Server + - Random Server+ Q :)

Author

Random Server+ Q :)

namrak

2002-10-17, 11:05 am

Patches has recently hired on as the new late night administrator for the company Crash Emergencies Response Inc. His job is to monitor any calls when a client's server has gone south during his shift (midnight to 8am) and run the nightly full backup.

All his server equipment and monitoring hardware has been running in peak condition and if anything does happen short of a natural disaster, he has a closet full of replacement hardware for major fixes.

Last night, Microsoft released a major service pack. Management has asked Patches to install the service pack on the company servers during his shift.

Being the careful administrator that he is, what should Patches do before installing the service pack? Choose all that apply.

A) notify network users with a message that a reboot is forthcoming and they should log off
B) run a copy backup of all the servers which the service pack will be installed on
C) setup a test server system identical to current production servers to install the service pack on
D) do not install the service pack because the servers are running fine
E) check the online documentation regarding the service pack on Microsoft's website
F) give a silent prayer, cross fingers and click on "OK"

Supertech

2002-10-17, 11:44 am

A & Bee, as in CYA

azimuth40

2002-10-17, 1:05 pm

All the company servers at one time huh.
If management asked him to do that then management sucks. Lets click our heals, salute and press on then.

Steps in order at most places in the real world would be C, monitor or issues, then A&B.

Only one shift then I guess we only have A&B unless the test server is already configured and the target servers are all identical.

------------------------

"Service packs, why did it have to be service packs! I hate service packs!!" "Huh... Microsoft service packs! Very bad! You go first Indy."

twister166

2002-10-17, 2:44 pm

I will say ABE...

I will select E simply because you may want to know if there are any known issues with your server make and model...

Tech Ranger

2002-10-17, 8:24 pm

A,B,C,E

azimuth40

2002-10-17, 11:39 pm

quote:
Originally posted by Tech Ranger
A,B,C,E

On re-think, yup!

Supertech

2002-10-18, 7:58 am

I think everyone is trying to read too much into the question. Patches is just another low-level drone techie (like the rest of us). Management said "Do it". They didn't say evaluate or check it out. This is an implementation issue.

I'll stick with A & B.

let the debate begin...

azimuth40

2002-10-18, 12:51 pm

Well I don't think the real debate is on the answers. A and B would probably be the test answers. For speculation however, debate is on who takes the hit. That is the fun part of tearing some of these questions apart.

Is patches responsible for the servers and has clueless managers that listen to marketing speak?

"install this patch, its good for you and builds strong bones 12 ways". If so then patches is doomed anyway and should update his resume/CV.

If patches is not the responsible guy, then management is still clueless for not having done C and E. In that case then patches is still doomed because he may get a promotion from third shift drone to first shift fall guy.

namrak

2002-10-18, 7:15 pm

Lets break it down some.

We have to rule out answer (D) because of "..Management has asked Patches to install the service pack on the company servers during his shift."

Since Patches is a relatively new drone techie, he won't refuse this mandate. Like Azimuth said, sucks to be him because we know the servers are already running in peak condition.

We can obviously rule out answer (F).

Answer (B) is definitely part of the answer package. In a way, it was a gimmie since its stated that the nightly backups are run during Patches shift anyway.

I'm actually surprised that everyone chose answer (A) notifying network users of a reboot. Upon retrospect however, I can begin to see why though. If Patches ran the backup around 6am to 8am, its very likely other employees have come in to work and would need to be notifed of the reboot.
In my mind however, I was thinking Patches would run the backup at the beginning the shift around midnight at the likelihood of users on the network would be nil. I should have mentioned a time frame in which the backups normally occur for further clues.

Now it all comes down to what to do with answers C and E. I should have added a few words to the last part...
"Being the careful administrator that he is and implementing industry best practices, what should Patches do before installing the service pack?"
This would mean, answers C and E should be included in the overall answer package.

Initially, I was really looking for answers B,C,E but A would should also qualify. Supertech may be right in what CompTIA's answers should be, but...
Dang is it hard to come up with decent scenario questions.

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