Sooo.....

[Turin Turambar]

But if you worked on a computer at work.... you wouldn't want to play with us on it at home. Then we would be sadder. You might be less crazy. You decide if your sanity is worth our happiness. *plays guilt card, boogity*

[Rhea]

Turin Turnabout! I iz spank'd!

 

No worries...I am on the computer all day anyway work on not and I still have time to be taintly. :P

[Vam]

many doctors do bugger all work if you ask me. everytime i'm in hospital the nurses do everything... the doctors come past and check your chart once every blue moon and just tell the nurses what to do. sitting in an airconditioned building making diagnoses and writing out prescriptions doesnt exactly strike me as difficult either. The training to get the knowledge to be able to do it would be hard, imo, but not so much the work they do once they actually get there. i'd much rather be a doctor than be a bricklayer or Datacentre virtualisation SME.

[Netbattler11]

Its more than just sitting at a computer. Its understanding each peice of hardware inside the box, each piece of information that travels through it. Its figuring out when those patterns are incorrect and knowing how to fix them. Its knowing many obscure languages. In its way, learning to be a computer nerd is just as much work as learning to be a doctor.

[Rhea]

you'd be sruprised. try following a doctor around all day. nurses work hard but doctors are there hours longer. at least I get to go home when my shift is over. the docs don't always. and if they have to deliver babies...forget sleeping. and they have to be on call too. nty...i like my nursing job!

 

datacentre visualisation SME? what's that?

[Vam]

I agree completely.

 

The amount of stuff you learn/need to know/etc from basic stuff like how many bits to a byte etc -- all the way up to --- understanding networking concepts like subnetting/vlans/etc, understanding concepts such as DHCP, DNS, network protocols (iscsi/tcpip/etc), understanding concepts such as virtualisation, storage concepts such as disk IOPS, understanding command languages (dos/linux), being able to write scripts (batch files/vbs etc), understanding adminstrative tools and policies(GPOs, local policies, security templates), being able to write technical documentation, being able to write gap analysis and infrastructure procurement proposals, drawing logical and physical diagrams of systems, networks, etc.

 

ugh.. - by the time you're halfway decent system engineer i think you've learned as much complex technical knowledge in your field (I.T) as a doctor has within the field of medicine.

 

 

Rhea - datacentre virtualisation subject matter expert.

 

Taking physical computer/server/network infrastructure and .. well.. virtualising it.

so instead of having 20 physical servers, you have 1 server which has 20 "virtual machines" running inside it.

or perhaps multipe servers which access the "VMs" from a file server.

 

its kinda hard to explain to lay people.

 

maybe Mawthtex can help me lol

[Rhea]

minus the 3 year residency?

[Louise]

 

Wow, did anyone apart from Mawth understand a word of that? lol

[Vam]

minus the 3 year residency?

 

nah instead you usually spend about the first 3 years of your career strapped to a helpdesk phone taking 70 calls a day telling idiots how to turn on the computer.

 

I've worked in all kinds of jobs, from building industry, nightclubs, horticultural industry, management, administration, etc.... the most stressful job i've ever worked was I.T Helpdesk... which is what most people spend at least 2-3 years doing when they start their I.T career.

 

Being screamed at by bogans about their internet not working - when they havent even turned on their modem - is pretty stressful when it happens every second call and you have to sit through 8-12hrs a day of it.

[Vam]

 

Wow, did anyone apart from Mawth understand a word of that? lol

 

precisely.

 

Just like you dont understand half the terminology and complex medical concepts a doctor would be talking about in one of their reports or in discussion with each other.

[Turin Turambar]

The bottom line is there is a lot to know in any technical field. And you've got to start at the beginning or you will become lost quickly.

[Vam]

agreed. whether technical proffessions work as hard as each other once they've got the knowledge is probably pretty subjective as well, particularly giving variance in duties and roles within professions. YOu cant even really compare two different doctors.... e.g a GP v.s an Obstetrician etc. They do vastly different things and work vastly different hours, often as not.

[Netbattler11]

Rhea - datacentre virtualisation subject matter expert.

 

Taking physical computer/server/network infrastructure and .. well.. virtualising it.

so instead of having 20 physical servers, you have 1 server which has 20 "virtual machines" running inside it.

or perhaps multipe servers which access the "VMs" from a file server.

 

its kinda hard to explain to lay people.

 

maybe Mawthtex can help me lol

 

A Virtual Machine (VM) is a computer that doesn't actually have physical parts. It lives inside another computer, virtually. For instance, I use Ubuntu (a linux os) as my main operating system. However, some windows programs just don't work on linux. (we're working on it) When I need to use one of those, I boot up a VM with windows xp installed on it. So my computer is running ubuntu, which is running an application, which is tricking xp into thinking that it has its own computer that its running on. That way I can use xp and ubuntu at the same time.

 

So when vam is talking about running vm servers, he means that there is only one physical computer running. However, that computer is running a bunch of different virtual computers. These virtual computers act just like normal computers, and other computers see them as normal computers. So they can do all the server work that needs to be done without having 20 different boxes sitting around in a room just begging for a part to break. The downside to this is that when a part does break, everything goes down, but you can't have it all.

 

Oh, god, help desk... I find it annoying enough to help my fellow students sometimes. I would really, really hate to have to do that 24/7... hopefully all the college classes i'm taking right now will help me avoid that fate.

[Vam]

thanks mawthtex :D good explanation.

 

you can also set up fancy virtualisation scenarios... where a host machine (one that runs the VMs and provides their connectivity to the wider network) can pass the control of aVM over to another host. This means that in the event of a failure of the original host machine, the vm continues to run on the second. Kind of like.... if you're watching a show on tv and your tv blows up and automatically a second tv turns on and you dont miss a second of your show. (bad analogy but i'm trying..)

 

It also allows for dynamic load balancing of CPU and memory resources across hosts etc. It can become really really complex, particuarly when you need start working out whether hard disks you need spinning at what speed to be able to give you enough power to run the number and type of vm's you require.

 

YOu're lucky you're going to college mawthtex - it'll make your life easier. You'll probably be able to skip helpdesk work for the most part, although you'll get some low paying grad job for the first 1-2 years.

 

I dont mind helping friends - but i HAAATTEE being the go-to-guy in the family that ppl come running to whenever they screw up their computer because they dont konw how to use it properly. sure you can fix it, but unless you go through the arduous process of actually teaching them to use it properly - you know they're just gonna mess it up again lol plus they dont pay. :(

[Rhea]

Well this town I live in has the best of both worlds. The Mayo Clinic and IBM headquarters. I have no choice but to listen to one or the other and thankfully I know a little about both. Every person I meet either works at Mayo or IBM.

 

Maw...you sound older than you are. Stop being so smart!

[hazelkrs1]

No offense to our IT guys, but this is one of the worst thread highjackings I've ever seen. Cute funny story and laugh about it turned into commercial for ITT Tech = FAIL

 

I feel like Homeland Security should be informed about this highjacking, maybe they can find out who can negotiate with our thread terrorists (Vam and Maw) and find out their demands

[Netbattler11]

you can also set up fancy virtualisation scenarios... where a host machine (one that runs the VMs and provides their connectivity to the wider network) can pass the control of aVM over to another host. This means that in the event of a failure of the original host machine, the vm continues to run on the second. Kind of like.... if you're watching a show on tv and your tv blows up and automatically a second tv turns on and you dont miss a second of your show. (bad analogy but i'm trying..)

 

Hey, I liked it :D

 

I dont mind helping friends - but i HAAATTEE being the go-to-guy in the family that ppl come running to whenever they screw up their computer because they dont konw how to use it properly. sure you can fix it, but unless you go through the arduous process of actually teaching them to use it properly - you know they're just gonna mess it up again lol plus they dont pay. :(

 

Story of my life, bro.

No offense to our IT guys, but this is one of the worst thread highjackings I've ever seen. Cute funny story and laugh about it turned into commercial for ITT Tech = FAIL

 

I feel like Homeland Security should be informed about this highjacking, maybe they can find out who can negotiate with our thread terrorists (Vam and Maw) and find out their demands

 

What? I'm confused. Maybe it'll make more sense after school. More specifically, when its not morning anymore.

[hazelkrs1]

thread hijacking is when you completely alter the original course of the OP and swing it in a totally different direction

[hazelkrs1]

not sure why I wrote highjacking at first, might have been a freudian slip

[Rhea]

cuz you are high?

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i don't think the concept applies in the BT

[hazelkrs1]

I think in certain dramatic cases it can still apply. I loved the OP, but when I kept reading and got into "big bang theory" lingo, I was totally WTFPWNed

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i think not.

[hazelkrs1]

I think so.

[hazelkrs1]

I think so enough to double post.