Incoherent Babble

I was walking one of our Operations staff through the new backup procedure for our primary file server today. Since it had recently downloaded an update from our WSUS server, Windows 2000 Server was displaying the annoying “Restart Now or Restart Later” box, which it will continuously pop-up every 5 minutes until you actually restart the damn thing.

Our Operations person, who is totally computer illiterate, as ironic as that is, asked “Should I click Restart?” and moved towards the left button, to which I shouted “NO!,” unintentionally scaring her.

As I explained to her that that would take our file server down, which would prevent people from doing virtually anything (you’d be surprised how much we have that relies on that server in some small way), I began to think… What mission-critical systems am I responsible for?

Desktops
Our WSUS server is managing 53 individual employee desktops. Since we have a few scattered non-domain clients around, the real number is probably in the 55 to 65 range.

Servers
This is where it really gets messy, so I have divided them into two categories: Servers I Manage and Servers I Don’t Manage…

• Servers I Manage
  • Exchange 2000 / Active Directory Domain Controller / DNS / DHCP / WINS
  • File Server
  • WSUS Server / Norton AntiVirus Server
  • FTP Server
  • Intranet Server I
  • Quantim Repricing Server
  • Phone System Server
  • Phone Recordings Storage Server
  • eFAQ Knowledge Base Server
  • Terminal Services Server
  • Temporary SQL 2000 Server (while importing client data)
  • Novell 5 Server (kinda)
• Servers I Don’t Manage
  • Oracle Server
  • Web Server
  • Intranet Server II
  • Novell 5 Server (kinda)

If you’re wondering about the Novell server, none of us really know what we’re doing there, so we pass around the huge certification book and let anyone who wants to take a crack at the problem have some fun.

So now that we look at this list, even though - in theory - most of these servers should sit and run untouched and with a minimum of day-to-day changes and maintenance, my involvement in the company’s IT infrastructure is, unquestionably, extensive.

Now, I’ve known that for quite some time (even if no one else realizes it there). I guess I’ve just never sat and thought about it before. I’ve never considered exactly how fucked they would be if I were to leave or… you know… die. It’s not like I maintain one or two miscellaneous systems… I run virtually all of them.

I guess sometimes I just need to reassure myself that I’m useful, even if no one else seems to notice how useful…