Replacing an IT for an office

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Koolvin

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So theres this IT guy that they pay $300/month for on-call help, unfortunately he's a douche. They want me to replace him.

I'm planning on buying a 4bay hotswap bay and a new case for it to make sure I can copy over everything I need to and troubleshoot drive issues.

I'm very savvy, can handle everything I can think of. This is what I need to know.
What should I expect?
What equipment should I get?
 
There is not enough information here to give you a good answer. What exactly is the scope of his job and your future collateral? What kind of network do you have and what condition is it in? How far does on-call help go? Will you be running reimages, deploying new buildouts, hardware troubleshooting, or just fixing ms office problems?

Guess I should throw in a few things I could not live without, regardless.

~$30 Hard drive to USB adapter. Lets you take out internal HDD's IDE and sata, and connect them to your computer via usb. This saves you soo much trouble for data extraction, testing drives and all kinds of things. External hard drive enclosures die ALOT.

~$20 Power supply tester. Cuts down on troubleshooting time and removes doubt in those WTF moments.

~$6 A good pocket screwdriver with all the small sized philips/regular tips in it. You will use this probably every day.

Depending on what you do an extra drive in your primary computer that you can network to. Fill it with a driver library for all the devices you use so you can just pull it from the users machine instead of bringing, or worse yet, going back for it.

Depending on the scope of your job, a linux VM or standalone has helped my sanity greatly. Recovering someones data often brings permissions problems that are easily avoided.

Depending on the scope of your job, a good PW cracker. "I forgot my PW, but I must have it!" is as common(probably more) as "I lost my PST."
 
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Pretty mundane stuff. As far as network goes, we're pretty set on that stuff although we are planning on moving to a new office soon.

The office is a bit of a call center/customer support center that incorporates a programming divisions.
The troubleshooting I will have to do is low level, what I'm asking mostly is what sort of things should I prepare for.
It's 30-40 man office.

I'm planning on getting http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153112 in order to backup/flash harddrives if I need to. Do you have any other suggestions?
 
-- "I'm planning on getting http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817153112 in order to backup/flash harddrives if I need to."
-- I forgot about a psu tester, thank you!
-- I have a mr 7 hands has all standard phillips/flathead sizes including small 'glasses' size
-- I have an external enclosure with a fat formatted drive in it, I assume this is enough
-- Tons of linux machines with a proprietary compiled susestudio distro - made by me
-- What would you suggest?

Thanks for your help so far!
 
It sounds like you have it in hand. Everything else should come with time at doing it.

When we get new guys in, I go over alot of what I need them to do. I teach them how to build networking cables because people are always breaking them, or moving their desk/computer just out of reach of their current cords reach. Phone cables (not directly IT but def. in the supportive range imo.) I usually show them the ropes of office, how to repair damaged PST's with the MS Office tool and map other mailbox's and all that jive. Modern offices pretty much live on email now..

Easily, out of an 820ish person building, the most common calls are e-mail related, printer related, password related, blackberry related, my computer is blue/acting funny/slow, in that order. There are others and every office is diff, but there you have it.
 
Thank you very much! You've helped a lot (and given me a bunch of job security ;))
 
Apart from some of the things mentioned here:

- a bootable USB flash drive with some flavor of Linux
- Windows password reset bootable USB flash drive
- Console cable if you have Cisco or some other gear that needs it
- Disk recovery software
 
This thread is strange and confusing. The questions you're asking are awfully broad for someone who knows what they're doing. :confused:

A can-do attitude is great and probably a welcome change to them. Just make sure you can back-up those claims of keeping them going or you'll be out the door as fast as your predecessor.
 
is no one else worried about this? The data that servers hold is key to any business there is being thrown in at the deep end but this just seems way too deep. The fact you are still in school doesn't really help, how can you do both?

If anyone thinks buying an external drive bay is the key to IT they are very much mistaken!

For me the key for any network is to learn how the data passes through it, where are the switches, where do they uplink to, what VLANS are in place, why how do they work.

I will generally throw Cacti on a machine and then during slow periods flood the network with data to see where it comes out. This helps make a network diagram of how all the switches link together etc. Never trust he previous guys Visio drawings, they are never correct!

It’s also key to find out what are the vital servers, what servers would cause the most problems if they BSoD or die. They work out if there is enough resilience and redundancy with these servers. Do they have a SQL server that is needed 24/7 but is not in any sort of cluster or fail over? Do they only have 1 PDC etc.

Next its onto security, learn how their firewall works, how it was setup and why. Do they have a lot of rules (I once walked into a 5510 with about 150 outgoing rules, it was a nightmare!) How many routes are there into the network from the outside world, where do they terminate, why are they there etc.?

Next backups, how are they run, when, are they tested, what is the rotation like, what is backed up, what isn't backed up, why is it or isn't it backed up etc

There is so much that you will need to do and in reality you have about 2 weeks to do this because after that they will load you up with work and you won't have the time.
 
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I predict that for $300/mo he can be as douchy as he wants, if he gets the job done.

If you don't like him, then prove you're better. $300/mo is pretty shittastic IMO anyway if thats gonna be your only client.

Here's the questions I'd have for you.

What proof do you have of your skills? Job references, degree, technical school training, certs?

He has the proof in that he's been doing the job.
 
300 a month for an office with 30 to 40 people in it? Thats really cheap.

Anyway got some more info on the setup you are jumping in to? IE how many servers, active directory, exchange, etc?
 
swatbat said:
300 a month for an office with 30 to 40 people in it? Thats really cheap.
Click to expand...

That was my first thought...they must not need him for much. Or he's practically giving away his support.

I have clients of 6 and under that I charge 400 bucks a month for.

There is a tremendous amount of information needed for this. In addition to stuff mentioned above...
*Condition of servers and workstations, replacement cycles, upgrades
*Status of backups, what's entailed
*Antivirus protection, probably business package, subscription renewal anniversary
*Firewall, any service contracts
*Accounting software, payroll software, familiar with it?
*Line of Business software package(s), familiar with it? Update/patch schedule?
*Microsoft licensing for the site
*How is e-mail handled
*ISP, info
*Remote users from home, remote users from the road, VPN? Portal? Expect support for these users after hours?
*Where are the users bleeding? Where do they need help the most?
*How many squeaky wheel users? In other words...out of 40 or 50 users, you may have 2 or 3 users that will make your cell phone ring every other god damned freaking minute and drive you farking nuts. Suddenly that 300 dollar contract isn't enough for 1 day of hell with just those users.

...more to follow...this was just a couple of minutes of notes.
 
*How many squeaky wheel users? In other words...out of 40 or 50 users, you may have 2 or 3 users that will make your cell phone ring every other god damned freaking minute and drive you farking nuts. Suddenly that 300 dollar contract isn't enough for 1 day of hell with just those users.
Click to expand...

What, you don't love it when they call you to ask you how to make the power button stop glowing on and off? Or, why does my mouse have a light on the bottom, its distracting me and making me go blind.
 
stiltner said:
What, you don't love it when they call you to ask you how to make the power button stop glowing on and off? Or, why does my mouse have a light on the bottom, its distracting me and making me go blind.
Click to expand...

Had a great one yesterday...girl calls..."My monitor died!. I keep hitting the button and it won't turn on".

I go there (I was driving past this client anyways heading to another)....walk up...I hit the power button on her monitor...and it comes on.
She looks at me..."Oh..what did you do?"
"Uhm...I turned it on!"
"How" she asks? I point to the power button.
She says "Oh...I was using this button"...and she points to the OSD button. :rolleyes:
She's had this same computer setup for over 2 years.

....yeah..her hair was blond
 
Are you going to be on call or working on site? If it is on site then they better be paying you a hell of a lot more than $300/month... Instead of worrying about what tools you need you should be drawing up a better contract for yourself. You need to protect yourself and your assets as well as make some decent money.

Don't go signing anything until you are satisfied with the terms and conditions of the agreement. If $300 is a base then you better be getting $ for every phone call you receive on top of that. Are they going to give you a budget account, or are you going to have purchase all parts and software on your own and charge them for it? Do you have the capital to do that? You may also have to created a proper business, LLC, pay taxes etc.

You are also taking over someone else mess, none of which is probably properly documented. You are going to spend a lot of time learning the ins and outs of their systems and habits which $300 would not cover initially. Set yourself up with 6 month contract at a higher rate then they can renegotiation after it is up depending on how things go.

Also be prepared to deal with the stupidity of others and set your limits ahead of time. I work in a similar environment, unfortunately when I first started I was too helpful, now some of the higher ups can't click a button without me holding their hand. Don't be afraid to say no when they ask you to do something that is not your responsibility or in your contract, especially if they are paying for customer support from the hardware/software vendor.

I have been at first full time IT job for 4 years and I have learned a lot, mostly how to deal with people who want you to do their job for them and a lot of people will try this, be prepared to deal with them unless you want that extra job security... Unless you are specifically contracted to train people make sure that if they have any questions that they get answered by their superiors not by you. If you continually help people you will eventually become their immediate go to for the simplest things most of which aren't your responsibility.
 
Jay_oasis said:
is no one else worried about this? The data that servers hold is key to any business there is being thrown in at the deep end but this just seems way too deep. The fact you are still in school doesn't really help, how can you do both?

If anyone thinks buying an external drive bay is the key to IT they are very much mistaken!

For me the key for any network is to learn how the data passes through it, where are the switches, where do they uplink to, what VLANS are in place, why how do they work.

I will generally throw Cacti on a machine and then during slow periods flood the network with data to see where it comes out. This helps make a network diagram of how all the switches link together etc. Never trust he previous guys Visio drawings, they are never correct!

It’s also key to find out what are the vital servers, what servers would cause the most problems if they BSoD or die. They work out if there is enough resilience and redundancy with these servers. Do they have a SQL server that is needed 24/7 but is not in any sort of cluster or fail over? Do they only have 1 PDC etc.

Next its onto security, learn how their firewall works, how it was setup and why. Do they have a lot of rules (I once walked into a 5510 with about 150 outgoing rules, it was a nightmare!) How many routes are there into the network from the outside world, where do they terminate, why are they there etc.?

Next backups, how are they run, when, are they tested, what is the rotation like, what is backed up, what isn't backed up, why is it or isn't it backed up etc

There is so much that you will need to do and in reality you have about 2 weeks to do this because after that they will load you up with work and you won't have the time.
Click to expand...


I'm going to go ahead and answer all these questions:
I go to school every other day, plenty of time.
The server here is very badly done, no redundancy nothing, the reason I didn't ask about that, is that I already understand the issues.
at $300 a month, he comes in once a month at most and does shitty work, 300 is a bad number, because he's trading services for services.
I am a full-time hourly employee
the network is extremely basic, a few switches and thats it, the only thing I'd have trouble with is the phone system.

Here's the lowdown: Servers aren't extremely important at this point, extremely basic right now. I was more asking about what kind of hardware issues I'd run into supporting an office because I've never been supporting an actual business by myself, I wasn't lost, I was verifying that I had looked at everything correctly.

Thank you all very much for your responses, you've given me a lot of stuff to think about.
 
With 30-40 users and 1 IT person, I wouldn't even be concerned about fixing hardware issues on the workstation level. Keep your systems up-to-date and in warranty and let your vendor handle any hardware issues that arise. Dell has next-day on-site warranties that are dirt cheap!

If the IT person before you wasn't doing a good job, you had better make damn-well sure you're going to do better than him or you'll end up in the same place he is -- OUT OF A JOB!

Make sure you have a good backup and disaster recovery plan in place. This should be your absolute first priority. Review the previous plan and make adjustments accordingly. Plan for the worst -- your office *could* be hit by a tornado on your first day and you'd be sunk.
 
I can make 300 a month mowing lawns for 4 hours on every other saturday.
 
Koolvin

As someone mentioned above get a bootable Linux distro. if you want it on a memory stick that's fine but you can also look at KNOPPIX. (Bootable CD)

You can expect very basic stuff like printer problems and crapped out computers. As someone pointed out earlier you'll want to check the security setup. If you have any devices plugged directly into th WAN you should try and put those behind a firewall. I used CISCO 871w's for the site i worked at. I would physically look at the ISP router and see where it plugs in. Trace the connections to get an understanding of your network. If the guy is mad he may want to retalliate.

I bought that exact External USB device as you're looking at. it was very useful.

Printer issues are usually the fuser. Maintenance kits are your friend. Don't pay some guy to come in and fix them as they're very easy to troubleshoot. If you have lines printing out on paper just check the fuser and see if it's being ripped up. The fuser has a flat soft material that tears easily. When it does you get some bad prints. If the paper is jamming check your rollers. If they feel soft/flat then they're bad. They should have texture to them. Think of it if you were turning pages on a book. You sometmies have to lick your finger. if they get dry they will do the same thing. A "little" humidity near printers resolves this. (folgers can of water)

Copier's can be difficult. Especially if you're moving them. It's best to have a support contract for these. If you have a few copiers then you can group them up to save money. I used IKON and they were charging me $65 per copier per month. I think we had a 30,000 copy limit and then we paid .006 per copy after that. Ikon charged around $500 to move a copier from 1 site to another. If you're moving it from one side of the building to the other be careful. If you jolt it it may come out of alignment. You'd have to pay a vendor to come out and adjust it. (unless you're good :) )

If you have no budjet take a look at a redundant server running linux w/ SAMBA. You can even make it an DC if you don't already have one. You can build a redudant server for pretty cheap < $1,500.

E-mail Server - I had a $0 budget for a project where I used an existing client computer Dell Dimension 3100. I installed Linux, postfix, mysql, myphp and CLAMAV. It took a while to figure out but there are step by step instructions out there to help you along.

Phone system: good luck :)

if you have any questions just send me a PM. I can give you some insight on how I handled some things when I supported a company that had about 78 users with limitted budget.

-Dill
 
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