My boss is driving me nuts. and illegal NetWare licensing)

[Grminalac]

Lets just say this first, I like my boss a lot, he has done a lot for me. Allowed me vacation time at last notice, given me sick days off in advance. etc... BUT lately I have been going out of my mind. The reason is he refuses to take me seriously in regards to managing the companies network, and or take action on my suggestions. Take our last project, connecting 4 offices via a VPN and allowing users to share files using NetWare 5.1 software. I had been working on the whole design for some time and I couldn't quite figure out his licensing setup. When I looked at all the data, it appeared as though he had the same 150 user license installed on each one of the servers. I said hey bob (name changed to protect the guilty) umm I don't think that will work this way. To be fair I was not 100% sure how NetWare licensing works, and from what i learned not all that many people do either. So he disregards my thought on the licensing being inncorect telling me that if we place the main user licenses at the top of the tree they will filter down amongst the servers and all users will be happy. OK i took his word for it.
So we connect two of those little guys up and voila the one server worked great however the other one had fits anytime 6 users logged in. (it came with a 5 user license) I said hey bob I don't think this is working and I explained my beliefs again on the licensing thing. He didn't believe me.

Ok so I step back not wanting to step on any toes...

Next day comes,he hires an outside consultant (at 95 an hour to fix the licensing issue) WHICH CANNOT BE FIXED MIND YOU WITHOUT PURCHASING MORE LICENSING, I keep saying. So 7 hours later we have service pack 6 installed, a consultant thats confused and leaving to do more reaserch, and oh yeah no working tape backup drives since service pack 6 that the consultant installed FUBAR'ED out the adaptec SCSI drivers. He said we'll just have to wait until tommorrow until the consultant comes back.
At this point I'm pissed off, although I still remain professional towards my boss.
I politely excuse myself to call novell support and have them fax me a paper saying that NetWare 5.1 requires a license for each connection to a server, NOT USER. Had he purchased Netware 6 we'd be fine, but he didn't. I fax that paper to the consultant and then sit it in front of my boss WHO reads it then TELLS ME NOVELL IS CONFUSED!!!!!!

Well i'll skip some of the details, but I was not pleased. Especially since the servers in two other counties are using the 150 user connections illegally!!!!!!! Thats thousands and thousands of dollars worth of illegal connections!!!!

Next day comes; the consultant calls and tells him the same thing I told him. (he believes the consultant)

So the tally, we wasted 10+ grand on licensing we cannot use without a sh!tload invested in connection licenses, a few days work wasted and now 800 or so for a consultant that only caused us more work. Not to mention a year had just passed in which we were completely illegal. (i didn't know though, cause i just assumed we were.)
Oh yeah I found the fix for the SCSI drivers on DELL's site, we have micron servers... go figure. too bad he didn't ask me my opinion to begin with.
To fix things short term. i.e. get legal we had to install Netware 4.11 on two servers and consolodate the users from two servers onto one. Not pretty..
I think i am just going to goto work, do what he says stay quiet and not try to help. When he gets canned I'll clean up the mess. j/k I like the guy, but when someone asks you to configure servers illegally thats where I draw the line. I have him by the balls now though, he has to either 1) go tell the CEO that the multi thousand dollar system we had been using needs multi more thousand dollars to become legal OR he can let me install SAMBA using a PDC. Something I have always wanted to try... well we shall see what happens.

 

[DanFungus]

:beer:

 

[dman]

he can let me install SAMBA using a PDC. Something I have always wanted to try... well we shall see what happens.

Linux > Netware and skills learned are useful for the future, at least more than netware skills appear to be.

 

[m2kewl]

when in doubt, do what my boss does...she bought site licenses to most of our MS software!

i love when women's in charge. buwhahahahahahahaha!!!

 

[Grminalac]

Well netware skills are always useful because everytime they release a new patch it requires great skills to fix their 1000000 mistakes.

Actually. I'd like to use samba in an environment that large just to gain the experience, and it looks like I'll have the opportunity. We already use linux as a proxy server and a firewall.

 

[Fritzo]

That's one thing about Microsoft's new licensing....if it's not activated right off the bat without the proper number of licenses, it just DON'T WORK AT ALL

We did something similar with our Novell network some years back. We didn't have enough client licenses (we were about 50 short), but we didn't buy anymore because management theorized that not everyone would connect to the server at the same time, so there were enough free licenses to get everyone through on a normal work day. Well, that idea worked about 2/5 days a week. Nothing like telling the company president that he has to wait for someone to log off so he can log in to get his email.

 

[Grminalac]

Hahahah thats hilarious. Actually we had 4.11 as an upgrade so we had to install 3.11 on our new micron servers. talk about a pain in the a$$ just to get legal.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I hate it when that happens and wanna know something?

My dad used to be a consultant for a company that charged $300+ an hour for each one of the men in his category or whatever.

Anyway, he switched jobs some time back and tells me that he loved consulting because people always listened very well and didn't argue unless they were sure about something being wrong. He said this was a great job because everyone listened. I can see why they would rather listen to a consultant for a high rate rather than an employee but sometimes they don't listen because they fell it would make them look inferior. Take my word for that from my entire life. Being 15 years old and knowing a good amount about computers and how the Windows OS works, if I help someone out that does the stuff for a living, they won't listen mainly because they took college on it and do it for a living and I come in for 5 minutes giving some small advice that will fix a lot but they don't listen because I'm 15. Basically, after some time you start getting respect for your work and advice and sadly people many times don't listen until its their only choice...

You seem a lot older than me and I don't mean to say all this without respect or anything but its just how I personally feel. That is one of the many reasons I became so active in the forums here, age DOESN'T matter at all here. Well, i guess sometimes it does, but its not a big factor because we don't have our ages posted under our post count or anything.

 

[Grminalac]

You are right. Age does not matter. I have always thought I went about my ideas the right way i always am respectful. I don't argue; i think i am a good employee, but it seems as though someone almost gets canned before they listen to me and when they do I get no credit for being right in the first place!!!

 

[Feldenak]

When I graduate and leave my job, I'm going to be sending out anonymous letters to the anti-piracy departments of various software companies informing of the rampant piracy in my current workplace. We have an internal FTP server that has thousands of dollars worth of pirated software along with CD key generators, *.txt documents with CD keys, etc...

 

[bonk102]

good luck, sounds like your situation is unenviable at best but good luck

 

[dman]

Originally posted by: AgaBooga
I hate it when that happens and wanna know something?

if I help someone out that does the stuff for a living, they won't listen mainly because they took college on it and do it for a living and I come in for 5 minutes giving some small advice that will fix a lot but they don't listen because I'm 15.

I understand what you are saying. However, sometimes it's best not to say anything unless asked for advice. People don't want to hear you pointing out their problems. For example, They may have things setup for a reason that is political in nature. While your advice may be true technically, it would not be applicable in thier environment.

Basically, after some time you start getting respect for your work and advice and sadly people many times don't listen until its their only choice...

True. Can't say how many times people will ask me a question, I'll give my advice, and they'll completely ignore it. Too bad, so sad.

age DOESN'T matter at all here. Well, i guess sometimes it does, but its not a big factor because we don't have our ages posted under our post count or anything.

Our posts tend to give it away... it's not necessary.

 

[NuclearFusi0n]

Originally posted by: Feldenak
When I graduate and leave my job, I'm going to be sending out anonymous letters to the anti-piracy departments of various software companies informing of the rampant piracy in my current workplace. We have an internal FTP server that has thousands of dollars worth of pirated software along with CD key generators, *.txt documents with CD keys, etc...

It doesn't affect you....don't be a little bitch...

unless they wronged you somehow, in which case, :beer:

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: NuclearFusi0n

Originally posted by: Feldenak
When I graduate and leave my job, I'm going to be sending out anonymous letters to the anti-piracy departments of various software companies informing of the rampant piracy in my current workplace. We have an internal FTP server that has thousands of dollars worth of pirated software along with CD key generators, *.txt documents with CD keys, etc...

It doesn't affect you....don't be a little bitch...

unless they wronged you somehow, in which case, :beer:

Other than the fact that this is piracy in a business setting (I'm using a less than legal copy of WinXP to type this) and is just plain wrong...yes this company has wronged me several times, problem is I make enough to cover my bills right now and there isn't much else available for a college student that will cover my bills in this town.

 

[FoBoT]

:evil: Novell :evil:

j/k

good luck

 

[Zugzwang152]

you're luck you still have an IT job!


jk

 

[d33pt]

Originally posted by: m2kewl
when in doubt, do what my boss does...she bought site licenses to most of our MS software!

i love when women's in charge. buwhahahahahahahaha!!!

There's no such thing as a MS site license

 

[Soybomb]

Originally posted by: d33pt

Originally posted by: m2kewl
when in doubt, do what my boss does...she bought site licenses to most of our MS software!

i love when women's in charge. buwhahahahahahahaha!!!

There's no such thing as a MS site license

My college has numerous site licenses for MS products, you might want to call let them know...

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: d33pt

Originally posted by: m2kewl
when in doubt, do what my boss does...she bought site licenses to most of our MS software!

i love when women's in charge. buwhahahahahahahaha!!!

There's no such thing as a MS site license

You mean all those copies of Windows XP I just installed don't exist??? UUUGHHH! What am I going to tell my boss I've been doing for the last week???!!!

 

[Commish]

Originally posted by: d33pt

Originally posted by: m2kewl
when in doubt, do what my boss does...she bought site licenses to most of our MS software!

i love when women's in charge. buwhahahahahahahaha!!!

There's no such thing as a MS site license

You might want to double check on that statement. We have one where I work. There are also many different types to chose from on their site...

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Originally posted by: dman

he can let me install SAMBA using a PDC. Something I have always wanted to try... well we shall see what happens.

Linux > Netware and skills learned are useful for the future, at least more than netware skills appear to be.

NetWare filesystem is (one of) the best around, and NetWare servers tend to be extremely stable and reliable.

And I'm still waiting for a replacement for 'Salvage'! (This in case Ameesh decides to nef in the thread )

It's the reliability which killed it partly, and the fact that people want something they are familiar with when buying something new.
People who had Novell servers often didn't need to upgrade as it was trustworthy enough and didn't need to be replaced unless new functionality was needed, and people who hadn't looked for a familiar interface, which often was found in Windows. And even if a sysadm would try to get a Novell server instead there would always be a manager who had seen a Microsoft commercial TellSell which clearly said their server software was New and Improved, and that their competitors didn't have such pretty BSODs!

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: Skyclad1uhm1

Originally posted by: dman

he can let me install SAMBA using a PDC. Something I have always wanted to try... well we shall see what happens.

Linux > Netware and skills learned are useful for the future, at least more than netware skills appear to be.

NetWare filesystem is (one of) the best around, and NetWare servers tend to be extremely stable and reliable.

And I'm still waiting for a replacement for 'Salvage'! (This in case Ameesh decides to nef in the thread )

It's the reliability which killed it partly, and the fact that people want something they are familiar with when buying something new.
People who had Novell servers often didn't need to upgrade as it was trustworthy enough and didn't need to be replaced unless new functionality was needed, and people who hadn't looked for a familiar interface, which often was found in Windows. And even if a sysadm would try to get a Novell server instead there would always be a manager who had seen a Microsoft commercial TellSell which clearly said their server software was New and Improved, and that their competitors didn't have such pretty BSODs!

This is something that has bugged me for a while. Why do we need Novell at a workplace? The past two places I've worked at as a programmer (which explains my ignorance on the issue) have used Novell. What does it give you that a plain jane windows NT server can't? It seems to me that Novell seems to cause a lot of issues that would go away if IT went away. Here at my current workplace, we use Novell for a couple servers and for printer servers. Why can't a Windows box handle that? We're pretty much all Windows (95, NT4, and XP) on the client side except for our webservers which are Linux.

 

[AmigaMan]

edit: excuse the double posting...

 

[astroview]

Yea Novell does seem to suck, wtf do we need it?

 

[Chess]

can someone sum this up, I dont feel like reading it all .. LOL