Hardware....

Not really sure about where to place this. I noticed this line on the blog and it has me wondering about LL and hardware.

[02:00am PST] Second Life is still down while we work with our storage hardware vendor.


If this means what it usually means in the real world, LL is contacting either their VAR or a company like CDW to get answers on hardware failures, is this correct?

If that is correct, is it safe to imagine that the normal procedure is to call up the VAR, tell them what you need then trust they give you the proper items? Does LL actually spend any time at all researching the specifications of products before the items are purchased?

I hope to god that LL is not using 1: Western Digital Hard drives for storage. 2: Not using fancy , expensive SAS/NAS devices from Rio , past experience with them has landed 3 DOA units in a row.

I would like to know how those process are performed, due to my experience with VARs, OEMs etc, sometimes things don't go as you are promised and saving money is sometimes more appealing yet it leads to crappy results. Case in point 1: Order parts from OEM, get parts in for computer repairs, we discovered that the parts were used and had the usual dust from cooling fans on the boards! 2: VAR tells us to use model A mainboard and Model A power supply. We order many computers with those specs. Within 1 year, 75% of those machines had premature hardware failure (power supplies exploding and mainboards going bonkers). Only to learn that the parts are OEM and are only covered by a 1 year warranty! Switched to more known brands on both (for repairs) and the same systems are working to this day (over 3 years).

If LL does not perform the specification/research of all hardware requirements in house at this moment, are there plans to do so in the future?

Spend an extra dime today, to save a dollar tomorrow...

Probably not. From the blog they are getting support from the hardware manufacturer, not a VAR or distributor. Could be a RAID backplane issue, or a NAS failure, storage connectivity... your guess is as good as mine.

-peekay

I'm sure Linden Labs has done adequte historical refferencing of company products before having made thier choice in who to go with. Sadly Not having been an IT person (still working on certifications, life, etc) but having dealt with them directly as a Help Desk person I understand the frustrations LL is probably going through and the situation. It's not pretty, it's ugly, and if it's been this long...I hope they are waiting...I really hope they are waiting. Believe it or not no answer and waiting is better then an answer and waiting.

If a Linden by chance reads this post, would it be possible to respond? From what I have read about the internal support structure, the LL team seems to be comprised of mainly software engineers/bug testers and customer support , I have not heard a mention about a permanent hardware / general repair staff member. From my 12+ years experience in the field, it would be surprising if LL did not have a VAR or OEM deal with hardware configuration as many software development companies have no time to focus on the hardware aspect of it. As they say, the mind cannot be in two places at once. Another thing is that even LL has to order the hardware from someone, most likely has an account rep, I know from personal experience as well that many of these account reps will in fact try to sell you something just so either they get to clear out older stock or the commission is better on it, even if that means selling you an inferior part or system. I worked with an account rep from Insight once that tried to sell me everything under the sun the moment I asked for a quote on replacement parts, especially worse when it was LCD monitors (got my 17" a while back for around $120 due to him though)

I see your point, but many companies now have internal policies designed to save money, especially if there is a board of directors who Philip has to answer to when it comes to large expenses. The last company I worked for, we were required to get 3 quotes from different vendors on purchases over $500USD, and they made us go with the lowest price, no matter if the IT staff felt the quality was bad, just internal red tape. While we had a preferred list of vendors, the lowest price would win hands down, and that didn't matter if we were being sold a turd wrapped in velvet (don't get me started on our Netgear switch fiasco when all of the units we ordered, about 5, failed almost at once. We told them to get either Cisco or 3Com but the Netgear were on sale and were lower in price so they won the bid)