SysAdmin Weekly
SysAdmin Weekly is a podcast for busy system administrators, hosted by longtime sysadmins and Microsoft MVPs Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron. The show covers IT-related topics, technical know-how, and real-world insights to help sysadmins navigate their daily challenges. Each episode dives into relevant issues and solutions, offering expert advice and engaging discussions tailored to professionals in the trenches.
Episodes
056 - How People Actually Get Into SysAdmin Work
Two careers, two completely different entry points, and the exact same first catastrophe: data gone, no idea if it was coming back.Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron trade full origin stories, from the 486 and the VIC-20 through the first paid tech jobs neither of them was qualified for. They get specific about the failures that rewired how they work, the mentor advice that still holds up decades later
055 - How Do You Run IT With No Budget?
"No budget" is almost never no budget. It is no budget yet, and the thing that closes the gap is your ability to put a real dollar figure on the risk you are carrying.Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron have both run IT for organizations where getting the credit card out meant you had done something wrong. They walk through what that actually looks like: a PC DOS 4 machine still passing parts
054 - Windows Admin Center in 2026: Good Tool, Broken On-Ramp?
Windows Admin Center is a genuinely useful tool wrapped in an on-ramp so rough it took Andy four hours, a from-scratch certificate authority, and a pile of misleading error messages just to reach the login screen.Andy rebuilt his lab on an all-Core Windows Server 2025 fleet, set out to manage it from a browser the way Microsoft keeps telling us to, and hit a certificate wall that most SysAdmins wo
053 - How to Survive as a Solo SysAdmin: Where to Start When You're the Only One
When you are the only person standing between a working business and total collapse, the job stops being about doing everything and starts being about deciding what not to do this week.Andy and Eric Siron tackle a listener-requested topic: you just became the solo SysAdmin, whether by hire, downsizing, or promotion, and now you own the firewall, the servers, the backups, and the printer nobody wan
052 - Why is Homelab Hardware So Expensive in 2026 (and When Will It Get Cheaper)?
Somewhere between a $305 Raspberry Pi board and a used NVMe listing on eBay, the homelab hobby quietly stopped making financial sense.Andy and co-host Eric Siron dig into why memory, NAND, and storage prices went vertical in 2026, who is actually eating the supply, and what practitioners should do about it. They cover the AI buildout swallowing the manufacturing capacity, why prices probably never
051 - What's Actually in Our Homelabs (and Why)
The hardest part of running a home lab in 2026 is not building it up; it is being honest about what earns its place.Andy is joined by returning guest and member of the SysAdmin Weekly community, Clay Tamam, a working SysAdmin over in the Netherlands, for a real tour of what is actually sitting in their labs: the hardware, the hypervisors, the services they use every day, and the reasoning behind e
050 - How Do You Run a Blameless Incident Postmortem?
A postmortem that ends with a name instead of a root cause wasted everyone's time in the room.Andy and Eric Siron pull from a combined several-decades of incident reviews to break down what a postmortem actually is, what kind of outage earns one, and who really needs to be at the table. The throughline: keep it blameless without making it unaccountable, separate root cause from contributing fa
049 - How Do Attackers Use Local LLMs to Phish At Scale?
Ask Claude or ChatGPT to write a phishing email and it politely refuses; pull the right open-weight model onto your own laptop and that refusal layer simply does not exist in many cases.Andy brings his InfoSecurity Europe session to the show, and Eric Siron joins to walk through how threat actors run local LLMs on their own hardware to generate targeted spear phishing at scale, in any language, wi
048 - The AI Doom Narrative vs the Data: Layoffs, Energy, and Jobs in 2026
The AI doom headlines do not line up with what the actual data says, and that gap is doing real damage. Andy and Eric Siron take a practitioner read on the fear stories: the layoff narrative, the data center energy and water panic, and the executive predictions that office workers are gone in 18 months. They put the WEF Future of Jobs numbers, the hyperscaler nuclear and cooling commitments, and t
047 - Is DNS Over HTTPS Actually Private? What ECH Fixes That DoH Doesn't
Turning on DNS over HTTPS does not make your browsing private. The hostname you are trying to reach still leaks in the TLS handshake through the Server Name Indication field, and that is the part most coverage of DoH quietly skips.Andy and Eric pick up where the DNS deep dive in episode 045 left off, this time focused on the privacy half of the problem. The episode walks through why DoH on its own
046 - Can Claude Code Help SysAdmins? Scripting, Log Analysis, and the Claude.md workflow
The skepticism is earned. Most AI demos are built for developers. Most AI hype is vendor noise. And most SysAdmins have better things to do than adopt another tool that solves a problem they may or may not have.That said: this is Andy putting the grumpy SysAdmin argument aside for an hour to make the honest case for Claude Code in SysAdmin workflows. With caveats. With the parts that still fall sh
045 - Why is It ALWAYS DNS?!?
It's always DNS. Every SysAdmin has said it, usually at the worst possible moment. This episode is the explanation for why that joke is only half a joke.Andy and Eric walk through how DNS actually works from first request to final answer: recursive resolvers, root servers, authoritative name servers, TTLs, and caching. From there they get into Windows Server and Active Directory DNS integratio
044 - Hyper-V Failover Clustering in 2026
Failover clustering is the part of Hyper-V that trips up the most people, especially anyone arriving from the VMware side. In this episode Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron pick up directly where episode 043 left off: you have standalone Hyper-V running, now what does it actually take to make it highly available in 2026?The guys start with the "why bother" question: Azure Local versus a trad
043 - Getting Started with Hyper-V in 2026
Hyper-V has been around since 2008, runs Azure, runs Xbox, and still gets overlooked by shops fleeing VMware/Broadcom pricing. In this episode Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron go back to basics: what Hyper-V actually is under the hood, why it is still worth your attention in 2026, and everything you need to know to stand it up and run your first virtual machine without losing your mind in the process
042 - Should SysAdmins Job Hop or Stay Put? There's a Secret Option C....
Andy and Eric Siron tackle one of the most debated questions in IT careers: do you find a company and stay for the long haul, or do you job hop every few years to chase better pay and new challenges? With over four decades of combined industry experience between them, they've lived both sides of the equation and they make the case that the real answer is neither.In News React, Eric calls out N
041 - Is Microsoft Giving Up on Security? - The SFI Leadership Shakeup Explained
Andy and Paul Schnackenburg dig into a leadership change at Microsoft that has the security community raising eyebrows. Charlie Bell, the executive vice president of security who championed the Secure Future Initiative, is out and being replaced by a go-to-market sales executive from the Google Cloud. Satya Nadella's announcement focused on selling more security products, with no mention of co
040 - Big Tech Owns Your Compute... Should you be Worried?
After a brief hiatus, the crew is back! Andy is joined by both Paul Schnackenburg and Eric Siron to tackle a big question: what happens when access to compute becomes a subscription privilege instead of an owned capability?This week's topic goes deep! Big tech bankrolling elections, Bezos pushing rented cloud PCs over owned hardware, a global RAM shortage driven by AI demand. All the ingredien
039 - BitLocker, Key Escrow, and the Microsoft Trust Question
Microsoft reportedly handed over BitLocker recovery keys to the FBI as part of a criminal investigation and that raises some uncomfortable questions.In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy and Eric unpack what actually happened, how BitLocker key escrow works, and why the default behavior in Windows 11 matters more than most users realize.We dig into:- How BitLocker recovery keys get stored in Mi
038 - Making Security Decisions Based on Data, Not Fear
This week on SysAdmin Weekly, we push back hard on one of the most damaging patterns in modern IT security: making decisions based on fear instead of facts.Security headlines love absolutes: “everything is broken,” “encryption is useless,” “the cloud can’t be trusted.” But in the real world, those claims often fall apart the moment you slow down and examine the actual mechanics behind them. In thi
037 - When Incident Response Plans Meet Reality
It’s a new year, which means it’s time for every SysAdmin’s favorite activity...... dusting off the incident response and disaster recovery plans that haven’t been touched since the Apollo moon landing.In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy and Eric dig into why incident response, disaster recovery, and business continuity plans so often exist… but completely fall apart when something actually g
036 - The Hidden Cost of Abstraction in Modern IT
Abstraction has made modern IT faster, easier, and more scalable but it’s also quietly eroding the deep technical understanding that SysAdmins used to rely on.In the first SysAdmin Weekly episode of 2026, Andy and Eric dig into how layers of abstraction stretching from cloud platforms and managed services to Kubernetes and modern software design are changing what it means to be a SysAdmin.The guys
035 - AI Browsers, Chromium Monoculture, and the Future of Browser Security
This week on SysAdmin Weekly, Andy goes on a (fully justified) rant about the current state of browsers and why it feels like there are no good options left for sysadmins. From Chromium monoculture and browser bloat, to AI creeping into the most trusted piece of software we use every day, this episode breaks down what’s changing, why it matters, and why “just turn it off” isn’t a real security str
034 - "Good Enough" Software is Ruining IT (and SysAdmins are Paying the Price)
Modern IT feels stuck in a vicious cycle: software ships faster than ever, quality keeps slipping, and SysAdmins are left cleaning up the mess. In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron dig into the growing disconnect between developers and operations teams and why “good enough” software has become dangerously normalized across the industry.We talk about brittle releases, m
033 - Why IT Job Postings Are Completely Broken
IT job postings have gotten… weird.In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy flies solo to take a realistic look at modern IT job listings amongst historic industry layoffs and why so many of them feel disconnected from the actual work SysAdmins do every day.We scroll through real-world postings, talk about unrealistic expectations, role creep, and “unicorn” requirements, and break down how vague o
032 - Microsoft Ignite 2025: What SysAdmin Actually Need to Know
Microsoft Ignite just wrapped and shockingly, it wasn’t only about AI.(Okay, it was mostly about AI.)In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy and Paul cut through the marketing noise and walk through what actually matters to SysAdmins from Microsoft Ignite’s Book of News. From AI agents showing up everywhere, to Azure resiliency, security posture management, and why massive cloud outages are still
031 - How the IT Community Makes You a Better SysAdmin
This week, Andy and Eric dive into one of the most underrated superpowers in IT: community. Not the cringe corporate “community,” but the real stuff. Think mentors, friends, people who help you level up, and the shared hive-mind that keeps SysAdmins alive during outages, zero-days, and career pivots.From basements full of beige boxes to global open-source conferences, the IT world has evolved into
030 - New NIST Password Guidelines Explained
Ready to leave password chaos behind? In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy and Eric break down the latest National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) password and identity-guideline updates and what they mean for you as a SysAdmin.We cover:- What changed and why (goodbye “special characters just because”)- How to align your org with SP 800-63’s new structure and expectations- Real-wo
029 - When Good Tech Goes Corporate
In this episode, Andy and Eric dive deep into one of tech’s ugliest trends, the ULTRA-Corporatization of once-great vendors all for the sake of excessive profit at the expense of the company and customers. From Intel’s fall from grace to Dell’s support horror stories and VMware’s Broadcom-induced meltdown, the guys unpack how innovation-driven companies lose their soul chasing shareholder dollars.
028 - SysAdmin Horror Stories Volume 1
Welcome to the Halloween special of SysAdmin Weekly, where Andy, Eric, Paul, and Mike gather ‘round the flickering glow of their monitors to share true tales from the trenches, the ones that still haunt their uptime dreams. From flooded data centers and cursed SAN swaps to Novell nightmares, rogue backup tapes, and the eternal terror of “it’s always DNS,” this episode dives into the real-life horr
027 - Is University Worth It for Aspiring SysAdmins?
In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, the crew tackles one of the most debated questions in IT: Is university still worth it for aspiring SysAdmins in 2025?Joining Andy is a friend of the show, Clay, a newly graduated IT professional from the Netherlands who shares his journey from tinkering with PCs as a kid to landing his first SysAdmin role. Together, they unpack how well higher education prepare
026 - Burnout in IT: Why So Many Tech Pros Are Struggling (and How to Cope)
Burnout in IT is not just “being tired”, it’s a silent crisis affecting countless tech professionals, SysAdmins, engineers, and ops folks who are running on empty. In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, we dig into the mental health stressors built into the tech industry: constant change, imposter syndrome, “always-on” culture, notification overload, and more.Co-host Eric Siron and Andy share real st
025 - What is Cloud-Native? (And Should You Care?)
In this episode, Andy teams up with Microsoft expert and Aussie tech legend Paul Schnackenburg to break down the buzzword that’s haunting every IT strategy deck: Cloud-Native. Together, they unpack what it really means in a Microsoft ecosystem from ditching on-prem Active Directory and ConfigMgr to embracing Entra ID, Intune, and Autopilot.Along the way, they hit on real-world migrations, the trad
024 - On-Prem AI with Ollama
This week on SysAdmin Weekly, Andy is joined once again by Mike Nelson for a deep dive into the world of local AI. Together, they unpack Ollama and Open WebUI, exploring how SysAdmins can run large language models on-prem to unlock powerful workflows while keeping sensitive data in-house.From hardware setups (yes, even that dusty old GPU in your basement), to why privacy-conscious SysAdmins are mo
023 - Budget Home Lab Setup for IT Pros
In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy and Eric dig deep into how to build a fully functional home lab without selling a kidney. We cover picking hardware on the cheap, virtualization (Proxmox, Hyper-V, etc.), managing storage, navigating Microsoft licensing, layering in free cloud tiers, network tricks, and the kind of “what if I push this button?” experiments that keep us awake at 2 a.m.Whethe
022 - Why IT Documentation Matters (Even if You Hate Writing It)
Hey folks! Andy here, and in this episode of SysAdmin Weekly Eric and I answer the hard questions regarding the documentation we all put off, but secretly depend on.... whether we like it or not.In this episode we cover:- Why poor (or missing) documentation is the root of so many SysAdmin nightmares- War stories where “future you” had to clean up past you’s mess- Tools, templates, and mindset shif
021 - Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access Explained
This week on SysAdmin Weekly, Andy is joined by regular co-host Paul Schnackenburg for a deep dive into Conditional Access, the cloud-era identity firewall you could say? and a cornerstone of Zero Trust security in Microsoft 365 and the Microsoft Cloud.We cover everything from the basics of conditional access policies to the nuances of break-glass accounts, layered policies, and how to avoid locki
020 - Top Microsoft Skills that Every SysAdmin Needs
Andy and Eric break down the actual Microsoft skills that move the needle with no fluff, and no buzzword salad. We hit the core Windows/AD fundamentals, the PowerShell magic you’ll use every day, and the cloud/M365 bits that keep modern shops sane. If you’re trying to level up without wasting cycles, this is your roadmap.What we cover (at a glance):- Identity & Directory - AD/Entra basics, Gro
019 - What Counts as a Security Breach (and What Doesn't)
"Compromised." We throw the word around like everyone agrees what it means, but do we? This week, Andy and Eric dig into the many faces of compromise in a security context and why it’s not a simple definitionIn this episode:- What actually counts as a security compromise (and why the answer is “it depends”)- Full breach vs. partial breach: Does it even matter?- Why lateral movement should keep you
018 - What Broadcom Did to VMware (and Why SysAdmins are Furious)
Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware has left the sysadmin community reeling. From gutting VMware’s workforce to skyrocketing license costs (1000+ percent increases in some cases), cease-and-desist letters for perpetual licenses (really?), and a collapse in customer support, the VMware we once knew is gone.In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron dig into:- How Broadcom’s hand
017 - Hyper-V Management Drama, What Tool to Use, and When
In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy and Eric wade through the sometimes mess that is managing Hyper-V. From MMC snap-ins to Azure Arc and everything in between, we’re talking about the confusing pile of tools Microsoft throws at you when you just want to manage some virtual machines.Topics include:- The evolution (and stagnation) of Hyper‑V Manager- Why Failover Cluster Manager feels like an
016 - AI Agents for IT Admins
In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy sits down with Mike Nelson to talk about how SysAdmins can harness the power of Generative AI to make their day-to-day lives easier. From writing PowerShell scripts to reducing cognitive load during incidents, Andy and Mike break down real-world use cases that go beyond hype.They dive into what AI agents really are, how large language models (LLMs) fit in,
015 - The Art of Troubleshooting in Tech
If you've ever stared at a blinking cursor at 2 a.m. whispering, "please just work…", this episode’s for you. Andy Syrewicze and Paul Schnackenburg roll up their sleeves and wade into the messy, glorious world of troubleshooting. From stopping junior techs from “chaotic clicking” themselves into a production outage, to real-world stories of SQL process murder and Comcast cables zapped by neighborl
014 - How SysAdmins Can Prove Their Value (Before the Next Layoff)
Let’s be real, the better you are at your job in IT, the less anyone notices. Welcome to the Visibility Paradox, where success means silence, and failure? Oh, that gets EVERYONES attention!In this week’s episode, we break down how SysAdmins can fight back against being invisible by quantifying wins, showcasing strategic value, and learning to speak fluent exec (without falling asleep doing it).We
013 - Hyper-V Hosts in the Domain? Yea or Nay?
This week on SysAdmin Weekly, Andy and Eric finally settle one of the most persistent questions in the Hyper-V world: Should your Hyper-V hosts be domain joined or live outside the domain? Spoiler: we have strong feelings.Before the main event, we hit a few hot headlines:- Microsoft is booting AV vendors out of the kernel (finally)- CrowdStrike’s recent disaster knocked out 8.5 million devices- No
012 - Is Identity the New Firewall? The SaaS Cyber Kill Chain Examined
This week on SysAdmin Weekly, Andy is joined by returning guest Paul Schnackenburg to dive headfirst into one of the most important (and overlooked) topics in modern IT: SaaS Security.From token theft and malicious OAuth apps to adversary-in-the-middle attacks and the harsh truth about identity becoming the new firewall, we unpack how attackers are adapting to the cloud-first world, and why most o
011 - How is Agentic AI Changing DevOps?
This week on SysAdmin Weekly, Andy is joined by Luke Orellana, a fellow IT war buddy from the MSP trenches who's now a Senior Engineering Manager at Microsoft (yes, that Microsoft) working with AI Agents on a daily basis!In this episode we unpack the good, the bad, and the "seriously, who thought YAML was a good idea"? parts of Infra-as-Code from Terraform and Pulumi to PowerShell DS
010 - Tips for Tech Conferences in 2025
This week, Andy is back from InfoSecurity Europe (and yes, still fighting off a conference cold), so naturally, we’re talking all about IT conferences. The big, the small, the budget-busting, and the badge-scanning bonanzas that are IT Events. Paul Schnackenburg returns to help unpack the real value of these events: learning (but not just in sessions), community (a.k.a. the hallway track), and how
009 - What Makes a Great SysAdmin?
What makes a great SysAdmin? Is it scripting sorcery? The ability to debug DHCP before coffee? Or maybe it's just not rage-quitting when someone says, “Have you tried turning it off and on again?”This week, Paul Schnackenburg returns to help Andy tackle the age-old question: What makes a great SysAdmin?We dig into:The technical skills that separate the pro SysAdmins from the PowerShell copy-pa
008 - Getting Started with GitHub Copilot
In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, Andy and Eric dive headfirst into the world of GitHub Copilot, the AI-powered coding assistant everyone’s either cautiously testing or quietly ignoring. But should you be paying attention?Originally designed for developers, GitHub Copilot is quickly becoming a SysAdmin’s Swiss Army knife, helping with everything from PowerShell scripting to deciphering cursed re
007 - Migrate Off the Cloud? Yup! It's a Thing!
Are companies really looking the migrate off the cloud? You may be surprised! In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, we’re diving headfirst into the growing trend of cloud repatriation and why some orgs are saying “thanks, but no thanks” to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. From skyrocketing costs to performance surprises and compliance headaches, we’re breaking down the real-world reasons behind this sh
006 - The Demise of Windows Server Update Services
In this episode of *SysAdmin Weekly*, we bid farewell to an old friend: WSUS (Windows Server Update Services). Microsoft is phasing it out and hosts Andy and Eric here to talk about why, what it means for SysAdmins, and how you can prep for what’s next.In This Episode:A quick trip down memory lane: the story of WSUS and its role in traditional patch management Why WSUS is being deprecated and how
005 - Microsoft Certification in 2025: A Microsoft Certified Trainer's Take
In this episode Andy sits down with Microsoft Certified Trainer Paul Schnackenburg to discuss the current state of Microsoft Certification. They explore the evolving role of Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs), the significance of certification in validating technical skills, and the shift from product-focused to role-based certifications. Also included in this episode: confusing exam names, the i
004 - Is Microsoft Taking Security Seriously? - An SFI Update
In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, host Andy Syrewicze and guest Paul Schnackenburg discuss Microsoft's Secure Future Initiative (SFI) - a new initiative created a year or two back in response to multiple security incidents at Microsoft. In this conversation, Andy and Paul expand on various aspects of Microsoft's progress on the plans outlined in the Secure Future Initiative, focusing on
003 - Hyper-V vs VMware: Licensing
In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, hosts Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron take a look at everyone's FAVORITE subject: licensing! And they're particularly focusing on Hyper-V and VMware. Andy and Eric's conversation includes the highlights and the differences between Microsoft and VMware licensing philosophies, the implications of WindowsServer Standard versus Data Center licensing, and t
002 - What's New with Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V?
In this episode of SysAdmin Weekly, hosts Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron discuss the litany of new features for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2025. They discuss enhancements in networking, including accelerated networking, Network ATC, and the upcoming Network HUD. The conversation emphasizes the importance of these features for sysadmins and how they simplify network management and configuration. Also
001 - What is Azure Local?!?!
In this episode of the Sysadmin Weekly Podcast, hosts Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron discuss Azure Local, a rebranding and enhancement of Azure Stack HCI. They explore the benefits, key use cases, and why SysAdmin should take a look at it. The conversation covers the features of Azure Local, including its integration with Azure Cloud management tools, virtualization capabilities, as well as potenti
000 - No! Hyper-V is NOT Dead!
In the premiere episode of the SysAdmin Weekly Podcast, your hosts Andy Syrewicze and Eric Siron kick things off with a warm introduction, sharing their backgrounds as longtime System Administrators and Microsoft MVPs. They dive into the purpose of the show, unveiling their mission to support IT Pros with relevant insights and practical advice. Andy and Eric also introduce their online hub for asp
Recommended
The Young and Called Podcast .
Jubal Phone Pranks from The Jubal Show
پلی لیست | PlayList
English with Olivia | Slow Conversations & Vocabulary
Bible Tea
TED Talks Daily
Pod Save America
Dateline NBC
صداستان: ساعتی با موسیقی
Becoming: HER with Nikki Spoelstra
Exposing Workplace Bullying
Everyday AI Made Simple - AI For Everyday Tasks
