A few technical feathers in the cap, xmas parties
I have had a few technical projects go well lately. I was able to upgrade my home server without hardly a hiccup. That server runs Windows Server 2003, is the domain controller, dns server and exchange server for my home network. I was able to complete the migration to new hardware simply using the NTBACKUP utility. This is how it’s done in a nutshell.
You load Windows Server on the new hardware. It needs to be the same version of Windows Server as what is on the old box. You need to make sure you have the same drive letters for your partitions and they have to be at least as big as they are currently on the old hardware. You need to make sure the WINDOWS directory is named the same on both servers. IE. some old servers have the windows directory named WINNT.
Put a copy of the current NIC, video and chipset drivers on the new server, you’ll need them later. Make sure you have all of the pertinent network information off the old box as you will need it after the restore to new hardware.
Then on on the old box you stop any services that are not absolutely essential and run a full backup. After that completes you jump on the new box, make a copy of the boot.ini file, stop any non-essential services and do a full restore making sure to choose the “overwrite all files” option. After the restore completes and before you restart the box, copy the back up of the boot.ini to boot.ini. Otherwise your machine could possibly not start.
After that, cross your fingers the new server will restart and let you log in. More than likely your nic and video will not work. Simply update the drivers with the copies you put there before the restore. (you did do that, right?) After a couple reboots and reassigning your network information you should be back in business.
This procedure worked great for me except for one problem with a particular software package that used the CPU ID for activation. Moving to new hardware broke the activation. I sent in a request via email to get my key updated. This stuff was sort of crucial because it was used to pull down my email from my ISP into Exchange. Well after not hearing anything for a day I got annoyed and decided to do something I never did before, call Australia where the author lived.
It was an odd thing talking to someone on the other side of the planet. There is a second or so delay before the other person hears you so need to pause between statements. I explained to him that I sent him an email earlier about the activation and was wondering what I needed to do to get it done. He apologized for the delay and said someone should take care of it that afternoon, Australia time. (it was 8pm EST when I called)
I wake up today, expecting to see the activation code in my mail. Not there….. damn aussies. I threw up an eval version of some other software to handle the mail grabbing duties until the author decides to get around to sending me the key.
My other tech win was at work. We had an old, old, old pc here with old multi-modem and fax boards in it. It is used for people to call in and check tax information. Used is a strong word since hardly anyone uses it at this point, it’s all done on the internet. Well anyway the pc died a few weeks ago. We contacted the vendor about possibly repairing the unit since there were still a handful of old farts that complained they couldn’t access the system via phone. They quoted us a RIDICULOUS $4000 to fix/replace the system. What a joke. We said thanks but no thanks.
Well I suggested to my boss that I may be able to find a used pc with the same specs on ebay. It was worth a shot. Well I actually found one. Total price with shipping was $64. I migrated the boards and hard drive across to it today and viola, back in business, a tidy $3936 savings.
This is the time of year that companies hold their xmas parties. Over the years I have worked for several employers and their idea of celebration of the holidays varied greatly. When I worked at the grocery store as a meat cutter there was no party, instead they presented you with a frozen turkey. It was pretty lame but what the hell, I only made $6 and change per hour, what could I expect.
When I was at the Hyundai dealership selling cars I don’t recall any particular Christmas celebration or gift given to the employees. It was such a dog eat dog business with massive turnover I guess they figured it was a waste of time to exhibit good will towards the employees.
The Holiday Christmas Party for me was defined by my first few years at Entre Computers. It was in a word, fantastic. The owners would shut down the office around noon and we would head over to O’Kelley’s which they rented out exclusively for us. It was a drunken, wild, fun celebration. The tables would just have mugs of beer stuffed on them for anyone to grab. We had these crazy death match games of John Elway Football and air hockey as well as endless games of pool. It was just so much damn fun.
We were lucky enough to enjoy those parties for two or three years before ownership and business changes ended the O’Kelley’s run. The xmas parties went downhill severely from there on out. It went from ordering a few pizzas and beer that was consumed at the office to receiving a piece of shit fruitcake and a firm handshake once we were taken over by GE. It was depressing.
Since moving to Florida the xmas celebration is simply the employees filing up to a conference room where they load their plates up with fattening food and go back to eat at their desks, woohoo. There has never really been any appreciable social interaction between employees down here. It’s something I REALLY miss from my early Entre days.
The weekend outlook, pressure washing the lanai. Can hardly wait.