If you administrate a Hyper-V environment that has been deployed on Windows Core Edition Hosts, or if you’re required to manage multiple Hyper-V clusters remote management will make life easier for you. Configuring the option to use the GUI Hyper-V Manager application installed on your workstation to control remote servers is a straight forward process that only takes a few minutes.
The first step is to install the Hyper-V Management Tools. Right-click on the Windows Start button and select Apps and Features. Toward the bottom of the screen click on Programs and Features. On the left, click Turn Windows Features On or Off. Scroll through the list until you locate Hyper-V, expand it, select Hyper-V Management Tools, then click the OK button.
Now we’ll need to configure the Hyper-V hosts to allow the remote management connections. If you intend to control a multi-host cluster perform the following steps on each node. First open an elevated PowerShell console and run: Enable-PSRemoting -Force -SkipNetworkProfileCheck
If your workstation is on a different domain than the Hyper-V host(s), you will need to configure CredSSP delegation. Note: the Hyper-V Manager for Windows 8.1 and earlier is only capable of connecting to hosts on the same domain as the workstation itself. In the PowerShell Console you opened on the host run: Enable-WSManCredSSP -Role server
Now you’ll need to configure your workstation to send delegated credentials. Open an elevated PowerShell console and run: Set-Item WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts -Value “fqdn-of-hyper-v-host” Depending on the current configuration of your workstation, you may have to respond with a “Y” to multiple prompts to complete this process.
Now configure your workstation as a CredSSP client. In the same PowerShell console run: Enable-WSManCredSSP -Role client -DelegateComputer “fqdn-of-hyper-v-host” Depending on the current configuration of your workstation, you may have to respond with a “Y” to multiple prompts to complete this process.
The configuration is done. Now all that is left is to connect the Hyper-V Manager. Open it from your workstation’s start menu and right-click on the Hyper-V Manager header in the left menu. Then click Connect To Server.
Enter the name of the Hyper-V host you wish to connect to and then use the Set-User button to specify your credentials. Click the OK button.
Just a few years ago 3D printers were expensive and required a high level of specialized knowledge to operate. Today, the fantastic machines have gone mainstream. They are both more affordable and easier to use, but there are still a few things you need to know before you jump in.
Like every other machine, 3D printers are available in numerous makes, models, and styles. Choosing one can be overwhelmingly difficult when you don’t know what to look for. There are actually only a few key differences to understand and the rest is creature comforts. You can get a 3D printer with a built-in Laser Engraver, or one that interfaces with your smart-home, but those features are personal choices.
The first thing for consideration is what type of chasis you’ll need. More or less there are two choices, enclosed or open. 3D printing involves heating plastic to a liquid state and depositing thin layers on top of each other to build an object. Enclosed frames keep a more consistent temperature inside the unit which results in a higher degree of precision. If you’re planning on prototyping intricate machinery or printing extremely detailed models, the extra cost of an enclosed body may be justified. If 3D printing is a curiosity, open designs are much less expensive and still achieve impressive results.
The Monoprice MP Voxel is fully enclosed
The layers of plastic, called slices, are stacked on your printer’s bed, or deck. Some printers are equipped with Self-Leveling beds. Imagine layers of warm gooey plastic precisely stacked on each other and waiting to dry and you will understand why the surface must be perfectly level in all directions. If you intend to move your printer from place to place, a self leveling unit will be a necessity.
Manually leveling a bed is tedious and can be frustrating. You must adjust each corner independently to achieve a perfectly flat surface. Moving one post, effects the others. Each time the printer is moved, or jostled the leveling has to be redone. However, if your printer will live on a dedicated stand, or table, the manual option can save considerable cost.
Manually leveling each corner is time consuming
Some printers have multiple nozzles and allow you to print with mixed materials. For example, two or more colors of plastic, or soft and hard formulas. Switching spools in the middle of a print can be problematic, but unless you have specific requirements for multiple materials you probably don’t need this option. I tend to print everything in white and paint it to get the refined look I am after.
My family uses an open framed Creality Ender 3 Pro. It is a great middle of the road printer that can be found for around $250.00. There are plenty of upgrades available, ours has an upgraded power-supply (gets hotter) and a larger spring assisted leveling bed. We’ve printed sculptures, parts for home machines, toys, and cases just to name a few items. It has handled everything beautifully.
The Ender-3D-Pro is an affordable open chassis printer
Once you’ve chosen your printer, you will need to decide on software. There are two different major pieces of software you will need to be successful. First up is a slicer app. The slicer software functions much like a printer driver for your run of the mill office printer. It converts your 3D object to instructions your printer will use to lay each sliced layer down in the correct location and order.
Cura slicing a 3D boat, the black lines are the layers that will be printed
Good slicer software will also take care of things like building supports for overhangs in your piece. Think about a statue with an outstretched gooey plastic arm and gravity to understand why supports are important. Rarely will you want to print truly solid works (geek humor). Slicer software packages can be told to automatically honeycomb the internal structure of solid objects to save plastic, energy, weight, and time.
Notice the blue supports to keep the statue from drooping or breaking while drying
A quick on-line search will show you there are quite a few different slicer programs available. Many are free, some are extremely expensive. I’ve tested quite a few of these applications, Cura’s Utilimaker is the one I stick with. It is relatively easy to use and there’s a large community of people using it. Finding video help and instruction is a cinch. It is completely free for personal use and supports more brands and models of printers that some of the others.
To create and manipulate three-dimensional objects on a computer you will need some type of CAD software. It stands for Computer Aided Drafting, Computer Aided Drawing, or Computer Aided Design, depending on who you ask. Haven’t acronyms outlived their usefulness yet? Whatever it stands for, one of the most famous CAD applications is AutoCAD.
Blender is Open-source CAD software used by many 3D printing hobbyists
AutoCAD is the eight-hundred pound gorilla of CAD software, but at $1600.00 per year, is cost prohibitive unless you are a student or work for a non-profit. Microsoft includes 3D Paint with Windows 10 and it is a great way to get started using CAD software. Eventfully you will outgrow it and need something else. I like Blender, it is opensource (aka free for personal use) and very advanced. Blender is popular with the 3D printing community, so getting help is just a YouTube search away. It also detects if you’re a new user and will run you through a tutorial to learn the basics.
Microsoft 3D Print is included with Windows 10
Great, you’ve got your printer and your software so you are ready to go right? Technically you are ready to print but getting your newly minted thing off the printer and finishing it to match the idea in your head is another matter. There are some miscellaneous things you’ll want to pick up to have a good outcome.
There are tool sets specifically made for 3D printers and they are great, but you can also purchase or use some generic tools you may already have. You’ll want a nice sharp knife to trim your pieces and free them from the supports, I like exacto-knives. Varying grits of sandpaper are also a must-have. A sheet-rock spatula is a great tool to separate your creations from the printer deck, they occasionally get stuck.
A purpose made 3D printing tool kit
3D printing without a Dremel is like painting your house with a tooth-brush. Sure, you can make it work but, do you really want to? A few years ago my mother got my kids those 3D pens that you’ve seen on TV. They spit out hot plastic much like your printer does. The idea is that you can hold your hand steady enough to build 3D objects, good luck with that. The funny thing is, they are a great tool for 3D printing. I use them to weld sections together. If you don’t have one, you’ll need some plastic glue.
That leaves paint, paint-brushes, paint thinner, a pallet, and lots of painters tape. Spray-Paint and Airbrushing are also excellent ways to add flair to your pieces. Visit your local art store, they’ll have stencils, stickers, and everything else you need to get the final look you’re after.
A Battle Hardened Ghost Shell from the game Destiny
My obsession with gadgets and gizmos is not relegated to computers, electronics, and video games. I enjoy engineered devices of all types, including all the weird doodads that people dream up to make cooking less of a chore. Toaster ovens, crock-pots, and air fryers, oh-my; the counters and cabinets in our home are full of the things.
Unsurprisingly, only a handful of the stuff ever gets used. Most of it seems to forever be in-front of the item you want at any given moment. You need spelunking gear and will pull a muscle in your shoulder trying to extract that Panini-press in the back. When my spouse received an Instant Pot as a gift I was simultaneously excited to experiment with it and loathed having to find it a home.
I had assumed that an Instant Pot was more or less a crock-pot with some electronics bolted on. Here’s a tip: do not hop on any of the Instant Pot Facebook groups and refer to it as a fancy crock-pot. The so called “Pot Heads” don’t like it and for good reason. This is one of the most versatile kitchen appliances I’ve used. It has managed to replace several other appliances that find themselves in the “Sell on Facebook” pile in my garage.
An Instant Pot combines several seldom used cooking tools into a single contraption that is more than the sum of its parts. You get eleven devices in one, it’s a: pressure cooker, saute pan, crock-pot, steamer, sous-vide, air fryer, roaster, oven, broiler, dehydrator, and a food warmer. The unit has a powerful heating element in the base and two different lids.
The pressure-cooker lid forms an air tight seal over the pot to handle all the water-based and slow-cooking duties. It has an automatic steam release valve built-in. The entire thing is dishwasher safe and the silicone seals are easily replaceable.
The air-fryer lid contains an additional heating element along with a high-powered fan. Pizza rolls take more than twenty minutes to bake in the oven, on top of ten minutes spent preheating. They come out crunchy on one side and mushy on the other, because I’m too lazy to flip them all. The same rolls take eight minutes from start to finish in the Instant Pot and turn out golden-brown-delicious every time.
The previously mentioned Facebook groups are full of recipes and tips. For example, I recently learned that the pot’s handle makes a stand for the lid. There are plenty of first and third party accessories that expand your pot’s capabilities. We ended up purchasing the clear lid.
Man I wish these things would have been around when I was in college! If you’re considering an Instant Pot of your own, do some research. There are several different models available, mine is the eight quart duo-crisp combo.
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