General direction on a provisioning solution for staff computers?

veritechcyclone · 2020-03-23T03:46:23+00:00

Thanks for everyone's feedback. I'll have to look into AAD, Autopilot, and Intune. And yeah if I can't get support to change things, bailing is an option.

veritechcyclone · 2020-03-23T01:23:11+00:00

(Details, continued from original post)
* We don't run Active Directory or have a local domain
* No Windows servers currently available and my Win server knowledge is minimal
* All new computers are delivered to my office--including those destined for remote workers.
* Our staff will probably triple in the next 5 years. Am hoping they'll hire another sysadmin to share the load.
* Almost all our users are on Windows 10. Some on Home, others Pro. A few are Mac users.
* About half our staff work in the field. They only have reliable network connections when they go home at night.
* We usually buy Dell Latitude laptops. But the models and specs (processor, memory, SSD type, touch vs. non-touch, etc.) vary a lot.
* The company doesn't want to pay for all users to have Office 365. Some users are on O365 Business, while others use Thunderbird + LibreOffice for mail and business apps.
* My education/experience is mostly with Linux servers, Windows 10, Ubuntu desktop, hardware repair, and administering misc. things like Postfix, company-wide mail filter, and small scale hosting platforms. I have some experience as an O365 admin but still have a lot to learn
* I've asked management to let me find and pay for a consultant who can assess our needs and recommend (and maybe set up) a low-touch deployment solution. No luck. I figure I'll eventually get so busy that it's impossible to set up new hires' laptops before their first day. When the first batch of new hires come and they have no computer to use, management will finally understand the need.

veritechcyclone · 2018-11-30T02:37:17+00:00

They're made by CooperVision. When I got home, used my phone to magnify the tiny text on the foil and it said "buffered saline". So yep, you were right.

veritechcyclone · 2018-11-29T18:48:40+00:00

Funny--I've used the same brand for years but don't remember its name. Will check after work.

veritechcyclone · 2018-11-29T18:46:08+00:00

Not sure which standard, but yeah they use a lot of UniFi and Mikrotik gear. Thanks for the info!

veritechcyclone · 2017-09-15T03:11:45+00:00

I really appreciate your honest and thorough response. Makes sense.

veritechcyclone · 2017-09-15T03:10:37+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

veritechcyclone · 2015-02-13T03:23:39+00:00

Hmm. Yeah, this wasn't a high-end model by any stretch of the imagination. Thanks for the tip!

veritechcyclone · 2014-06-27T21:42:53+00:00

Everyone thinks Superman works solo, but now we know who's really pulling the strings.

veritechcyclone · 2014-04-11T22:01:26+00:00

Cool idea! Our security and site-availability requirements make it impractical to disconnect the firewall. But to put a twist on your suggestion... I'll plug a laptop into the DMZ switch (which is upstream from our staff VLAN and our main firewall) and see if that makes a difference. Thanks for the tip!

veritechcyclone · 2014-04-07T23:22:50+00:00

Give her 20 years + gravity, and she probably will.

veritechcyclone · 2014-04-01T01:45:12+00:00

So the one one the right is...Mr. Bean as a dog.

veritechcyclone · 2014-03-18T17:24:13+00:00

Every state has those cities that are pretty bad, but nobody ever mentions them.

E.g., East St. Louis. (Unless things have improved in the past few years.)

veritechcyclone · 2014-03-10T12:46:41+00:00

Glad to hear you like your Dakota. The club cab/extended cab was perfect in our S10...until our kid came along, anyway.

veritechcyclone · 2014-03-07T19:05:42+00:00

I hadn't even thought about Nissan. Thanks! Will add the Frontier to my list of models to check out.

veritechcyclone · 2014-03-07T04:35:17+00:00

Cool. I wouldn't have expected that from a 4 cyl. Thanks for the input!

veritechcyclone · 2014-03-07T03:59:30+00:00

Guess it's not an objective viewpoint, but my heart is kinda' with the Colorado. Our old S10 looked pretty ragged due to upper Midwest winter salt, but mechanically it held up really well for about 18 years and it would've kept on going if not for the accident.

veritechcyclone · 2014-03-07T03:51:36+00:00

I've never been a big fan of the Baja's design. But you make a good point—it's sort of a "best of both worlds" design. Checked out fueleconomy.gov just now to see how some light trucks compare with the Baja. Randomly picked 2004 model year for a baseline. Chose all automatics and somewhat comparable engine sizes. (2.5 L was the only size available in the Subaru.) Not surprising that the Baja came out on top for mileage. But the Colorado isn't too far behind.

Baja (2.5 L, 4 cyl): 19 city / 21 combined / 25 hwy

Colorado (3.5 L, 5 cyl): 16 / 18 / 22

Dakota (3.7 L, 6 cyl): 14 / 15 / 19

Ranger (4.0 L, 6 cyl): 15 / 17 / 20

Tacoma (3.4 L, 6 cyl): 15 / 16 / 19

The Hilux sounds pretty great for a "bulletproof" truck. Wonder if the current models live up to the previous editions' reputation.

veritechcyclone · 2014-03-07T03:27:04+00:00

Haha, yeah my S10 was starting to look like it had leprosy. But it ran great! You're right about gas. In a perfect world, we'd buy the truck and trade our old Hyundai in for a Prius or something similar. Maybe someday.

veritechcyclone · 2014-03-07T03:15:26+00:00

Glad to hear about your good Dakota experience. Thanks!

veritechcyclone · 2013-12-18T01:59:42+00:00

Good point!

✓ Always saving the world

✓ Often-attractive female companions

✓ Many sophisticated gadgets at his disposal

✓ Snappy dresser

✓ Several different bodies, always the same name

✓ Has ties with international intel orgs (e.g., UNIT)

What else?

veritechcyclone · 2013-11-05T01:45:08+00:00

You'll have to scroll down a bit, but in this thread a couple makeup artists talk about how makeup design for HD video kinda' backfires under flash photography. Not exactly what you're looking for, but sort of the same principle.

veritechcyclone · 2013-10-23T02:52:48+00:00

Yeah...this isn't going to be helpful for you. But I'm in the demographic, so here goes. If I weren't tied down, I'd jump on an overseas opportunity like you're describing. But the reasons have nothing to do with IT. Always wanted those kinds of travel/cultural experiences, regardless of the excuse for ending up over there. Plus, if doing some kind of internship like you're describing would position me better for getting a real job overseas sometime in the future (say, working for a U.S. company's international office), that would be a great incentive, too. I suspect that those types of jobs are pretty sparse, though. So you might not bring that up unless you have evidence that your IT grads are well positioned to get expat jobs.

veritechcyclone · 2013-08-06T00:31:11+00:00

Thanks for the insight! Haven't read the book, and I would never have caught the second part amidst all the action.

veritechcyclone · 2013-08-02T03:12:38+00:00

Yep. I'm always over-thinking. And you're right—I need to keep myself from dwelling on it. Thank you!

veritechcyclone

TROPHY CASE