‘run documentation’ for your IT staff in seconds, generate user training articles effortlessly, and it’s all FREE! That’s right. Build, create, and share documentation for free. How you ask? With the Windows built-in psr.exe application. What? Haven’t heard

FieldNote: Secure password in file?

Sometimes you must store a password for an account in a PowerShell script file. One option is to leverage the ConvertTo-SecureStringcmdlet. By running this cmdlet on a machine, with a specific password, a secure string is generated. You put that value into your file, and then you can run a ConvertFrom-SecureSting to run the script securely. However, I

RunAs Radio: Stories from the Field

I was interviewed for a ‘RunAs Radio’ episode which was posted on August 29, 2019 with a 30 minute discussion about stories from the field. Ready for a chuckle? Richard chats with Mike O'Neill about a number of stories from his work as a Premier Field Engineer for Microsoft. While it's best to always be kind, some

Introduction

Hello, my name is Mike O’Neill and I’m a Senior Premier Field Engineer (PFE) working for Microsoft. I am currently working within the Messaging (Exchange) discipline but also work with PowerShell and Active Directory. I have the opportunity to visit many different companies in my profession. While I may not post a lot of blogs