A Day in the Life

For IT Systems Administrators there are no "typical" days. There are "typical" tasks. Log reviews, software patches and updates, data retrieval, data backup, storage management, commission new servers, retire old ones, test new software, server performance checks, network performance checks, power regulation checks on the Uninterruptible Power Supplies, Air Conditioning unit checks, handling user queries and complaints, checking that all services are up and running (and running correctly!) and many many more smaller tasks that fall into the "preventative" category - all form the backbone of the Systems Administrator raison d'être.

Then there are the atypical tasks - like dealing with a flooded server room, moving your entire inventory of servers from one room to another, crawling around under the floor to find a possible cable break, running emergency power cables because someone forgot to tell you that there would be a power interruption that day and a hundred and one other things that can and do happen only occasionally, but that need to be dealt with by "someone".

Then we have the administrative tasks of the position - the documentation of systems, servers, networks and services, the preparation of proposals for new/upgraded servers and services, the preparation of specifications for desktops, servers and laptops so that they will do the job at the most reasonable cost - and then there is the form filling for management - but enough said about that particular endeavour.

And after all that, we have the real reason why we are needed. When a service goes down, we need to get it backup as soon as possible - and that may mean 24 hour shifts, cannibalising other, less important servers/services and basically doing what is needed to ensure that that service is back up in the least amount of downtime possible.

There are many ways that could be used to describe the job of Systems Administrator, but my favourite is this one:

"So, Jock, you say you are the "Official Elephant Hunter and Disposal Person" for the City of Glasgow?"
"That's right"
"But Glasgow has never had a problem with elephants!"
"See what a good job I'm doing!"

You don't know you need me, until you need me.

A tale of two ISPs

I switched to Namesco as my ISP nearly 3 years ago, because they offered a fixed 2M package (my line had always done 2M and no more) with 100G download per month. I paid a year in advance.

Mostly, I got what I paid for - 2M download speeds and virtually unlimited data downloads. Occasionally, the Internet went away, but mostly it was fine. At renewal time, the cost of the 2M fixed package had increased, and the data allowance had gone down to 1G per month, purchase extra as required. After a review of my download habits, I decided 10G extra was enough. I renewed for a year, paid in advance to take advantage of a discount, and expected the same level of service as I had the year before. Didn't happen. Mostly, I got Internet at fluctuating speeds.
After another year, I renewed again, but this time with an 8M ADSL+ package that was cheaper than my fixed 2M package (by about £100 per year). That, if anything, was worse. The connection speed was up and down, the Internet took frequent holidays from me, and my ISP always started the diagnostics with "Please reboot your router" and then had me crawling under the desk to put the connection in the master socket (which was where it was from the last time!), then said the line test was fine etc etc.

Eventually I found mention of an ISP who appeared to be a little more pro-active on its customers behalf.

I rang their sales line and had a chat to a guy who listened to what I told him about my sorry tale and then said that they did not guarantee to get my speed back to 2M, but that they would at least get BT to run tests before expecting me to pay - and they agreed with me that a line capable of 2M just doesn't drop to .5M without there being a problem somewhere along the path from the exchange to my house.

Long story short. After just two months with these guys, I have had BT replace my line from the exchange to the pole at the back of my house and I now have an Internet connection that has been stable for 96+ hours at roughly 2.5M.

The name of these guys is "Andrews and Arnold" and you can find them at http://aaisp.net.uk . Read their Broadband page, then their Support page and you will get an idea of where these guys are coming from. Their charging model won't suit everyone, but it sure suits the way I work.

Obviously two months is a very short time, and a long term assessment of these guys will take time.

But 2.5M in two months from .5M? That's huge! Especially after the other shower did nothing for 7 months.

Clearing the clutter

Many years ago I was made redundant. This was quite a shock to me, as I had always considered myself to be a good worker, giving value for money to my employer, going the "extra mile" when required.

I blamed myself, as I thought it was my fault - but when I saw who was kept and who was fired, I saw that there was no reason (other than the management having a "plan" to reduce costs ) to choose one over another.

So, what to do?

At that time, things were, economically speaking, quite difficult and the prospect of paid employment was quite low. I knew computers, book-keeping, computer games, the meat industry and how to talk to people. I really liked playing computer (and console games) and as I had been in the console games sector, I thought I would see what could be done in that area.
Realizing that retail premises were not an option, I went mobile. I started a market stall selling the console games of the day (Super Nintendo, MegaDrive, Neo-Geo (look it up!) etc. ). The business kept me afloat until the PlayStation and other CD based formats came to the fore. Since they were easily copied, they followed the way of the PC and put many legitimate sellers out of business.
Shame, but that's life.

Fast forward 10+ years.

Our loft is getting added insulation soon, so it had to be cleared out. While in the process of doing so, I came upon the remnants of my console games selling business. I found an Atari Jaguar console (no games, so useless), an American SNES (Super Nintendo) still in its original box (no games, no "universal" adapter), an Amstrad 664 home computer (with disks), several hundred Commodore 64 games on cartridge and tape, and an MSX home computer (circa 1983), many spares for many different consoles and a lot of leads etc that were just plain useless.
I suppose I could have had a good old wallow in the nostalgia evoked by these items, but, you know what? I dumped them. Unceremoniously. Without real thought.
Why?
Because they were useless. Because they brought nothing to my life now. Because they had been sitting in my loft for 10 years, never looked at.

The sum total of what I kept from the loft clear out was my chess board and pieces, and some financial papers that needed shredding.

I am currently in paid employment, with the prospect of being made redundant yet again. As we know, economic times are hard (again). My base skill set hasn't changed much, but the world has.

So, what to do?

Haven't got a clue, really.

But at least my loft is empty.