But we have to stick to our budget!
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@Zemm said:
Won't compression add to their CPU overheating woes?
You actually get huge boost to performance with compression. Sure you incur cpu load, but at the same you greatly reduce IO.
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@snoofle said:
Then your DBA's are a toxic asset. See if you can get your company to bring in a consultant to recommend changes. I can recommend several. Often times the business will listen to a consultant more than there own employees. You may have to carefully politic this but it will get things done. Since its "your" groups problem see about bringing them in on your budget.@Cassidy said:
Sorry, I misunderstood what you were going for. I agree completely. Sadly, the DBAs do not do capacity planning around here. They should, but they don't; it falls to us. If WE don't warn the brass, then it's OUR fault, and it doesn't matter how many times we tell them that the DBAs should be on this, or that our calcs show we're going to run dry by <date>, they just sit on it - because <I don't know why>.@snoofle said:
It is up to the DBAs to supply enough disk space, but the simple fact remains that the folks who intially designed and wrote our system dumped way too much crap to the database.
Yeah, but I'm arguing that (a) the DBAs are responsible for monitoring consumption and raising potential capacity-related issues, and (b) the DBAs should be planning and driving change to provide sufficient capacity at database level, irrespective of how it's used.
Or more succintly: it's an issue that affects them, it should be THEIR job to push it back and/or fix it... not yours (you're not the DBA team, are you?). Let the DBAs and the budget-holders fight it out, just stand well back.
(yes, I know loss of DB affects every user of the service - but it just sounds like you're taking ownership of a problem that you're not accountable for nor are you responsible for fixing).
At least, thanks to Alex, I have an outlet.
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Snoofle IS a consultant!
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@snoofle said:
My boss figures we can have this done by tomorrow, and promised that if we do, he's buying the drinks tomorrow night.
Implemented? Maybe. Tested? Not a chance; just testing it will take longer than that. But, in my experience, if you try to pull something like this on Friday, you find out on Monday you failed (and possibly how badly.)
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@snoofle said:
Now, when it hits the fan, I won't need to run around like a chicken without a head - because I planned ahead.
You don't really fit into your client's corporate culture, do you?
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@galgorah said:
@Zemm said:
Won't compression add to their CPU overheating woes?
You actually get huge boost to performance with compression. Sure you incur cpu load, but at the same you greatly reduce IO.
He was being ironic.
I think.
@galgorah said:
Then your DBAs are a toxic asset. See if you can get your company to bring in a consultant to recommend changes.
That. Snoofle? You attended a meeting not so long ago in which ideas for reducing costs were mooted. One such idea is to reduce the salary of staff with over-inflated titles more in line with their actual deliverable duties, not their perceived importance.
@galgorah said:
Often times the business will listen to a consultant more than their own employees.
*nods*, IME. Dunno if it's because the business perceives the quality of information to be better because it originates from a more expensive source, or because someone external can cast an impartial view over the business.
I do know that technical people - when communicating bad news - tend to a more whinny fashion rather than a business impact/unnecessary cost/loss of reputation manner, which isn't well-received. However, the way in which it's done, in conjunction with the origin, can influence the reception.
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@Severity One said:
You don't really fit into your client's corporate culture, do you?
Given a sufficiently large hammer, any square peg can be made to fit any round hole.
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@snoofle said:
...on the upside, I made a whole bunch of friends in the capacity planning arena (for quietly raising a red flag). It might come in handy down the road.
Salt fingers in the thermocline of truth
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@snoofle said:
Back in January I posted an article mentioning that we had already spent our budget for new disks for the year and that we were due to run out of disk space in March. We got an emergency infusion and the disks got installed a day or so before the system was "full".
How much would it actually cost to double your present storage capacity, by the way?
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@flabdablet said:
How much would it actually cost to double your present storage capacity, by the way?
Pf. I can buy a 2TB drive for $60. Can't be that much!
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@galgorah said:
@Zemm said:
Won't compression add to their CPU overheating woes?
You actually get huge boost to performance with compression. Sure you incur cpu load, but at the same you greatly reduce IO.
Yes. Snoofle recently had to sabotage his performance improvements because the CPUs were overheating. Now you're saying this compression scheme could undo that work!
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@snoofle said:
My boss figures we can have this done by tomorrow, and promised that if we do, he's buying the drinks tomorrow night.
From what budget are those drinks coming?
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@Severity One said:
From what budget are those drinks coming?
We originally thought the emergency-emergency one, but there's a budget meeting next month in which approval will be discussed.
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@snoofle said:
...
Frequently, My boss+2 will grab my boss and ask what's actually happening.
Unfortunately, while Boss+1 will be vindictive and fire someone who pisses him off, Boss and Boss+2 won't fire anybody unless they've committed some mortal-sin; give them another chance; work with them!
Is the Boss+2 notation as in "I have three bosses, Bob" or as in me.boss.boss.boss.FireSomeone(scapegoat)?
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@nonpartisan said:
Snoofle *IS* a consultant!
He is not however a Database consultant.
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@Cassidy said:
*nods*, IME. Dunno if it's because the business perceives the quality of information to be better because it originates from a more expensive source, or because someone external can cast an impartial view over the business.
Its often the former to be honest. People think more highly of you when you charge more. They make an assumption. This is why a lot of crappy consultants out there can make so much.I do know that technical people - when communicating bad news - tend to a more whinny fashion rather than a business impact/unnecessary cost/loss of reputation manner, which isn't well-received. However, the way in which it's done, in conjunction with the origin, can influence the reception.
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@galgorah said:
This is why a lot of crappy consultants out there can make so much.
*giggles* yeah, I bought my first car on-- wat?
ARE YOU CALLING ME CRAP?
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@Cassidy said:
@galgorah said:
This is why a lot of crappy consultants out there can make so much.
*giggles* yeah, I bought my first car on-- wat?
ARE YOU CALLING ME CRAP?
No, he's calling you [b]crappy[/b]. There's a world of difference. I wouldn't expect you to understand, though. You are just a consultant. And a crappy one, from what I hear.
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@galgorah said:
Perhaps not, but it looks like he's provided some recommendations, recommendations that are basic and logical, and his company chooses to ignore them. I highly doubt bringing in another consultant is going to help.@nonpartisan said:
Snoofle *IS* a consultant!
He is not however a Database consultant.
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@Lorne Kates said:
No, he's calling you crappy. There's a world of difference.
Ah, good. For a moment there I thought....
.. wait.. wha?
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@nonpartisan said:
They need to bring a more expensive consultant. Or give snoofle a raise.@galgorah said:
Perhaps not, but it looks like he's provided some recommendations, recommendations that are basic and logical, and his company chooses to ignore them. I highly doubt bringing in another consultant is going to help.@nonpartisan said:
Snoofle *IS* a consultant!
He is not however a Database consultant.
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@Zecc said:
They need to bring a more expensive consultant. Or give snoofle a raise.
We're now mooting some artificial price threshold above which all managers actually listen. "Cost/Truth Trigger Point"...?
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@nonpartisan said:
Since Snoofle is not percieved by his organization as a DB expert, any recommendations he may make on that end lose value in the eyes of management. Having an actual DB consultant makes the arguments carry a lot more weight due to the percieved skill level of the individual.@galgorah said:
Perhaps not, but it looks like he's provided some recommendations, recommendations that are basic and logical, and his company chooses to ignore them. I highly doubt bringing in another consultant is going to help.@nonpartisan said:
Snoofle *IS* a consultant!
He is not however a Database consultant.
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@Cassidy said:
My last company made a decision that cost a cool $400,000 rather than much cheepr alternatives, simply because they decided that the higher priced option required more money and thus must be a much beter more robust option.@Zecc said:
They need to bring a more expensive consultant. Or give snoofle a raise.
We're now mooting some artificial price threshold above which all managers actually listen. "Cost/Truth Trigger Point"...?
You might ask what this was for.... source control for 20 developers
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@galgorah said:
You might ask what this was for.... source control for 20 developers
We did something similar - 'ditched' Trac and paid for a a per-seat license for Footprints. They run the 'if you need to ask, you can't afford it' pricing model[1]. Shiny.
[1] http://www.numarasoftware.co.uk/footprints/request-pricing/?prod=fp
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Footprints is shit. I've been subjected to it before. Ugh.
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@PJH said:
Footprints
I am so sorry for you!They were the ones that bought out and still sell the awful Remedy system. bllaaaaugh
For those not familiar with it, it's a monstrously resource-intensive entity-attribute-value-esque ticketing/helpdesk-type application. It feels like it was made in VB5. And it hates scrollwheels.
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@Xyro said:
the awful Remedy system
This, FUCK THIS.....*sobs
Only for that those people deserve hell's deepest chamber
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@Xyro said:
But not nearly as much as it hates its users.the awful Remedy system. bllaaaaugh
For those not familiar with it, it's a monstrously resource-intensive entity-attribute-value-esque ticketing/helpdesk-type application. It feels like it was made in VB5. And it hates scrollwheels.
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@Xyro said:
@PJH said:
Footprints
I am so sorry for you!They were the ones that bought out and still sell the awful Remedy system. bllaaaaugh
For those not familiar with it, it's a monstrously resource-intensive entity-attribute-value-esque ticketing/helpdesk-type application. It feels like it was made in VB5. And it hates scrollwheels.
Most ticketing systems are EAV-driven because a need to be highly configurable is perceived by the ITSM imbeciles (aka: the customers). Being a ticketing system developer is a stepping stone to becoming an ERP developer.
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@galgorah said:
So they spend all that money, then STILL ignore the recommendations.@nonpartisan said:
Since Snoofle is not percieved by his organization as a DB expert, any recommendations he may make on that end lose value in the eyes of management. Having an actual DB consultant makes the arguments carry a lot more weight due to the percieved skill level of the individual.@galgorah said:
Perhaps not, but it looks like he's provided some recommendations, recommendations that are basic and logical, and his company chooses to ignore them. I highly doubt bringing in another consultant is going to help.@nonpartisan said:
Snoofle IS a consultant!
He is not however a Database consultant.
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@nonpartisan said:
@galgorah said:
Usually most companies will feel more obligated to implement suggestions the more they are paying the consultant.
So they spend all that money, then STILL ignore the recommendations.@nonpartisan said:
Since Snoofle is not percieved by his organization as a DB expert, any recommendations he may make on that end lose value in the eyes of management. Having an actual DB consultant makes the arguments carry a lot more weight due to the percieved skill level of the individual.@galgorah said:
Perhaps not, but it looks like he's provided some recommendations, recommendations that are basic and logical, and his company chooses to ignore them. I highly doubt bringing in another consultant is going to help.@nonpartisan said:
Snoofle *IS* a consultant!
He is not however a Database consultant.
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So Remedy is shit... what alternative ticketing systems have people had experience with?
And good/bad points?
(I tried out some open-sores web-based system some years back and it wasn't bad, but I never put it into production to fully
break itanalyse how it could cope)
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@Cassidy said:
So Remedy is shit... what alternative ticketing systems have people had experience with?
And good/bad points?
(I tried out some open-sores web-based system some years back and it wasn't bad, but I never put it into production to fully
break itanalyse how it could cope)The one from Microsoft (Service Manager) is pretty nice, as long as you support mostly Windows-based stuff. Otherwise it loses its edge compared to others.
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Does Mantis qualify as a "ticketing system"?
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@Cassidy said:
what alternative ticketing systems have people had experience with?
Emails. And phone calls for escalation. Remedy tickets generally degrade to this anyway, but it works much smoother form the get-go.
Just kidding! Except not really!
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@dhromed said:
Does Mantis qualify as a "ticketing system"?
Barely , we use it for logging calls with outside partners (webhosts and suchlike) .
Its OK in that its stupidly simple doesn't rely on a fuckload of awful ActiveX controls and doesn't want me to kill the developers with a broken bottle .
Our internally developed "Task Tracker" is a piece of shit written by our German team (who seem to have a knack of producing terrible software) using .net and is slow, painful to use, hangs frequently , uses a workflow that seems to be totally random .
We used HEAT before that locally - and that was OK - got to spend 2 weeks in Swindon doing the training course (at least they had a decent brewery there ) . It didn't need 2 weeks so it was a nice jolly. And I had to drive round the Magic roundabout every day - its possible to legally go round it the wrong way as I discovered one evening when it was pissing with rain and I could barely see out the car .
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@UriGagarin said:
and doesn't want me to kill the developers
So, the software speaks to you, does it?@UriGagarin said:
its possible to legally go round it the wrong way as I discovered one evening when it was pissing with rain and I could barely see out the car
That was YOU?! You made me spill my beer!
