Host

Well, I reckon it’s safe enough to finally announce to you fine folks that I am gainfully employed. I have been working at Hostway Corporation for the past two weeks doing Enterprise-level support for managed servers. What that means to you is that I work at the Internet. Not on the Internet — AT the Internet. Every time you look at a website or send an email or have a chat, your computer is making a connection to some physical server that’s sitting in some warehouse at the other end of a wire. This is one of those places at the other end of that wire.

Our customers are generally large companies or private individuals who run a bunch of websites. We own the equipment, we keep it powered and cooled, we make sure the wires aren’t crossed and everything is secured, and then the customers lease that equipment from us to do whatever they need. My job is to answer calls, emails, and trouble tickets from customers who need something changed or have a problem with their server.

Since the Internet doesn’t sleep, it’s a 24/7 operation, so someone has to be on staff in the datacenter at all hours of the day and night. I’m not thrilled at the prospect of shift rotations, but my application to the job was completely voluntary; I knew this going in. The past weeks of getting up at 6AM and filling my head with a wheelbarrow of new knowledge are wearing me down, but I’ll eventually get used to it. I think once the first paychecks start coming in, I’ll be a little more grateful. Until then, I’ll keep plugging at it. It’s a heavy load to take in, but I expect that with a new career.