This is pretty exciting.
Working with my current employer, it has become clear that their network infrastructure needs some help. Not unexpected, and I like a good challenge. This promises to be one.
In the midst of plotting an upgrade path, it became clear that the only way forward was going to be through some new hardware, and a lot of experimentation. The current server setup is just too close to capacity; there’s no room to do anything without putting current operations at risk. Moreover, it’s mostly a Windows Server 2008 operation, and to do some of the things we want done the right way, we really need to be looking at Server 2012.
Which meant I needed to start pricing hardware for a proof-of-concept network datacenter. And once you make that step, it really opens a lot of possibilities up for doing some amazing stuff. Real, fault-tolerant file server clusters. Automated virtual machine provisioning. Hands-off provisioning of CRM software and email resources.
And more, it crystalized in my head that this was something I could develop and make into a real business. I’ve long thought it would be fun to start up another company, after my days at Video Insight. (Which is still going great, by the way. That was and is an amazing company, and all the best to them!) Never had quite the right inspiration.
But this feels like it. Marketech is far from the only company whose IT needs have outgrown their IT management ability. There are a lot of good companies who need a product that can pull all their IT stuff together in a way that’s easy for everyone to understand and manage, even people without my network and server administration background.
So, that’s the goal. Build the perfect datacenter management suit for the small business. Bring all this super-cool capability that already exists to the people who need it most, but are too busy making phone calls and running advertising campaigns to learn it.
I’ve got the ability to do it. I’ve got the perfect test bed in Marketech; build the system and pitch it to the management, then watch it and refine it. And, as of this afternoon, I’ve got a collection of second-hand Dell server to do my testing and experimentation on. The last piece of the puzzle is my application for a Microsoft BizSpark account, which would be a huge help in getting access to development resources and the right software licenses for my test environments.
Well, the step after that is putting up a real Dataceratops.com web page. The email server is already live, but the domain root redirects here, to my personal blog. That’s probably tomorrow’s project.