Aftermath of server room move

[margaretc.livejournal.com]

We moved a bunch of servers friday night - deans' email, departmental web pages, that kind of thing. We started at 7 pm and were done by 2 am - 11 boxes, each with two ethernet cables, two power plugs, a (really heavy) KVM cable, and Dell Versa-rails with round holes to be mounted in square-hole racks (don't EVEN ask). It went quite well, by the big boss's criteria - nobody punched anybody, no machine got damaged or failed to boot, and the deans and profs really don't have any idea of what changed, since it all looks exactly the same to them. We ARE the invisible department.

Comments

[inahandbasket]

IT Ninjas.
http://www.inktank.com/AT/index.cfm?nav=19

[snarl817.livejournal.com]

Wrong. The IT department is only invisible when nothing is broken. The instant something breaks, all eyes are on you.

[margaretc.livejournal.com]

And believe me, we aim to keep it that way, except when budget time comes around.
Our current budget guru is working with the folks who created the iPod project here, and we're aiming to get some of that magic sprinkled our way. We want to get innovative.

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

The only problem with being invisible until something breaks is that people tend not to notice the things you do that work, and generally aren't aware of how much you do behind the scenes to keep things working, so in their perception, you're either a nuisance (bugging them about software updates and preventative maintenance on their workstations, or taking application servers down for upgrades and maintenance, etc.) or someone who can't fix what they want fixed fast enough to suit them ..

[the-ninja-style.livejournal.com]

I demand you come here and replace my IT department. They can't swap monitors in one cube without half the building loosing internet in the process.

[the-rkd.livejournal.com]

The IT department are like gimps that one keeps in a closet. Nobody knows and/or cares they exist but when anger needs to be vented because SOMETHING isnt working thats when they come out: scared of the light, dressed in dark clothing etc etc ...

But hey what would i know ...