@coliver said:

@scottalanmiller said:

@Dashrender said:

@scottalanmiller said:

@coliver said:

@scottalanmiller said:

@coliver said:

@quicky2g said:

@anonymous said:

I have been thinking about this board:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaf2a88xmd3h

• Micro ATX
• Supports up to 64GB of RAM.
• Has RAID (I don't intent to use it)
• OnBoard Ethernet 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps
• ONBOARD USB 3.0 HEADER(S)
• 8 SATA 6 GB/S Connectors

Why build a server without RAID?

Software RAID and XenServer work very nicely together.

That's not without RAID, though. that's still with RAID.

I always assume when someone says without RAID they mean without hardware RAID. I think that was the correct assumption in this case.

that's a really weird way to say that you want RAID.

Do you want dinner?

No

Hey, where is my food?

You said you didn't want dinner!

I meant... I didn't want a salad.

huh?

I was thinking the same - if I see no mention of RAID, or a specific request for no RAID card, I'm pretty much assuming there is no RAID. I would never assume they are using software RAID - it's just no that common in the SMB world.

And yet it is common enough that anyone mentioning building their own storage is almost assumed to be choosing ZFS specifically to do software RAID. To the extent that nearly every discussion in SW comes down to a complete assumption that you would disable hardware RAID and run software RAID instead.

In some regards, it is completely ignored in the SMB. And in certain groups in the SMB it is so common as to be blanket assumed.

Who uses ZFS? Is that really that common?

Was it the creator of ZFS that murdered someone or is that another Linux technology? Can't remember.

@scottalanmiller said:

@Dashrender said:

@scottalanmiller said:

What does "giving up the Internet" mean if you separate out email and social media?

That's a great question - While I might say you could have email without the internet (yeah I know, not really, but still) but you can't give up the internet and keep social media - that would have to go too.

I think IF you can give up Internet but keep email, then you can give it up and keep social media too.

In fact, I think your logic is backwards. Email is defined by SMTP, which requires TCP/IP to work. Social media is a general concept and does not require the Internet or even computers.

Old school social media...flyer on a pole that says "Come hang out at Duff's Bar. We have live music and beer"

In all seriousness, are you selling it on eBay or Craigslist?

Might be able to sucker someone into a higher price on Craigslist...or maybe not if they try to bargain you down.

I never sell desktops on eBay anymore. Sold one a few years ago that was custom built. Shipped it in the original packaging for the case. Buyer was asking me about space for a video card beforehand and seemed like there should be enough but might be tight. Buyer claims he got it and parts were all shaken up and broken inside. I had insurance on it via UPS for $500. UPS inspected it at the buyers house and said they wouldn't pay me because it wasn't original packaging.....ummm....what original packaging is there for a custom built desktop and why didn't your people say anything to me before I shipped it and purchased your insurance?! Buyer sent back the desktop and Paypal forced me to refund money. No idea if UPS employees were playing soccer with my box or if the buyer couldn't fit the video card and shook everything up. I could only salvage a few parts.

@Dashrender said:

The Cell/smartphone/internet - well those 12-13% who say they can give up those thing obviously simply don't use them at all today.

The rugged outdoorsman that lives off the land lol

Interesting image I found on the interwebz

@coliver said:

@quicky2g said:

@anonymous said:

I have been thinking about this board:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaf2a88xmd3h

• Micro ATX
• Supports up to 64GB of RAM.
• Has RAID (I don't intent to use it)
• OnBoard Ethernet 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps
• ONBOARD USB 3.0 HEADER(S)
• 8 SATA 6 GB/S Connectors

Why build a server without RAID?

Software RAID and XenServer work very nicely together.

Ahhhh gotcha software versus hardware. I use software RAID at home too. Misread the comment.

Btw if you can handle the noise, a coworker of mine keeps saying there are tons of great deals on eBay for IBM servers...2x quad core CPU, dual PSU, SAS drives, RAID card (sometimes), 16GB+ of DDR3 for under $500 in a rackmount case.

@scottalanmiller said:

@dafyre said:

@scottalanmiller said:

@dafyre said:

@Kelly said:

@Nic said:

So SAM - what's the generic title for a jack-of-all-trades IT person then?

Who does Systems and Network Administration for a majority of their time.

At my last job, I did. It was roughly split half and half. I'd spend half my time chasing down network issues and tweaking switch configurations and adjusting VLANs as needed on a campus with ~800 students and 200 staff / faculty. The other half of the time was spent working on servers doing upgrades, updates, and checking to make sure backups worked. For my first year or so there, I did a lot of desk-side support, but that tapered off after we got the IT team to have good folks in that role.

At 1K+ staff you are starting to edge away from the SMB. That starts to warrant a networking title. Maybe Networking Tech, but networking. Certainly if you really top 50% of workload.

It was ~1k End-users in all. (Just out of curiosity): Does it matter to you that 800 of them were students, and only ~200 of them were Facutly and/or staff -- or do you lump them all together into the "End user" category?

From an IT perspective, is there any difference? IT normally refers to uses, not categories of users. Except other IT staff and/or developers as a special group, sometimes.

Faculty will always be more of a pain because they need "special" access to servers, applications, and networks. I'd consider them separate from an IT perspective just because of the extra headaches they cause.

@scottalanmiller said:

We don't use dedicated internal IT staff either. When you have all those consulting resources, it is hard to justify getting someone to handle their IT for them.

I guess it comes down to "who makes the decisions and keeps things consistent between offices?" when all your offices need upgraded equipment or new servers or new printers or troubleshooting. If it was just a few offices and a simple network/server environment it would be so much easier. I think that's why we have dedicated staff.

@scottalanmiller said:

How many staff does Ronco have these days?

I think the whole company is 300 or so. Internal IT is 2 system/network admins and a few desktop people. Then there are specialized groups like mine that usually deal with external customers but we help on internal IT projects too. For example I special in Aerohive wireless so I mainly manage our internal wireless but others have access and do some troubleshooting. Our Microsoft group also works extensively on the voice side but internal IT also has a big hand in it. Definitely doesn't seem like a typical way a company runs but somehow works for us. Have heard a few other consulting companies run in a similar fashion once they get big enough and need dedicated internal IT staff.

@scottalanmiller said:

@quicky2g said:

@scottalanmiller said:

@quicky2g said:

@Kelly said:

@Nic said:

So SAM - what's the generic title for a jack-of-all-trades IT person then?

Who does Systems and Network Administration for a majority of their time.

I only know 1 guy that does. We have 10+ offices. He's our internal admin for networking, systems, voice, security, PC's, printers, mobile stuff, etc. He's a true jack of all trades. He's 1 of the only people I know that's good at everything and great at a few other things. All of our offices are fairly small though.

So his server and router/switch time is over 50% of his total workload with all of that other stuff? If so, why pay someone that skilled to fix printers?

I'm not sure how his day breaks down but I know it fluctuates. Some days he's 80% networking and some days 80% systems. I doubt any days are 80% printers, but he's the guy who has to tie up all the loose ends when the technician level employees can't figure things out. When he can't figure something out, he goes to specialists.

What networking is he running into with 10 offices? How much internal routing and switching do you have?

Multiple WAN connections at each site (BGP/MPLS for internal and broadband for internet), Adtran routers, Cisco ASA, Avaya switch stacks, Aerohive wireless, lab environments, multiple data centers, monitoring all of it....plenty of networking for 1 guy. He's working on a point to point long haul gig wireless connection with Ubiquiti lately. Huge chunks of it don't have issues on a day to day basis but then there's other days when he's upgrading equipment, troubleshooting failed gear, new routing, VLAN port assignments, firewall ACL's, wireless authentication, etc. There's enough networking that a few of us have to help him from time to time.

@anonymous said:

I have been thinking about this board:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gigabyte-motherboard-gaf2a88xmd3h

• Micro ATX
• Supports up to 64GB of RAM.
• Has RAID (I don't intent to use it)
• OnBoard Ethernet 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps
• ONBOARD USB 3.0 HEADER(S)
• 8 SATA 6 GB/S Connectors

Why build a server without RAID?

@scottalanmiller said:

@quicky2g said:

@Kelly said:

@Nic said:

So SAM - what's the generic title for a jack-of-all-trades IT person then?

Who does Systems and Network Administration for a majority of their time.

I only know 1 guy that does. We have 10+ offices. He's our internal admin for networking, systems, voice, security, PC's, printers, mobile stuff, etc. He's a true jack of all trades. He's 1 of the only people I know that's good at everything and great at a few other things. All of our offices are fairly small though.

So his server and router/switch time is over 50% of his total workload with all of that other stuff? If so, why pay someone that skilled to fix printers?

I'm not sure how his day breaks down but I know it fluctuates. Some days he's 80% networking and some days 80% systems. I doubt any days are 80% printers, but he's the guy who has to tie up all the loose ends when the technician level employees can't figure things out. When he can't figure something out, he goes to specialists.

@Kelly said:

@Nic said:

So SAM - what's the generic title for a jack-of-all-trades IT person then?

Who does Systems and Network Administration for a majority of their time.

I only know 1 guy that does. We have 10+ offices. He's our internal admin for networking, systems, voice, security, PC's, printers, mobile stuff, etc. He's a true jack of all trades. He's 1 of the only people I know that's good at everything and great at a few other things. All of our offices are fairly small though.

@Kelly said:

@scottalanmiller said:

@Kelly said:

Scott, something that makes these discussions with you more difficult is that you appear to consider your experience to be normative, and it is anything but. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your comments, but in this, and other threads, it comes off that way.

Well, a couple things there...

• What makes it non-normative?
• What makes the viewpoint I'm countering normative?
• How does any one person know? I've been in IT for 27 years and have seen a lot of scenarios. I've worked more than 60 companies directly and tons and tons as a consultant. So my cross section of IT is pretty broad compared to most.

In the example of going from SMB to Enterprise, I know how it is done, and how it happens. People who have failed to get hired in the enterprise but wanted to don't provide useful feedback because all they know is that they failed and then they try to guess why. I've been a hiring manager hiring (and not hiring) those people and have broad insight into why they generally don't make it that they would not have.

Is my person experience "normal". No. But is it useful? i think extremely so.

I am not discounting your perspective. A man I know once said, if you respect me you will challenge me, or words to that effect. In this thread, and other employment threads you have pointed to your own experiences as examples. Perhaps it is your phrasing, but my interpretation of them has been that you think they are normal, or maybe should be normal. In my own experience, and the communicated experience of the majority of others, yours is far outside the norm.

I think it's normal to flick boogers.

@scottalanmiller said:

@Kelly said:

Scott, something that makes these discussions with you more difficult is that you appear to consider your experience to be normative, and it is anything but. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your comments, but in this, and other threads, it comes off that way.

I have the same issue with many of the people on SW - I've worked with thousands (literally) of people with specific titles, no enterprise barrier, pay scales ... all that are defined as "impossible" by the SW crowd. Which is more accurate... a few thousand people saying that something is impossible or a few thousand people proving that it is very possible and not even realizing that it was considered "hard" by the other group?

Reminds me of how screwed up the health care website was when it first launched and how Google and a few others wanted to fix it because it wasn't an impossible task for them but was for others.

@Nic said:

@DustinB3403 said:

A "System Administrator" manages a system
A "Network Administrator" manages a network

Administrator means you manage everything.

Networks are systems - unless you only manage networks then I wouldn't go with network administrator, I'd instead go with systems administrator because that covers everything.

I've seen piles of systems admins that barely have a clue what a VLAN does.

@scottalanmiller said:

@quicky2g said:

@scottalanmiller said:

In the primary IT space, anything larger than the SMB where the full IT stack exists, all of these titles are standard, ancient and very solidified. It is an attempt by the SMB to copy these titles without knowing what their jobs even entail that has led to these problems. It has gone so far that people working in the SMB often want a network engineering title and get Cisco CCNP certifications and then find out that none of that knowledge applies in any way to the SMB. Then they find out that all the titles that they have been hearing were made up and all of their skills are worthless there. How many routing protocols can you use in an environment with one router that is set and forget.

I'm so tired of seeing job postings that "require" CCNP level but really just want you to configure a single site router and switch. Why would any CCNP level want that job? Too many MBA's as managers that don't understand IT. One of the first questions I ask when I interview is what my bosses background is, and what their bosses background is. If there's too much businessy fluff and not enough technical understanding, it's not the place for me.

Oh yeah, if your manager is worthless, why would you work there. Unless you are the head of IT, of course, then the question is "the manager a good business person."

I got really lucky at my current job. My boss was an engineer and got promoted to VP. Turns out he has a pretty kick ass business and leadership mindset. Best boss I've ever had. We need more of those people in the industry and less of these MBA's with the wrong title and wrong job.

@travisdh1 said:

@JaredBusch said:

@quicky2g said:

This thing is looking pretty slick:

http://www.auramedia.tv/

I don't want to pay $150 for a tv tuner and DVR.

I don't need all the other features. I just need a tuner and DVR. I already have ways to stream all the things.

A usb dongle and a laptop set to never hibernate/shutdown. Your choice of software to make it work, lots of options available.

I have to find some kind of all-in-one easy to use box...the misses...enough said.

@scottalanmiller said:

In the primary IT space, anything larger than the SMB where the full IT stack exists, all of these titles are standard, ancient and very solidified. It is an attempt by the SMB to copy these titles without knowing what their jobs even entail that has led to these problems. It has gone so far that people working in the SMB often want a network engineering title and get Cisco CCNP certifications and then find out that none of that knowledge applies in any way to the SMB. Then they find out that all the titles that they have been hearing were made up and all of their skills are worthless there. How many routing protocols can you use in an environment with one router that is set and forget.

I'm so tired of seeing job postings that "require" CCNP level but really just want you to configure a single site router and switch. Why would any CCNP level want that job? Too many MBA's as managers that don't understand IT. One of the first questions I ask when I interview is what my bosses background is, and what their bosses background is. If there's too much businessy fluff and not enough technical understanding, it's not the place for me.