Entrevista da semana (JAN 03/04): Paolo Valsecchi (Italia)

Olá pessoal,

na entrevista desta semana eu conversei com Paolo Valsecchi, que eu conheci através do programa Veeam Vanguard, do qual ainda fazemos parte e atualmente é System Engineer na Farmaceutici Dott. Ciccarelli na Itália, além de manter um blog que eu acompanho e recomendo que é o Nolabnoparty.com. Paolo tem experiência focada na concepção e gerenciamento de ambientes de TI com base no VMware vSphere e no Active Directory. Então vamos conhecer mais um pouco sobre este profissional de destaque na área de TI.

1 – How did your interest in computers arise and how did you get started in IT?

Technology always fascinated me and when I had the chance to “touch” a computer, it was love at first sigh. I started my IT adventure as trainer for Office products then designing and implementing IT solutions became my way.

2 – Tell us about your current work and projects.

I currently work as System Engineer mainly focused on VMware vSphere, Microsoft technologies (Active Directory, Office 365, DNS, DHCP, …), and backup/DR solutions. I’ve done several projects (vSAN is currently on the way) but the last one gave me a big satisfaction: I’m a co-author of the book Mastering VMware vSphere 6.5.

3 – Do you have any IT certification? What are your specialties?

I hold the VMware VCP-DCV and VMCE certifications. My skill is focused on VMware vSphere (setup, configuration, HR/DRS/FT, patching, deployment, …), backup strategies (backup, replication, disaster recovery, repository infrastructure, instant recovery,  VTL, …) and Microsoft technologies (Windows Server, Active Directory, Office 365).

4 – How important are you to working with the technical community?

Tech communities are the main channels to get info, solutions, tips, fixes and so on where you have interaction and you can receive answers within few minutes, a very important aspect especially if you are in deep trouble and time is critical.

5 – What is your opinion about the programs of influencers that the big manufacturers maintain? Do you participate in which ones?

Influencer programs are definetively a useful channel to promote and spread the knowledge at high level of specific products. I do participate to these programs and I have been awarded with the vExpert and Vanguard titles.

6 – We know that IT is very dynamic. How do you keep up to date? What magazines, books, websites or blogs do you recommend? (send photos)

IT is not dynamic… is too much dynamic! It always more complicated to stay up to date because new technologies (especially cloud related) not always can be replicated on lab environments where you can play with. Blogs are my preferred channel to get information because bloggers write articles to explain procedures/products to help the community, often better than magazines or official websites. I don’t read any particular magazine since info I need can be retrieved by googling. There are lot of interesting blogs around the world and the list would be very long… every blog offers different topics and contents… just type the info you need in Google and you can discover lot of new and interesting sources.

7 – Count the equipment you have and use in your work. Do you have a Home Lab? (send photos)

At work I use different systems… mainly HPE servers and storage devices, but also some SuperMicro, QNAP and Synology NAS for backup purposes, and so on. Plus some cloud services.

I have a home lab I use to study and where also most of my blog posts are taken from. In my blog you can get all details of the equipments used.

This is the picture of my current lab… I’m going to add a third host and a new storage quite soon.

8 – What is your favorite system? Windows, Linux or Mac OS?

I work mainly with Windows systems but I use Linux as well for specific tasks to save some “licenses”.

9 – Are you a gaming enthusiast? If so, do you play on what platforms?

Not really, I used to play FIFA soccer for a while but I gave up to give space to my main hobby, that is music.

10 – To finish, give us your channels of communication on the Internet and how readers can contact you (Blog, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, site …)

Blog: https://nolabnoparty.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nolabnoparty

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paolovalsecchi/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/nolabnoparty

Entrevista da semana (JAN 02/04): Dmitry Kniazev – Veeam (Russia)

Olá pessoal,

na entrevista desta semana eu conversei com Dmitry Kniazev, que é coordenador técnico dentro de uma equipe de estratégia de produtos da Veeam, com sede em São Petersburgo, na Rússia. O seu foco principal atualmente é Virtualização, Linux e Cloud. Uma grande parte de seu trabalho é orientada para a comunidade, ele é responsável pelo programa Veeam Vanguard e outras iniciativas comunitárias.

1 – How did you get started in IT?

I always was a computer enthusiast but never actually considered IT as my profession. I graduated a business school in San Francisco with a master’s degree in marketing. When I got into Veeam I started in marketing department, but quickly started learning technical aspects of the products, got my VMCE certification and made a transition to a technical team. So overall, I’d say I started in IT around 2 years ago.

2 – Talk about your work at Veeam.

Currently my title is: Technical Analyst, Product Strategy. My position has two sides to it.

First one is technical/educational. I’m using my understanding of our products and ecosystems to tell people how our products work and how to use them to get best results. I do it at different IT events, during webinars, etc.

Second one is community oriented: I am coordinating a Veeam Vanguard program. It’s a special appreciation program for IT influencers who are big Veeam’s supporters and contribute a lot by doing events, webiars, blogs, etc.

 3 – Do you have any IT certification? What are your specialties?

I have a Veeam Certified Engineer credential, also I’m a vExpert. I’m mostly interested in Linux and our Veeam Agents

 4 – What is your opinion about the programs of influencers that the major manufacturers maintain?

I can’t really talk about this since Microsoft and Vmware are our alliance partners, so I’m not allowed to publically compare them=)

5 – Tell us a little about the Veeam Vanguard program.

Veeam Vanguard is a program that we launched in 2015. Our team manually selects a small number (around 50) of people around the globe that are true Veeam fans and contribute a lot to the community. The perks of beeing in the Program include a fully paid trip to VeeamON or other big event, branded exclusive swag, direct link with product managers and access to slack channel where you can meet other Vanguards.

We’ll be opening nominations later this year so if you are interested or know someone who would be a good fit, please nominate when the polls are open.

6 – We know that IT is very dynamic. How do you keep up to date? What magazines, books, websites or blogs do you recommend?

I’m mostly reading blogs and try to figure out stuff on my own in the lab.

My favorite source of info is Gostev’s forum digest, it gives me the essence of what happened in virtualization and IT in general for the past week.

7 – Count the equipment you have and use in your work. Do you have a Home Lab? 

We have our team’s shared lab, I have two nested ESXi hosts and a bunch of storage options that Veeam has integration with. Pretty capable lab if you ask me.

8 – What is your favorite system? Windows, Linux or Mac OS?

MacOS as an end user, windows as a system for tech stuff.

9 – Are you a gaming enthusiast? If so, do you play on what platforms? 

I used to be a PC gamer, but recently I bought a PS4 and Nintendo Switch

10 – Finally, give us your channels of communication on the Internet and how readers can contact you (Blog, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, site …)

You can reach out to me via my twiiter handle: https://twitter.com/vmdk_co