IT Fiber

Whiteboard Wednesday - Confrence, VMWare, and more

2009-05-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

Today on the first installment of Whiteboard Wednesday, I have a bunch to say. In fact, so much that some will have to wait until next week. I went to a confrence by Tech Exec Network today for IT Executives because my boss was on a panel. I also learned a little more about VMWare (Virtual Computing)...

I was invited to the conference because my boss was on a panel of CIOs, and my boss wanted me there to take pictures. But I made a few great connections at the conference. One in particular got me so interested in VMWare ESXi that I am attempting to actually setup a box with VMWare ESXi. Unfortunately, when you install ESXi you have to understand that ESX / ESXi does not install on all systems. Once I get it working, I will post an update with the details.

Let me say a bit about what I tend to talk about in the Whiteboard Wednesday entries. Whiteboard Wednesday will be a brainstorming and/or explanation of some process that I have been working on.
-mmuras

Mobile Monday - Check your data plan

2009-05-04T14:00:00.001-05:00

Mobile Monday - Check your data plan

Today we look at a small but growing trend of cell phone customers being affected by cell phone data plan misunderstandings...

I was checking out BlackBerry Forums-as I sometimes do, and I ran across a great question about BlackBerry data plans from a user. This user effectively was asking about potential problems with cell phone providers claiming they have provided the customer with one of their unlimited data plans. Moreover, the user wanted to know how a cell phone customer can get into trouble with bandwidth overages.

I responded to user in the following way:

...Some service providers claim they have "unlimited data plans" but in reality they are actually monitoring your bandwidth very closely (I call these pseudo-unlimited data plans). Moreover, if you go past a certain threshold (say 5 GB of bandwidth) with the
service provider offering one of these "pseudo-unlimited data plans", then you
will get charged based on how much you go over that amount.
See this article -- Link --> Oops! 6 Crazy Mobile and Expensive Cell Phone Charges - ABC News
-mmuras

Although this kind of activity may shock some people, to me it is just another form of cell phone and Internet Service Providers looking for a way to get more money into their pockets.

The point is if you are not sure if you have a truly unlimited data plan, then check with your service provider before going crazy with downloads.

-mmuras

2009-05-01T13:39:00.001-05:00

Updated www.it-trenches.com/www/it-fiber added... Twitter Feed!! Not sure how much I like Twitter yet..but we will see.

A Look at My IT History - My first computer

2009-04-29T20:00:00.002-05:00

A Look at My IT History - My first computer

Today is a peek into my IT career history, this time with my family's first computer...

My family purchased our first computer when I was 10 years old. The computer was an Intel 486 DX2 with a 540 MB hard drive. The cost of the computer was more than $3000. Prior to just a few days ago, as time has gone on, I looked back on that computer purchase and thought to myself and out loud, “Wow, what a bad investment!” Now, I am finally aware of how wrong that thought truly is. Without that computer, I probably would not be where I am today as an IT Professional. That computer purchase may eventually have a return on investment that is equal to my entire college education.

-mmuras

2009-04-27T23:34:00.002-05:00

Test Post

From my BlackBerry...
-mmuras

Primary Functions of an IT Department

2009-04-18T14:00:00.009-05:00

Primary Functions of an IT Department

This entry is an overview of how an IT Department should function within the structure of a business given the Primary Functions. An example of a high level rollout process is also given for the purposes of the discussion...

The first primary function of an Information Technology Department (IT Department) is to understand and translate technology or technical information to other, technical and non-technical users. The second primary function of an IT Department is to understand how a piece of technology or technical information can be beneficial to the business. The third primary function of an IT Department is to assess risk related to technology (i.e.: backups required by the business, how long the business can operate without access to mission critical data).

As a member of an IT Department an IT employee may be partially or fully responsible for one or more of these functions. The first primary function, understanding and translating technology or technical information, can also be called IT operations. The second primary function, understanding how technology or technical information can benefit the business, can also be called innovation or research and development. The third primary function, risk assessment, can also be called disaster recovery or disaster preparedness.

If an IT Department is setup correctly, then all three primary functions are interdependent. Here is how the flow works.

First, new applications or tools (new piece of technology) must first be researched and tested by a smaller group of technical and non-technical employees (researches) to understand how the application or tool will benefit the business.

Second, the same group of researches is responsible for writing documentation for the new piece of technology (i.e.: How it is used by non-technical users, how it is supported by technical users). At the same time, the group of technical employees working on the project should also account for business impact in the case of the new technology failing in some way.

Third, the researches are then responsible for implementing the new technology.

Finally, the original group of researches must assess the post implementation impact on the business. Moreover, did the piece of technology being added improve anything or cause anything else to break or fail? And then answer the question “Does anything need to be fixed?”

Welcome to IT Fiber

2009-04-17T20:00:00.008-05:00

Welcome to IT Fiber

Our goal is to discuss all aspects of Information Technology in both technical and non-technical ways. This blog’s general audience is technical users. However, other users are welcome to ask questions because without non-technical users those of us who are technical users would most likely not have jobs...

What does IT Fiber mean? A fiber, as defined by http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Fiber, is an element that gives texture or substance. In our case an IT Fiber is anything that makes up part of Information Technology.

Entries on this blog can range from short entries made via mobile devices to long technical articles that are thought out. Entries could be all text, pictures, sound, video, or any combination of those.

Comments and criticism are always welcome since most technical users I know usually like to be right or at least have their opinion heard in some form or fashion. But when commenting on a post or when replying to another comment please follow these guidelines:

User Type: Technical / Non-Technical

Knowledge Level: Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced

Your comment content

Using these comment guidelines, technical users, please do not scorn non-technical users unless they cross the line and YES there is a line. The same goes for Knowledge Level, that is, if you are Intermediate or Advanced do not scorn Beginners (again unless they cross the line).

Disclaimer: At this time I, Matt Muras, (AKA mmuras) am the only author on this blog, and while I try to be scientific about Information Technology, I have also been know to be quite opinionated at times. Therefore, entries of this blog may sometimes have a scathing tone.