Which truly sounds like the average day for a typical UNIX administrator. I know I often find it necessary to administer a remote system from a bleak mountaintop in Burma. Happens all the time.
We'll it happend to me last week - I had my Iridium phone and Zaurus and I went hiking in the woods for 3 days.
Every three hours or so, I fired up the phone to see if any pages came in.
If there was an emergency, I could have (and have done repedidly) SSHed and fixed most of them.
It's a bitch 'cause the phone and Zaurus add four pounds to the back-pack and I'm an ultralight backpacker. I'd bring the Iridiul along anyways just for safty.
I also don't like being 'tethered' to civilistion - but with this I can escape to the woods and still be resposible.
The point is - you have to fight windows every step of the way to do remote management.
1) Insall a SSH 2) Install more crap. 3) Hunt down obscure internet referances, becase only weirdos comandline stuff with Win32.
Here's a test:
In Windows:
Make a 'batch' file that dumps a running MS SQL server into a file, zips it, names it after the system time, and emails the file. Make it happen every hour.
In UNIX it ONE, SIMPLE, EASY TO UNDERSTAND line put in a Crontab file.
Why can't you just use Activestate Perl to hit a few Win32 API calls to do the job? Connect to the machine, whack the user database around with some custom programming, and then you're done.
Great idea, if you have to use NT.
But if I did that for my smaler clients - I'd have to charge them an arm and a leg for each Windows Server I deployed.
The would not like an invoice that read like this:
Windows Solution Windows 2003 Server 10 CAL - $1000 Install Windows 2003 - $300 Make Windows Behave Like Unix - $3000
So for my smaller customers, it's not an option that makes economic sense.
There's nothing wrong with Windows, but remote managment is VERY difficult.
This is the important bit
In addition, UNIX has a rich history of remote managment - there a whole books that can help me. But for Windows - wheres the "Remote Windows Management Using Activestate Perl and a few Win32 Calls for Dummies?"
What?! You've never heard of any of the following: -- Terminal Services -- VNC for Windows -- Remote Desktop commercial programs
Yes I use them all the time, but when I'm on the road I have to manage servers over my CELL PHONE coneection. Window Termmial Services is unsuable in that situation.
Here's an example:
With UNIX I'm in Ireland (I'm usually based in the US) and I get a call "We just got a new user, could you add them"
I whip out my Ericcson 68i and Sharp Zaurus - and ssh into the server and run a script to add the user.
With Windows: I have to find a "Internet Cafe" pay 10 Euros, and convince the owner of the cafe to let me install VNC. Then I get to S-L-O-W-L-Y use the gui to add the user.
It get's even better - I can remotly manage my servers in the absolute wilderness with an Iridium satelite phone and a Zaurus with a serial cable. At 9600 baud, I can do it with UNIX - but Windows, forget about it.
Re:Why are they running Windows then?
on
Can .NET Really Scale?
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
A small business CANNOT afford to employ a full time UNIX administrator.
They can't affor NOT to: We service many small compaines who use Windows desktops connected to UNIX (OpenBSD firewalls, FreeBSD servers). The savings in time alone are staggering:
Real example:
One office of ten accountants has been managed by me lasst year for under $3000. They have offsite backups, a PostgreSQL databe, Samba file serving, 56K nat, Firewall, email filtering.
If (and its a BIG if) one of the servers has a problem - I can remotly fix it over my cell phone connection, and I don't have to charge them travel time. If it was Windows - I'd have to drive there.
Windows is expensive because it requires full time baby-sitting. UNIX, once deployes is usuall fire and forget.
Almost every platform has an X-Windows 'client' - just run around and install the X-Windows client and get it to point to one Application server. Then you just upgrade the Applciation Server and presto - you're done.
Applications that need to print ar a pain, amung other problems, but if you can get away with it then this works well.
Isn't that supposed to be: "Well, there goes the Network Neighborhood."
Hey! Microsoft spent a lot of money testing unser interfaces, and after 5.23 million dollers, 121,002 man-hours, and two os revision they chand it: it now "My Network Places"
I do think they haven't had a real challenge in business because of their predatory business practices.
My Dumb Idea:
The Linux uprising has been helped by Microsoft killing the competition.
If BsOS 11 was out, would you still be using Linux? If Apple was twice as large, as was able to spend twice as much money on their os, would you still be using Linux? If Amiga 2004 was just released, would you still be using Linux?
Microsoft killed all the invation, and this allowed a clone of a old crufty Unix system become suddenly a viable chouice - when you compare it to Microsoft. Linux woulden't be so viable if you had to compair it to what Amiga 2004 would have been.
(and yes, in case you're worndering, I love Linux and *BSD)
The real interesting thing that this article brough out was that the decision by wasen't made due to up-front costs: Microsoft brought their bid down to below IBM/SuSE's bid by several million dollars.
Probably, the government realised that the Microsoft solution had higher total 'costs' due to:
Instead of sending individual messages to lots of peole, spammers will send one message that has a huge audience. The will also sucker you into reading somthing by making it interesting - MAKE MONEY FAST www.monetfast2002.org!
Increasingly the cost of Word and the scattered versions is making it less and less of a productive tool.
When 20% your team can't afford to upgrade to Word XP, 30% is still on Word 97, 10% is on Word for Mac, and 5% have their notmal.dot template taken over by a Windows virus - it's easier to tell everybody to workload OpenOffice 1.1 and call it a day.
Linux is getting to the point that it's catching up with FreeBSD for servers. It still has a way to go to match OpenBSD for security, or NetBSD for portability.
There are strenghs to Linux, such that now it should be part of your tool kit:
OpenBSD for firewalls, gateways and remote boxes that you don't wat to patch. FreeBSD for fileservers, database servers, xwindows servers. NetBSD for odd platforms. Linux for desktops, WINE, clusters and *supported applications*.
Let me explain the last one:
Many vendors are starting to explicitly support Linux as an alternate platform to Windows - so if you want their support, it's easier just to install their recommended version of Linux has fire away.
Slashdot Mirror
Releasing large amounts of CO2 into the room might just turn your server room into a silent deathtrap.
But if you'r....say 6 foot three inches and your PHB is say... a dwarf.... well......
Invite him in, and when he falls over with his eyes bludging out.... run!
I forgot 'bout that. I even have forward for in my firwall for it and I still forgot....
ugh... stuipd meat-memory.
"Columbine". Your turn.
I'll raise your "Columbine" and give you a "Nazi" - and a misspelling - "Loser".
Which truly sounds like the average day for a typical UNIX administrator. I know I often find it necessary to administer a remote system from a bleak mountaintop in Burma. Happens all the time.
We'll it happend to me last week - I had my Iridium phone and Zaurus and I went hiking in the woods for 3 days.
Every three hours or so, I fired up the phone to see if any pages came in.
If there was an emergency, I could have (and have done repedidly) SSHed and fixed most of them.
It's a bitch 'cause the phone and Zaurus add four pounds to the back-pack and I'm an ultralight backpacker. I'd bring the Iridiul along anyways just for safty.
I also don't like being 'tethered' to civilistion - but with this I can escape to the woods and still be resposible.
I hit a snag: what's the command to dump a running MSSQL server into a file on UNIX?
DB2, Oracle, PostgrSQL, MySQL - your choice.
The point is - you have to fight windows every step of the way to do remote management.
1) Insall a SSH
2) Install more crap.
3) Hunt down obscure internet referances, becase only weirdos comandline stuff with Win32.
Here's a test:
In Windows:
Make a 'batch' file that dumps a running MS SQL server into a file, zips it, names it after the system time, and emails the file. Make it happen every hour.
In UNIX it ONE, SIMPLE, EASY TO UNDERSTAND line put in a Crontab file.
No downloading, no searching, no crap. Just done.
Why can't you just use Activestate Perl to hit a few Win32 API calls to do the job? Connect to the machine, whack the user database around with some custom programming, and then you're done.
Great idea, if you have to use NT.
But if I did that for my smaler clients - I'd have to charge them an arm and a leg for each Windows Server I deployed.
The would not like an invoice that read like this:
Windows Solution
Windows 2003 Server 10 CAL - $1000
Install Windows 2003 - $300
Make Windows Behave Like Unix - $3000
Instead, they like this:
FreeBSD Solution
Install FreeBSD - $300
Donation to FreeBSD.org - $300
So for my smaller customers, it's not an option that makes economic sense.
There's nothing wrong with Windows, but remote managment is VERY difficult.
This is the important bit
In addition, UNIX has a rich history of remote managment - there a whole books that can help me. But for Windows - wheres the "Remote Windows Management Using Activestate Perl and a few Win32 Calls for Dummies?"
How much did you pay for the Cell Phone and Zaurus? Plus the web access for the phone. It would not work in Canada that is for sure. Nice try.
$300 for the phone, $800 for the Zaurus SL-C700. Cheap stuff.
Canada has great GPRS / GSM coverage. In fact, I wish has a Canada Fido account, somthing like $20 for all the GPRS you can use.
If GPRS is not available, the're always Iridum for $1.50 a minute. Or a 56K compact flash card for the Zaurus.
Like I said, cheap stuff.
I am sorry, but that is just on crack (and so is whoever modded you "Insightful".)
You have more patience than me, thinking you can use Terminal Services over a Cell Phone with a PDA that has a 320x200 display.
My time is more valuable than that.
I use the best too for the job, and for remote administration MS Windows is not the right tool.
What?! You've never heard of any of the following: -- Terminal Services -- VNC for Windows -- Remote Desktop commercial programs
Yes I use them all the time, but when I'm on the road I have to manage servers over my CELL PHONE coneection. Window Termmial Services is unsuable in that situation.
Here's an example:
With UNIX I'm in Ireland (I'm usually based in the US) and I get a call "We just got a new user, could you add them"
I whip out my Ericcson 68i and Sharp Zaurus - and ssh into the server and run a script to add the user.
With Windows: I have to find a "Internet Cafe" pay 10 Euros, and convince the owner of the cafe to let me install VNC. Then I get to S-L-O-W-L-Y use the gui to add the user.
It get's even better - I can remotly manage my servers in the absolute wilderness with an Iridium satelite phone and a Zaurus with a serial cable. At 9600 baud, I can do it with UNIX - but Windows, forget about it.
A small business CANNOT afford to employ a full time UNIX administrator.
They can't affor NOT to: We service many small compaines who use Windows desktops connected to UNIX (OpenBSD firewalls, FreeBSD servers). The savings in time alone are staggering:
Real example:
One office of ten accountants has been managed by me lasst year for under $3000.
They have offsite backups, a PostgreSQL databe, Samba file serving, 56K nat, Firewall, email filtering.
If (and its a BIG if) one of the servers has a problem - I can remotly fix it over my cell phone connection, and I don't have to charge them travel time. If it was Windows - I'd have to drive there.
Windows is expensive because it requires full time baby-sitting. UNIX, once deployes is usuall fire and forget.
Almost every platform has an X-Windows 'client' - just run around and install the X-Windows client and get it to point to one Application server. Then you just upgrade the Applciation Server and presto - you're done.
Applications that need to print ar a pain, amung other problems, but if you can get away with it then this works well.
Isn't that supposed to be: "Well, there goes the Network Neighborhood."
Hey! Microsoft spent a lot of money testing unser interfaces, and after 5.23 million dollers, 121,002 man-hours, and two os revision they chand it: it now "My Network Places"
I do think they haven't had a real challenge in business because of their predatory business practices.
My Dumb Idea:
The Linux uprising has been helped by Microsoft killing the competition.
If BsOS 11 was out, would you still be using Linux?
If Apple was twice as large, as was able to spend twice as much money on their os, would you still be using Linux?
If Amiga 2004 was just released, would you still be using Linux?
Microsoft killed all the invation, and this allowed a clone of a old crufty Unix system become suddenly a viable chouice - when you compare it to Microsoft. Linux woulden't be so viable if you had to compair it to what Amiga 2004 would have been.
(and yes, in case you're worndering, I love Linux and *BSD)
The real interesting thing that this article brough out was that the decision by wasen't made due to up-front costs: Microsoft brought their bid down to below IBM/SuSE's bid by several million dollars.
Probably, the government realised that the Microsoft solution had higher total 'costs' due to:
*vendor lock-in
*poor reliability
*poor scalability
*poor security
*poor standards compliance
amung other items.
From Japan, with their high-speed Internet connections, the dreaded:
First Prost, Lock-star Stile!
Firstly, Japan is very densely populated,
Certain portions of America are populated by dense people.
That's interesting because my colleagues allways say: hey, those letters look really ugly, you must have been using LaTeX.
I bet your coleagues think "Comic Sans MS*" is pretty darn cool if the think LaTeX looks ugly.
* Comic Sans MS is is included free with MS Office - because Microsoft Hates You (TM)
Mr Reagan was an exceptionally decent human being, who cared deeply about the welfare of his nation,
I feel the same about Carter - a medeocre president, but a very decent man.
He'd be welcome for dinner anytime.
Nader's the same way - I'm oppsed to almost 100% of his ideas, but I'd trust him.
Clinton often had conservative polocies (that I agreed with) - but he woulden't be fit to lick my boots.
HZ is now 1000 on most architectures.
Damn, the Linux kernal wakes up and reschedules things more times per second than my first computer could do operations per second.
(TRS-80 if you're curious)
"Iraq has weapons of mass destruction."
And from the looks of it, they usd them on themselves.
Instead of sending individual messages to lots of peole, spammers will send one message that has a huge audience. The will also sucker you into reading somthing by making it interesting - MAKE MONEY FAST www.monetfast2002.org!
Increasingly the cost of Word and the scattered versions is making it less and less of a productive tool.
When 20% your team can't afford to upgrade to Word XP, 30% is still on Word 97, 10% is on Word for Mac, and 5% have their notmal.dot template taken over by a Windows virus - it's easier to tell everybody to workload OpenOffice 1.1 and call it a day.
s/Menu Bar -> Edit -> Search & Replace/Control-H/
;)
Uh oh - this could get ugly really quick
I'm a big *BSD fanboy so....
Linux is getting to the point that it's catching up with FreeBSD for servers. It still has a way to go to match OpenBSD for security, or NetBSD for portability.
There are strenghs to Linux, such that now it should be part of your tool kit:
OpenBSD for firewalls, gateways and remote boxes that you don't wat to patch.
FreeBSD for fileservers, database servers, xwindows servers.
NetBSD for odd platforms.
Linux for desktops, WINE, clusters and *supported applications*.
Let me explain the last one:
Many vendors are starting to explicitly support Linux as an alternate platform to Windows - so if you want their support, it's easier just to install their recommended version of Linux has fire away.