RE: [ActiveDir] OT: Gauging AD experience

[joe]

I would say focusing on the design of big directories is pigeon-holing a little too much. There are only so many big directories that need to be designed. I personally find much more fun in diagnosing good directories that have gone bad than trying to design them. I design if I have to but it isn't what I like. Plus often with the design, it is rarely the case where you actually have all of the info though someone will tell you you do. You find out you don't later on when someone starts complaining or something starts breaking.   I am not sure I would go so far to say it is something you let the tools handle though. A lot of the tools out there still aren't doing the greatest job and there are many companies that don't want to spend the millions on those tools that they would be charged for them instead having a few really good people handling it. A tool doesn't see bad things coming when someone is coming at you with the next great thing they want to plug into the AD. If the tool does catch it, it is way too late in the integration cycle. Plus, what if the tool isn't catching the problem? Someone has to be knowledgeable enough too. If you depend solely on your tools to keep your AD running well it is possible you are going to get cut pretty good. When I did Ops, I had several tools that watched what had been determined needed to be watched and then I would just go off and sample things to decide if there was something that maybe could be watched that we weren't watching. That could take the form of just watching a network packets on a DC or a client subnet for an hour or so or just walking the event logs event by event or walking through looking at objects in the directory. Whatever.   To get into those positions you want to get in with the companies already mentioned and jump about (and try not to hurt the customer too much with your learning) or find a big company and take whatever entry position you can get and prove yourself and grow into bigger/better positions. Don't expect to, for instance, walk into Walmart and become their AD guy. Maybe you get in as desktop support and get to know the right people and make suggestions on how things can be better and work your way up. You could possibly walk into a company and be there expert right off if your experience is greater than what they currently have or your resume indicates it or they are desperate. But it could end up biting you in the end if you don't turn out to be what they expected. Companies can get mighty pissy if they find out down the road that they are paying 100k+ to someone who would normally be lucky making $45k.     joe       From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Douglas M. Long Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 11:49 AM To: ActiveDir@mail.activedir.org Subject: [ActiveDir] OT: Gauging AD experience I am trying to figure out how one gauges their AD experience. For example, I have designed, implemented and maintained an AD/Exchange environment of 5000 users with 1000 workstations from the ground up, alone. The environment is only 3 sites, with little complexity. I now work for a company maintaining a directory of about 150 users and 150 workstations. And the more local AD people I talk to, the more confident I am that I know quite a bit about AD compared to them (only talking about the people I have met…not generalizing the entire industry).   Although I am not a guru like some on this list, I would like to get myself to the place where I can say “yeah, I can design your 50,000 user / 15 site infrastructure.” Or is that even possible? Is a project of that size several directory experts working together?   I honestly believe that I could perform such a task, but knowing that I would make some mistakes that a VERY experienced person would not.   So, I guess my question is:   How do I get to where I want to be? Consult? Try to get a job with the biggest company I can?   There may be no real answer, but I thought it was worth asking because I have been thinking about it for a couple of months and don’t know where to start to move forward, and this is the only place I know that has people that I consider AD gurus (or gods even)