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Just a friendly reminder ... today, Thursday May 1st, 2pm Eastern ... live interactive podcast ... be there!
Get deets on how to participate at http://www.churchITpodcast.com
No formal topics on the table ... Got questions to ask? Got a topic to discuss? Bring 'em!
Here's my Google Reader stats for the past 30 days. Can you tell I've not been reading blogs? Life has just been busy of late, but over the weekend I blocked out some time and plowed through almost 1200 posts ... there's still a boat load I've not read, but I at least knocked out my top feeds. At least now I feel a little more back 'in da loop'
The bar keeps getting raised by auto manufactures. It wasn't that long ago that 200mph was uber exotic supercar territory ... and now you'll soon be able to walk into a Chevy dealer and get an American made 2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1 off the showroom floor and push it OVER 200mph! [assuming you can find a stretch of asphalt long enough to do so legally]
638 HP and 604 ft-lb Torque ... OH MY sweetness!
Here the GM video clip of the 205mph run ... watch the digital speedo climb effortlessly from 100mph ... drool!
Tasty features coming for EqualLogic users! I've been under NDA on this, but it's now free to air news :-)
Round Rock, Texas, April 28, 2008
Others related links:
Want more info on EqualLogic Storage? Contact VR6 Systems 
I'm starting a new project that I've been wanting to pursue for a few years ... an overall IT power consumption and cost analysis. Yes, I'm a sick puppy. Why start it now? Well, the main reason is we're heading into budget cuts and I'm wondering what kind of cost savings we'd see by powering down PC's overnight. Yes, this causes patch management headaches, but perhaps the pain is worth the gain? I can't truly say either way without supporting data.
Of course the end user PC's are just one part of the power consumption equation. I want to measure everything ... switches, servers, APs, SANs, etc ... if it belongs to IT I want to measure it and in the end have a pretty comprehensive report on what it costs to power IT at GCC. A side benefit from this will be having some data to estimate how much we've saved by virtualizing servers and storage in the past 2 years. Bonus!
I did a little googling tonight and this Kill-A-Watt monitor looks like a cost effective tool to get most of the data I'll need. About the only devices at GCC they won't work on are our UPS units as the Kill-A-Watt maxes out at 15A.
I did a similar study 6-7 years ago at my prior employer with the school's PC's. I don't recall the $ amounts, but in the end we did shut down the computers during the weekends. Anyone else done an IT Power analysis for your organization? What did you discover?
The winner from our biggest loser contest has finally blogged a little about his weight loss routine ... check out Matthew's before and after shots ... he looks like a different dude! :-) Since starting the contest he's down almost 60lbs! Wow!
I blogged a few months ago about Postini's new 66% discount for non-profits ... which is a HUGE discount over the prices I've paid in the past 3 years. Initially it was difficult to get any info from Postini about the new pricing and so most of us just waited for someone else to make the first plunge.
Today was that day for me. Our Postini contract was ending so I shot an email to my Postini rep to get the scoop. It actually took him a bit of time to get the correct pricing, so I assume this is still somewhat new for the reps.
In the end here's what I learned:
Yup, I signed the paperwork this afternoon. So I've saved $1156, got 57 more user slots, got 1 year of offsite email retention/archival, and now our end users can view/search their own email archives online ... rockin! Our email DR/HA just shot up big time!
If you've not looked into Postini as your email anti-spam/anti-virus/DR solution you really really should. The price is right and it's been one of the best technology decisions I've made in the past 3 years :-)
Read my prior Postini reviews
A couple people have asked about the specs on our whitebox Intel servers after the various webinars and presentations Ed and I have done. It's been almost a year so I'd forgotten the exact specs myself ... a quick dig through my email and here's the dope...
But first here's the back story on these boxes. Over a year ago we built 2 of these Intel workstations for video editing work running XP 64bit ... I think 1 box had 4GB ram and the other had 2GB and just a single processor. After several months of fighting strange 64bit driver issues I yanked these boxes from production and bought 2 Dell Precision workstations for our guys. This left us with 2 identical Intel boxes with lots of grunt. Oddly enough it's about this time we were maxing out our aged servers with all the VM's we were placing on them. So we loaded up each Intel box with 16GB ram and added a proc so they were both dual dual-core boxes ... the hope was that these would make great VMware Server host servers. To take advantage of all the ram we bought Server 2003 64bit as the host OS.
Here are the specs:
- Intel Server Chassis SC5299WS - Tower - 6U - dual 670 Watt PS - black
- Intel Workstation Board S5000XVN - LGA771 Socket - IDE/Serial ATA-300 (RAID)
- Processor - 2 x Intel Dual-Core Xeon 5150 / 2.66 GHz - LGA771 Socket - L2 4 MB ( 2 x 2 MB )
- Kingston ValueRAM - Memory - 4 x 4 GB ( 16GB total ) - FB-DIMM - DDR II - 667 MHz - CL5 - 1.8 V - fully buffered - ECC
- Western Digital WD2500YS - 2 x 250 GB - 16MB buffer - 7200 rpm - RAID 1
~ $4400 each (with today's RAM prices these would cost significantly less)
One of the boxes had a goofy mobo so we got that replaced and since then these 2 have been solid workhorses for us. Would I purposely build a whitebox server if given the choice? Hmm, that's a tough call ... pros/cons on both sides ... that'll make a good future post. Next time we need new server gear we'll look at Intel, HP and Dell.
These 2 servers drive almost all our production needs ... and all our VM's live on the 2 EqualLogic PS100E's (pictured above the servers). We've been running the free VMware Server offering for over 2 years now and it's it's been a rock. We may someday upgrade to VI3/ESX, but so far the free product has worked so well it's hard to justify paying for anything :-)
I hope this turns into a great resource. I'm often jealous of those of you that live in/near big cities with access to all sorts of kewl active user groups. If you're in northern Indiana and using or wanting to learn about VMware get your butt to this meeting :-)
Northern Indiana Area VMware User Group
Meeting Invitation
Please join us for the upcoming Northern Indiana Area VMware User Group meeting on May 8.
Please join an innovative group of VMware users at the Teachers Credit Union to network, share ideas and learn how to get the most out of your VMware solutions.
This is a great opportunity to meet with your Northern Indiana Area based peers to discuss virtualization trends, best practices and the latest technology.
Agenda
-
Welcome / Introductions-
VMware Implementation, Branden Beachy (Coachmen)-
Planning for Future Meetings
(meeting time & frequency, location, sponsorship, setting your agenda, vendor involvement)Note: Dinner will be provided.
Register today to join us for this informative event. Space is limited, so respond as soon as possible to reserve your seat.
May 8, 2008
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location:
Teachers Credit Union
110 S. Main Street
Executive Board Room and Lounge
South Bend, IN 46601
see online directions
Sponsored by
The VMware User Group (VMUG) program is designed to encourage and support communities of VMware users who want to hold regular meetings in their local area. The purpose of these gatherings is to provide a forum in which VMware users can share best practices and expertise, and VMware can in turn obtain feedback from the user community.
VMware User Groups are made up of independent communities of VMware users who get together to exchange ideas and information. There are many benefits to participating in a VMware User Group:
- Learn best practices and optimal use of VMware products
- Get answers, advice, tips, and suggestions from experts
- Discover new ideas and gain insight about Virtual Infrastructure
- Receive special information about new VMware products
- Participate in early access Beta programs
- Network with other technical professionals in your area
- Be part of the leading edge of VMware users
In addition VMware provides direct support and assistance to Affiliated VMware User Groups.
Check out www.vmware.com/vmug for meeting announcements and your local discussion forum.
For anyone interested here's the testimony I delivered on July 27, 2003 to my former church about our God sized story which lead us to Granger, IN and into church ministry. I probably read over this once a year when seeds of doubt try to creep into my mind ... it's a great reminder to me about how great a God we serve and why I'm at GCC. Perhaps my story will be an encouragement for others so here it is ...
Kenosha Bible Church, Kenosha, WI - July 27, 2003 - "Generally it takes about 30mins for the full version of this story, but they told me to chop it down so you’re going to get the condensed Readers Digest version.
If you had asked me just 3 months ago what I’d be doing this summer the answer would have been something like: working my contracted 30 summer days, spend a week or so in IN at both parents, some house work, maybe go away from our 10 year anniversary…in other words nothing really out of the ordinary.
But as it turns out God had a different plan in mind
Instead
• I’ve quit my job which I loved (IT Director, Zion-Benton Township HS District 126, Zion, IL)
• we’re moving to Granger, IN next weekend
• and I going to be working in of all places...a church!
OK…so what caused this sudden MAJOR shift in our lives?!
It may sound silly, but God used the book If You Want To Walk On Water, You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat to play a major role.
God used this book to force me to re-eval my life, my purpose, my goals. I think it should come with a big warning sticker…”Warning: contents my change your life! Proceed with Caution!”
Back in Feb our small group started studying this book and it wasn’t until Chapter 4 pg 79 that God decided to majorly speak to me. The author writes...
Is there any challenge in your life right now that is large enough that you have NO hope of doing it apart from God’s help? If not, consider the possibility that you are seriously underchallenged.
The words YOU ARE SERIOUSLY UNDERCHALLENGED kept echoing in my head for days … I prayed that God would challenge me in ways that would force me to rely on Him.
AND HE promptly complied to my request in lots of ways, but here comes the fun stuff…
The weekend before Spring Break I was informed that the Penn-Harris-Madison School System CIO (Chief Information Officer) position was opening in Granger, IN…a really sweet position that would be a huge step up in salary and responsibility…and get us closer to our parents. I REALLY wanted this position so I spent my entire spring break crafting a sweet resume.
The next week I got an email from Rob, one of my best friends back in college, who’s one of the pastors at Granger Community Church in Granger, IN…yes the same city as the school job! He said their computer guy was leaving and thought I should send in a resume. I didn’t give it much thought as I wasn’t looking for a hard-core tech position and after all how much could the church possibly pay. Thoughts of driving a barely running beater car and living in a run down trailer came to mind.
After I submitted my resume for the school job, Rob called again about the church job. He explained that they were changing the position into a more administrative position and thought I should seriously check it out.
Since I wanted to be faithful to ANY doors God opened, I went ahead and submitted my resume…still thinking that nothing would probably come of it.
I then got a call from my close IT Director peer at Lake Forest High School (Lake Forest, IL)… his wife was getting transferred and wanted me to take his position! This would be a big bump in salary, but up my commute time considerably.
At this point I said, OK God…what are you up to?
I like my current job and have not been actively looking for something new…now 3 possibilities have been brought to my attention? Help…I need guidance here!
After pondering and prayer I did not pursue the LFHS position…the salary bump would be nice, but nothing else about it seemed to speak to me.
The church called me when they got my resume and I did an hour and a half phone interview with Tony, the pastor of Administration. During the conversation I started feeling that this could actually be where God wanted me. Then as the conversation drew to a close Tony said, so should we continue this dialogue if I tell you that we could not pay you close to what you’re making now? DOH! Why did he have to say that! Sigh. I told him that if this is truly where God wants me then we are prepared to make some sacrifices.
3 weeks went by before we could coordinate an interview at the church. During this time Kim and I were praying hard and asking others to pray that God were show us clearly where he wanted us. Perhaps we’re supposed to stay here in WI…but we wanted to be open and ready for his calling.
I still very much wanted the CIO job, which during this time I learned that 270 applications had been received and they ended up choosing someone with tons more experience than I had.
So 2 possibilities down…one to go.
The interview at the church went very well…and afterwards both Kim and I felt like this was where God seemed to be leading us. There was still no salary discussion, which gave us a very uneasy feeling, but we prayed that money would not be a stumbling block.
We wrote out a list of the pros and cons about potentially making this move. We prayed specifically for each of the things on the list that made us frankly scared…money was one of the biggest concerns. We did some number crunching and came up with a bottom line salary figure we felt we would need to allow Kim to stay at home and keep us in good shape. We wrote this number down on a piece of paper and prayed.
The night before our second visit to the church we received the church’s offer. Guess what the salary was? The exact number I had written down on the paper!
The second visit to the church really firmed up any doubts I had that this is where God wanted us. We had prayed God would show us …and he did!
I sent my acceptance letter on June 12th with a start date of July 31st. We were still a bit scared about all the unknowns yet to come, but we trusted that God, the creator of the universe, would take care of us.
We quickly prepped our house for sale…we just moved into it last September! We decided to try the FSBO route at the encouragement of a real estate agent friend who also suggested we set the price considerably above what we were thinking. We put our sign in the yard on a Saturday and that Wednesday we had a serious showing and by Saturday it was sold! AND the buyers needed in buy August 1st which is exactly when we needed out!
We were TOTALLY blown away…not only did God give us a fast sale, but he gave us way more money than we were expecting for having not lived there for even a year!
I could picture God smiling and saying, put your trust in me and watch what happens.
That same Saturday we headed for Granger to look at homes for 3 days. We again put our trust in God and prayed that he would reveal the house we should buy. We ended up getting a great house for way under what we should have paid all things considered and it was vacant so closing was not an issue…and we even got their riding lawnmower! Woohoo!
The next day at work my boss calls a meeting to plan out my last days. As we review my contract and past years work, we determine that contractually my last day of work was the last day of school which was May 30th...and everything I had worked up to now was just extra money above my contract salary! Woohoo!
Another total blessing! We gave our financial fears to the Lord and he SOOO blessed us…home sale, home purchase, extra $$!!!
And to put icing on the cake, our 5 year old who previously said many times very firmly that he would not move, last Sunday said he was ready to move and make new friends.
Is God the coolest or what!
Before my God was big…but now he’s HUGE…my God is SOOO big!
How big is your God?
God loves us SOOOO MUCH…all we have to do is put our trust in Him…and then he promises he will rock our world!
So I leave you with this:
Is there any challenge in your life right now that is large enough that you have NO hope of doing it apart from God’s help? If not, consider the possibility that you are seriously underchallenged.
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