Chris's Wiki :: blog/sysadmin/AutomationCostsII Commentshttps://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/AutomationCostsII?atomcommentsDWiki2008-06-02T20:40:26ZRecent comments in Chris's Wiki :: blog/sysadmin/AutomationCostsII.From 207.96.182.162 on /blog/sysadmin/AutomationCostsIItag:CSpace:blog/sysadmin/AutomationCostsII:e431f2b98915134337c8d442d8c70f369ba03b3dFrom 207.96.182.162<div class="wikitext"><p>I might be the special case that proves the rule: the frustrated programmer who's working as a sysadmin.</p>
<p>Everywhere I got a programmer job, the local sysadmins were pretty bad, and so people would come to me to fix things, repair infrastructure, show them how to use Microsoft Outlook... eventually I threw in the towel and started applying for syadmin jobs. Actually easier to get jobs, since I don't have to show a certificate in Java development from "no no, we don't recognize that institute, only the OTHER institute" and more years experience than the language has been in existence.</p>
<p>I find myself automating things for two major reasons:</p>
<ul><li>the developer team built something that is making my pager go off. I could either phone them, and impotently try to cajole them into fixing it, or I can fix it myself, document the fix, and check it into their code repository so that I won't get paged for it ever again.</li>
<li>management has thrust upon me some tool they read about in a magazine. It cost $$$, and it's meant to solve EVERY problem in a domain (makes for a wider market niche for sale), but it doesn't solve ANY problem well, and may not even fit our own needs. I find myself either writing code to fill in the cracks, or to provide a GUI interface to a synthesis of tools (some $$$, some free and open) that do cover all the company's needs.</li>
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<p>Case in point: Last week, I could've spent four days trying to fix a web-based file sharing tool, legacy product purchased $$ by the last sysadmin, but instead I spent four hours writing something that was feature-for-feature compatible, and used apache's mod_auth so it could be tied into LDAP or RADIUS someday.</p>
<p>Counterexample: We used to spent about four manhours a week tuning our spam filters with spamassassin. Now we buy spam-filtering from a third party, and get the same success rate. Cheap at twice the price.</p>
<p>Some automation is expensive, but not all.</p>
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--Mozai, moc.iazom@sesom
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</div>2008-06-02T20:40:26ZFrom 75.73.34.215 on /blog/sysadmin/AutomationCostsIItag:CSpace:blog/sysadmin/AutomationCostsII:bc5e91274d0f16010a7a9b3de8a8e7034826a5b3From 75.73.34.215<div class="wikitext"><p>Consider though, the advantages to custom written sysadmin tools. They do exactly what we want, when we want it. </p>
<p>I've yet to see a commercial tool do much more than 80% of what I want. </p>
<p>--Mike</p>
</div>2008-05-11T13:17:35Z