Halloween - hello admin

In every profession there is a place for a holiday and various stories, and even in our IT site, and even more so - probably, few of them are so closely connected with the always-awesome iron on the one hand and the human inadequacy on the other. In general, not life, in a complete witch. When to talk about him? On April 1, it is somehow disrespectful to the profession, other days are even less suitable ... maybe for Halloween? Spell so spell!
In this post - a selection of real stories that happened over the years of IT practice with me and my colleagues. Only one of them is connected with Intel, but I think the company will not be offended. I invite everyone to join in the comments. Let's get together a Halloween Habradajest!

On the incompatibility of optical lines and household appliances

Large enterprise, industrial zone and several buildings connected by optical fiber. Network topology - strictly as horrible. We were asked to figure out why one of the segments (several buildings) regularly, several times a day, falls off. Measured all the optics, changed the transceivers just in case - does not help.
For a long time, probably, they would have fumbled if it had not accidentally turned out that in the first case along the way of the optical cable the cabinet with transceivers and a switch embedded in the line hangs next to the girl’s workplace, which lacked sockets. And when it was necessary to turn on the kettle, she turned off the closet. A simple solution and elegant, but it would probably be possible to stick a tee though.


')

About the dangers of winning reports

The same enterprise, time - a little later than the events described above. The local IT specialists (then they were called, it seems, the “department of informatization”) set the task to commemorate something progressive in commemoration of the annual award, so that later it could be included in the general achievements for the reporting period.
Remembering the girl with the kettle, the IT specialists decided to reserve optical lines. They laid a second cable, made duplicate entry points, they fixed the switching. They reported to the authorities, they pleased the old men, how now everything is safe with them, and they themselves were satisfied.
The joy lasted until the autumn, when an excavator operator with one stroke of the bucket left the whole enterprise without the Internet for two weeks, breaking both cables at once. Aytishnikov, by the way, was left without a prize - according to the management, they promised too much.

About the exact calculation of energy consumption

A new Internet provider is being launched, we are drafting project documentation for a central hub. Cabinets, switches, servers, bespereboyniki - everything is as it should. We count power consumption to pick up UPS. Ask: "count, please, with an additional margin." “Are you planning to install any other equipment?” "Yes, we want to bring a refrigerator." "???" "Well, what if the light is turned off, all the drinks will heat up."
Then came to these guys. They did not deceive us, they really put a small absorption refrigerator without a compressor (“Frost”, it seems, was called) and connected it to the UPS. So blackout is blackout, and the temperature of the liquid must be maintained.

Intel’s special relationship to bears

Speaking of drinks. I digress a little and not far from the admin theme to tell a story from the life of Intel.
Intel's corporate routine contains, among other things, a ban on drinking alcohol in the workplace. When the corporation acquired one of the Russian firms, the new managers said bluntly: “No beer in the office!”. But since the managers were Russian, and they wrote in English, it turned out not exactly what was planned: “No bear in the office!”.
Anyway, the order was executed: no bear has been seen since then in the company's office.

About the gala dinner with switches

When a system administrator is busy all the time, this is not good, it is a sign of some global errors in the organization of its activities. But the excess leisure of an IT specialist during working hours is also dangerous: a person begins to languish, and his Pts. skillful hands - look for a use. Here is one of the most innocuous, probably examples.
In our IT-room, as usual, lay a rack-size switch for workplaces and any test equipment; It was he who was chosen by my colleague as an object of experiment. He disassembled the switch case and used felt-tip pens to paint the port activity indicators in different colors. The received device was called “Switch: Christmas Edition”, later a small Christmas tree was put on it, and a corporate party was solemnly held nearby. Not bad, in fact, the idea and maybe even commercially promising.

About the wireless way to let money down the drain

In the mid-90s, one of the providers was tasked with providing the Internet with one Very Important Event. The communication infrastructure at that time was almost absent in the city, but, fortunately, there was direct visibility between the provider node and the venue of the Event, albeit not at a very short distance.
Once the party said - it was necessary to perform. In advance somewhere over the hill, a Radio Ethernet bridge with two antennas (a parabolic reflector and a long extension with a radiator) was purchased for megabucks. I will not describe the heartbreaking details of the installation, but as a result, the system has worked. After the event, it was dismantled, but could not find further application. After dragging the antennas back and forth, they finally hung them in the server room, and on long carryouts they hung up patch cords and work clothes. In the history of telecom, these were probably the most expensive clothes hangers.

Important note

Finally, I would like to note that Intel is very respectful of bears. For all the work of the company, no bear in her office was hurt.