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Im the youngest member of the I.T. dept... by some margin and im the one putting forward all the ideas LOL
1: re-arrange office to create more space
2: lock down / remove all user installed 3rd party software
3: use wireless networking for nearby employee laptop homes
4: allow VPN access for home workers
5: Change from DELL etc to Compaq & HP.
wooo...im happy.. and the end users think im "THE MAN" :cool:
Change from Dell.... to Compaq.....
Lock Down / Remove all third party software is going to make everyone really happy......
NS
Oh yea, youll make friends there! :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally posted by NightShade737
Lock Down / Remove all third party software is going to make everyone really happy......
NS
Doesn't matter if it makes them happy or not, If its not needed to do there job and if its 3dFX's job to ensure the office is secure then he needs to do it.
Glad to here you've having some luck there 3DFX. Why more from Dell to Compaq or HP tho?.
TiG
And install some q tec psus while your at it ;) :D :DQuote:
Originally posted by 3Dfx
5: Change from DELL etc to Compaq & HP.
Actually The compaq stuff isn't what it used to be since the HP change.
Disclaimer : The following statements are not a personall attack , I'm just trying to play devils advocate here :)
1: re-arrange office to create more space
good plan , but you know it will get cluttered quicker as everyone uses all this free space to dump stuff in :)
2: lock down / remove all user installed 3rd party software
why in the name of everything that is holy did you allow it to get on there in the first place ! A controlled IT environment is a safe one , but you will still have to strike a balence between an uber locked down system where user have to log a call to fart and some hippy pinko commune system where everyones a domain admin "coz like it would be favouritism otherwise man :D". The problem that I personally face is that as an outsourced IT department, I dont actually own the IT system so unfortunatly our hands tend to get forced on certain things
3: use wireless networking for nearby employee laptop homes
this on the face of it would seem like a good idea , BUT who is your external connectivity provided by? You may well be breaking their T&C's by sharing their bandwidth out. How close are you aiming for ? You'll end up spendong more on kit for that sort of connection than you would installing a 512k DSL line on each house
4: allow VPN access for home workers
great plan , but what are you going to use as a VPn appliance? Standard windows stuff is ok for PPTP VPN's but its not all that secure ( especially if you dont have a pretty draconian security policy for password length, complexity and expiration set ) Are you aware of the impact on your external connection its going to have ? Will you be letting users own PC's into the VPN, or just work configured & locked down . How will they connect? if its via a dsl line, have you got adequate security on the laptops them selves? how will you enforce security on employee's own PC's ? Have you got sufficient suppoort capability for a lot more phone based support rather than perhaps your usual deskside support?
5: Change from DELL etc to Compaq & HP.
this sounds like change for changes sake ? can you justify it on a cost basis rather than brand snobbery? I've worked with both compaq ,dell and IBM kit and they all have their strengths and weaknesses.
Its good to be a vector for change , but make sure they are well thought out or you will rapidly become "THE GIMP"
Give em a few days after implementation when their fav 3rd party progs are not available any more :DQuote:
Originally posted by 3Dfx
wooo...im happy.. and the end users think im "THE MAN" :cool:
Totallyt agree if its needed... just saying their view may change ;)
ever heard of a word called motivation? :pQuote:
Originally posted by TiG
Doesn't matter if it makes them happy or not If its not needed to do there job
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffic...points_640.jpg
I personally think HP and Compaq make cr*p laptops, and computers .
hp laptops are good.Quote:
Originally posted by www.josh.org.uk
I personally think HP and Compaq make cr*p laptops, and computers .
I'm a little divided on this; the last Compaq desktop I got was pretty cack, but we've got a few Evo N800v laptops in service, and they're pretty good machines. Our standard desktops are Dell Optiplexes and they're great machines, reliable and easy to service. Our servers are Dell Poweredges and they're fine machines, although we have an HP box as well which is good enough. We have tons of Dell laptops in service and they're excellent machines (currently we're buying Latitude D600s), and I feel that currently HP and Compaq machines are overpriced. Personally, I wouldn't do a blanket change of all machines just because of the brand name anyway, and I think moving from Dell to HPaq is just going to cost money.
Interestingly why did you drop dell? Got some dell servers here and theyre super, not got any workstations tho so don't know what theyre like.
Butuz
The college I go to uses Dell exclusively now - and to be quite honest the kit is very good. We also have a pair of clever technicians who actually know what they're doing (rare sometimes!) The head of IT is OK too, though on the negative side he looks like Harold Shipman. :eek:
The one thing I'm really with 3dfx on is locking down the 3rd party apps on the computers. Security at my college is pretty good, it has to be. It seems that some students think they're uB3R H4X0r when they find their way around something, and I'm like "you prick! You've got a computer at home, fart around with that - stop wasting my network bandwidth!" If people were more responsible there would be less program problems that arise from security (for example clip art catalogues breaking because of a lack of write permissions - fixable, but annoying!)
Anyway, back to "the office." If you prevent people from installing programs - great! On top of that, lock the internet settings so they can't change that (and browser hijackers can't either.) Also consider something like Spybot S&D to keep spyware at bay - it now has a browser helper that actively stops downloads of some adware.
Have I been going on a bit? I'll stop now!
Well, on the compaq vs Dell point, in my last job we had compaq/HP workstations and in this one we have dell, I would say that on the whole the DELL PC`s seem to be better thought out in terms of repairs and use of space ( we have the optiplexSX270`s coming in now and they look NICE) and I found the compaqs to be just generally a pain in the arse to service ( particulary when installing windows for some reason it they would often refuse the CD-Key). we have some DELL and compaq servers where I work now and we are also getting a DELL SAN installed and it is the daddy (86 terrabytes). I have allways found dells customer service top notch the parts almost allways arrive next day. so whilst I would never buy a DELL for myself I would deffo say dell comes out on top against compaq.
http://img.dell.com/images/global/pr...ee_131x145.jpg
Quote:
Originally posted by 3Dfx
Im the youngest member of the I.T. dept... by some margin and im the one putting forward all the ideas LOL
1: re-arrange office to create more space
2: lock down / remove all user installed 3rd party software
3: use wireless networking for nearby employee laptop homes
4: allow VPN access for home workers
5: Change from DELL etc to Compaq & HP.
wooo...im happy.. and the end users think im "THE MAN" :cool:
send all the employees on a Kaizen & Standard Operations course :D
G4Z, the Optiplex's are what they have at college!
They ghost windows onto them, so setting them up is a breeze once the first one is done!
Nice machines - Celery 2ghz I think, if I remember rightly.
Dont worry, your office will be shut down soon and replaced by 4 Indian people who barely speak english and know nothing about computers....
NS
my mam works for More Than aka Royal & Sunalliance. And she was telling me the other day that there was 3 indian's came in for an interview. One of the questions within the interview is "Where do you see yourself in 5 years time" TWO out of the 3 said "Running my own call centre in India".Quote:
Originally posted by NightShade737
Dont worry, your office will be shut down soon and replaced by 4 Indian people who barely speak english and know nothing about computers....
NS
All 3 of them got taken on by More Than as you couldn't fault them. Enthusiastic hard workers.
actualy they are P4 2.4ghz, we use a ghost image as well but setting them up is not a breeze because sommat allways gets forgotten on the image and then you have to remember to set it right each time u install one.Quote:
Originally posted by unts
G4Z, the Optiplex's are what they have at college!
They ghost windows onto them, so setting them up is a breeze once the first one is done!
Nice machines - Celery 2ghz I think, if I remember rightly.
The nice thing about those units are the screens, really nice TFT`s.
The techies at our college remake the image when they want to make a modification to the network - saves work.
While your comps may be P4's I know for certain that ours our celerys (cheaper of course - but still have nice TFT's!)
ok: -
1: re-arrange office to create more space
Well, it was crouded before and people had desks when they didnt need them and the guy with Cerable Paulsey (Sp??) was finding it difficult moving around... so needed changed.
2: lock down / remove all user installed 3rd party software
People install BS like Stress Relief, Winzip (Shareware, and it runs out... and we're like.. erm thats illegal u dork), themes with script writing where u can read ANYTHING in any of the settings or properties, plus they bring screensavers in on floppy disk and dont get em virus scanned, plus they change icons.. and REMOVE icons and make programs not work... idiots.
3: use wireless networking for nearby employee laptop homes
Its just to link back to our servers so they can access their home drive and other resources.. we use a 48k (I cant remember) Netgear wireless modem which is linked to our servers.
4: allow VPN access for home workers
I just suggested it... the manager controls the firewall.
5: Change from DELL etc to Compaq & HP.
Cos we all hate Dell.... lol ... nah, we have Compaq accredited engineers so.. they like compaq/HP... so I said.. well.. JUST buy them... leave other brands alone...
So in the process of giving your company all these ideas, are you negotiating a payrise?
Your the youngest and probably the worst paid i might add ;)
I hope your not planning a career with this company because brown nosing the manager will only get you so far. Treating the other staff like this and trying to get one up wont further you place within the team ;)Quote:
2: lock down / remove all user installed 3rd party software
People install BS like Stress Relief, Winzip (Shareware, and it runs out... and we're like.. erm thats illegal u dork), themes with script writing where u can read ANYTHING in any of the settings or properties, plus they bring screensavers in on floppy disk and dont get em virus scanned, plus they change icons.. and REMOVE icons and make programs not work... idiots.
Nope... I just want a good reference for when I leave next year :-)Quote:
are you negotiating a payrise
.. so no im not "planning" a career with this company.
Kaizen ............. god not that again, its nice to come up with the idea's etc. but likes already been said it'll be expected of you if you give em too much ;)
:D hehe just install windows 2k server and active directory, and lock that place down soooo damn tightly that they cant even copy and paste without asking your permission :D
Thats the way to manage a network i say! :)
Butuz
Its an ideal way to manage a network , but it does mean you will be continually pestered. If you have well trained monkeys (oops I mean Helpdesk staff ) then its ok, but otherwise you'll be setting yourself up for an admin overload untill you manage to break your users spirits so they learn not to actually ask for anything :)Quote:
Originally posted by Butuz
:D hehe just install windows 2k server and active directory, and lock that place down soooo damn tightly that they cant even copy and paste without asking your permission :D
Thats the way to manage a network i say! :)
Butuz
I too would recommend Dells (stay away from the GX260s if you can). Just rebuilt one of our smaller companies with SX270's very nice and small / quiet.
If you want something to check for dodgy 3rd party apps have a look at Microsoft SMS, you can run scans over the machines on your network for apps that you choose.
Although the licences arent that cheap!
Wol
Wol's suggestion looks good - I got a trial version of SMS, but it didn't work!
The idea of being able to deploy security updates and such using it looks nifty though.
It is very good but i suggest that you set it up on a dedicated PC (depending on how many machines you have).
Weve got around 600-700 machines on our network and it bogs down slightly when returning the query for machines.
(basically its a big SQL style database with all the machines in and queries that database and returns the results).
Its very good actually, you can get it to rollout software, updates, scan for unwanted software, as a remote control agent. Loads of things.
PS get the latest SP for it as well.
Wol
Quote of the week http://forums.hexus.net/images/icons/icon14.gifQuote:
Originally posted by NightShade737
Dont worry, your office will be shut down soon and replaced by 4 Indian people who barely speak english and know nothing about computers....
NS
For deploying security updates, I recommend Microsoft Software update Services (SUS)Quote:
Originally posted by unts
Wol's suggestion looks good - I got a trial version of SMS, but it didn't work!
The idea of being able to deploy security updates and such using it looks nifty though.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv...s/default.mspx
Its like having a local windows update server :)
yes, screensavers are a pain and can cause problems with their pcs, but surely you've got uptodate a/v software on all of your pcs, so when they stick their disk in, it's going to scan the disk anyway. :)Quote:
plus they bring screensavers in on floppy disk and dont get em virus scanned,
re: winzip - if they need winzip, then why don't you get them to buy it for the staff that need it? or do you have an alternative that you've already bought so they can use zip files? :)
There are plenty of free Zip programs, some that do as many compression types as other programs like WinRAR. So it wouldn't be an issue of cost.
NS
Yes but they just download stuff... we really should put a block on the firewall of ".exe" files
im sick of the users THINKING they know it all... then it breaks and WHO DO THEY RUN TO????
If the clients are windows 2000 or XP , they ought not to be able to install anything.
What about blocking the FTP protocol at the firewall ?
sum are XP sum are win98/95.
But our network is a "Sham" ... we aint got ANYTHING locked down and the users of the XP machines are "Administrators" on them!!
yep... thats how they're setup and the manager aint bothered (he aint asked actually... he doesnt care ...)
Is it a domain based network or a workgroup?
Wol