Friday, May 07, 2010

Another fsck up by the high dollar guys. (language warning)

This is the 3rd time in a month that the lead or the #2 have fucked something up that I've had to fix.

The first time was when the NSE was installing a full set of new LAN and WAN hardware. A new router and 2 switches, and about 75% was working right when I got there. I had to repatch ports, and re-IP 4 computers because the VLANs were all fucked up on the switches. Plus, the ITA (the lead) couldn't see one of the switches through the management program, so he couldn't do anything on it.

The second time was when the NSE went back to fix the port assignments, and didn't reverse what I had done, even though I told him exactly what I had done.

This time, the ITA and one of the other ITSTs came in early to do the "printer shuffle". They moved 4 printers around, and about 6 hours after they got them installed, they failed. Well, the printers themselves didn't fail, but all the computers pointed at them failed to print to them. First it was the public printers on the print server. The fucking HP_DIU ports that get installed when you install an HP network printer decided to take a total shit. It's not as if they didn't know it was going to happen, because it's done it before.

It's not just one printer, though. There's 2 different physical printers attached to the server between the 2 different computer areas on the 2 different floors. There's 4 different release stations, and B&W and Color sets for each release station/printer combination, making for a total of 14 different virtual printers. Yes, I know the numbers don't add up, but that's because one release station doesn't release for 1 physical printer. So that was 20 minutes wasted.

But wait, there's more. About 2 hours later the printers in the business office died. First it was the printer in the accounting pool, then it was the admin printer. After rebooting the accounting printer, they were able to print again. The reboot trick didn't work on the admin printer, so I just repointed the clients to the regular IP_ port from the HP_DIU port, and they worked.

I wish that the HP_DIU ports weren't such a complete pain in the ass. None of them ever work right, and some of the install packs put more crap on the computer than it's worth.

Of course it doesn't help the way all the networks are structured. We have to either VPN or run a Terminal Services session to access the various PeopleSoft servers on the County network because we're on a completely separate network from the rest of the county. The only things connecting our network and their network is a Gig fiber link between 2 routers with a TS server on the other end.

The big rub comes in when people want their pay stubs. The county told the Library that it would cost roughly $1 per paystub per week to have them mailed out. The Library told the county to pound sand, and we were forced to go on E-Stubs which we have to print out ourselves. There are 50 different network attached printers (and at least that many more that are directly attached to computers and shared) of at least 10 different models. We have to install at least 1 set of drivers for each of the printers on the TS server, and we have to install the specific drivers for each one of the printers on the appropriate clients. We can't use the "Universal Driver" that makes it incredibly easy to install printers.

The really wacky thing is that if the staff doesn't remember that they have to select a printer, and they just hit the print button; it prints out down the street and around the corner at Adult Probation.