What I Do for C&TS

 

 

A lot of people ask me this question: "What do you DO at SUNY Potsdam?" So I figured I'd shed some light on this topic.

My budget title, Lead Programmer/Analyst, is horribly generic and non-descript. There are some people who have this same title, and can't program a stitch, nor analyze much of anything- For all intents and purposes, ignore my title.

This list is rather verbose, but not complete. I write a lot of glue applications, scripts and web interfaces. I am constantly preventing authentication chaos by preserving the integrity of the integrated system that ties together Solaris, Windows NT, Windows 9x, Linux and Macintosh clients WITHOUT a single packet of NIS or NIS+ services, thank you very much. Below is a breakdown of most of the "recognized" things I do- Not including most of the mundane.

  • SPARC Hardware
    • Maintain functional hardware
    • Perform upgrades when necessary
    • Recommend upgrades and replacements as necessary
    • Troubleshoot hardware-related problems
    • Maintain the highest degree of availability possible
    • Respond immediately to non-availability
  • x86 (Intel) Hardware
    • Maintain functional hardware
    • Perform upgrades when necessary
    • Recommend upgrades and replacements as necessary
    • Troubleshoot hardware-related problems
    • Maintain the highest degree of availability possible
    • Respond immediately to non-availability
  • Windows NT OS
    • Maintain functional OS
    • Keep abreast of new versions/patches
    • Keep abreast of security issues
    • Keep watch on security, system and application logs to proactively find/fix problems
    • Maintain constant/current performance specs
    • Maintain proper user account database
    • Maintain the highest degree of availability possible
    • Maintain efficient network usage
    • Respond immediately to non-availability
  • Solaris OS
    • Maintain functional OS
    • Keep abreast of new versions/patches
    • Keep abreast of security issues
    • Keep watch on security, system and application logs to proactively find/fix problems
    • Maintain constant/current performance specs
    • Maintain proper user account database
    • Maintain the highest degree of availability possible
    • Maintain efficient network usage
    • Respond immediately to non-availability
    • Maintain RAID array
  • Linux OS
    • Maintain functional OS
    • Keep abreast of new versions/patches
    • Keep abreast of security issues
    • Keep watch on security, system and application logs to proactively find/fix problems
    • Maintain constant/current performance specs
    • Maintain proper user account database
    • Maintain the highest degree of availability possible
    • Maintain efficient network usage
    • Respond immediately to non-availability
    • Maintain RAID array
  • Hosted Applications/Services
    • Campus Authentication System
      • Maintain seamless authentication accross all participant servers and platforms
    • MailMan Application
    • Local DNS Service
    • DNS Gateway Service
    • BIND Application
    • DHCP Service
    • ISC DHCP Server Application
    • NetBIOS Lookup Service
    • EZ-Proxy Server Application
    • SNMP Service
    • KeyServer Server Application
    • License Metering/Enforcement Service
    • Apache HTTP Server Application
    • HTTP Services
    • Wu FTP Server Application
    • FTP Services
    • Client -> Print Server Services
    • Print Processing, Accounting, and Load Balancing Services
    • Print Server -> Print Device Services
    • Print Processing Applications
    • Print Accounting Application
    • Load Balancing Applications
    • Print Report Generation Application
    • CCA Password Maintenance Application
    • Printer Accounting "View" Application (APAT)
    • Internal "Tools" Volume
    • Cross-platform File Storage
    • Samba Server Application
    • Netatalk Server Application
    • Host Backup Services
    • Client Backup Services
    • Backup Exec for NT Server Application
    • Calendar Services
    • Meeting Maker Server Application
    • Webmin Server Application
    • F-Secure Server Application
    • Real-Time Anti-Virus Updating Service
    • Course Management Services
    • BlackBoard CMS Application
  • Network Electronics
    • Manage/Maintain DEC DS400 switches (Xylan Omniswitch)
    • Manage/Maintain CableTron FastEthernet switches
    • Manage/Maintain Alcatel Omniswitch (Xylan Omniswitch)
    • Manage/Maintain ATM LES/LECS backbone
    • Liason w/ cable plant engineers regarding cabling/fiber needs
    • Liason for WAN service providers
    • Local support for managed routers (Cisco and Wellfleet)
    • Manage/Maintain Shiva LanRover RASes
    • Manage/Maintain bandwidth management solution
  • Uncategorized Applications/Services/Responsibilities
    • Custom programming Scripts
    • Project management and development
    • Technical Support/Troubleshooting
    • Documentation
    • Helpdesk training
    • 24x7x365 on call
    • Working for far below industry-acceptable pay standards
    • Advocating proper technology use
    • Advocating the AUP
    • Provide education, disciplinary referral, and front-contact for campus computer/network security violators
    • Going to meetings
    • Providing feedback to management
    • Communicate outages with the department/team/helpdesk as necessary
    • Clean office occasionally
    • Developing solutions to problems
    • Rethinking old problems to find better solutions
    • Challenging current solutions to ascertain efficiency
    • Proactively preventing problems by implementing better solutions
    • Ranting whenever the opportunity presents itself.