Introducing Data Processing Dan

Alright folks, buckle up and grab your favorite beverage, because you've just stumbled upon the digital home of Data Processing Dan. And if that name sounds a little… retro, well, that's because my journey in the wild world of Information Technology started way back when the internet was still finding its feet and the hum of a mainframe was the soundtrack of the office.

Let me take you back to the early 1990s. Forget sleek laptops and cloud-based applications; my IT career kicked off in the heart of the local County government's "Data Processing" department. Think less Silicon Valley startup and more the rhythmic clatter of a large band printer churning out daily reports from the mighty Mainframe. My mornings weren't about Slack channels and stand-up meetings; they were about wrangling stacks of printed paper and delivering them to the various departments.

And user support? Forget remote desktop access. It was all about navigating the glowing green text on their screens, patiently explaining how to input data and retrieve information. It might sound archaic now, but those early days were my foundational training, teaching me the core principles of how data flows and how crucial even the simplest systems are to keeping things running.

But the IT world in the 90s was a whirlwind of change, and I was right there in the thick of it. Over the next seven years, from 1993 to the dawn of the new millennium in 2000, our small team – often just 2 to 4 of us – was tasked with dragging the County government into the modern age. We went from the monolithic Mainframe to the relative flexibility of Unix servers. We laid down the groundwork for local networks, installing Ethernet cables and configuring those mysterious boxes called routers. We unpacked and set up those exciting new Desktop PCs, finally giving users graphical interfaces. And then came the internet – a whole new frontier we had to navigate, setting up web servers and even building the first rudimentary websites. We even dabbled in writing web applications and tackling the daunting task of database upgrades.

Looking back, it was a breakneck pace of learning and implementation. We were a small team supporting around 150 users spread across three buildings, often learning on the fly and figuring things out as we went. Those late nights weren't just about deadlines; they were about devouring technical manuals and experimenting with the latest technologies we were about to deploy.

But amidst all the technical jargon and hardware upgrades, the most important lesson I learned wasn't about a specific programming language or the intricacies of network protocols. It was about the process of troubleshooting. With such a small team and so much new technology, things went wrong – a lot. And learning how to systematically identify, analyze, and resolve those issues became my most valuable skill.

Fast forward to today, and the landscape of IT is almost unrecognizable from those early days. I now manage a team of talented system and network administrators, supporting dozens of clients, including federal agencies, local governments, and private companies. Our world is largely in the cloud now, a far cry from those green screens and band printers.

But the core principles of IT, and especially the art of troubleshooting, remain the same. And even after all these years, I still find myself learning something new every single day.

That's what this blog is all about. I'm Data Processing Dan, and I'm here to share the stories from my journey through the ever-evolving world of IT. From the trenches of the 90s to the complexities of the cloud, I'll be sharing my experiences, the lessons I've learned, and maybe even a few laughs along the way. Whether you're a seasoned IT pro, just starting out, or simply curious about the inner workings of the digital world, I hope you'll join me as we explore the fascinating, sometimes frustrating, but always interesting world of technology. Stay tuned for the tales from the data processing trenches!