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SUDO Teach Me a Lesson
The command “sudo” is an essential part of Vax, Unix, and Linux operating systems. It’s so intrinsic to how SysAdmins work, many consider “sudo” to be a built-in command and are shocked when they encounter a system where it’s missing. Since its introduction in 1980, it’s been used millions of times a day, on millions of…
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Geekly World News: March 2021
Happy March 368th! We’re coming up on one year (in the US) of when our kids didn’t go back to school after Spring Break and we didn’t go back into the office. One year since we saw IT organizations all over the world rise to the challenge of moving entire companies remote overnight or over a weekend. So, once again, kudos…
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Confessions of An Upgrade Cheerleader
If you’re a SolarWinds customer, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a video of a Head Geek, passionately urging you to upgrade to the latest and greatest version Right Now. And that Head Geek is likely me. If the speaker has TV anchor hair and boundless upgrade enthusiasm, it’s almost certainly me. In dozens of videos,…
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Change is Hard
I.T. folks understand change can be hard, and I don’t mean in the “Who Moved My Cheese” kind of way. Change, as in “change control,” is necessary. But we don’t like the process any more because we understand how essential it is. For those who haven’t experienced the Kafkaesque confusion that is corporate change control,…
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Alternate Actuator: The Bacon Edition
With humble admiration and praise for sqlrockstar and his weekly Actuator, I wonder if it might be time for an alternate Actuator. August, aka the "silly season," is just around the corner. The silly season's heat and high population density tend to make people behave differently than they would if they were cool, calm,…
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Which Is Right for You—Help Desk or Service Desk?
Help Desk and Service Desk are names that are often interchanged in IT. But, have you ever thought, what does Help Desk and Service Desk mean—and how do they differ? Confused ?? In this article, I’ll take you through the different characteristics of Help Desk and Service Desk, and by analyzing the discussed points, you…
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Initial Considerations for an ITSM Evaluation
The start of a new year brings the familiar sentiments of “New Year, New Me!” or in 2021’s case, “New Year, New Perspective.” Ushering in a new year provides an outlet for personal reflection but it’s also a time for organizations to review and establish their business objectives. As the new year kicks off, perhaps one of…
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Geekly World News: February 2021
January was a month of events here in the U.S., and I’m happy to positively contribute to that list with a new Head Geek, Kevin Kline. Kevin joins us from the SentryOne acquisition and is a force in database to contend with our buddy Thomas LaRock. Look forward to seeing his work posted here in the GWN with the rest of us.…
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Taking an API-First Approach to Network Management
Application programming interfaces (APIs) allow applications to communicate, interoperate, and share information with one another. APIs have been mainstays at companies like Google, Salesforce, and other smaller but innovative organizations for decades. Now, they’re also common in the public sector, with a wide range of…
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How Emerging Technologies Influence State Government Staffing Needs
Emerging technologies impact many areas of an organization, but their impact on staffing is often overlooked. It would be ideal for public sector organizations, and state governments, in particular, to be able to adopt new technologies and hire the appropriate staff quickly and easily to optimize operations. State…