It's a Network Thing... They Don't Understand...

[deanwebb]

In his fairness, he may still be stuck on SNA networks.

[Nerm]

I wish that was the case. IMO this guy only has a job because he is life long friends with the majority owner. 

[Mowery]

Ummmm....I just finished explaining how Ethernet works to a coworker that is a "senior" tech with supposedly 20+ years experience. 

We have a few of those guys here.

[FilipiNomad]

E-mail chain with the security engineer of a customer:

Me: Please send me a copy of the routing table from your ASA.
Security Engineer: The ASA is a firewall, it's not a router.
Me: Yes I understand that but I have your configs and I see that you have OSPF configured.
Security Engineer: Ok, give me a few minutes.
*I get an e-mail 10 minutes later and it contained a screenshot of the GUI showing the interfaces and description.*
Me: That just shows the interfaces.  I need you to login to the ASA via the CLI and send me the output of "show route".
*I get an e-mail with the screenshot of their entire screen which includes the routing table as well as a Google search for how to view the routing table on an ASA via CLI."

[Reggle]

Being professional: how not to do it.

[Nerm]

E-mail chain with the security engineer of a customer:

Me: Please send me a copy of the routing table from your ASA.
Security Engineer: The ASA is a firewall, it's not a router.
Me: Yes I understand that but I have your configs and I see that you have OSPF configured.
Security Engineer: Ok, give me a few minutes.
*I get an e-mail 10 minutes later and it contained a screenshot of the GUI showing the interfaces and description.*
Me: That just shows the interfaces.  I need you to login to the ASA via the CLI and send me the output of "show route".
*I get an e-mail with the screenshot of their entire screen which includes the routing table as well as a Google search for how to view the routing table on an ASA via CLI."

Wow! Sadly at this point I give the guy props just for googling how to do it lol.

[deanwebb]

Wowwww... there's an art to screenshotting that that guy has yet to master... People WILL read the tabs and minimized window titles, inspect desktop icons, systray icons, etc.

[Ironman]

Had a guy a few weeks ago come in and he kept mentioning things about something he called the "CLEE" turns out he was referring to the CLI!!!! WTF?

[deanwebb]

I'm from back in the day... I just call it "opening up a command prompt".

[Nerm]

Recently had a meeting with a new client that has 10+ locations. I was called in for network performance issues. Found that these 10+ locations are all VPN back to their HQ which houses their only server doing AD, file sharing, application hosting, etc for all locations. And the single WAN at the HQ is a 10Mb/1Mb SOHO grade connection. The kicker is when I present my findings to them they say their last IT service provider told them when they set all this up several years ago that 1Mb up was all they would ever need.

I am beginning to wonder which is worse; the incompetence in small companies or the bureaucracy in large companies? 

[deanwebb]

I am beginning to wonder which is worse; the incompetence in small companies or the bureaucracy in large companies? 

You left out the delicate blend of the two to be found in the midsize companies.

[that1guy15]

I am beginning to wonder which is worse; the incompetence in small companies or the bureaucracy in large companies? 

You left out the delicate blend of the two to be found in the midsize companies.

Double Bonus-points for me! I work for a medium sized hospital with about 25 remote clinics all ran independently (outside IT) and we are now part of a large heath system with 5-8 other hospitals. I get the hell that is all three...

[Nerm]

I am beginning to wonder which is worse; the incompetence in small companies or the bureaucracy in large companies? 

You left out the delicate blend of the two to be found in the midsize companies.

Double Bonus-points for me! I work for a medium sized hospital with about 25 remote clinics all ran independently (outside IT) and we are now part of a large heath system with 5-8 other hospitals. I get the hell that is all three...

Eeeek! I do not envy you at all lol.

[Nerm]

Sat in on a meeting with a client the other day planning a wireless project we were doing for them. We were going over the proposed AP placement based on a survey I had done the week before. The VP of the client asks why we need more than a "couple" AP's for a 160,000sq foot facility. It is a rectangular shaped factory and the VP wants to just install 3 AP's down the middle of the plant to save money. I explain to him that for one they need more AP's just for coverage of a facility that large and point out my coverage findings from my survey. I then tell him that besides just the coverage they would need more than 3 AP's just for load-balancing of users alone. He turns and asks why we need to load-balance when they will only have 10-15 people using wireless at any given time.



I was like this is a 160,000sq foot facility, you have over 200 employees, and you expect only 10-15 people will use the wireless at a time? 

[deanwebb]

"Why can't you just get one AP and crank it all the way up?"