May 19, 2007
Back on the Blog for the moment
Well it has been some time since my last entry. Things have been busy busy, so I'll summarize those changes that I can think of @ 2:57 am on Sat.
* Hired Brad Dougherty as a Full Time Desktop Support
* Hired 3 new fabulous student workers: Brian W, Skyler and Audrey. They have each been eager and capable. I feel really lucky to have them all.
These two items have made a significant impact on our response time for tasks. Before these changes, we were ending the day with 40-50 active tasks under general UCS Tech support. We are now typically ending the day with 10 or fewer.
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This has given me the time to work on improvement and refinement of existing resources (more to come on this).
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I've taken on software/hardware management of the labs. I'm evaluating several options to replace the atiquated imaging method that has been used in recent years. At this time, I intend to ride out teh remainder of the academic year and then image the labs.
Posted by crowej at 2:56 AM | Comments (0)
November 15, 2006
Forthcoming Office 2007
With a new Microsoft Office on the horizon, folks may be wondering what is in store...
We certainly don't want to get 'injured' by being on the bleeding edge. Thus far, we plan to obtain a site license to keep the campus community at the same level. Certain UCS staff will test and live with the new Office for an appropriate bug-working-out time. Once we've certified it for Campus use, we'll pursue the site license. Microsoft has drastically changed their Office options, so I don't know what that will look like yet (price etc). After we have the license, we'll then determine a roll-out strategy that will work for the various and sundry parties involved (i.e. the Campus Community).
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns,
Posted by crowej at 5:08 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2006
SSL for pcounter
I now have pcounter authorization going over SSL. ActivePerl is installed. I bugged Summer to let her know that we'll be switching to the new instance of Pcounter after summer term.
Posted by crowej at 2:57 PM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2006
SPSS Cost Savings and Feature Adds
I've been working to streamline our recurring costs to the Institution. SPSS is used Campus-wide. We have a network license and several single-user instances. The single user instances are very costly. With the latest SPSS, we can re-up the single user instances into the network license. Furthermore, we can install SPSS on the Terminal Server Cluster to increase avialability (off campus use) and lower install time.
Typically whenever SPSS is updated, the faculty that use it call for the same to be done to their machines. If we maintain it solely on TS, then I need only update a central location.
Money is saved.
Man-hours are saved.
Functionality is increased.
Performance is increased.
What a deal :-)
Posted by crowej at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)
February 7, 2006
When "Free Stuff" isn't free
Every so often a subject that you had thought (hoped) was dead and buried rises from the grave like a specter. Today was such a day. Roughly five years ago, UCS began a concentrated effort to create standards for computing. For the bulk of users that means Dell PCs (for the other folks, it means Macintosh). Standards allow a budget to be stretched. Everything from setup time to maintenance to operation is a cost-savings in a standards-based environment.
A department on campus has, in the past, had computers donated or given to them. These computers have not been the standard machines. As a tech that supports these and other machines I can tell you that I spend at least twice as long preparing these machines. Furthermore given the checkout nature of these machines (laptops) they circulate in and out of the Tech Area far more than other machines.
If I spend x amount of time setting up standard Dell laptop, I spend 2x on these "free" machines. Since they are checkout laptops, I've seen them in the Tech Area once already this term for a rebuild. Thus I've already spent 2x times two...per machine. Suddenly the "free" machine is costing the University more money than if we had paid for a standard machine outright. Compound that with the fact that something else is likely not getting seen to while these laptops are being worked on...
Posted by crowej at 8:17 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2005
UCS Communication to other Departments
Below is a response to a Question Posed By Travis Knabe. As my thoughts went on, I thought that it merited my own entry :-)
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I think that the longterm solution will be consistency. We technophiles thrive on change. For most folks this is ananthema. This seems to be more true the more technically adept any given staff member is. If we _keep_ using blogs as our primary non-emergency communication, keep using FAQ's for regular FYI's, and finally keep using allfacstaff's for last minute notifications, the campus will become used to these methods.
The problems stem from new and/or sporadic use of these methods. I can certainly understand that Ron cannot do an FAQ each week. We should keep some FAQ's (written by different staff) in reserve so that one can be sent out each week. Since they may not truly be Frequently Asked Questions, maybe it should be renamed to UCS weekly bulletin etc.
I think that UCS staff at all levels (not just poor Bill) need to be on Campus Committees to act as a liaison. Meetings etc have largely been seen as a waste of our time (by me no less than any other). However the goodwill and understanding to be gained may be worth the cost.
There are a few groups that are already formed that we should join/inform (AIC, Faculty Senate, Staff Senate). For others, we need to make the effort to form them. I think that we should form a few other groups:
UCS/College of Ed (this should NOT contain AIC faculty)
UCS/LAS (this should NOT contain AIC faculty)
UCS/Library (this has already begun...although informally)
We needn't commit decision makers to these groups. We can simply send representatives to give an ear and give report-based information. These UCS reps can take back questions to decision makers within our Organization.
This is an area where I feel that We (UCS) need to make adjustments in how we wish/prefer to do things. In the end, we'll simply serve our clients better.
Posted by crowej at 11:04 PM | Comments (1)
November 23, 2005
Visit to Computing Services at SOU
Last week I made a pilgrimage to Oregon's Shakespearean Mecca...Ashland. I toured SOU's Computing Services. I'll list some of my observations:
1. They have A LOT more space and resources.
a. This led to a more natural organization than we have
b. This has led to more specialization (and specialists)
c. This strength also may be their weakness
i. My suspicion is that SOU is doing many things today in the same manner that they did five years ago.
ii. In contrast, we have had to overcome space (and personnel) shortages. By and large these have been process refinements and technical improvements.
2. They have a site license of Office (which I'd like to adopt)
a. They sell Office CD's @ $7. They did not know of 80/20...this may be the result of the site license.
b. The front office distribution is simple and effective. There's a "meet & greet" window right next to the front door.
3. They use their expansive space to separate and specialize. For me, this was perhaps the single most important discovery. They have what exists in our tech room thrown out into four different rooms. I wish to reinvent this idea within a single room. Please see my next blog for more details here...
4. Their helpdesk is staffed M-F 8 to 5. The students are technically inclined and attempt to resolve issues.
5. We both use PCounter in the labs. They do not use Deep Freeze (or similar solution) and have to reimage more than we. Their printers are all centrally located within a lab and pooled as one device. This would be my preferred solution, but we lay out the labs more deliberately.
6. Even with a comparably sized facstaff and student population, and nearly double the UCS staff, the feeling of too much work with little resources was pervasive.
Posted by crowej at 1:47 AM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2005
NotifyLink, Apache and SSL
Yesterday, Troy and I worked on NotifyLink, Apache and SLL. When given the task of installing the SSL cert (from Thawte). I don't think anyone recognized that this would turn into a thing. Troy and I ended up ripping the original install of Apache 1.3 out. We installed v2 and the corresponding Mod_SSL. I think we both learned a lot about Apache and SSL installation as we needed to modify the config files manually in order to get the NotifyLink application to work.
Posted by crowej at 11:15 AM | Comments (1)
September 20, 2005
Training Classes
The bulk of my training has focused upon Windows 2003. This was the vehicle that got us to be able to migrate to our new system. (or at least do my part which is the Windows Domain).
I attended a 14-day training camp through The Training Camp. This certainly got me where I needed to be, but I wish the focus had been more on training and less on test prep. The other side to this coin is that I then was forced to study all aspects, even things that we do not currently use. This has already paid off with new projects.
I also supplemented this with a online training through http://www.vtc.com. This was a fair supplement.
My non-2003 training has been self driven. I am a DCSE (Dell Certified Systems Engineer). Every so often I need to re-up their exams. I have to use their self study materials to pass their exams. In the last 14 months, I've re-upped twice.
I have Apple Certification CDs to cover as well....yeah right. There's no time for this at work. I spend enough of my free time at home doing blogs and other work. I expect that this time limit will expire before I can dedicate the time to get this cert as well.
For those interested, I've placed what this covers. This was a very good (and harrowing) experience. Studying items that I don't use in a daily routine can only lead to improvements in our network.
Skills being measured by 70-290
Skills being measured by 70-291
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September 14, 2005
...Lest Ye be Judged
Yesterday, my life was an Ancient Chinese Proverb. I lived in interesting times. At the onset of one of the largest migrations possible, my PC's Hard Drive decided it would cease and desist all moving and storing of data. While I follow our own policy of not storing documents on the local hard drive, I do have a great deal of customization that allows me to do my job. I'm sure for those who have shared this fun experience, I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know. Since I'm also the resident Macvocate, I was able to at least have a desktop with internet access. I'm in the process of setting up the new drive now.
Posted by crowej at 4:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 30, 2005
MCSA goal achieved
Well today marked a bit of a milestone for me as I now have passed the last exam to make me a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator. These exams were no joke. This was a significant departure from the NT 4.0 track, which I gained with minimal bother. The last exam was more difficult than it's predecessor, as it dealt partially with areas for which I have no current responsibility. Any area for which I have current WOU experience I was able to answer with rapidity.
For those interested, I've placed what this covers. This was a very good (and harrowing) experience. Studying items that I don't use in a daily routine can only lead to improvements in our network.
Skills measured by exam 70-290
Managing and Maintaining Physical and Logical Devices
Manage basic disks and dynamic disks.
Monitor server hardware. Tools might include Device Manager, the Hardware Troubleshooting Wizard, and appropriate Control Panel items.
Optimize server disk performance.
* Implement a RAID solution.
* Defragment volumes and partitions.
Install and configure server hardware devices.
* Configure driver signing options.
* Configure resource settings for a device.
* Configure device properties and settings.
Managing Users, Computers, and Groups
Manage local, roaming, and mandatory user profiles.
Create and manage computer accounts in an Active Directory environment.
Create and manage groups.
* Identify and modify the scope of a group.
* Find domain groups in which a user is a member.
* Manage group membership.
* Create and modify groups by using the Active Directory Users and Computers Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in.
* Create and modify groups by using automation.
Create and manage user accounts.
* Create and modify user accounts by using the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in.
* Create and modify user accounts by using automation.
* Import user accounts.
Troubleshoot computer accounts.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to computer accounts by using the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in.
* Reset computer accounts.
Troubleshoot user accounts.
* Diagnose and resolve account lockouts.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to user account properties.
Troubleshoot user authentication issues.
Managing and Maintaining Access to Resources
Configure access to shared folders.
* Manage shared folder permissions.
Troubleshoot Terminal Services.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to Terminal Services security.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to client access to Terminal Services.
Configure file system permissions.
* Verify effective permissions when granting permissions.
* Change ownership of files and folders.
Troubleshoot access to files and shared folders.
Managing and Maintaining a Server Environment
Monitor and analyze events. Tools might include Event Viewer and System Monitor.
Manage software update infrastructure.
Manage software site licensing.
Manage servers remotely.
* Manage a server by using Remote Assistance.
* Manage a server by using Terminal Services remote administration mode.
* Manage a server by using available support tools.
Troubleshoot print queues.
Monitor system performance.
Monitor file and print servers. Tools might include Task Manager, Event Viewer, and System Monitor.
* Monitor disk quotas.
* Monitor print queues.
* Monitor server hardware for bottlenecks.
Monitor and optimize a server environment for application performance.
* Monitor memory performance objects.
* Monitor network performance objects.
* Monitor process performance objects.
* Monitor disk performance objects.
Manage a Web server.
* Manage Internet Information Services (IIS).
* Manage security for IIS.
Managing and Implementing Disaster Recovery
Perform system recovery for a server.
* Implement Automated System Recovery (ASR).
* Restore data from shadow copy volumes.
* Back up files and System State data to media.
* Configure security for backup operations.
Manage backup procedures.
* Verify the successful completion of backup jobs.
* Manage backup storage media.
Recover from server hardware failure.
Restore backup data.
Schedule backup jobs.
Skills measured by exam 70-291
Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining IP Addressing
Configure TCP/IP addressing on a server computer.
Manage DHCP.
* Manage DHCP clients and leases.
* Manage DHCP Relay Agent.
* Manage DHCP databases.
* Manage DHCP scope options.
* Manage reservations and reserved clients.
Troubleshoot TCP/IP addressing.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA).
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to incorrect TCP/IP configuration.
Troubleshoot DHCP.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to DHCP authorization.
* Verify DHCP reservation configuration.
* Examine the system event log and DHCP server audit log files to find related events.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to configuration of DHCP server and scope options.
* Verify that the DHCP Relay Agent is working correctly.
* Verify database integrity.
Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining Name Resolution
Install and configure the DNS Server service.
* Configure DNS server options.
* Configure DNS zone options.
* Configure DNS forwarding.
Manage DNS.
* Manage DNS zone settings.
* Manage DNS record settings.
* Manage DNS server options.
Monitor DNS. Tools might include System Monitor, Event Viewer, Replication Monitor, and DNS debug logs.
Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining Network Security
Implement secure network administration procedures.
* Implement security baseline settings and audit security settings by using security templates.
* Implement the principle of least privilege.
Monitor network protocol security. Tools might include the IP Security Monitor Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in and Kerberos support tools.
Troubleshoot network protocol security. Tools might include the IP Security Monitor MMC snap-in, Event Viewer, and Network Monitor.
Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining Routing and Remote Access
Configure Routing and Remote Access user authentication.
* Configure remote access authentication protocols.
* Configure Internet Authentication Service (IAS) to provide authentication for Routing and Remote Access clients.
* Configure Routing and Remote Access policies to permit or deny access.
Manage remote access.
* Manage packet filters.
* Manage Routing and Remote Access routing interfaces.
* Manage devices and ports.
* Manage routing protocols.
* Manage Routing and Remote Access clients.
Manage TCP/IP routing.
* Manage routing protocols.
* Manage routing tables.
* Manage routing ports.
Implement secure access between private networks.
Troubleshoot user access to remote access services.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to remote access VPNs.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to establishing a remote access connection.
* Diagnose and resolve user access to resources beyond the remote access server.
Troubleshoot Routing and Remote Access routing.
* Troubleshoot demand-dial routing.
* Troubleshoot router-to-router VPNs.
Maintaining a Network Infrastructure
Monitor network traffic. Tools might include Network Monitor and System Monitor.
Troubleshoot connectivity to the Internet.
Troubleshoot server services.
* Diagnose and resolve issues related to service dependency.
* Use service recovery options to diagnose and resolve service-related issues.
Posted by crowej at 9:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Setup Western Streaming Server
Today, I worked with Troy to setup a streaming audio feed. Russ Blunk in Public Relations dials into a phone number, a device answers and his voice is routed to the server. Using Windows Media Encoder v9 from http://www.microsoft.com allows clients, both Mac and PC to listen to this stream live over the internet. To tune into the events, click this link:
Posted by crowej at 8:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 19, 2005
Automatic Password Synching
We all know the joy of holding dozens of passwords in our heads. Travis and I are actively working on reducing this headache. We are in the process of setting up a method that synchs passwords for Network and Email/Calendar logins. The tricky part at this junction is securing communication between Active Directory LDAP and Solaris LDAP. We currently have it working for all users if the password is changed on the Windows side. Summer has written a web application that will speak directly to the Sun iteration of LDAP. Once Travis and I get the synching flowing _from_ mail _to_ the network, then users will be able to change (or reset) their passwords online.
We also need to deal with password complexity. Our current standard for the network is:
* 7 or more characters
* having 3 of the 4 following characteristics:
* UpperCase Characters
* LowerCase Characters
* Numbers
* Symbols
We need to implement the same for the email side so that synching may occur from the direction of email to network.
Posted by crowej at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2005
Voltage Montage
Turns out that the new SunFire v20zs are more Mac-like than at first blush. Do I mean innovative and stylish? No...they're not THAT Mac-like. They just seem to spurn standardization the same way as Papa Apple. PCI comes in two flavors of voltages. The one most familiar to folks is 5V. A newer standard is the 3.3V. You can tell the difference by simply looking at the slots...
...3.3V breaks the pins very early (relative to the back of the machine). If it follows PCI-X standards, then it can take newer 64-bit cards as well as the older 32-bit cards. 5V cards won't fit into a 3.3V slot. There are a few cards that are Universal, that is, hybridized (or bastardized...you pick).
All this came about simply because I needed to install a sound card into a server. Any whitebox server or Dell would have the 5V and MAAYYBEE a 3.3V. Nope, Sun has gone the way of Apple and moved to the latest and greatest quickly. I scoured our junk-piles and repositories of crud, but to no avail. I despaired of finding anything in existing machines.
Those who know how big of a Mac fan that I am will recognize that I can't get too irritated at Sun for doing this :-)
I ended up getting one from Best Buy (after I convinced the saleman to open the box so I could check the pin-out). Despite the fact that you could end up getting the wrong physical setting, nowhere on the box does it tell you about the card type. Boo to all people not Mac!
Posted by crowej at 5:47 PM | Comments (1)
May 16, 2005
WSUS test implementation
With Patchlink no longer being funded, I needed a quick and cheap (free) source for patch management. SUS via Group Policy Objects (GPOs) looked alright. It looked alright in the same way that your 2nd cousin looks alright when you've not had a date in awhile. You know that you shouldn't...and you don't really want to... However, the supped-up implementation originally entitled Windows Update Services (or WUS) looked more promising.
After installing and applying to a test batch of computers, I can say that I'm fairly excited. Not Lord of the Rings excited...but far more than Episode II excited.
Posted by crowej at 9:37 PM | Comments (1)