Are You Ready for Amazon S3?...Probably Not

Having only discovered Amazon S3 a couple of months ago I was totally blown away by the idea. For those of you who don't know what this it, it is storage space in Amazon's data center that is rented out on a monthly fee (and transfer fee). As soon as I read about this I started thinking about the current online/off site storage vendors that I was using. I couldn't believe that Amazon would offer this "service" at such a cheap price.

I started researching everything about it and how I could start using it. The catch is that you must use it by utilizing their APIs. Meaning that you just don't sign up for the service and download their program, you need to write you own program or use someone else's open-source program which is what I did. Since there are so many open-source type programs out there you can just pick the one that you think is the best for your needs and use it. (On a side note, there are also some "pay-for" programs and some online storage companies have moved their infrastructure over to Amazon and are already offering this as a "storage backed by Amazon" type of service.)

The problem I see is the maturity of these open source programs. If I use one now for the next year and the person (or company) stops development of it, then what? A program like JungleDisk changes the file names for some reason when the file is uploaded. If development stops on this program you may need another program to interact with Amazon S3, renaming all of your files could be an arduous task. The other programs that I have used S3backup and www.S3Interface.com both keep the file name unchanged. But I want to be able to automate the file transfer and with these programs this task is more of a manual one.

On another note, I believe that S3 will revolutionize the way we think about storage all together. It will turn storage into a commodity and something where a physical location is not important. Backing up data in one location and restoring it at another may not be a problem in the not too distant future.

Here is the link to Amazon's site if you want to read more about it. www.amazon.com/s3

Breaking into the IT Field

Getting a job in the IT field is not as difficult as one may think. I have a couple of steps that you can follow to break into it. You can follow these steps whether or not you have a College degree. Although I believe a degree is very beneficial.

1. Like computers and computer systems
2. read magazines and online articles about #1 daily (I read the following; information week, and network world)
3. Get a computer, download and install any trial (Microsoft) or actual (Linux) software that you are interested in.
4. Study for the Microsoft, Cisco, Linux, CompTIA certificates. Get the highest level of certificate you can. I remember I knew someone who told me that they were going to get the MCSA and stop there. Their rational was that in their IT career they didn't think that an MCSE would be needed. That is crap or just plain laziness! Go for the highest possible. That kind of thinking will leave you a mediocre career. (On other note, bite the bullet for the price of the exams. Don't wait for your work to pay for them, just do it. They will pay for themselves with your first job.)
5. Get to know other IT people. As you start to look for a job these other people will be able to help you with advice or may even know of a job opening.

These 5 steps will help you. Number 1 is a bit more of a personality trait than something that one can just do. But actually liking what you do will excel your career way ahead of the other people that just see it as a job. I also can't stress enough of number 3. Actually using the programs as home and being able to experiment with their workings is how you can learn much more also. Typically at work you can't just change settings on a production server to see what happens.

At the other end of the scale, here are some things that I don't think you need to do or are just a waste of time.

1. Don't' take one of the famous MCSE classes or entire MCSE bootcamp courses. I am referring to the commercials I hear on the radio every single day about the "average salary of a MCSE...". I personally don't have any experience with this particular school but I have been to many classes and most are the instructor either reading out of the book, following some odd hands on lab or a combination of the two. I prefer buying the book and installing the software at home. I can normally work through the book much faster than the instructor.

2. Stay at a position that you are bored or are not challenged. If you aren't doing something different or challenging everyday you are not growing and learning.

Some people say that they learn better in school. They can ask questions and the instructor or other classmates can help with the understanding of the problem. This is true, but you can also look online or post the question in a forum and get just as good of an answer for free.

If you don't like computers and you just want a job in IT because the money sounds good... Good luck. I believe that the money will start coming in because of your genuine interest in what you are doing. I have seen IT people stuck in the same job for years. I can never figure out why they are happy but to each his(or her) own.