September 20, 2012 at 11:02 am
OK, yes, this a venting topic...
I'm being asked to backup virtual machines (hey, this is the "Anything that is NOT about SQL!" section) without spending any money, with minimal downtime, must be something that can be taken off-site, and it must be nearly 100% reliable...
Which because of the lack of existing decent backup system that can be removed from the office, limits me to using a batch file and Powershell to shut down and export the VMs, then copy them to external media. Complicating matters is that the VMs are on a cluster, and the script will either have to simply backup EVERY running VM on each physical host (even if it's one that doesn't need to be backed up,) or I will have to maintain a list file of the VMs to be backed up, or I'll have to create one batch file for each VM.
Makes me feel like someone who's been asked to build a house, given bags of play sand, and told to go to it with what they were just given...
And before anyone suggests making up a pros / cons to actually buying something vs the script, I've done that. I often feel my boss is of the opinion that "if it ain't free and open-source, it's wrong."
OK, I needed to get this off my chest, I should be good for the rest of the day now...
😛
Jason
September 20, 2012 at 11:22 am
September 20, 2012 at 11:26 am
jasona.work (9/20/2012)
And before anyone suggests making up a pros / cons to actually buying something vs the script, I've done that. I often feel my boss is of the opinion that "if it ain't free and open-source, it's wrong."
Jason
I've been in similar situations, where the cost of labor for me to work a week building some custom application costs far more than some existing application that would have done it for me on day one of the problem, freeing me up for the rest of the week for other projects.,
Lowell
September 20, 2012 at 11:58 am
Sounds horribly familiar (the attitude, that is, not the problem). You have my sympathies and a recommendation to GTFO.
Thomas Rushton
blog: https://thelonedba.wordpress.com
September 20, 2012 at 3:51 pm
jasona.work (9/20/2012)
OK, yes, this a venting topic...I'm being asked to backup virtual machines (hey, this is the "Anything that is NOT about SQL!" section) without spending any money, with minimal downtime, must be something that can be taken off-site, and it must be nearly 100% reliable...
Which because of the lack of existing decent backup system that can be removed from the office, limits me to using a batch file and Powershell to shut down and export the VMs, then copy them to external media. Complicating matters is that the VMs are on a cluster, and the script will either have to simply backup EVERY running VM on each physical host (even if it's one that doesn't need to be backed up,) or I will have to maintain a list file of the VMs to be backed up, or I'll have to create one batch file for each VM.
Makes me feel like someone who's been asked to build a house, given bags of play sand, and told to go to it with what they were just given...
And before anyone suggests making up a pros / cons to actually buying something vs the script, I've done that. I often feel my boss is of the opinion that "if it ain't free and open-source, it's wrong."
OK, I needed to get this off my chest, I should be good for the rest of the day now...
😛
Jason
I don't mind a cost conscious boss but that's pretty insane. I'd expect that attitude to bleed over into the people side of things. Keep your resume up to date. You might actually want to start looking now.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
September 20, 2012 at 7:55 pm
Jeff Moden (9/20/2012)
I don't mind a cost conscious boss but that's pretty insane. I'd expect that attitude to bleed over into the people side of things. Keep your resume up to date. You might actually want to start looking now.
Yeah, the nasty, ugly, suspicious side of me sometimes wonders if he gets a bonus that's the money he didn't spend over the course of a year...
As for on the people side, he doesn't set pay (thankfully,) although I'm really feeling under-appreciated (if you know what I mean $$$) in general. I'm doing the work of:
1. A Server Administrator
2. A Network Administrator (not really a complicated network, though)
3. A Virtualization Admin
4. A Database Admin (mostly right now easy stuff, setting up backups, etc)
5. On occasion an over-the-phone tech jockey
All this for easily $12k/yr less than the average for my area for the lowest paid of those positions (excluding the tech jockey, there I'm on the average.)
September 21, 2012 at 5:03 am
Yeah, I've been in similar situations before too. All you can do is make your case. If all else fails, try this excuse[/url].
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
September 21, 2012 at 9:16 am
First, do your best.
Second, you'll make mistakes and your solution won't be perfect. Get over that. Work the best you can and fix things as you find issues, but don't think anything less than perfection is a failure.
Three: learn powershell. That will help here, especially working across multiple items. It might not do everything, but it should do most of this.
Four: test and find problems, fix them.
Remember this will be iterative, and you can't do this in a week. You can't be certain it's working well unless you test it regularly and explain it to others regularly. Otherwise someone will mess something up.
If your boss doesn't understand that it can be done either quickly or cheaply, then update your resume and do the best you can. Nothing else to be done. Don't stress over things you can't control or are unrealistic expectations.
September 21, 2012 at 9:33 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (9/21/2012)
First, do your best.Second, you'll make mistakes and your solution won't be perfect. Get over that. Work the best you can and fix things as you find issues, but don't think anything less than perfection is a failure.
Steve,
Yeah, I know no solution will be perfect, and I am trying to come up with the best solution I can with what I'm given. Yes, I know, my post was something of a whine...:Whistling:
Three: learn powershell. That will help here, especially working across multiple items. It might not do everything, but it should do most of this.
I've actually done something along these lines with Powershell once before, so I know it's possible. I'm just trying to get something that will be more "hands off" and will handle the cluster much better (Now I'm wondering if I can use Powershell to query the *CLUSTER* rather than the physical host to determine what VMs are on which host... Betcha it is possible)
My biggest issue with using PS, is I'm the ONLY PS guy in the office and the other techs don't have the "drive" to learn it. Downside of working someplace with 4 techs, only 1 of whom has full domain access (me,) and a company that doesn't provide support for learning new tech (leaving it up to the individual to continue their education or not as they prefer.)
Four: test and find problems, fix them.
Always. I'm paranoid about making sure something will work as smoothly as possible before actually putting it into production.
Once more, yeah, I know, I was (am) whining.
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