Been busy

For the past few weeks my ROTC and National Guard duties have kept me from helping out much at the project site. However, I am happy to report that we (the group) have almost completed our assigned tasks. The hardware has been installed, we have new shelves in the server closet, the software has been installed in all the computers (good job April), and we now are running a Windows Server 2003 box to handle the site. There have been some problems, such as deciding what to do with all the dumb Sun terminals that are cluttering up the place, as well as where to dispose of the hardware that is no longer viable. Once we figure out what to do with that, we will be working on documentation of the server, a basic "How to" for the management there. I am worried about a thing or two. they (the management at the site) keep on cluttering up the server closet with other equipment. I realize that that door is one of the only ones that locks, but that room (an actual closet) needs to remain clear for air flow. The only things there should be the Cat-5 cables, routers, Winbox, and the secondary Sun server... O well, all we can do is make recommendations to the staff and let them do what they will do.

weeks 4 and 5

For the 18th of Feb, at the site we mainly focused on the hardware phase, as it is appearing to be the most labor intensive. A tech who was on the original layout team came out to help us find out why the internet was down. It turns out that the Sun microserver that we thought was not useful is in fact acting as a gateway for the entire network. once we (he) got that up and running again, the internet amazingly appeared. We also talked about what to do with the Sun when we get the new server up and running, and it looks like we will be using it as a backup in case the Winbox dies or needs extended maintenance.

For the 25th of Feb I was unable to attend (military duties again), but I understand that we turned the back lab (#2) into a tutoring room. There was also some various moving of furniture and it looks like the list of software needed is coming along. We should be able to install and configure the Winbox and set up the users

week 3 blog

I missed the weekend project as i had to go to drill for the national guard. Apparently there were some personality conflicts at the site and not as much work got done as a result. I heard that the internet went down and that some of the people who run the site were there as our group was trying to work. still not sure what happened, but think we need to keep the personal issues to a minimum, and definitely have a plan of what we want to do before we get there.

Project - Week 2

Went to the site on Saturday, most of the team was there. There was a little confusion at first, trying to figure out what we were going to do, but that was quickly decided upon. My main project for the day was to work on the server closet. And it is a closet, a very small closet. I inventoried the 2 servers that are there, an old Compaq and a Sun. Neither are being used right now, and I recommend that this stays that way. We are going to build a better server using a PC that will be much faster than the ones they have now. I also found a Hub that was plugged in, and wired for the 'net, and doing nothing. Still not sure where the Cat-5 cables that were plugged into it were going. Finally we started the process of inventorying the working Cat-5 cables and separating them from the ones not being used. With that done, we called it a day and wrapped up around 4 pm.

Week 1 Appalachee Ridge Project

Have been busy during the last week or so, on Thursday I got the information needed to do my part of the Project Plan; which is the proposed solution. Knocked that out by Friday to give everyone enough time to read it and propose suggestions on how to make it better. Oddly, no one did, so I guess that the ideas I had were the right ones. On Sunday we all met at the project site at 1 pm to begin the work. Well, actually I got there at 1:15, as the directions I had been given had the wrong address. But, no worries, I got there and began to help. Over the next 3 hours or so, we cataloged and inventoried every computer in the place, getting info on hardware as well as software. I think we did a pretty good job, we even started cannibalizing computers that don't work to make a few that do. One of the benefits we found is that there were a couple fairly sweet machines there, and we will be turning one into a server, which will speed up their system since the server they have now is quite a bit older than the one we are going to build them.

In The Beginning

The reason for this blog is not to publish a rambling discourse of my life, rather, it is intended to show future employers my skills in Information Technology. I also believe that it will polish my documentation abilities as well as my writing style.