Work

Cisco Networkers 2006

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It is weird, for months you are preparing yourself (mentally if not physically) for some event. And then it is over and it is like OK what now? I am back from Las Vegas. I had a great time, and I learned allot at Networkers. And now it is like what’s next? I know that answer but it is just a bit different with this big event over with.

In the short term I have to focus on my office move, and a few other issues. The next few weeks will probably be a bit hectic while we transition into the new place.

As for what I took away from Networkers, I learned allot. I got insight on what’s next for IPCC (UCC I guess now). Upgrade options for Call Manager, and a ton of great disaster recovery and disaster resiliency ideas. I have to start laying the ground work for going to California for Networkers 2007!

Busy Week

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I had a busy week at work. We meet some major milestones this week, but it was a long week. We finally had our voice and data circuits installed in the new office. The LEC solved all the riser cable issues last week. They then completed the install’s of the smart jacks Monday. Tuesday we got internet up, and then the big event was getting our voice circuits up and running on Thursday. It was close for a while but we resoled our issues at the last minute. We had test calls done so now the next phase of the move can begin.

Construction is far allong. The electrical is in progress in the telecom room. We look like we are on target for our move date. That makes me happy, or rather more relaxed about the situation. When we get back from Networkers we need to get a person or two to focus on the move almost exclusively.

Other work going on is our domain upgrade should be near or on target to complete by the end of the month. I was worried for a while. We also have a project begining to deploy Identify’s Appsite. that program looks great. I can’t wait till we have that rolled out for use.

Vegas Baby, Again!

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I am off to one of my favorate spots right now, Las Vegas. I am on my way to Cisco Networkers. I personally can’t stand conventions but because of what I do and my personal interests Networks is not like other conventions. I had a great time last year so I am going back. This year Jayson is coming with me, and we are meeting our friend Joe there. Right now I am on my Jetblue flight out there. I like jetblue. They have yet to do something to piss me off. I have my 36 channels of TV with nothing on, so I write a bit.

We will get to Vegas and check into the hotel and then meet up with Joe and Karen for dinner. By the time we land we will be able to go straight to the hotel. I don’t know if I will gamble much, but I will try do it a little. I want to work on my tan a bit tomorrow. I am going to Vegas for work, but the reason I am heading out a bit early is to get some recreation in also!

Right now we are over Missouri and I have already set my watch to Vegas time. I am going to sit back and relax a bit.

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Projects

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We officially are lease holders in our new office building. Everything was signed and executed Friday. That was interesting because technically we took occupancy of the floor on Thursday. Dan, and I walked over today to get the first keys for us.

I am still dealing with issues with the LEC regarding our phone circuits. We missed every date they gave us, but hopefully we will be ok if they make up time on the second phase of everything.

Our migration of users in our call center is progressing, but not as fast as I would have hoped. The staff up there claim that they have ironed out the issues with the new computer builds and will complete the first major milestone by Wednesday. I am not sure if I believe that assessment but I hope they do finish by then. If they do we will be in halfway decent shape to complete the project by June 30.

I worked all day with Jayson and Scott on Sunday to get ZEN up and running. We made progress but not as much as I originally thought we would. That setup is still ongoing but we still have allot of work to do on it. More updates soon.

Work Saturday

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I was in the office most of the day today. Jayson needed a server built and I had a ton of backlogged items I needed to do. I just put my iPod in my pocket, clipped the remote to my shirt and cranked up the tunes and got to it. The iPod is a must when spending more than a few minutes in the computer room. It is loud in there.

In many ways I don’t like working on the weekend, but in others it is not so bad. The downside is that I actually have to work. The upside is that no one is around to distract me. I got a ton done.

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Dinner With The Family

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Went to dinner with my parents, sister and niece tonight. Probably the last time we will do that before the baby shows up. My sister is due next week. I had a head ache since it was hot and I didn’t eat lunch. I have to stop doing that. We had a good time though. Morgan was great as always. Great as in really funny, but not behaving as good as she could tonight.

Other than dinner, work was busy as usual. I meet a rep from a vendor we started using. It was an interesting talk. I had a ton of other issues that I am dealing with, and things are busy. Hopefully the die down a bit after July.

Remote Desktop Access

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For a while now we have wanted to solve a problem regarding remote users. We have a few remote users who we want to be able to log into our DMZ and access some web sites and services on our network. The solution we came up with is to use Windows 2003 Terminal Services. We only need to accomidate maybe 5 people at a time on this system. it is not very many users, but it was an important issue to resolve. Now that we have that system up and running I think we came up with a better longer term solution.

I am eyeing using the free VMware Server to host a few Windows XP virtual machines for the same purpose. We don’t need 5 concurrent users, so I won’t need that many VM’s. I also don’t need to deal with Microsoft’s licensing model for Terminal Server (per desktop or per user). VMware is touting their Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. It may be something that fits for us. This initial project is just the first part of our needs for a solution such as this. I have 2 other projects that could require this sort of remote access. I am waiting for time to demo the solution to see how viable it will be for us.

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Office Move

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Spent time at the new office today with Dan and our CEO. We went over details with the construction contractor. Not much for me to worry about. I thought that some stupid things where going to be done, but so far everything looks good. I am just eager to get the lease signed. It seems to be taking forever but I am told it should happen soon.

I had to deal with some intermittent site problems earlier in the day. Everyone was freaking about how this issue is a sign that some major issue is going on. It isn’t, but everyone likes to make a big deal about stuff like this so when they are asked why their didn’t meet their goals they can complain about technical issues. It is funny and sad at the same time. Sometimes they make a good spin, but others it is so transparent it is funny.

It is Quiet in Here, Except For The Construction

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My partner in crime is away for a few days on vacation, so my office is not as busy. Not sure why less people come by when Jayson is out. The people that do stop by usually are looking for me, so it is weird that it feels like less people stop by when he is out. It may just be me going crazy. With Jay out I sometimes get more done since there is less distraction. Of course the clanking of construction outside my window doesn’t help my concentration much. I guess I need to get used to sitting by myself since I will be all alone in the new space!

Cable Work

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Jayson and I went to the “proposed” new office with a cable contractor to see if there was cable to our floor from the basement. We need a clean run for our T-1 circuits going in. There looks like there is cable but we have issues with its age, and we cannot 100% confirm where it terminates on one end. on the other end it just doesn’t go where we wanted it to. Instead of extending what we have we may just run brand new cable to ensure it works right.

We did that in the morning and then I dealt with other issues throughout the day.