thwack Monthly Mission - September Edition

We've gone a little crazy this month but who can blame us?! SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor 6.0 is on it's way and unless you've been hiding under a rock, you're probably aware it's coming packed with several exciting new features. Some have affectionately referred to this release as SAM 6.OMG and others may have shed a tear or two, but it's all in the name of taking SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor (SAM) to the next level and well beyond just application and server monitoring (well, maybe we skipped a few levels).

September's Mission

Ready to check out the new features and Navigate the Depth's with SAM 6.0? This month we will feature 4, five-question quizzes, each highlighting one of the major new features coming in SAM 6.0. Normally, there would only be a grand prize at the end of the mission but we've tossed that out that the door this month. Not only do we have a grand prize, but we'll be giving away a prize each week until the end of September. Take a look at the mission rules below to see how to play.

Mission Rules

There will be 1 quiz featured each week. Follow the schedule below to see opening and closing times, prizes, and drawing dates.
There are 5 questions on each quiz. Each question is worth 150 points, making the entire quiz worth a possible 750 points. Over the course of the month, you'll have a chance to earn up to 3,000 points. And don't shy away from those points even if you're not entered into a drawing. Points are like gold right now! New items will be coming to the thwack store sooner than you think.
Score 100% on a weekly quiz and be entered into the drawing for that week's prize.
Attempt all 4 quizzes throughout the month and be entered to the grand prize drawing, regardless of your score on the quizzes.
As always, only your first submission to each quiz counts for credit/entries.
Weekly drawings will be held on Friday afternoons.
The grand prize drawing will be held on Monday, September 30th.
Terms & Conditions

Best of luck!

Quiz Topic	Dates Open/Close Open @ midnight CST Close @ noon CST	Prize	Drawing Date (Afternoon)
Don't Exceed Your Baselines: SAM Baseline Thresholds	September 2 - 6	1 TB Rugged Safe Hard Drive	September 6
CYA (Cover Your Assets): SAM Asset Inventory	September 9 - 13	GoPro Hero3	September 13
SAM & The Windows Event Log Viewer	September 16 - 20	Google Nexus 7	September 20
Know Your DB Lingo: SAM AppInsight	September 23 - 27	Slingbox 500	September 27

Grand Prize
Attempt all 4 weeks and be entered to win a $600 American Express Gift Card!

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Click on the boxes in the image to navigate between quizzes.

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Comments

mithi

First quiz question 3 admin guide hint link not working, How to know which questions are answered wrong.

danielleh

I've swapped links and it should be working now. Thanks.

_stump

Another great contest! You guys are on a roll!

Bronx

...with ham and cheese. Get it?

andrewm.

Is anyone else having trouble playing the videos at Server & Application Monitor (SAM) Training - YouTube?

Dawg

I cannot play them either...

Bronx

I'm talking with Danielle so we'll investigate ASAP

andrewm.

Working now. Thanks!

danielleh

Can you try these embeds?

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 7:

andrewm.

Those all work, as well as the original links

rhart-ka

Wow I really thought I had all the right answers, but only got 3 of 5. Guess I'd better study harder next time...

mdriskell

Still doesn't work for me....just sits there trying to load.

mdriskell

Well I stand corrected...it does load just takes forever on a 200Mb circuit

danielleh

The upside is you still have 3 chances to win! There isn't a time limit on these, take your time until you're confident.

bluefunelemental

Yeah I am out - too frustrating to spend an hour trying to to find the right answers, checking twice, three times... just to find out one is wrong and no grand prize after 1 day in. Going back to studying for certs...

mdriskell

I'd have to agree with here. Lot of effort to be eliminated that quickly for getting one wrong.

danielleh

While I understand your frustration, I hope everyone can also understand that the prizes being offered are substantial and thus, some effort is to be expected.

jamison.jennings

3 out of 5 is starting to sound like a common theme. Co-worker and I scored the same. Can ya double check the questions/answers?

And when will I see points from last months hit my account?

flobb

I didn't have any issues and it took me less than 30 minutes while doing other stuff (responding to alerts )

jamison.jennings

flobb...shhhhhh..go play with your xbox.

cahunt

At least clue us to which one's were 'wrong'... we can figure out why.

ecklerwr1

me too... I have SAM (but it's our most recent addition so I'm by no means an expert) and everything was there to get the answers :^}

danielleh

We've made a slight change to one of the mission rules regarding how to be entered to win the grand prize. Moving forward, as long as you attempt all 4 quizzes throughout the month, you will be eligible for the grand prize regardless of your score on the quizzes. The rule that only those who score 100% on a weekly quiz will be entered for that week's prize still stands.

For those who may see this rule change as reactionary to the comments above, I can confirm we intentionally made these quizzes more challenging and after speaking with the SAM team, we realized scoring 100% on all 4 of these quizzes was a bit optimistic on our part.

tomiannelli

Just wondering, my username and my profile name are not the same. I put my username in when I did the earlier quizzes but the points never show up on my profile. Should I be using my profile name? I finished this weeks quiz earlier today. Thanks Tom

kmillerusaf

Tom,

I've got quite a few points that have not been applied from last month's contest and this month as well. I'm just assuming that it's going to take a little while to tally everyone's points and apply them.

EDIT:

After reading some comments under August's monthly mission, it looks like they hope to have all points applied from that mission by COB today. So just be patient

danielleh

- whatever you use to sign into thwack is your username. I remember seeing your name on the list so rest assured you're good to go.

Due to the amount of participants, we are aiming to have all points added by end of business on Monday. Thank you for your patience!

danielleh

Hurry to get your responses in for Week 1: Don't Exceed Your Baselines: SAM Baseline Thresholds will be closing at noon CST and we will be drawing a winner for the 1 TB Rugged Safe Hard Driv e this afternoon!

kmillerusaf

Good luck to everyone! That drive looks pretty neat.

danielleh

We have a winner of the 1 TB Rugged Safe Hard Drive... ! Congratulations!

Week 2: CYA (Cover Your Assets): SAM Asset Inventory will open at midnight CST on Monday, September 9th. We will be giving away a GoPro Hero3!

ChrystalT

Woohoo!