They exist, I promise!

Good SAN administrators that is. (Sorry, Mike – it’s a DBA joke)

My current employer/customer is pulling out the stops to help me perform some tests for the upcoming Hotsos presentation. Remember, I’m a contractor, so they have no vested interest in my personal development. So, by way of giving them the credit they deserve and erm … sucking up, thanks go to.

Gerrit Van Wyk – my boss. He’s given the general ok to the idea of using some equipment at work, with the proviso that no-one else is using it and I don’t cause any problems, of course! In return, our team will be the first to see the resulting presentation.

Mike Scott – said SAN (and Unix and everything) administrator. Actually, I think he’s some kind of boss too but, more important, knows where equipment lives 😉 and was able to give me the best introduction to the SAN technology I’ve had at any site (and I’ve worked at a few). Here’s a man who actually understands how the damn things work and how to configure them! Well, I never. I realise that I’ve just alienated every future SAN admin I might work with but, there you go …

Seriously, it’s generous of Mike to give his time for no real reward other than a minor blog entry and his name on a slide at Hotsos. Thanks, Mike.

[Updated] Actually, I’ve only just discovered that Mike is a contractor too! I’ve blogged recently on the difference between good and bad trainers and no doubt I’ll give contractors the same treatment in future, but suffice to say, Mike is clearly what a contractor should be – knowledgable, helpful, interested in more than just his next pay packet.[End of Update]

So on the horizon is an entire 12-CPU Sun E10K domain with 12Gb RAM, attached to EMC Symmetrix SAN storage in the actual configuration I asked for! (Once Mike had set me on the right road)

Cool 😉