Resource Library

Global Knowledge brings you Microsoft training exclusives—twelve months of access to resources designed to help you retain your knowledge well after you take a class. Automatically included with any qualified Global Knowledge Microsoft course you take, these exclusives include: searchable indexed recordings, practice labs, 24/7 mentoring and support, and unlimited class retakes.If you are preparing for a Microsoft certification exam, or if you just need to gain and retain new skills, these always-ready tools and support will help you confidently develop your expertise.

Have you ever been tasked to do a certain job, but were restricted or prevented from doing it because of the lack of tools or authorization? Many IT administrators who consult or attend training have stories to share about the impediments to using the full power of Windows PowerShell for automating system tasks. There are some ways around this. Although there are many options, we’ll focus on one technique for opening up the use of PowerShell for certain kinds of SharePoint administration.

AMC’s television series “Halt and Catch Fire” shows North Texas’ rise as the “Silicon Prairie.” In the 1980s and early 1990s, it’s where IBM PC cloning was explored and where first-person shooter games were created. It’s also the site of the first “logic bomb”—the source of my horror story.

Red Hat Taste of Training - RH124

Red Hat Taste of Training - RH442

Whether you've already upgraded to Windows 10 or you're interested to learn more, this webinar will help familiarize you with the major updates and features. Join Microsoft instructor, John Panagakos, for an hour-long webinar that will dive into the exciting new features Windows 10 has to offer.

Red Hat Taste of Training - JB248

Red Hat Taste of Training - JB348

Building on command line skills for Linux administrators.

Fast track to RHCE certification for senior Linux system administrators

Using ITIL can improve your IT service levels, customer service ratings, business productivity and reduce operating costs, but getting started can be overwhelming. Gain the understanding you need to adopt and adapt ITIL with instructions and tips for important steps such as internal employee communications, determining potential pain points and methods for evaluating your existing processes.

Mark Morgan is a Global Knowledge Senior Instructor. He has worked in the IT industry for over 20 years and has taught Microsoft courses for Global Knowledge since 2000. In this video clip, Mark discusses the top differentiators in Global Knowledge's Windows 7 and Server 2008 Boot Camps.

Global Knowledge instructor Mark Baugher discusses how to use System Center 2012 Configuration Manager to report on installed software on computers.

Businesses today are more dependent on technology than ever. And, more than ever, they're looking to IT for ways to improve employee productivity, customer service and innovation. The challenge is that in order to achieve results with technology, IT and the business have to work collaboratively. IT needs to be able to develop the right relationships and communicate with different stakeholders from a business perspective - not a technical one. As a result, the transformation of the IT department has become a top-level priority for many leading organizations. At the same time, business leaders need to strengthen their business technology IQ and play a more significant role in the governance of IT.

In this hour-long webinar, Global Knowledge course director Brian Egler will examine key new features of Microsoft SQL Server 2016 that demonstrate how it provides automatic end-to-end security, seamless generation of business analytics and elastic integration of data in the cloud.

With Microsoft SQL Server 2016, you can distribute your data to the cloud using the Stretch Database feature to improve local access while allowing cloud access to large amounts of historical data. You can also provide transparent end-to-end security using Always Encrypted technology and track changes automatically through temporal data. Download this white paper to learn why these features and more make SQL Server 2016 Microsoft's most important release to date.

Red Hat Taste of Training - RH134

The ITIL® event management process defines three event types: informational, warning and exception. In this post, I will discuss the different event types and give real-world examples of each.

Advanced skills for the experienced Linux administrator.

Fast track to RHCSA for experienced system administrators

PowerShell is the perfect tool for capturing the best practices that your IT staff already implements manually, and transforms that with scripting. It provides the ability to cross-reference information from a variety of different sources, and apply custom solutions that marshal your unique resources to solve the problems you face. The tool is easy to learn, included for free with all your Windows OSs, and provides enormously rich possibilities to grow skills over time.

Change is the order of the day, and if anything, the pace of business and technology change is accelerating. The business and customers are looking to IT service providers to be more responsive, delivering more frequent service changes with higher quality-resulting in services that deliver more value to the business. In order to continue to be relevant and of high value, ITIL must continue to benefit from other complementary best-practices for IT. DevOps, an approach that encourages improved communication, collaboration, and teamwork across development and operations, can have a positive influence in improving ITIL processes across the service life-cycle.

This white paper describes a technique for defining processes called SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Outputs, and Customers). SIPOC provides a structured way to define the key elements of any process. SIPOC can be used as a means of defining any of the service management processes presented in ITIL® best practices. Furthermore, SIPOC can be used as the preliminary input into the more formal documentation of a process in one of many process design tools.

Microsoft Office 365 has a vast array of features to explore. A rich administration interface, streamlined security, and versatile migration options make this one of the most interesting products when it comes to an SaaS public cloud solution.

Global Knowledge instructor Mark Baugher shares three quick tips on how to use Microsoft PowerShell 4.0 more effectively: Discoverability using the Get cmdlet, dot notation and pipeline.

In this paper, we explore the basic usage of PowerShell in the pursuit of automating the management of Hyper-V deployments. This paper is targeted to IT professionals who have been "GUI-bound" to their management interfaces and have been working with or are embarking on the journey of Hyper-V administration. We'll explore the usage of Hyper-V specific cmdlets with the intent of ultimately being able to include multiple cmdlets in a "script" to allow for pushing one button and accomplishing the combined actions of many multiple mouse clicks in the GUI. No more repetitive tasks!

Interested in SharePoint 2013 developer training?  Learn from SharePoint instructor Tracy Wallace, if you're ready and which SharePoint 2013 developer class you should take.

When we learn a concept for the first time, the newness of it tends to become embedded with the learning process. We remember the new idea's significance and forever after remember it as new. The initial impact of a discovery can prevent the concept from aging. At the same time, we realize how quickly technology advances. Is it time to evolve your expertise?

IT architecture is undergoing a period of rapid change and evolution. With this change comes enormous opportunity for professionals who are not just deep in a single technology but deeply conversant in several and who can join these technologies together to meet the needs of today's enterprise. The Red Hat Certified Architect program provides a credential that represents these skills and knowledge. Through a combination of flexible requirements and recommended concentrations, Red Hat is providing a path for professionals to advance their careers and for its subscription customers to find the right architect.

Unless you know the meanings of the five symbols regularly used in PowerShell, they can obscure the purpose and actions of a PowerShell script. There will always be new cmdlets to decipher. Each new operating system release and application version will include new and useful cmdlets along with new parameters for existing cmdlets. You can't memorize them all, but with the basic knowledge of these particular symbols, you should be well equipped to follow the logic of many scripts.

With ever increasing demands for storage, system administrators often find themselves needing to add new storage to servers. This video provides step-by-step examples of how to partition, format, and mount new storage space using Linux.

Recruit great talent. Red Hat Certifications

In this hour-long webinar, Global Knowledge instructor and ITIL Expert Michael Scarborough will share his knowledge and expertise on various aspects of incident management and problem management processes. He will help you understand the difference between incidents and problems and between incident and problem management, providing examples from his own experience to drive the concepts home. Michael will also provide an overview of who performs various incident and problem management activities in an organization.

Dynamic Access Control (DAC) in Windows Server 2012 lets you manage access to documents in ways that go beyond classic NTFS (New Technology File System) permissions. For example, if you want to allow a set of users in an office across the country or across the globe read-only access to files relating to the Wind Turbine Project, DAC can do the job.

Through the use of automation, compliance, self-service portal, and standardization, Microsoft's System Center Service Manager can support the best practices found in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) and the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). Service Manager also has built-in processes for Incident and Problem management, Change and Configuration management as well as Asset Lifecycle Management.

Learn the ITIL® concepts of accountability, boundaries, and consistency (the ABCs) and discover how ITIL helps establish, manage, and maintain the ABCs.

One of the most significant new features in Microsoft Windows Server 2012 is the Hyper-V Replica (HVR) capability. Whether you are considering this for your own organization or just prepping for your Windows Server 2012 MCSA, this white paper presents the essentials of deploying this disaster recovery feature.

The Bash shell is a powerful tool for managing Linux servers. This video offers a number of tips and tricks for using Bash to help make working on the Linux command-line easier and faster. It explores time saving tools like tab completion, command history, and brace expasion as well as how to combine commands together to create powerful new tools using piping.

In this video, instructor Glenn Weadock explains the Windows 7 library concept and how it replaces the traditional "My Documents" user profile folder by adding the Public profile to the user profile.

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is an free inventory, assessment, and reporting tool from that helps you assess your current IT infrastructure and determine the right Microsoft technologies for your IT needs.

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) can become a fairly complex environment and deployment, as it involves multiple components that all need to work together smoothly. Understanding the theory of how it all works will help in building a solid foundation for this complex technology in your organization. Although there is always something new to learn in PKI, this white paper gives you a great overview of the core configuration of your Microsoft CAs.

You will learn how many organizations approach change management as compared to how best practices dictate that change management should work. Global Knowledge instructor and ITIL Expert Michael Scarborough will fill you in on the purpose of change management and the difference between change management and change tickets. He will provide a high-level guide for establishing a change management process that uses real-world examples as its basis.

Having options in life is usually a good thing. Do you want a cheeseburger or pizza for lunch? Water or sweet tea? And, if you’re going to take a Microsoft certification exam, do you prefer to take it at a Pearson VUE Authorized Test Center or in the comfort of your own home or office?

Michael Scarborough and Ryan Ballmer, co-authors of Global Knowledge ITIL courseware, discuss how to become an ITIL expert.

More challenging Microsoft certification exams require the demanding Microsoft boot camps at Global Knowledge. Rebuilt from the ground up to provide students all the study tools needed to master the Microsoft skills needed to certify and succeed.

Interested in SharePoint 2013 administrator training?  Learn from SharePoint instructor Tracy Wallace, if you're a good candidate and which SharePoint 2013 administrator class you should take.

In this video, instructor Charles Strother does a quick overview of what is needed to install a Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) in a Windows Server 2008 environment.

Simulate the ITIL v3 Service Management Lifecycle with an interactive gaming experience.

If you're running SharePoint 2010, learn how SharePoint 2013 is different and what you'll need to learn to deploy it effectively.

The Logical Volume Manager (LVM) is a powerful tool for managing storage on Linux servers. This video provides an overview of how LVM works and explores several ways that LVM makes storage management easier and more flexible. Examples include how to expand storage capacity on the fly using LVM and resize2fs, and how to migrate data from local storage to a storage area network (SAN) without downtime using pvmove.

In this hour-long webinar by Global Knowledge instructor and ITIL Expert Michael Scarborough, you will learn how to study for and succeed in passing ITIL Intermediate Exams. You will learn how to approach an ITIL Intermediate exam, the true/false approach and why it works and how to study for the ITIL Intermediate exams.

In this video, you will learn about the latest version of ReportBuilder available in SQL Server 2008 R2.

In this video, instructor Glenn Weadock examines new Taskbar capabilities, such as pinning non-loaded programs, customizing the jump list, and selectively hiding all but one active program.

In this video, Practice Leader Craig Brown discusses our exclusive Server 2008 course - Configuring, Managing, and Maintaining Server 2008 R2 (M6419). Specifically, the enhancements we've made to this course through Server 2008 R2 supplemental learning materials and custom hands-on labs that enable the student to utilize critical Server 2008 R2 functions after completing the course.

Nasser El-Batal will walk you through the most useful, recognized, and mandated ITSM best practices in the industry: TOGAF, COBIT and ITIL®. He will highlight the benefits of integrating them into a single implementation program to avoid project disaster. Discussions are focused on "Getting Your House in Order" and how to establish your own organization-specific business transformation program, while increasing your organization maturity.

Cloud computing enables development teams to get applications into production faster. IT Service Management (ITSM) leaders must adopt new strategies and change existing processes or risk becoming a barrier to success. Cloud computing requires DevOps-the blending of development and operations with the goal of accelerating time-to-market and reducing time-to-value. The good news is that ITIL® is uniquely positioned to accelerate DevOps, but it requires changes to existing ITSM processes.

In this video, you'll learn how to utilize a great new feature of SQL Server 2008 called Policy Based Management for Multi-Server Management capabilities.

In this video, you will learn how to a use a new feature of SQL Server 2008 R2 and Office 2010 called PowerPivot for Self-Service Business Intelligence.

Learn the fundamentals of technology with Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) training. Designed for business professionals who work with technology and IT professionals looking for cross-training, MTA courses provide a foundational technology education in topics such as networking, security, software development, Windows OS and more. Three days of intensive training will get you on the right track to working effectively in the ever-changing IT industry.

Global Knowledge Practice Leader, Craig Brown, explains what students will learn in our "Monitoring and Troubleshooting the Performance of a Windows Server Environment" workshop.

Mark Morgan is a Global Knowledge Senior Instructor. He has worked in the IT industry for over 20 years and has taught Microsoft courses for Global Knowledge since 2000. In this video clip, Mark shares some tips for students preparing for the Microsoft Windows 7 and Server 2008 certification exams.

If you're running SharePoint 2007, learn what had changed in SharePoint 2013 for administrators and developers.

In this video, Practice Leader Craig Brown discusses how Microsoft Lync can function in enterprise environments to streamline communication and increase productivity.

Join Microsoft SQL Server expert Brian Egler for an hour-long webinar covering the key features and updates in the upcoming release of Microsoft SQL Server 2014! You will get a thorough review, along with demonstrations, of how SQL Server 2014 provides substantial improvements in performance, manageability, and availability that will make your job easier.

In this seminar, discover how OpenStack can simplify your cloud infrastructure management. Experts from Red Hat, the leading contributor to the OpenStack project, will fill you in on how organizations have solved problems and increased business value with open-source cloud technology. They will also give you a peek into the future of Red Hat OpenStack and reveal how Red Hat training and certification can ensure the success of your cloud deployment.

In this video, Practice Leader Craig Brown discusses the new Microsoft Cloud Computing platforms and how to keep your organization's data secure and functioning properly while operating either partially or entirely on the cloud.

Microsoft Lync Server 2013 requires a proactive approach during deployment. This white paper provides valuable recommendations as well as the technical links that help you avoid common mistakes during a Microsoft Lync Server 2013 deployment.

Your Microsoft SQL Server database often contains the most valuable information in your organization. Get tips for securing it properly and effectively in this free, information-packed webinar with Microsoft SQL Server expert Gidget Pryor. In just an hour, Gidget will demonstrate the layered security approach used by SQL Server. She will step you through the process and best practices of setting up logins, users, roles, schemas, and permissions, and she will review the security model changes that have taken place from SQL Server 2005 through SQL Server 2012. She will also review SQL Server 2012 training and certifications.

The default shortcut for the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell uses PowerShell.exe; however, a few small changes can easily yield a SharePoint Management Shell based on the more awesomely powerful PowerShell ISE.

Michael Scarborough and Ryan Ballmer, co-authors of Global Knowledge ITIL courseware, discuss the difference between ITIL Capability courses and ITIL Lifecycle courses.

In this report, I've reviewed the 15 most popular certifications according to our more than 12,000 North American respondents to our annual IT Skills and Salary Survey. For each certification, you'll find a brief description, the average salary, and some insight into why it is popular.

You know you need to invest in training, but how do you get the best return on investment (ROI) from your training dollars? To help you make smart training decisions, we've put together this guide, which illustrates some alternative and little-known payment options, the types of discounts and promotions available with training and a suggested list of courses that give you excellent value.

By using and implementing a many-to-many relationship in a cube, existing tables with user account information can be used directly to secure cube contents, rather than converting to role based security in the cube. You can also secure your analysis services more easily and access sensitive information contained within it.

A gap analysis is a tool that ITIL recommends organizations use to compare their current state to some future desired state.

In this video, instructor Glenn Weadock demonstrates how Group Policy settings can control new user interface features such as the Taskbar, and resuscitate obsolete features such as classic menus in Windows Explorer.

Co-authors Michael Scarborough and Ryan Ballmer discuss some key differences in the new Global Knowledge ITIL courseware.

Michael Scarborough and Ryan Ballmer, co-authors of Global Knowledge ITIL courseware, discuss why ITIL is important to businesses.

As a power user, find out if you're ready for the SharePoint Site Collection and Site Administration class and how it can benefit your organization.

Traditionally, ITIL and TOGAF professionals have been part of different teams within an organization. Due to the ongoing alignment of business and IT, these professionals now often find themselves on the same team. Because of this crossover, there is a growing trend towards organization of work based on multiple best practice models. 

Many I&O leaders and customers see little value from investments in ITIL. Not getting the Return on Investment (ROI) you expect normally comes from using ITIL incorrectly. You, your staff, and your customers must share the same goals and understand exactly what to expect from your ITIL investments. The goal of ITIL is not “business and IT alignment” or “competitive advantage from IT investments.” Instead, its first goal is to stabilize service operation. This builds a base for the second goal: increasing value through service optimization. You must have clear-cut, documented, and managed expectations for each activity, and order is vital. Success requires that you stabilize service delivery before trying to optimize. Focusing on the correct goal and linking each ITIL task to that goal is the correct use of ITIL.