Chris.Hesselrode dot com

So things have been long in coming with FluidNS, but we’re ready to start developing the production requirements for FluidNS. Phoenix Knowledge Ventures had previously secured a Sun Fire T1000 from Sun Microsystems, but after a month of testing and development on the machine it just wouldn’t suit.

So, after some research and price comparisons, we decided to go with a server from Polywell Computers in the San Francisco Bay area. Our Account Executive has been awesome – even to the point of upgrading our original configuration at no charge just because they didn’t have one part.

During this time, we’ve also issued an RFP for colocation services, and got the best response and rates from E/O Networks – based in the same building as our former colo provider, CalPOP, at 600 W. 7th Street in Los Angeles. They weren’t able to commit to the same bandwidth as CalPOP advertises, but their providers are some of the best. I was extremely happy to see that they use Hurricane Electric as one of them.

We are scheduled to have the server ship on or before June 30, and transit time is roughly 4 days from the bay to Phoenix via FedEx or UPS Ground service.

Mid-July will mark the deployment of the physical server in the E/O data center, and we will move the FluidNS site off of The Rackspace Cloud and in to its final home in LA. Rackspace has been great though – and we’ll definitely be keeping a cloud server with them for automated backups, log file analysis and the like.

Cloud Hosting

We’ve also moved our e-mail services for PKV and FluidNS over to Rackspace E-Mail (Formerly Mailtrust) and couldn’t be happier. The RackApps team has been so phenominal in supporting the migration, taking the time to answer our rediculous questions at 3am on a Friday night.

So, that’s all for now. Will be posting more as time moves along. We’ll probably be looking at a BSD flavored OS … so definately some interesting things to come with that!

So I finally buckled down and bought the server that will house FluidNS’ website and the primary DNS services … should be delivered today or Monday from Sun Microsystems.

I got a great deal on the machine, since it was a clearance model UltraSPARC … but that’s okay, because for my use it will be really stable. Now just to learn Solaris.

Sun Fire T1000

Nameserver trace for www.citrixgcs.com:

Nameservers for www.citrixgcs.com:

• ns1.everydns.net returned (SERVFAIL)
• ns2.everydns.net returned (SERVFAIL)
• ns3.everydns.net returned (SERVFAIL)
• ns4.everydns.net returned (SERVFAIL)

A couple of days ago I called Cox Communications to place a cancel order for our Cable Internet services that we have with them, effective 27 Feb 2009. When we were looking at what services were available at the new house, we found that we could get Qwest Fiber to the Home, and I thought what a great opportunity to finally tell Cox to shove it. So, when I called I specifically told the guy that I wanted the services shut off on the 27th of February. Now, I know for some of you, that the date I gave them sounds an awful lot like February 14th. It did to Cox too, apparently, because at some point between 4pm and 10pm yesterday, they turned off our services.

Now, for most companies this wouldn’t be an issue, because you just have to pick up the phone, call them and explain the error. But, not with Cox. Thankfully I happened to get a genius at Cox who decided that he could save the day … and unfortunately for him, it ended it epic fail, and my talking to his supervisor. So, prior to talking to the boy genius’s supervisor, he recommended having a technician come out to our apartment and take a look at the signal issues, because that could be the only thing causing the service to fail. Not them turning us off, not a modem issue, a signal issue – he was positive. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Cox Communications, they make a good chunk of their money in an unorthodox manner – through the truck-roll. Yes, every time that Cox sends someone out to your residence, you get charged (that is of course if the issue is not with Cox equipment or network, which it never is). $99.00 to have someone get in a truck, come out, fix whatever was broken in your area, and then come to your house to tell you nothing is broken with their stuff. With this in mind, I respectfully denied having a tech out.

At 2:00pm this afternoon, we received a phone call from a Cox field technician who wanted to let us know that he was running late, and would be by as soon as he could. Let’s back up for a moment, here. Didn’t I decline the technician visit? I sure did. And I did it again with him on the phone – then I called Cox’s call center. I had the pleasure of briefly explaining the issue to two different agents before speaking with a supervisor, who came on the phone and immediately greeted me with “Hello my name is [insert-name-here]. Was there something my agent was unable to assist you with?” Oh helllllll no you didn’t. Did you just get argumentative with me off the starting block? I think you did.

Needless to say, I read him the riot act, and cautiously explained how in a weakening economy it’s oh-so-important to do what you can to appease customers – especially angry ones. I let him know that my decision to cancel our services was split 50/50 down the middle between the lack of a decent network, and the attitudes of their employees. Both of which compare nicely to one another – street trash. Thankfully I have a phone number direct to their “Executive Escalations” team which is located in Deer Valley, AZ. They’ll be getting a phone call from me on Tuesday.

For anyone else in the greater Phoenix area that has these issues, I urge you to open up MS Word, Notepad, Text Edit, whatever … and write them a letter. Let them know how piss-poor of a job they’re doing. Hell, while you’re at it … if you know of companies hiring … include the Want ads in your letter.

Cox Communications
1550 W. Deer Valley Road
Phoenix, AZ 85027

Post your experiences, and/or letters here. I’d love to read how many other people have this same problem.

So, I decided that I wanted to recruit someone to help me with FluidNS, because quite honestly, writing code from the ground up has never been my strong point. There’s a guy at work (his name is Mike) who has done some projects, and never ceases to amaze even me. Anyhow, he and I are starting to work on FluidNS to bring this new and exciting service to the marketplace. I’ll post more once I have it, but stay tuned to http://www.fluidns.com for more!

Dakota - Sleeping on the PetsMart floor

We have a new addition to the family, and his name is Dakota (we were torn between that, and Arun – Indian, meaning Sun/Ray of Sun).

Dakota is mix between purebred American Eskimo and purebred mutt (not sure of that mixture) … he has a face that could melt an iceberg, and loves to be around you, always.

I’m really excited to see Romeo have someone to play with (once Romeo gets used to the idea of another dog being in his house). Zoe, on the other hand – isn’t so crazy about the latest addition.

Anyhow … it’s time for me to get back to work or something, so I’m going to do that. Peace~

Yes We Can

That’s the tag line for Obama’s new America. Now, I’m sure I’m not the only one asking this … but, can we really? I think this change is good for the United States, and for our nations people. But, we can just wait and see I suppose. Yes we can.

What I can’t get over, is how much Barack Obama reminds me of JFK in the way he talks and carries himself in his speeches. They have the same conviction and sense of purpose.

Anyway … these are just my thoughts on it. Just remember, when you ask yourself if you can do something …

Welcome to my blog … I am trying something completely different (actually going to try to keep this updated), so please bear with me as I get some things in order before starting to post.

Should you choose to want to post on this site, please register and then let me know so that I can give you some rights within the Admin of WordPress.

I look forward to sharing some insight into my life. I thank you for reading.

Chris