"Windows Server 2008, which was released earlier this month, was officially launched today. Windows Server 2008 brings many eagerly anticipated admin-pleasing features such as a stripped-down mode called "Server Core" that does away with many unnecessary features that are normally installed, and a new virtualization platform - 'Hyper-V' - that should increase Microsoft's foothold in this increasingly important market sector. Windows Server 2008 wasn't the only product to be launched today either; Visual Studio 2008 also saw its official launch, even though it has been finished and available since November, and some fanfare was made about SQL Server 2008, though that won't be finished until later in the year."
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Member since:2006-02-05
What you are talking about is not exactly an every day occurance though, is it? The origional poster said that there were more bad windows admins then there are bad linux admins due to the open nature of linux. I said that it is more likely that there are more bad windows admins out there due to how you could get a trained monkey to perform most common tasks, while on the linux side you need a basic level of skill. I also said source code is only really relevent when everything else has failed, and then only to a good admin anyways.
I admit, I am a developer, and my knowledge of the field comes through times where I have worked closely with IT guys, or friends in the field. This is based on the impressions I have got from those experiences, but I am by no means an expert, and from the sound of things you know what you are talking about more then me. So feel free to correct me if I am wrong about something here, I just get the impression you are jumping into the conversation mid way ;-)
Member since:
2006-02-24
Admins have to deal with operational issues on complex systems. Systems which sometimes end up in states which are not completely documented by engineers. This may be due to shoddy engineering, bad design, or poor implementation. It's not supposed to happen but it does.
So what do you do when your database replication system fails and your support vendor for the replication blames the database vendor and vice versa? Meanwhile the executives are complaining to the service manager that the reporting is fubared and the analysts doing data entry are sitting idle wasting time and money?
Do you wait 6 hours for your gold level support agreement to escalate through the hierarchy to 3rd line support and while you're doing it go outside to the common area to have a chat, or do you raise the support request, and the try to find out the issue with what you already know about the replications software because you've troubleshooted it before with the aid of the source code?
If you are the former, then you are nothing more than a computer operator. An admin has real responsibility and support contracts are only tools to help admins meet that. It all boils down to whether you blinding follow the procedure, or whether you use actual initiative in your work.