Actual date: July 10
Oh boy, we decided to take the plunge and add a Small Business Server (SBS) in our office. The process has not been fun. But, when is anything when you upgrade computers? For sure, you come to realize how much you rely on your technology tools to get your work done. When they are slow or don’t work, I know for sure, I can be very impatient. I do NOT like having to reboot or retype.
In working with our computer tech firm, we decided that we were right on the edge of needing a server. Keeping the peer-to-peer network in our home office would work but in order to share calendars I’d have to upgrade ACT! (we are currently using ACT! 2005 and I’ve never been pleased with the speed and functionality of the product since SAGE did their major re-write of the product with the 2005 release.) Since most of our clients use Outlook, it would be better to get more familiar with the product and stop being a casual user. SBS was designed to allow calendar sharing through Exchange. My assistant would be able to update my schedule and appointment reminders could be sent right from Outlook.
The other big pluses included a more productive backup method to save everyone’s files in one pass and built in remote access and intranet applications. Through the internet, I could log in to the server to check my email or get a file. Both things I need. Anyone in on the virtual, remote team of C4GP would also be to access the company Intranet for file sharing and other possible applications.
The kicker came when we assessed that I was using the slowest computer in the entire office! And I’m on a computer the most! So…we got a new Dell computer for me and planned to move all my files (since I was being “the server”) to my old computer which would become the server. (Note…this was all done in a separate analysis session that took several hours).
The process has been a nightmare, filled with lots of learning opportunities…and, it isn’t finished yet. My computer tech firm thank goodness has been wallowing through all of this. I am on the receiving end of the tools not all functioning properly. Since I understand the technology issues (I’m a software application person, not a hardware/network specialist who knows more than they want to), I continually analyze the events going on around and to me.
We started Day 1 at 10:00 am. Setting up the new Dell was easy. Getting the data files off wasn’t. It took 3-4 hours to move my files not only because I had so many but also because it kept hanging up on ACT! files. We finally learned how to disconnect the SQL Server for ACT! files and then the files would move. The tech guy tried to take special care to backup up all my computer and Outlook settings – favorites, rules, filters, etc. Microsoft does NOT make this easy. Sadly, with all the issues we had later on, these didn’t even all get re-installed.
The tech guy erased my old computer (took about an hour) and loaded all of the server software onto it (which takes about 3.5 hours, believe it or not!). In the meantime, I got the lovely job of reloading all of my applications (Office, QuickBooks, Adobe, Quicken, etc.) onto my new computer. I knew the new machine would be lightening fast, so I was willing to work through the pain of lost time working on client jobs. (This should only take a day I thought and with thoughts of Speed Racer in my head, I was sure I could make up the lost time.) For each program you load, you then need to go and get the online updates again. These in itself can take a while and cause the computer to reboot.
Two things made this easier – I had run a program called Belarc that listed everything on my old computer. This helped me to see what to reload and what release I needed to be on. I also have all of my computer CD’s organized in a 3-ring binder with CD holder pages. Each CD is catalogued using a software tool called Taming the Paper Tiger. I quickly found the CD’s and reinstalled using the install key codes I had recorded in Paper Tiger. (See, I try to walk my talk. This is one of the best products I resell and support.)
Now this is comical, but oh so heart wrenching. Just as the 3.5 hour server install was about completed (like with 5 minutes left), the tech guy accidentially (yes, I saw it all and it was an accident) pulled out the power plug to the server as he was looking at the pile of cables behind the computers (the cable was loose). He had to restart the install all over again! The server finally “came up” (3.5 hours later) and all of the computers were connected.
In the process, my laptop computer had XP Home on it and we had to install XP Professional to fully utilize the server. (Another 1+ hours.) After this, the laptop kept giving an error when starting up because it didn’t recognize the graphics card anymore. It needed a new driver.
At this point, I wanted to know who was driving whom. Were the computers telling me they were in control??? Years ago I got interested in the computer field because I knew they were just machines that followed rules. It was fun to learn “the rules” so you could control the computer. Hmmm…I’m convinced…computers and children are just alike…they don’t listen to you!! (And you certainly feel out of control.)
Now (of course) the new Dell computer had problems connecting to the server. The connection kept dropping. This means that as I was using Outlook or trying to edit a document, the connection would go away and I’d lose what I was working on. Not good. The tech guy wasn’t sure if the network card was bad and it was too late to call Dell. (They do go to bed at a decent hour.) He wanted to make sure I could work so he got me up and running from my laptop and from the Dell with no server connection.
I reinstalled QuickBooks and ACT!, my two most important applications. QuickBooks now had to be installed on the server first and then on the workstations. It worked from the laptop, so my assistant could get her work done. My calendar and contacts were in ACT! and on my Palm, but of course, my ACT! file would not come up. The tech guy had been here for 14 hours that day and our brains were fried. Time to call it a day!
My concluding thoughts for the day included:
1. Boy was I glad I didn’t attempt this on my own. Which I sometimes get cheap and think I can.
2. Maybe don’t try to shove so much into one session.
3. Plan for delays. Heck, it is a computer…something will go wrong.
4. I needed a stiff drink but because I was on a diet, I couldn’t drink. Bummer!
See my next post for the continuing saga…
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