Computer/Network/IT geeks I summon you!!!!
Felsteel — Sun, 09/27/2009 - 21:58
Alright DF, I'm summoning all the computer/Networking/IT geeks to this blog.
First to say, I miss you guys a TON. Work has required my time and I had to heed the call.
For my job I have taken on the responsibility to be our small company's(around 20 people total) single Network/ Computer repair/IT/Website and E-mail admin/R&D guy along side with co starting a wholesale division. Sounds fun right?? I love it to be honest.
Anyways, aside from taking on this job, I'm learning it all as well. I have very basic knowledge at best of most of this stuff and I learn fast if given the right tools/training/guidence. Im still new to a TON of this stuff and im trying to take in as much as I can.
So what am I asking for from this you ask? I'm calling all of Downfalls brightest minds to lend me your knowledge on the above topics.
Trust worthy and viable sorces of knowledge and news.
The must know basics of any of the networking/computer repair/IT topics.
and pretty much anything that would help me basicly.
So hit me with what ya got. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :D
Note: i tried to post this as a forum, but it wouldn't let me. G if you want to move it to the right place, that would be great or guide me on how to post it in the right place would be even better.
Wow. This is awesome. Thanks!
Felsteel — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 21:27Wow. This is awesome. Thanks!
Everything you want to do
starstalker — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 13:44Everything you want to do could probably be done with a LAMP setup using any freely obtainable linux distro (I prefer fedora/redhat).
^^ a lil advanced for me.
Felsteel — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 21:39^^ a lil advanced for me.
Technet!
Desteran — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 11:35Technet! Go!
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx
But honestly...this is how I trouble-shoot. How quickly run through each step typically depends on the scope/seriousness of the issue (i.e. all users? is it a critical system?)
1) Run through your checklist of common resolutions to the problem (you will develop this overtime as you encounter similar issues).
2) Google it (dig through event logs and gather any relevant info you can)
3) Post it to a forum (Google groups or any application/vendor specific forum)
4) Create a support ticket (being a smaller company, you may or may not have a support agreement w/ some of your vendors so this may cost you)
Make backups of everything..
Agoney — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 11:06Make backups of everything.. you'll be glad you did. And be prepared to fail.. you should expect that once you set up a system it probably wont work right away or how you thought :P But thats where the fun comes in, figuring out what you did or what went wrong and coming up with the solution!
Books Books Books
Vitriola — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 11:00I have found that there is no substitute for books. Find one on a critical subject and read it through and do all the projects. Do not move to the next chapter unless you are confident that you understand the one you are on.
As you beginning on some subjects, do not disparage the "dummies" kind of books. They are very helpful.
I agree with Vit
garreth — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 13:59I agree with Vit wholeheartedly on this: I have a MASSIVE collection of books on nearly every subject I work with. The hands-on projects in most of the books are actually fun and I get a lot of "quality" time with these books while pooping. I learned jQuery entirely while on the john.
Regardless, being a techie requires and endless thirst for knowledge and a penchant of running TOWARD change rather than fearing it and shying away from the new and different. YOU NEVER STOP LEARNING as a techie. Never stop reading, never stop experimenting.
do you bring your mace with
Kwondre — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 14:27do you bring your mace with you to the john?
(I have no idea whether this post will actually go through or is spelled properly, im typing blidn)
Sites like www.digg.com are
garreth — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 10:31Sites like www.digg.com are great for amazing articles on techie stuff (in the technology section). I find that http://www.makeuseof.com/ and www.smashingmagazine.comand http://lifehacker.com/ and http://sixrevisions.com/ are all good for internet technology, coding and design. All things you'll need to do eventually.
Also, my top advice to EVERY techie getting into "this computer thing":
All of the top 3 there can be learned here: www.w3schools.com. I spend a LOT of time on this site!
IT rule #1: Google is your
Dufe — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 06:11IT rule #1: Google is your friend. If you're stuck on a problem, google it before you spend hours fuming.
Also, www.anandtech.com is a great source for hardware information. www.techrepublic.com is reasonably good for IT help. www.experts-exchange.com has a ton of really good help, but you have to buy a membership. If your company can afford it (I don't think its very expensive), it may be quite useful to you. Of course whatever you don't find answers to elsewhere quickly and easily I'm sure several of us here will try to help you with.
Google is great but don't
Olorien — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 09:29Google is great but don't forget to do the same search on their groups too, because you will find that the best leads if you do a standard search on google are links to either techrepublic or experts-exchange.
Experts exchange is awesome..
Agoney — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 07:26Experts exchange is awesome.. It's probably one of the best investments you'll make if your new to this type of thing.. Our company is paying 49.99/6 months, so its pretty cheap. You can ask pretty much any possible question and they'll have an answer for ya..
I used to wonder why the
Dufe — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 08:44I used to wonder why the experts exchange URL had the hyphen in it . . . until one day I accidently forgot to put it in and found out what else it spells.
Hahahaha, oh wow, I never
Agoney — Mon, 09/28/2009 - 11:00Hahahaha, oh wow, I never really noticed that... time to go pull a prank on someone in the office!