The SQLServerCentral.com Move
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What did I learn? Well first, not to tell my wife my estimate, but instead double it and then add 2 hours.
Always at least double your estimates for management
The worse on I did was involved myself and a colleague travelling on a 5:00am train to a datacentre to find that the account manager at the datacentre hadn't told anyone we were coming.
So from 9:00am to 12:00 all we could do was hang around reception until the necessary bureaucracy took place. Eventually we were told that we would be best off going for lunch and everything would be sorted by 14:00.
14:00 and we finally have access to the server room, which is freezing and there is no where to sit.
As part of the application install there was supposed to be the SQL Server installation CD available however because the account manager hadn't bothered to tell anyone no-one knew where it was. Eventually the name of the person who would know where it was was identified. They were on annual leave.
Our original target was to get everything up and running and possibly tested by 15:00. We couldn't really start until 16:00.
The data centre staff started to get sniffy at around 16:55 because they all wanted to set off for home at 17:00 and because the account manager..blah blah.. no-one had approved any overtime.
At 21:00 they finally kicked us out.
Fortunately our project manager knew his stuff and had booked (and charged) two days worth of work.
Unfortunately my colleague and I were put up for the night in what can only be described as a brothel. NOT condusive to sleep or relaxation.
Next day, feeling particulary frazzled we completed the job. Around about half way through we both started to feel rather ill.
Not surprising when you consider we were both going down with food poisoning from the previous nights meal. Ever sat in a train for 5 hours with an onset of food poisoning? At the end of that particular journey there was nothing left to come up but the soles of my shoes!
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oh joy... can't wait to do my move at the end of next month...
luckily for me, I will also be moving the 400lb dell rack with my 3 servers, kvm, 2 switches, 19" monitor and various other ... stuff
double the estimate and add 2 hours... could do that.. I prefer the "42" estimate. No units and no other information....
wifes' question: "how long is this going to take???"
my response: "42"
thanks for the horror stories... glad I have another couple weeks to get prepared.
Cheers
Cheers
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It brought to mind the reason I decided I did not have a future as a network engineer. In 1996, my boss sent me to a very small town (a grocery store, a BBQ place and this company)in East Texas. I would make one the new server and the other would be used by the accountant/secretary/production manager. There was a network in place running Lantastic. It might take half a day.
The company that built the computers did not add network cards. The nearest computer store is in Lufkin, about 50 miles that direction, and in those days it was no guarantee they would have network cards. No problem, I'll use the "old" network cards. They were ancient. This was back in the days when you had to know the settings, and manually set the jumpers. No worky. I'm working in the "server" room, which is about the size of a closet in a New York apartment and air conditioning is what they use in the big city. Working with tweezers and one light bulb on a dusty card where the manufacturer decided braille was the best way to label anything. After many tries and several phone calls to my boss, I took a break and ate lunch at the BBQ place. It is wonderful to be an outsider.
We decided that we might get the accountant's computer up, since that is how the company recieved orders. I had to use the old computer's modem. It was a museum piece, as long as the case, with many jumpers. I think it was a 9.6K. They had to have that modem work or the company would lose orders. More fun with tweezers. At least the accountant's office was larger and I could stand up.
It was growing dark when I finally had her computer on the network. I still had the old server connected. There was a high school football game that night. The accountant/secretary/production manager wanted to go, but could not leave me alone in the server room. I decided to try switching the hard drives and using the old server for the time being. Nope. It was an MFN drive, a massive 40MBs. It would not fit in the shiny new computer.
Somewhere around nine I patched enough settings so that the network was limping along and they could receive orders. I came back two more times before I had their network set up on the new system.
Now they have to drag me into a server room.
Quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue
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