LAN Upgrade, Phase 1

I have compelted Phase 1 of the LAN Upgrade project. For those of you who don’t know [which would be most], I have come up with a plan to update the hardware and software of my home LAN [by LAN, I’m loosly referring to computers, networking equipment, and other accessories] in order to bring it into the next generation of technologies.

The Phased Approach

For Phase 1, I upgraded all my wired machines to 1GB from 100MB [this was a network upgrade for those of you who aren’t familiar with technologies – 10x faster than before]. That included a new GB switch to replace my old, reliable Netgear, new GB network cards for two of my machines, and a new KVM [again: for those that don’t know, this device allows me to use one keyboard, monitor and mouse to controll up to 8 machines at once]. I know, the KVM isn’t “network” gear, but it’s part of the overall purpose for this upgrade. My old KVM was putting not-so-faint lines on the screen and was interfereing with digital photo editing and generally giving me a bad picture.

And that brings us around to the core reason for the total upgrade: Digital Photography. I am running out of file storage space on my current server and was looking for a way to make the entire LAN more capable. Phase 1 was networking capacity and usability – it’ll be much quicker to access that file store now. Phase 2 will be a new file server – but one made with current technologies, not one that is a year or so behind. It will have about 1.2 TB of storage. That’s Tera Bytes… 1000 Giga Bytes, 1,000,000 MB, … you get the picture. Lots of space. This server will be built on a dual core x64 processor. Phase 3 will add a second dual-core processor and lots more RAM. I will then move the email processing to that box and re-task the current email server.

Yep, it will be lots of fun! Cost? Well, let’s just say that there’s a financial reason for the phased approach. Phase 1 was fairly inexpensive, but I’ll have to save a bit for Phase 2. Phase 3 might be far out enoug that the extra processor will be much ceaper than it is now.

Does It Ever Stop Raining Here?

This week, I’ve been in Seattle, Washington for an anual internal Microsoft training event. It’s been quite informative, but there are some things I don’t like… Such as the fact that I haven’t seen the sky for a week; nor the sun. It’s been overcast and rainy all week long and I have been inside a convention center during most of the daylight hours, anyway.

It’s not all bad, though. I’m learning a few cool things about newer Microsoft technologies and passing a few exams to update my certifications.

I just know that I’ve been here too long and want to go home to be with Laura. I miss her!

Last Work Day

Today is my last work day of the year. I have holidays and vacation until January and so this day is my last day. I like that… I’ll be spending all my free time with my wife. I like that better. I will be using my vacation time to finally straighten things up around my office, and maybe hang some pictures up that have been waiting…

And, of course, to sleep late.

I Must Be Insane

I must not have been paying attention to the weather. But when I left the house on the motorcycle, the temperature on the bike said “24”. Hmmm… Did I stop and circle the block and go pick up the car? No – like a mad-man, I continued. I rode on and on for about an hour until I finally reached my destination in the mountains of Western Virginia. It was 14 degrees. I think.

It was so cold, that my motorcycle thermometer gave up displaying the temperature. The last one I saw was 15 degrees before it went to “- -“. I guess Honda figured that only idiots would ride in weather that cold so they didn’t allow the thermometer to read that low.

So, now that I’m here, I don’t want to leave – it’s too cold out there. Maybe it will warm up by 3pm enough for me to ride home…

Winter Ick

I’ve been under the weather today. Seems I have to have at least one Winter sick day every year. So, I spent the day trying to “rest up” and get better. Of course, it’s really cold outside and probably will be all winter long.

I was hoping that riding the motorcycle to work so much in the cold would toughen me up, but I guess it hasn’t worked like I’d hoped. Of course, I seem to get rid of the symptoms when I go outside in the cold – it could be the whole “inside” atmosphere that gets to me. When it gets back into the high 30s in the mornings or higher, I think I can ride again. Otherwise, my fingers will fall off.

And then, there’s that whole ice thing…

4 City Mileage Run

Since I have not been travelling much with my new job, I have not been earning miles. So, in order to “preserve” my Continental Platinum Elite status for one more year, I needed to earn 5,210 miles. I just did that Saturday. I found a cheap flight and flew from DC to Houston to San Francisco to Newark and back to DC. Long day that was – especially when the first flight out left at 6:00am.

When I left the house that morning at 4:30am, it was cold. Not just chilly, nor freezing, but bone-chilling, finger-blackening cold. Well, for a displaced Houston boy at least. It was 18 degrees at the coldest point I saw and almost had to pull over the bike to put my hands on the engine to warm them up.

But, all ended up well with me getting to the airport on time and with all extremeties intact. I got upgraded on all possible segments as well – that is ALWAYS welcome.

So – I’m going to be Platinum at least one more year… I’ll lose it next, though.

Back To Work

2012-01-08 23:29:23

It seems like I’ve been away for so long, that I got used to being home. I was dreading the fact that I’d have to work a WHOLE WEEK this week. Funny how it only takes a little slip to convince you that what you normally do is way too arduous.

So, i’m back at work after a great Thanksgiving weekend. I actually got some rest, fixed some things on the web site and did some yard work [of course, there’s still more of THAT to be done before the next snow].

The rain has stopped and it’s bright and sunny outside. Of course, that means that it’s just plain COLD outside now. Luckilly, I have a new fleece under-jacket to wear under my leather for extra warmth as well as some glove liners. Now, all I need is warmer boots… and heated hand grips… and a heated seat… that’s all.

But, when the snow comes, and I mean REALLY comes down, I may have to steal Laura’s car. I haven’t yet tried to ride below freezing, although I came close a couple of weeks ago. It was … uncomfortable. Brrr.

And I love every minute of it.

Happy White Thanksgiving!

When we wake up in the morning, we will look out our windows and see that white flakes of frozen water have fallen from the sky and smothered the nearby plants. Yes, you heard me right: snow. Snow now? In November? Where do we live, Montana? Nope. Virginia. Not usually known for its harsh winters, this first snow of the year is unusually early. This doesn’t usually happen in fall, but more towards the middle of winter. Last year, I don’t remember snow until January.

Maybe it’s getting cooler around here – like a Little Ice Age.

So much for Global Warming, eh?

Happy [White] Thanksgiving!