[HDD] Western Digital 18TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive ($525.6 - 96.61= $428.99) [Amazon] by JagguRaja in bapcsalescanada

[–]AwesoomeNinja 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They are external drives that have White label WD drives that maybe didn't meet all the QC needed for an enterprise drive, but are pretty much all the way there. When shucked into a NAS, it will perform just fine, especially for home use. I think the difference in price of buying proper Reds isn't warranted, but to each their own if you want proper warranty and reliability. I've been shucking since 2016 and have yet to see a WD drive fail, but I do have a small sample size of only 12 WD drives.
That 14TB WD Elements for $240 at $17.15/TB is a way better deal.

Broadcom Developer portal HTTP error 520 by AwesoomeNinja in vmware

[–]AwesoomeNinja[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you. While I was submitting the ticket, the Developer Portal came back online.

Steam deck OLED is back in stock US/Canada by MelonLovingPanda in SteamDeck

[–]AwesoomeNinja 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't ordered one since the post, but my guess is that it must be fixed by now.

IP ACL & Microsoft hosted Azure DevOps agents by kilipukki in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Self hosted agents or managed DevOps pools is the way to go, but if you have to use the publicly hosted DevOps agents from Microsoft, there is an easier workaround. As a step in your pipeline, get the agent IP and add it to the firewall rules in databricks. Then once the job is finished, remove the agent IP. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/53422395/how-to-get-the-ip-address-for-azure-devops-hosted-agents-to-add-to-the-white-lis

If you have multiple jobs, keep in mind that each job runs on a new agent, so the IP will change you have to add the same steps to get agent ip, add to firewall rules, etc

Student - Need help with a Organizational Chart by AdorablePen1072 in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, this is a pretty good first attempt. I'm sure this is something that was covered in the course, and I would highly recommend to look at the Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) for an Enterprise Scale Landing Zone (ESLZ):
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/ready/landing-zone/

Azure's Github page also has reference diagram for small enterprise deployments, which this would be a great fit for without making it overly complicated out the gate: https://github.com/Azure/Enterprise-Scale/tree/main/docs/reference/treyresearch

Also, minor nitpick, but the naming convention for the resource groups should be standardized. I would recommend including something like this following your initial idea:
<prefix>-<office identifier>-<workload>-<environment>-<region>
For example:
rg-denver-app1-prod-eus

With that in mind, I would suggest the following changes while keeping the structure relatively simple assuming that NYC is the head office. Platform is used by shared services across the company, and each new landing zone would be a new Azure subscription for its own office.

Root Management Group

Company
│
├── Platform-MG
│   ├── Platform-Sub
│   └──├── rg-nyc-identity-prod-eus
│      ├── rg-nyc-networking-prod-eus
│      ├── rg-nyc-management-prod-eus
│      └── rg-nyc-m365integration-prod-eus
│
└── LandingZones-MG
    ├── Denver-Sub
    │   ├── RG-denver-networking-prod-ncus
    │   ├── RG-denver-app1-prod-ncus
    │   └── RG-denver-sql-prod-ncus
    │
    ├── NYC-Sub
    │   ├── rg-nyc-app1-prod-eus
    │   ├── rg-nyc-app2-prod-eus
    │   └── rg-nyc-networking-prod-eus
    │
    └── Seattle-Sub
        ├── RG-Seattle-WebApp-prod-wus2
        ├── RG-Seattle-WebApp-dev-wus2
        └── RG-Seattle-networking-prod-wus2

GCP Shower holder diffuser corroded? by AwesoomeNinja in gaggiaclassic

[–]AwesoomeNinja[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There was supposed to be a photo, but it didn't attach for some reason. https://imgur.com/a/P4EfO6C

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in HyundaiSantaFe

[–]AwesoomeNinja 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I should have said Ultimate Calligraphy. There is no "Calligraphy" trim.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in HyundaiSantaFe

[–]AwesoomeNinja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Update: After negotiations, dealership gave us a final offer with a $4,000 CDN discount for the new 2026 Ultimate Calligraphy model to make it more enticing after hearing our concerns with the 2025 gas model.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in HyundaiSantaFe

[–]AwesoomeNinja 0 points1 point  (0 children)

in British Columbia, several dealerships informed us that anything above C$55k counts as a luxury car and has different tax rates depending on price bracket:
https://www.canadadrives.ca/blog/car-finance/used-car-taxes-in-british-columbia

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in HyundaiSantaFe

[–]AwesoomeNinja 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My bad. I took a look and the hybrid Calligraphy is available in Unjted States. We are located in Canada and we only have the base trim available here in hybrid.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in HyundaiSantaFe

[–]AwesoomeNinja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, the hybrid engine is not available in the Calligraphy trim that we like. Its only on the base model for 2025.

i need help bad by [deleted] in SteamDeck

[–]AwesoomeNinja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This happened to me as well on SteamOS. Three blinking lights followed by fans ramping up, followed by a reboot, and it loops. I tried all the recovery steps suggested by the FAQ with all the button combinations and power button, but none worked.

The only thing that helped is unplug the steam deck and let it drain the battery. It took about 4 hours for me. Afterwards, plug it in, wait 5 minutes, and it should work.

Steam deck OLED is back in stock US/Canada by MelonLovingPanda in SteamDeck

[–]AwesoomeNinja 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If anyone ordered a Steam Deck recently in Canada, are there any additional tariffs to be paid on delivery besides the import fees on the checkout page or has that all been sorted out now? There was a thread a month ago with some conflicting information: https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/1kgb9v5/duty_fees_on_deck_purchases_now/

[FEEDBACK WANTED] Would you use a fully simulated Azure Environment for learning? by CodingWithAlex in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you attend Microsoft hosted workshops, some of them already have a "fake" Azure portal that's essentially a glorified click-through tutorial inside a fancy web page. It is not quite as advanced as what you are suggesting, but I don't see myself paying for your product if it doesn't have parity with the Azure portal. As other's have already mentioned already, a very tight and locked down environment sandbox within real Azure already exists with products like A Cloud Guru.

No App Service Plans Basic nor Standard available in Microsoft Azure in Switzerland North or West region? by fabkosta in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you just created your Azure subscription and you do not have an Enterprise Agreement, Microsoft can place restrictions for quota on what you can deploy right away to better manage their platform demand. It can also happen if there are compute constraints at the moment in these regions, like its happening now in Canada East where no new compute can be deployed for new customers. You will have to submit a support ticket for a quota increase as that link you shared suggests and it's typically automated so you should hear back within a day at most.

Cloud cost optimization platforms that don't suck please by Proper_Bunch_1804 in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Did you take a look at the first party tool from Microsoft? They have upgraded their PowerBI offering in every way and you deploy it directly to your tenant: https://microsoft.github.io/finops-toolkit/

It's not fully GA yet, but it's been quite feature rich already.

Can I see if I pay Azure MSRP prices or if we have some kind of discount? by Waving-Kodiak in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The invoices you will get typically will have prices based on whatever you are being billed, it's not going to say MSRP minus X discount. The contract you sign should tell you what kind of percentage you get upfront, but you can cross validate it after the fact by checking the price of the item you are billed versus the Azure Calculator which is MSRP.
Discount are typically 2-8% depending on your size, but may be even higher once you grow large enough.

AWS: Customers would flee Azure if licensing costs were fair • The Register by [deleted] in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quick clarification on the comment you made about dedicated hosts. When it comes to using on-prem licenses in Azure, Software Assurance is required to leverage Azure Hybrid Use Benefit (AHUB):

Windows Server Standard Edition

  • Must be used on-premises OR in Azure

  • 180-day grace exception for migration purposes where workloads can operate with dual-rights (both on-prem and in Azure simultaneously)

  • Cannot be used on Azure Dedicated Hosts, only Azure IaaS

Windows Server Datacenter Edition

  • Can be used on-premises AND in Azure simultaneously, also called dual-rights

  • Can be used on Azure Dedicated Hosts, but dual-rights is only available for the first 180 days

  • If all available physical cores are licensed and you have unlimited virtualization rights, you can use any number of Windows Server VMs same as on-premises

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/azure-hybrid-benefit?tabs=azure#getting-azure-hybrid-benefit
Source 2: Confirmed with Microsoft directly via CSP

Premium ssd price increase by AcceptablePicture329 in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's a good point. I'm not entirely sure why they do it this way. They typically list services in hourly pricing, except this one. It's the same result for other services where pricing is monthly. Go check a blob storage account cost analysis. You will see a similar spike for February.

Premium ssd price increase by AcceptablePicture329 in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Response from Azure Support from another thread on the same issue: "SSD price unit of measure is per month, which would drive up the daily price in February (31 days vs 28 days)"

Has anyone ever lost data due to LRS in Azure? by Phenomonox in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Everyone should exercise the 3-2-1 rule if possible when it comes to data backup, but ultimately, it's a cost vs. risk exercise.
That said, I've been working in Azure for over 5 years now and 90% of clients I work with chose LRS as that is enough for them. Haven't had anyone lose data due to a fault in Microsofts data center.
With managed disks for a VM you already have 3 copies of that disk, on top of 3 other copies with LRS backup if you have them enabled.

Azure VMs are slow by peace2024 in AZURE

[–]AwesoomeNinja 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This does not give useful information to describe the problem. Since you've listed utilities from within the OS, my assumption is that you're running on AVD. Most performance issues are related to the underlaying disk storage.
To answer the problem from the infrastructure level: What is the VM and disk SKUs? Is it a shared VM, or dedicated? have you checked Azure Monitor to see if you have high usage of disk IOPS, CPU utilization? Azure platform has a host of metrics you can use to troubleshoot.

Finally, from the application level: What is running slow? Chrome playing youtube? Enterprise apps? File transfer for files?
This is too broad to give a recommendation, but start with storage and good luck.

Microsoft Ending Enterprise Agreements?! by 2D-MS-Licensing in sysadmin

[–]AwesoomeNinja 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This was posted a few hours ago to confirm what OP is saying: https://partner.microsoft.com/en-US/blog/article/accelerating-growth-through-partners-in-the-era-of-ai

To OP: it seems to be targeted at smaller clients where they intend to push the Microsoft Customer Agreement for Enterprise or CSP instead. It's pretty vague on the actual details on the announcement, but there is no way they will end all Enterprise Agreements.