Professional IT Forum

[Jeff7181]

AnandTech needs an IT forum where discussions of a more professional nature can take place. There are a lot of knowledgeable people here, it's a shame so much of the discussion is limited to consumer level products.

 

[puternoobie]

That's my feeling too Jeff7181. Lots of professionals inhabit these forums to see if they can help someone else. Or people with a particular expertise want to help others. Good for them, I say. Many of us are just beginning or have found themselves on a level where they need help. There is help on the net, of course, but sometimes not the right kind.

 

[Gillbot]

There are plenty of sections that can be used in the Hardware and Technology area. We don't need a sub-forum for every single thing people can think of that they feel needs branched out.

 

[Jeff7181]

There are plenty of sections that can be used in the Hardware and Technology area. We don't need a sub-forum for every single thing people can think of that they feel needs branched out.

Yeah... I guess a NetApp SAN and WD Passport drive both qualify as "Memory and Storage." Somehow I think the discussion about each would be completely different, though.

There's an "IT/Datacenter" tab on anandtech.com and virtually every other tab has a category in the forums where it clearly fits.

I guess I could start a discussion about patch management and version control software in one of the software sections. Unfortunately most are cross-platform so it wouldn't fit under Software for Windows, All Things Apple or *nix Software. And it's not an OS, it's software, so it wouldn't fit under Operating Systems. Doesn't have anything to do with Programming, PC Gaming, Console Gaming or Distributed Computing. It may fit under Security, but not really.

Or maybe I could ask for some advice about our BES server in Gadgets, Gear and Phones... but it's not really Consumer Electronics. I could post it in Software for Windows because it runs on a Windows server... but it's more Blackberry related than Windows.

And somehow, discussing the use of big iron vs. commodity servers just doesn't seem to fit in "General Hardware."

See my point?

 

[Zargon]

yeah but you should be on crackberry or the blackberry support forums to ask about that

 

[Jeff7181]

yeah but you should be on crackberry or the blackberry support forums to ask about that

The majority of the forums here have overlap with other specialized sites. But I don't want the opinion of a RIM employee that's obligated to toe the company line, or the opinion of a RIM engineer that sites whitepapers and talks about what SHOULD be with their product. The point is to pick the brain of THIS community.

 

[Gillbot]

Yeah... I guess a NetApp SAN and WD Passport drive both qualify as "Memory and Storage." Somehow I think the discussion about each would be completely different, though.

There's an "IT/Datacenter" tab on anandtech.com and virtually every other tab has a category in the forums where it clearly fits.

I guess I could start a discussion about patch management and version control software in one of the software sections. Unfortunately most are cross-platform so it wouldn't fit under Software for Windows, All Things Apple or *nix Software. And it's not an OS, it's software, so it wouldn't fit under Operating Systems. Doesn't have anything to do with Programming, PC Gaming, Console Gaming or Distributed Computing. It may fit under Security, but not really.

Or maybe I could ask for some advice about our BES server in Gadgets, Gear and Phones... but it's not really Consumer Electronics. I could post it in Software for Windows because it runs on a Windows server... but it's more Blackberry related than Windows.

And somehow, discussing the use of big iron vs. commodity servers just doesn't seem to fit in "General Hardware."

See my point?

You could make 10,000 cases for 10,000 different items. That doesn't mean we need a separate forum for each. That's like saying we need an "iPhone" forum because it's a gaming device, no wait it's an MP3 player, no... It's an internet machine, no, it's a video player, still yet it's a tablet PC, no it's a phone. See the point? I think the sections are broken up plenty enough and IF there was a true NEED for a sub-section, there would already be 10,000 threads and/or requests here for it.

 

[SunnyD]

Jeff... this is the AnandTech forums. There's no such thing as "discussions of a more professional nature" here.

 

[Jeff7181]

You could make 10,000 cases for 10,000 different items. That doesn't mean we need a separate forum for each. That's like saying we need an "iPhone" forum because it's a gaming device, no wait it's an MP3 player, no... It's an internet machine, no, it's a video player, still yet it's a tablet PC, no it's a phone. See the point? I think the sections are broken up plenty enough and IF there was a true NEED for a sub-section, there would already be 10,000 threads and/or requests here for it.

Bad example, but I know what you're saying. I just think it's a shame that users go elsewhere for such discussions when the AT community has so much to offer.

 

[ultimatebob]

I second this idea. More advanced IT topics like setting up server clustering or commercial UPS systems doesn't really fit in any of our existing forums.

 

[Brovane]

I second this idea. More advanced IT topics like setting up server clustering or commercial UPS systems doesn't really fit in any of our existing forums.

I will 3rd this idea. More advanced IT topics don't fit well under the present forum setup for discussion of hardware and software.

 

[Gillbot]

Bad example, but I know what you're saying. I just think it's a shame that users go elsewhere for such discussions when the AT community has so much to offer.

If people wouldn't "go elsewhere", then perhaps it could be addressed but the demand doesn't warrant it. Sometimes I think we are already spread out since some of the current sub-forums don't get a lot of traffic.

 

[Zargon]

The majority of the forums here have overlap with other specialized sites. But I don't want the opinion of a RIM employee that's obligated to toe the company line, or the opinion of a RIM engineer that sites whitepapers and talks about what SHOULD be with their product. The point is to pick the brain of THIS community.

while I was mostly being a smartass. you are a fool to NOT use that forum, most of the answers I have gotten there are from other BES admin's with blackberry certs', not RIM employees ()

I'm not sayinf we shouldnt have that stuff here, but not using the large forums just for the one thing you are asking about is foolish IMHO

 

[Jeff7181]

I honestly didn't mean to cross-post, I was looking for an alternative forum for this type of topic after Gillbot dismissed my request so quickly and it turned into others also claiming a need for such a forum. Here's a little more evidence that it would be a worthy addition to the AT Forums.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2156670

 

[Gillbot]

I honestly didn't mean to cross-post, I was looking for an alternative forum for this type of topic after Gillbot dismissed my request so quickly and it turned into others also claiming a need for such a forum. Here's a little more evidence that it would be a worthy addition to the AT Forums.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2156670

I'm not going to research to determine if there is a need. IMHO, there is not or there would be an outcry posted here already with a landslide of support. Sorry, I just don't see it.

 

[Jeff7181]

I'm not going to research to determine if there is a need. IMHO, there is not or there would be an outcry posted here already with a landslide of support. Sorry, I just don't see it.

I bet it would see more traffic than Contests and Sweepstakes.

 

[Gillbot]

I bet it would see more traffic than Contests and Sweepstakes.

If people wouldn't "go elsewhere", then perhaps it could be addressed but the demand doesn't warrant it. Sometimes I think we are already spread out since some of the current sub-forums don't get a lot of traffic.

Read much?

 

[Jeff7181]

Read much?

That's mature.

 

[spikespiegal]

I think it would generate traffic and help filter out the 'Blue-Shirt' wannabees that drive the rest of us nuts.

Many of us know that "Security" goes beyond Spybot and 'IE suks - Use firefox', and "Storage" goes beyond installing a SSD so you can 'load games faster dude'.

I like the 'Data Center' idea.

 

[theevilsharpie]

I think the admins don't want to create an IT forum simply because they want to avoid all the ATIT jokes it would spawn

Anyway, here's another vote for an IT forum. Anandtech has an IT section on their site, so it's weird that we don't have a forum to match.

 

[Raiden256]

Agree with OP. This would be very nice to have and would in fact draw more people to the site. Can't count the number of times I wished I could post a complicated enterprise-class problem in an ATOT forum and get real answers.

 

[Jeff7181]

I think the admins don't want to create an IT forum simply because they want to avoid all the ATIT jokes it would spawn

Anyway, here's another vote for an IT forum. Anandtech has an IT section on their site, so it's weird that we don't have a forum to match.

The notion that this is just a consumer electronics site is false. Anand's series of virtualization articles with VMWare and Intel are the most obvious evidence of this - they are clearly geared toward corporate IT, not consumer level desktop virtualization.

 

[JoeBleed]

I second this idea. More advanced IT topics like setting up server clustering or commercial UPS systems doesn't really fit in any of our existing forums.

I'll add my vote for the request.

Even if you post in some of the other forum sections, it will likely get pushed down quickly by many posts about newest, biggest sata harddrive or many other unrelated posts that just don't seem to fit.

Having a separate, lower traffic section would be better as questions would likely be viewed more often by the lower number or relevant visitors to that section.

 

[phoenix79]

I'll add my vote in as well for an enterprise IT forum with the assumption that it will get ignored by the admins....

 

[Zargon]

I'll add my vote in as well for an enterprise IT forum with the assumption that it will get ignored by the admins....

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