Customer Satisfaction Feedback and Followup

Quality control  Timesheets  Logs  Customer satisfaction – feedback and followup  Program reviews  patches computer aided engineering and computer applicatitions  logging system  print manager  perl scripting cgi

Fault finding and maintenance of a computer network system  printer problems  serial port - weighbridges  webserver problems – apache  network problems  dns modification tables  fsck

Installation, commissioning and testing of computer system  linux install  program testing (test server -> live)  final testing  handover Quality control

We keep a very close working relationship with our clients. With better customer care we instill trust and professionalism.

A Logging system has been developed to log all errors and requests received from a client. Each log is given a unique ID number, and is also assigned an employee id number who is responsible to execute the correction or amendment. The log also details the specifications of the problem at hand. A copy of the log is emailed to the client as a reference. From the details of the log that the client receives, they can see who will be handling the problem. The person responsible the action is also sent a copy of the log so they can attend to it quickly.

Logs are listed in an employees directory to display what is outstanding and how many days the log has been left open. Clients can also use the logs as references and enquire the status on a particular job. It is easy to determine the nature of a client call, as both parties have the same data on their machine to follow up.

Logs are also used for in-house development. Large projects are often broken down into smaller tasks, and these are assigned to the best person to action those tasks. We use the logs to map out what has to be done and within what timeframe. The supervisor can also refer to the log ID numbers to the person and find out what the pending status is. This also aids in quality control supplying the supervisor with information about which person is responsible for a certain task.

The logs help us to increase customer satisfaction, only when the client is happy with program changes or system modifications and upgrades - the log is then closed. We use timesheets as a daily log to keep track of activities during the day. The timesheet system has been developed in house at Estrin software and is driven with mysql databases with a web interface.

The timesheets log all time spent on a particular project for a client. With these details we can determine the time constraints on a project and check if we are on budget. We can also estimate future time budgets based on past timesheets for work and projects done for a client. If any new requests are brought forward by the client, a quote can be drawn up detailing the time it would take to complete the project (based on the timesheets) This helps to better server our clients with accurate information.

Customer Satisfaction and feedback

When clients request modifications or additions to their system a log is created for the request. It is reviewed and a quote is drawn up detailing how long system modifications will take to complete and the estimated cost. This quote is then authorized and signed by the client and sent back to us. It is at this time we begin the work.

Once the modifications are complete, it is handed over for testing. During this phase the system stress tested for any errors that may occur. If the tests yield satisfactory a motion is past to install the changes to the client’s system. A time is scheduled for this, and the client is notified if they will experience any downtime.

When the installation is complete, the client is notified to run through the changes to see if they are satisfied. If no problems are found the log is closed.

Fault finding and maintenance of a computer network system Printer configuration and setup Working with Windows and Linux operating systems requires you to know how to setup a network printer for both OS. Having a printer on the network increases productivity, as everyone is able to access the printer from any network node.

Windows printer setup comes with a built in wizard making it very easy to install printer drivers. The Host computer must have the drivers installed for the printer you are wanting to setup. Using the add printer wizard and using the drivers provided by the manufacturer. Once the printer is installed, run a print test to make sure communications are working with the host and the printer. For networking the printer, printer sharing must be enabled.

The next process is to install the printer on other network machines as a network printer. This step is also completed using the add printer wizard. When doing this you select the host of the printer you are going to be printing to. You don’t need drivers here, since the drivers are already setup on the host machine.

Linux printer setup. You are able to configure Linux to see the printer shares on a Windows machine. This is possible by installing the Samba application, which is used for the sharing of files and printers.

You must get the windows computer name, its IP address and the printer share name so that you can configure Linux for the printer share. Once you have these details you input the IP address and computer name into the Linux hosts file ( /etc/hosts) Doing this will alias the computer name with the associated IP. What I would do at this stage is to ping the windows machine with the alias I have set up. If a response is returned I know that linux recognizes the alias and I have network communication.

To view the shares on the windows host machine, I use the command smbclient. This comes with the Samba package. The results returned shows me all the shares on the windows machine. At this stage I set up a print script, and install it into the /usr/bin directory. The script is program code that will handle printer calls and send data to the printer if required. To test if the printer is setup correctly, I could echo a test string through the print script.

File System Repair

File system corruptions to the linux servers most often occur when there is a power failure, and the server is not shut down properly.

On linux boot up, linux will run a check through each of its file systems. If it cannot be repaired, it will notify the user that it will have to be repaired manually. Only the root user can administer this repair.

First, you will have to boot the server into single user mode. To do this you will specify a single mode startup on the LILO prompt. At the LILO prompt, type in linux s. Other commands you could try if that does not work are: linux 1, linux init=/bin/sh, boot –s.

From this command the server will boot into the system shell, where you can execute commands. The shell is indicated with a hash ‘#’ prompt. You will need to acquire which filesytems are mounted at boot time, you will this list because you have to check each one of them to determine which system is corrupted and needs repair. At the prompt type #cat /etc/fstab. This file contains a list of the filesystems that are loaded on boot time, indicated as /dev/hda1 for example.

From this list, you would repair each system. You will need to run a file system checker called fsck against each of the devices. Once you have completed the repair, reboot the server. It should now boot normally without any errors To prevent this problem, the server is normally attached to a smart UPS. The UPS usually provides around 20minutes of power time. If a power failure does occur, the UPS can be configured to send a signal back to the server. Once that signal is received, the server starts a shutdown cycle, and powers down properly.

Serial devices I have been involved in the setup of serial connections of printers, modems and weighbridges.

A weighbridge can be setup with a serial adapter that can connect to COM1 or 2 on a computer system. The correct baud rate has to be configured on the computer system so that data can be read properly.

Troubleshooting and problem solving – if the serial connection cannot be established it could be due to the incorrect baud rate. Valid baud settings are 9600, 14400, 19600, 28000, 33600, 57600 (Kbps). Cable connections have also proven to be a fault factor in bad connections, have the cable checked and tested, or replace with a different cable to test.

Serial printers are easy to setup and connect directly into the com port of a computer. To output a print job you must configure which com port the printer is connected to.

Troubleshooting – The printer output is ‘jittery’ and does not print consistently line per line. Make sure the baud rate has been setup correctly, and the cables are connected properly. The most over looked problem are the cables that cause the data corruption.

Network Configuration for a Linux server Server must have a unique IP number so that it does not conflict with any other computer on the network. IP settings, Broadcast and Subnet Mask are setup in the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifconfig-eth0 file. Computer name for the server is setup in the /etc/host file.

Once all the settings are complete and in place, reboot the server. When the server is completed the reboot cycle – try to ping the existing network to test the network configuration.

Network Configuration for a Windows workstation Drivers must be installed for the network card, drivers are normally packaged with the network card or they can be downloaded off the internet.

TCP/IP protocol must be installed, this protocol can be added in the Network Neighborhood. Setup of the IP address and Subnet Mask is also done in the Network neighborhood under the TCP/IP settings.

Windows will require a reboot when the changes to the network are complete. Try to ping the existing network to test the setup

Troubleshooting A no response or timeout from a ping action indicates incorrect setup. Troubleshooting and fault finding – make sure the IP is in the same IP range with the existing network. Network cables must be properly connected both on the server network card, and to the hub. A quick glance at the network card LED’s to check if data is being received and transmitted – if the LED’s are on indicates a solid connection. A ping to the servers own IP address from the server to test the local loop back, this also tests if the IP is setup correctly.

Web server installation for Linux Apache web server with SSL has been installed onto our Linux computers. The latest Apache source files can be obtained from the official Apache internet website. The source files need to be unpacked and custom compiled according to your needs. The compilation can also be done with SSL to make your Apache installation SSL enabled. During the install, you select your install destination and which source files to use.

Once the install is complete, the web server needs to be configured. This is done in the httpd.conf file. In this file you specify the Root directory where the main web contents are stored. Script directories and aliases are also configured here – this directory you specify is the place where all programs and scripts are stored for the site hosted by the web server.

Virtual hosting can also be setup in the httpd.conf file. Virtual hosting enables the web server to host sub-internet sites, that can branch off from the main site and can have their own domains associated to them.

Once the configuration file (httpd.conf) has been setup you must start the web server process, in this case start the httpd process

Web server Troubleshooting When trying to start the web server, any errors found will be outputted to the screen. If the errors related to the configuration file, that indicates a problem with the syntax that was used. Configuration file (httpd.conf) must correct, example syntax structure is demonstrated inside the file contents also to assist the administrator. Checking that the file has been setup correctly is the first step in troubleshooting.

Web address does not yield the correct web page specified – make sure that all the paths in the httpd.conf configuration file has been setup properly. You can also run a system diagnostic to make sure that the httpd apache web server process is actually running on the system.

Apache web server reports all faults and errors to a log file. Referring back to this file will assist in determining what the error is. Installation, commissioning and testing of a computer system

When installing a new a system we have to determine what function the system is going to serve. We must determine if it is for server or desktop applications so we can install the appropriate software on the machine.

We install the Linux operating system if the machine is required for server activities. During the install you can set up linux partitions and allocate the necessary space for each partition. Installation components are optional so you can choose not to install certain modules.

MySQL database install MySQL databases are extremely fast in delivering information. We use this database in our web applications for internet sites and intranets. We also use MySQL in our perl scripts. My MySQL experience has only been with the Linux operating system.

Installing MySQL is simple, you can obtain the MySQL source install files from the official site; instructions and help are also available there.

Once MySQL is installed you also need to install the perl interface and DBI drivers. This enables our perl scripts to access and interface with the mysql databases. These drivers and modules are also readily available at the mysql official site for download.

Once mysql is installed it is ready to be configured. One would have to be root, or have root privileges to do this. Setup of mysql starts with configuring an administrative user. The administrator will have all privileges to mysql, this user would be able to setup other users and assign access levels. Users can create databases in mysql, in the databases we create sub-databases which are called tables. This is the process of database design and we decide how we want our tables and data structured.

Domain Name Server setup Domain Name Servers or DNS is a way we can assign a defined name or alias to a unique IP address. In doing so, we can relate easy to remember names to a unique IP number.

Domain registration Domain registration forms part of my administrative duties. When a web site is being created one of the first steps would be to setup a web address. This is done through a domain authority. First you must find out if your address that you want to register does not already owned by another party. Next one must apply to the domain authority by filling out the forms provided. Applications can be sent online or through email. During the setup you must specify the IP address of the machine that is hosting your site. Once the fees have been processed for the domain the domain will be active within 24 hours.