I was offered a permanent job at a car dealership to be a Systems Administrator for the dealership and partner dealerships. So in the upcoming weeks I might have some discussion topics about leaving my current job Sys Admin job and starting my new one.

Anyway, this dealership has a main office (with several “branch” main offices) and another office (with several “branch” satellite offices). The offices are all connected with Metro Ethernet. I read about this technology a while ago but had no idea it was actually in a production, let alone in my area. It is quite interesting how it works.

Have any of you been familiar with Metro Ethernet?

We have actually had good luck with Samsung printers and have purchased a couple recently. I have also had good experience with a Brother color laser all-in-one unit that I have at home.

I have an issue with HP thin clients and terminal server for a side consulting job. I called HP who walked me through some preliminary steps. Then they provided a case number. I tried their steps (which didn’t work) on a Friday. On Saturday, they left a voicemail following up on the problem. I called them back on Monday and referenced the case number. They said they would have someone call me. When they called, 2 days later, I let it go to voicemail. Once I was onsite with the thin clients, I called them back. They stated that they need a direct phone number for me because “they will not be able to provide support through voicemail.” I told them I am not always onsite and this is a side job. They insisted for an alternate number. They said explicitly that they do not provide oncall support for thin clients.

In order for me to talk to a technician, I need to be onsite when they call me. I just found that out today…..that is insane!

Keith mentioned that he was having trouble with his CAD application not working for non-admins.

Take a look at the Application Compatibility Toolkit from Microsoft. It gives you the ability to add “shims” that intercept calls to forbidden areas and redirect them to areas that the user has access to.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722367(WS.10).aspx

I used it a long time ago to allow remove all users from the Local Admins group as part of a desktop deployment project. It really worked well and I’m sure it has improved since then.

-Chris

Keith,
I just did some side consulting for a car dealership. They implemented HP thin clients. I had a very strange experience and wanted to see if it was similar to yours in Episode 124.

The RDS server was 2008 R2. They bought 15 RDS Device CALS for 15 thin clients. Every time the thin client connected, it would be listed as a “temporary” license. Eventually all 15 were listed as a temporary license. There were no errors, connection problems, and the licensing server didn’t complain at all. On HP’s forum, they said that it was normal to act this way.

Maybe it’s me, but I though the client was issued a license until a certain date or it was revoked?

I believe to mentioned a tolls call “whats used” or something like that. to you have a link to where it is availible