IF you have been in IT for very long you have experienced a Data Center power down. Of course, the smaller the shop the less of a headache it should be. I've been around about 4 of them, 1 was when the transformer blew up down town and took the then "inflow" data center with it. The company I worked at then just had to wait because the Fire Marshall was not smart enough to understand the complete disconnect between that transformer and the internal systems so they couldn't power up. So far, every time one happens its like a "Chinese fire drill" for the IT staff. Network Guys, Systems Guys, Apps Guys (and Gals of course) all running around trying to get things up in an orderly fashion. I've recently had the "opportunity" to go through another one.
One of the most impressive things I've heard came from our CIO, who emphatically said, "email is NOT a mission critical application." CHEERS!!
However, I think its time every IT shop get off its seat cushions, put a stop to every other project and get one thing crystal clear: What do I bring up first, and How do I do that? You'd think this would be easy, but its not. Every app support person thinks, and wants everyone around them to think, that their app is the most important one. Well, frankly, its not. Every user wants the apps he or she uses to be the ones to come up first. Sorry, but it can't be. The problem is that there are few CIO's with the intestinal fortitude to do what our CIO did recently. Most will cave to the Executives who demand their services back up first. What a CIO should do is demand the realistically most important systems up first. There is a natural, in a sense, order of things. First, infrastructure. Network switches, phone switches, WAN connections, SAN storage, etc. You know, the kinds of things your app HAS to have to function at all. Second, Apps and Services that really are mission critical. Third, everything else as you get time.
The problem comes in at about step 2. What is "mission critical" and what does that mean? Well, here's how I see it. In Health Care that question is answered by asking 1 question: What do I need online to protect the health and well being of existing patients. What systems directly involve patient care, and no email is NOT one of them. We have surgery systems, patient data systems, etc. And, refreshingly that is what our CIO insisted come up first. Once the process was being followed for getting those online all other hands could be involved in getting other services online. The biggest problem I see, even in this last one, is that no one has that laid out in printed form any where. Every system should be tagged with a priority level for DR purposes. I mean, if two systems are down at the same time and you've only got one guy who can work on them, which does he tackle first? I was actually pulled off a clinical system by a certain Director once (at the request of the CIO) because email wasn't working. DOH!
DR really is a major pain in everyone's behind, not because in principle, its hard, but because in practice its hard. In principle its easy to lay out DR. Define the priority of your systems, and Document how to recover those systems. Simple? Right. Simple quickly goes out the window when you start talking about a hot DR data center, Storage Replication, Backups and Recovery, Network Topology and Architecture, etc. etc. Basic DR is simple, real DR is a complicated web decisions and documentation. Basic DR is when the lights go out at your DC. Real DR is when they're not coming back on because the building is destroyed. The question is how much is your business worth, and is it worth putting the time, money and effort into preserving it.
I hate doing documentation, and some companies are in the excessive category when it comes to overburdening their staff with it, but done right, it can save your bacon.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Suzuki's Stupidity and Dealer's Impressiveness
I have to brag on the Dealer in Mt. Juliet, while at the same time seriously warning anyone who buys the Hard Case and Top Case Saddle bags from Suzuki! Since I bought the bike we have waited for the Top Case mount, well, it came in last week finally. The problem was that Suzuki kept telling the Dealer (Precision Motorsports) that it was on its way when in fact it wasn't. Not only that, but on Suzuki's Web site on the "Accessories for 1250s" page for the Top Case (click here), and in the Dealer's information they both say the Color matching Panels are Optional. They DO NOT SAY, as of today, that the panel is required and that the color is optional. Take a gander at the actual screen shot:
The Problem? The "Optional" panel is NOT optional on the Top Case. Now, you technically "could" get away without them on the side cases, but you CAN NOT on the Top Case. There is a rather large sticker that says "DO NOT OPERATE" without said panel in place. The problem is that Suzuki doesn't provide a panel for any of the cases that just looks mat black to match the rest of the case in the event that you don't buy the "optional" color inserts!! Now, if Suzuki were to have said, "You have to buy an insert of some color, but the color is optional" I would have not gotten so upset about the deal. However, now we were looking at another 179.00 Plus Sales Tax purchase for something that was "Optional" and I really didn't care to have! Now, I'm not saying that the Bags are bad, nor that you shouldn't buy them, but beware, you MUST buy at least the color matching insert for the Top Case.
Now, here's where the bragging on Precision comes in. I called my wife to explain the situation, and why she'd see yet another Motorcycle related purchase on the Card. Well, needless to say she wasn't happy. While I was getting an earful of that rather loud unhappiness, Big Daddy, (Who I'm assuming is either the owner or the top Manager) overheard the unhappiness, and could see the pain my ear was enduring evidently. Not to mention that I wasn't happy either. What they decided to do was get the inserts and put them on without charging me, and attempt to recover their loss from Suzuki. I at no time, mind you, blamed the Dealer for this issue, they couldn't help the the morons at Suzuki couldn't get their information straight. However, they could tell this was or could have become a serious image issue, and that at least my wife would have been a very unhappy customer. People who know me know I'm would tight anyway, but when Angela gets loud something is seriously not right.
Anyway, I would highly encourage you to visit Precision. Some of their prices are a little high to me, but they do negotiate on some things, and they are good folk. I'd rather pay a little more and get a dealer that will do something like this than pay less now and wind up paying more later because of it.
The Problem? The "Optional" panel is NOT optional on the Top Case. Now, you technically "could" get away without them on the side cases, but you CAN NOT on the Top Case. There is a rather large sticker that says "DO NOT OPERATE" without said panel in place. The problem is that Suzuki doesn't provide a panel for any of the cases that just looks mat black to match the rest of the case in the event that you don't buy the "optional" color inserts!! Now, if Suzuki were to have said, "You have to buy an insert of some color, but the color is optional" I would have not gotten so upset about the deal. However, now we were looking at another 179.00 Plus Sales Tax purchase for something that was "Optional" and I really didn't care to have! Now, I'm not saying that the Bags are bad, nor that you shouldn't buy them, but beware, you MUST buy at least the color matching insert for the Top Case.Now, here's where the bragging on Precision comes in. I called my wife to explain the situation, and why she'd see yet another Motorcycle related purchase on the Card. Well, needless to say she wasn't happy. While I was getting an earful of that rather loud unhappiness, Big Daddy, (Who I'm assuming is either the owner or the top Manager) overheard the unhappiness, and could see the pain my ear was enduring evidently. Not to mention that I wasn't happy either. What they decided to do was get the inserts and put them on without charging me, and attempt to recover their loss from Suzuki. I at no time, mind you, blamed the Dealer for this issue, they couldn't help the the morons at Suzuki couldn't get their information straight. However, they could tell this was or could have become a serious image issue, and that at least my wife would have been a very unhappy customer. People who know me know I'm would tight anyway, but when Angela gets loud something is seriously not right.
Anyway, I would highly encourage you to visit Precision. Some of their prices are a little high to me, but they do negotiate on some things, and they are good folk. I'd rather pay a little more and get a dealer that will do something like this than pay less now and wind up paying more later because of it.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Old Timer's Day Dickson Tennessee
This weekend was Old Timer's Day in Dickson, TN. My daughter is a part of American Heritage Girls (AHG), (an alternative to Girl Scouts. As the GS allow gays to lead troops, and AHG has a strong Christian focus). So, she was on a float, and then at 4 was in a fashion show (My Mom sews and does embroidery). Who ever was responsible for the activities needs a serious education. Here's my laundry list of absolute imbecility that was exposed :
1. No handicap parking on paved areas. Yep, all the handicapped parking was IN THE MUD at the fair grounds. I don't know if you have ever tried to push a wheel chair through the mud, but its not fun. The "people", using that term loosely, responsible for setting that up should be jailed for violating Federal laws regarding that matter. My Dad has no legs, can you imagine trying to get him out of a car while parked in STANDING WATER!?!
2. They stopped the parade to let traffic through at various times, so much so that the parade had very large gaps in it, and at times cars just trying to get to the fairgrounds were in the parade! I can't fathom why they could not have spent a little time figuring out how to route traffic around the event. My wife and I spend about 2 minutes coming up with about three different ways around the whole thing! Those who were walking, or marching (interestingly enough there were no marching bands!) would have suffered.
3. There was a Golden Flake Truck in the parade as an official entry. No, it wasn't decorated, nor did it have any signage whatsoever reflecting the purpose of the event, it was just a truck. What? They need to force people to NOT do that kind of crap. If you put an entry in the parade for Old Timer's Day it should primarily be about Old Timer's Day. Golden Flake could have found an old truck, from 50 or shorter years ago and put that in the parade.
4. Absolutely no organization of other events. The Quilting show in the Rec Building had no sign to tell you that was what was in there (until Saturday at some time). The building where the fashion show was held, had no sign or indication of any event! We had to track down the guy with the keys just to get in!! The only folks who showed up for the show were those who were in the show! Why? Because there was no advertisement, and no sign! Nothing. What the Heck?
5. Pay for Parking? In the MUD?!?!?! You have got to be kidding! After all these years the parking at the fairgrounds is still on grass. Yes, ladies and gents you have to pay 2 dollars to park, and then some odd something to get into the fair, or buy tickets to ride, but you park in the grass. (well it was grass until a day or two of rain fell on it, and large vans and trucks got stuck in it.) I saw one very nice Chevy full size Van trying to free itself from the mud. The good thing for me is that they had an area for Motorcycles to park, on pavement no less. We can't park handicap people on pavement, but we can bikes. I think they realized in their small minds that if a bike fell over they'd be liable so they covered that.
It was a good day despite all that. My brother-in-law came down and looked my bike over, of course he was looking for an excuse to ride his down from Clarksville, because he's finally got it out of the shop. Michael and I rode back and forth, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. I gave my daughter a ride Friday. Michael woke up with a fever yesterday, took some Motrin and would NOT hear of staying home. It did appear that the fever had gone, and we were going to drive my truck to the parade, because we thought it might rain. (didn't want the son ridding in the rain). However, it cleared off and we rode back to the parade. Some nice folks across the street from where I parked gave me a board so I could park off the side walk, and my kickstand not sink in the ground.
My Niece and her daughter were in the fashion show, my Mom and my Sister had a booth at the Quilting show. I think this is as much as we have ever been directly involved in the festivities. I marched in the High School Band back in the day, but that was about it. The kids rode some rides, and they enjoyed the Ferris wheel, but not the second one that would allow them to go upside down, and went fast. They were screaming, and begging the guy to stop the ride. :-D
When turning left off of Walnut street onto Hwy 46 going south, with Michael on the back, I think I either leaned too far, or hit some gravel, 'cause the back end slid around. Far from deterring the young lad from ridding again, he hollered, "Wheeee!" What's up with that? The Back wheel just jumped over, but I can't find any scrapes on anything on the bike, and it felt like when you hit a part of the bike that doesn't give. Oh, well, I stuck with it, and we came through just fine. The bike has a lot of get up and go, I can tell you that.
1. No handicap parking on paved areas. Yep, all the handicapped parking was IN THE MUD at the fair grounds. I don't know if you have ever tried to push a wheel chair through the mud, but its not fun. The "people", using that term loosely, responsible for setting that up should be jailed for violating Federal laws regarding that matter. My Dad has no legs, can you imagine trying to get him out of a car while parked in STANDING WATER!?!
2. They stopped the parade to let traffic through at various times, so much so that the parade had very large gaps in it, and at times cars just trying to get to the fairgrounds were in the parade! I can't fathom why they could not have spent a little time figuring out how to route traffic around the event. My wife and I spend about 2 minutes coming up with about three different ways around the whole thing! Those who were walking, or marching (interestingly enough there were no marching bands!) would have suffered.
3. There was a Golden Flake Truck in the parade as an official entry. No, it wasn't decorated, nor did it have any signage whatsoever reflecting the purpose of the event, it was just a truck. What? They need to force people to NOT do that kind of crap. If you put an entry in the parade for Old Timer's Day it should primarily be about Old Timer's Day. Golden Flake could have found an old truck, from 50 or shorter years ago and put that in the parade.
4. Absolutely no organization of other events. The Quilting show in the Rec Building had no sign to tell you that was what was in there (until Saturday at some time). The building where the fashion show was held, had no sign or indication of any event! We had to track down the guy with the keys just to get in!! The only folks who showed up for the show were those who were in the show! Why? Because there was no advertisement, and no sign! Nothing. What the Heck?
5. Pay for Parking? In the MUD?!?!?! You have got to be kidding! After all these years the parking at the fairgrounds is still on grass. Yes, ladies and gents you have to pay 2 dollars to park, and then some odd something to get into the fair, or buy tickets to ride, but you park in the grass. (well it was grass until a day or two of rain fell on it, and large vans and trucks got stuck in it.) I saw one very nice Chevy full size Van trying to free itself from the mud. The good thing for me is that they had an area for Motorcycles to park, on pavement no less. We can't park handicap people on pavement, but we can bikes. I think they realized in their small minds that if a bike fell over they'd be liable so they covered that.
It was a good day despite all that. My brother-in-law came down and looked my bike over, of course he was looking for an excuse to ride his down from Clarksville, because he's finally got it out of the shop. Michael and I rode back and forth, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. I gave my daughter a ride Friday. Michael woke up with a fever yesterday, took some Motrin and would NOT hear of staying home. It did appear that the fever had gone, and we were going to drive my truck to the parade, because we thought it might rain. (didn't want the son ridding in the rain). However, it cleared off and we rode back to the parade. Some nice folks across the street from where I parked gave me a board so I could park off the side walk, and my kickstand not sink in the ground.
My Niece and her daughter were in the fashion show, my Mom and my Sister had a booth at the Quilting show. I think this is as much as we have ever been directly involved in the festivities. I marched in the High School Band back in the day, but that was about it. The kids rode some rides, and they enjoyed the Ferris wheel, but not the second one that would allow them to go upside down, and went fast. They were screaming, and begging the guy to stop the ride. :-D
When turning left off of Walnut street onto Hwy 46 going south, with Michael on the back, I think I either leaned too far, or hit some gravel, 'cause the back end slid around. Far from deterring the young lad from ridding again, he hollered, "Wheeee!" What's up with that? The Back wheel just jumped over, but I can't find any scrapes on anything on the bike, and it felt like when you hit a part of the bike that doesn't give. Oh, well, I stuck with it, and we came through just fine. The bike has a lot of get up and go, I can tell you that.
New Kubuntu 8.04
There has been some controversy about the latest version of (K/X)Ubuntu. They decided not to tag the Kubuntu part as LTS (Long Term Support) because of the incoming version 4 of KDE. I think it was utterly stupid considering they'll have to take some kind of stand regarding KDE over every variation of Ubuntu if that is truly their stand. The question I have yet to get answered is "What happens if I add KDE to Ubuntu LTS?" Here's the scenario, I have an Ubuntu LTS install straight from the CD. I add all the repositories, and then decide I want to run a KDE 3.5.9 app. What now? I have installed the KDE libraries, and a KDE app, if KDE was the reason the LTS tag was withheld from the Kubuntu variant then I'm now no longer supported long term on my Ubuntu install. I'm sure a business which has set this up is going to love to hear that. If I were them, I'd go to Mandrake, or SUSE, neither of which would have a hard time supporting KDE Long term.
However, since I have no concern about how long its supported, because I'm at home, I upgraded to 8.04. It was very uneventful. Which, I guess, is a good thing. Except for the fact that it tried to force Firefox 3 beta on me. Firefox 3 is going to be a great browser, you can tell that, just like KDE 4 is going to be a great Desktop environment, but not one of my extensions works with it. Google is especially crappy because they talk big and even at times act big, about open source, but don't really seem to follow through. I think the problem is the childish mindset of the company as a whole. They need to grow up, and realize that you can't just keep jumping from this to that and forget the first part, and not support it because your running around trying to whip up the next "cool thing". Anyway, Google needs to get off its behind and get focused on Firefox extensions that equal in number and quality the windoze only extensions. And, oh yes, I haven't said lately just how much I do not like windoze.
Mom and Dad just recently bought a new Dell, and they want me to transfer every thing over from the old PC. The problem is windoze. I wonder at times just how much money and man hours they put into studying and programming user irritation features. The more exposure I have to virus vista the more I love Linux. Once you get past the pretty face it's ugly to the bone! I've got to bring the new box down to the house so I can get things working, and all patched up.
Ahem, back to the Kubuntu saga. Well, I have tried KDE 4 and it lacks so many of the things I really like about KDE that I am steering clear of it for as long as I can. If they were to force me to upgrade or go to Gnome, I'd get used to Gnome. If I'm going to have to work in a way I don't like them I'm going to snub my nose at those who try to force me to do it, and go somewhere else. Kind of like the Bike Dealer who wouldn't sell me a Bandit. I think KDE 4 was released WAY TOO early, and with WAY too many things not even at that level. Good grief your PIM suite isn't even at 4 yet. I understand that they think they've come up with a "better" way to work, but I like the way my desktop is now, and if they can't accept that, I'll find another environment that will. Not to mention that lately all my appointments created on Google calendar are showing up in Kontact an hour OR MORE, off! Evolution doesn't have a problem, my Nokia N810 doesn't have a problem, and even my virus outlook at work doesn't have a problem, and they are all synced. So, I've been looking at Evolution anyway, 'cause I despise the way Thunderbird handles folders that house lists (it doesn't at all without an extension).
So, I'm now on 8.04 and it looks just like 7.10 although I'm sure something under the covers got changed / improved. Oh, I have noticed now that my WiFi light doesn't light up any more. Oh, my wireless is working fine (using it now) but for some reason the WiFi light on my Dell E1705 no longer shines when connected. Oh, well, as long as it works I don't care. Everything else seems to work / not work just as it did before. I'm about to try the VOIP software and see if any of the sound driver's capabilities have improved. (I doubt it).
Well, talk to ya' later.
However, since I have no concern about how long its supported, because I'm at home, I upgraded to 8.04. It was very uneventful. Which, I guess, is a good thing. Except for the fact that it tried to force Firefox 3 beta on me. Firefox 3 is going to be a great browser, you can tell that, just like KDE 4 is going to be a great Desktop environment, but not one of my extensions works with it. Google is especially crappy because they talk big and even at times act big, about open source, but don't really seem to follow through. I think the problem is the childish mindset of the company as a whole. They need to grow up, and realize that you can't just keep jumping from this to that and forget the first part, and not support it because your running around trying to whip up the next "cool thing". Anyway, Google needs to get off its behind and get focused on Firefox extensions that equal in number and quality the windoze only extensions. And, oh yes, I haven't said lately just how much I do not like windoze.
Mom and Dad just recently bought a new Dell, and they want me to transfer every thing over from the old PC. The problem is windoze. I wonder at times just how much money and man hours they put into studying and programming user irritation features. The more exposure I have to virus vista the more I love Linux. Once you get past the pretty face it's ugly to the bone! I've got to bring the new box down to the house so I can get things working, and all patched up.
Ahem, back to the Kubuntu saga. Well, I have tried KDE 4 and it lacks so many of the things I really like about KDE that I am steering clear of it for as long as I can. If they were to force me to upgrade or go to Gnome, I'd get used to Gnome. If I'm going to have to work in a way I don't like them I'm going to snub my nose at those who try to force me to do it, and go somewhere else. Kind of like the Bike Dealer who wouldn't sell me a Bandit. I think KDE 4 was released WAY TOO early, and with WAY too many things not even at that level. Good grief your PIM suite isn't even at 4 yet. I understand that they think they've come up with a "better" way to work, but I like the way my desktop is now, and if they can't accept that, I'll find another environment that will. Not to mention that lately all my appointments created on Google calendar are showing up in Kontact an hour OR MORE, off! Evolution doesn't have a problem, my Nokia N810 doesn't have a problem, and even my virus outlook at work doesn't have a problem, and they are all synced. So, I've been looking at Evolution anyway, 'cause I despise the way Thunderbird handles folders that house lists (it doesn't at all without an extension).
So, I'm now on 8.04 and it looks just like 7.10 although I'm sure something under the covers got changed / improved. Oh, I have noticed now that my WiFi light doesn't light up any more. Oh, my wireless is working fine (using it now) but for some reason the WiFi light on my Dell E1705 no longer shines when connected. Oh, well, as long as it works I don't care. Everything else seems to work / not work just as it did before. I'm about to try the VOIP software and see if any of the sound driver's capabilities have improved. (I doubt it).
Well, talk to ya' later.
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