Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)

@regularitguy

Geek / tech guy / Dad and team lead of "way smarter than me" folks who create awesome technical content for IT Pros and infrastructure aficionados. I lead the "Non Dev DevRel" teams in Infrastructure, Cloud Native and Security at Microsoft.

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Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· 21d

AI isn't free - it runs on tokens, and tokens are the meter on your Azure bill. @soniacuff.com and I break down what a token actually is, why AI costs spike, and how to keep the bill under control - on the latest Update & Restart. Full Episode: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmkR... ---

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· 28d

Same Copilot. Same task. Totally different results. The difference is your PROMPT. @soniacuff.com and I break down better prompting for IT pros - with real Microsoft 365 Copilot examples - on the latest Update & Restart. Steal the patterns. Full episode: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4ge... ---

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Jul 8

Nobody approved a swarm of AI agents - but your org probably has them anyway. @soniacuff.com and I dig into AI agent governance for IT teams on the latest Update & Restart. Who owns them? Who holds the permissions? 9 min, no hype. Full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=doS4...

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Jul 1

Happy Canada day folks! Reminder to go touch grass and have a shot of maple syrup. Was off riding this weekend and still represent wherever I go.

shot of a backpack strapped to the back of a motorcycle in the foreground with a Canadian flag patch attached. Background has a mountain range and blue overcast Scott.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Jun 14

Timeline cleanse for your Sunday because this shows up in my photos randomly for some reason…😂

Screenshot of my Apple watchface that shows up mysteriously in my photos timeline

Screenshot of the Apple Watch apps that shows us mysteriously in my photos timeline

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Jun 12

Everyone's building AI agents. Way fewer talk about who runs the infra underneath them at 2am. My teammate @vrapolinario.bsky.social built an open-source repo + hands-on workshop for exactly that crowd – IT/Ops running AI on Azure. AKS, Key Vault, monitoring, governance. github.com/microsoft/AI...

A charming, light-hearted claymation stop-motion scene with visible modeling-clay textures and fingerprint marks. A diverse, cheerful team of infrastructure engineers — varied skin tones, ages, genders, and outfits — made of colorful clay with chunky, friendly proportions and big expressive eyes. They're happily building and running a whimsical miniature data center that powers AI: clay server racks with blinking lights, bundles of colorful cables, a glowing friendly AI "brain" orb floating above, little cloud shapes, gears, and hexagon containers. One climbs a ladder to a server, one holds a giant key, one watches a clay dashboard, one carries a network cable like a hose. Warm playful palette with azure-blue accents, cozy studio lighting, tilt-shift miniature feel, everyone smiling and collaborating. No text, no logos.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Jun 10

We've done this before – kix32 scripts, then the PowerShell revolution. The next step is agent-level work. On the new Update and Restart I dig into Azure Copilot in Agent mode – think augmenting your team, not toy demos. Full Episode: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYF5...

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Jun 10

AI Skills Fest is on RIGHT NOW – June 8–12. A virtual festival for every role: mainstage talks, live learning on LinkedIn, and the Agents League Hackathon. Finish a skilling playlist by Friday for a badge and Free cert exam! Stay curious – jump in: aiskillsnavigator.microsoft.com/events/AISF2...

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Jun 3

"Update and Restart" A series for IT pros navigating how AI fits into their real-world infrastructure, operations, and troubleshooting. Hosted by Myself and @soniacuff.com the series cuts through hype to show how tools like Azure Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot work in real environments...

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· May 29

How it started and how it ended. We'll look back at this at some point and see it as a day of adventure motorcycle riding: avoiding the rain and ending up in a tornado. 😳

Adventure KTM motorcycle in the wilderness with a lake in the distance, parked with a helmet and miscellaneous items on the back.

Three adventure motorcycles parked at the side of a forest road with a storm in the distance.

Screenshot of an imminent threat alert from the National Weather Service, advertising a severe thunderstorm warning in the area with 80 mph winds. Take shelter now.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· May 18

We are under 24 hours until Azure Infrastructure Summit starts with a Convo Note from Mark Russinovich. Three days. 30 plus sessions. 8am to 3pm PDT. Building, operating, and optimizing Azure workloads. Each session has interactive chat with the engineers! Get your Qs answered. azureinfrasummit.com

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· May 15

Want the real version of how cloud infrastructure gets built and run at hyperscale? On May 19 at 8:00 AM PDT I’m hosting a no slides conversation with @markrussinovich.bsky.social to open the Azure Infrastructure Summit. #Azure #Infra #Security #Cloud

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· May 11

Windows Server Summit is starting soon. If you manage servers, clusters, hybrid workloads, or just want to know where Windows Server is headed, this one’s for you. I’ll be there chatting with IT Pros and engineers. Hope to see you. #WindowsServer #ITPro techcommunity.microsoft.com/event/window...

cartoon version of Rick Claus wearing a green hat drinking a coffee alonside bailee his black dog who is sitting at the desk with a computer. they are in a comical server room with a poster on the wall depicting the Windows Server Summit

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· May 8

Popped over to building 83 yesterday on MSFT Campus for a quick shoot with my friends on the Global Skilling team. Happy Friday folks keep on learning!

Rick Claus wearing his green hat standing on a mobile video record set. Multiple cameras, multiple lights, and microphones are strewn around the scene.

The stage overlooks the atrium in a modern building. A sound guy with a timecode clacker is in front of Rick's chest.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· May 7

Sovereign private cloud is not a branding exercise. It is architecture plus day two reality. This session on Azure Local goes into connected versus disconnected design choices, validated hardware selection with the Azure Local Catalog, and the governance, security, and monitoring patterns you need.

Graphic advertising Azure Infrastructure Summit session: Build a Sovereign Private Cloud with Azure Local.
Blue tones, a white government looking building overlayed on top of computer graphics and a global map.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· May 6

Modern ops isn’t about heroics. It’s about removing friction before things break. This session digs into how Azure Image Builder and Azure Compute Gallery help you automate golden image pipelines end to end. Safe updates, consistent builds, global distribution, & fewer surprises at deploy time. /1

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· May 6

Me: Let’s Go! We’re going to have a productive day today! Bailee: Meh. Go ahead, I’ll catch up.

Small black dog half asleep lying on a cream colored blanket on the couch. Rick is seated next to her drinking a morning coffee.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· May 3

Timeline cleanse for your Sunday because this shows up in my photos randomly for some reason…😂

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Apr 28

I’m biased, and that’s intentional. My team helped put together Windows Server Summit 2026 because this space still matters. Windows Server is still running critical workloads. Hybrid is real. This event is about the stuff you actually deal with, not marketing slides. #itpro #winServer

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Apr 27

Calling IIS “legacy” is just a way to avoid learning it. If it’s running production, it’s not legacy, it’s critical infrastructure. Here’s a solid IIS learning path that focuses on real skills so you can keep things workin’ & troubleshoot as required. techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/itopsta...

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Apr 24

This guy - Owen Cutts just makes my Friday with his passion and knowledge of music. I seek out his “Old Music Fridays” post when I sit down for my Friday morning coffee. Go check him out - you will not regret it. www.instagram.com/reel/DXgkBeT...

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Apr 21

One of the most important things about Azure Copilot isn’t what it can do, it’s who’s still in control. I've been working with it's Agentic Operations mode for a while now. I'm impressed! Governance by design. Your permissions. Human approval. ✅ #AzureCopilot #CloudGovernance #AITools 🧵

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Apr 19

Quote post with a video game that takes you back to your childhood. Eliot’s Corner Store in Saint John, NB had this in the back. Spent many a quarter on it.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Apr 13

It’s a “beautiful” day in Redmond on the MICROSOFT campus today. 🙄 Later this week - I’m gonna be sitting down with Mark Russinovich to talk about Azure & infrastructure ops. If you could ask him one question about building, deploying & managing Azure, what would it be?

Picture of Rick Claus wearing a Asher puffy black jacket over top of a flannel shirt wearing his signature green hat. Located in the common area of the MICROSOFT campus outside with a building in the background.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Apr 3

Decided to ride in today for my Friday RTO. Realized I needed to still pick up some maple syrup for the monthly "pancake Fridays" get together for lunch. Gotta bring the good stuff.

Picture of a white desk surface top with a laptop on the left a bottle of maple syrup in the middle, a motorcycle key and MICROSOFT notepad all sitting on the desk surface.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Mar 31

Now with RTO in effect, I’m trying out my first chai latte from the coffee machine and you know what? It's actually pretty damn good. #RTOlife

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Mar 22

Lookin’ forward to seeing all the MVPs coming in to campus this week! If you see me - don’t worry - I’m the official authorized photographer trained around the “no pictures” policy. 😊 #MVPsummit

Man wearing a green hat and green shirt and conference badge taking a photo in a conference setting

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Mar 21

Warm Sourdough with a garlic parm inclusion folded in. DAMN! I’ll be over here in the corner munching away…

Freshly baked sourdough loaf, still in a parchment protective wrap. Sitting on a brown chopping block fresh from the oven.

Warm sourdough sitting on a wooden chopping block next to a container of butter knife in the foreground has half of the loaf, has been sliced and eaten already

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Mar 16

I was in Las Vegas and SoCal this past week for a spring break D1 Softball trip to watch some of my daughter’s final season. Great games and awesome weather. 🥎 Now back to Washington. 😔

Women’s softball team, standing in a circle wearing white and green striped uniforms. Perspective shot from the ground, looking up into the blue sky.

Picture of a rain soaked and mist obscured highway through the window of a truck. Rain and mist is everywhere.

Rick Claus (RicksterCDN)@regularitguy· Mar 5

I was in studio helping to put together a "Migrate and Modernize" virtual event. It's got a keynote from Amanda Silver (and friends) as well as two technical sessions (one Infra, one Dev) with actual DETAILS / DEMOS on how to Modernize workloads and how (and when) to migrate them. 1 / 2