BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Extensions For Windows Workflow Foundation SDK V1 Released

Overview (from MSDN site)
The BizTalk Server extensions for Windows Workflow Foundation provide an SDK toolkit for developers building workflows in Windows Workflow Foundation to host these workflows in BizTalk Server 2006. This makes use of the functionality provided by BizTalk Server for orchestration. This SDK sample is unsupported by Microsoft Customer Support Services.

Download here.
_

Microsoft SOA and Business Process Website and Oslo

Microsoft launched an official Microsoft SOA and Business Process Website. The most interesting thing on it is a new movement called "Oslo" which I interpret "Doing SOA with Microsoft tools".

Check out the new Microsoft SOA and Business Process Website here.

Check out the info and videos on Oslo here.
_

What is patterns & practices WPF Composite Client?

What is WPF Composite Client? (From Glenn's Blog)

This is not a new version of CAB . It is an entirely new set of libraries and guidance, built from the ground up, targeting development of new WPF Composite applications. We'll be working with both the UIFX and WPF teams, the same people who build the platform.

Read about it here.
_

Options for Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 VPCs Early Expiration

Jeff did some experimenting to find out what is actually going to happen when the OS trial period expire on November 1st.

He offers a few solutions for a permanent fix, upgrade OS to fully licensed version, or use new VPC images.

But he also offers insight into what he expects to happen if you simply do nothing.

Read his blog here.

Visio Stencils for Sharepoint 2007 Site Structures documentation

Maxime has posted some very cool new Visio stencils for laying out SharePoint site structures.

Below are 2 screenshots of the stencils I downloaded.


Click Image for larger view


Click Image for larger view

Download them from here.
_

SEAMonster: A .NET-Based Seam Carving Implementation (Very Cool)

Mike Swanson has posted some very interesting information on his blog. He has several videos, and a sample application, that demonstrate seam carving. A technique for modifying images I have not seen before.

Vacation Pictures is about the most work I do with images. This may be very cool for some of the shots I take with a ton of wasted space in them.

You have to see it, to understand it. There is no way I can explain it.

He also provides several links to additional resources. He also mentions that once he gets the code cleaned up, he plans on making it available on CodePlex.

Check it out here
_

Video Index for patterns & practices: Performance Testing Guidance

There is a new video index list on the patterns & practices: Performance Testing Guidance CodePlex site.

They include:
Video: What Is - The Core Activities of Performance Testing (Length: 4:32 - Size: 3.02 MB)
Video: What Is - The Core Activities of Performance Testing in Agile Projects (Length: 3:02 - Size: 2.38 MB)
Video: What Is - The Core Activities of Performance Testing in CMMI Projects (Length: 2:55 - Size: 2.15 MB)
Video: What Is - The Distributions of Data for Performance Tests Results (Length: 3:32 - Size: 2.39 MB)
Video: What Is - The Reporting Fundamentals for Performance Test Data (Length: 1:58 - Size: 1.45 MB)
Video: What Is - The Success Criteria for Performance Test Projects (Length: 2:12 - Size: 1.49 MB)
Video: What Is - The Mathematical and Statistical Principles for Performance Testing (Length: 2:47 - Size: 1.83 MB)
Video: What Is - The Modeling Application Usage for Performance Testing (Length: 2:25 - Size: 1.70 MB)

Check it out here.
_

READ THIS: VS2008 Beta2 VPCs expiring prematurely

This sucks!!!

Microsoft recently discovered that the VPCs we distributed as part of the VS2008 Beta2 release will expire on Thursday, November 1, 2007, much earlier than they had originally expected.

The entire post here.

What do Project Managers, Software Architects, and Software Process Engineers have in common? Some say… Unnecessary Overhead

Back is the late 90’s in the heat of the .COM Boom, a new role started popping up on projects named Project Manager. Most people had no idea what the role could possibly be for. The .COM Boom teams of cowboy coders didn’t want managed. Almost every project I went to wanted nothing to do with the role. As projects started to succeed around the industry, it was quickly noticed that they had used a Project Manager.

One gig I was working on for a Fortune 1000 company had decided to use the Project Manager for a selling point for their services, but had no idea what they should do. They hired about 5 or 6 of them, paid them very nice salaries, and put them in charge of entering the developer’s time into a time sheet application. That was it. Well not really, they did invite them to meetings to show them off. But their job was to take minutes. They were not there to think or speak, just take the minutes.

A few years later the same pattern happened with the Software Architect. They were seen as more structure and discipline for the code cowboys. I can't even fathom a guess at a count of how many times I heard you are stifling our artistic talents, we need to be free to be creative.

I wish I could have been given the budget for art starter kits (a few canvasses, brushes, pencils, a little paint). I would have invited every one of those clowns to the nearest park for a team meeting. When they got there I would have handed out the art kits, pointed to the nearest bird or tree, and said you got all the time in the world to be artistically creative, because you are all fired. They were lucky that by then Project Managers were around, and they have a little more common sense when it comes to managing teams than I do.

Software Architects were also eventually seen as a selling point for projects by companies building software, but the companies had no idea what they were for.

I was brought into one gig as an architect and put into a cube with no computer. This was a government gig. I was told I could not bring my laptop to work and that my computer would be available in 3 to 4 weeks. When I asked what the heck was going on, I was told that the agency was told they needed an architect so they allocated the budget for one, they had approval to use the budget, so I was there to use it because they didn’t want to loose it. But the current project didn’t really need an architect, so I would need to wait for a project that did. So far there had been none. I left that day, not to return.

Today it is strange to find a project of any decent size without an Architect and a Project manager. You still find a lot of projects around that do not know what they are supposed to be doing, but good software shops do know why they are there and use them as they are supposed to.

Now we move onto the Software Process Engineer. In many of the companies I am working with today they know they need to say they have a solid process in order to sell their services. The problem they see with process is that it adds unnecessary overhead to every project.

One company I worked with had me present process suggestions on several different occasions. In the last meeting the division manager said, “All this was great stuff, but what I need to know is what the bottom line of additional hours is going to be on a good size project. For example, if I have a project of 1000 hours, would that increase to 1500 hours, 1250 hours, or 2000 hours?”

I responded with, “If you are doing process right, and you have institutionalized your process, it would equate to 850 hours total, saving you 150 hours”. But I was thinking, “how the heck do they get the estimate of 1000 hours, with absolutely no process in place?”. Over time I learn SWAG (Silly Wild Ass Guess) was part of the company’s common vocabulary. No process has ever been put in place there, because they just could not swallow that process would save them money. If I could not show them how much more they could bill customers for process being in place, they were not interested.

Software Process Engineers, sometimes called Software Process Architects, are now in the same boat the Project Manager and Software Architect was in a few years ago. They are seen as a good selling point, but that is about it.

Management didn’t happen on its own, Software Architecture didn’t happen on its own, and Process will not happen on its own either. If you are a company reading this and want to get the jump on your competition, hire a good Process Engineer and enable them to do their jobs. Just hiring one doesn’t do you any good, they must be supported and enabled.

A related rant on Software Process Engineering:
Thinking Software Development Process Implementation is Free means the Blind are Leading the Blind, but there are Ruby Slippers that may Help.
_

patterns & practices Service Factory: Modeling Edition Final CTP Available

The Service Factory: Modeling Edition Final CTP is available.

Service Factory Overview from CodePlex site:
The Web Service Software Factory (also known as the Service Factory) is an integrated collection of tools, patterns, source code and prescriptive guidance. It is designed to help you quickly and consistently construct WCF and ASMX Web services that adhere to well known architecture and design patterns.

Get the new release here.
_

Video Podcasts Describe CERT’s Secure Coding Initiative

Three new Video Podcasts describing CERT’s Secure Coding Initiative are available from CERT.

Introduction from SEI's News Release:
SEI staff members in CERT’s Secure Coding Initiative are working with software development organizations to eliminate the coding errors that cause software vulnerabilities. Three video podcasts feature interviews of the initiative’s team leader, Robert Seacord, author of Secure Coding in C and C++.

Read the rest of the news release and check out the videos here.

SCAMPI Lead Appraiser Body of Knowledge (SLA BOK)

SEI has released SCAMPI Lead Appraiser Body of Knowledge (SLA BOK).

Overview from SEI Site:
The Standard CMMI Appraisal Method for Process Improvement (SCAMPISM) is designed to provide benchmark quality ratings relative to Capability Maturity Model®Integration (CMMI®) models. The role of the SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, who conducts the SCAMPI process, has developed into a distinct profession that encompasses a wide and deep array of competencies. The SCAMPI Lead Appraiser Body of Knowledge (SLA BOK) provides a multi-dimensional view of the competencies and associated skills that are needed to be a successful SCAMPI Lead Appraiser. The SLA BOK is a driver for the SEI Appraisal Program's approach to ensure quality of SCAMPI appraisals. It establishes a comprehensive basis for curriculum, training, certification, observation, and quality assurance programs.

Get it here.
_

COTS and Reusable Software Management Planning: A Template for Life-Cycle Management

SEI has released COTS and Reusable Software Management Planning: A Template for Life-Cycle Management.

Overview from SEI site:

The acquisition community needs guidance in long-term management planning for selecting, approving, and upgrading software products, especially commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and other reusable software products. As the mixture of these components in systems increases, the demand for a planned way to manage them continues to grow.

The COTS and Reusable Software Management Plan (CRSMP) can facilitate acquisition programs' management of COTS and other reusable software products.

The CRSMP provides a strategy outline for managing data about component licensing, tracking release schedules, monitoring software interdependencies, choosing specific features and extensions and documenting those choices, and evaluating and mitigating risks associated with deploying COTS and other reusable software components in a system. The CRSMP presented in this report can serve as a guide for how to manage multiple COTS and other reusable software components in complex systems.

Get it here.

_

COTS and Reusable Software Management Planning: A Template for Life-Cycle Management

SEI has released COTS and Reusable Software Management Planning: A Template for Life-Cycle Management.

Overview from SEI site:
The acquisition community needs guidance in long-term management planning for selecting, approving, and upgrading software products, especially commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and other reusable software products. As the mixture of these components in systems increases, the demand for a planned way to manage them continues to grow.

The COTS and Reusable Software Management Plan (CRSMP) can facilitate acquisition programs' management of COTS and other reusable software products.

The CRSMP provides a strategy outline for managing data about component licensing, tracking release schedules, monitoring software interdependencies, choosing specific features and extensions and documenting those choices, and evaluating and mitigating risks associated with deploying COTS and other reusable software components in a system. The CRSMP presented in this report can serve as a guide for how to manage multiple COTS and other reusable software components in complex systems.

Get it here.
_

Virtual Earth Maps on SharePoint Released

Microsoft has released Virtual Earth Maps on SharePoint on the CodePlex Community Kit for SharePoint site.

They have a really nice overview in the Implementer's Guide.

Overview from CodePlex
Neither Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 nor Office SharePoint Server 2007 offers a built-in rich mapping solution. By leveraging the SharePoint platform and its Web Part Framework, Microsoft's Information Services Group developed a reusable solution for rendering a map in a SharePoint environment without any additional custom code. It enables SharePoint users to integrate Virtual Earth maps on their web site and use a database or any other data source to store pushpin data.

The solution provides a map web part, which can be dragged and dropped onto a SharePoint page to display a variable size Virtual Earth map view. Users can also use the pushpin database to store different landmarks to be displayed on the map. The solution also provides an admin web part for managing the content of this database as well as an object model to manage content programmatically. In addition, if users want to use an existing data source to render pushpins in the map, a programmable interface is provided that can be implemented to integrate the existing data source with the map, which should significantly reduce the amount of additional custom code.

Get it here.
_

Sparx Systems releases MDG Technology for Zachman Framework beta

Overview from SPARX forum:

Sparx Systems is proud to announce the beta release of MDG Technology for Zachman Framework.

This latest addition to the MDG Technology series underpins the organizational viewpoints and structures of the Zachman Framework with great depth, breadth and modeling integrity.

MDG Technology for Zachman Framework features:

* A visual, clickable interface for the Zachman Framework
* Hierarchical model structures that support each cell within the framework
* UML profiles for Business Scorecards, Mind Mapping and Business Process modeling
* Useful model starters to help you become productive quickly
* Framework-specific model validation to help ensure consistency and correctness
* Cluster Report and Process Map generation to facilitate strategic project planning
* Detailed example model

Check out a demo here.
Check out a Getting Started Demo here.
And if you are a registered user download it here.
_

Evaluating a Service-Oriented Architecture

SEI has released a new paper "Evaluating a Service-Oriented Architecture". It is an excellent read.

Below is an overview from the SEI web site:

The emergence of service-oriented architecture (SOA) as an approach for integrating applications that expose services presents many new challenges to organizations resulting in significant risks to their business. Particularly important among those risks are failures to effectively address quality attribute requirements such as performance, availability, security, and modifiability. Because the risk and impact of SOA is distributed and pervasive across applications, it is critical to perform an architecture evaluation early in the software life cycle. This report contains technical information about SOA design considerations and tradeoffs that can help the architecture evaluator to identify and mitigate risks in a timely and effective manner. The report provides an overview of SOA, outlines key architecture approaches and their effect on quality attributes, establishes an organized collection of design-related questions that an architecture evaluator may use to analyze the ability of the architecture to meet quality requirements, and provides a brief sample evaluation.

Get it here.
_

New Microsoft Open Source Resources

This blog start me down a path of looking into what Microsoft has out there in relationship to Open Source, besides CodePlex.

A few interesting finds are listed below:

The Open Source at Microsoft Home Page

Port 25: Communications from the Open Source Software Lab @ Microsoft

Shared Source Initiative at Microsoft

And the Get to the Source lists on this page
_

Standalone Validation Application Block 1.2 Released

The Standalone Validation Application Block version 1.2 has been released on CodePlex.

Get it here.
_

Microsoft FxCop 1.36 Beta 2 Released

Overview (From MSDN Site)
FxCop is a code analysis tool that checks .NET managed code assemblies for conformance to the Microsoft .NET Framework Design Guidelines. It uses MSIL parsing, and callgraph analysis to inspect assemblies for more than 200 defects in the following areas:

• Library design
• Globalization
• Naming conventions
• Performance
• Interoperability and portability
• Security
• Usage

FxCop includes both GUI and command line versions of the tool and supports analyzing .NET 1.x, .NET 2.0 and .NET 3.x components.

Get it here.
_

Microsoft Unified Communications AJAX SDK

Brief Description (From MSDN Site)
The Microsoft Unified Communications AJAX Software Development Kit (SDK) includes documentation and sample applications for cross-platform Unified Communications application development.

Overview (From MSDN Site)
The Microsoft Unified Communications AJAX Software Development Kit (SDK) includes documentation and sample applications of the AJAX Service API (application programming interface) for cross-platform Unified Communications application development. Also included are Presence and Instant Messaging JavaScript controls for embedding into web pages.

Get it here.
_

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Virtualization Backup and Recovery Cookbook

Microsoft has released the Virtual Server 2005 R2 Virtualization Cookbook Backup and Recovery using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 and Acronis True Image 9.1 Enterprise Edition.

Download the Cookbook here.
_

ASP.NET 3.5 MVC Framework Video

Go read David's blog here, and watch Scott's video. David provides a link. It is worth it.

New pattern & practices Guidance Bundles Available

There are 2 new Guidance Bundles available from the Microsoft patterns & practices team.

What is a Guidance Bundle?(from codeplex)
A Guidance Bundle is a small package of guidance whose purpose is to allow users to quickly, conveniently, and easily learn and evaluate a concept. Although a Bundle can contain any type of guidance, it typically includes the following elements:

• Source code: QuickStarts and related artifacts.
• Binaries: Application block binaries required by the QuickStarts.
• Written documentation: QuickStarts description and How-To topics.
• Guidance Package: Visual Studio Automation for performing development activies in accordance with our guidance.
• Reference Implementation: Applications that illustrate usage of our guidance in real-world scenarios.

There are now 4 guidance bundles available:

• Contextual Autocomplete Bundle
• Validation Guidance Bundle
• Composite Web Client Library
• Composite Web Client Automation
  

Introducing Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) 3.5

David Chappell has released a new paper on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) 3.5.

I have pasted the table of content below:

DESCRIBING WINDOWS PRESENTATION FOUNDATION 3
ILLUSTRATING THE PROBLEM 3
ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM: WHAT WINDOWS PRESENTATION FOUNDATION PROVIDES 4
--A Unified Platform for Windows-Based User Interfaces 4
--The Ability for Developers and Designers to Work Together 9
--Interoperability with Existing User Interface Technologies 10

USING WINDOWS PRESENTATION FOUNDATION 11
THE TECHNOLOGY OF WINDOWS PRESENTATION FOUNDATION 12
--Application Model 12
--Layout and Controls 13
--Styles and Templates 15
--Text 16
--Documents 16
--Images 18
--Video and Audio 18
--Two-Dimensional Graphics 19
--Three-Dimensional Graphics 20
--Transformation and Effects 21
--Animation 22
--Data Binding 23
--User Interface Automation 23
--Interfaces for Add-ins 24
APPLYING WINDOWS PRESENTATION FOUNDATION 24
--Standalone WPF Applications 24
--XAML Browser Applications: XBAPs 25
--XPS Documents 25

TOOLS FOR WINDOWS PRESENTATION FOUNDATION 27
FOR DEVELOPERS: VISUAL STUDIO’S WPF DESIGNER 28
FOR DESIGNERS: EXPRESSION BLEND 29

CHOOSING AN INTERFACE TECHNOLOGY 31
INTERFACES FOR WINDOWS APPLICATIONS: WPF AND WINDOWS FORMS 31
STANDARDS-BASED WEB INTERFACES: ASP.NET AND ASP.NET AJAX 32
RICH INTERNET APPLICATIONS: SILVERLIGHT 33

CONCLUSION 35

FOR FURTHER READING 35

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 35

Get it here.
_

Mandamagement and Division of Labor

Management is not my specialty. If I was asked to be a manger, the outcome would probably be far less than desirable.

I also recognize that I can find your faults, and tell you all about how to fix them, while I strut around doing the same thing I think you should stop doing. In other words, I can fix you, but not myself, so I depend on those around me to keep me in line and on target. What happens when those around me don't know what the target should be, or even worse they assume the responsibility of guiding me off a cliff? In this past blog I asked "Where is my Project Manager?". My more recent experience was quite the opposite.

A while ago I had the pleasure of experiencing a project manager that not only thought they knew how to do architecture and development, but they thought they should tell me how to do architecture and tell me how to provide a technical solution. Their way was not my way, mainly because they had little experience, and the experience they had was bad experience. You can imagine how well that went. They were persistent enough that some days I felt like I had two voices in my head. It was like living in the Gollum and Precious scene. I always knew where they were, because they were always in my space and my head.

I always welcome input from someone until I realize they are not qualified to give input on a certain problem. On my current project I was asked to offer advice on a JAVA architecture and system design. I had to ask not to have to do that. I don't believe in trying to give expert advice on something I am not an expert on. I could have recognized the patterns and the UML diagrams easily enough, but after that, when we got to implementation, I would have been lost. This concept of not being experienced enough in a subject to be able to offer sound advice was beyond the project manager. They were always willing to offer their unsolicited advice without the backing of experience, especially to the customer. That led to a lot of wasted time proving to them why the suggestion would not work.

I have been places where they believe everyone on the team should be capable of doing everything. In my humble opinion that only really works when everyone on the team is actually equally capable.

Usually I find that they aren't equally capable. Some team members are better at one thing, and other team members are better at other things. There is also sometimes when a team member is not capable of meeting the skill sets they sold you on, and must be mentored if the time and resources are available for that, or let go and replaced if the resources are not available, or they are not willing to learn. That does not apply to consultants. If you are a consultant, you better come in hitting the ground running. Consultants are paid to know, not to learn.

This brings me to division of labor. I have yet to find a successful team that did not practice good division of labor. They are usually very productive. On the other hand, if our team is made up of an enmeshment, and you can't define where my responsibility starts and yours stops, and visa versa, we are in trouble.

Management that can be in the weeds, are always welcome in the weeds. I am working with a team right now that I always want in the weeds with me. But in the situation with the project manager that was not qualified to be in the weeds, did not know where their responsibilities stopped, and did not let the people who do architecture and development take over, there was a lot of Mandamagement done. It was to the point where I had to exercise my belief that sometimes the best thing for a project is for me to leave it.

Implementing the IBM Rational Unified Process and Solutions Book Review

This book is a must have for anyone implementing the RUP. It hits on a lot of key pieces of the puzzle that go far beyond the configuration of process material and process instancing.

One chapter I found invaluable is the chapter on mentoring. In my personal experiencing training alone has never been enough when trying to adopt the RUP. This chapter finally put into words for me what I have been trying to communicate to a lot of companies. I now have a place to refer them when I am trying to make my point.

Another chapter was the one on tooling. This is overlooked a lot. Making sure you have the tooling to support your process in an absolute must and this book brings that to light.

The book also comes with downloadable tools that make the practices in the book a reality. They add the value of making this a real world book, verses an academic view of process implementation. You can check them out here.

This book was definitely worth getting.

Get it here.
_

Practically Free Book: Agile Development with ICONIX Process

A friend of mine at work pointed this out to me last week. I got the book and cannot figure out why it is soooooo cheap. But it is definitely worth it. The book does a great job of putting a realistic spin on agile.



Click the image for larger view.

Buy it here.

Visual Studio 2008 - Code Metrics

David gives a nice overview of the Visual Studio 2008 Code Metrics here.

Microsoft will be releasing the Source Code for the .NET Framework Libraries

Today Scott Guthrie announced that Microsoft will be allowing .NET developers to download and browse the source code of the .NET Framework libraries. They will be providing this with the .NET 3.5 and VS 2008 release later this year.

Check out his post here.

SPARX Enterprise Architect Add-in: SpEAd (formerly EA Utilities)

Project Description (from CodePlex Site)
An add-in for Enterprise Architect from Sparx Systems to improve productivity, particularly when maintining existing diagrams.

Enterprise Architect (EA) is IMHO the best UML Modelling tool on the market, but occasionally it can be really tedius when making changes to diagrams or using existing elements on new diagrams. I started this project to enable sharing of an add-in I created to improve the productivity in these areas for the design team at Tesco.com where I was working at the time. I introduced EA to the team and took on the mantle of mentor with regard to using the tool and getting the most out of it. So when the guys started asking how to speed up things my answer was "create an add-in" so here is that add-in.

As an example of the sort of scenario where SpEAd can help. You have documented reuirements in EA and created several complex diagrams to meet these requirements. Now you want to create traceability diagrams to show which elements realise requirements. So you create the diagram and drag a few requirements on to it, then you drag the classes that realise these requirements. Some of the requirements are associated with others through aggregation, and classes are associated to each other in varying ways, so you have many links on the diagram that you don't want to see. Without SpEAd you have to select each link in turn and hide it using menu options or key strokes. With SpEAd installed you simply select "Hide Links" from Tools>SpEAd, click Select All and OK in the dialog that appears and all the links are hidden, saving you several minutes. Now you have a link free diagram to work with, you create realise links between the elements and requirements and realise your default link style looks pretty untidy. Layout diagram doesn't quite get what you want so you move your elements around and want to change the style of all links to a Vertical Tree. Without EA Utilities you have to select each link in turn and use the mouse or key strokes to change the style. With SpEAd installed you simple select Tools>SpEAd>Set Link Style All, choose a style from the selector dialog that appears and click OK. All links are changed in one operation, again saving you several minutes.

Currently SpEAd provides the following features

• Set Link Style All
• Set Link Style (Enables selection of links to style)
• Hide Links
• Unhide Links
• Link To Multiple
• Link Multiple To
• Sync Operations and Attributes (v1.1)
• Copy Operations and Attributes (v1.2)
• Hide Link Labels All (v1.2)
• Unhide Link Labels All (v1.2)
• Hide Link Labels (v1.3)
• Unhide Link Labels (v1.3)

Get it here.
_

SimpleTech External and Portable Drive Review.

I have been using the SimpleTech External 250 Gig and the SimpleTech Portable 100 Gig Drive for a little while now. They have added a year to the life of my hard drives.

From a programmer's perspective these drives have been great. I use them for running 4 different virtual machines using Microsoft's Virtual PC. They are great for hosting the latest VPC instances Microsoft has been dumping out of Visual Studio 2008 and Rosario.

USB 2.0 is a definite must though. They are slow as mud if you aren't using USB 2.0.

For digital image storage they are great. When we go on vacation I usually end up with about 7-10 gigs of photos.

I guess the best thing they bring to the table is mobility between my PC at work, my work laptop, and my PC's and laptops at home. I currently do all my work on them.

One thing to note is that the external drives can be bought for about $100.00 less than the smaller portable ones. The small one is much more convenient than the larger one to carry around, but for the price I decided to be a little inconvenienced. It was worth it.

Both have been worth the $$$. They have saved me a ton of time going between different environments.