WDTalk

You can earn a Doctorate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, but I think most of us have earned some credits for coping with conflict on the street level, and certainly in the hosting industry.

Managing Conflict

The key is learning how to manage conflict rather than have it manage you. I avoid disputes when possible, but realize they’re inevitable – so instead of reacting on an emotional level, my solution is to manage them proactively. Part of that is being solution focused versus problem focused. It’s all about communications – understanding what your personal triggers are, then mapping out the opposing positions, finding common ground, and then proposing win-win solutions.

Conflict Awareness
First, you have to understand your own conflict patterns, then develop and practice methods to listen more effectively, map out the conflicts, and learn to differentiate difficult people from difficult behavior. We all know the type. Some clients and prospects just instinctively know what hot buttons to press.

Moving Beyond Conflict
What we’re really talking about here is developing professional skill sets to increase the success of your business operations. Customer support is very much about resolving customer conflicts or problems. While the solution could be purely technical, the perception of value rests with your client. How well you communicate relates directly to customer churn. Bad communication skills = high customer churn. Great communication skills = raving fans and a loyal customer base. The key, I think, is to actively listen, showing genuine interest and concern. Clarify the problem; ask questions, then listen – separating emotions from issues. Sometimes, you just have to say NO, it won’t work. And after conflicts are managed, it’s important to solicit feedback.

How Important is Feedback
Feedback is so important that you should reach out to your clients randomly to ascertain their comfort level with your products or services. Perhaps your perception that they’re satisfied clients is completely off tract, and they’re actively searching for a new provider. How would you know until they sent in their cancellation request? At that point, you become reactive instead of proactive.  Again, it’s all about effective communications and productive interactions.

Spam is everywhere. ISP’s and corporations filter it by the billions, yet it continues to plague us. Entire IP blocks – better yet – entire countries are routinely blocked and spam marches on. I read this morning that web hosting providers are being spammed on their support tickets by non-clients.

How many of you actually read this stuff? Or click through to their sites?
I don’t get nearly as much as my wife does on her computer. Of course the grandchildren monopolize her computer when they come to visit – so they attract cookies, malware, spyware and more spam. Love them but hate the spam. Yet people must be clicking through or spam wouldn’t be profitable.

How to reduce spam?
Spam can be reduced, although probably not eliminated altogether. Here are some tips from the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team. For the Missouri Revised Statutes related to spam, click here.

Service agreements – are legally binding documents, but saying that, I read numerous threads started on web hosting forums from OPs who can’t answer basic questions like, “Does your provider spell out limitations on using CPU or RAM resources?” Quite often, that offer of unlimited space and bandwidth is accompanied by some clause excluding this or that, and two to three months into the contract, that provider cancels your services for violating their Terms of Agreement (TOS) or Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) - driving the client to panic, wondering how he’ll save his business and clientele.

If you’re presented – with a contract, read through the fine print. If you’re unsure about anything, seek legal counsel. Contracts are necessary to protect the provider and client alike.

One of the more hotly debated topics - is Service Level Agreements (SLA). Is there a guaranteed uptime? What recourse is there for downtime? Are credits issued? Are there excluded events? Are problem resolution guarantees spelled out?

Conficker Update 
I wrote about the threat of Conficker just prior to April 1^st, the date many feared it would wreak havoc on millions of PCs. Apparently, Conficker is branching out on the sly, quietly turning an unknown number of PCs into zombies – servers of email spam via a botnet.

This worm has evolved over the past few weeks spreading malicious software and a fake anti-spyware program called Spyware Protect 2009. This program sells for $49.95, but instead of protecting your PC, it steals your credit card information, then downloads additional malicious software. Do NOT purchase this software package. 

A special alert – if you use USB memory sticks, this worm can be transported from PC to PC via that stick.

How many computers are currently infected by Downadup/Conficker?
About 1-2 million.

Can Conflicker be detected and blocked? Yes. We recommend F-Secure.

Currently the worm is only affecting Windows-based machines, so if you’re running a Mac or Linux box, you’re safe.

I recently ran across a simple Visual Basic script that schedules and deletes old Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) log files from any of your servers. Like home computers slow down in-between reboots, or clearing of temp files and cookies – server logs eat up all of the free space on their hard drives, especially on those with highly utilized websites, possibly your line-of-business application.

How are you clearing your IIS logs today?

My guess is that you’re checking and clearing IIS logs manually. Enter a VB script that schedules and deletes those old logs automatically! Simply save the script below with the extension of .vbs, e.g., delete_old_logs.vbs. Create a directory on your server to save that file – possibly C:Program FilesScripts – whatever makes sense to you.

This script does need to be edited to specify the exact path to be cleaned and how many days of log files to leave behind. (See line that starts with Call CleanDirectory) In the example, default IIS logs older than seven days are scheduled to be deleted. The folder path needs to be inside the quotation marks.

What if you want to delete logs from several sources on the same server simultaneously?

Simply insert multiple Call CleanDirectory lines. After making changes to the script, be sure to save the file.

Ok, I’ve modified the script. How do I schedule a task to run it?

It’s best to create a special account (local or domain) in the local server administrations group, setting up permissions on the folder where the log files are located. This will allow your script to run in any location on the server. When you create this task, browse to the location where you saved the file to ensure the path is enclosed in quotation marks (if it contains any spaces).

How often should I run this script?

This would depend on activity, but for best results I recommend scheduling this task to run daily.

In Summary

Using simple Visual Basic scripts is a proactive solution to managing your IIS logs. You could use this script to cleanup lots of other log files as well.

‘++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
‘ delete_old_files.vbs
‘ Based on original script here:
‘
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/csc/scripts/files/files/cscfi006.mspx
‘++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
‘ Clean the listed directories of old backup files
Call CleanDirectory(“C:WINDOWSsystem32LogFilesW3SVC1″, 7)
‘ Delete old backup files
Function CleanDirectory(strPathtoFiles, intDaystoKeep)
   Dim fso, f, fc, f1, strFiles, intFiles
   strFiles = “”
   intFiles = 0
   Set fso = CreateObject(“Scripting.FileSystemObject”)
   If (fso.FolderExists(strPathtoFiles)) Then
      Set f = fso.GetFolder(strPathtofiles)
      Set fc = f.Files
      ‘– Determine if file is older than defined days
      For Each f1 in fc
         If DateDiff(“d”, f1.DateLastModified, Now) > intDaystoKeep Then
            strFiles = strFiles & f1.Name & vbCrLf
            intFiles = intFiles + 1
            f1.Delete(True)
         End If
      Next
      Set f1 = Nothing
      Set fc = Nothing
      Set f = Nothing
   End if
   set fso = Nothing
End Function
‘ Stop the script in case it doesn’t automatically WScript.Quit

Kudos to Will Schmied.

Will Schmied is a senior systems administrator for a world renowned children’s research hospital. He holds numerous Microsoft MCITP, MCTS and older certifications and is experienced with Exchange and Blackberry. Will has been actively involved with the certification and training side of IT for many years, writing or contributing to several dozen books. He is a founder of the certification portal MCSE World. Having passed the reigns to a good friend from down under, Will maintains a smaller presence today with his blog, Tales of a Systems Administrator.

The value of telephone support should be obvious - but apparently not as I read questions on forums every week of whether to offer this, or email support or livechat, or a mixed solution. Cross-industry, if I have a problem with any vendor, the first contact information I look for is a phone number.

In the web hosting industry, all too often – support is only handled via support tickets or live chat. Typically, live chat is handled by lower echelon support personnel, who often must recommend going the route of a support ticket, as they don’t have the access or knowledge required answer questions beyond a basic nature. Why is that? Technical support is not cheap.

Many web hosts are run by – fewer than five individuals – the founder (normally a geek), one sales rep, an admin type (HR, billing, collections), a sysadmin and maybe another tech. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s how most web hosts start, then grow if they have a good business plan and work that plan.

Your questions – should be, “How important is my data to my business? Is it mission critical? Will my web host be available to answer any issues, and if they are available, how qualified are they to resolve those issues?” If I have a problem with my Maytag washing machine, and I call them for service, I’m reasonably sure their techs will be able to resolve any problem I have. But if I have XYZ brand, and they have no phone support, my comfort level drops substantially.