Dude You're Getting a Dud

I recently read an article with this same title on MSN: http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/archive/2007/12/18/dude-you-re-getting-a-dud.aspx.

In the article the author notes Dell's poor performance in the consumer market due to horrible customer service, blah technology, and prices that are not as competitive as they appear. All true points. But the real business of computers isn't made in the consumer space, it's made in commercial sales of servers and hardware for the office.

In this market Dell is still doing quite well. There are really only a handful of top players in the commercial market: IBM, Compaq/HP, Sun, and Dell. Everyone else is pretty much an "also ran". Unless Alienware decides to enter the server market (which would kick arse, by the way), we're pretty much stuck with these 4 manufacturers to choose from.

The author also alludes to Gateway as an example of where he believes Dell is headed, but Gateway was never a major player in the server market. So whille Dell's lack-luster sales in the consumer market may indicate that the company needs to rethink this particular channel, I wouldn't quite count them out just yet. They're still VERY solid with their servers and commercial lines and that's where a big chunk of their cash comes from anyway. Ultimately all of these companies are just putting together other people's innovations (i.e. AMD and Intel), so I think, for now, I'm gonna stick to the whore I've already paid for.

Just my 2¢.

Network Uptime Conversion Chart

Often times in network operations we're required to perform to a certain service level agreement. This is typically defined as "uptime" or "network availability" meaning that the network team will work to make sure that the network is available xx% of the time. Predominately these SLA's are in the 99% level. There are basically 4 levels of "99%" uptime levels: 99%, 99.9%, 99.99%, and the incredibly expensive 99.999% (or 5-9's).


So what does this mean to you as a network manager in terms of being able to take the network down for maintenance? I put together this little chart to show you how much time you get based on your SLA requirements:

WiFi at McDonald's

So I'm taking my son to McDonald's and saw, for the first time at this particular location, a sign in the window saying "WiFi Available Here". How cool is that? Now I live in a pretty small town in Texas, so it's not like I'm sitting at some Mickey D's in downtown New York. I'm in Kennedale, TX, a suburb of Tarrat County!

Of course none of this technology stuff is new to me. I've been doing this for a while, but it's pretty cool to think that wireless Internet access is available at my local fast food burger joint. Man I love this stuff!

It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

One of the most difficult things you have to deal with as a manager is firing employees. You do everything you can to try and get the message across, you lead by example, you try to foster an environment where your employees feel that they can be honest with you, you mentor, you beg, you plead, and you finally get to a place where you realize that it's just not working out.



So here's how I typically fire people. I give them chance, after chance, after chance and if they just refuse to get it. I call them into a room with the HR director or an attorney and I simply tell them, "There's no easy way to do this, so I'll just come out and say it, we're letting you go."



Yikes! I've been on the other end of that conversation a couple of times, and I know how it sends a person's world into a tailspin. So I try to make it as easy on them as I possibly can. This is not personal, even if I don't personally like the person I'm firing, I try to remember that they're still a person, a human being with toughts, feelings, doubts, and yes, even strengths.



Often times when I run into a problem employee, I try to remain sensitive to their issues. Most of the time, it boils down to a simple fact, they're not happy where they are, but they're too scared or too comfortable to move on. They get into a rut, a routine that's just automatic and then they accept it as their "life" and either don't know they can change it, or they don't think they can.



So I try to look at firings as helping a person to make a change and hopefully, for them, it's a change for the better. Afterall, why be stuck in a job that you don't enjoy. "If you do what you love, you'll never have to 'work' a day in your life". That's the philosophy I try to live by and, although I've only ever had one former employee thank me for helping them move on, hopefully the others will eventually come to feel the same way someday. But even if they don't, at least I know that I did everything I could to help them, even after they've moved on.



So best of luck to all of you whom I've had to let go at one time or another during my career. I sincerely wish each of you much happiness and success.

Cisco VOIP Goodness Part 2

Well, tomorrow's the big day. We're finally cutting over to the new Cisco VOIP phone system. I'll be glad to get this Inter-tel system out of my NOC and more than happy to get rid of the 66 blocks that make up the current physical layer of my telecommunications infrastructure.

It's probably just a bias, but I really hate 66 blocks. The wires are usually all stringy and messy and the setup looks so fragile that I'm always afraid the CEO's phone is going to get disconnected if I just look at the wiring too hard.

VOIP, on the other hand, goes right into my existing network infrastructure. Just a few VLAN changes on my trusty 4507r, and we're good to go. Clean, quick, efficient. That's what I'm talking 'bout.

New phone/Old phone, respectively

Cisco 7911's

Cisco 7961 with (detached) side-car (7914)

Cisco Polycom conference phone

Ye Olde Inter-tel system

Mmmmm... 66 block pasta!

More 66 block mess

Alas! The Cisco Call Manager system

And so, they lived happily ever after

My Home Office

So, I'm just about done with my home office renovation. I still need to do the trim around the floor, and I'd like to install some crown molding, but this is close enough for government work, for now, so I went ahead and set up all of my computers and servers again.




Yes, know, it's too clean to be a "techie's" office, but I'm in management, so.... :)

My 5 Year Old Hacker

So I thought this was funny. My 5 year old son and I are sitting in my office and he sees some computer RAM sitting on my desk and asked me what it was. So I explained it to him and told him I was going to install it in one of my servers.

So he looks at me, with genuine excitement in his eyes and says "Can I help you Daddy?". At first, I thought, probably not, but then I thought about it. What better way to get him familiar with technology than to actually show it to him and take the opportunity to teach him how to use it?

So, tomorrow, I will be teaching my 5 year old son how to install 2GB of RAM into a DEll 600SC server. I just thought it was cool.

Microsoft -vs- VMWare

So there's a lot of chatter in IT circles today about server virtualization. You see it all of the trade rags, you see it at symposiums, and hear about it when your out having a beer and shooting pool with your techie friends.

I recently read an article in Information Week (I think it was called "Virtualization Smackdown!") regarding who will eventually win out in the VM game, Microsoft or VMWare. The article cited several reasons why VMWare is poised for a take over. There was talk about "the end of the OS", Java VM's, VMWare making gigantic market strides and their recent "darling of Wall Street" IPO. In my opinion, they basically put MIcrosoft in a little box and said, "you kiddies play over here, while the grown ups (VMWare) go to work"

But I don't think that's the way this is going to pan out. I've built my career on Microsoft, starting out doing overnight technical phone support for Windows 3.11. Yes, that's right, I was doing this pre-Windows 95. Back then, there was this little networking application called "Netware", maybe you remember it. They basically had 100% market share on the local area network market for small offices. They had their own certification tracks, big ticket training, high paid consultants, and massive amount of infrastructure.

So what happened? Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 happened. With the advent of Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, Netware was no longer necessary. It stripped away one complex layer from the overall network management and infrastructure plan. Why buy Netware when I can get all of my routing (remember IPX/SPX, folks?), all of my permissions, all of my printer sharing, and basically everything I need with one OS for the server(s) and one OS for the workstations?

So, while VMWare is making major strides in solidifying the virtualization market, they're fighting, what I believe, is ultimately a losing battle. Why? Because this game is nothing new to Microsoft. They have a solid grip on the OS market, despite reports of slipping market share. I mean think about it. If you go from 95% of 1 billion people using your stuff, down to 85% of 2.5 billion using your stuff, have you really lost anything? Heck no! Of course this is a slightly exgagerated example, but you get the point.

Microsoft killed Netware. They killed Apple. And they killed Netscape. All companies who had huge market shares at one point. So why should VMWare be any different? Don't get me wrong, I'm learning VMWare and Linux, just in case I'm wrong. But ultimately, I don't think I'll want to stick that MSCE in file 13.

When Microsoft releases Windows 2008 and embeds virtualization into the OS as, effectively, just another service available to admins, they will move firmly into VMWare's playground, get all of VMWare's buddies (the hardware vendors) to join their gang, and VMWare will go the way of that other "ware" company, Netware, enjoying some success in niche markets and the data centers of die hard fans. That's just my 2¢.

He's Certifiable Ya'll!!!

Well, after 6 months of intense training and testing, I finally completed my Master's Certificate in Applied Project Management from Villa Nova University. This means that I now have all of the college credits necessary to go for my PMP, which I should have completed by November, assuming all of my experience is accept by PMI.

Regardless, it's good to have this done. Now, no matter what I do or where I go I'll always be able to put "Masters Certificate in Applied Project Management" on my resume, and that's gotta count for something.

Installing VMWare ESX 3 on Dell 2900

So today I had the opportunity to install my first every ESX server from scratch. I installed ESX3.0.2.52542 on a Dell PowerEdge 2900. I've have some pictures I will be uploading later, detailing the installation process which, all told, took about 20 minutes! 20 minutes and you can take advantage of the power of server virtualization, how cool is that?

Edit: (10/16/07)

As promised here are the pics of the VMWare VI3 installation:

The first screen is the Linux Kernel loading.

Once the base Kernel has loaded, you'll see the ESX boot screen. Click on "Next" to begin.

Next, you select your keyboard layout.

Then you select your mouse configuration. In my case, I needed USB.

Now it's time for the license agreement, of course.

The next couple of screens are for your partition settings. You can pretty much leave these at the default settings, unless you know exactly what you're doing.

More partition settings

Still more partition settings

And finally, we have some... no wait, this is more partition settings. They're very particular about partition setting, eh?

Here you can configure advanced settings, such as partition settings. ;)

OK. So now that we've set all of the partitions, it's time to select our regional/time zone settings.

More timezone settings.

Now, odds are you're going to be connecting your ESX server to a network, right? Well, now's the time to type in the IP address, SNM, GW, PDNS and SDNS.

Next, you'll select your "root" password. Since this is Linux, "root" is the administrator. You can set up other administrators, with the same rights as root, once your install is complete. DO NOT LOSE THIS PASSWORD!!

Finally, review all of the settings you've entered. If you need to make any corrections, now is the time to go back and get that done. If everything looks good, click "Next" and you're off to the races!

Of course you'll see progress bar while the installation is underway.

Once the installtion is complete, which took about 20-30 minutes in my case, you'll see the "Installer Complete" screen.

And now you've seen the installation of VMWare ESX Server 3.0. Happy virtualizing!

700 lbs of Cisco VOIP Goodness!

So our new Cisco VOIP phone system arrived a few days ago. Over 700 lbs of gear on 2 pallets. All for the low, low cost of just under $150K. Our install is scheduled to begin on October 15th, so I'll keep you all posted on the progress. I'll also post some pictures from the "highlights" reel after we're all done.




Here's the first round of photos from delivery day...

(That's Matt, one of the guys on my team, hauling the stuff to it's temporary storage area)

Here's Matt stacking the boxes, getting them ready for the install crew to inventory.

(He's kind of giving me the hairy eyeball here, probably because I'm taking pictures, rather than unloading and stacking boxes)

The "Wall of Phones"

And behind the "Wall of Phones".... more phones!

First Post - Why A Blog?

So, welcome to my Project Management and IT Blog. I decided to start this blog because I thought it would be fun and interesting to share my experiences as an IT Project Manager and Network Operations Manager.

So what will I be writing about? Pretty much the usual: Computer stuff, project management stuff, network stuff, telecom stuff, etc. It's gonna be pretty much whatever I feel like writing about on any given day.

So, sit back, relax, and and get ready to be highly entertained.