server

[alastair]

can there be a server related area?

i have good experience with server 2000 + 2003 so could help out alot there. i also have issues that i cant find an immediate solution to so it would be good to have somewhere to turn to so i could ask advice and give advice.

its just that im losing interest in the forum since its the same stuff being posted mostly and i have better things to do.

Message Edited by alastair on 24-09-2009 02:44 PM

[spank]

In my experience it's not possible to know and remember all the answers.  Unless you deal with the same issues day in day out you forget things.  Forums are ideal to jog your memory and questions that may appear rookie or silly to some are simply a pathway to a bigger answer.

Its not always about having the answers rather where and how to find them.

[gs]

From past experiances I have found a somewhat common trend in identifying the idiots.... if someone introduces themselves by saying 'Im the IT guy for this company' then avoid them like the plague, if someone says 'I do the IT for this company' then they tend to be fine.

Simple change in the sentance but the 'IT guys' always seem to be cocky and have to refer to themselves as the 'IT guy' all the time for their own personal gratification.

I refer to myself as the hired help for several companies, as it is rarely just IT stuff I end up doing 🙂

[Kirok]

Well I mean I'd keep a personal wiki or notes and alot of things can be found out without resorting to forums, manuals, knowing how to search properly etc.

I have a tendency to call bad IT certification monkeys/tape monkeys/extreme overclockers etc.

I tend to call myself the IT guy or computer guy to people just because they understand it and its less formal that saying I do IT for this company etc.

I've seen people post asking for help with stuff thats relatively basic like setting up secondary DNS only to google stalk and find they're doing IT for some telecomms company.

I blame three things, colleges and universities with low standards, certification programs that reward memorisation and interviewers who have no clue about IT or don't conduct practical intervews, nepotism plays a part also I suppose but you expect that just as long as its not overboard.

Moving to the lower frontline levels companies tend to hire for customer service as opposed to technical ability, thinking they can teach it with two weeks of training and script. The end result being you have someone who sounds like they're smiling, apologises well but can't find the problem/understand what you want.

[gs]

Moving to the lower frontline levels companies tend to hire for customer service as opposed to technical ability, thinking they can teach it with two weeks of training and script. The end result being you have someone who sounds like they're smiling, apologises well but can't find the problem/understand what you want.

And the companies that think they can get people to follow scripts and push buttons for the next question to get an answer and a solution, yes it may work for some simple things, but for the majority of issues you may as well be talking to an IVR.... which is the way a lot of the 'frontline tech support' seems to be heading nowadays, toward a system where you can just press 1 for yes and 2 for no and it directs you to fix the issue.

Although what can you expect, head over to the res forums and look at the posts from people saying things like "argh my internwebs is going slow someone fix it quick or I will cancel everythings!" and not actually providing any information as to what they are using or what is really going on...

[Kirok]

Heh, yeah during my time in IT helpdesk hell (both business helpdesks actually, one corporate, another small to medium) I've had this but its more in the vain of my-business-is-losing-this-much-an-hour-and-its-all-your-fault.

Going back to my original point I've also had supposed IT managers call me spew out technical jargon (that made no sense; as in the terms were random and unrelated) so I usually put on my Columbo/obfuscated stupidity routine and try and prompt them into getting the correct answer or if I was really annoyed just beat them down until they did what I said and pray the call wasn't recorded.

Side note here, but no real IT guy or business making millions an hour would even consider going with the companies I worked for at the time.

[gs]

Ive always loved it when customers call up, and claim they are loosing thousands of pounds an hour becuase there broadband line is down. I always love asking them why, if they are making so much money do they rely entirely on a £25 a month connection, and not have a backup....

Also, people that think becuase they are using business broadband they warrant getting more attention that other customers, just becuase they are paying £2 more per month they think that means they get VIP status within the company. Some people really need to read T&C's and realise the business broadband really isnt any different to residential, just a slightly higher fair usage limit. If you want service level guarantees then you have to pay for them!

"Ill be rich and famous when I invent a device that can punch people over the internet"

[spank]

If BT trained their staff properly they wouldn't be working for BT.

[James]

Hello everyone, many thanks for your suggestions for a servers / networking board. We hope that you find this newly-created board useful and that you stick with us as this area grows.

Many thanks and happy posting,

James

[riddler]

I have a server and currently have an IT chappy who fixes my issues. Due to the economy i would very much like to get involved in the fixing of said issues so that i only call on him when necessary.

I look forward to reading the issues experienced so that i can gain a better understanding. I realise how complex a server can be but even to knock out the minor issues would save time and money.

[gs]

Servers are only ever as complex as you make them 🙂

Have a look at www.amahi.org if you have some free time, a spare old PC and want a project for some fun.

Ive got one running at home, only an old 1.6 PIII with 1Gb SD Ram, all I did was fill it with 8 old IDE hard drives of different sizes, RAID up what I could and there you go, a little file server that does DHCP, controls bittorrent so I can get new linux distros for testing and also hosts my itunes for all my machines (including remote access to my music).

Fun little project for a weekend 🙂