I passed the GH‑900: GitHub Foundations exam!
Hi everyone, I’m excited to share that I cleared the GH‑900 (GitHub Foundations) exam with a good score! This certification validates my understanding of Git, repository collaboration, pull requests, and GitHub’s core features. Preparation Approach: I studied using Microsoft Learn resources and the GH‑900 study guide. For extra practice and exam-style questions, I used dumps-4-azure — it really gave me the extra edge for exam readiness. I also practiced hands-on with real GitHub workflows (branches, pull requests, projects) to reinforce my understanding. Key Takeaways: The exam tests foundational Git + GitHub collaboration skills — not just theory. Practical experience combined with mock questions made a big difference. Consistency in daily preparation is the key. Next Steps: After GH‑900, I’m planning to go for GH‑100 (GitHub Administration) to deepen my GitHub skills at the organizational level.
Azure support team not responding to support request
I am posting here because I have not received a response to my support request despite my plan stating that I should hear back within 8 hours. It has now gone a day beyond that limit, and I am still waiting for assistance with this urgent matter. This issue is critical for my operations, and the delay is unacceptable. The ticket/reference number for my original support request was 2410100040000309. And I have created a brand new service request with ID 2412160040010160. I need this addressed immediately.Applying DevOps Principles on Lean Infrastructure. Lessons From Scaling to 102K Users.
Hi Azure Community, I'm a Microsoft Certified DevOps Engineer, and I want to share an unusual journey. I have been applying DevOps principles on traditional VPS infrastructure to scale to 102,000 users with 99.2% uptime. Why am I posting this in an Azure community? Because I'm planning migration to Azure in 2026, and I want to understand: What mistakes am I already making that will bite me during migration? THE CURRENT SETUP Platform: Social commerce (West Africa) Users: 102,000 active Monthly events: 2 million Uptime: 99.2% Infrastructure: Single VPS Stack: PHP/Laravel, MySQL, Redis Yes - one VPS. No cloud. No Kubernetes. No microservices. WHY I HAVEN'T USED AZURE YET Honest answer: Budget constraints in emerging market startup ecosystem. At our current scale, fully managed Azure services would significantly increase monthly burn before product-market expansion. The funding we raised needs to last through growth milestones. The trade: I manually optimize what Azure would auto-scale. I debug what Application Insights would catch. I do by hand what Azure Functions would automate. DEVOPS PRACTICES THAT KEPT US RUNNING Even on single-server infrastructure, core DevOps principles still apply: CI/CD Pipeline (GitHub Actions) • 3-5 deployments weekly • Zero-downtime deploys • Automated rollback on health check failures • Feature flags for gradual rollouts Monitoring & Observability • Custom monitoring (would love Application Insights) • Real-time alerting • Performance tracking and slow query detection • Resource usage monitoring Automation • Automated backups • Automated database optimization • Automated image compression • Automated security updates Infrastructure as Code • Configs in Git • Deployment scripts • Environment variables • Documented procedures Testing & Quality • Automated test suite • Pre-deployment health checks • Staging environment • Post-deployment verification KEY OPTIMIZATIONS Async Job Processing • Upload endpoint: 8 seconds → 340ms • 4x capacity increase Database Optimization • Feed loading: 6.4 seconds → 280ms • Strategic caching • Batch processing Image Compression • 3-8MB → 180KB (94% reduction) • Critical for mobile users Caching Strategy • Redis for hot data • Query result caching • Smart invalidation Progressive Enhancement • Server-rendered pages • 2-3 second loads on 4G WHAT I'M WORRIED ABOUT FOR AZURE MIGRATION This is where I need your help: Architecture Decisions • App Service vs Functions + managed services? • MySQL vs Azure SQL? • When does cost/benefit flip for managed services? Cost Management • How do startups manage Azure costs during growth? • Reserved instances vs pay-as-you-go? • Which Azure services are worth the premium? Migration Strategy • Lift-and-shift first, or re-architect immediately? • Zero-downtime migration with 102K active users? • Validation approach before full cutover? Monitoring & DevOps • Application Insights - worth it from day one? • Azure DevOps vs GitHub Actions for Azure deployments? • Operational burden reduction with managed services? Development Workflow • Local development against Azure services? • Cost-effective staging environments? • Testing Azure features without constant bills? MY PLANNED MIGRATION PATH Phase 1: Hybrid (Q1 2026) • Azure CDN for static assets • Azure Blob Storage for images • Application Insights trial • Keep compute on VPS Phase 2: Compute Migration (Q2 2026) • App Service for API • Azure Database for MySQL • Azure Cache for Redis • VPS for background jobs Phase 3: Full Azure (Q3 2026) • Azure Functions for processing • Full managed services • Retire VPS QUESTIONS FOR THIS COMMUNITY Question 1: Am I making migration harder by waiting? Should I have started with Azure at higher cost to avoid technical debt? Question 2: What will break when I migrate? What works on VPS but fails in cloud? What assumptions won't hold? Question 3: How do I validate before cutting over? Parallel infrastructure? Gradual traffic shift? Safe patterns? Question 4: Cost optimization from day one? What to optimize immediately vs later? Common cost mistakes? Question 5: DevOps practices that transfer? What stays the same? What needs rethinking for cloud-native? THE BIGGER QUESTION Have you migrated from self-hosted to Azure? What surprised you? I know my setup isn't best practice by Azure standards. But it's working, and I've learned optimization, monitoring, and DevOps fundamentals in practice. Will those lessons transfer? Or am I building habits that cloud will expose as problematic? Looking forward to insights from folks who've made similar migrations. --- About the Author: Microsoft Certified DevOps Engineer and Azure Developer. CTO at social commerce platform scaling in West Africa. Preparing for phased Azure migration in 2026. P.S. I got the Azure certifications to prepare for this migration. Now I need real-world wisdom from people who've actually done it!Outlook 365 Organization Chart not working with Azure Manager
I was hoping someone could help me because I couldn't find the information online. I am getting this message when I click on the Organization tab in the user details from the Outlook 365 "see more..." I get this message: "We don't have the details to show the organization chart for [Name of Person]. Organization details are provided by your admin or human resources department." I have updated their profile in Azure and selected their manager. For some reason on my desktop outlook application, it is showing the organization chart, but not titles. I am not sure why this is happening. I would appreciate any help! Thank you so very much!
How College Students Can Claim Free Azure Credits and Start Building in the Cloud
Are you a college student eager to explore cloud computing, AI, app development, or data science—but worried about the cost? Microsoft Azure has your back. With the Azure for Students offer, you can get $100 in free Azure credits—no credit card required. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you claim your credits and start building today. ✅ How to Get Started Step 1: Check Your Eligibility You must be: 18 years or older Enrolled full-time at a degree-granting college or university Able to verify with valid university email address Step 2: Create a Personal Microsoft Account Don't use your college-issued work account. Instead, sign in with a personal Microsoft account (e.g., your Gmail). 👉 CREATE ONE HERE: https://signup.live.com Step 3: Sign-Up for Azure for Students Go to 👉 https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/free/students/ Click “Start free” and sign in with your personal Microsoft account. Step 4: Verify Student Status Enter your basic details, college email and follow the prompts. You may be asked to upload a student ID or verify via GitHub Education. Step 6: Receive Your Credits Once verified, you’ll get: $100 in Azure credits valid for 12 months Access to free services like App Services, Azure Functions, and AI tools Step 7: Renew Annually for Free Still a student next year? Just revisit the sign-up page, re-verify, and get another $100 in credits. Unused credits from the previous year won’t carry over. 🚀 What Can You Build? Web apps and APIs Machine learning models AI-powered chatbots Big data pipelines Kubernetes deployments The possibilities are endless—and it’s all free while you’re a student. Your student years are the perfect time to experiment, build, and learn—without worrying about cloud costs. Azure for Students gives you the tools and credits to turn ideas into impact. 👉 Claim your credits now: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/free/students/ and start building your future in tech!Can I connect a DELL Wyse 3040 Thin Client to an Azure Virtual Desktop WITHOUT WMS?
The organisation I work for has moved away from WYSE 3040s with an on-premise RDS farm. We now use laptops, docks and Microsoft 365/SharePoint the whole thing. Intune management too. This is working fine but I have had "an idea". I now have a box of some 30 old thin clients. WYSE 3040 Thin OS 9.1.4234 Can I use a WYSE 3040 to connect straight to an Azure Virtual Desktop? Reason: We have some volunteer staff who come in to the office for just 2-3 hours one day a week. They do basic processing of physical paper forms, updating spreadsheets, entering invoice details etc etc, boring but essential tasks. They dont need anything fancy. BUT ... We (a charity) cant afford to buy them a laptop for 2-3 hours a week. So I have set up an AVD successfully, hoorah for me. I can access the AVD no problem using the Windows App on a Windows laptop or on a Mac device. Can I point a WYSE device straight at the AVD WITHOUT using Wyse Management Suite? The old WMS is on the local server which will be decommissioned. I dont want to use that. When I do a factory reset on a WYSE and go to configure Windows Virtual Desktop it does not seem to do anything. It does prompt me for MFA and does show our tenant welcome page background image so it is doing "something" Has anyone done this successfully?Azure Support Plans Compared Choosing the Right One for Your Organization
Microsoft Azure is one of the leading cloud platforms in the world, supporting businesses of all sizes with scalable services, advanced security, and global availability. But as organizations grow in their cloud usage, the importance of reliable support becomes impossible to ignore. Whether your team is just beginning with Azure or already running business-critical workloads, having the right support plan can make the difference between smooth operations and costly downtime. Azure offers multiple support plans with varying levels of responsiveness, guidance, and pricing. Understanding what each plan includes—and who it’s best suited for—can help your organization make an informed decision. In this guide, we’ll compare all Azure Support Plans so you can choose the one that aligns with your business needs, budget, and technical priorities. https://dellenny.com/azure-support-plans-compared-choosing-the-right-one-for-your-organization/
