You don't have the time to put in a system, but you can craft a one off solution.
Your solution starts by sub-dividing your 7k servers into groups based on business units. Poke around to find out what their SLA is, and then _tell_ them that you are going to bend the SLA a little in order to get this 'OMG CRITICAL PATCH' onto your farm.
No offense, but I have found scripting abilities in Unix/Linux shops to be of a lot higher quality than Windows shops. nevertheless, you do have some talent whether you know it or not. Enlist this talent and use scripting for a lot of the nitty gritty details.
Quest Fastlane Reporter, Winbatch, and native WMI are great ways to report on pre and post conditions of servers.
Delegate, delegate, delegate. Let your team plan the methods and schedules for each business unit's servers
Once over the crisis, use the information you have gathered to generate a requirements document and go shopping.
Remember, the key to delegating is trust. You are in charge of managing the 7k servers; you are not in charge of doing the individual upgrades/patches.
I'm sorry to take a bit of a condescending tone, but I'm trying to be clear, not flatter your ego. To reiterate, the bottom line here is that with the time you have, you will be doing an automated manual upgrade. You may find that the process you cobble together will actually become a great plan B when critical patches need to be made; especially if you design with that goal in mind.
Use the 'scare' from the event quickly to get budget money for a Real Patch System(TM).
I see. So, not only is Paypal immune to US banking law, they are free of international monetary regulation.
I would agree that in the example you cited, Paypal was the best choice.
The determination of quality in any operation is not delivering the product when everything goes as planned. Quality is demonstrated when transactions fall outside of normal parameters. Paypal has failed by most reasonable standards when it comes to handling...reverse transactions for lack of a better term.
I suppose you could argue that Paypal does so well at settling international transactions because of their capricious use of their control over your funds.
I'll freely stipulate that Paypal is useful when everything proceeds normally. The threat/chilling effect/risk of Paypal doing Bad Things to me still outweighs their usefulness in my mind. I am sincerely glad that a lot of people find Paypal useful because, as I said in the parent post, the idea of a Paypal service is intriguing, useful, and downright needed for the net to continue growing.
What argument could then persuade me to trust them with money that is most certainly NOT virtual?
I'm not someone with a cross to bear. Paypal has never screwed me over, and the idea of paypal is very appealing. However, the practices of Paypal have been and are egregious for very little benefit to the average consumer. Even as a small business owner, the appeal of Paypal as it currently operates is scant.
Just mod me as flamebait, I guess. In the immortal words of Tom Hanks in Big, I don't get it!
There is a fine line between a business negotiation and extortion. The enterprising lad in question was trying to sell a program to Google. What that program does is a separate issue.
My friend, Mortimer (not his real name), had a similar experience. He was the sole sysadmin for a smallish institutional network. After a management switch in which the inevitable cost cutting occurred, he was left without a job. The reasoning was since nothing ever goes down, why do we need a sysadmin?
My buddy got the last laugh by repeatedly turning down requests to come back in a consultative capacity as one system after another acted up.
I'm sure Steve S. hated life for awhile, but I'll put my money on clueless management over a proverbial anecdote.:)
Quality appearance is a bit more expensive. Realize this and accept it.
Buy the patch cables that are serialized at each end.
Buy THE CORRECT LENGTH patch cables.
Use Velcro, never zip ties.
Always leave room for expansion.
Color code. We use green exclusively for telecom (TDM, and VOIP), Blue for standard jacks, etc. NEVER violate color coding, even though it is incredibly tempting to do so.
Teenage black people take such treatment for granted.
Sometimes, however, the phenomena is NOT institutional racism.
The standard of care at that high end boutique is most likely one of fawning attention. Ever hear the story of how Tom Arnold, carrying a million bux in cash, was snubbed in a high end jewelry store? I guess you just did.
It is not about the money (our customer signed for the computers and will pay for the stolen items), we just want justice.
My rudimentary reading skills translate this to mean that said laptop was stolen while in the care of a RENTAL customer, or the RENTAL customer is claiming it was stolen, but really isn't. All the owner of the laptop can claim is that the RENTAL customer has not returned a laptop on time.
You can call double BS, or you could realize that the local cops are splitting the exact same hairs so they can ignore the issue.
Poster said the laptop in question is a rental. All the 'thief' did is fail to return it on time. Technically, he only owes money for the rent to cover the time it is in his possession.
I would ask if the company has an AUP that says something like "All equipment kept 30 days past the agreed end rental date shall be considered stolen and reported to proper authorities". Even with some half-arsed statement like that, MOST PDs will see the issue as a civil matter.
You might try the county sheriff if the local PD won't help. I once saw on the news (Chicago area) where a video store owner was trying to get some tapes back. The local PD blew him off, so he went to the sheriff who turned him on to some little used tactic where a citizen can approach a grand jury to get an arrest warrant. Well, the grand jury issued the warrant, and a beat faced man returned those tapes PDQ. IANAL, YMMV, YADDA, YADDA, YADDA.
So, your data center would have racks sprouting up from the sand like cacti?
The more square footage in your data center the more CUBIC VOLUME OF AIR that needs to be cooled.
Sure, spreading the same number of therms in more space would take longer to heat the entire cubic space. BUT, you still got to get rid of that heat. WIth a bigger data center, you have to remove the same amount of heat, but diffused through more volume of air. Thus, you need larger cooling units to process the larger volume of air for the constant heat generated..
There is a reason that thermodynamics is an entire semester and they harp so much on the first law.
Sure, you can spend whatever you want, but should you?
If you are playing in this space it seems profitable. FTA "generate approximately $80 million in annual revenue, and cash gross profit margins of approximately 70 percent."
So, spend 2 years of revenue in construction, reap great profits over it's 10-12 year minimum life.
Map your drives as persistent and USB does not walk on them.
Admittedly, I have not hit this problem with windows 2k/2k3 AD domain, or in a Netware 5 environment. All my drives map persistent without issue. Remember, I may be talking out my arse since I haven't been bitten by this issue.
I'll even give you a gmail invite if you need one.
Just tell your folks to send you a news story email: how, what, where, when, why.
Every one of your clients has email in some form. If they don't have an email address, call Wharton for a case study specimen.
The best advice I can give you is as a one man operation, DO NOT get hung up on your own infrastructure. Every minute spent on your office is one less billable, or fullfillable moment of your life.
Time happens, and you won't believe how long these clients will be a part of your life. Hopefully your keyboard will eventually give way to something warm and cuddly (preferably of the same species) and you'll appreciate your sparse, ugly, but workable processes and procedures.:)
Oh yea, since this is slashdot, there is a really useful website at www.google.com. You type a question into the magic rectangle, and a bunch of possible answers appear. Google is kind of like a magic 8 ball on meth. Hopefully this admonishment is snide enough to win mod points.:)^2
Why? For the same reason birth control is primarily a woman's responsibility. Which party has the most to lose if things don't go as planned?
The worst thing that can happen to the employee is losing a job; I'll leave the second half unsaid.
Your employer should pay for the training, but it is very much your responsibility to stay current on: news, trends, best practices, product developments/lifecycles, etc. The company has paid for your duty, but must earn your (scant?) loyalty.
Intent matters? How about actually doing the deed?
If you look me right in the eye and ask other people to break my arm. The schmuck that tries to do it committed the crime.
You see, there is no inducement! I can spew stupidity, and link all over the web with impunity from the government. If I pay people, or offer to trade something for cooperating with illegal stupidity, then I have crossed the line in a big way.
To me this is the same as yelling SCREW THE HEAD OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY! to everyone I meet. There is no crime until someone tries to get his pants on the floor. I wonder how many people will read this and see absurdity, and how many others will act scandalized?
Slashdot Mirror
Managers must manage.
You don't have the time to put in a system, but you can craft a one off solution.
Your solution starts by sub-dividing your 7k servers into groups based on business units. Poke around to find out what their SLA is, and then _tell_ them that you are going to bend the SLA a little in order to get this 'OMG CRITICAL PATCH' onto your farm.
No offense, but I have found scripting abilities in Unix/Linux shops to be of a lot higher quality than Windows shops. nevertheless, you do have some talent whether you know it or not. Enlist this talent and use scripting for a lot of the nitty gritty details.
Quest Fastlane Reporter, Winbatch, and native WMI are great ways to report on pre and post conditions of servers.
Delegate, delegate, delegate. Let your team plan the methods and schedules for each business unit's servers
Once over the crisis, use the information you have gathered to generate a requirements document and go shopping.
Remember, the key to delegating is trust. You are in charge of managing the 7k servers; you are not in charge of doing the individual upgrades/patches.
I'm sorry to take a bit of a condescending tone, but I'm trying to be clear, not flatter your ego. To reiterate, the bottom line here is that with the time you have, you will be doing an automated manual upgrade. You may find that the process you cobble together will actually become a great plan B when critical patches need to be made; especially if you design with that goal in mind.
Use the 'scare' from the event quickly to get budget money for a Real Patch System(TM).
Good luck!
Just another idiotic idea, stupidly implemented, and signed into law by someone who seems to have the comprehension of a 12 year old.
I feel compelled to point out the 435 other someones had to act before the pen touched the paper.
It is not a universal thing! In Chicago, absolutely everything must go through pipe. Even pipe sometimes goes in pipe.
Microsoft will sell you the Vista Content Creation Edition.
The cost will only be about $3500.00 per copy.
I see. So, not only is Paypal immune to US banking law, they are free of international monetary regulation.
I would agree that in the example you cited, Paypal was the best choice.
The determination of quality in any operation is not delivering the product when everything goes as planned. Quality is demonstrated when transactions fall outside of normal parameters. Paypal has failed by most reasonable standards when it comes to handling...reverse transactions for lack of a better term.
I suppose you could argue that Paypal does so well at settling international transactions because of their capricious use of their control over your funds.
I'll freely stipulate that Paypal is useful when everything proceeds normally. The threat/chilling effect/risk of Paypal doing Bad Things to me still outweighs their usefulness in my mind. I am sincerely glad that a lot of people find Paypal useful because, as I said in the parent post, the idea of a Paypal service is intriguing, useful, and downright needed for the net to continue growing.
Paypal is not a bank.
Paypal is not a savings and loan.
Paypal is not a retail store.
Paypal is not an insurance company.
Paypal is not a manufacturing company
Paypal is not an exchange of any kind.
Paypal is not a foundation committed to a cause.
What argument could then persuade me to trust them with money that is most certainly NOT virtual?
I'm not someone with a cross to bear. Paypal has never screwed me over, and the idea of paypal is very appealing. However, the practices of Paypal have been and are egregious for very little benefit to the average consumer. Even as a small business owner, the appeal of Paypal as it currently operates is scant.
Just mod me as flamebait, I guess. In the immortal words of Tom Hanks in Big, I don't get it!
"pay me out or else I'll do X"
There is a fine line between a business negotiation and extortion. The enterprising lad in question was trying to sell a program to Google. What that program does is a separate issue.
My friend, Mortimer (not his real name), had a similar experience. He was the sole sysadmin for a smallish institutional network. After a management switch in which the inevitable cost cutting occurred, he was left without a job. The reasoning was since nothing ever goes down, why do we need a sysadmin?
:)
My buddy got the last laugh by repeatedly turning down requests to come back in a consultative capacity as one system after another acted up.
I'm sure Steve S. hated life for awhile, but I'll put my money on clueless management over a proverbial anecdote.
"minor-attracted adults."
????
WTF, add me to the list of me-too's calling this hyphenation absolutely stupid.
Pedophilia MUST NOT be made to sound like someone who enjoys teaching primary school.
I must be getting old; I didn't understand anything in the post. The linked article was much more informative, though.
I have the book on the shelf to my right. I was going to suggest the same thing.
So...MOD parent up.
Quality appearance is a bit more expensive. Realize this and accept it.
Buy the patch cables that are serialized at each end.
Buy THE CORRECT LENGTH patch cables.
Use Velcro, never zip ties.
Always leave room for expansion.
Color code. We use green exclusively for telecom (TDM, and VOIP), Blue for standard jacks, etc. NEVER violate color coding, even though it is incredibly tempting to do so.
Spoken like a true white guy.
Teenage black people take such treatment for granted.
Sometimes, however, the phenomena is NOT institutional racism.
The standard of care at that high end boutique is most likely one of fawning attention. Ever hear the story of how Tom Arnold, carrying a million bux in cash, was snubbed in a high end jewelry store? I guess you just did.
It is not about the money (our customer signed for the computers and will pay for the stolen items), we just want justice.
My rudimentary reading skills translate this to mean that said laptop was stolen while in the care of a RENTAL customer, or the RENTAL customer is claiming it was stolen, but really isn't. All the owner of the laptop can claim is that the RENTAL customer has not returned a laptop on time.
You can call double BS, or you could realize that the local cops are splitting the exact same hairs so they can ignore the issue.
Poster said the laptop in question is a rental. All the 'thief' did is fail to return it on time. Technically, he only owes money for the rent to cover the time it is in his possession.
I would ask if the company has an AUP that says something like "All equipment kept 30 days past the agreed end rental date shall be considered stolen and reported to proper authorities". Even with some half-arsed statement like that, MOST PDs will see the issue as a civil matter.
You might try the county sheriff if the local PD won't help. I once saw on the news (Chicago area) where a video store owner was trying to get some tapes back. The local PD blew him off, so he went to the sheriff who turned him on to some little used tactic where a citizen can approach a grand jury to get an arrest warrant. Well, the grand jury issued the warrant, and a beat faced man returned those tapes PDQ. IANAL, YMMV, YADDA, YADDA, YADDA.
Add VNC to your toolbox to compliment the trouble and asset tracking.
Mod parent up, please!
They make a cool grand off of you, then they flip you a ten spot, and want a fin in change?
WTH is that all about?
Surely they can find room in that 990.00 bux to eat five?
That kind of inducement begs me to while away my life trying to become the next upstart Spielberg.
Apologies to those outside the US for my liberal use of domestic slang.
So, your data center would have racks sprouting up from the sand like cacti?
The more square footage in your data center the more CUBIC VOLUME OF AIR that needs to be cooled.
Sure, spreading the same number of therms in more space would take longer to heat the entire cubic space. BUT, you still got to get rid of that heat. WIth a bigger data center, you have to remove the same amount of heat, but diffused through more volume of air. Thus, you need larger cooling units to process the larger volume of air for the constant heat generated..
There is a reason that thermodynamics is an entire semester and they harp so much on the first law.
Slight sarcasm intended for effect, not insult.
What about heat?
Do you think greater cooling demands might eat up any electricity savings?
Just a thought; not intended as snide as it reads.
I have to call bull****.
Sure, you can spend whatever you want, but should you?
If you are playing in this space it seems profitable. FTA "generate approximately $80 million in annual revenue, and cash gross profit margins of approximately 70 percent."
So, spend 2 years of revenue in construction, reap great profits over it's 10-12 year minimum life.
Map your drives as persistent and USB does not walk on them. Admittedly, I have not hit this problem with windows 2k/2k3 AD domain, or in a Netware 5 environment. All my drives map persistent without issue. Remember, I may be talking out my arse since I haven't been bitten by this issue.
I'll second this second.
:)
:)^2
I'll even give you a gmail invite if you need one.
Just tell your folks to send you a news story email: how, what, where, when, why.
Every one of your clients has email in some form. If they don't have an email address, call Wharton for a case study specimen.
The best advice I can give you is as a one man operation, DO NOT get hung up on your own infrastructure. Every minute spent on your office is one less billable, or fullfillable moment of your life.
Time happens, and you won't believe how long these clients will be a part of your life. Hopefully your keyboard will eventually give way to something warm and cuddly (preferably of the same species) and you'll appreciate your sparse, ugly, but workable processes and procedures.
Oh yea, since this is slashdot, there is a really useful website at www.google.com. You type a question into the magic rectangle, and a bunch of possible answers appear. Google is kind of like a magic 8 ball on meth. Hopefully this admonishment is snide enough to win mod points.
but the employer should pay for it.
Why? For the same reason birth control is primarily a woman's responsibility. Which party has the most to lose if things don't go as planned?
The worst thing that can happen to the employee is losing a job; I'll leave the second half unsaid.
Your employer should pay for the training, but it is very much your responsibility to stay current on: news, trends, best practices, product developments/lifecycles, etc. The company has paid for your duty, but must earn your (scant?) loyalty.
Intent matters? How about actually doing the deed?
If you look me right in the eye and ask other people to break my arm. The schmuck that tries to do it committed the crime.
You see, there is no inducement! I can spew stupidity, and link all over the web with impunity from the government. If I pay people, or offer to trade something for cooperating with illegal stupidity, then I have crossed the line in a big way.
To me this is the same as yelling SCREW THE HEAD OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY! to everyone I meet. There is no crime until someone tries to get his pants on the floor. I wonder how many people will read this and see absurdity, and how many others will act scandalized?
I don't remember specifically. It was a simplistic cheesy business case for tracking...something.