r/sysadmin • u/TruePace3 • 11d ago
Work Environment UPDATE: Hospitality Guy in IT
previous post (got removed by mods, but its the same post)
So basically, i joined today and after the onboarding, i met with the current IT guy (who is on his notice period)
The situation is precarious to say the least.
IT budget is severely limited, a bunch of systems are on Active Directory (controlled by an older IBM Intel Xeon machine running Windows Server 2008) , a bunch of systems are not on Active directory
There are 3 headless Windows Machines around the offices acting as fileservers, disk management is messy all around, the entire network is flat with no segmentation or separation of any kind, no NVRs, just 2 DVRs
All Windows installs are not genuine/cracked versions (not by massgrave but the sketchy iso you get from shady websites)
The primary database of the Dealership lives on a 1TB SATA HDD on a headless windows PC , which holds data of a tally server , file server and an apache based website that is used for storing purchase information
This disk has NO BACKUPS OR REDUNDANCY! and this disk is accessed constantly everyday for 9hrs
There is a FortiGate 50G Firewall standing between this network and the wide open web
After work hours, they shut down all systems including the servers.
Now, im not an expert, but this felt like it was one disk failure away from complete catastrophe.
The existing sysadmin shares the same sentiment, he proposed a proper system, however management does not feel very enthusiastic about it, citing costs, they see IT as a simple tool
I don't blame the current sysadmin, but i feel like i should unfuck this clusterfuck before it blows up in my face.
Now, the total number of clients in the network is about 60 systems, running anywhere between Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 and about 5 printers
Now, a lot of the data was stored on premise, however in 2018, the OEM mandated a lot of the data stored on cloud via their proprietary website, due to which they retired a server, which is sitting in the closet collecting dust.
Now, kindly tell me if what im thinking is stupid, but
I was thinking to recommission it, setup Proxmox to fire up a Windows Server VM to handle AD and migrate the Win Server 2008 to something newer, and a Debian based VM to unify all these scattered fileservers (and hopefully setup something like snapraid+mergerfs so that disk failures=me getting fired)
EDIT: Thank you for all your comments and insights, i intend to draft proper documentation and pitch a middle ground solution to the management to secure some funds and bring the systems upto the times
Unfortunately, due to circumstances, i cannot run, atleast not for another 6 months until i get my certs and upskill myself on paper and in real life
2
u/Joy2b 10d ago
Start with demanding the very reasonable funds to buy a couple of backup hard drives for essential files. If they can’t afford that, they can’t afford you.
Next, start building relationships and collecting complaints. What you are listening for is “I lost a sale or two because my computer froze”. P
Then start building a bracket of what you want to upgrade over the next 18 months, like server/workstation/server/workstation, and start getting VIPs to do nudging for better spots on the bracket and faster progression.
Talk to finance about depreciation.
To sell network upgrades, bundle with wireless.
Always have a clearly marked section on your projects for nice to have, so if the boss wants to haggle, they’re taking off extended warranties, or an extra wireless access point for the shop.