Do you run 24/7? Do you have customers outside north america? Do you require off hours pager support?
I agree you need to plan for coverage, vacation, personal days, scheduled down time, etc. Planning 2 per shift (or some form of overlap) allows all the nitty gritty details to be checked (logs, security, diagnostics, backups, etc) and would provide an extra person there to bounce ideas off. It would also allow much more flexibility to authenticate DR scenarios and provides additional time to research problems and wait on the phone with a vendor's tech support. I would rather have 2 admins per shift that can double as tier II/III help desk or network guys, then have one burnt out guy per shift and be left high and dry when they quit (or melt down over a 4 month period). Klint Carl Webster wrote: > If you are as good as Shook, then 175 admins. If you are a scripting > god like MBS, then 1 maybe 2 (just so he can have someone to talk to). > > > Webster > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: David Lum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: 175 servers > > Here’s an open-ended question, but with 175 Windows servers, how many > admins would you think it would take to maintain OS images, patches, > availability, installed program updates, as well as other maintenance > like inventory of both hardware and software, as well as > troubleshooting various performance issues? I’m talking admins who’s > job would be just to handle the underlying Windows infrastructure, not > the apps running on it (except for the initial install). FWIW 95% of > the servers are local. We have SMS and WSUS to leverage some of this, > but SMS is currently very underutilized… > > > > I ask because we have about 250 employees – so a fairly small company, > but we have 175+ Windows servers, plus 4 SAN’s because our main > product is currently web delivered, I’m wondering if we’re overstaffed > or understaffed or someone in the “normal” range. > > > > I would expect that in a more typical file/print/Exchange/SharePoint > (intranet) environment that 175 servers would mean a few thousand end > users and thus perhaps a dozen IS staff. > > > > ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~
