Update with the hiring and an upcoming blog update

A while back, I talked about hiring another administrator. That process is currently happening and progressing nicely.

If anyone reading the blog applied, thank you. If you didn't receive a call, it is probably because you were far more overqualified than we were looking for. It's a sign of the bad economy that we're having people with 20 years experience applying for junior positions. I hope this turns around for everyone's sake.


Also, even longer ago, I presented a survey which asked an optional open-ended question. What would you do to improve the blog. Well, I hope you're not too attached to how this blog looks right now, because some time over the weekend, it's going to change quite a bit. This new iteration will require you to update the URL for the RSS feed if you're a subscriber.

To facilitate an easier transition, I'm going to be continuing to publish articles here in addition to the new site, so RSS subscribers who haven't caught the news aren't left in the dark. You will automatically be redirected to the new site if you visit this address, though. My plan for it is to be seamless for people visiting, and nearly painless for subscribers. I have no doubt that you'll let me know how it affects you and if something isn't working.

Here's where the fun begins...

Congrats to the winners!

On Friday, I used random.org to select 12 rubber ducky winners, to whom I've sent emails congratulating them. I've received 9 replies so far, and the first floatilla of ducks will be going out in the mail today.

I want to thank all of you who took the survey and who offered advice. I've implemented a couple of suggestions already, and I plan on continuing to work to improve the blog.

The most suggested improvement was to get away from blogger, by far. I have been considering that for a while, to the point that I bought my own domain, http://standalone-sysadmin.com. I have not decided the best way of proceeding that will allow a balance of keeping my existing subscribers and allowing growth in the future. I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Another widely requested suggestion is more frequent blog entries (although I did get a couple of responses from people who have trouble keeping up now. When I move to my new site, maybe I'll create some sort of digest option by week so that people can easily read offline). I'll be attempting to schedule more blog entries ahead of time. If I write them during my free time, it will all work out. At least, it will if I find some free time ;-)

Thank you all again!

Fine, fine, I'll do it. I'll microblog too

but I won't like it.

Actually, I think I've finally settled on using twitter to publish all of those weird little links and things that don't really merit an entire blog entry.

Because I don't want to untie those useful little tidbits from the blog itself, I've added an RSS reader to the lower right hand side of the page which will contain my twitter feed. This way if you don't use twitter, you can still take advantage of the links.

I have not carved this in stone, of course, so I'd like to hear some feedback on what you think of this. Do you like even the little blog updates with the links, or does this arrangement improve the signal to noise ratio for you?

Just so you know, feel free to follow my tweets: standaloneSA (since the username can't contain "admin")

RSS aggregation of blog entries and the like

The other day, I read a post on MySysAd blog about people copying blog entries verbatim and passing them off as their own. esofthub added a postfix to his RSS feed to automatically credit the source of the material, which I think is a great solution.

I wasn't too worried about it until I google'd for a random string from one of my blog entries. The results led me to http://www.melonjuice.com/planet, which appears to be an RSS aggregator for technology blogs.

The owner of the site doesn't claim at all to be the author of the material, and I love that my feed is getting aggregated there, but if you look at the site, there aren't any sources listed, except a small link at the bottom with the first name of the author and a link back to the source post.

Like I said, I don't mind, but I have added a 'signature' to my RSS feed which displays the source domain. If it bothers anyone, please drop me a line at standalone.sysadmin@gmail.com and let me know. Otherwise, I'll keep it on. It doesn't seem too intrusive and provides confirmation of the source of the data.

And lest there be any doubt, if you have an aggregator on your site, feel free to aggregate this blog. You're very much welcome to do it, and you don't even have to let me know, though it's neat when I hear from a new site that's doing it :-) Thanks for your support and interest in my material!

When is a sysadmin not a sysadmin?

I really like my job. I love connecting complex bits of hardware into a working infrastructure. Taking inanimate bits and making a living, breathing network out of them is exciting. It's the best model train set you could ask for.

There are also parts of my job that I intensely dislike. I'm not talking about the "just sort of unpleasant" tasks like user support. I don't actually mind helping people out. Part of my job is making sure other people can do theirs, and as such, I don't mind lending a hand.

What I don't like are generic administrative tasks that only take time away from the rest of my duties. Here, I'm talking about things like changing tapes, keeping track of users' software licenses, and more to the point, dealing with billing details for network contracts.

I received a voicemail today, forwarded to me by someone in the corporate office regarding our Level3 account. When we moved out of the downtown NYC office months ago, and we cancelled our Level3 account, but from everything I can figure, they didn't cancel our Level3 account. Now I've got to try to get a person on the phone from Level3 to figure out what is going on. I'm not worried that we actually owe them anything, because I've got the email from them with the disconnect order, but the rigamarole in making them understand that isn't shaping up very well. Last night at 5:00pm, I sat on hold for 45 minutes before I gave up and went home. I'll try again this morning, but I'm not anticipating a good experience.

Let me advise you this, to stay away from Level3 for your dedicated circuits, because getting any kind of help from them is next to impossible, and the service wasn't even great to begin with. They are the only bandwidth provider I've ever have who gave me a hard time about trying to contact an internal engineer. I needed to ask questions about the MLPPP-bonded T1s I was going to try, and it took 2 months to get their guy to call me back. To make matters more fun, every single contact there in my contact list has fled, so I don't even have a real person's name or number who works there. Stay away.

10 professional skills that no IT administrator should be without

Whether you're a network administrator, systems administrator, cable monkey, or general IT grunt, there are a few professional skills that are indispensable in order to prosper. Sure, you can survive being surly and bitter, but to reach your full potential, it would be wise to take this list into consideration.

10) When something is broke, fix it
This can be as simple as a loose cable end, or as complex as an inefficient process. It's not your bailiwick to fix every problem in the entire infrastructure (then again, maybe it is), but an eye for improving things is highly appreciated in the right sort of company. If you see a way to improve something, talk to the appropriate people to see what can be done. You are part of the company, and by improving the whole, you're making things better for yourself, too.

9) Manage your time efficiently
Tom Limoncelli's book "Time Management for System Administrators" goes far more into detail than I can here, and the book is not just for sysadmins, despite the title. To summarize an important point, keep track of what you have to do, and when you have to do it. It's either due right now, it's due soon, or it's due later. If you categorize by those identifiers, you'll never have something sneak up on you.

8) Learn from people who know more than you
Discovery of new things on your own is exciting. You're full of wonder when you chance upon an unfamiliar subject. It's no doubt similar to the feeling Magellan or Columbus had. Like those people, you too are probably discovering something that other people have known about for a long, long time. While you should never stop exploring on your own, never be too proud to learn from the people who have been there before you. Even the guy who invented calculus stood on the shoulders of giants. You might be able to borrow someone's stepladder, anyway.

7) Organization shall set you free
There are people who have to keep track of lots and lots of things. Some of those people are librarians, and they use something called a Dewey Decimal System to manage thousands of discrete items. If you've ever wandered through a library just glancing at shelves, you've probably been amazed by how bizarre some of the book groupings can be. Despite the seemingly random categories, any librarian worth their salt can tell you where a book is filed in a moment's notice. That's because, despite what you or I might think of their cataloging system, it works. I'm certainly not suggesting the Dewey Decimal System for your network documents / asset tracking, but it's important that you have a system that you know how to use, and that it's one which works for you. A pile of papers isn't a system, and neither is throwing everything in the root of your home directory. Make it easy to find data that you need, and use the tools at your command to make it happen.

6) Pick your fights
You probably work with at least one other person. If that person is in IT, you'll probably disagree as to the best course of action. If that person is not in IT, it's almost certain that you'll disagree about the best course of action. As IT workers, we're exposed to a large amount of data, some of which is so obscure or esoteric that I'm tempted to call it trivia, however the lump sum of that data, when added to our experience becomes knowledge, and we use this knowledge to make judgments about procedures that other people might think are arbitrary decisions. Example: It's a bad idea to run CAT5 along the power conduit that feeds the florescent lights. It just is. We could explain why, but the person who wanted to do it wouldn't care why we refused. They just know that they aren't going to get their network cable. Discussions of this nature will be more or less serious, depending on the day and the phase of the moon. When it comes to the less serious discussions, my advice to you is identical to the advice that someone very wise gave me about my then-upcoming wedding. When the two of you disagree, go along with whoever cares more. If it's a bad idea, and the person knows that, but really really wants it, maybe you should consider giving it to them. Maybe.


5) Competence is next to Godliness
I was at Chipotle the other day, and I saw a 12 year old Honda with a completely useless rear spoiler that rose a foot above roof height. My initial thought was "I bet that guy doesn't race his car". Why not? Because he's just showing off; there's no substance behind his style. You can talk as big as you want about your skills, but unless they're real, it's all hot air. Always seek to increase your competency rather than people's opinion of you. If you succeed in the first, the second will follow.

4) Be honest...enough
Ah, honesty; you wear so many guises. There are laws against certain kinds of dishonesty. There are societal mores that frown upon others. Then, there is a certain kind of etiquette that requires a bit of fudging the truth. It's important to realize that people sometimes need to be let down gently, particularly when they're proud of something they did, or think they did, when in fact, they've screwed the pooch, so to speak. Honesty is also important when something breaks, though it's probably more important to know that the finger you use to point to the cause would be better used to fix the problem.

3) Take responsibility
Just as important as not pointing fingers at other people is recognizing when, through some fault of your own, something has gone to hell and someone else noticed. I've honestly never seen a member of management more amazed than when someone stood up, looked them in the eye, and took full responsibility for the problem. Worming your way out of a jam is a time honored tradition, and taking the opposite stance will confuse and confound those to whom you plead. An honest apology coupled with an assurance of future improvement, and perhaps a quick overview of that path, is the surest way to gain respect from people who are used to seeing the worst of people.

2) Be a team player
Sometimes, on occasion, and I must emphasize the rarity of this event, it is not all about you. In this instance, you might be part of a multi-department ninja-strike-team, or maybe you've been assigned a partner to get a major issue taken care of, but whatever the particulars, in dire times such as these, someone else is involved in the task at hand. When you inevitably succeed (is there another option?), to the victors go the spoils. In this case, it might be a raise, or more likely, a congratulatory email. The proper reaction is, despite how weasely your teammate(s) might have been, to share the responsibility of success. In fact, I've found that a good rule of thumb is to never assume more responsibility for success than the amount of blame you would have ascribed to your partner(s) if the project had failed.

1) Have an exit strategy
It's sad, but not all of our endeavors end in unblemished success. In fact, some times, they just up and fail. We're talking real end-in-fire type stuff here. You can usually tell when something like this is going to happen, because you find yourself pushing towards a solution that shows no sign of yielding to your will. Lots of times, you'll make little bits of progress as large sections of time leap by. You approach the deadline with no real progress to show, and your choice is to present a half (if you're lucky) finished product, or hack together some kludge that doesn't pass muster and hope you can fix it later while no one notices. Neither of these options is particularly appealing, so it's important to set a limit for yourself. If it's not 80% by this date (where "this date" is a decent amount of time ahead of the deadline) then we're going with Plan B. Of course, this necessitates having a Plan B, but I think that's a good idea regardless of what activities you're engaged in.

I certainly didn't cover everything you need, but I got some of the big ones, I think. If you disagree, or have more to add, please comment! If you liked the list, feel free to Digg it. If you're tired of these stupid lists of things, drop me a line at standalone.sysadmin@gmail.com and let me know.

Burnout and the toll it takes

Jack Hughes, over at the Tech Teapot, mentions a very appropriate subject for too many systems administrators: burnout.

As sysadmins, we're nearly always the go-to person for whatever happens. After a while, we start to get used to it, and lots of times, we can develop a hero complex, carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, at least in our minds. This isn't healthy for a lot of reasons, the most important of which is your health.

Here's an example of what taking your job too seriously can do to you:

Part One

Part Two

Not to ruin the ending, but the most disgusting part is that, while the guy was taking medical leave, his company fired him. To be completely honest, he's much better off without a company like that, and if your company would do the same thing, then so are you.

To quote Peter Gibbons, "We don't have a lot of time on this earth. We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day..."

Even one of the most preeminent Systems Administrators around, Tom Limoncelli advocates leaving the pressure at work when you head home. For those of us on call 24/7/365, that can be a little hard, but it's important to try.

OpenOffice trick to auto-increment IP addresses

I've been fleshing out my IP address spreadsheets, and I've been using a trick that I didn't know about for a long time, till someone on a forum showed me. It was indispensable.

You know how, if you want a series of numbers down a row, you can click the lower right hand corner, and drag it down, and it autoincrements the numbers for you? Well, in oocalc, if you try that with IP addresses, it just copies the original IP address. I don't know why, but it does. MS Office gets it right, heck I think even K Office will do it. OpenOffice, not so much.

The trick to doing it is to put a space in front of the IP address, first.
" 192.168.0.1" will allow you to drag it down as far as you want, incrementing the last octet.