Who took down the data center network today?

[Dudley]

THIS GUY! THAT'S WHO!

[Borborygmi]

You da man, Dudley!

[Victor Frankenstein]

Sweet. Good job.

[Uthrecht]

Well, did you take it down by something simple like unplugging the main router, something a bit more ambitious like managing to trip over the cord and knocking the router to the floor, or something spectactular like tripping over the cord, ripping the outlet partly out of the wall, starting a fire and causing the halon suppressors to kick off?

[Dudley]

Originally Posted by Uthrecht

Well, did you take it down by something simple like unplugging the main router, something a bit more ambitious like managing to trip over the cord and knocking the router to the floor, or something spectactular like tripping over the cord, ripping the outlet partly out of the wall, starting a fire and causing the halon suppressors to kick off?

I began removing dead VLANs from our distribution switch. No problem, right?

Well, wrong. There's an FWSM (Cisco firewall module) in the distribution switch, and it had those VLANs assigned to unused interfaces. Didn't matter to the FWSM though that they were unused. It thought, "Hey nothing's using these interfaces, but I don't care. They're down! I... must... fail... over."

So I didn't really take DOWN the network, but there was a noticeable blip for the failover and failback.

Son of a bitch.

[Uthrecht]

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that there is no such thing as a problem-free network alteration.

[tunaman]

This is why you don't fuck with stuff that's already up and running - even if it appears to have no purpose.

It's also a good example of why my old manager's old saying "it's better to ask forgiveness than permission" is stupid.

ETA - just had this conversation today:

External consultant: "Can I get Excel installed on the SBS Server?"
Me: "No."

[Dudley]

Originally Posted by tunaman

This is why you don't fuck with stuff that's already up and running - even if it appears to have no purpose.

It's also a good example of why my old manager's old saying "it's better to ask forgiveness than permission" is stupid.

ETA - just had this conversation today:

External consultant: "Can I get Excel installed on the SBS Server?"
Me: "No."

Well, it's my job to "fuck with stuff that's already up and running." Clearing these VLANs is part of maintenance preparation for our window at the end of the month. That's when we can fuck with shit that's down for maintenance.

[Uthrecht]

I thought SBS stood for Small Business Server.

[SoylentPopTart]

It's the small business server server. brought to you by the same folks who use personal identification number numbers and automatic teller machine machines.

[Dudley]

Originally Posted by SoylentPopTart

It's the small business server server. brought to you by the same folks who use personal identification number numbers and automatic teller machine machines.

Ah yes, the Redundancy Department of Redundancy.

[krisolov]

when you light something on fire, get back to me.

Sometimes when the fuse has blown after a lightning strike, you shouldn't just replace it and expect things to work normally is all I'm saying.

[tunaman]

Originally Posted by Uthrecht

I thought SBS stood for Small Business Server.

It does. But when a client has more than one server, it becomes "SBS server" vs. "POS server"* or "SBS server" vs. "file server".

* - No, I mean "point of sale", although I admin many POS Servers that are, in fact, pieces of shit.

[The Futility of Nihilism]

Originally Posted by tunaman

... I mean "point of sale", although I admin many POS Servers that are, in fact, pieces of shit.

I remember the first time I ran across someone using the acronym "POS" in regards to business and it took me the longest time to figure out that the guy was not talking about something being a Piece of Shit.