64 bit computing in a 32 bit world

[daddykatt.livejournal.com]

I work for a Hosting Company. We build a lot of servers on any given day.

Tonight I got an order for the following build

Dual quad-core xeon's (not uncommon)
CentOS 32 bit (kay, easy enough)
standard-issue 100meg connection
32 Gigs of RAM (8x4 gig sticks...on a hosted box that the customer will never physically see)
9 2 TB drives... Configured on RAID Zero

Take a moment and wrap your head around this...

I don't THINK that our boards will recognize 32 gigs of memory, but there is an offchance they will... But they want a 32 bit OS... on dual 64 bit quad-cores? with THAT kind of memory?

Oh wait... 18 TB on RAID Zero makes it all work better... except that the 2TB drives have more bugs that a SID release of Debian... and RAID Zero really should never ever ever be used again... ever... for anything

Let's assume, for just a moment, that everything worked, just as the customer ordered it... the memory and board played nice, the drives didnt choke on their own blood, and the OS ran smoothly... I want to know just what the HELL this guy is running, on a HOSTED MACHINE that REALLY needs that kind of oomph... We don't install any GUI's, and all the users do is SSH into the boxes... What the heck does he NEED it for, and, if he is willing to pay through the nose (like we are charging him) then why doesnt he just get this all set up and host it himself? it would be WAY cheaper than almost a grand per month that we are charging

My little internal geek just died a little

Doctor Woes

[http://users.livejournal.com/_caecus_/]

I work in a hospital, so doctors are the bane of my sanity at times. I don't mind the little old ladies who have a little trouble with technology, but people who refuse to listen or have a little patience just drive me batty. So, here are a couple of stories from instances like that. I will use the variable $HTTD for the Holier Than Thou Doctor in question.

Instance 1:
A doctor called, because he made a mistake in a patient's chart that locked it. It takes thirty minutes for the chart to unlock in the system we use when a doctor does certain things wrong. This is so it will roll back the change and then the doctor can go back and edit the chart, again. I understand that this can be a problem in critical care areas. Anyway, $HTTD had one of the nurses call one of my coworkers who is in an office we share. He starts the call, and I get a call, so I start paying attention to that. My coworker says that it will unlock in thirty minutes, but they say it's important that $HTTD be able to put some orders through immediately. Not a big deal. He says he will call an analyst for this system to see if they can manually do it faster, but if they can't, it will unlock in thirty minutes.

It's important to keep in mind that I am on a call after the very beginning of that call, so I don't know any of the details stated in the first paragraph, because I didn't hear them. I was remotely fixing something for another user. $HTTD calls me and says, "We need this issue fixed now." Well that's fantastic. I say, "I am not sure what issue you're talking about," and he says, "If you don't know, then get somebody who does." I spend a few minutes trying to interject that I did not take the call in question, so I don't have any idea what he's talking about, and if he will inform me which issue he is calling about, I can find out. The problem is, he interrupts me every time I try to explain that it wasn't me he talked to, and the coworker he talked to stepped out of the office. I make one last attempt to explain, and he raised his voice and said, "You need to hush your damned mouth," at which point I hung up on him and emailed my manager, assistant director, and director. Thankfully, my Manager and Assistant Director have had words with him about other issues.

Instance 2:
The same $HTTD has a unit secretary call to have his password reset for the system we use for patient charts. The problem is, a physician has privileges to view a lot more patient information than a Unit Secretary is has access to. This is a restriction in place for enforcement of HIPPA laws and for auditing in case someone does something illegal or questionable. I tell her, "I can reset his password, but I have to talk to him. I can't give you his password, only him, due to HIPPA and internal policy restrictions." He is standing close enough to her to say, "I don't have time to talk to him," but not take 30 seconds for me to ask for the last four digits of his social and give him his new password. So, he can't do patient charts until he gets back into the system... brilliant.

Instance 3:
Again, it's the same $HTTD that calls.... HIMSELF. He didn't have someone else call, for once. He said that one of the computers in the ICU keeps freezing up with an hourglass. Now, doctors run some pretty heavy applications, so you have to reboot once in a while. I check the remote status of his PC, and it has been on for almost a week. I tell him that it probably just needs to be restarted. He launches into this big tirade about how that's unacceptable and this needs to be "fixed." There is nothing to be "fixed," though. It's just the price of using Windows based machines. They need to be restarted once in a while.

Instance 4:
This last one is from a different doctor, and he's not so holier than though, he just has no patience. Let's call him $ID for "Impatient Doctor." He calls from the ER, saying one of their PCs is out. I ask if he's try to hold the power button and restart it that way. He says he tried that, already. I ask if his LCD is on, because you'd be amazed how often the tower is on, but the LCD isn't. He's very obviously angry about this. I do understand that doctors in the ER see some hellish stuff, but being abrasive with the folks who help you out doesn't get you very far. In any case, I very quickly go to check on his PC. He is in a constant angry tirade about this from the moment I walk in the door until the end. I sit down, and I turn it on. It boots up right away. He asked me, "What was wrong with it," very loud. Normally, I would pull an end user to the side so as to help them save face. Since he did it that way, "I said, "Nothing. You were turning the computer beside it on and off." Evidently, a medical degree doesn't provide you the necessary skills to realize you're turning the PC beside it on and off. The wires cables were not crossed... They were neatly wire tied and all. I don't see how he didn't notice that or the fact that him turning the PC on and off turned the LCD on and off beside it.

These guys make my head hurt.