[Info-vax] How do I make zip, unzip etc. available to all users?

[Kerry Main]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Info-vax [mailto:info-vax-bounces at info-vax.com] On Behalf Of
> David Froble via Info-vax
> Sent: 07-Jan-16 4:46 PM
> To: info-vax at info-vax.com
> Cc: David Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com>
> Subject: Re: [New Info-vax] How do I make zip, unzip etc. available to all
> users?
> 
> Kerry Main wrote:
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Info-vax [mailto:info-vax-bounces at info-vax.com] On Behalf Of
> >> Stephen Hoffman via Info-vax
> >> Sent: 07-Jan-16 2:28 PM
> >> To: info-vax at info-vax.com
> >> Cc: Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid>
> >> Subject: Re: [New Info-vax] How do I make zip, unzip etc. available to
> all
> >> users?
> >>
> >> On 2016-01-07 18:52:21 +0000, Kerry Main said:
> >>
> >>> Good luck ..
> >> You of all people should be clamoring about this, because otherwise
> >> Stark Gaming owns this whole mass-deployment mess.
> >>
> > Multi-platform, multi-vendor config management in the DC was a mess
> > when I started at DEC carrying a tool case fixing PDP8's.
> >
> > The sad state of affairs is that it has not gotten any better even today.
> >
> > Config mgmt. and integration with the service desk will be one of the
> focus
> > areas for our solution.
> 
> You then need to contact a young lady in Montreal named Denise Gore.
> After I
> mentioned what a disaster plan should be, she went to work.  When I
> read the
> finished document, I was very highly impressed.  No, extremely
> impressed.
> Actually, I felt a bit incompetent.  She produced a document, designed to
> be
> updated as required, that specified every step to totally re-build the IT
> system.  Including copies of license PAKs, names of software and
> versions, and
> phone numbers of who to call at every step along the way.  What HW
> was required,
> and not just the computers,  but comm gear, and everything else.  She
> also kept
> the document up to date.
> 

That's excellent, but sites like this are very much the exception.

I have done DC migrations in many large org's who, because of their size
and perceived mission criticality (banks, hospitals, utilities), one would 
think they have excellent mgmt. of their IT resources. Wrong. I have not
had one site yet that did not have significant deficiencies in their IT 
config mgmt.  

Biggest issue is that the IT OPS, Application, Contracts BCP and Help Desk 
groups all own a component of the config mgmt. solution but very seldom 
do any of them even talk to each other.

> I'm sure there are other organizations that do the same.  My fears are
> that too
> many don't.

DR planning is like planning insurance - you may not need It, but if you 
do, it becomes really important. However, when things are going well,
it's tough to convince BU's to spend significant $'s preparing for things
that may never be required.

Semi-related to this:
It's one thing to have a disaster recovery plan. It's totally a different issue
to ensure it is tested on a regular basis. Most companies will only test their
mission critical apps fail-over and even then only in a very limited manner.
Getting time to plan, execute and review a full DR test takes significant
effort and usually, down time. Companies just do not have the resources
and willingness to do this.

Unfortunately, it is only when a significant event occurs that they discover
that all of those small "feeder" apps are more critical to the mission critical 
apps than they thought previously.

Imho, a properly architected solution with an active-active Tier3 sites 
design does not need a DR plan or regular testing because each site offers
primary/backup services for the other site and the primary/backup role 
for each service flips on a semi-regular basis (quarterly, bi-annual?). 
Even better, each service is load balanced across both sites.

For those sites that need protection from a really big event taking out 
2 local sites within 100km, you have a 3rd passive site for only the really
critical stuff. Obviously, an A-A-P design is more expensive but might be
required for heavy impact environments. See insurance note above.

Btw, contrary to popular belief, most big banks, medical and other high
profile type Cust's are more worried today about pandemic events 
(SARS etc) than they are about fire, water, storms etc. 

It's also why a properly run DC does not allow DC tours by non-essential 
visitors or staff. All it takes is one contaminated resource to walk through 
and that's It - DC and the entire building could be off-limits for EVERYONE 
for an extended period. This means a system crash or HW or AC failure 
cannot have someone go on site to fix - better have good remote mgmt. 
capabilities. Guys in white suits are backed with folks with big guns and
IT maint is way down the list (ok, near bottom) of their priorities.

And in case anyone thinks this is pie-in-the-sky alarmist propaganda,
check out what happened to HP in Toronto during their SARS incident:

http://www.cnet.com/news/sars-sends-hp-workers-home-in-canada/

Regards,

Kerry Main
Kerry dot main at starkgaming dot com