Any IT People out there?

[fenrir]

So I recently took a job as the lone IT guy for my local court. I am feeling kind of lonely because I can't talk geek at work much unless I am telling my boss about the new server and computers we are about to purchase.

So I was wondering if anybody out there is in IT and what you do?
I am a Systems Administrator and I have 45 pc's and two servers to look after.
Also I am A PC!

 

[bionicarm]

Depends on what you want to talk about. I own a small business that deals with network security and intrusion detection. Deal specifically with the military, DoD, and sometimes the NSA. Can't say much else, but it's never a dull moment.
I've been in the business for over 30 years. I started as a Small-to-Mid Size Mainframe Hardware Engineer for IBM back in '78 (that'll date me). Computers that needed a 5,000 sq. ft. room to fit it in. Had to use logic probes and oscilloscopes to find defective memory chips. Memory boards the size of pizza boxes that held a whopping 32K. I remember the first sealed hard drive I worked on. It was the size of a small cabinet and held 25 Megs of data. Amazing how far technology has advanced since then.
I've done around 10 years of UNIX Administration, 15 years of Windows Administration (too many servers and domains to count), held an MCSE in NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 (quit getting certified because Microsoft changed their programs WAY too often), Cisco CCNA, CCNP, and about to finish my CCIE. Also administer Microsoft SQL databases and play around with IIS.

 

[dragonzim]

I've been doing Windows network and systems admin for about 12 years now. Got my MCSE in NT but never bothered going further with it. I am currently the IT Manager for a manufacturing company where I support about 60 users and 10 servers. I'm looking to get out though since I have decided that I am absolutely sick of sitting behind a computer all day. I am also a licensed Home Inspector and with any luck will be transitioning into that as my full time career in the next year or 2.

 

[bionicarm]

Originally Posted by DragonZim
http:///forum/post/3036589
I've been doing Windows network and systems admin for about 12 years now. Got my MCSE in NT but never bothered going further with it. I am currently the IT Manager for a manufacturing company where I support about 60 users and 10 servers. I'm looking to get out though since I have decided that I am absolutely sick of sitting behind a computer all day. I am also a licensed Home Inspector and with any luck will be transitioning into that as my full time career in the next year or 2.
With all these foreclosure sales happening around the country, being a Home Inspector could be a very lucrative job. I know what you mean about the monotany of staring at a computer screen all day. It does get old sometimes. However, I haven't seen the IT positions get hit as hard in this recession as other job professions out there.

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by bionicarm
http:///forum/post/3036609
With all these foreclosure sales happening around the country, being a Home Inspector could be a very lucrative job. I know what you mean about the monotany of staring at a computer screen all day. It does get old sometimes. However, I haven't seen the IT positions get hit as hard in this recession as other job professions out there.
I hear you! I've been very lucky in the positions that I've had. I've worked for both large and small companies and I find that at the smaller companies my services are somewhat invaluable so the job market recession hasnt affected me at all. Of course I am making less now than I did 8 years ago, but that was because of the dot com burst and not today's recession. I had gotten laid off from a VERY well paying job in NYC and am ALMOST back up to the salary I was making back then. Like all things, you learn to adjust...

 

[bionicarm]

Originally Posted by DragonZim
http:///forum/post/3036615
I hear you! I've been very lucky in the positions that I've had. I've worked for both large and small companies and I find that at the smaller companies my services are somewhat invaluable so the job market recession hasnt affected me at all. Of course I am making less now than I did 8 years ago, but that was because of the dot com burst and not today's recession. I had gotten laid off from a VERY well paying job in NYC and am ALMOST back up to the salary I was making back then. Like all things, you learn to adjust...
Yep, been there done that a couple times myself. I've been laid off twice, and both times I took around a 50% salary cut. That's why I decided to go into business on my own. The right opportunity popped up after me and a couple of old workmates decided to get into 'Ethical Hacking'. Now we spend our days looking for vulnerabilities in 'customer's' networks, and assist them with plugging the holes.

 

[fenrir]

I will be graduating in September with a BA in Systems Secuirty and I am currently about a month a way from taking my CCNA exam. I've only been workin in IT for 2 1/2 years but I have been a computer geek for years.
Anybody have any good dumb user stories? My favorite is that I once had a user call me down imediatly because she needed to print off warrants before the day ended. I rushed up stairs only to find that she had ran out of paper... Shet still can't look at me to this day.

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by Fenrir
http:///forum/post/3036672
I will be graduating in September with a BA in Systems Secuirty and I am currently about a month a way from taking my CCNA exam. I've only been workin in IT for 2 1/2 years but I have been a computer geek for years.
Anybody have any good dumb user stories? My favorite is that I once had a user call me down imediatly because she needed to print off warrants before the day ended. I rushed up stairs only to find that she had ran out of paper... Shet still can't look at me to this day.

One of my best was a salesman that was absolutely FREAKING out cause he couldnt get his email or print any documents when he came into the office one morning. I walk over to his desk to see him sitting there with his laptop open and the pop up from Outlook showing that it couldnt connect to the mail server. I look at him, then back at his desk and say "You see that thing that your external monitor is sitting on?" He says yes and I ask him if he knows what it is. He says "sure, its my docking station" I said "thats correct, notice anything strange about it?" It took him about a full minute to realize that the strange thing about it was that his laptop wasn't in it, and therefore not connected to the network AT ALL since we dont use wireless in my office...
It was a few months before he had the nerve to call me again!!!

 

[drdingo21]

Been in IT for more than a few years as both a systems admin and a network engineer.
I prefer the engineer side as then I don't have to deal with end users...
I currently have my CCNP, MCSA in 2k and various other little certs (net +, server +, etc..) Also several hacking certs.