Mailbag - Letter to the Editor

ENT, August 18, 1999

High Availability Here

David Miller's June 9 article titled "High Availability Programs in Action" challenges readers to "Use the phrases 'Windows NT' and '99.9 percent uptime' in the same sentence." My NT network runs like a champ, year in and year out. Granted, it's a small operation. I serve file and print to 250 users, have a couple of Citrix servers, an e-mail server and a low-usage Oracle database. But it does run 24x365.

Maybe all the fingernails are being bitten over large-scale, high-volume operations, but it certainly doesn't get written up that way. You'd think NT crashed and burned all the time for no reason. In my experience NT is very stable and actually rather forgiving. Am I missing something?

Alan Hodge alan.hodge@contiteves-usa.com

Author David B. Miller responds: I can relate to your comments, being in a similar position myself a few years ago. There's nothing quite like having oversight of just about everything on your network. While it may be hectic, I found that in some ways it also made things more stable. I've had the privilege of working in some rather large companies the past few years. I can tell you that the reliability "perception" of NT is not as good as in your shop. Many times the problems stem from lack of resources, good procedures and practices.

Getting Over Greg Scott

Good recovery in the June 9 issue from Greg Scott's previous column. He did a nice job explaining his real - and realistic - position. I do feel that people blindly recommend NT too often, but if one intelligently presents the options and advocates what they truly believe to be the correct choice, I believe they can conscientiously go ahead and do what the customer wants.

Paul Eichhorn paul@desmactech.com

I read Greg Scott's [June 9] column with a smile because I lived through the same trials and tribulations. Being a man who cut his teeth on DOS, then Novell 2.x, and currently struggling through Novell 3.x to NT, I understand your statements.

My first love is Novell, simply because they built a product that did not need to be upgraded four times a year. Now as we migrate to application servers, resources servers and mail servers, I am scratching my head and wondering what I have gained.

Denny Gordon DGordon@ACNielsen.com

It was sad to see that a bunch of weenies attacked Greg Scott on the tired "NT vs. Netware" premise.

What these people fail to grasp is that these machines are Swiss army knives; certain knives may have different perceived strengths, but they do perform the same basic functions. It's strange to see people that have become so enamored with a particular screwdriver or scissors that they refuse to see that another knife has those things and a much better bottle opener, besides.

Name withheld by request

If I'm to judge by Greg Scott's April 7 and June 9 columns, he must have a "kick me" sign taped to his back.

Maybe people in Minnesota aren't buying NetWare, but what about the 1 million NetWare server licenses Novell sold last year? I think whatever "market trend" you were reading is wishful thinking on someone's part.

As for telling NetWare resellers to "get over it," you can put that where it belongs. Novell is still here ... get used to it.

Tim Wessels twessels@herman.ultranet.com

@@BDiscrimination or Fabrication?@@SR

In regards to Bill Laberis' June 23 column, I can't speak to the issue of gender discrimination, but regarding age, he is dead wrong. Age discrimination is rampant in this industry.

I know two fiftyish men who recently sought work after completing a rigorous training program that brought them up to speed on the latest technologies. Both found work eventually, but only after a number of rejections, including several from interviewers who openly questioned their ability to do the job because of their age.

Many companies would much rather hire less experienced - and less expensive - workers than the experienced oldsters. The so-called IT labor shortage could be significantly curbed if this discriminatory practice was eliminated.

Bill Hole billhole@geocities.com

I am a technical professional with adequate credentials, and I can say that in related fields, such as mechanical engineering, there is rampant age discrimination.

Seven years ago I was among 30 of the top technical people terminated by Westinghouse to improve its bottom line. I have a BS and MS in mechanical engineering and a PE. I started using computers in the Philco 2000 days, and I still use them.

For five years I attempted to obtain a responsible position through answering advertisements in the local papers. I answered a number of ads from companies that wanted Pressure Vessel engineers. They wouldn't even give me an interview. Clearly, showing my credentials allowed them to determine my age and that was the end of the contact. Several co-workers with great skills and work ethics couldn't get jobs either. Yet young engineers, who know far less than any of us, landed permanent positions.

Alfred Snow Greensburg, Pa. alfredsnow@aol.com

Bill Laberis' column on "Discrimination Fabrication" was refreshing. It is nice to see someone attack this subject with facts instead of profiling someone who claims they lost their job because of it. People should be judged by their ability when it comes to hiring decisions.