After checking that our availability-group dashboard was showing green/Healthy, we uploaded a document to a document library in our farm. Our goal was to see if the document made it to both HA1 and HA2 at the database layer. It's fairly easy to check the primary database. You can use SQL Server Management Studio to connect to the primary database server and run a query like the following against the Content database: select * from AllDocs order by TimeCreated desc (The LeafName column contains the name of the uploaded document - see AllDocs Table.)

Checking the secondary database isn't quite as simple, because you typically can't run queries against the secondary. We shut down our primary database-server virtual machine (see Failover and Failover Modes for more info) and waited a few minutes. After the secondary took over the primary role, which didn't take too long - a couple minutes, we were able to run our query against the new primary and check that the document had indeed made it into both databases.

Many organizations do not have a disaster recovery environment for SharePoint, which can be expensive to build and maintain on-premises. Azure Infrastructure Services provides compelling options for disaster recovery environments that are more flexible and less expensive than the on-premises alternatives.

I wrote a blog post at the Microsoft Test Lab Guides blog that has more details:

This new TLG uses a fictional Microsoft account and company and the on-premises base configuration test lab to set up a working trail subscription for Office 365 ProPlus, which includes Exchange Online, Lync Online, and SharePoint Online.

In the discussion, Neil talks about the SQL Server and SharePoint features that apply specifically, such as failover clustering, database mirroring, log shipping (which isn't too difficult to configure, I've found), and AlwaysOn Availability Groups.

Check it out and get educated!

...When you look at our big data assets and you think about big data and what we do with big data here in the company, the ability to bet on Hadoop is at the heart of our big data story.  

So what we've done with Hadoop is we've made a full bet.  We're completely aligned with Apache on Hadoop.  So as Hadoop evolves and changes, the ability to be aligned with Apache on that is something we offer that a lot of companies don't.  

The second part of the big data story that I'd share with you is the ability to have Hadoop run on Azure.  And being able to take Hadoop and run those clusters up in our cloud is something that we're really proud of.  

The third thing I would tell you is we've got something in beta right now called Power BI.  And on the Power BI front, the ability to have incredible, rich, visual presentations with graphs and three-dimensional visuals is something we offer very uniquely on the Power BI standpoint.  

So when you look at the opportunity across big data, we think we're very uniquely positioned with SharePoint, with Excel, with SQL, and with the offerings that we've got in market because we also have a parallel data warehouse SKU available as well.  We think that really gives us a very nice way and ability to really get into it.  

After reading this I thought, "I don't even know how Hadoop works, on a technical level. I should ramp up on it, since the executives obviously think it's important." So I searched around a bit to find some ramp-up type information. I ran across this video interview of Mike Olson, CEO of Cloudera, called What is Hadoop?, which is helpful. In the first six or seven minutes of the interview he gives a nice, succinct description of Hadoop and how it crunches data.

Virtual machines in Azure IaaS - Why should I use them, and what do I need to know to use them successfully? - The past month or so I've been looking into Azure's features and the Infrastructure as a Service features in particular are impressive. You can create a virtual machine or group of virtual machines really quickly. You can use them as a disconnected test environment, or connect them to your on-premises AD environment. The articles and other resources grouped at this link can help you understand Azure VMs and get started using them.

Get started using SharePoint 2010 or 2013 on Windows Azure virtual machines - Use these resources to learn how to deploy SharePoint in Windows Azure - the guidance and tutorials featured here will get you going!

You may know that all FOPE customers are being upgraded to Exchange Online Protection and wondered, "How is this going to work?" This content will help you understand what happens before, during, and after your service upgrade. It also describes important steps you may need to take to ensure a smooth transition, including assigning a point of contact and configuring your MX record.

We hope these topics are helpful for you.

Phishing — typically emails that fool the victim into believing they're answering a request for information from a company they do business with — is one of the most common and longest running types of internet scams. Yet losses increased by more than 20% in 2012, according to the security firm RSA...

Some phishing scams have gotten more elaborate over time, in some cases utilizing bits of information already collected about the targets — appearing to be contacts from, say, the victim's actual bank and using the proper logos — making the requests appear authentic.

"Phishing scams are all too prevalent, and fraudsters are getting increasingly sophisticated at impersonating trusted organizations," said Jennifer Fischer, head of Americas payment system security for Visa. "It’s important for consumers to be aware of this popular tactic and be alert whenever they receive a request for their personal or payment information."

At home I'm constantly coaching my family to be aware phishing messages, and I tell them what to look for - queries for personal information, domain names that are slightly different than a company they're familiar with (chasebankco.com, rather than chase.com, for instance), and so on. It's tough though. I've clicked innocuous looking links and gotten my computer infected with malware a couple times. And I'm in the business!

There isn't a magic bullet for safe emailing. You have to remain vigilant.  

What businesses are your customers in?
Beauty products, auto sales, manufacturing, recruiting. Many kinds.

What are their IT environments like?
I have several customers running Windows Server 2008 with a separate Exchange server at their site, and a few on Windows Small Business Server 2011, which includes Exchange and SharePoint. I also have a couple running Windows Server on premises with Exchange Online for messaging.  

What versions of Exchange do your customers use?
Several use Exchange 2010. I have one on Exchange 2007, and one on Exchange 2003. I'm going to upgrade the customer on Exchange 2003 soon. There are also a couple on Exchange Online, which I mentioned.

Why not use the whole Office 365 suite, which includes SharePoint and Lync?
To some of our customers, SharePoint is new. So I give them the option of having Exchange only, which is less money.

I'm currently training one of our customers to use SharePoint, but it can take time.

Do you have a rule of thumb for recommending that a customer upgrade their server software?
Typically, we'll initially look at their hardware to see if it's still under warranty. Most server vendors offer a three-year warranty at the time of purchase. In the majority of cases, we advise the customer to buy two additional years, so each server is covered for five years. After that five-year period ends, we'll upgrade their servers and their server software. 

If you were looking for an anti-spam-protection solution for a customer, how would you find it?
I already know who the bigger players are, from reading industry news: Postini, FOPE, Barracuda, MX Logic.

If I were looking for a new provider, I'd search the Web. At this point he opens a browser at his desk and performs a few searches, including "mx spam filtering providers," "best spam filtering MX providers," and "Microsoft spam filtering."

I'd read reviews. He clicks a link for FOPE and it redirects him to the EOP landing page.

A dollar a month is a good deal. When am I going to be upgraded? He laughs. (His customers use FOPE.)

How do you find product help, in general?
I use search engines, like Google and Bing. I like descriptive titles [for topics].

I ask him to look at a couple Exchange Server help topics, to get his feedback. I tell him that we've made some changes to the way we document Exchange, by being more prescriptive and covering distinct scenarios. Initially, I show him Create an SMTP Send Connector, from the Exchange Server 2010 documentation. As a contrast, I show him Create a Send Connector for Email Sent to the Internet from the Exchange Server 2013 TechNet help content.

What are you looking for when you view a procedural topic like these?
If I'm looking at a topic like this, I'm trying to do a task. I usually go straight to the steps. If there is too much text on the page, it can be overwhelming. (Waves his hand at the screen.) I just skip down to the part I need.

Usually It's okay if the topic isn't addressing the exact task I'm trying to solve. If it's similar to what I'm trying to do, I can improvise, while using the topic steps as a reference.

I like that this is targeted. (Here he's referring to the latter topic.) Like 'Create a send connector to do this…' I like when these topics show up in search, because I can see what the topic is going to tell me before I go there. I don't want too many things to do, all in one place.

What do you think of video or conceptual graphics in a topic?
The more the better. If I find a video that shows how to complete a task I want to do, I'll watch it to get a feel for the steps. Just this morning I watched a video about Hyper-V configuration. The video is a confidence builder. It helps me understand the big idea. Then I'll read the steps in the topic while doing the task. Sometimes I'll watch the video and then go perform the steps, without even reading the topic.

Screenshots are good. You don't have to show every step. Just the most important. Anything visual is cool.

I show him a few conceptual topics covering connectors. 

Do you read the high-level conceptual documents?
I don't read these as much.

In a subsequent blog post I will share an interview I did with another IT pro, covering the same subjects.