Sometimes the help you get you should do yourself

[preserver3.livejournal.com]

Local Sysadmin installed an ancient base 10 hub he found in a storage closet and ran an office segment for 10 people (including 3 webdevelopers who specialize in video streaming applications) on a single cable drop because he was too lazy to run more drops. The hub was running 1/2 duplex because of faulty wiring and dropping frames because of a bad chip(There were probably several reasons it was dumped in a closet). As a temporary fix, I dropped a Gigabit 8 port switch I use to talk to a small micro-LAN of development machine at my desk, and removed the Hub and updated the ticket with the tech who did the install to replace the drops and switch now in service. The tech goes out and purchases a $54.+ 10/100 8 port switch when the 8 port Gigabit switch was only 31.35 from the same store, (which I tell him to take back).

Tech closed the ticket:

1. We still only have one drop serving 10 people
2. We still don't have a Gigabit switch to replace the one that's covering the drop

For the time lost in productivity, I should have bought everything myself, run the cable pulls and turned receipts into petty cash to cover my expenses. Sometimes following the guidelines and channels of support is a bad idea.

Comments

[mouser.livejournal.com]

But fixing it correctly is like... WORK!

(8 port Gigabit switch for $31.35? What manufacturer?)

[preserver3.livejournal.com]

DLink, the website has them for 47.99, but on the shelf and at the register they're 31.35 with tax.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2201255&CatId=2796

Even at 47.99, they're cheaper and better than the 8 port 10/100.

10 users on a single drop is asking for trouble, especially when the team's supposed to be building and testing streaming technologies.

[argonel.livejournal.com]

If nothing else it would be a fair test of how the streaming technology handles a congested connection.

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

I specifically used to keep a working one for testing how my printer communications code (I wrote the driver and the ethernet portion of the firmware) handled congested connections.

(1) Bank of 5 machines, all printing 500 jobs
(2) Hub
(3) Printer

I'd let it run... and then I would unplug the switch to make sure it saw the drop out, notified the user, and then came back when you plugged it back in. Shiny.

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

Tigerdirect has a store? That sounds like a fun place.

[agmlego.livejournal.com]

Might not be unlike Micro Center (http://www.microcenter.com), here in southeastern MI.

--
"Memento Mori Ergo Carpe Diem"

[preserver3.livejournal.com]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=tiger+direct+raleigh,+NC&ie=UTF8&ll=36.014671,-78.648376&spn=0.372118,0.336456&t=h&z=10&iwloc=A

Is a nice place. Basically like BJ's, Sam's Club, or CostCO with technology. The deals tend to actually be better than the site. Things like $1100 50" Plasma Monitors... I mean TV's are not uncommon. They have the normal collection of barebones machines. Some things are regionally priced, but it's a good place to go and pick up workstation and PC related needs. More advanced networking equipment has to be ordered or you go to one of the specialty stores.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Not everywhere has a Frys! (Damnit!)

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

I visited one of those once. I was impressed. They had real electronics supplies.

[ace-brickman.livejournal.com]

don't try getting anything resembling help from the kids on the floor...
Maybe it's just the location near me, but most of their staff walk and act like their white shirts make them look too 'happy' and buzzword bingo cards are a must.

[superbus.livejournal.com]

By the time you got that cash back once it went through processing, it would be worth about 43 cents.