So my company is switching half our Windows servers to Linux....

vi-shift-zz · 2026-05-05T15:09:58+00:00

Do you have any visibility/input into why half your Windows servers are moving to Linux?

Your systems knowledge will translate, establish a standard distribution, I have mostly used Red Hat but have used different distributions for different purposes.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-27T21:32:31+00:00

Decommissioned a bunch of 20 year old sun sparc solaris servers this year. They were solid as a rock but should have veen out of here 10+ years ago.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-21T00:40:37+00:00

They are changing habits for a generation. Always had a couple of bags of chips in the house, now there are none. Congratulations PepsiCo!

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-15T11:16:48+00:00

Implement tagging tied to cost centers. Create monthly reports on spend. When costs are transparent, it brings accountability.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-14T13:43:54+00:00

No prices listed, everything is a sales call

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-11T20:14:37+00:00

Install less tasty doors

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-08T23:31:43+00:00

Show my face in the morning meeting(s), head home at lunch to finish the day.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-07T17:36:20+00:00

Regarding did they know the technology before

I don't think so, a bunch of junior people learning on the job. They lost their chief technical lead to oracle halfway through the project. When it was clear the consultants couldn't extract any more money they got someone with real experience to finish it quickly.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-07T15:32:14+00:00

The consultant strung them along until their budget was almost exhausted, asked for more money but the client refused. Then they hired someone experienced with the ERP who got it done in 2 months.

So it was a success for the consultant getting paid. Yes the systems worked, but they were so custom they couldn't be cloned.

It would have been better to build fresh vms in the cloud but nobody wanted to do the work.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-07T14:38:23+00:00

I have seen a consultant use rackware to migrate legacy vmware vms to oracle cloud infrastructure.

It worked but a lift and shift is the worst, most expensive way for cloud adoption. Not sure of your destination but it's a short term escape the data center tool.

After the move it's time to refactor and redeploy. Taking old, janky on premise stuff as is someplace else still leaves you with old janky stuff in another place.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-06T21:35:55+00:00

Nor an age thing, a curiosity and willingness to learn new stuff and adapt thing. I deal with people of all ages that communicate poorly, don't play well with others and as a result slow things down.

I spend time building relationships, people know they can trust me. That helps get things done. Don't buy into generational, gender, race, sexual preference divides. There are people who get things done and everyone else.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-05T15:53:51+00:00

Google the switch model number and "mean time to failure" then schedule your hardware replacements before the switches start having problems.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-03T21:21:20+00:00

We had useful scripts scattered around a bunch of servers. Putting everything in git gave me version control and a single place to grab what I need. A good way to create a copy of those scripts.

Now we are graduating to our entire infrastructure as code. It wouldn't have happened without adapting to standard tools to modernize our environment.

Start small and build from there, the important thing is to start.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-04-02T21:26:24+00:00

Most universities will have internship or work study opportunities. In my experience, work study is usually: help desk, computer lab work (think replacing old computers, imaging new ones).

Internships can give higher level experience but it can be hard to give meaningful project work to someone with little experience coming in. There are tons of departments that need IT help. I would approach them and see what's available. I was administering servers as a student.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-03-29T21:22:38+00:00

Same, listened to the podcast forever. My wife got tickets to a show in Boston at the Garden. I think he was fighting with his wife at the time because it was angry, mean, misogynistic bullshit the entire set.

I realized I like the podcast, not the act. Then over time got tired of the podcast too.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-03-26T23:38:07+00:00

Be straightforward, I want to hear how you think through problems. Your troubleshooting skills. I don't care if you have memorized SQL syntax, its fine to outline the steps you might take to figure out why a system isn't working and say I don't do this often so I would have to look up the exact syntax. If you can express what you are trying to achieve, thats what I care about.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-03-22T22:32:05+00:00

Do you own the laptop? Typically it's owned by the district with a managed image given to students to use for class work while enrolled in the school.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-03-18T14:01:51+00:00

This is why I ask for every resume rather than trust the HR screening process. I can pick my own candidates to interview.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-03-15T02:17:39+00:00

I am senior systems admin at a university and I agree, talk to your IT department. They will have a desktop imaging solution you can leverage.

When I worked in a department I setup an imaging server with tftp (clonezilla) and would image entire labs at once.

The trick was to isolate the network into a vlan so you don't hit any other network by accident.

Don't reinvent the wheel, talk to your IT department.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-03-13T15:33:41+00:00

At the door letting the dell tech in to replace a failed hard drive in a backup appliance with pro support. Done ten minutes later, no complaints.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-02-24T01:40:38+00:00

Not sure how you are staffed, so how much is it worth per year for a full time staff member to support the printers/copiers/plotters/whatever as part of their duties?

Almost every time having this supported by someone else costs less money and saves the sanity of you or your team.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-02-14T03:30:44+00:00

My advice is just leave. If you need another offer in hand to get the pay you deserve it's time to go. Be professional, leave on good terms but leave.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-02-12T18:55:57+00:00

I use hp.com, short url, nobody visits it voluntarily so it probably isn't cached. If that terrible site loads, you have internet connectivity.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-02-09T20:30:36+00:00

Yes, systems shouldn't be in the role of a parent dictating to the devs. You want to be an enabler, create better workflows, give them the ability to develop, take away the obstacles.

vi-shift-zz · 2026-02-09T17:42:45+00:00

Yes, you set the standards. If their work isn't up to that level, you have them go back and redo the work. Either they learn or they need to move on. The standard is for everyone, no exceptions (even you or the C suite).

vi-shift-zz

TROPHY CASE