Monthly Archives: July 2007

Virtualize Now Save Later!

Posted by Casey Ruark on July 27, 2007 None comments

What is VMWare? Why should you care? Well VMWare is bringing mainframe/supercomputer to the x86/x64 platforms. Many vendors in the Sarasota area strongly suggest against this? Is it a bad idea? Will it cause downtime and difficult restores? Does it slow down your network and servers? Simply put, NO! Vendors do not push it because they make way too much money on pushing hardware. And why not, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that you can make more money pushing servers than you can in the labor to deploy VMWare.

Thomas and I were discussing this prior to deciding not to sell hardware. His answer to me on why we don’t push hardware was simple, by making a profit on hardware that we sell, we are responsible for all failures, as well as the temptation to push hardware for a quick buck.

With VMWare you can actually use that Quad core processor. It is rare that you will use 1/4 of the power of the machine that you have, so why not make 1 machine act as 4. In the server world, it is typically the OS which creates problems, not the hardware. With VMWare, you can backup your machines completely (A complete restore is estimated to take approximately 1-4hrs per machine….. much less time than the days you can spend restoring physical servers). So give VMWare a chance, and save money on your investment!

My view on the Geek Squad

Posted by Casey Ruark on July 13, 2007 None comments

Where do I begin? Is it just me, or does it seem like the geek squad is a knock to anyone who is serious about computer consulting. They make things up, try to entice customers to buy crappy software, and here’s my biggest complaint they are billed out at $100/hr. Wow, $100 for a $9/hr job.

Why do people buy into this? Any comments would be appreciated.

Here are some great services offered:

Network Troubleshooting and repair : $149/hr

Interesting, I didn’t know that a network was something that you could just fix. It is not a service that the geek squad can offer. Next time I run into a problematic Cisco ASA, I will be sure to give them a call. Guaranteed the first thing I hear is “Maybe you should reboot” or “Sounds like it could be corruption” …

Come on, anyone who owns a business and lets the geek squad in, obviously has been taken for a ride. Sorry, but just have to vent.

Oh and by the way, it costs $250 to have windows reinstalled, may as well just purchase a new system. Windows does not cost that much. $150 to install Norton Anti-Virus, what a steal!