Hm... Let's see how I learn format.

I broke the 512MB hardddrive by dropping it accidentally. I bought a replacement 1GB harddrive and plug it, expect it to work when I turned on the computer, except that it didn't. I had a MS DOS 6.2 3.5 inch floppy disk so I booted of that and start typing in HELP and read thru all the commands. Found FDISK and FORMAT. Ran both and then I can use the harddrive. I was 13 and this was the time without internet, smartphone, nor instruction from anything or anyone. I just figure Operation System must have the things I need to make the harddrive work.

First time I had virtualization experience was watching someone using Windows inside a Mac at school, I think I was 15.

@jrc said in Xenserver PV network card getting 169 IP:

@BRRABill

O, those are my favorite, but I never that the last bit, mine always go:

"Have you tried rebooting it"
"Yes, I think so..."
"When was that"
"Last week sometime.."
"Yeah, go ahead and restart and call me back if the problem persists"

The call back rate is about 1 in 10.

It's funny that it's not just computers. Anything that plugs in.

Shoot, I replug in a toaster if it isn't working.

@scottalanmiller said in Fresher/ beginner in Linux:

@StuartJordan said in Fresher/ beginner in Linux:

Can't remember the last time I used GUI, I use Ubuntu server which does not have it installed by default

I'm not sure I've ever seen one on a server.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnd begin!

@JaredBusch said in FreePBX 14 Release Candidate is out:

@tm1000 said in FreePBX 14 Release Candidate is out:

@JaredBusch that is correct

I am interested in Zulu but never set it up because a 2 users license for only a year is useless. Or does that auto renew so I always have 2 users for free? If that is the case I will set it up on my company PBX for myself and another user.

None of my clients have had an interest sadly.

Same here, time out free licenses I generally avoid.

WOW! This is exactly what has happened to me at my current employer. The working conditions slowly got worse over time and I didn't notice it. Finally I work up and I was like wow. I went from being occasionally called every once in a blue moon to being called every single weekend to help someone do something. I haven't had a weekend off since the weekend of my wedding in January, I can't remember before that how long it had been to have a weekend devoid of work calling me for some reason. Even then I had to put out three emails before my wedding saying I was unavailable that weekend. I am putting in long hours but I fall behind because they refuse to address key issues. So I have put my resume out.

Too many people become enthralled in learning the technology they want to work with and seem to forget the purpose for the technology in the first place. Active Directory is great, and knowing how to setup, troubleshoot, and administer it is fantastic. But what's the reason for it? Centralized management, which allows for greater control and efficiency in the business. It's a problem of being taught facts without understanding the context behind those facts, and that's a problem that affects the job industry as a whole, not just IT, although IT is usually the field where it's most dramatically seen. People going for finance or business management understand that their tasks are to suit the business needs, and the skills they bring to the table are to serve that purpose. But IT seems to go down this rabbit hole that the technology is king above all else, forgetting what the purpose of the technology is in the first place.

A lot of this has already been discussed.

Needs to know before L0 (Similar to A+, minus the old tech that you won't see anymore)

Computer hardware knowledge of administrating OSs File Systems Interfaces and cables (At the computer) Networking devices & mediums (WiFi, copper, fiber) Administering a Soho wireless network TCP/IP Suite w/ OSI Model

Needs to know before L1 (Similar to Net+, with additional prerequisites)

Backups Cyber Security LDAP/AD Administration Touch on logic and programming Touch on databases Touch on Web technologies WAN protocols Virtualization

An actual administrator (Sys Admin, Net Admin, etc.) would have more focused training depending on their field & specialty

Yes NTG can do that. We have a Cicso guy on staff.

@IRJ said in A Job Description Done Right:

Sounds like a good job for someone who is pretty new in IT.

For everyone else, it sounds like this "We want to pay you entry level pay for server projects and deployments"

@coliver said in A Job Description Done Right:

@IRJ said in A Job Description Done Right:

Sounds like a good job for someone who is pretty new in IT.

For everyone else, it sounds like this "We want to pay you entry level pay for server projects and deployments"

I'm not sure I read exactly that. To me it reads, "If you take the job now, at next to nothing, "eventually" you will work up to making lots of money and specializing. "

The job actually is going to pay decent to start from what we briefly discussed on the phone, so that's not a bad thing. Also, from my brief conversation (I'll know more after tomorrow), it seems like the type of company that invests in their people.

@Jimmy9008 said in How long is too long?:

I get bored after 1 or so years at any given place. Pretty much at that point where I am now, so am looking. Gets pretty boring once everything is in place, up to date, patches, and running smoothly etc...

Same here, one year at Dell was tough. All of the challenge was done after five months. And even five months was only because I did three different jobs during that window:

One week of proof of concept engineering Four weeks of process engineering Four months of Windows Administration

I went on for another year after that... but that's why the first five months were okay. And the first five weeks were at one site, the next year was three different locations per week, every week, no repeats. So I was traveling constantly and that kept things interesting for a little while.

@NerdyDad said in DFW VMUG Meeting on March 3:

Would love to but its during working hours for me. Appreciate the offer though.

I usually circumvent that by not staying for the movie. Then you're only out half the day.

Added: https://mangolassi.it/topic/12664/what-is-a-database-management-system

@scottalanmiller in my point of view the learning started from a fresh job with good experience without any certificate

Updated some items here, lots of additional ideas.

@IRJ said in Where Do I Go Next from Destop Support:

I'd like to add that it is generally much easier to change positions when going to a new company. If you are valuable to the helpdesk or desktop support team, they may not want to let you go. Even if you do move from the helpdesk, you will always be looked at as the low man on the totem pole for your new team.

It is much easier to go apply for a desktop support job after having 1-2 years experience in helpdesk. Then after you have 1-2 years experience as desktop support, you can move to a networking or system position with a new company. If you move within the company the timeframe will be more like 3-5 years considering you have to L1-L3.

I agree completely with this.

I moved divisions to get away from the deskside support.

This just came up in an IT buyer's community and I think it is really important:

IT Practitioners get their knowledge from IT peers, industry training, logic, math and experience. Same as any other technical pursuit like civil engineering.

IT Buyers should get their knowledge for IT Practitioners

IT Buyers who believe themselves to be IT practitioners use whitepapers - a quasi-technical sales tool that looks like technical advice but is actually vendor sales advice. Whitepaper is an IT industry term for a marketing brochure with technical information used to guide customers to what the vendor wants done - which is not necessarily bad, but is not the same thing as industry advice. The vendor's agenda is not the same as the customer's agenda in all cases. IT works for customers, whitepapers represent vendors.

Similarly, Gartner could be considered the same as whitepapers, without the technical benefits.

@MattSpeller said in Always Teach to the Future:

@PenguinWrangler said in Always Teach to the Future:

For tech people I think college is a waste of time.

Depends on the kind of tech. There's stuff you should definitely learn in a classroom before you have any business being on a job site. I generally agree that fundamentally how higher education is taught could be improved greatly.

Doesn't mean college, though. Those are normally safety things. And classrooms teach very little. If it's risky, they should be certified. It's the testing that matters, not the classroom.