Best Buy

Let me begin by saying that I have been getting more and more frustrated with Best Buy as a whole. I have been to several and there seems to be a common theme. A totally and complete lack of Customer Service!

A couple of months ago, I went in to the Hillsboro Best Buy to pick up some Amazon Gift Cards. As I passed the laptops, I noticed an Asus that had the new Sandy Bridge processor for just over $1200. It was not the cheap $400 Acer, it is a state-of-the-art gaming rig. I decided to think about it and talk with the wife about it. And after much research and deliberating, I decided to get it. So, the next day, I go in during my lunch time to purchase said laptop. After waiting for 30 minutes, standing in front of the laptop, waiting for someone to help me, I finally get a manager who wanders by from the backroom. He asked me if I need help and I replied with a curt ‘Yes’. He stated that he will find someone and thanked me for my patience. In which I replied with a ‘Patience running thin’. A short time later, a young girl comes over to help me. She greeted me and told me that she was from the phone area and knew nothing about ‘these machines’. I smiled and told her that I knew exactly what I wanted, which was this laptop. She wondered off to find a computer “expert” to see if they had any in stock. (notice the quotes) She came back a few minutes later and told me that they were out of stock, but the Beaverton Mall store had two. In front of her manager, I thanked her and said that she was the only person in store that actually tried to help me. When I got to the Beaverton store.. It was exactly the same thing.. I purchased my laptop from the AT&T girl.. I just don’t get it..

Last Week, my girls started school and had some homework that they needed to print off of our very very old printer. But, hey, it still worked.. sort of.. Blue was more of a green, red turned out to be yellow, and black was more of a dark gray. These were the colors no matter if it was a new ink cartridge or an old one. So, I finally bit the bullet and went to purchase a new printer. Best Buy had the all-in-one that I wanted and it was even on sale. So, during my lunch, I stopped by Best Buy to pick up the printer. After searching, I finally find the exact printer on a back end-cap, but there are none around it. But, I can see that they have some in overstock. So, I try to find someone to help me get one from overstock, without pulling a Jackie Chan maneuver. No luck.. Everyone that I find is either rushing into the back storeroom area or trying to help a customer. So, after 30 minutes of wandering the computer area looking for someone, I leave frustrated and printerless. That is the final straw. I told my family and friends about these stories and if they were going to get something, purchase it from Amazon.

Good Bye Best Buy!

EVE Online

Most of you have heard that I had stopped playing EVE Online for a couple of reasons. I found myself not enjoying the game and getting incredibly frustrated with it. As I have stated to my girls, on a number of occasions, games are supposed to be fun. When they are not fun, you should stop playing them. The final action that just made me down right mad was.. I just bought a new fancy shield for my Battleship. It was the most expensive piece of equipment (as expensive as the battleship itself). It took me over of month of quests and mining to get that much isk. I am just coming out of the space station, in Jita, and some ass pops me… That was the last straw. The other issue I have is that mission areas are not instances, like in other MMOs. It is one big universe and you can go anywhere, even if someone is mission running. I don’t like this aspect, since I like doing my own thing, being in a mission and having some ass come in a pop me when I am already engaged with NPCs. Most of the time, I am not able to bug-out.. So.. I get blown out of the sky. There is no safe spot, where you can just hang out and recharge the shields for a bit. You are always under constant threat of attack by players. If there was a specific PvP area or an area (like low sec) that PvP was allowed, it would be totally different game. But, the fact that you can attack someone (PvP) in high sec, outside a space station, with the space police right there.. is.. just wrong!

There are some aspects of the game that I do like. Skill Training is real-time.. meaning, if it says it is 11 hours to complete, it is 11 hours, either when you are online or offline. There is no grinding for XP or a specific skill. I like that a lot.

And, we have to deal with the me Issue. I have a strange sense of needing to have value if I pay money for something. So, if I am forking out cold hard cash, I want to feel like I am getting my monies worth. So, when I am playing EVE, I have to play EVE. This is wrong, since I ignore everyone around me. I at least have to have fun with the game and be so incredibly pissed off at it all the time!

Also, there is no End-Game. There is no master purpose or Quest for the holy grail.

I guess I am tired of the constant unprovoked attacks.

New XBox in the house!

Well.. My Gen1 White 8gb XBox360 finally gave up the ghost. It started not being able to read the DVDs, neither game nor movie. But, then it failed all together. I thought something was up, so I did transfer most of my game profiles, saves, and themes to a 4gb usb drive. So, I guess I am not out that much...

Went to BestBuy and bought a new Black XBox360 with a 250gb drive. Hooked it up and started downloading all of the content that I had before... waiting.. waiting.. waiting.. after several hours, I decided to go to sleep.. There were still about 25 items in the "pending download" state. I guess having it for so long, I acquired lots of stuff.

On a side note, I do have to rant about BestBuy for a second. I have been a big supporter of BestBuy for a long time. Have purchased many many many things there over the many years. So, on Sunday, my family and I went in and we were greeted by the door guard, but no one else. Even though, there were many employees there. I rushed back to the XBox section, grabbed an XBox from the shelf. There were 3 employees there, just standing and chatting. They did not say anything to me or even break their conversation. Did not really need their help, but, it would have been nice to be acknowledged. At the check out area, there was one guy, who was apparently buying the store. The guy was purchasing several large items, so it was going to take him a while. So, I stood, holding my XBox... and waited.. and waited.. I saw the girls wandering around looking at stuff, while I continued to wait. Another BestBuy employee wandered the area, cleaned up some papers from a register and then wandered off. And.. I waited.. Finally, the guy finished up his transaction and I was up. I was seriously thinking about putting it on her counter and walking out. I was pissed off by this.. it was just frustrating.. It is not like I could not get this somewhere else or they had such a good price on it. It was a standard Microsoft price, $299.. I mean, I could have easily have ordered it from Amazon, with free shipping. It just means that I would have not been able to play that day. Looking back on it, it would have been a small price to pay for the level of frustration that I felt inside that store.

My point is.. Customer Service.. If you are in a service industry, you need to own it - breath it - live it - Do it! I will think twice about shopping there again.

Bye Vesta... Hello Fiserv...

I just realized that I did not do an entry for leaving Vesta. Generally, I go into a diatribe about what I learned, overall feelings, and things.. I am not going to. I am just going to leave it at that. Take it for what you will.

Well, about a month ago, I left Vesta and went to work for Fiserv. I am doing the same type of work, the same work that I have been doing for over a decade now.. But, not for IT.. I work for the various Product Development groups. This includes Engineering, Development, Integration and the QA groups. I am in charge of the Product Development Datacenter, from Architect / designing to implementation to maintaining. The overall environment is small than what I am used to, but there are a lot of good challenges to resolve. I do have to say that these people here are a lot of fun to work with and for. They really enjoy their work and it shows. Everyone is working on the same team mentality and willing to help out whenever possible. My Director is awesome and look forward in working with him for a long time.

Just... SO.. Wrong...

This is what happens when our Troops have too much time on their hands.. :)

iPhone4 vs HTC Evo

It is 3G and has the WIFIs... I need one with the bigger GBs..

Global Warming.. Fact or Fiction

I saw this and was reminded of a debate that I had with a couple of friends of mine… Okay, it was an aggressive conversation.

Hottest Decade on Record

The past decade was the hottest ever recorded and global temperatures are now rising at a rate of about one-fifth of a degree Fahrenheit every decade, according to the annual "State of the Climate" report issued by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). More than 300 climate scientists in 48 countries used a wide variety of data to measure 10 indicators of warming, including air temperatures, sea temperatures, Arctic sea ice, glaciers, and spring snow cover. "These independently produced lines of evidence all point to the same conclusion: our planet is warming," said NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco. The NOAA report said every decade since the 1980s has become progressively warmer. Deke Arndt, the co-author of the NOAA report, said that although 1 degree F of warming since 1950 may seem small, "it has already altered our planet" by melting glaciers and sea ice, causing more intense heat waves, and sparking heavier rainstorms. The data showing that the 2000s were the hottest on record did not include data from 2010, which is so far the warmest year ever recorded, with extreme heat waves in the U.S., Russia, Europe, China, and the Middle East. The NOAA report said more than 90 percent of the warmth generated by burning heat-trapping fossil fuels has been absorbed by the oceans, which will radiate that heat back into the atmosphere for centuries to come.

Source: http://e360.yale.edu/content/digest.msp?id=2527

It reminds me of a movie quote - It takes a geological event to heat a million gallons of water by six degrees in 12 hours.

Nothing Is Ever Easy!

A Comcast door-to-door sales rep (Tony) came to the door last week and gave me a great deal on their services. The one deal breaker was about my (or more specifically my wife's) email has to be forwarded from Verizon to Comcast. He said that this was not a problem and they would be able to do it for one year. I asked him again and my wife even asked the same question. He reassured us that this was not a problem. So, I signed up… They came out and installed the equipment and verified everything was working. I asked about the email forwarding and the tech was not sure how to set that up. He suggested that I call tech support for help. So, I did just that. I called and the tech support guy said… sort of… Apparently, there is a website that you sign up for that acts as a forwarder. This was kind of a hassle, but I was willing to deal with it.

However, Today I canceled my Verizon account...AND THE TROUBLE BEGAN!!! Once the account was terminated, Verizon email stopped. Apparently, you have to have an active account. I called Comcast and they were little to no help. They told me to contact Verizon. So, I did. I talked to them, explained the situation and was willing to pay to keep the email alive. The Verizon tech was not even willing to hear of it. It was like.. How dare you leave and then want to keep your email. So, I am basically screwed and my wife is pissed, since we did not have anything in place to change the email address in the hundred of contacts, sites, and payment places out there.

I am not very happy with Tony and Comcast for what I feel is not being truthful.

April 2010 MSFT Patches - LOTS!

Bulletin ID	Bulletin Title and Executive Summary	Maximum Severity Rating and Vulnerability Impact	Restart Requirement	Affected Software
MS10-019	Vulnerabilities in Windows Could Allow Remote Code Execution (981210) This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Windows Authenticode Verification that could allow remote code execution. An attacker who successfully exploited either vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.	Critical Remote Code Execution	Requires restart	Microsoft Windows
MS10-020	Vulnerabilities in SMB Client Could Allow Remote Code Execution (980232) This security update resolves one publicly disclosed and several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if an attacker sent a specially crafted SMB response to a client-initiated SMB request. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker must convince the user to initiate an SMB connection to a specially crafted SMB server.	Critical Remote Code Execution	Requires restart	Microsoft Windows
MS10-025	Vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Media Services Could Allow Remote Code Execution (980858) This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Windows Media Services running on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an attacker sent a specially crafted transport information packet to a Microsoft Windows 2000 Server system running Windows Media Services. Firewall best practices and standard default firewall configurations can help protect networks from attacks that originate from outside the enterprise perimeter. Best practices recommend that systems that are connected to the Internet have a minimal number of ports exposed. On Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Windows Media Services is an optional component and is not installed by default.	Critical Remote Code Execution	Requires restart	Microsoft Windows
MS10-026	Vulnerability in Microsoft MPEG Layer-3 Codecs Could Allow Remote Code Execution (977816) This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft MPEG Layer-3 audio codecs. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opened a specially crafted AVI file containing an MPEG Layer-3 audio stream. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.	Critical Remote Code Execution	May require restart	Microsoft Windows
MS10-027	Vulnerability in Windows Media Player Could Allow Remote Code Execution (979402) This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Windows Media Player. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if Windows Media Player opened specially crafted media content hosted on a malicious Web site. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.	Critical Remote Code Execution	May require restart	Microsoft Windows
MS10-021	Vulnerabilities in Windows Kernel Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (979683) This security update resolves several privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The most severe of these vulnerabilities could allow elevation of privilege if an attacker logged on locally and ran a specially crafted application. An attacker must have valid logon credentials and be able to log on locally to exploit these vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities could not be exploited remotely or by anonymous users.	Important Elevation of Privilege	Requires restart	Microsoft Windows
MS10-022	Vulnerability in VBScript Could Allow Remote Code Execution (981169) This security update resolves a publicly disclosed vulnerability in VBScript on Microsoft Windows that could allow remote code execution. This security update is rated Important for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. On Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2, the vulnerable code is not exploitable, however, as the code is present, this update is provided as a defense-in-depth measure and has no severity rating. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a malicious Web site displayed a specially crafted dialog box on a Web page and a user pressed the F1 key, causing the Windows Help System to be started with a Windows Help File provided by the attacker. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system.	Important Remote Code Execution	May require restart	Microsoft Windows
MS10-023	Vulnerability in Microsoft Office Publisher Could Allow Remote Code Execution (981160) This security update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Office Publisher that could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Publisher file. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.	Important Remote Code Execution	May require restart	Microsoft Office
MS10-024	Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange and Windows SMTP Service Could Allow Denial of Service (981832) This security update resolves one publicly disclosed vulnerability and one privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange and Windows SMTP Service. The more severe of these vulnerabilities could allow denial of service if an attacker sent a specially crafted DNS response to a computer running the SMTP service. By default, the SMTP component is not installed on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition, or Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.	Important Denial of Service	Requires restart	Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Exchange
MS10-028	Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Visio Could Allow Remote Code Execution (980094) This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Visio. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Visio file. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.	Important Remote Code Execution	May require restart	Microsoft Office
MS10-029	Vulnerabilities in Windows ISATAP Component Could Allow Spoofing (978338) This security update resolves one privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. This security update is rated Moderate for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008. Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are not vulnerable because these operating systems include the feature deployed by this security update. This vulnerability could allow an attacker to spoof an IPv4 address so that it may bypass filtering devices that rely on the source IPv4 address. The security update addresses the vulnerability by changing the manner in which the Windows TCP/IP stack checks the source IPv6 address in a tunneled ISATAP packet.	Moderate Spoofing	Requires Restart	Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for March 2010

Bulletin ID		Bulletin Title and Executive Summary			Maximum Severity Rating and Vulnerability Impact	Restart Requirement	Affected Software
MS10-016		Vulnerability in Windows Movie Maker Could Allow Remote Code Execution (975561) This security update addresses a privately reported vulnerability in Windows Movie Maker and Microsoft Producer 2003. Windows Live Movie Maker, which is available for Windows Vista and Windows 7, is not affected by this vulnerability. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if an attacker sent a specially crafted Movie Maker or Microsoft Producer project file and convinced the user to open the specially crafted file. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.			Important Remote Code Execution	May require restart	Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office
MS10-017		Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (980150) This security update resolves seven privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office Excel. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Excel file. An attacker who successfully exploited any of these vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.			Important Remote Code Execution	May require restart	Microsoft Office

Mass Effect 2 Review

I have gone through Mass Effect 2 twice now. Once with a ME1 Male Vanguard (20th) and now with my ME1 Female Adapt (60th). Let me begin by saying that you do not start with any of your abilities, level, or stuff from the first game. The opening sequence will tell you why.. Bioware did a fantastic job on this game and it is huge. Much larger than the first game, at least it feels that way. The combat system, inventory, and even travel is completely different. You can command each member of your squad individually. There is no inventory system, like the previous game. You have to buy or research (or both) to get more abilities for your weapons, armor, and abilities. This means that you need to mine planets, not just scan them.. But, you have to probe areas to extract the needed materials. This is cool, but very time consuming. You can easily spend several hours running around to the different solar systems to mine ore. This brings us to travel. There are still Mass Relays.. However, you actually fly your ship. Say you jump from the local system (our solar system) to somewhere on the edge, there may be 2 or even 3 other systems you can visit outside the jump system’s ring. This means that you will have to make sure that you are carrying fuel (yes, you burn fuel to go from one system to another) and probes. Both of which you can upgrade, with enough ore…

Combat is still point and shoot, but if you are bionic, you will be able to use powers, similar to those in the first game. However, you can use your abilities to arch around corners or walls. This is very handy when you are ducking behind a box and launching powers against someone’s shields.

With all of this said, I only have a couple of criticisms.
1. Max level is 30, which I achieved about half way through the game.
2. The Citadel level is really small. I would have really loved to be able to walk around more the old haunts, even if there was construction going on.
3. Can’t believe that Ash or Liara will not join your team.. I mean.. come on...

Overall, LOVE IT!!! I have played it more than Dragon Age (another Bioware product)

Oh.. Yes, there is romance and some sexual themes, after all it is a Bioware Game! I will now have to try it without importing a character to see what the differences are.

Mass Effect 2 - Review

I just realized that I have not posted a review of Mass Effect 2. I guess it is because I have not stopped playing Mass Effect 2. The graphics and game play is absolutely unbelievable, down to control panels on the ship. The cinematic cut-scenes are “almost” as good as the actual game play. This tells you how well done the actual game play is inside the game. The character development and dialog is great, at times, downright funny. There is a lot of depth to each of the characters in the game, each with a sub-mission to gain loyalty. Most aspects of the original game, Mass Effect, are different. There is no inventory, you now have to mine a planet for resources, and perform research for special abilities. With all of that said, I cannot speak highly enough and have a hard time putting the game down.

Don’t believe me.. Here is a link to a professional review.

It has my vote for GAME OF THE YEAR!

Out of Band Patch - Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-002 - Critical

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-002 - Critical

Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (978207)

Published: January 21, 2010

Version: 1.0

General Information

Executive Summary

This security update resolves seven privately reported vulnerabilities and one publicly disclosed vulnerability in Internet Explorer. The more severe vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

This security update is rated Critical for all supported releases of Internet Explorer: Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, Internet Explorer 7, and Internet Explorer 8 (except Internet Explorer 6 for supported editions of Windows Server 2003). For Internet Explorer 6 for supported editions of Windows Server 2003 as listed, this update is rated Moderate. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The security update addresses these vulnerabilities by modifying the way that Internet Explorer handles objects in memory, validates input parameters, and filters HTML attributes. For more information about the vulnerabilities, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection under the next section, Vulnerability Information.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms10-002.mspx

Mass Effect 2

What do West Wing, Firefly, Star Trek Next Generation, Matrix, and Battlestar Galactica have in common?

Many of the main characters from these shows have a role in the new Mass Effect 2 game from Bioware. Check this link out..

Loss of the Man Cave

This holiday season, we finished my oldest daughter's new room, formerly known as the PIT. This was my office, done in mantastic ode to dead computer crap and stuff that you may need..one day.. It had this brown wood paneling and cork board on "most" of the walls. I took all of that down, remove the glue remnants, and patch the holes. There were many many holes in the wall, wondering.. where they all came from.. I even missed a few.. hundred… but, she will not notice.. I put a coat of primer and then began to paint. It is a light pink (Disney - Fairest of them all) and a darker pink for the trim. My wife painted the bed frame, chest of drawers and headboard in the same colors. Some posers and some of her stuff.. and (poof).. it is now a little girls room. Now, both girls have their own room and I am relegated to the bedroom to play the Xbox and computer on the 36" flatpanel.. I do like having the computer on the big screen, 1920x1400 resolution, with a wireless mouse and keyboard. Guild Wars looks very nice, but Oblivion looks even better.

I did manage to play a lot of Dragon Age and Guild Wars this weekend. I think that I am almost done with my main human campaign in DA. I just have to go up against the ArchDemon, which is a badass dragon. But, with me as a warrior and my damage-dealer, Morrigan, we should do fine. But, time will tell.

Let’s Talk About VMware DPM

I found this on another site, but had to post it.. Ironically, an Engineer and I were just talking about this yesterday.

http://www.thevirtualblackhole.com/virtual-tech/lets-talk-about-vmware-dpm

Today’s topic is going to be about VMware’s Distributed Power Management or otherwise known as VMware DPM. If you have not heard about VMware DPM before, I found an interesting video interview with Anne Holler who works at VMware as a Senior Staff Engineer. I found this interview at Vladan Seget’s ESX Virtualization site here and it is worth checking out. The video is pretty short, only about four minutes in length and gives a pretty good overview of how VMware positions DPM in conjunction with HA and DRS.

In a lot of the environments I have worked in over the years actually had most of the processing power happen at night during the backup process. Actually at one point I had a cluster that was oversubscribed to put it mildly. If you have ever driven a standard transmission then you know about the red line on the tachometer that you should not go over or the engine would blow up. Let’s just say my oversubscribed cluster was riding that line during the day and when the backup schedule kicked off I actually saw CPU% on the individual VMware ESX hosts themselves reach levels of 102%. Just like clockwork ever day when the backup’s kicked off the host would really max out. Pretty cool to watch but I digress. The point is I am not sure I would really think about using VMware DPM in my production environment. Now if I just built a brand new ten node cluster what was designed to cover the growth for x amount of time and I had just gotten started with putting virtual machines on the cluster then sure why not set that up? I would have plenty of resources available that I would feel pretty confident about that but in most places that I have worked or spent any time at there was not really that amount of spare resources and most customers were always trying to cram as much as they can on the clusters.

VMware DPM was actually introduced in Virtual Center 2.5 and VMware ESX 3.x as an “experimental” feature and only had one way of ‘waking’ a server and that was with a magic wake on lan packet. That worked great until you rebooted Virtual Center or restarted the Virtual Center server service for any reason. After the reboot Virtual Center would see the host as down and was not able to bring it back to life. That was one reason why the technology was experimental at the time. Now in vSPhere, VMware DPM actually has three different wake methods it can use to bring the host back up. Along with using wake on lan DPM will also use IPMI wake and ILO wake. One other really cool thing that was added to VMware DPM was the ability to schedule when an ESX host would wake back up. So if you know you were going to have a heavy load at 9am you could schedule the host to wake up at 8am to be pretty for the start of the business day.

So to recap, I am not sure that VMware DPM would be something I would setup and use on a regular basis. I have also worked in certain environments that the Change Control Board would literally lay an egg if they knew that hosts could and would shut down for any reason.

That is my take on this. So what’s your take on VMware DPM and are you using it currently in your environments? I would really like to what you all have to say and think on this? Inquiring minds want to know.