![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Jun. 21st, 2005 02:27 amNo, this is not the uber update I had been hoping to finally pixel out. This is the story of how an I.T. professional gets squashed by his workload.
This tale begins last Thursday, when, in the midsts of my usually helpdesk distractions (read as not being able to do my server work) I was singled out to perform a special task. The new department manager (you know, the guy who got my job?) asked me to take that nice drive to Slidell to debug a new home-grown system the application developers had built.
Imagine, if you will, two assembly lines, side by side and 100 metres long. Eight armored security vehicles sit in each line, receiving the final touches before driving on to their new homes in the military. This tracking system monitors the progress of each vehicle and shows the status on six big plasma screens hanging from the side rafters of the assembly facility. In the center of the lines they've set eight touchscreen stations with built in barcode scanners. The shop foreman scans his badge, or whatever part, and the whole system updates the status of the car he's working over.
Sounds cool, right? Well they tested it on all of ONE machine. No test lab. No field trials. They just stuck the stuff out there, jacked into the network and said "Go!" Didn't work obviously. Ordinarily, I'd think this a great opportunity, to be able to fix this this, get some good press. What they didn't tell me was I had two days to figure it out, because the CEO was appearing the following week, with an entourage that includes a US Senator. Fine, I sweat it out in the hundred plus degree warehouse and fixed the mofo! Yeah! Started my weekend on a good happy note.
Didn't last however. Saturday afternoon, I get a call that the Blackberry server was down. For those lucky enough to not know what Blackberry is, it's an expensive toy that wannabe corporate technophiles measure their cocks by. Pardon my bluntness, but it's true. Well my six onsite Blackberry boys were in a tizzy that their toys weren't working. It's to be noted that the one female with a Blackberry here could care less about it. Supports my theory actually.
So I run some tests and make some calls. Seems there's a gigantic network test going on, a DR test for those who care, and my little server was out because of it. I didn't really care, because everything else on the range was just fine. Me and another local guy talk the local VP into being patient (oh the horror) and just waiting for the test to finish on the following day. No big deal. End of discussion? Well, hell no. One of the guys at my company decides that it really isn't good enough and we have to trace down the problem. I find this out by getting a call from the local account leader, Morris. "Chris, you're absolutely sure that it's not your server right? Cause these guys are going to shut down this network DR test because of the problem."
Uhm. Yes? I looked at the server three, four, five times and more. I was proof positive that it was indeed the issue and nervously stood my ground. Well, what do you know, they shut down the test (while fifteen people were on the conference call, too), and lo and behold my problem disappeared. Yeah! Two good marks! I did have to work till one on a Saturday to find that out, but I was right. Two more calls on Sunday, Father's Day no less, and I was golden.
Until this morning.
I came in early, trying to catch up on the work I was ignoring in the server room. Around eight, the email server decided to tank. I'd seen it pretty regularly lately, a big pileup of log files caused by my backup software being it's usually finicky self. I go in, like I've done a dozen times before, and delete all the extra log files. I do a "real" delete, cause, really, who the hell cares?
And the Exchanger server goes down. I mean way down. Tried to restart the email server. Nada. Uh oh.
Within an hour, I had ten people across the country helping me out. "So where'd you put the log files?"
"Uhm. I deleted them."
"You mean "deleted" deleted them? Oh, that's not good."
Ack!
My entire day has consisted of debugging, defragging, detaching, deinitializing and demoralizing a Microsoft Exchange information store. I say day. I took a two hour break to go home, shower and get clothes. I guess that's a fifteen hour day. But I'm back here, enjoying the morning air and fresh oxyacetyline. The 30 gig database has been moved a good twelve times. I've built two different servers just to provide testing space. Oh, my, the smokes, cokes and vending machine crrrap I've consumed today.
I think I'll be finished by dawn. Then I get to wait on Mr. CEO. Oh, I didn't mention that. I'm the guy who gets to take care of all his I.T. needs while he's here.
I love my job.
This tale begins last Thursday, when, in the midsts of my usually helpdesk distractions (read as not being able to do my server work) I was singled out to perform a special task. The new department manager (you know, the guy who got my job?) asked me to take that nice drive to Slidell to debug a new home-grown system the application developers had built.
Imagine, if you will, two assembly lines, side by side and 100 metres long. Eight armored security vehicles sit in each line, receiving the final touches before driving on to their new homes in the military. This tracking system monitors the progress of each vehicle and shows the status on six big plasma screens hanging from the side rafters of the assembly facility. In the center of the lines they've set eight touchscreen stations with built in barcode scanners. The shop foreman scans his badge, or whatever part, and the whole system updates the status of the car he's working over.
Sounds cool, right? Well they tested it on all of ONE machine. No test lab. No field trials. They just stuck the stuff out there, jacked into the network and said "Go!" Didn't work obviously. Ordinarily, I'd think this a great opportunity, to be able to fix this this, get some good press. What they didn't tell me was I had two days to figure it out, because the CEO was appearing the following week, with an entourage that includes a US Senator. Fine, I sweat it out in the hundred plus degree warehouse and fixed the mofo! Yeah! Started my weekend on a good happy note.
Didn't last however. Saturday afternoon, I get a call that the Blackberry server was down. For those lucky enough to not know what Blackberry is, it's an expensive toy that wannabe corporate technophiles measure their cocks by. Pardon my bluntness, but it's true. Well my six onsite Blackberry boys were in a tizzy that their toys weren't working. It's to be noted that the one female with a Blackberry here could care less about it. Supports my theory actually.
So I run some tests and make some calls. Seems there's a gigantic network test going on, a DR test for those who care, and my little server was out because of it. I didn't really care, because everything else on the range was just fine. Me and another local guy talk the local VP into being patient (oh the horror) and just waiting for the test to finish on the following day. No big deal. End of discussion? Well, hell no. One of the guys at my company decides that it really isn't good enough and we have to trace down the problem. I find this out by getting a call from the local account leader, Morris. "Chris, you're absolutely sure that it's not your server right? Cause these guys are going to shut down this network DR test because of the problem."
Uhm. Yes? I looked at the server three, four, five times and more. I was proof positive that it was indeed the issue and nervously stood my ground. Well, what do you know, they shut down the test (while fifteen people were on the conference call, too), and lo and behold my problem disappeared. Yeah! Two good marks! I did have to work till one on a Saturday to find that out, but I was right. Two more calls on Sunday, Father's Day no less, and I was golden.
Until this morning.
I came in early, trying to catch up on the work I was ignoring in the server room. Around eight, the email server decided to tank. I'd seen it pretty regularly lately, a big pileup of log files caused by my backup software being it's usually finicky self. I go in, like I've done a dozen times before, and delete all the extra log files. I do a "real" delete, cause, really, who the hell cares?
And the Exchanger server goes down. I mean way down. Tried to restart the email server. Nada. Uh oh.
Within an hour, I had ten people across the country helping me out. "So where'd you put the log files?"
"Uhm. I deleted them."
"You mean "deleted" deleted them? Oh, that's not good."
Ack!
My entire day has consisted of debugging, defragging, detaching, deinitializing and demoralizing a Microsoft Exchange information store. I say day. I took a two hour break to go home, shower and get clothes. I guess that's a fifteen hour day. But I'm back here, enjoying the morning air and fresh oxyacetyline. The 30 gig database has been moved a good twelve times. I've built two different servers just to provide testing space. Oh, my, the smokes, cokes and vending machine crrrap I've consumed today.
I think I'll be finished by dawn. Then I get to wait on Mr. CEO. Oh, I didn't mention that. I'm the guy who gets to take care of all his I.T. needs while he's here.
I love my job.
