I know with only 30 end users getting the funds to do this can be a challenge....It was for use (local council) until literally every time our HVAC systems would draw extra because of heat or cold, the whole phase would trip out...Thus we would have a mad panic to the DC to shutdown servers manually! Finally got a electrician (big hint here, get one familiar with Datacentres!) who looked at all three phases of power coming into our building. The first thing that we did (after a facepalm of the original setup) was to load balance ALL the power coming in, and moved the Datacentre power to a different phase than the HVAC - a no brainer, but no one before me really had thought of this! The second phase of what we did, was to run our own 3 phases right from the main switchboard into the Datacentre with the main breakers in the Datacentre, then a couple of sub-panels.We now have our Datacentre with a North/South power distribution feeding two Liebert UPS's that in turn, feed PDU's. So if we loose one phase, things will "scream" and email off alerts - but things will stay up. We still (because of the age of our first UPS) need a physical server connected to the UPS via serial, but the newer one has a web card in it. I have a script that if both UPS end up on battery mode, a graceful suspend of the VM's starts, with our exchange and DC's being the last to suspend. We happen to be a Windows shop, with a HP C7000 blade enclosure that is our VMware farm, connected to HP EVA 4100 which the two SAN switches have up to 96 hours of write cache. The other thing that I am looking at on its own small UPS is a MikroTik 411u with a prepaid 3G to give us independent source of SMS's. There is little point of having a SMS server that is going to be shutdown because it is on UPS. The key thing to remember about UPS (as far as I am concerned) - is that they are not a replacement for mains power. The suggestions for a generator are interesting given the fact that you only have 30 end users, the expense, maintenance of them would make them cost prohibitive tive in your environment. But 30 minutes to bring up a DC?

I totally agree with the above. Sadly, the ONLY piece of Cisco Kit that we have is 5000 Series ASA - that our ISP manages for us (as part of our services from them) that we only use as a VPN concentrator. Licensing is, well, confusing to say the least...paying annual maintenance on it, DOES NOT allow you to get upgrades to firmware or the propitiatory Cisco VPN client (no x64 Windows 7 client yet - if ever!!!). Network is fully equipped with HP Procurve Switches, which not only have a lifetime warranty, but firmware upgrades at no extra levels of support. Our core router is an http://routerboard.com/pricelist.php?showProduct=57 which (and we sadly have static routing - but that is another story) I have just started at looking at the whole potential of it after a year in service.

+1 Probably a reason why I will never drink the Apple Kool-Aid.

I love that quote - so much so I "borrowed" it for my email sig.... WHOM do I send money to? You, or /. or my local ISP?

+100 for that, it is even worse for me as I work for local government - where policy has to be written for common sense...

I couldn't agree more! Though we don't use PeopleSoft, our major corporate software does *at random* change the default email program to Outlook Express, from Office Outlook! Migrating to IE7 was a huge PITA - because of the fact that the developers of said software insist that we run IE with a stupidly low security - thankfully it is just on "trusted sites" inside our network. Re-image? Yeah, well that is always easier said than done - we STILL have people that run "highly critical" SpreadSheets on their desktops - "Because it is easier.", They learn right smart after the said SpreadSheet corrupts or they blow away data from it, that we can't recover it from a back up - Because we don't back up PC's! (rant) SmallFurryCreature - "Lets face it, most of us here are probably a bit more clueed in then some MSCE drone who thinks unix is something they did to men in harems." As far as that statement goes - I have to disagree with the general tone that Unix/Linux admins seem to paint MS Admins with. I am yes a MS Desktop/Network admin (sorry no paperwork, I can't justify spending the money on exams), but I also know my way around *nix as well as we have several *nix based servers under our control as well. VMware is just one example of this. The thing that probably separates me from calling my self a *Nix admin, is that I have a little knowledge of how the thing works - And I know it, after all a little knowledge is a dangerous thing! But that being said, if there is an issue with our *Nix servers, I tend to do some research regarding the issue, because no doubt other people have run into the same thing. But not knowing the command line in MS - yes, then trying to do everything via GUI is just a unenlightened MS Admin. I tend to try and deploy packages via our Altiris server via .cmd file. (/rant)

Even funnier is the http://www.arrangebypenis.com/ for Windows users.....

This is a $$ solution, but we have been using Altiris Deployment server for a number of years (yes, it is a sad fact that they are owned by Symantec now....) But via Altiris, one can track EVERYTHING on a PC - MAC Address, IP Address, Serial #, Make, Model, Software and Patches installed. Works on MS, MAC and Linux. Simple Excel SpreadSheet plugin to the DB gets you a "quick and dirty" report.

We run a EDMS system for our local council here - doesn't matter about the filename, it is how it is all indexed. Too many people here are thinking that you need to re-name EVERY document. I don't have any experience with Hummingbird, but what about HP's TRIM software? Yes $$$$, but it also has a WEB GUI interface. Just a thought.

Based on what we have paid for a very basic ASA 5510, I shudder to think what the support costs are! And to paraphrase other people, we have a HP cClass Blade system, that has proven to be very reliable and econmical. Did I mention that we are an HP shop? Replaced all of our 3Com switches with ProCurves, for 1/5th the cost - all with lifetime warranty and software/firmware updates as needed - all for NO ANNUAL FEE!

Hmmm...Interesting - but why only on Urinals? Why not in the stalls in BOTH sexes of restrooms? Either way, this confirms that I don't really want to make the US as a destination when I make trips from Australia to Canada...

This is an ongoing question. I was forced to explain the reason for going to XP (migration done this year!) from 2000. Since migrating, I think we have only had one or two BSOD's - and a quick BIOS upgrade fixed that (we are an HP shop, BTW). Sure I mean there was no real technical reason to upgrade, as most of our users use apps and not the OS features anyways. But I am convinced that but not upgrading, you end up like we did - an old OS trying to run on modern hardware, which was becoming a support nightmare trying to explain why their PC would BSOD three or four times a day. We going to Vista? Not a chance - but I am running Win 7 on a test PC, and have started loading in our corporate applications - and as such all working as expected. Though I have noticed that everything SEEMS to be running quicker on 7 vs XP. Keep in mind, I am running it on a very stock standard HP 7600 (Pentium D705, 2GB Ram - 80Gb HD) - aside from the Areo interface (which I doubt we would have anyways) everything else is working just dandy.