Off Topic about Networking

[Kaxx]

I know this is far off topic from Talkbass, but I don't know who to really ask at this point so here goes.

I'm thinking about going back to school and Computer Networking has always intrigued me. I really don't know too much on the subject other that it pays good money depending on how far you want to go with it. And I plan to go far!!

Problem is, I have a Red/Green color"blind" deficiency. It's never stopped me from soldering my bass preamps, tinkering inside broken stereos, wiring car stereo systems, building Computers, and other things involving working with colored wires, but I don't really know what color and how many different wires Network and servers use, aside from Cat5 cable that I use here at home. Any ideas anyone?

[jokn388]

I am a few months in at my student job, on campus(University of Maryland), that maintains the networks/machines for Computer/Math/Biology departments.

For the most part you will be using cat5. If you can handle crimping cat5, you will be good to go. Servers, switches, cluster nodes, desktops use strictly cat5 for the most part. Outside of cat5 you will use a lot of fiber, but since you won't make the fiber, it's all good.

Hey, from what you posted you sound MORE than qualified to get in the networking biz. I'm still finding my way around the place HA. Hoping to get CCNA and Network+ certified someday though. Good luck!

[tplyons]

If you're making your own CAT5, it may be a concern if you can't discern the following colors: Orange/White, Orange, Blue/White, Green, Green/White, Blue, Brown/White, Brown. I don't think you'd have that problem but you may.

You can do it, just make sure you're a habitual labeler and don't rely on colors of the jackets to get you through everything.

Other than that, best of luck. I was an exam away from my CCNA as I opted out of the computer networking industry in favor of something a little more interesting to me.

[Kaxx]

Awesome!! Those are the replies I was hoping for. I really have no problem discerning from the colors mentioned above, it's just shades of greens to shades of reds that can be a little troublesome. But cat5 cable should be no prob!!

jokn388, good luck with that student job!

Hey tplyons, whatcha decide to do? I'm gonna guess music?

[chicago_mike]

A+, and the others used to really mean something. The networking field kinda got flooded just after the dawn of the internets explosion and peaked around the same time of the dotcom bust.

You can still make money, but you should think of a specialized field, just doing network administration is too common and bland. I was getting into VIOP and had sisco books on it a while before vonage came out.

MSCE stuff usually pays off well.

[tplyons]

Originally Posted by Kaxx

Awesome!! Those are the replies I was hoping for. I really have no problem discerning from the colors mentioned above, it's just shades of greens to shades of reds that can be a little troublesome. But cat5 cable should be no prob!!

jokn388, good luck with that student job!

Hey tplyons, whatcha decide to do? I'm gonna guess music?

Marketing, actually. It's creative, it's ever changing, and it involves technology, but not too too much.

[Robert B]

You mention good money. One thing to keep in mind - it's my experience that if you want the good money in IT you'll also have to endure a lot of never-ending stress. The real good money doesn't come easy. Having said that, if you are willing to settle for less money you can find work that's enjoyable, even fun.

[6jase5]

I pay my networking guy $65 per hour, guaranteed to be 40 hours per month. He has contracts with smaller companies in the area to fill in the other 30 hours per week, comes in for emergencies, fixes small pc problems, admin's the network, a perfect solution. I know that he clears over 100K as an independent per year so if you can find your nitch, companies always will have pc's and it's cheaper than me having a full time guy that I don't need.

my 3 cents

[D.Don]

Originally Posted by 6jase5

I pay my networking guy $65 per hour, guaranteed to be 40 hours per month. He has contracts with smaller companies in the area to fill in the other 30 hours per week, comes in for emergencies, fixes small pc problems, admin's the network, a perfect solution. I know that he clears over 100K as an independent per year so if you can find your nitch, companies always will have pc's and it's cheaper than me having a full time guy that I don't need.

my 3 cents

I still have a few of my "old" clients left that I serve occasionally (I am in the software business nowadays), network, system administration, backup-servers etc. I charge 47 eur per hour, and that's considered quite ok/cheap in Paris. Since windows problems always where so extendedly messy, and took lots of time and efforts to fix (long gone virus infections, malware, messy drivers) and as it's not my "main" job, I now only server mac/osx environments, and only "old" clients.

Good luck with those CAT cables dude!




D.Don

[Ívar Þórólfsson]

Originally Posted by Robert B

.....you'll also have to endure a lot of never-ending stress...

+100000000

I'm the senior network admin at the largest hospital in Iceland.
+230 switches
vpn boxes
firewalls
IDS/IPS
Cisco MARS
6000/6500 boxes
bunch of routers
mrtg
+150 access points, a number that is growing at an alarming rate, Wism modules (centralized wifi stuff) etc. etc. etc.
Multiple locations, vpn tunnels to many places, lots of fiber connections etc. etc. (plus a lot more responsibilities, including the server rooms)
Everything has a 24/7 up time requirement.

There is a lot of stress in this work of field. I just came back from my summer vacation and I hardly got a pure day off during my entire vacation. There was always something, respond to e-mails, take care of some problems, fix stuff etc.

But it is a fun field to be in, lots of stuff is happening.

[Kaxx]

Man, thanks for the many replies guys! And people usually think of musicians as idiots, but I see quite a few bright individuals above this post.

In response to above, I don't mind a little stress since my current job offers plenty of that with me being supervisor (without the title, of course) of a couple of......well.....I'll be nice and say not so bright individuals that seem to constantly make the same mistakes. I feel like a babysitter more than a woodworker.

I also, at the same job, run a CNC point to point machine (think of a computer programmable robot for woodworking) that is constantly needing to be dissected and repaired. It'll be nice to get away from that thing, too.

Now, time to figure out scholarships and grants to pay for this schooling.......

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by Ívar Þórólfsson

+100000000

I'm the senior network admin at the largest hospital in Iceland.
+230 switches
vpn boxes
firewalls
IDS/IPS
Cisco MARS
6000/6500 boxes
bunch of routers
mrtg
+150 access points, a number that is growing at an alarming rate, Wism modules (centralized wifi stuff) etc. etc. etc.
Multiple locations, vpn tunnels to many places, lots of fiber connections etc. etc. (plus a lot more responsibilities, including the server rooms)
Everything has a 24/7 up time requirement.

There is a lot of stress in this work of field. I just came back from my summer vacation and I hardly got a pure day off during my entire vacation. There was always something, respond to e-mails, take care of some problems, fix stuff etc.

But it is a fun field to be in, lots of stuff is happening.

Hospitals is where there is lots of money, always expanding and changing. I know the guy that runs several of the hospitals around here, constantly on call, but makes a ton of money.

lowsound

[Ívar Þórólfsson]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

Hospitals is where there is lots of money, always expanding and changing. I know the guy that runs several of the hospitals around here, constantly on call, but makes a ton of money.

lowsound

Heh I wish it were in my case. Almost all hospitals in Iceland are run by the government or the state. In my case it's run by the government. The pay there is not quite up to the standards in the private sector, but on the other hand my work hours are pretty flexible and the exposure to all sorts of network equipment is almost unparallelled here in Iceland. There are always pros and cons to each job

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by Ívar Þórólfsson

Heh I wish it were in my case. Almost all hospitals in Iceland are run by the government or the state. In my case it's run by the government. The pay there is not quite up to the standards in the private sector, but on the other hand my work hours are pretty flexible and the exposure to all sorts of network equipment is almost unparallelled here in Iceland. There are always pros and cons to each job

Government run here as well, his secret might be that he designed the whole system, and is that good that he helps other hospitals set up their systems. He can basically say, pay me X amount more and two more weeks of holidays a year and he gets it.

lowsound