Category: Technology

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Business Technology

IT Misunderstandings

Information and Technology (IT) services routinely has a bad name. We’re grumpy, grouchy, keep people from doing their jobs, inflexible … you get the idea.

Having been working as a sysadmin for all of a month (and working closely with our former sysadmin for many years, including sharing some duties), I think that many times there are base misunderstandings.

The main thing is this: we’re all on the same side. We all just want technology to work and work for us and not break and … you get the idea. IT doesn’t want to have to come down and fix things or to come and tell you how you should be using your technology.

Those are not the parts of the job I enjoy.

I DO enjoy talking with people about how technology might be able to better facilitate their work. I DO enjoy helping people if they have an issue with the technology they are using. I DO enjoy working on the “hard problems” of technology … like what the future might look like and how we might be able to better help people get there.

I DO like playing with technology, especially the new stuff, but even the older stuff I didn’t get to look at the first time. I DO like seeing people using technology to get their work done. That even includes those inventive ways they use the existing technology in ways we were not even expecting.

See, we are very much on the same side with this so let’s put down the battle standards, send the troops home, and get together to talk more about how technology might better serve everyone because that is where IT is positioned.

We are positioned in the middle of everyone and everything. Today, there is not much that IT does not touch in some way or one of our systems is not involved in … even if it is only for storing important files for that next presentation that needs to happen.

With that in mind, I do apologize. Sometimes I might seem to be dismissive because I know of another group with other needs where we can’t accommodate everyone so I need to make a decision … and sometimes it isn’t the best one for you. Ask me. Talk to me. Sit down and have a chat with me. I like talking about technology and the reason things are the way they are.

So, let’s get together so that we can get stuff done … together!

Categories
Technology

Looking at Novell Filr

I know that Novell isn’t exactly on top of the world of IT right now, but they have released some really interesting technology recently and I’m pretty pumped to be able to look at them right now for Martin Luther College.

Novell advertises Filr like this:

Feels like Dropbox. Acts like Fort Knox.

I think that just about sums up the idea behind the whole product. It is their replacement for iFolder (another older Novell product) as a way for users to have access to their files stored behind a firewall wherever they are. It syncs much like Dropbox (caching the files on each individual device and then syncing the changes back up), which is great for people (like faculty and staff) who do work outside of the confines of the campus’ network.

It also allows sharing of files both internally to the campus and externally with others, which is pretty cool too. Filr also allows commenting on files which can be useful for collaboration.

It all sounds great, but will it work as well as it sounds? I don’t know, but I want to be able to find out.

My ultimate goal would be to offer all students a “Dropbox-like” experience with their files. That would mean 2 GB of storage on our network file servers (also looking at upgrading to Open Enterprise Server 11 … sometimes my job can be fun) which can be accessed through the Filr client very similar to how Dropbox does it. They would also have access their files on their mobile device through the use of apps like Novell Filr for iOS.

That’s an almost 10-fold increase in storage space than now and a much better way for students, faculty, and staff to access those files from whichever device they prefer. That all sounds great!

Issue #1 with all of that would be storage space. With about 1000 active students any given semester, you are talking about 2 TB minimum to be able to offer anything like that for just the students. Add in 200+ faculty and staff into the mix and you then have a storage issue when, for the moment, you only have around 1 TB of storage total.

Issue #2 is one of backups. For example, if we have 6 TB of total storage (2 GB/student and 20 GB/faculty or staff), then you are far outstripping our current maximum single-tape storage capacity (we are switching to an LTO-5 tape drive later this week with 1.6 TB of native storage capacity and 3.2 TB compressed capacity). For a long while we would probably be fine as people start using the new capacity more and more, but in the future we would need a way to backup a total of 6 TB of space … and what if they need/want more in the future!? It is another thing to think about.

Issue #3 is serving those files offsite. Because Filr would be pumping out files into the world over our fiber line and then taking in those same synced file transfers, you would need to be prepared to have a big pipe standing by to handle that. Luckily, it looks like we will be having fiber run to our server room this year which will give us 200/200 access. A huge upgrade from our 50/10 we currently have.

Issue #4 is time. We need time to test things, find out how everything works, do training, test some more, do some more training and then get the word out there … after we deploy! It is going to take time, but I think it will be worth it.

More will pop up, but none of these are insurmountable AND it would start to move us toward a “mobile first” mentality. People want to be able to work wherever they are on whatever device they might have at the time. Novell is trying to meet that need with many of their offerings (looking at the new iPrint appliance as well).

I don’t want the future to be the “wild west of information technology” as many see in the future, but that means that we need to change how and why we make decisions in the server room. I’m happy to see Novell moving in that direction and am excited to see where it might lead.

Categories
Business Technology

The Paralysis of Choice in Linux

One thing I’ve often said is that choosing to go with the Apple ecosystem affords me the ability to narrow down my technology choices. Many times people see this as a problem instead of a solution.

However, the flip side of that is the Linux ecosystem where choice is not just the name of the game, it is what you have to be aware of and prepared for from the onset of even trying to play.

Alright, done with that metaphor.

Recently I’ve changed roles at work from being primarily a webmaster and technician to systems administrator and network engineer. While I used Linux extensively before, now I am administering all of the servers on campus which puts me in contact with Linux every single day … often for multiple hours at a time.

It is fun, but at the same time quite harrowing. Here is a list of the Linux distributions currently being used here:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4
  • Red hat Enterprise Linux 5
  • CentOS 6
  • Ubuntu Server 8.04 LTS
  • Ubuntu Server 11.04
  • Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS
  • Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS
  • Ubuntu Server 13.04
  • Ubuntu Desktop 10.04 LTS

That’s a good number. Granted, there are many similarities between them, each version brings just a small changes which can easily accumulate with time. The difference between administering an Ubuntu Server 8.04 LTS and Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS is quite drastic … and I’m already looking forward to April of 2014 for the next LTS release.

The thing is that you have a lot of choice and your skills can transfer quite easily to each distribution that you sometimes can over think things. I know I do. I spend too much time thinking about what I could be using instead of just moving ahead with working on what needs to be done.

For me, that’s the real takeaway. Adding choice in for the same of choice sometimes can cause cognitive overhead that we are not even aware of. Making a decision, as arbitrary as it can seem, can sometimes be refreshing because it allows you to narrow down your choices so that you spend less time thinking about what could be used and more time thinking about what needs to be done.

What’s the downside?

Obviously, you don’t want to limit your choices to the point where you won’t even consider another possibility in the future if the needs dictate you do so. Closing off choices when they are obviously better isn’t going to do you any good. That’s the negative end of what I am talking about.

However, lightening the cognitive load and speeding up the process of “getting things done” by narrowing down your choices might not be such a bad thing.

On my end, I’m going to be taking a hard look at trying to standardize around as few Linux distributions as possible (SUSE Linux Enterprise is also in the mix because of our relationship with Novell). How successful will I be? I’m not sure, but it will be fun to try.

Categories
Business Technology

Not Being Seen

Invisible IT is the title of a post put up by Nate Beran. It pretty clearly defines what is sometimes the hardest part about working in IT: improvements not being seen or noticed.

Many times improvements can be made, and even noticed, but the first thought isn’t to seek out those who made the improvements, but to actually continue to get work done. I think that is an issue for almost any department outside of those who scream the loudest about every little thing.

I think part of it is even perpetuated by IT departments themselves. We strive to have the least amount of downtime, the fewest number of people noticing, automate as much as possible … you get the idea. We are always tossing about the idea of “making technology invisible” so people can get their work done, and that is a valiant goal, but this is part of what comes along with it.

Sadly, the things that excite IT don’t always excite everyone else. Most of the time that means we are the ones who need to adapt … or make some more noise.

Categories
Business Technology

Information AND Technology

A good friend of mine, Nate Beran, just put up something he calls IT vs I&T. It is a really great read about where the general IT industry is heading and where people can be placing themselves to not just keep their positions (a valuable thing to be sure), but to also be of greater value to the organization you are working with/for.
Information TechnologyHere’s is the quote that gets to the heart of the unique opportunity available to I&T workers right now:

IT has a special place in business. We’re often one of the few business units that spans the entire organization. Everything we do affects every team in the business.

That is 100% true. Currently technology is such a central part of almost everything that is done in every organization, but more and more parts of what IT has traditionally overseen is getting pushed outside by various stakeholders in the company in pursuit of every larger profits, opportunities, or sometimes even kickbacks.

However, IT still is in the position to see how all of the disparate pieces are currently working together and to give insight into where pain points are because, guess what, we often are trying to smooth out those pain points for people. Spending time trying to think proactively instead of only reacting to issues gets momentum going forward.

While I don’t think IT will ever go away, the role of an IT worker is changing. There will always need to be someone to answer that call at 7:00 am when your Comcast lines go dim, but there is a greater need for people to take a look at the whole and then come up with ideas on how to make that whole work … better.

Work for that.