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Are Windows servers easy to learn? - Page 3

post #21 of 34
11/9/12 at 11:38am
The business environment is where computers are at their most interesting, in my view anyway. There's nothing I love more than hand crafting some new GPO or OS deployment and having it work flawlessly. Ahhhhh.

Still, a man's got to know his limitations.
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post #22 of 34
11/9/12 at 12:28pm
Thread Starter 
It's also probably where the money is. I always had so much trouble when I worked in a computer shop, they would joke about customers pairing this processor with a motherboard running that chipset and I just had no interest in the conversation. Servers seem to be more specialised and a few years ago, I had the curiosity to learn about them, but now I do not,

The home market is sadly moving towards tablets and Windows is getting more and more reliable, all I'm doing these days is speeding up older computers, removing viruses and replacing damaged parts in laptops...especially screens.
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post #23 of 34
11/9/12 at 12:39pm
There is a fair bit of money to be made if you're good at it, but there's also good money to be made by fleecing home users. You definitely get out what you put in.

Personally, I'm 22 and have been doing this type of work since I was 18. I don't make a whole lot right now but I am learning a lot and I know that I will be a force to be reckoned with in a couple years when I graduate and can go out and get a real sysadmin or network admin career. Where I am now, 99% of our business is, well, business. We actively shun home users because their situations are so, shall we say, flimsy. That's the best way I can describe it, and I'll bet you know what I'm talking about. There's an inherent structure in business IT, even in small organizations. Handling home users is not necessarily easier, but it does require a different mindset.
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post #24 of 34
11/9/12 at 12:43pm
PTRacer, out of curiosity where are you located?
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post #25 of 34
11/9/12 at 12:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oedipus View Post

There is a fair bit of money to be made if you're good at it, but there's also good money to be made by fleecing home users. You definitely get out what you put in.
Personally, I'm 22 and have been doing this type of work since I was 18. I don't make a whole lot right now but I am learning a lot and I know that I will be a force to be reckoned with in a couple years when I graduate and can go out and get a real sysadmin or network admin career. Where I am now, 99% of our business is, well, business. We actively shun home users because their situations are so, shall we say, flimsy. That's the best way I can describe it, and I'll bet you know what I'm talking about. There's an inherent structure in business IT, even in small organizations. Handling home users is not necessarily easier, but it does require a different mindset.

Yeah, 'fleecing' home users is what most freelance IT engineers do, I have trouble 'fleecing' and choose a more honest approach. It means I don't earn much money.

I started the work at 19, did an 8 month stint in a computer shop then started my own business working from home. And I've just turned 25.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by flimsy, but I'd say there's just no excitement in going out to home users anymore. The money is 'easy' when I charge them the right money, but I do go out to a lot of old people and I have been in the situation where they've sat me down in their kitchen and had me look through their photo albums of granddaughter's weddings and the old days. I have a lot of respect for old people, but I ended up having to join a forum for young people to keep my mind young, because I was actually turning into a pensioner.

At least within a business environment, it's kind of...there you go, get on with it, invoice me at the end.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 72bluenova View Post

PTRacer, out of curiosity where are you located?

London, UK
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post #26 of 34
11/9/12 at 12:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PTRACER View Post

Yeah, 'fleecing' home users is what most freelance IT engineers do, I have trouble 'fleecing' and choose a more honest approach. It means I don't earn much money.
I started the work at 19, did an 8 month stint in a computer shop then started my own business working from home. And I've just turned 25.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by flimsy, but I'd say there's just no excitement in going out to home users anymore. The money is 'easy' when I charge them the right money, but I do go out to a lot of old people and I have been in the situation where they've sat me down in their kitchen and had me look through their photo albums of granddaughter's weddings and the old days. I have a lot of respect for old people, but I ended up having to join a forum for young people to keep my mind young, because I was actually turning into a pensioner.
At least within a business environment, it's kind of...there you go, get on with it, invoice me at the end.
London, UK

By flimsy I mean every machine is a mystery. You have no clue (outside of what the client tells you, which is frequently dubious) what it is used for, no record of passwords or credentials, no idea what circumstances the machine is used under, why it is configured the way it is, etc. I hate that.

If you're simply a "once and done" contractor, it is a "here you go, pay it or I break thumbs" type of deal. If you're an in-house IT person, that's obviously not how it is, nor is that the case if you have a third party, but still dedicated, IT company doing your stuff. Business IT is not typically dealt with purely by the aforementioned type of contractors because each contractor will have no clue what they're walking into. This is not an efficient way to do things.
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post #27 of 34
11/9/12 at 1:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oedipus View Post

By flimsy I mean every machine is a mystery. You have no clue (outside of what the client tells you, which is frequently dubious) what it is used for, no record of passwords or credentials, no idea what circumstances the machine is used under, why it is configured the way it is, etc. I hate that.
If you're simply a "once and done" contractor, it is a "here you go, pay it or I break thumbs" type of deal. If you're an in-house IT person, that's obviously not how it is, nor is that the case if you have a third party, but still dedicated, IT company doing your stuff. Business IT is not typically dealt with purely by contractors because each contractor will have no clue what they're walking into. This is not an efficient way to do things.

Perhaps as an inexperienced engineer, yes, but now I know what to expect from any home user, even those who have made a mess of things. I know to watch out for multiple antivirus programs for example, I know to watch out for rogue registry cleaners and driver installers. I have pretty much seen it all now. And it's all very, very simple, but then maybe I would say that.
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post #28 of 34
11/9/12 at 1:55pm
Well, if you ever get bored of removing malware and defragging stuff, consider jumping over to the business side of things. You'll still have malware to deal with and all of the other requisite IT crap, but you will have a lot more depth to plumb.
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post #29 of 34
11/9/12 at 2:28pm
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post #30 of 34
11/9/12 at 5:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PTRACER View Post

Perhaps as an inexperienced engineer, yes, but now I know what to expect from any home user, even those who have made a mess of things. I know to watch out for multiple antivirus programs for example, I know to watch out for rogue registry cleaners and driver installers. I have pretty much seen it all now. And it's all very, very simple, but then maybe I would say that.

wth.gif Desktop support is the worst...so glad that is behind me. Get your certs and try to get a corporate job (even corporate desktop support is still horrible).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Oedipus View Post

Well, if you ever get bored of removing malware and defragging stuff, consider jumping over to the business side of things. You'll still have malware to deal with and all of the other requisite IT crap, but you will have a lot more depth to plumb.

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