From felipe@cathedrallabs.org  Tue Aug  1 04:06:12 2006
From: felipe@cathedrallabs.org (Felipe Augusto van de Wiel (faw))
Date: Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:06:12 -0300
Subject: [Infrastructures] is this thing on?
In-Reply-To: <44CE5C90.2050306@halligan.org>
References: <2aa4b130607310638j7dd90977h2433ecb3d5bf1267@mail.gmail.com> <44CE18C5.6@terraluna.org> <44CE5C90.2050306@halligan.org>
Message-ID: <44CEC524.7010300@cathedrallabs.org>

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On 07/31/2006 04:40 PM, Michael T. Halligan wrote:
> Joyce,
> 
> Do you need any help? I'm sure there are a bunch of us (myself included)
> who would gladly help out.

	Going a little bit further, I have interest in work with
translation and "push" infrastructures.org in Brasil, so people
get to know it. ;)


	Kind regards,

- --
Felipe Augusto van de Wiel (faw)
"Debian. Freedom to code. Code to freedom!"
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From brenojac@gmail.com  Tue Aug  1 20:18:11 2006
From: brenojac@gmail.com (Breno Jacinto Duarte da Costa)
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2006 16:18:11 -0300
Subject: [Infrastructures] is this thing on?
In-Reply-To: <44CEC524.7010300@cathedrallabs.org>
References: <2aa4b130607310638j7dd90977h2433ecb3d5bf1267@mail.gmail.com>
 <44CE18C5.6@terraluna.org> <44CE5C90.2050306@halligan.org>
 <44CEC524.7010300@cathedrallabs.org>
Message-ID: <afb432270608011218j7f9d5286w5c5ab82b99c1b1da@mail.gmail.com>

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Hello,

    Count on me too, I'm also interested in helping in this regard.

cheers,

On 8/1/06, Felipe Augusto van de Wiel (faw) <felipe@cathedrallabs.org>
wrote:
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> On 07/31/2006 04:40 PM, Michael T. Halligan wrote:
> > Joyce,
> >
> > Do you need any help? I'm sure there are a bunch of us (myself included=
)
> > who would gladly help out.
>
>         Going a little bit further, I have interest in work with
> translation and "push" infrastructures.org in Brasil, so people
> get to know it. ;)
>
>
>         Kind regards,
>
> - --
> Felipe Augusto van de Wiel (faw)
> "Debian. Freedom to code. Code to freedom!"
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>
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> BRkuFFm8qU9Q9TRxp4fEAtw=3D
> =3D29la
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> _______________________________________________
> Infrastructures mailing list
> Infrastructures@mailman.terraluna.org
> http://mailman.terraluna.org/mailman/listinfo/infrastructures
>



--=20
  .''`.  -- Breno Jacinto
: :=B4` : -- breno /at/ freeunix dot com dot br
: ' ' :  --  88AE 3F43 7110 57F6 A206
`. `'`   -- D116 02CA 02F4 803D 4294
  `--   -- Debian GNU/Linux - The Universal OS

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Hello,<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Count on me too, I'm also interested in he=
lping in this regard. <br><br>cheers,<br><br><div><span class=3D"gmail_quot=
e">On 8/1/06, <b class=3D"gmail_sendername">Felipe Augusto van de Wiel (faw=
)</b> &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:felipe@cathedrallabs.org">
felipe@cathedrallabs.org</a>&gt; wrote:</span><blockquote class=3D"gmail_qu=
ote" style=3D"border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0p=
t 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----<br>Hash: SH=
A1
<br><br>On 07/31/2006 04:40 PM, Michael T. Halligan wrote:<br>&gt; Joyce,<b=
r>&gt;<br>&gt; Do you need any help? I'm sure there are a bunch of us (myse=
lf included)<br>&gt; who would gladly help out.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&n=
bsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Going a little bit further, I have interest in =
work with
<br>translation and &quot;push&quot; <a href=3D"http://infrastructures.org"=
>infrastructures.org</a> in Brasil, so people<br>get to know it. ;)<br><br>=
<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Kind regards,<br><br>- =
--<br>Felipe Augusto van de Wiel (faw)
<br>&quot;Debian. Freedom to code. Code to freedom!&quot;<br>-----BEGIN PGP=
 SIGNATURE-----<br>Version: GnuPG v1.4.3 (GNU/Linux)<br>Comment: Using GnuP=
G with Debian - <a href=3D"http://enigmail.mozdev.org">http://enigmail.mozd=
ev.org
</a><br><br>iD8DBQFEzsUjCjAO0JDlykYRAqo9AJ4/yzyaIfQEDWXMI3cIpXVtARoh7wCgn+Q=
K<br>BRkuFFm8qU9Q9TRxp4fEAtw=3D<br>=3D29la<br>-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----<b=
r>_______________________________________________<br>Infrastructures mailin=
g list
<br><a href=3D"mailto:Infrastructures@mailman.terraluna.org">Infrastructure=
s@mailman.terraluna.org</a><br><a href=3D"http://mailman.terraluna.org/mail=
man/listinfo/infrastructures">http://mailman.terraluna.org/mailman/listinfo=
/infrastructures
</a><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;.''=
`.&nbsp;&nbsp;-- Breno Jacinto <br>: :=B4` : -- breno /at/ freeunix dot com=
 dot br<br>: ' ' :&nbsp;&nbsp;--&nbsp;&nbsp;88AE 3F43 7110 57F6 A206&nbsp;&=
nbsp;<br>`. `'`&nbsp;&nbsp; -- D116 02CA 02F4 803D 4294&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>
&nbsp;&nbsp;`--&nbsp;&nbsp; -- Debian GNU/Linux - The Universal OS<br><br>

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From ferlatte@cryptio.net  Sun Aug 13 06:07:37 2006
From: ferlatte@cryptio.net (Mark Ferlatte)
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 22:07:37 -0700
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net>

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Magnus said on Mon, Jul 31, 2006 at 09:57:07AM -0400:
> I am reading up on isconf at http://trac.t7a.org/isconf/ and a lot of
> what I'm reading would seem to contradict or deprecate the bootstrap
> checklist for infrastructures.org.
>=20
> Does the site need to be revamped to reflect this development?

Perhaps this is no longer the correct list, but:

Something that I don't see isconf doing is recovering from user error
(at least, not very well).

Let say that I have an environment with a bunch of developers, and those
developers, for example, have root on a set of machines.  Being
developers, they want to be able to install things temporarily "as
needed", and I want to be able to restore the machines back to baseline
quickly and easily.

isconf seems to indicate that it will just totally fail in that
scenerio, requiring a fully machine rebuild in order to bring the
machine back under control.

In fact, it seems that isconf will blow up if anybody forgets to make
changes using isconf at all (vs. restoring the machine to the known good
state).

Am I missing something?

M

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From Daniel Hagerty <hag@linnaean.org>  Sun Aug 13 08:36:55 2006
From: Daniel Hagerty <hag@linnaean.org> (Daniel Hagerty)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 03:36:55 -0400
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
 <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net>
Message-ID: <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org>

 > In fact, it seems that isconf will blow up if anybody forgets to make
 > changes using isconf at all (vs. restoring the machine to the known good
 > state).
 >
 > Am I missing something?

    No, you aren't.

    It's a pretty standard problem for sysadmin tools in this space.
You'd have to detect what was done behind the tool's back and either
pretend the missing delta was performed by the tool, or undo what was
done outside the tool.  You're not going to get this kind of behavior
from the isconf model of how you do things.

From ferlatte@cryptio.net  Sun Aug 13 08:48:20 2006
From: ferlatte@cryptio.net (Mark Ferlatte)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 00:48:20 -0700
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com> <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net> <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org>
Message-ID: <20060813074820.GA19364@cryptio.net>

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Daniel Hagerty said on Sun, Aug 13, 2006 at 03:36:55AM -0400:
>     It's a pretty standard problem for sysadmin tools in this space.
> You'd have to detect what was done behind the tool's back and either
> pretend the missing delta was performed by the tool, or undo what was
> done outside the tool.  You're not going to get this kind of behavior
> from the isconf model of how you do things.

Dang.  That's too bad.  I'd kind of like to be able to use isconf
instead of the in-house system I'm using now (basically, systemimager's
updateclient + cvsup to overlay configurations), but we use the "reset
the system back to known baseline" functionality a lot.

=46rom reading more, it also seems like isconf assumes that your
environment never changes?  At least, there doesn't seem to be any way
to "collapse" the journal into a new base image so that you don't have
to replay the whole thing every time you image a new host.  In my case,
our current images are 2+ years old (Debian sarge), and there have been
a lot of things done to them in that period; having to replay 2 years of
changes (security patching apache multiple times, etc) every time I want
to install another rack of hosts doesn't seem like a good idea,
especially if someone removes a CNAME that hasn't been used for two
years but an early step in the journal depends on.

M

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From wcooley@nakedape.cc  Sun Aug 13 20:39:19 2006
From: wcooley@nakedape.cc (Wil Cooley)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 12:39:19 -0700
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
 <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net>
 <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org>
Message-ID: <1155497959.9416.32.camel@spartacus.nakedape.priv>

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On Sun, 2006-08-13 at 03:36 -0400, Daniel Hagerty wrote:

>     It's a pretty standard problem for sysadmin tools in this space.
> You'd have to detect what was done behind the tool's back and either
> pretend the missing delta was performed by the tool, or undo what was
> done outside the tool.  You're not going to get this kind of behavior
> from the isconf model of how you do things.

This has long been a complaint of mine with the tools I've looked at.
I'd really like to be able to inform the tool, make local changes, then
check my changes back into the central repository, easily and without a
lot of fuss.  Because, invariably, it takes more than one try to get a
particular configuration right and the iteration of "change in repo,
manually run tool to update host, reload server, see if it worked" is
frustratingly long--even if it's only 30 seconds or so.

Wil
--=20
Wil Cooley <wcooley@nakedape.cc>
Naked Ape Consulting, Ltd. <http://nakedape.cc>

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From Daniel Hagerty <hag@linnaean.org>  Sun Aug 13 21:32:01 2006
From: Daniel Hagerty <hag@linnaean.org> (Daniel Hagerty)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:32:01 -0400
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <20060813074820.GA19364@cryptio.net>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
 <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net>
 <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org>
 <20060813074820.GA19364@cryptio.net>
Message-ID: <17631.35905.420274.73834@perdition.linnaean.org>

 > From reading more, it also seems like isconf assumes that your
 > environment never changes?  At least, there doesn't seem to be any way
 > to "collapse" the journal into a new base image so that you don't have

    Steve's original papers had allusions to a snapshotting process he
used to basically play forward some amount of the log so that new
installs didn't have to start from the very first delta.  He never
really elaborated (that I saw) on how he went about this.

    In any event, you can probably arrive at a workable process for
what you do to prevent this particular problem given what you're
already using.  Play some amount of the delta that gets played to
everything and image it.  Install new machines from the image and play
new delta from the point of imaging forward and you should arrive at
the same place.

From ferlatte@cryptio.net  Sun Aug 13 21:40:15 2006
From: ferlatte@cryptio.net (Mark Ferlatte)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 13:40:15 -0700
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <17631.35905.420274.73834@perdition.linnaean.org>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com> <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net> <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org> <20060813074820.GA19364@cryptio.net> <17631.35905.420274.73834@perdition.linnaean.org>
Message-ID: <20060813204015.GB7091@cryptio.net>

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Daniel Hagerty said on Sun, Aug 13, 2006 at 04:32:01PM -0400:
>     In any event, you can probably arrive at a workable process for
> what you do to prevent this particular problem given what you're
> already using.  Play some amount of the delta that gets played to
> everything and image it.  Install new machines from the image and play
> new delta from the point of imaging forward and you should arrive at
> the same place.

That's a good point.  There's no reason to maintain a giant journal
forever.

Here's the thing, though; I've more or less got my infrastructure under
control (server/admin ratio of ~ 350:1 currently), but I'm spending time
doing application management, not systems.  For example, mysql _sucks_
at scale; there are no tools to automate replication setup amongst a
spare pool of mysqlds, for example.

This sort of application specific management is what would be the most
useful to me, but most of it seems to require modifications to the code
itself; many software packages seem to require a _lot_ of effort to
shoehorn them into this kind of environment, and it sucks, although far
less than doing this by hand.

I'm continuing to keep an eye on isconf 4, though; it has a lot of
things going for it that I like a lot, and it plus some other glue may
prove to be better than what I've got right now.

M

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From Daniel Hagerty <hag@linnaean.org>  Sun Aug 13 21:47:05 2006
From: Daniel Hagerty <hag@linnaean.org> (Daniel Hagerty)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:47:05 -0400
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <1155497959.9416.32.camel@spartacus.nakedape.priv>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
 <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net>
 <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org>
 <1155497959.9416.32.camel@spartacus.nakedape.priv>
Message-ID: <17631.36809.332054.37156@perdition.linnaean.org>

 > This has long been a complaint of mine with the tools I've looked at.
 > I'd really like to be able to inform the tool, make local changes, then
 > check my changes back into the central repository, easily and without a
 > lot of fuss.  Because, invariably, it takes more than one try to get a

    Well, depending on what you mean here, this is kind of what isconf
4 (or whatever it is) is trying to give you, provided that you work
within its constraints.  But by the same token, undoing "oops" as part
of your edit/compile/debug cycle isn't really in scope.  You'd need a
completely different model.  It all depends on what you really mean
when you say the tools aren't that good -- it's true, they aren't, but
what would you like to see them do better, spelled out more precisely?
(and this is the wrong list for such a discussion)

 > particular configuration right and the iteration of "change in repo,
 > manually run tool to update host, reload server, see if it worked" is
 > frustratingly long--even if it's only 30 seconds or so.

    If your edit/compile/debug cycle is 30 seconds, you're doing
peachy.  99.7% of the world has to deal with much longer.

From wes@umich.edu  Sun Aug 13 21:51:16 2006
From: wes@umich.edu (Wesley Craig)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 16:51:16 -0400
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com> <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net> <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org>
Message-ID: <6F6A1995-DA3D-4AE1-8367-660667FFF4B2@umich.edu>

On 13 Aug 2006, at 03:36, Daniel Hagerty wrote:
>     It's a pretty standard problem for sysadmin tools in this space.
> You'd have to detect what was done behind the tool's back and either
> pretend the missing delta was performed by the tool, or undo what was
> done outside the tool.  You're not going to get this kind of behavior
> from the isconf model of how you do things.

This precisely the basis of how radmind is used to manage systems:

	http://radmind.org

radmind detects changes, a la tripwire, captures them, and allows an  
admin to replicate the captured changes to other machines.  Or, if  
the changes are not desirable, roll the machine back to a known good  
state.

:wes

From ferlatte@cryptio.net  Sun Aug 13 22:07:01 2006
From: ferlatte@cryptio.net (Mark Ferlatte)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 14:07:01 -0700
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <6F6A1995-DA3D-4AE1-8367-660667FFF4B2@umich.edu>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com> <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net> <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org> <6F6A1995-DA3D-4AE1-8367-660667FFF4B2@umich.edu>
Message-ID: <20060813210701.GC7091@cryptio.net>

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Wesley Craig said on Sun, Aug 13, 2006 at 04:51:16PM -0400:
> On 13 Aug 2006, at 03:36, Daniel Hagerty wrote:
> >    It's a pretty standard problem for sysadmin tools in this space.
> >You'd have to detect what was done behind the tool's back and either
> >pretend the missing delta was performed by the tool, or undo what was
> >done outside the tool.  You're not going to get this kind of behavior
> >from the isconf model of how you do things.
>=20
> This precisely the basis of how radmind is used to manage systems:
>=20
> 	http://radmind.org
>=20
> radmind detects changes, a la tripwire, captures them, and allows an =20
> admin to replicate the captured changes to other machines.  Or, if =20
> the changes are not desirable, roll the machine back to a known good =20
> state.

Yep.  Knew about radmin, but it wasn't available when I starting
building the current infrastructure. =20

Dang.  It's come a long way.  Perhaps I should look into that; radmin +
svn for configuration files may do the trick.

M

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From wes@umich.edu  Sun Aug 13 22:44:28 2006
From: wes@umich.edu (Wesley Craig)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 17:44:28 -0400
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <20060813210701.GC7091@cryptio.net>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com> <20060813050737.GA1618@cryptio.net> <17630.54935.362858.867900@perdition.linnaean.org> <6F6A1995-DA3D-4AE1-8367-660667FFF4B2@umich.edu> <20060813210701.GC7091@cryptio.net>
Message-ID: <FD5BB558-9EA5-43EE-BC05-07E22802336C@umich.edu>

On 13 Aug 2006, at 17:07, Mark Ferlatte wrote:
> Yep.  Knew about radmin, but it wasn't available when I starting
> building the current infrastructure.

Careful not to confuse radmin and radmind.

:wes

From stevegt@TerraLuna.Org  Mon Aug 14 07:08:08 2006
From: stevegt@TerraLuna.Org (Steve Traugott)
Date: Sun, 13 Aug 2006 23:08:08 -0700
Subject: [Infrastructures] isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <20060814060808.GL14094@terraluna.org>

On Mon, Jul 31, 2006 at 09:57:07AM -0400, Magnus wrote:
> I am reading up on isconf at http://trac.t7a.org/isconf/ and a lot of
> what I'm reading would seem to contradict or deprecate the bootstrap
> checklist for infrastructures.org.

Good eyes.  ;-)
 
> Does the site need to be revamped to reflect this development?

The short answer is yes.  Right now I'm up to my eyeballs in building
out the new infrastructure for t7a.org; this time around it's
Kerberos, AFS, LDAP, Xen, isconf, and a few other things...  All of
our web sites, including infrastructures.org, are getting moved into
the new world after that.  In the case of infrastructures.org, it's
moving into a wiki market -- that's a Trac site with the tracmarket
plugin added (http://trac-hacks.org/wiki/MarketPlugin)...  If you
haven't read up on decision markets, now would be a good time to
start.  ;-)

As for the discrepancies between infrastructures.org and isconf 4, see
http://www.infrastructures.org/papers/turing/turing.html in case you
haven't stumbled across it yet; we got a lot of things right in the
earlier 'bootstrapping' paper (which infrastructures.org is based on),
but I think we were just plain lucky we didn't shoot ourselves in the
foot a few times.  If nothing else, read the Foreword in 'turing'.

Steve
-- 
Stephen G. Traugott  (KG6HDQ)
Managing Partner, TerraLuna LLC
stevegt@TerraLuna.Org -- http://www.t7a.org

From mason@schmitt.ca  Thu Aug 17 05:21:04 2006
From: mason@schmitt.ca (Mason Schmitt)
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 21:21:04 -0700
Subject: [Infrastructures] Career Path - Infrastructure Architect
Message-ID: <44E3EEB0.4070800@schmitt.ca>

Hello all,

I am evaluating where I am at in my career and welcome feedback from the
members of this list as I aspire to become an infrastructure architect.
 Any feedback on or off list would be greatly appreciated.

Where I am now:
-----------------

I am the "Systems Administrator" at a small cable ISP in Salmon Arm, BC,
Canada.  I have been working as the sysadmin here for over 5 years now.
   My current responsibilities cover a lot of ground due to this being
such a small company.  Here is high-level overview of some of my
responsibilities:

- all system and network design (not software development though)
- network and systems security
- implementation of my designs
   - project management
   - building and configuring systems
- some mgmt tasks
   - employee supervision
   - budget planning
   - assist with hiring
   - contracts and supplier negotiation
- level 3 tech support
- managing / maintaining linux systems
- supervising management of windows systems

I also have begun to do some consulting on the side for SMBs - mostly
security / architecture related work.

I strive to keep a holistic view of my network and systems and I always
have an eye out for maintainability, availability, stability,
scalability and ease of succession for the eventuality of someone
replacing me.  I have been experimenting with configuration mgmt tools
and infrastructure techniques such as those laid out at
infrastructures.org as well as trying to find my own way.  Lately I have
also been working on a virtualization project.

This reads like a resume, but that's not my intention; I want to know
what I need to do to get to the next level.



Where I want to be:
---------------------

- Architecting larger infrastructures
- working with a larger team (I'm desperate for peers and a mentor...)
- doing work with technologies that interest me such as grids, various
types of clusters, large scale storage
- continuing to work with linux and/or other unices
- continuing to work with open source
- doing a bit of research on some of my concepts for architectures



Questions:
------------
- What skills do you consider critical as an infrastructure architect?
- What do you recommend for education?
   Note: I'm not crazy about going back to school for an extended length
of time - I like being in the industry and my family likes the pay
cheque.  However, if it's imperative that I go back to school, I am
willing to do so.
- What kind of job opportunities are out there?
- What professional affiliations are worthwhile?

--
Mason Schmitt

From florian.heigl@gmail.com  Thu Aug 17 11:16:17 2006
From: florian.heigl@gmail.com (Florian Heigl)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 12:16:17 +0200
Subject: [Infrastructures] Re: isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <20060814060808.GL14094@terraluna.org>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
 <20060814060808.GL14094@terraluna.org>
Message-ID: <77abe410608170316s64232738w27c5d19e5a02819d@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Steve,

2006/8/14, Steve Traugott <stevegt@terraluna.org>:
> On Mon, Jul 31, 2006 at 09:57:07AM -0400, Magnus wrote:
> > I am reading up on isconf at http://trac.t7a.org/isconf/ and a lot of
> > what I'm reading would seem to contradict or deprecate the bootstrap
> > checklist for infrastructures.org.

> The short answer is yes.  Right now I'm up to my eyeballs in building
> out the new infrastructure for t7a.org; this time around it's
> Kerberos, AFS, LDAP, Xen, isconf, and a few other things...  All of
> our web sites, including infrastructures.org, are getting moved into
> the new world after that.  In the case of infrastructures.org, it's
> moving into a wiki market -- that's a Trac site with the tracmarket
> plugin added (http://trac-hacks.org/wiki/MarketPlugin)...  If you
> haven't read up on decision markets, now would be a good time to
> start.  ;-)

would You consider documenting a little of Your planning work?
I'm currently building a new xen host with a lot of scripts for
automated building of domU's and (slowly) trying out the different
tools around, and while I'm slowly making isconf work for it, it would
be great to see how someone else does the same thing...

Florian

From curzonj@gmail.com  Thu Aug 17 15:38:17 2006
From: curzonj@gmail.com (Jordan Curzon)
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:38:17 -0600
Subject: [Infrastructures] Re: isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <77abe410608170316s64232738w27c5d19e5a02819d@mail.gmail.com>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com>
 <20060814060808.GL14094@terraluna.org>
 <77abe410608170316s64232738w27c5d19e5a02819d@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <9d03aa20608170738m3cecdee4jae8c8a6b846089b@mail.gmail.com>

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This might be interesting for you, although it is not isconf stuff.

These are three scripts that I use to build my xen guests with Ubuntu.
create-rootfs.sh makes a base image and prepare-xen.sh copies that to
an LVM disk and gives the machine it's own identity (SSH and
hostname). setup-dev.sh is an example of the setup script that gets
run to provision a server for a specific role. setup-xen.sh is a
script that will setup ubuntu as a xen dom0 host.

I use these and with a proxy for downloading the packages I can
reimage a xen guest and have it fully configured in about 3min. It is
wonderfull for testing configurations and making sure that what I have
is (almost) always reproducible.

On 8/17/06, Florian Heigl <florian.heigl@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Steve,
>
> 2006/8/14, Steve Traugott <stevegt@terraluna.org>:
> > On Mon, Jul 31, 2006 at 09:57:07AM -0400, Magnus wrote:
> > > I am reading up on isconf at http://trac.t7a.org/isconf/ and a lot of
> > > what I'm reading would seem to contradict or deprecate the bootstrap
> > > checklist for infrastructures.org.
>
> > The short answer is yes.  Right now I'm up to my eyeballs in building
> > out the new infrastructure for t7a.org; this time around it's
> > Kerberos, AFS, LDAP, Xen, isconf, and a few other things...  All of
> > our web sites, including infrastructures.org, are getting moved into
> > the new world after that.  In the case of infrastructures.org, it's
> > moving into a wiki market -- that's a Trac site with the tracmarket
> > plugin added (http://trac-hacks.org/wiki/MarketPlugin)...  If you
> > haven't read up on decision markets, now would be a good time to
> > start.  ;-)
>
> would You consider documenting a little of Your planning work?
> I'm currently building a new xen host with a lot of scripts for
> automated building of domU's and (slowly) trying out the different
> tools around, and while I'm slowly making isconf work for it, it would
> be great to see how someone else does the same thing...
>
> Florian
> _______________________________________________
> Infrastructures mailing list
> Infrastructures@mailman.terraluna.org
> http://mailman.terraluna.org/mailman/listinfo/infrastructures
>

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From mpalmer@hezmatt.org  Thu Aug 17 22:42:18 2006
From: mpalmer@hezmatt.org (Matthew Palmer)
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 07:42:18 +1000
Subject: [Infrastructures] Re: Re: isconf deprecates infrastructures.org?
In-Reply-To: <9d03aa20608170738m3cecdee4jae8c8a6b846089b@mail.gmail.com>
References: <2aa4b130607310657g67ce2472ke609f3b995531c74@mail.gmail.com> <20060814060808.GL14094@terraluna.org> <77abe410608170316s64232738w27c5d19e5a02819d@mail.gmail.com> <9d03aa20608170738m3cecdee4jae8c8a6b846089b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <20060817214218.GE15711@hezmatt.org>

On Thu, Aug 17, 2006 at 08:38:17AM -0600, Jordan Curzon wrote:
> This might be interesting for you, although it is not isconf stuff.
> 
> These are three scripts that I use to build my xen guests with Ubuntu.
> create-rootfs.sh makes a base image and prepare-xen.sh copies that to
> an LVM disk and gives the machine it's own identity (SSH and
> hostname). setup-dev.sh is an example of the setup script that gets
> run to provision a server for a specific role. setup-xen.sh is a
> script that will setup ubuntu as a xen dom0 host.

There's Steve Kemp's xen-tools package, too, which does the same thing, in
what is probably a more generalised manner.  It's cross-distro, now, too.

- Matt

From rodrick.brown@gmail.com  Fri Aug 18 05:16:10 2006
From: rodrick.brown@gmail.com (Rodrick Brown)
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 00:16:10 -0400
Subject: [Infrastructures] Career Path - Infrastructure Architect
In-Reply-To: <44E3EEB0.4070800@schmitt.ca>
References: <44E3EEB0.4070800@schmitt.ca>
Message-ID: <bb075cdf0608172116o11195f30qe0c555303e76cd9f@mail.gmail.com>

You really need to have a clear, and level headed mindset towards
technology as a whole, finding the right tools for the right job is
very essential. A infrastructure architect really has no bias to any
one particular technology and are usually visionaries one way or
another, one of your primary roles at least in my experiences working
in architect type positions is foreseeing future technology trends,
implementing scalable solutions, taking business processes and coming
up with all the right technology requirements and a flexible enough
glue to mold it all together.

You really need to be highly technical in many areas of information
technology such as system administration, programming, networking, and
security, a solid background in computer science, or a computer
engineering is essential as you tend to be through into everything and
its basically up to you to work with the steering committee, get by in
from other technology groups, and lead the entire project coordinating
and coming up with the technical blueprint.  Architect positions are
very challenging especially when working with large fortune 50
companies but it can also very rewarding good luck.

Here are a few books I highly recommend.

The practical guide to enterprise architecture.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131412752/qid=1123724305/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-6749199-1708064

Architecting Enterprise Solutions
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0470856122/qid=1120187864/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-0628971-1328118?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Next Generation Application Intergration
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201844567/qid=1120188979/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-0628971-1328118?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

On 8/17/06, Mason Schmitt <mason@schmitt.ca> wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I am evaluating where I am at in my career and welcome feedback from the
> members of this list as I aspire to become an infrastructure architect.
>  Any feedback on or off list would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Where I am now:
> -----------------
>
> I am the "Systems Administrator" at a small cable ISP in Salmon Arm, BC,
> Canada.  I have been working as the sysadmin here for over 5 years now.
>   My current responsibilities cover a lot of ground due to this being
> such a small company.  Here is high-level overview of some of my
> responsibilities:
>
> - all system and network design (not software development though)
> - network and systems security
> - implementation of my designs
>   - project management
>   - building and configuring systems
> - some mgmt tasks
>   - employee supervision
>   - budget planning
>   - assist with hiring
>   - contracts and supplier negotiation
> - level 3 tech support
> - managing / maintaining linux systems
> - supervising management of windows systems
>
> I also have begun to do some consulting on the side for SMBs - mostly
> security / architecture related work.
>
> I strive to keep a holistic view of my network and systems and I always
> have an eye out for maintainability, availability, stability,
> scalability and ease of succession for the eventuality of someone
> replacing me.  I have been experimenting with configuration mgmt tools
> and infrastructure techniques such as those laid out at
> infrastructures.org as well as trying to find my own way.  Lately I have
> also been working on a virtualization project.
>
> This reads like a resume, but that's not my intention; I want to know
> what I need to do to get to the next level.
>
>
>
> Where I want to be:
> ---------------------
>
> - Architecting larger infrastructures
> - working with a larger team (I'm desperate for peers and a mentor...)
> - doing work with technologies that interest me such as grids, various
> types of clusters, large scale storage
> - continuing to work with linux and/or other unices
> - continuing to work with open source
> - doing a bit of research on some of my concepts for architectures
>
>
>
> Questions:
> ------------
> - What skills do you consider critical as an infrastructure architect?
> - What do you recommend for education?
>   Note: I'm not crazy about going back to school for an extended length
> of time - I like being in the industry and my family likes the pay
> cheque.  However, if it's imperative that I go back to school, I am
> willing to do so.
> - What kind of job opportunities are out there?
> - What professional affiliations are worthwhile?
>
> --
> Mason Schmitt
> _______________________________________________
> Infrastructures mailing list
> Infrastructures@mailman.terraluna.org
> http://mailman.terraluna.org/mailman/listinfo/infrastructures
>


-- 
Rodrick R. Brown
http://www.rodrickbrown.com

From tighetribe@yahoo.co.uk  Fri Aug 18 08:24:18 2006
From: tighetribe@yahoo.co.uk (Bren Tighe)
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 08:24:18 +0100 (BST)
Subject: [Infrastructures] Career Path - Infrastructure Architect
In-Reply-To: <bb075cdf0608172116o11195f30qe0c555303e76cd9f@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <20060818072418.68870.qmail@web26015.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>

--0-1478477448-1155885858=:68264
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Hi All, 

The background in computer science is of relevence to me as I have just Graduated from The University of Bolton, Manchester England with a first class honors degree, I based my degree on becoming an Infrastructure Archictect and took additional modules in programming (php, c++, Bash, Java), Networking, Unix Administration, communications,  I even based my final project on the concepts discussed on infrastructures.org.

I am quite passionalte about automated systems and infrastructure management as a whole and have a number of skills that Roderick mentioned. What I am finding difficult is trying to pitch this mind set at new employers and some of them look a little confused when I mention infrastructure.org, CFEngine, Isconf etc etc. 

I suppose what I am trying to say that I am finding it very difficult to find roles as a junior systems administrator where I could start to infiluence these practices. 

Has anyone got any advice on how to get ones foot in the door of this kind of sys admin as a lot of companies that I have spoken to a job fairs do not seem to have a clu what I am talking about. 

Many thanks all and Happy Friday (time zone dependent)

Bren 

Rodrick Brown <rodrick.brown@gmail.com> wrote: You really need to have a clear, and level headed mindset towards
technology as a whole, finding the right tools for the right job is
very essential. A infrastructure architect really has no bias to any
one particular technology and are usually visionaries one way or
another, one of your primary roles at least in my experiences working
in architect type positions is foreseeing future technology trends,
implementing scalable solutions, taking business processes and coming
up with all the right technology requirements and a flexible enough
glue to mold it all together.

You really need to be highly technical in many areas of information
technology such as system administration, programming, networking, and
security, a solid background in computer science, or a computer
engineering is essential as you tend to be through into everything and
its basically up to you to work with the steering committee, get by in
from other technology groups, and lead the entire project coordinating
and coming up with the technical blueprint.  Architect positions are
very challenging especially when working with large fortune 50
companies but it can also very rewarding good luck.

Here are a few books I highly recommend.

The practical guide to enterprise architecture.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131412752/qid=1123724305/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-6749199-1708064

Architecting Enterprise Solutions
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0470856122/qid=1120187864/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-0628971-1328118?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Next Generation Application Intergration
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201844567/qid=1120188979/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-0628971-1328118?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

On 8/17/06, Mason Schmitt  wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I am evaluating where I am at in my career and welcome feedback from the
> members of this list as I aspire to become an infrastructure architect.
>  Any feedback on or off list would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Where I am now:
> -----------------
>
> I am the "Systems Administrator" at a small cable ISP in Salmon Arm, BC,
> Canada.  I have been working as the sysadmin here for over 5 years now.
>   My current responsibilities cover a lot of ground due to this being
> such a small company.  Here is high-level overview of some of my
> responsibilities:
>
> - all system and network design (not software development though)
> - network and systems security
> - implementation of my designs
>   - project management
>   - building and configuring systems
> - some mgmt tasks
>   - employee supervision
>   - budget planning
>   - assist with hiring
>   - contracts and supplier negotiation
> - level 3 tech support
> - managing / maintaining linux systems
> - supervising management of windows systems
>
> I also have begun to do some consulting on the side for SMBs - mostly
> security / architecture related work.
>
> I strive to keep a holistic view of my network and systems and I always
> have an eye out for maintainability, availability, stability,
> scalability and ease of succession for the eventuality of someone
> replacing me.  I have been experimenting with configuration mgmt tools
> and infrastructure techniques such as those laid out at
> infrastructures.org as well as trying to find my own way.  Lately I have
> also been working on a virtualization project.
>
> This reads like a resume, but that's not my intention; I want to know
> what I need to do to get to the next level.
>
>
>
> Where I want to be:
> ---------------------
>
> - Architecting larger infrastructures
> - working with a larger team (I'm desperate for peers and a mentor...)
> - doing work with technologies that interest me such as grids, various
> types of clusters, large scale storage
> - continuing to work with linux and/or other unices
> - continuing to work with open source
> - doing a bit of research on some of my concepts for architectures
>
>
>
> Questions:
> ------------
> - What skills do you consider critical as an infrastructure architect?
> - What do you recommend for education?
>   Note: I'm not crazy about going back to school for an extended length
> of time - I like being in the industry and my family likes the pay
> cheque.  However, if it's imperative that I go back to school, I am
> willing to do so.
> - What kind of job opportunities are out there?
> - What professional affiliations are worthwhile?
>
> --
> Mason Schmitt
> _______________________________________________
> Infrastructures mailing list
> Infrastructures@mailman.terraluna.org
> http://mailman.terraluna.org/mailman/listinfo/infrastructures
>


-- 
Rodrick R. Brown
http://www.rodrickbrown.com
_______________________________________________
Infrastructures mailing list
Infrastructures@mailman.terraluna.org
http://mailman.terraluna.org/mailman/listinfo/infrastructures


 		
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Hi All, <br><br>The background in computer science is of relevence to me as I have just Graduated from The University of Bolton, Manchester England with a first class honors degree, I based my degree on becoming an Infrastructure Archictect and took additional modules in programming (php, c++, Bash, Java), Networking, Unix Administration, communications,&nbsp; I even based my final project on the concepts discussed on infrastructures.org.<br><br>I am quite passionalte about automated systems and infrastructure management as a whole and have a number of skills that Roderick mentioned. What I am finding difficult is trying to pitch this mind set at new employers and some of them look a little confused when I mention infrastructure.org, CFEngine, Isconf etc etc. <br><br>I suppose what I am trying to say that I am finding it very difficult to find roles as a junior systems administrator where I could start to infiluence these practices. <br><br>Has anyone got any advice on how
 to get ones foot in the door of this kind of sys admin as a lot of companies that I have spoken to a job fairs do not seem to have a clu what I am talking about. <br><br>Many thanks all and Happy Friday (time zone dependent)<br><br>Bren <br><br><b><i>Rodrick Brown &lt;rodrick.brown@gmail.com&gt;</i></b> wrote:<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"> You really need to have a clear, and level headed mindset towards<br>technology as a whole, finding the right tools for the right job is<br>very essential. A infrastructure architect really has no bias to any<br>one particular technology and are usually visionaries one way or<br>another, one of your primary roles at least in my experiences working<br>in architect type positions is foreseeing future technology trends,<br>implementing scalable solutions, taking business processes and coming<br>up with all the right technology requirements and a flexible
 enough<br>glue to mold it all together.<br><br>You really need to be highly technical in many areas of information<br>technology such as system administration, programming, networking, and<br>security, a solid background in computer science, or a computer<br>engineering is essential as you tend to be through into everything and<br>its basically up to you to work with the steering committee, get by in<br>from other technology groups, and lead the entire project coordinating<br>and coming up with the technical blueprint.  Architect positions are<br>very challenging especially when working with large fortune 50<br>companies but it can also very rewarding good luck.<br><br>Here are a few books I highly recommend.<br><br>The practical guide to enterprise architecture.<br>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0131412752/qid=1123724305/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/002-6749199-1708064<br><br>Architecting Enterprise
 Solutions<br>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0470856122/qid=1120187864/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-0628971-1328118?v=glance&amp;s=books&amp;n=507846<br><br>Next Generation Application Intergration<br>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201844567/qid=1120188979/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-0628971-1328118?v=glance&amp;s=books&amp;n=507846<br><br>On 8/17/06, Mason Schmitt <mason@schmitt.ca> wrote:<br>&gt; Hello all,<br>&gt;<br>&gt; I am evaluating where I am at in my career and welcome feedback from the<br>&gt; members of this list as I aspire to become an infrastructure architect.<br>&gt;  Any feedback on or off list would be greatly appreciated.<br>&gt;<br>&gt; Where I am now:<br>&gt; -----------------<br>&gt;<br>&gt; I am the "Systems Administrator" at a small cable ISP in Salmon Arm, BC,<br>&gt; Canada.  I have been working as the sysadmin here for over 5 years now.<br>&gt;   My current responsibilities cover a lot of ground due to
 this being<br>&gt; such a small company.  Here is high-level overview of some of my<br>&gt; responsibilities:<br>&gt;<br>&gt; - all system and network design (not software development though)<br>&gt; - network and systems security<br>&gt; - implementation of my designs<br>&gt;   - project management<br>&gt;   - building and configuring systems<br>&gt; - some mgmt tasks<br>&gt;   - employee supervision<br>&gt;   - budget planning<br>&gt;   - assist with hiring<br>&gt;   - contracts and supplier negotiation<br>&gt; - level 3 tech support<br>&gt; - managing / maintaining linux systems<br>&gt; - supervising management of windows systems<br>&gt;<br>&gt; I also have begun to do some consulting on the side for SMBs - mostly<br>&gt; security / architecture related work.<br>&gt;<br>&gt; I strive to keep a holistic view of my network and systems and I always<br>&gt; have an eye out for maintainability, availability, stability,<br>&gt; scalability and ease of succession for the
 eventuality of someone<br>&gt; replacing me.  I have been experimenting with configuration mgmt tools<br>&gt; and infrastructure techniques such as those laid out at<br>&gt; infrastructures.org as well as trying to find my own way.  Lately I have<br>&gt; also been working on a virtualization project.<br>&gt;<br>&gt; This reads like a resume, but that's not my intention; I want to know<br>&gt; what I need to do to get to the next level.<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt; Where I want to be:<br>&gt; ---------------------<br>&gt;<br>&gt; - Architecting larger infrastructures<br>&gt; - working with a larger team (I'm desperate for peers and a mentor...)<br>&gt; - doing work with technologies that interest me such as grids, various<br>&gt; types of clusters, large scale storage<br>&gt; - continuing to work with linux and/or other unices<br>&gt; - continuing to work with open source<br>&gt; - doing a bit of research on some of my concepts for
 architectures<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt;<br>&gt; Questions:<br>&gt; ------------<br>&gt; - What skills do you consider critical as an infrastructure architect?<br>&gt; - What do you recommend for education?<br>&gt;   Note: I'm not crazy about going back to school for an extended length<br>&gt; of time - I like being in the industry and my family likes the pay<br>&gt; cheque.  However, if it's imperative that I go back to school, I am<br>&gt; willing to do so.<br>&gt; - What kind of job opportunities are out there?<br>&gt; - What professional affiliations are worthwhile?<br>&gt;<br>&gt; --<br>&gt; Mason Schmitt<br>&gt; _______________________________________________<br>&gt; Infrastructures mailing list<br>&gt; Infrastructures@mailman.terraluna.org<br>&gt; http://mailman.terraluna.org/mailman/listinfo/infrastructures<br>&gt;<br><br><br>-- <br>Rodrick R. Brown<br>http://www.rodrickbrown.com<br>_______________________________________________<br>Infrastructures mailing
 list<br>Infrastructures@mailman.terraluna.org<br>http://mailman.terraluna.org/mailman/listinfo/infrastructures<br></mason@schmitt.ca></blockquote><br><p>&#32;
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From devick@lanier.com  Fri Aug 18 22:42:28 2006
From: devick@lanier.com (devick@lanier.com)
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 17:42:28 -0400
Subject: [Infrastructures] Training Infrastructure Teams
Message-ID: <20060818174228.B26037@so.lanier.com>

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I am a member of a team of Unix and Oracle administrators at a medium-sized
company; our team is responsible for managing the IT infrastructure for the
company, consisting of some 400 databases, web and application servers,
etc.  We are attempting to define a training process for new team members,
to introduce them to the principles we try to follow in managing the IT
infrastructure.  These people are typically competent administrators, but
may not have heard of Infrastructure Architecture as a discipline.

The attached file is an introducttion to the training process; it attempts
to lay out as concisely as possible the general principles that we try to
live by.  We will attempt to build on this as we develop further training
materials.  Since our philosophy seems close to that of
infrastructures.org, I would be grateful for any feedback the group may
have.

Don Vick
Lanier Worldwide (a division of Ricoh)


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<html>
<head>
<title>
Infrastructure Management Principles
</title>
</head>
<body>

<h3>
The Craft
</h3>

<p>
Analogies with sports or war
are popular tools for explaining business principles.
Pithy sayings of coaches are cast into business terms;
or ancient books like "The Art of War" or Machiavelli's "The
Prince" are held up as sources of business wisdom.
One such book is "The Book of Five Rings",
written circa 1643 by an aging samurai, Miyamoto Musashi,
who muses at length on the way of the warrior.
Early in the book, Musashi considers various ways of life as models for
explaining the principles that make a warrior successful.
After considering the farmer, merchant, and nobleman, he settles on
the artisan as the best analogy for a warrior, and gives this summary:
</p>

<p>
<i>
The way of the artisan ... involves skillful construction of all sorts of tools,
knowing how to use each tool skillfully,
drawing up plans correctly ...
making a living by diligent practice of the craft.
</i>
</p>

<p>
The craft that we practice is the management of the corporate IT infrastructure.
Attempts to teach this craft run headlong into the overwhelming complexity
of a modern IT infrastructure,
and elicit analogies such as "drinking from a fire hose".
Here we attempt to set down the basic principles of our craft,
in a form that is general enough to transcend differences in
architectures and applications,
but specific enough to guide newcomers into an understanding of the
team's approach to the task.
</p>

<h3>
Nimbleness
</h3>

<p>
There is an old saying that good judgement comes from experience,
and experience comes from bad judgement.
The ability of a business to cope with changing conditions
and unexpected situations -- to recover from the sub-optimal decisions
of the past -- depends on nimbleness.
Nimble organizations can mobilize the right resources on short notice
to respond to needs that were only dimly seen in forecasts.
Nimble groups have the right people with the right skills available
at a moment's notice.
</p>

<p>
But how does one become nimble?
Consider the nimble hands and feet of a shortstop,
the nimble fingers of a concert violinist,
or the smooth coordination of a team of firefighters.
Nimbleness comes from relentlessly practicing the basics.
Nimble groups can spring into action with a minimum of preparation
because they have determined ahead of time how they will work together;
they have practiced the basic skills of their craft so that,
when the time comes to act, they can act with one mind.
</p>

<h3>
Idle Time
</h3>

<p>
<i>
War should be the only occupation of a prince.
He should consider peace only as a breathing time
that gives him the leisure to contrive,
and furnishes the ability to execute, military plans.
-- Machiavelli, The  Prince
</i>
</p>

<p>
An organization with no spare capacity must tell new requestors
to wait in line;
by the time they can respond, the opportunity may have passed them by.
Managers rightly balk at the idea of idle workers,
so we must be clear about how idle time is to be used.
If time is money, then available time must be invested for future gain.
Idle time is the result of doing one's work quickly and well.
If we use our idle time to hone our skills,
to prepare for the next challenge,
we will be able to do more and more, and still have idle time to reinvest.
</p>

<h3>
Body of Knowledge
</h3>

<p>
Expertise does not appear out of nowhere.
Practitioners of a craft build up over time a body of knowledge --
the facts, theories, values, and practices which everyone who pursues
the craft is expected to learn.
Proficiency with the body of knowlege is a rite of passage for newcomers,
the continual assignment of every worker,
and the measure of a professional's skill.
The body of knowledge represents the desired state of affairs,
the standard of quality by which we judge our work.
Achieving that state is a never-ending process,
and the responsibility of every member of a team.
</p>

<h3>
Convergence
</h3>

<p>
The corporate assets over which we preside must be managed in such a way
that every act, every change, takes us closer to the desired state.
<a href=http://www.infrastructures.org>Infrastructures.org</a>
discusses the idea of <i>convergence</i> -- always moving forward,
preserving the present conformance to the body of knowledge,
and managing change in a way that
brings each changed component, process, or procedure more into line with
the standard set by the body of knowledge.
Convergence requires persistence, but it reduces the cost of support,
makes it more scalable, and results in increasing quality over time.
</p>

<h3>
Creating New Knowledge
</h3>

<p>
Every team member is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge,
but new contributions are not accepted casually.
Peer review is a key element.
Senior members of the team check the quality of new contributions,
and ensure that a harmonious whole is maintained.
New requirements are incorporated into the body of knowledge
by means of abstraction and generalization,
always seeking the simplest solution that meets all needs.
Kernighan and Pike speak of the "standard paradigm" --
a generally accepted best way of doing a particular task.
In creating new knowledge,
we seek to follow the standard paradigm as much as possible,
merging the new knowledge seamlessly into the old.
</p>

<h3>
15 Minutes vs 15 Days
</h3>

<p>
<i>
A problem occurs.
You have 15 minutes to save the world.
When that is done, you have 15 days to make sure it never happens again.
</i>
</p>

<p>
When we encounter exceptions to the existing rules,
we see not only the need for a repair to the existing operation,
but also a development task,
either to find and correct the root cause of the problem,
or to change the existing quality standards, to subsume the anomaly
under a more general rule.
We want to make sure either that the unexpected event does not recur,
or that it is no longer unexpected,
but can be handled as a part of routine operations.
</p>

<h3>
Change Control
</h3>

<i>
If I have seen farther than others,
it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.
-- Isaac Newton
</i>

<p>
Forward movement is only possible by building on the past.
Change control is the management process by which the body of knowledge
is altered.
Quality control asks not only "Does it work?",
but also "Is it consistent with what we have done before?"
Every change not only goes through a submission and approval process,
but also leaves permanent records behind.
Prior states of the body of knowledge are retrievable from archives.
Changes are deployed automatically to ensure that
working environments remain consistent with each other
and with the body of knowledge.
</p>

<h3>
Commitment
</h3>

<p>
<i>
You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but take a boat in the air you
don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. 
Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's
hurting 'fore she keens.  Makes her home.  -- Malcom Reynolds, Captain of
Firefly
</i>
</p>

Real systems break.  If we offer a system to our users,
we have an obligation not only to make it work,
but to think carefully about how it will fail.
Failure modes are not created anew with each system;
most kinds of problems are common to all kinds of systems.
Record-keeping, monitoring, quality testing, and support plans
are not optional features to be added if problems occur;
they are the expression of our professional commitment.
And once the system is in operation,
we must pay attention, listen to its voice, and respond to its needs.

<h3>
Unity
</h3>

<p>
A successful team is more than a group of people.
Successful teams develop a common language that lends both
richness and economy to their communications;
common tools and techniques,
so that everyone can anticipate what everyone else will be doing;
common values that engender agreement about what is important and what is not.
A team develops a common view of the world,
so that tasks and challenges, even apparently new ones,
take on a familiar air -- the feeling that
"We've been here before, and we know what to do."
</p>

<h3>
Consistency
</h3>

<p>
Tasks that the team does often should settle into a stable performance pattern.
Estimates of the time required to complete a task become more definite.
Variation and risk are reduced.
Rework should be almost unheard of.
Training programs can be tuned to make sure each team member knows
how a task should be approached in order to meet the expected time target.
Predictable task times lead to more effective triage during incident management,
and more confidence in project planning.
The team is seen as more reliable, and therefore more valuable to the company.
</p>

<h3>
Communication
</h3>

<p>
Teams must communicate with one another to do their work.
During its formative stages, a team requires a high level of communication.
Much information must be exchanged while establishing team norms.
Asynchronous or low-bandwidth communications like
email, chats, or telephones are not adequate.
But once the team is established,
the quantity and urgency of communication drops dramatically.
Elaborate discussions on how to approach a problem
are reduced to a few sentences.
Sentences are reduced to a word or two.
Much of what needs to be said can be said in email or logs, to be read later.
And much can remain unsaid, being implicit in the team's preparation.
Economy of communication is the mark of a well-prepared team.
</p>

<p>
But such economy is only for the team;
to newcomers and others, the terseness that works so well for the team
only serves to make their communications inscrutable.
Communications outside the team must be more elaborate,
in plain language and not in the private language of the team.
The team must learn how to keep others informed,
even in the midst of their work.
</p>

<h3>
Time and Task Management
</h3>

<p>
Time and task management are critical to effectiveness.
In <i>The Effective Executive</i>, Peter Drucker defines effectiveness as
"getting the right things done".
The way we manage our tasks determines what we attempt to get done,
and the way we manage our time determines how long we have to do it.
And if we have decided that a task must be done,
then we must find sufficient time, in sufficient intervals,
to accomplish it.
</p>

<p>
Task management can benefit from "triage", classifying tasks or problems
into "now", "later" and "never".
"Time boxing" allows a manager to limit the time invested on a task,
to allow for an initial evaluation before commiting fully.
"Time blocking" is the practice of reserving blocks of time for a specific use,
either for individuals or groups,
so that urgent tasks can be set aside temporarily in order to concentrate
on work that cannot be done effectively in small time slices.
</p>

<h3>
Tools versus Appliances
</h3>

<p>
<i>
Practice doesn't make perfect.  <b>Perfect practice</b> makes perfect.
-- Vince Lombardi
</i>
</p>

<p>
The tools we use to do our jobs can be our friends or our enemies.
If, when using a tool, we are thinking about how it works,
and what it is doing for us,
then each use of the tool becomes a practice session.
Our skills are kept fresh, even enhanced, through the use of the tool.
If the tool ever fails, as tools will,
or we have to work in a new environment where the tool is not available,
then we may work slower,
but we will not have forgotten how to do the job.
On the other hand, if we use a tool as an appliance,
without thinking about what it is doing,
our skills become dull and stale.
Then when, inevitably, the tool fails, we will be lost,
unable to do the job we once knew how to do.
Tools can enable us to work faster,
but they should not be allowed to steal our skills.
</p>

<h3>
The Arrow of Time
</h3>

<p>
<i>
Success is not final.  Failure is not fatal.
It is the courage to continue that counts.  -- Winston Churchill
</i>
</p>

<p>
All systems, both real and virtual,
have an inexorable tendency to move toward their most likely state.
Ice melts, hot coffee cools, and houses of cards fall
because their final state is more likely than the first.
Physicists speak of "the arrow of time",
the irreversible movement of the physical universe toward its final state.
Human institutions and artifacts change over time.
If we strive to make all changes take us toward the ideal,
to seek out and eliminate inconsistencies and errors,
to keep our goals in view even when we cannot move directly toward them,
then we can make the arrow of time work in our favor.
Well managed systems become better over time,
because the people who tend them refuse to allow the alternative.
</p>

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