Im an IT Support Consultant, ask me anything

12 years ago

Well I started working ore with PHP, what development frameworks do you prefer, and why? Of the top 10 databases, which do you think is best, and why?
What country are YOU from?
If you have employees, what country are THEY from?

Steve

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Juvv2096

12 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

Well I started working ore with PHP, what development frameworks do you prefer, and why? Of the top 10 databases, which do you think is best, and why?
What country are YOU from?
If you have employees, what country are THEY from?

Steve

Hi Seasoned. Its probably my least known subject actually. Most of my IT support evolves around support for business enivronments, not development platforms.

In my experiences, anything that works with SQL in a server environment seems to work really well and be very stable. I have worked with other proprietry platforms and they have been very inefficient in their resource usage.

I guess it all comes down to what you actually want to do and what you are trying to achieve. Some of the best made web based apps ive used are built on php so I would say you are on the right track there.

Sorry I couldnt be more help with your question though LOL (made myself look like a fool didnt I!).

What are you actually trying to do?

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seasoned

12 years ago

I figured I would give you a try, since you said ANYTHING!

Actually, most SQL products today DON'T really use SQL, as many today understand it. MY current definition of SQL is SQL 1986 because it is like the only SQL the big 5-10 have supported. Look CLOSELY! Oracle doesn't support SQL, it is like PL SQL, and sybase is Transact SQL, and MS SQL is T-SQL(LIKE transact sql but JUST different enough) And since 1999 even THAT compatibility has been eroding. So basically they all use extensions of a subset of an OLD standard and may have added things from SQL 1999. So picking the right database CAN be important. I'm HOPING that 1999 takes off, but right now total acceptance over the top five might be like 25%! Do ANY of them support 1999 stored procedures? LUCKILY the outer joins caught on. Mysql used to not have them and MS/SQL(and sybase), and oracle, had different ways of doing it. Different from each other AND 1999. Luckily, NOW 1999 joins work in MS SQL, SYBASE, ORACLE, DB2, TERADATA, MYSQL, etc... 1986 didn't even have that concept.

But I was just curious what you thought was best.

and PHP is probably still the most popular language for front end processing on websites.
I started working again on a package that has its OWN framework, which has a few problems, but is still kind of nice, and was wondering if you knew of a good one.

So what is YOUR specialty?

Steve

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Juvv2096

12 years ago

Good post Steve.

Most of the DB stuff I work with is on Microsoft Servers, so like sharepoint / exchange etc. The great thing for me is that I dont need to know how to write code, just how to manage the data and make sure its safe + functioning :p

I guess I dont have 1 specialty. Server + network administration would be up there. Cloud based services and support + migration as well.

General PC troubleshooting is one that I do frequently.

Disaster Recovery Management Solutions is another BIG one and one of my most important areas, because I work with some larger companies (turn over not size).

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seasoned

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Juvv2096

Good post Steve.

Most of the DB stuff I work with is on Microsoft Servers, so like sharepoint / exchange etc. The great thing for me is that I dont need to know how to write code, just how to manage the data and make sure its safe + functioning :p

I guess I dont have 1 specialty. Server + network administration would be up there. Cloud based services and support + migration as well.

General PC troubleshooting is one that I do frequently.

Disaster Recovery Management Solutions is another BIG one and one of my most important areas, because I work with some larger companies (turn over not size).

Just curious. I'm an IT consultant also, but my customers almost expect me to know EVERYTHING! I almost want to strangle the salesperson when he makes it sound like I do. BTW I say that with a grin, not any anger such that I MEAN it. It does push me to learn more.

Oh well, all the companies I have worked for have been pretty big. The projects I have been on have mostly been multimillion dollar ones. This one is only like $700K for us.

Oh well, you offered, so I was just curious.

Steve

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KimW

12 years ago

You will find several of us that frequent the Off Topic area are knowledgeable in various areas of IT. Glad to have you here.
Kim

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Juvv2096

12 years ago

Thanks Kim

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Juvv2096

12 years ago

Hey Steve,

Yeah same thing for me mate. People ask me anything thats remotley about "computers" and I am expected to know it. ESPECIALLY 3rd party software thats not microsoft related. I just tell them I dont support any third part software and its in their agreement with me as well.

Those are big projects! I do nothing of those size. My clients might turn over 1 million a month, but their IT support projects are more like 10k LOL. true story.

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seasoned

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Juvv2096

Hey Steve,

Yeah same thing for me mate. People ask me anything thats remotley about "computers" and I am expected to know it. ESPECIALLY 3rd party software thats not microsoft related. I just tell them I dont support any third part software and its in their agreement with me as well.

Those are big projects! I do nothing of those size. My clients might turn over 1 million a month, but their IT support projects are more like 10k LOL. true story.

My last employer(referring to one I had about 13 years ago) did a LOT of business with banks! The main software generally cost about $80K. I think he billed my time out around $150/hour. Anyway, he LOVED projects that were $10K or less because practically ANY manager could do that on a handshake. If it were like $11K, they would have to get approval from others, get lawyers involved, etc... YIKES!

Steve

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Juvv2096

12 years ago

150 an hour 13 years ago? wow..

I might have 3 or 4 meetings before signing off on a 10k deal!

Your old boss is lucky

sounds like you are too lol.

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seasoned 12 years ago

Originally Posted by Juvv2096

150 an hour 13 years ago? wow..

I might have 3 or 4 meetings before signing off on a 10k deal!

Your old boss is lucky sounds like you are too lol.

The $150 was a bill rate. The customer paid it. My employer got a nice healthy cut. Ironically the SAME is true today. But I have actually turned down the lions share because it is like an insurance policy. When work is scarce, I still get paid.

Steve
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Juvv2096

12 years ago

its not, an orange is oranger!

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Roaddog

12 years ago

Why is an Carrot More Orange Than a Orange

Amboy Dukes

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

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whateverpedia

12 years ago

Where did I leave my car keys?

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Why do garden gnomes smell so bad?

So that blind people can hate them as well.

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Juvv2096

12 years ago

Yeah thats a good thing, working for myself I dont get that luxury

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MoneyMagnetMagnate

12 years ago

Here's an easy no techie question mate...take a break...

What is the silliest question or request you have ever gotten?

I used to be on an IT helpdesk, and sometimes I would wonder...if some of these workers had actually ever used their computer for anything except playing solitaire...????

A few in the corner offices seemed to be totally clueless...like the boss in "Dilbert" clueless -

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Juvv2096

12 years ago

Originally Posted by MoneyMagnetMagnate

Here's an easy no techie question mate...take a break...

What is the silliest question or request you have ever gotten?

I used to be on an IT helpdesk, and sometimes I would wonder...if some of these workers had actually ever used their computer for anything except playing solitaire...????

A few in the corner offices seemed to be totally clueless...like the boss in "Dilbert" clueless -

LOL best question yet. God I really don't know where to start. I would get a stupid question / problem like at least once a week, easily.

Lady trying to use skype didnt know how to hang up the call, took like 10 mins or something and i think she ended up just turning off the computer or closing skype altogether.

Someone asked me to fax them a form to their printer. They didnt have a fax, just a printer, with no phone line etc....

One that comes up about once a month is related to malware. People call me saying "ive got a virus on my computer, theres anti virus showing i have 600 infections you need to come over and fix it! I cant click on anything and the virus software cant be closed and the internet doesnt work". So i say " no that virus software you see, is actually fake and it IS the infection". "

"right okay, so I have 600 infections can you come fix it".

me: yeah sure but just to let you know, you dont have 600 infections its fake

"okay but it says I have 600 so we better just make sure"

me. sigh, OKAY IM COMING OVER RIGHT NOW! (made this bit up)

Oh just thought of another one. I get an email come in "Hi Jacob something is really wrong with my computer I cant send emails".

me: thanks for your email, how did you manage to send this email if it doesnt work?

them: Oh, yes your right. somethings wrong with it though.

Okay I better stop now ill be going for ever lol

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Richard Van

12 years ago

Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill

Why is a carrot oranger than an orange?

Because the Dutch decided they look nicer orange.

Do I win £5?

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Wibble, bark, my old man's a mushroom etc...

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MoneyMagnetMagnate

12 years ago

We had a laugh with a VP who was giving us the go-around once...and just set up his keyboard to type in the cyrillic alphabet...then we left. We thought he could figure it out...
He went nuts trying to figure it out...

When he finally found out we did it ...he was pretty pissed - but our boss just told him not to piss US off (our dept.) or his ticket might get lost in the cue...we were glad he was on our side on that one...when the CEO heard - he thought it was funny! (he didn't like the guy much) We were lucky he liked us...

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Juvv2096

12 years ago

Haha thats gold.

One of my mates worked in an internal IT support team for a business. His boss was always playing world of warcraft, so my mate built a script to kill his WoW sessions like every 15 mins. I dont think he actually ever figured out what it was either haha. he left it on there for weeks.

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Im an IT Support Consultant, ask me anything

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