Eric,
I think it is true that some amount of knowledge is needed about client
operating systems, in order to support ADSM on them. Internals knowledge
may not be required, but something more than just starting/stopping/
installing is needed. Let me give you some examples based on our
experiences:
MacOS: older versions of MacTCP have memory leaks. This is now documented
in the ADSM readme file, but it wasn't always. Also, OpenTransport, the
successor to MacTCP has numerous problems. Users will run into these,
and often complain that "ADSM isn't working".
NetWare: Patches are needed. Different patches, depending on which
version of NetWare you're using. If the end user doesn't know how to
apply patches, you will get called in to help. Or, the user will simply
ignore the patches, and you will get called because ADSM doesn't work.
NetWare: User loses a hard disk and wants to restore it with ADSM.
How do they do it? This isn't documented in the Users Guide, so you
get called in. You must understand BINDERY and/or NDS issues, etc.
Unix: User complains that their archived files aren't there anymore.
Turns out that the user did a "DSMC ARCHIVE DELETE - PICK *"
They intended to select files to delete, from a list. What they
actually did was to delete all of their files. Thus, you must be aware
of how Unix works to some degree to figure out what the user did wrong.
Any: User has networking configuration problem (e.g., bad netmask).
They complain that "ADSM doesn't work". You get to diagnose their
networking setup for them.
This list is a pretty good place for finding answers to these types of
questions, but of course answers are not guaranteed. Like any service,
the better/more staff you have to support it, the better it will be.
One approach might be: Here it is, use it if you can. If you can't
then don't bother us - we can't help you. This wouldn't fly at our site,
but maybe it would at yours?
Hope this helps.
..Paul
--
On Mon, 15 Apr 1996 18:38:00 +0100 you said:
On Mon, 15 Apr 1996 18:38:00 +0100 you said:
>Hello all!
>I am currently trying to persuade my management into evaluating ADSM.
>The problem they see is that when we offer our customers a decental storage
> solution, we are also responsible for the ADSM client software. Of course this
> is correct, but they are afraid that this will mean that the support personnel
> also should have al lot of knowledge about the client operating system.
>Because decentral platforms are usually located at the user end they are likely
> to be modified by the user (applications added, ini files modified etc.). Does
> anybody have some experience with the impact of such actions on the operation
> of the ADSM client?
>I hope to hear some opinions about the degree of knowledge that is necessary
>for
> ADSM support personnel to successfully support the different client platforms.
>For instance, should they just be able to start/stop the operating system and
> know how to install software, or does one require more knowledge about the
> internals of the operating system?
>I know this is a rather difficult question to answer, but any suggestions are
> very welcome!
>Please mail me at evanloon AT klm DOT nl
>Thanks!
>Eric van Loon
|
