In this blog from my Seneca Learning Series I will be discussing the new Snippets tool in Powershell which is used to enhance script writing. If you are not familiar with Microsoft’s Windows Server 2012 Virtual Labs at technet, this is a very valuable resource that you should become acquainted with.  

Knowlege of Server 2012 is Power!

Keeping up to speed with all the latest advances to Microsoft’s server operating systems is always a challenge! Especially when you are spending the majority of your time keeping your business up and running. If most of your clients are not running the latest version of server OS in their production environments, learning and implementing new features becomes a greater challenge. Without a test server and OS install to practice new implementations,  how can you learn about these new features without breaking the bank?

Server Names Look Like Alphabet Soup, but Have Meaning

A while back I wrote an article about Intel code names and how you can decipher them using an Intel provided online tool. This is mostly to satisfy the curiosity of your inner geek or to compare several generations of motherboards or processors to each other. In this article I alluded to the fact that Nexlink server kit names, are based on Intel’s naming conventions and what the labels for the Nexlink server kits mean.

Immediate Need Requires Immediate Action

When your customer has a server that is down they need to be back up and running immediately. You don’t have the luxury of ordering parts from a distributor, waiting for them to arrive, assembling them and hoping everything works correctly out of the box. You are also not likely to have enough time to custom order a complete new server made exactly to your specifications. What are you to do in order to get your customer back online and in business the fastest and best way possible?

Determining the right manufacturer to support your surveillance project can be complicated. It is essential to have reliable storage for your project as well as necessary storage capacity for the project’s size. Obviously, if your storrage platform falls short, your customer may be unable to store necessary footage.

Feel Like your Server is too Small for your Software?

Do you have customers who are outgrowing their existing server? For customers with ad hoc networks or even small standalone servers that are experiencing growth or an increased need for more server use, adding that workload to their existing infrastructure is not the best recommendation. Despite their protests, that they do not need a new server, that is in fact exactly what you know they need. If this is their first foray into a “real” server or growth from a single socket server to something with more compute power where should you start?

Desktop PCs Don't Make Good Servers

Do you have customers insisting on cutting corners to get you to install a desktop system as a server in their office? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a simple graphical chart to show your client the many reasons that a “Real Server” is what they need and why using a desktop based PC as a server puts their business at risk?

One of the more challenging things about being a small business owner is collecting payment from your customer. This is always a delicate topic that can create some real friction between you and your customers. If you have gotten to the point where you are offering terms to your customers, getting your invoices paid in a timely fashion is essential to maintaining proper cash flow. What can you do to ensure that your invoices get paid on time?

Storm Season Means Dead Workstations

With summer storm season almost upon us, what are you recommending that your customers buy for surge protection? Standard surge suppressors are not much more than extra outlets, even the better surge strips are really only designed to protect for one use. For superior protection use a personal UPS with automatic voltage regulation (AVR). This solution offers runtime in a power outage allowing you to save important work while offering array protection.

Have You Changed Your RAID Batteries?

You’ve done all the right things in your server configs; great RAID level for the server role, RAID Battery Backup (BBU), and installed a correct sized UPS to give the server plenty of time to run while everything shuts down.  After a year or two, do you make a regularly scheduled maintenance visit to change the RAID BBU? Yes sadly it is true; the RAID BBU needs to be replaced periodically. Leaving an uncharged battery on the RAID card leaves the cache exposed in the rare case of a power outage.. In my 20 plus years in the business I can confidently say that this has happened exactly twice to two different customers.  In both cases the customers attempted to re-build the array and both had the same outcome; the RAID array failed to recover, leaving both clients stuck without their systems for multiple days. What can be done to protect your clients and your reputation?