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Author Topic: scheduling pain  (Read 3440 times)

Offline pcp

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scheduling pain
« on: June 23, 2006, 12:51 »
Hi
I am the system admin of a 25 computer office network in and it has
become a real horror to run and scan the network tasks. What do you
guys suggest can be done to automate this? Do you also feel the same
pain?

Offline sam

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scheduling pain
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2006, 13:31 »
what o/s are you using?
- sam | @starrydude --

Offline pcp

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scheduling pain
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2006, 14:46 »
Quote from: "sam"
what o/s are you using?

well, i am using windows xp with sp2 on all the systems.
thanks in advance for the help, sam.

Offline GillE

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scheduling pain
« Reply #3 on: June 23, 2006, 16:32 »
Quote from: "pcp"
Quote from: "sam"
what o/s are you using?

well, i am using windows xp with sp2 on all the systems.

I presume you've got something like Windows 2003 on your server(s)?

I don't have any 'proper' server/client network experience (just a bit of peer-to peer) but I'm hoping to develop my skills in that field soon.  This conversation is one I shall follow with particular interest.

Gill
There is no opinion, however absurd, which men will not readily embrace as soon as they can be brought to the conviction that it is readily adopted.

(Schopenhauer, Die Kunst Recht zu Behalten)

Offline sam

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scheduling pain
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2006, 17:46 »
umm.... seem if you were using linux I could have probably given you a solution in no time (two reason, I know Linux / Unix and it is simple to do). I'll have a think later... and bug me if I dont get back to you in a couple of days!
- sam | @starrydude --

Offline Sandra

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scheduling pain
« Reply #5 on: June 24, 2006, 02:41 »
Would something like this do what you want ?

http://www.tethyssolutions.com/macro-automation.htm

Someone suggested it for finding the latest keys for decoding encrypted satellite channels off the net by using a key finder program then uploading the keys to satellite boxes automatically.

Sounds like an interesting program that may be worth investigating, especially as the keys are changing as quickly as every 15 minutes at the moment  :roll:

Offline pcp

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scheduling pain
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2006, 13:54 »
Quote from: "GillD"
Quote from: "pcp"
Quote from: "sam"
what o/s are you using?

well, i am using windows xp with sp2 on all the systems.

I presume you've got something like Windows 2003 on your server(s)?

I don't have any 'proper' server/client network experience (just a bit of peer-to peer) but I'm hoping to develop my skills in that field soon.  This conversation is one I shall follow with particular interest.

Gill


Gill
Unfortunately, all the systems we have are *all* windows XP. No servers as such. Our work does not require us to have a *server*. The required filesharing is done through windows shares :)

Essentially, it's a poor-man's peer-to-peer-only network :)

Offline sam

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« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2006, 14:11 »
ewww to that! umm. a solution might be hard to find in this sense. I guess at the least, it wouldn't be automatic, you could use virtual desktops to monitor them all, do you do this?
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Offline GillE

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« Reply #8 on: June 25, 2006, 14:17 »
25 PCs and no server  :shock: ?

What about security?  You've no way of recording who's accessing what, despite the file share arrangements.

What about bottle-necks?  You can't tell if the sytem is meeting your needs or if data on one client is too heavy.  I don't know if you're using a router or a hub, but might data collision be a problem?

What about disaster plans? What about backups?

What about convincing your boss that it would be an economical use of your resources for you to configure a server which would automatically do the housekeeping on 25 clients.  Right now you're looking after 25 individual machines - a server would enable you to look after 25 machines collectively.

Crikey, no wonder you need help automating administrative processes!

Gill
There is no opinion, however absurd, which men will not readily embrace as soon as they can be brought to the conviction that it is readily adopted.

(Schopenhauer, Die Kunst Recht zu Behalten)

Offline sam

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scheduling pain
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2006, 14:18 »
Quote
What about bottle-necks?  You can't tell if the sytem is meeting your needs or if data on one client is too heavy.  I don't know if you're using a router or a hub, but might data collision be a problem?


a large decent router can take care of all that.
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Offline sam

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scheduling pain
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2006, 14:19 »
Quote
What about convincing your boss that it would be an economical use of your resources for you to configure a server which would automatically do the housekeeping on 25 clients.  Right now you're looking after 25 individual machines - a server would enable you to look after 25 machines collectively.


sounds like a good plan to be honest... that or look at a free linux solution, though I'm not sure off my head how you could get it to work with that many windows machines.
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Offline GillE

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scheduling pain
« Reply #11 on: June 25, 2006, 14:22 »
Quote
a large decent router can take care of all that.
Indeed it could, Sam, but bottlenecks might be occurring elsewhere.  For all we know, the cabling might not be up to the task.  Wouldn't it would be difficult for a network manager to identify this without the sort of software that comes with a server?

Gill
There is no opinion, however absurd, which men will not readily embrace as soon as they can be brought to the conviction that it is readily adopted.

(Schopenhauer, Die Kunst Recht zu Behalten)

Offline sam

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scheduling pain
« Reply #12 on: June 25, 2006, 14:24 »
well there are free tools that you can use, since each machine will have a dedicated ip address you can see how fast the transfer rate is. Though you are right, with that many machines you really need a nice server, would make life so much easier.
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Offline sam

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scheduling pain
« Reply #13 on: June 25, 2006, 20:02 »
being not entirely sure what you want to do NetworkMagic might be a good start, it is a nice free program that allows you to find out useful info about devices installed on your network... LINK

actually  i just noticed there is a fee attached to it in the premium version.
- sam | @starrydude --

Offline Sandra

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scheduling pain
« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2006, 00:18 »
Was that program I found no good for what you wanted ?


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