Via Parkie:
Techlog have screenshots of the new System Center Service Manager (codename “Service Desk”). The public beta is due out in a couple of weeks.
It looks like it has self-service and approval functionality that you could previously only get with a highly customised installation of Zero Touch Provisioning – I’m looking forward to getting my hands on this one. Third-party helpdesk vendors should watch out.
I’ve been spending some time mucking around with the new edition of MOM, now and forever branded by the Microsoft marketing machine as “Systems Center Operations Manager”.
Systems Center Operations Manager, or Ops Manager for short, has gone RTM and an evaluation edition is available for download. I figured I’d check it out and deploy it to our new internal infrastructure. It looks really good – a lot of stuff that was reasonably rough in MOM 2005 has been refined. I’m really loving the console, and the ease of configuration.
The only problem was that it totally killed our servers.
After importing the included set of management packs (and the Citrix Presentation Server MP) and rolling out the client, Ops Manager must run some kind of inventory process, because it spiked all of our server’s CPU utilisation to 100% for a good 15 minutes. After that, it cooled down a bit, until it periodically spiked them again, and it seemed to do it to all servers simultaneously. We run our servers on VMware ESX Server, so all of them hitting 100% CPU simultaneously is a real issue. After a day or two we ripped the Operations Manager agents out and, lo-and-behold, the CPU utilisation returned to normal.
I haven’t had a huge amount of time to look into the cause or a resolution. We are running our servers on brand new hardware, where the average CPU utilisation across the VMware ESX hosts is around 10 – 25%, so it’s not caused by hardware limitations. I’ll post again when I know what the cause is.
After my back injury in January, numerous physio appointments, training carefully and following a bit of a rehab program, I’m finally back to full strength.
Today I squatted 140kg for 10 reps – the most I’ve ever done – so I think I’ve burst through a plateau with the rehab work I did as well. It feels good to be healthy again. My current training goals are to squat 180kg for 3, and bench press 120kg for 3.
I’m staying away from deadlifts for a while yet.
The words strategy and tactics are tossed around some Dilbertised IT departments like a Management Consultant’s wet dream. Once, these words actually meant something. As much as I hate a lot of the unnecessary business buzzwords, I also hate to lose words that are actually useful, and can provide valuable insight into why we do what we do.
So what do they mean, and why the hell should you care?
By their dictionary definitions, strategy and tactics don’t sound very different. In colloquial use, they have a different spin to them. Strategy is about working towards a common, greater, usually longer-term goal. Tactics is a series of steps to solve a problem, or accomplish a direct goal. Players of chess are familiar with these terms. Strategic players tend to move all their pieces in unison according to some greater game-plan, where tactical players work on executing a series of moves.
If you start thinking about what you’re doing with your client’s or your computing infrastructure in terms of strategy versus tactics, you might be able to give a better solution.
For example:
Problem: You’re running low on disk space on the primary file server again.
The Tactical solution to the problem might be to add another disk to the file server. Problem solved.
The Strategic solution might be that you realise that it’s only been six months since you last had to add a disk to the file server. The company’s data usage is growing by 40% per year. With the help of your boss, you build a business case for a Storage Area Network that will handle the primary file server’s growth for the next five years, as well as allow you to expand your SQL Server environment. Backups during business hours with no performance impact are also a bonus. Problem solved.
Thinking strategically can be harder than thinking tactically, but you end up with a better environment at the end of the day, that services the business’s needs more appropriately. Having said that, sometimes the quickest solution is the most appropriate. You just have to judge each situation on its own merits.
When you think in this way, it becomes easier to judge if you’re doing the right thing.
By the way – I don’t play chess, I just know a few people who do.
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