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Step Into My Headphones
When I first started listening to podcasts, I was in a musical lull. Despite my affinity for creating playlists and tracking new releases, I was anything but excited to listen to music on my commute. A close friend recommended I try Serial, as she’d been listening and was desperate to talk to someone about it. After the…
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How a Million-Dollar Prize Problem Popped up in Orion Configuration Wizard
Almost 10 years ago, we implemented a packaging framework in the Orion®Platform improving processes around installing, upgrading, and removing product components. The packaging framework proved its value and quickly became popular and used by SolarWinds® engineers. With the packaging framework, we introduced flexible rules…
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THWACKcamp Day One Wrap-Up
Here at the end of THWACKcamp Day 1, it’s hard to settle down and write a wrap-up. The images and ideas are still very fresh; the conversations we shared are still swirling around my head. For those of us who’ve been around for three, four, five... or even nine (my gosh, how time has flown) years of THWACKcamp will know…
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Writing Challenge Day 25: How to Safely Entertain Guests During a Pandemic
In a pandemic, there are but three rules you should follow. * First, wear a mask. * Second, wash your hands frequently. * Third, stay the [redacted] home. Now, I know those rules are easier said than done. Well, not the mask part. Or the hand washing. If you cannot do those simple things, then natural selection is going to…
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Writing Challenge Day 3: Pet Peeves: Home Office Edition
Pets. Many of us choose to share our lives with them. I, myself, have three! Let me introduce you to them: Ben is the latest addition to the family. We rescued him as an unsold and abused eight-month-old puppy last October. He’s responded well to our care and is my reliable partner on our daily walks. Everyone loves him,…
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Upgrade Empathy
I’ve said before how much I think software upgrades are a key part of the job for any IT professional. We at SolarWinds have been striving over the last several years to make upgrades safer, easier, and faster for our users. We want all our customers on the latest and greatest release as soon as possible. When customers…
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The Growth of milCloud 2.0 Demands a New Monitoring Approach
As we know all too well, growth often comes with risk, and DOD’s milCloud is no exception. Below, VP Brandon Shopp advises agencies on how to ensure seamless application operations within the DOD's network as it continues to expand. The addition of Amazon Web Services and VMware to the Defense Department’s milCloud 2.0…
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Greetings from New Jersey...
Well, I'm out in New Jersey this week talking with the DoD about network management systems, interoperability, and best practices for building NOCs. I'd planned to take my iPhone out and get some cool pics of me standing in front of a tank or something but it's been dark when we finish every day. It's interesting to hear…
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Our Cloud Bill Is WHAT?! - Battle of the Clouds Series
Submitted for your approval; a story of cloud horrors. One of performance issues impacting production. Where monthly cloud billing began spiraling out of control. The following story is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent. During my consulting career, I’ve encountered companies at many different…
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No Experience Left Behind
While Leon beat me to it, I was inspired by this Twitter post by @Gabsmashh to write a more involved post about what I learned from past work experience that has helped me in IT. When I first became a Head Geek, I wrote about my journey from retail to now. I think every experience is valuable, even if it’s short-lived and…