Techielass - A blog by Sarah Lean

Dev Containers

Dev Containers in VS Code: Why every project needs one

Stop losing days to "works on my machine." Here's how dev containers standardise Terraform, Azure CLI, and tooling across your whole team.

Microsoft Azure

Azure Environment Design: Stop Paying Production Prices for Dev

Why "production-like" doesn't mean "production-priced." A practical Azure SKU strategy for Dev and Test that cuts costs without losing architecture.

Terraform Featured

Deploying to Multiple Azure Subscriptions with Terraform Provider Aliases

Learn how to deploy resources across multiple Azure subscriptions in a single Terraform project using provider aliases. One codebase, one state file, multiple subscriptions.

Terraform

Terraform Plan vs Apply: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding the Difference

Learn the difference between terraform plan and terraform apply, how they work together, and why using both helps beginners deploy safely.

Terraform

Deploy Azure OpenAI with Terraform and use it in Microsoft AI Shell

Learn how to deploy Azure OpenAI Service using Terraform and securely configure Microsoft AI Shell to use your Azure-hosted GPT model.

Career

LinkedIn Smart Links: How to Share Resources, Track Engagement, and Improve Outreach

Learn how LinkedIn Smart Links can simplify sharing multiple resources, track engagement, and improve your outreach using Sales Navigator.

Year In Review

Looking back at 2025

A reflective look back at my year of blogging, speaking, community events, and growth in 2025, plus what’s coming next in 2026.

OpenAI

Connect Microsoft AI Shell to Azure OpenAI Service

Learn how to deploy Azure OpenAI Service with Bicep and configure Microsoft AI Shell to use enterprise-grade GPT models securely from your terminal. Step-by-step guide included.

Career

How Pre-Sales Techies can use BANT to qualify opportunities effectively

Learn how pre-sales technical engineers can use the BANT framework to uncover budget, authority, need, and timeline, improving qualification and customer outcomes.

Terraform Featured

How to Use Comments in Terraform

Learn how to use single-line and multi-line comments in Terraform, with best practices to keep your code clear, maintainable, and easy for teams to understand.

Azure

Can you recover a deleted Microsoft Entra Tenant?

Wondering if a deleted Microsoft Entra tenant can be recovered? Discover what’s possible, what isn’t, and how to protect your identities.

Terraform Featured

What is a tfvars file in Terraform and how do you use it?

A beginner-friendly guide to Terraform tfvars files. Learn how to define variables, use tfvars to customise deployments, and manage multiple environments.

Terraform Featured

Deploying an Azure VM into an Availability Zone with Terraform

A simple guide to deploying an Azure VM into a chosen Availability Zone using Terraform. Perfect for learning how to improve resilience and follow Azure best practices with IaC.

Chaos Engineering

What is Chaos Engineering?

Learn how chaos engineering helps DevOps and SRE teams build resilient systems, with real-world examples and Azure Chaos Studio for safe experiments.

Azure

Azure Storage Mover: How to migrate files from AWS S3 to Azure

Learn how to migrate files from AWS S3 to Azure using Azure Storage Mover. Step-by-step guide for secure, scalable cloud-to-cloud migrations.

Azure

Cost Optimization in Azure: Using the FinOps Toolkit to Save Money

Discover how the Azure FinOps Toolkit can help you monitor costs, identify idle resources, and optimize your cloud spending with alerts and workbooks.

Azure Arc Featured

How to onboard a Windows Server to Azure Arc

Discover how Azure Arc helps you manage Windows Servers across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, unlock advanced management features, and enable seamless ESUs.

Monitoring

What is Grafana?

Learn what Grafana is, how it works, its features, and how to use it with Azure Monitor or Azure Managed Grafana for powerful data visualisation.

Terraform Featured

Automating Azure SFTP deployment with Terraform

Learn how to deploy Azure SFTP using Terraform for a fast, repeatable, and version-controlled setup. Includes GitHub code and customisation tips.

Terraform

Estimate cloud costs with Terraform and Infracost

Learn how to integrate Infracost with Terraform to estimate Azure, AWS, and GCP cloud costs before deployment and improve your FinOps practices.

Azure

Install and use Microsoft AI Shell

Explore Microsoft AI Shell — an interactive command-line tool that brings Copilot in Azure and GPT-4o to your terminal. Learn how to install it and get started with AI-powered CLI commands.

Azure Featured

How to set up SFTP in Azure

Learn how to securely transfer files using Azure's native SFTP support. This guide covers what SFTP is, Azure pricing, and how to configure it step by step.

Artificial Intelligence Featured

Prompting GPT-5: How to write clear, effective prompts for maximum results

Learn how to write clear and effective prompts for GPT-5. This guide covers prompt structure, modifiers, and advanced GPT-5 prompt engineering tips.

Artificial Intelligence

Understanding AI: Common terms and acronyms made simple

Learn what LLMs, NLP, RAG, and other AI terms mean in simple language. A clear guide to AI, machine learning, and Microsoft’s AI tools.

Azure Arc Featured

How to enable automatic upgrades for Azure Arc Agent (Public Preview)

Learn how to enable the new public preview feature for automatic Azure Arc agent upgrades. Step-by-step PowerShell examples, scripts for multiple servers, and monitoring with KQL included.