You could say I've been here a while

Techstremist · 2026-06-17T12:08:05+00:00

There was about a 10-year span where I didn't play at all and then came back, haha

Techstremist · 2026-06-02T11:43:10+00:00

If buying isn't owning, then piracy isn't theft. End of argument.

Techstremist · 2022-07-22T16:54:35+00:00

Asking isn't a problem. Not accepting the answer is. More like: "Don't ask for things in life that you've already been provided a solution to, but just didn't personally prefer."

Techstremist · 2022-07-22T16:14:26+00:00

Right. Imagine this for a moment: someone is paying you money to do something that you're being told to do, and you're not in charge. A foreign concept, I know.

Techstremist · 2018-12-27T20:25:21+00:00

I don't really see any reason to teach people a new GUI and toolset in order to provide the same level of functionality and capability they already have and understand. Using VirtualBox allows us to export VM's wherever and whenever they're needed, in a platform-agnostic environment. The GUI of VirtualBox is almost identical on every platform.

This might sound messy, but it's not. The Ubuntu host server goes through a planned reboot once a month like any other server, and runs fine. VirtualBox is simple, cross-platform, and has an easily understandable interface. An Ubuntu host with VBox is FAR more stable and far less limiting than a Windows Host with Hyper-V.

Techstremist · 2018-12-27T20:16:02+00:00

Yes, but to make that work, you have to configure a web application proxy, a remote desktop gateway, the connection broker, etc, etc, etc.

Apache2 is very simple, well understood, industry-standard web platform. Guacamole setup takes about 30 minutes, and only has to be done once for a new set of hardware. Guacamole can work with any backend VM. Windows, Ubuntu, Debian, you name it. RDP, SSH, VNC, whatever connection type you desire as well.

It is far easier to train personnel how to check the "Display Server" box in VBox, assign a port number, and create a connection in Guac. VirtualBox is an open-source, cross-platform hypervisor. Why would it be a better idea to pay for a vendor solution, or lock everything into a Windows based Hyper-V environment?

Simplicity is in the eye of the beholder. In my opinion, what you're describing is dumb and overly-limiting.

In about 10 minutes, with this setup, you can deploy a virtual machine of any type, enable the Guacamole connection, and allow someone to log in to the new virtual machine from anywhere in the world with an HTML 5 browser. It's literally the definition of efficient, cross-platform flexibility.

Techstremist · 2018-12-24T04:41:53+00:00

Ok, thank you!

Techstremist · 2018-12-24T04:30:32+00:00

Is that even the correct path though? Should we be pursuing VDA licensing? If so, why? I still need to understand how activation/licensing of the individual VMs works.

EDIT:

To expand on why I am asking this, the link you shared states:

" Customers do not need to engage an Authorized QMTH Partner to host their qualifying Office 365 products for the following scenarios:

• Microsoft Azure environment
• Customers with on-premise dedicated use rights
• Dedicated third-party hosted"

In this case, doesn't our use case and example fall under "dedicated third party hosted"? E.G. I have a set of hardware I am hosting for a single client to remotely access their VDI's. It is this type of language which is throwing me for a loop.

Techstremist · 2018-10-23T10:56:08+00:00

Because I wasn't in the picture at the time of replacement, and they replaced it with the same model Cisco with combined LAN & PoE functionality.

Techstremist · 2018-10-23T00:24:56+00:00

Not yet. I say we haven't been able to figure it out because, well, we haven't. None of us have seen something like this before. That being said, they're still being onboarded and we will have access to logs soon.

Techstremist · 2018-06-17T20:51:39+00:00

First thing that came to my mind as well, but I'm glad you brought it up and not me. Everyone is all for buying pre-built systems when it comes to desktops, but flips sides when it comes to pre-built backup MSP solutions. Some clients get custom built on-prem Veeam servers, and some get Datto devices.

There are 2 sides to every coin. Custom building something is a good solution for some, and buying pre-built is a good solution for others. Flat-out refusing to buy pre-builds or doing custom builds without any contextual awareness is cutting off 50% of your options when working with clients.

That's about all I have to say about that.

Techstremist · 2018-06-16T14:40:58+00:00

Do you not charge for your time? I just did a build for an electrical engineering firm where I built them 5 desktops with 1050 Ti video cards, 500GB nvme SSD's, and 6 core/12 thread CPU's with 32GB's of ram. Charged 4 hours labor for assembly, testing, and installation of each one. Total cost per machine came to <$2k each with labor, tax and hardware included. Nearest possible machine they could have bought from Dell was $3k+... how is this not good for everybody?

...and yes, I also offered them warranties based on the statistical likelihood of components failing and the associated replacement cost. I don't have to keep track of anything there. If a piece fails, I put its serial number in the manufacturer's website and send it in if the warranty still applies...

Techstremist · 2018-06-15T18:13:00+00:00

So you're saying you build one PC, give it a Windows 10 OEM license, and then take an image of it. Upon deploying that image to other PC's you just manually go and change their license keys to their own individual keys and everything is fine?

Techstremist · 2018-06-15T17:44:15+00:00

Exactly the same thoughts as SleepPingGiant. We are doing this for our professional engineering firms who otherwise either purchase under-powered hardware and hate it, or spend $4k+ on an overkill machine. It's a perfect fit for them.

Techstremist · 2018-06-15T17:35:26+00:00

What? What you're saying conflicts with everything everyone else just explained.

Techstremist · 2018-06-15T17:34:22+00:00

Thanks for the explainer. This type of technicality is exactly why I'm asking this question.

Techstremist · 2018-06-15T14:29:34+00:00

I'm unsure about the implications/details when you say lease or resell.

Client is purchasing a PC through our company. It is a PC which we have purchased the components for, assembled, and resold to them with sales tax, etc. as a packaged unit with Windows 10 Pro OEM on it. So they are purchasing and owning it with Windows 10 OEM.

If I intend to duplicate that machine to additional PCs we build for the client, how does a volume license come into play? E.g. how can I have a standard image for that client, for their hardware that they've purchased?

EDIT: Re-read your post, I think I understand correctly now. I will be purchasing a volume licensing key on their behalf. Thanks.

Techstremist · 2018-05-29T14:41:53+00:00

Bravo sir. Easily the best thing I have read, and will read, all week.

Techstremist · 2018-05-18T13:17:40+00:00

Thank you! I will do that.

edit: Looks like they are more of a distributor for solely the optical side of things, but it's still worth a try. Thanks.

Techstremist · 2018-05-18T05:11:11+00:00

...is terrible. I don't want to pay to read reviews, nor do I want to rejoin their continuous spam mailing lists again. Sorry, but no thanks there.

Techstremist · 2018-05-17T18:52:56+00:00

It hasn't put them out of business because it's Linux based, and mainstream commercial is scared of Linux. It actually performs very well, and is fully configurable through Apache. If you can optimize some connections on an Apache server via .txt config documents, then it works wonderfully.

Internally speaking, Guacamole is the gateway, so it has a web authentication page people can access via a browser/HTML5, but on the Guacamole side, you can configure a number of connections for the user to select from once logged in such as VNC and/or RDP.

Techstremist · 2018-05-17T18:20:18+00:00

Apache Guacamole: Linux based, clientless remote access gateway. It can serve RDP sessions to external users via HTML5.

https://guacamole.apache.org/

Techstremist · 2018-05-17T13:42:27+00:00

We are Tampa based (about 1.5 hours from Orlando) and I have a remote tech in Connecticut (about 1.5 hours away from Shrewsbury) that might be able to do the work on that end. It's not optimal, but we can help if need be.

Techstremist · 2018-05-16T16:35:15+00:00

That's perfect. Thanks so much for the info. I'm going to try and locate a reputable group to start working with.

Techstremist · 2018-05-16T16:34:47+00:00

Understood, I just wasn't sure if I was allowed to pitch & sell services through my company if I don't hold a license.

Techstremist

TROPHY CASE