December 2010 - WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: [Wlug] Any idea where to find a job?

by Jason Couture

I should also mention that I have limited experience troubleshooting and repairing Gilbarco Eclipse/Encore 500's, Systech serial port servers, and InCon TS-1001/2002. -- Jason Couture -- This message is intended to be viewed only by the listed recipient(s). It may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message without the permission of the sender is strictly prohibited. If you are not one of the listed recipients, or you suspect you have received this communication in error, please do not read it; notify sender immediately by return e-mail, and delete the original message and any copies. On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 3:19 PM, Jason Couture <plaguethenet(a)gmail.com>wrote: > Any it position will do, as for travel marlboro, framingham, etc are all > fine by me, boston would be a bit far. > > My retail experience consists of: logistics, electronics sales, and hourly > management. Prior to that I used to sell, repair and build computers. And > would troubleshoot and set up networks. As well as contract programming. I'm > a jack of all trades when it comes to computers really. Id actually like to > avoid any linux positions as I'm not really sure how to rate my knowledge. I > can install a working gentoo system without the handbook, if that gives any > hints. > > Sent from my android wireless device. > > On Dec 23, 2010 2:11 PM, "Cole Lavallee" <colelavallee(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > What are your options for travel? > Are you looking solely for just a Linux position? To be honest, they're > hard to come by. (100% Linux) without experience. > > What is your retail experience include? I worked at Best Buy selling > computers for 2 years & had 9 months of college course work completed when I > landed my first position. (Windows desktop support role) That was 3 years > ago this month, now I work with Linux/Windows/VMware/Networking/Storage/etc. > > > > > On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 12:10 PM, John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> wrote: > > > > > > Jason> If anyone k... > > -- > Cole Lavallee > 401.935.4007 > http://www.linkedin.com/in/colelavallee > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > >

Dec. 23, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Any idea where to find a job?

by Jason Couture

Any it position will do, as for travel marlboro, framingham, etc are all fine by me, boston would be a bit far. My retail experience consists of: logistics, electronics sales, and hourly management. Prior to that I used to sell, repair and build computers. And would troubleshoot and set up networks. As well as contract programming. I'm a jack of all trades when it comes to computers really. Id actually like to avoid any linux positions as I'm not really sure how to rate my knowledge. I can install a working gentoo system without the handbook, if that gives any hints. Sent from my android wireless device. On Dec 23, 2010 2:11 PM, "Cole Lavallee" <colelavallee(a)gmail.com> wrote: What are your options for travel? Are you looking solely for just a Linux position? To be honest, they're hard to come by. (100% Linux) without experience. What is your retail experience include? I worked at Best Buy selling computers for 2 years & had 9 months of college course work completed when I landed my first position. (Windows desktop support role) That was 3 years ago this month, now I work with Linux/Windows/VMware/Networking/Storage/etc. On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 12:10 PM, John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> wrote: > > > Jason> If anyone k... -- Cole Lavallee 401.935.4007 http://www.linkedin.com/in/colelavallee _______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Dec. 23, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Any idea where to find a job?

by Cole Lavallee

What are your options for travel? Are you looking solely for just a Linux position? To be honest, they're hard to come by. (100% Linux) without experience. What is your retail experience include? I worked at Best Buy selling computers for 2 years & had 9 months of college course work completed when I landed my first position. (Windows desktop support role) That was 3 years ago this month, now I work with Linux/Windows/VMware/Networking/Storage/etc. On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 12:10 PM, John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> wrote: > > Jason> If anyone knows of any entry level it oppurtunities in the > Jason> area, it would be much appreciated. I have 0 certifications but > Jason> I can more than prove myself. I've been stuck in retail for a > Jason> few years now and id like to escape it. If anyone knows of any > Jason> positions, please let me know. :-) > > Get your name known out in the wilder world by learning something well > (Linux software RAID) and helping out others. Spend the time to learn > new things on your own time. > > Network, network, network. Talk to people, ask about jobs, maybe > think about working in a retail computer type job if you can find > one. > > Check monster.com, dice.com, lopsa.org, sage.org and other sites like > that for job leads. Check your local colleges, non-profits, high > schools, etc. Look for opportunities anywhere you can. Volunteer > somewhere doing IT work, even if it's just entering data at first, > show a willingness to learn and take on tasks. > > It also depends on your educational background to a degree. If you > have a college degree, talk to your alma mater and see what resources > they have you can use. If you haven't done college, or didn't > complete it, look into doing so. It's a springboard. > > Post on facebook that you're looking, join linked-in.com, get the word > out you're looking. > > I personally don't think certifications are worth much, but it can > show that you can learn. Look in the paper for waht IT, networking, > programming positions are out there, and think about how you can > improve you skill set to meet those needs. IT is in a tough spot > right now. You might need to actually move to where the jobs are. If > you are flexible and willing to move, maybe there's someone like > spacex.com looking for a tech out on a pacific island somewhere. > Maybe you could get that? > > I'm just tossing off ideas, but it's upto you to show them that you > know your stuff, and that when you *don't* know, you can learn. Being > able to learn quickly and on your own is the single best skill you can > bring to any employer. Show them that you have this skill. > > John > > And no, my $WORK doesn't have any openings right now. Sorry. > Hmm... check redhat's website too, I think they were hiing in their > westford office recently. > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > -- Cole Lavallee 401.935.4007 http://www.linkedin.com/in/colelavallee

Dec. 23, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Any idea where to find a job?

by John Stoffel

Jason> If anyone knows of any entry level it oppurtunities in the Jason> area, it would be much appreciated. I have 0 certifications but Jason> I can more than prove myself. I've been stuck in retail for a Jason> few years now and id like to escape it. If anyone knows of any Jason> positions, please let me know. :-) Get your name known out in the wilder world by learning something well (Linux software RAID) and helping out others. Spend the time to learn new things on your own time. Network, network, network. Talk to people, ask about jobs, maybe think about working in a retail computer type job if you can find one. Check monster.com, dice.com, lopsa.org, sage.org and other sites like that for job leads. Check your local colleges, non-profits, high schools, etc. Look for opportunities anywhere you can. Volunteer somewhere doing IT work, even if it's just entering data at first, show a willingness to learn and take on tasks. It also depends on your educational background to a degree. If you have a college degree, talk to your alma mater and see what resources they have you can use. If you haven't done college, or didn't complete it, look into doing so. It's a springboard. Post on facebook that you're looking, join linked-in.com, get the word out you're looking. I personally don't think certifications are worth much, but it can show that you can learn. Look in the paper for waht IT, networking, programming positions are out there, and think about how you can improve you skill set to meet those needs. IT is in a tough spot right now. You might need to actually move to where the jobs are. If you are flexible and willing to move, maybe there's someone like spacex.com looking for a tech out on a pacific island somewhere. Maybe you could get that? I'm just tossing off ideas, but it's upto you to show them that you know your stuff, and that when you *don't* know, you can learn. Being able to learn quickly and on your own is the single best skill you can bring to any employer. Show them that you have this skill. John And no, my $WORK doesn't have any openings right now. Sorry. Hmm... check redhat's website too, I think they were hiing in their westford office recently.

Dec. 23, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Any idea where to find a job?

by Adam Keck

Well... You are in a tough spot with no certs and limited recent IT experience. If you can wrangle an RHCE, you will have a better time looking for Linux work. RHCE is the most recognized Red Hat certification and Red Hat and its brother CentOS continue to be popular Linux platforms in area corporations. Also, find places where you can volunteer your IT skills in return for recommendations/references or do contract work. Volunteering and contract work will allow you to expand your contact network. Some companies pay employees for successful referrals. Also, terminating an employee can be very costly, so hiring managers sometimes favor less skilled "known quantities" over unknowns that look better on paper. My .02, -Adam On Wed, Dec 22, 2010 at 7:50 PM, Jason Couture <plaguethenet(a)gmail.com>wrote: > If anyone knows of any entry level it oppurtunities in the area, it would > be much appreciated. I have 0 certifications but I can more than prove > myself. I've been stuck in retail for a few years now and id like to escape > it. If anyone knows of any positions, please let me know. :-) > > Thanks in advance! > > Sent from my android wireless device. > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > >

Dec. 23, 2010

Re: [Wlug] Dec Meeting announcement / linux-raid problem

by Chuck Anderson

On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 06:42:36AM -0500, Eric Martin wrote: > On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 4:52 PM, John Stoffel <john(a)stoffel.org> wrote: > > > >>>>> "Eric" == Eric Martin <eric.joshua.martin(a)gmail.com> writes: > > > > Eric> Now, the main reason for my email. My mythbox / home file > > Eric> server runs linux soft-raid in RAID5 with 3 500GB disks. One > > Eric> disk went bad a while ago and the array never rebuilt itself. > > > > So you only had two 500Gb disks left in the array? > > > Correct. I just received my new disk yesterday and dd_rescued the data from > the bad disk onto a fresh disk. the array won't start, so here's the info > you asked for I know it is confusing, but ddrescue and dd_rescue are two different projects that have no relation to each other, other than the fact that they do similar things. GNU ddrescue is the more advanced of the two and I would recommend it over dd_rescue--it may be able to recover more data (unless you use the cumbersome dd_rhelp helper shell script with dd_rescue). Check this out: http://www.toad.com/gnu/sysadmin/index.html#ddrescue > BTW, this is what I was missing. there was no warning that my disk was > bad! Like I said, I have backups but the last one failed so I want > something tighter I run smartd (from smartmontools) and mdmonitor (mdmon) as daemons to monitor for SMART errors and array issues. On Fedora/Red Hat like systems this is as simple as: chkconfig mdmonitor on chkconfig smartd on service mdmonitor start chkconfig smartd start (and making sure that root mail goes somewhere useful) mdmon will monitor the arrays that are specified in /etc/mdadm.conf (which incidentally is written automatically by the Fedora installer) and let you know if any component device of an array has trouble or drops out for any reason. smartd will monitor devices listed in /etc/smartd.conf (or with DEVICESCAN it will scan and monitor all available ATA/SCSI devices on the system) and let you know if you start getting uncorrectable errors, reallocated sectors, etc. which can be a nice early-warning system. I usually replace disks as soon as a single sector is reallocated or "pending". But even with these, you still should "scrub" the array--try to read every sector on all devices that make up the array--to find errors that might otherwise be missed. I believe that is what the checkarray script that John posted about does. checkarray appears to be a Debian-specific script. My Fedora system has a similar one called raid-check: /etc/cron.weekly/99-raid-check /etc/sysconfig/raid-check #!/bin/bash # # Configuration file for /etc/cron.weekly/raid-check # # options: # ENABLED - must be yes in order for the raid check to proceed # CHECK - can be either check or repair depending on the type of # operation the user desires. A check operation will scan # the drives looking for bad sectors and automatically # repairing only bad sectors. If it finds good sectors that # contain bad data (meaning that the data in a sector does # not agree with what the data from another disk indicates # the data should be, for example the parity block + the other # data blocks would cause us to think that this data block # is incorrect), then it does nothing but increments the # counter in the file /sys/block/$dev/md/mismatch_count. # This allows the sysadmin to inspect the data in the sector # and the data that would be produced by rebuilding the # sector from redundant information and pick the correct # data to keep. The repair option does the same thing, but # when it encounters a mismatch in the data, it automatically # updates the data to be consistent. However, since we really # don't know whether it's the parity or the data block that's # correct (or which data block in the case of raid1), it's # luck of the draw whether or not the user gets the right # data instead of the bad data. This option is the default # option for devices not listed in either CHECK_DEVS or # REPAIR_DEVS. # CHECK_DEVS - a space delimited list of devs that the user specifically # wants to run a check operation on. # REPAIR_DEVS - a space delimited list of devs that the user # specifically wants to run a repair on. # SKIP_DEVS - a space delimited list of devs that should be skipped # # Note: the raid-check script intentionaly runs last in the cron.weekly # sequence. This is so we can wait for all the resync operations to complete # and then check the mismatch_count on each array without unduly delaying # other weekly cron jobs. If any arrays have a non-0 mismatch_count after # the check completes, we echo a warning to stdout which will then me emailed # to the admin as long as mails from cron jobs have not been redirected to # /dev/null. We do not wait for repair operations to complete as the # md stack will correct any mismatch_cnts automatically. # # Note2: you can not use symbolic names for the raid devices, such as you # /dev/md/root. The names used in this file must match the names seen in # /proc/mdstat and in /sys/block. ENABLED=yes CHECK=check # To check devs /dev/md0 and /dev/md3, use "md0 md3" CHECK_DEVS="" REPAIR_DEVS="" SKIP_DEVS="" Finally, if you do come across bad sectors on a device, they will only usually be reallocated to a spare sector on the media when the sector is written to rather than just read from. As a last ditch "I really want to continue using this bad disk, please just reallocate the bad sectors and I'll deal with the data that is already lost" you can try to force a reallocation with hdparm --repair-sector: --repair-sector This is an alias for the --write-sector flag. VERY DANGEROUS. --write-sector Writes zeros to the specified sector number. VERY DANGEROUS. The sector number must be given (base10) after this flag. hdparm will issue a low-level write (completely bypassing the usual block layer read/write mechanisms) to the specified sec- tor. This can be used to force a drive to repair a bad sector (media error). But I would really think about replacing any disks that have developed such bad sectors, as it is only a matter of time before you run out of spare sectors to reallocate to.

Dec. 23, 2010

Any idea where to find a job?

by Jason Couture

If anyone knows of any entry level it oppurtunities in the area, it would be much appreciated. I have 0 certifications but I can more than prove myself. I've been stuck in retail for a few years now and id like to escape it. If anyone knows of any positions, please let me know. :-) Thanks in advance! Sent from my android wireless device.

Dec. 23, 2010

Re: [Wlug] disk/Raid ideas

by Eric Martin

On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 10:34 AM, Tim Keller <turbofx(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On a side note, if your running a software raid, you should also be running > mdmonitor and have a valid email address in the config file. > > Now somebody tells me! Thank you Tim, I wish I had that advice a year ago when I built the array. -- Eric Martin

Dec. 21, 2010

Re: [Wlug] disk/Raid ideas

by Tim Keller

On a side note, if your running a software raid, you should also be running mdmonitor and have a valid email address in the config file. On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 6:47 AM, Eric Martin <eric.joshua.martin(a)gmail.com>wrote: > > > On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 11:15 AM, Theo Van Dinter <felicity(a)kluge.net>wrote: > >> Did the second drive completely fail or is it just a bad block? Does >> the array work at all? If the disk is marked bad (RAID metadata), >> then maybe you can mark it as ok, get the array online, and copy off >> as much data as possible (starting with the most important files >> first, of course). >> > > Bad blocks and I think it's still marked ok (see other email thread with > mdadm data. > > >> You may be able to dd the data per disk, skipping any bad blocks, to >> another disk and then possibly be able to access some of the array >> that way. >> > Done > >> >> And of course ... you do have a backup of that data somewhere, right? :) >> > > Yep, just not as current as I want it (within a few days). > >> >> >> In general, some rules of thumb are: >> - RAID is not a replacement for backups >> - RAID 5 becomes more problematic as disk sizes + number of disks >> increase, look at something like RAID 6 (raid-dp, raidz2, whatever >> your implementation calls it) instead. >> - Be aggressive about fixing bad disks in order to shorten the >> catastrophe window. >> > > The purpose of raid in this machine was to make it faster and fail > gracefully (of course it not mentioning that a drive or two failed isn't > living up to that promise). I have rsnapshot running every 4 hours, but the > last few days of the server running it wasn't getting everything and I > didn't realize it. The goal right now is to understand software RAID better > while trying to get my data back in the window of no backups. If I can't > get it running tonight, I'm throwing in the towel and restoring from backup. > > >> >> >> On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 1:03 PM, Eric Martin >> <eric.joshua.martin(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> > It's raid 5, and I can't recover the group because of a hd error on two >> > disks. I wanted to see if I could move that data somewhere else to >> force a >> > rebuild but it looks like a no. Oh well, to the backup drive. >> > >> > On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 1:00 PM, Jason Couture <plaguethenet(a)gmail.com> >> > wrote: >> >> >> >> What kind of raid? If it was raid 5 I don't believe you can rebuild the >> >> array unless you have 2 surviving disks, so unless you can somehow >> recover >> >> one of the other two it would seem you are sol. Been a long time since >> I've >> >> done anything but 0, 1 and 0+1 so I could be wrong. >> >> >> >> Sent from my android wireless device. >> >> >> >> On Dec 18, 2010 12:48 PM, "Doug Mildram" <dmildram(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> You're hosed (i think) unless >> >> >> >> -- you're rich and you send the disks to a shop for megabucks (they >> may >> >> start with a trivial purchase of 2-3 identical model disks) >> >> >> >> -- OR IF your problem was NOT the actual platters/heads, YOU obtain >> 1-2 >> >> same-model disks, swap the board from a replacement disk onto your >> hosed >> >> disk ( w/ sm torx tool and brave fingers ) >> >> >> >> I've not done this myself yet. >> >> >> >> I HAVE had "stiction" problems where (after a power out or a "rest" so >> a >> >> disk bearing/lubricant gets a chance to harden) the disk just isnt >> spinning >> >> up. Of course, tapping/whacking it at the right/initial moment will >> usually >> >> cure that and you can feel if it's spinning or not....if you can hold >> it in >> >> your hand ...OR somehow get hands-on during powerup. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Wlug mailing list >> >> Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >> >> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Wlug mailing list >> >> Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >> >> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >> >> >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Eric Martin >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Wlug mailing list >> > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >> > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >> > >> > >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wlug mailing list >> Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org >> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >> > > > > -- > Eric Martin > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Dec. 21, 2010

Re: [Wlug] disk/Raid ideas

by Eric Martin

On Sun, Dec 19, 2010 at 11:15 AM, Theo Van Dinter <felicity(a)kluge.net>wrote: > Did the second drive completely fail or is it just a bad block? Does > the array work at all? If the disk is marked bad (RAID metadata), > then maybe you can mark it as ok, get the array online, and copy off > as much data as possible (starting with the most important files > first, of course). > Bad blocks and I think it's still marked ok (see other email thread with mdadm data. > You may be able to dd the data per disk, skipping any bad blocks, to > another disk and then possibly be able to access some of the array > that way. > Done > > And of course ... you do have a backup of that data somewhere, right? :) > Yep, just not as current as I want it (within a few days). > > > In general, some rules of thumb are: > - RAID is not a replacement for backups > - RAID 5 becomes more problematic as disk sizes + number of disks > increase, look at something like RAID 6 (raid-dp, raidz2, whatever > your implementation calls it) instead. > - Be aggressive about fixing bad disks in order to shorten the > catastrophe window. > The purpose of raid in this machine was to make it faster and fail gracefully (of course it not mentioning that a drive or two failed isn't living up to that promise). I have rsnapshot running every 4 hours, but the last few days of the server running it wasn't getting everything and I didn't realize it. The goal right now is to understand software RAID better while trying to get my data back in the window of no backups. If I can't get it running tonight, I'm throwing in the towel and restoring from backup. > > > On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 1:03 PM, Eric Martin > <eric.joshua.martin(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > It's raid 5, and I can't recover the group because of a hd error on two > > disks. I wanted to see if I could move that data somewhere else to force > a > > rebuild but it looks like a no. Oh well, to the backup drive. > > > > On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 1:00 PM, Jason Couture <plaguethenet(a)gmail.com> > > wrote: > >> > >> What kind of raid? If it was raid 5 I don't believe you can rebuild the > >> array unless you have 2 surviving disks, so unless you can somehow > recover > >> one of the other two it would seem you are sol. Been a long time since > I've > >> done anything but 0, 1 and 0+1 so I could be wrong. > >> > >> Sent from my android wireless device. > >> > >> On Dec 18, 2010 12:48 PM, "Doug Mildram" <dmildram(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> > >> You're hosed (i think) unless > >> > >> -- you're rich and you send the disks to a shop for megabucks (they > may > >> start with a trivial purchase of 2-3 identical model disks) > >> > >> -- OR IF your problem was NOT the actual platters/heads, YOU obtain > 1-2 > >> same-model disks, swap the board from a replacement disk onto your hosed > >> disk ( w/ sm torx tool and brave fingers ) > >> > >> I've not done this myself yet. > >> > >> I HAVE had "stiction" problems where (after a power out or a "rest" so > a > >> disk bearing/lubricant gets a chance to harden) the disk just isnt > spinning > >> up. Of course, tapping/whacking it at the right/initial moment will > usually > >> cure that and you can feel if it's spinning or not....if you can hold it > in > >> your hand ...OR somehow get hands-on during powerup. > >> > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Wlug mailing list > >> Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > >> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > >> > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Wlug mailing list > >> Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > >> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > >> > > > > > > > > -- > > Eric Martin > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wlug mailing list > > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > -- Eric Martin

Dec. 21, 2010