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I installed Internet Explorer 7 Release Candidate 1 this evening and it worked well. The installation uninstalled IE 7 Beta and installed IE7 RC1 with no issue. The one setting that was changed was the "Show Quick Launch" box which was unchecked under Taskbar Settings. I rechecked the Quick Launch Box and that was the only difference that I identified. It looks great.
At the end of June I posted and entry outlining our Server Consolidation Project, and I thought that I would update you on our progress and touch on our struggles and accomplishments.
We introduced an IBM Blade chassis along with VMware ESX Virtualization software for both the Blade environment and a separate dedicated virtual server environment. We purchased a IBM Blade Chassis H with 4 servers, along with 2 IBM x366 servers which have 4 Dual Core CPU's and 16 gig of ram in each server. We have also reallocated 2 IBM x345 servers for use in the Virtual Space. From a Virtual Licensing perspective we have purchased 2 VMware ESX 4 CPU license keys along with 6 VMware ESX 2 CPU license keys.
We struggled with the initial setup and configuration of the Blade Chassis, however with a little help from IBM and a lot of troubleshooting and hard work, my team has stabilized the Blade environment and we have started a pilot project on the Blade Servers. Our strategy will be to test a couple of applications on Blade servers running Windows 2003 Server and test a couple of applications running on a VMware ESX - Windows 2003 Virtual Server.
On the Virtual side we started with the 2 IBM x345's and then introduced the 2 IBM x366's. What we have found is VMware ESX server performs better on bigger faster servers with a lot of memory, than on the smaller Blade servers, however knowing this gives us deployment options. Smaller, low cpu, low memory, low IO utilized server requirements fit nicely on the blades, whereas high CPU and high Memory requirements will be deployed on the IBM x366 servers.
Heating concerns with the Blade Unit forced us to reorganize our data center cabinet layout and move 2 cabinets directly in front of a large libert air conditioning unit. We move the blade chassis into one of these cabinets and we are considering moving the IBM x366's into the second cabinet.
Overall, I am very pleased with the VMware Virtualization results. VMware is very stable and works well, however I am not as pleased with the Blade Unit. I think the blade unit can be a great solution for smaller data centers that do not have a lot of space, however my initial impression is that it was costly, technically challenging and a little under-power for our needs.
If you are in a Technical Role, you probably already know that Microsoft released 9 Critical and 3 Important patches this week. If you have not aware of this then you can get more information at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-aug.mspx
One of the patches, MS06-40 fixes a critical problem that could allow hackers to take control of your system and run programs and bots from your system. This flaw is very similar to a flaw that was exploited 2 years ago called BLASTER, which took down many business networks. The US Department of Homeland security warned businesses that they could be at risk if they do not apply this patch http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/09/HNmspatchdhs_1.html .
You should consider applying MS06-40 to all servers, workstations, desktops and laptops as soon as possible to avoid problems.
Most Technical Managers need to manage a budget and in a lot of cases System Managers and Network Administrators are also managing a budget or at least part of the annual budget. As technical folks we can often get caught up in the day to day technical complexities of our jobs and overlook or procrastinate over the budgeting and purchasing process. This is an area where most technical folks could improve.
I have been in the Computer industry for 18 years and I was lucky enough to have a mentor who stressed planning, budgeting and purchasing. My mentor showed me that justifications and actual business need, can go along way in the purchasing process, however having actual budgeted dollars almost always ensures that you will be able to purchase when the need arises. Eventually, everyone has to make an unbudgeted purchase; however, by limiting our number of unbudgeted purchases, we increase our chances to pushing one or two unbudgeted purchases through the process.
Why is this important? Better planning, budgeting and purchasing will allow you to stay current with hardware and software revisions, which translate into better support for your company. It also enables you to stay current with the new trends in technology and provides more technical toys for your folks to play with, and from a Managers perspective, this leads to more motivated employees.
I have outlined the process that I follow for Budgeting and Purchasing and wanted to share it with everyone:
1) Understanding the budgeting and purchasing process is critical
a. You need to identify what is required for the purchasing process and in particular, which signoffs and justifications are required as part of the purchasing process.
b. You need to understand guidelines for expense and capital purchases along with non-budgeted purchases.
c. You need to understand the budgeting process and in particular understand when you will have input and feedback into the process.
2) Once you understand the process, use the process to your advantage.
3) Start with the Budgeting Process, and do your homework. Start early and be prepared.
a. Plan for the essentials like Ongoing Hardware and Software Maintenance
b. Plan for soft costs like Salary costs, Travel, Training and Expense Costs
c. Plan for New Hardware and Software Purchases - Consider applications that are in need of upgrade. In most cases plan for both Hardware and Software upgrades on applications more than 3 years old.
d. Plan for New Projects or Project Improvements. - Again, consider both Hardware and Software
e. Plan for Telephone and Network Bandwidth costs
f. Plan for Consulting Expenses
4) Now create a wish list, think out of the box and identify all solutions that will help your group better support the company. Consider everything from the most outrageous to the most practical.
5) Now make a list of all items and contact your vendors. Ask for a quote for each requirement, and explain to the vendor that this is for budgeting purposes and ask that they deliver a non-discounted quote.
6) It's OK to create placeholders for projects or items, however if placeholders are not acceptable in your company then you need to pad your budget by adding extras.
7) Look at what was spent the year before and add 20% to your previous years cost. Make sure that your budget that you deliver is at least 20% greater than your current budget. Most companies look at your track record and appropriate according to past years.
8) Now, write your justifications. Having your justifications written beforehand will work to your advantage. On two different occasions, my manager has come to me at the end of the year and said we have extra money that we need to spend before the end of the year. In each case, I had the Purchase Requisitions, quotes and justifications on his desk by the end of the day, and all purchases sailed thru the purchase process. In each case, I was able to purchase the equipment in the current year and the funds we still budgeted the following year.
9) Talk with Manager or superiors about each line item. If you have the justifications, share them with your Manager. I have also created a summary document of condensed justifications that referenced all justifications. In most cases, once you submit your budget request, you have little feedback into the process, so you need to make sure that your manager understands each line item. You need to communicate which line items you really want to protect and which items you could live without for this budget cycle.
10) From the purchasing perspective, you should know that a purchase will sail through the process before you write the Purchase Requisition. If you are unsure then you need to talk with all parties that require signoff and let them know that you are submitting a Purchase Requisition and why.
11) Also, from a purchasing perspective, you need to manage and record all purchases. I am asked many times during the year if my purchases are on time and consistent with the budget. I am also asked for a quarterly summary of purchases, and provide a list of what was spent in the quarter and what I intend to spend in the next quarter. Establishing a track record of purchases goes a long way toward justifying purchases in subsequent years.
Finally, I realize that most companies have different policies toward budgeting and purchasing and you may not be able to apply this entire process in your environment, however I would suggest that you take a look at your process and compare it to this process and think about how you can improve the purchasing process for your environment.
I have been on vacation this week and have had a great week. The weather has been hot, but otherwise it's been a nice relaxing week. I cleaned the basement, took a couple of day trips and really concentrated on moving my blog from Blogger.com to TypePad.
I wanted to move my blog to my domain name (kmmm.net) and I did a little research. I was looking for a hosting provider that supported blogging and in particular a provider that supplied the blogging software and tools to support your site. That provider was Six Apart (www.sixapart.com) and they had a number of different hosting and blogger choices. I chose TypePad and so far it has been great. Plenty of features including Categories, Tagging, Trackbacks, Lists and plenty of control. Typepad really eases adding tags and categories and intergrates well with typelists and photo albums.
This is my first TypePad post. I am in the process of moving my Blogger Blog to to TypePad as I am including my Domain into my blogs. My domain is kmmm.net and my blog at blogger is http://kmmm.blogspot.com.
