Meet Andrew Howard, Server Support Engineer

 

Andrew Howard is one of the elite server support engineers at FastServers.Net. He is also actively involved in the development and maintenance of the company's monitoring system. "It's a complicated system, especially since we distributed the monitoring amongst multiple servers," said Andrew. "And I love wrapping my mind around it. I had prior experience with the monitoring software when we first started using it, so I've been very involved with the development and maintenance of the software ever since," he said. For those of you new to FastServers.Net, you can utilize Andrew's monitoring system for all your servers. It's built right into Pentagon and is available at no charge.

Andrew is a huge fan of Anime. We asked him to tell us why he is so intrigued with Anime. His response, "Most American shows are comedies. It's hard to find an American TV series that isn't all action or comedy. This makes it difficult to fall in love with the characters, mostly because you're always laughing at them. He compares Anime to the movie "V is for Vendetta" as "you are crushed when the main character dies," he said. "Anime tends to be more like movies in that respect. The Japanese writers put a lot more effort into character development. And since they are one season, each consisting of 26 episodes, there is a specific beginning and end. This allows them to follow a build-up, climax, and clincher plot seasons, whereas American shows are meant to continue for as long as they are profitable," he said.

There is talk that Andrew has been an avid skier and a stunt master on roller blades. We had to find out if this is true or not. Andrew said, "I am by no means X-Games material. They would laugh at me uncontrollably if I attempted to try out for the games. In all seriousness, I am very stable on roller blades, I have good balance, and I can jump on and off things. So I can put the rumor to rest that I am not a stunt master on roller blades." What about skiing Andrew? Ever hit the slopes Black Diamond style? "I am a natural and quite good at it, but again, I am not X-Games material. I have never done stunts on skis, but I did jump off a ramp once and landed flat on my back. One word describes the experience - Ouch," he said. Oh, he has broken his arm on three separate occasions, but only one of them was due to a collision while on roller blades.

We found out Andrew participated in a barbershop quartet, chorus, and the UNI Glee Club. So we have a singer on staff. Will he sing at the next FastServers.Net party? This is to be determined. Andrew told us that he sang a few solos while in high school. "It was fun singing solos because the women would come to watch and that was always a pleasant experience," he said. "Solos are fun, but I much prefer to sing in small groups consisting of three to seven people. If the group is too large, your voice does not really matter. If you're singing solo, your voice does not sound as good. So a small group is ideal." Andrew, will you be singing at the next FastServers.Net party? If not, maybe you can bring some of your homemade wine.

Andrew doesn't really make homemade wine. Well, not anymore. He tried once to make his very own special drink, but it turned out to be a disaster. He describes the experience, "The wine was terrible. It was never meant to be a particular flavor because I was doing it by the seat of my pants while creating it. It was supposed to be red wine. The ingredients were simple - grape juice, sugar and yeast," he said. But it turns out he used the wrong yeast. As a college student, Andrew wanted to save money and used baker's yeast instead of brewer's yeast. "I'm pretty sure it was that decision, and the preservatives in the grape juice that ruined everything. When it was done, the wine needed a lot more filtering than it ever received. That said, it tasted more like a wine-soaked wheat bread than anything," said Andrew. We had to ask the obvious - what food would you pair with your wine? Chuckling, he said, "The wine would probably go best with those potatoes I left in the closet for too long." Keep on trying Andrew. Use a kit or something to help you along.

We asked Andrew what he likes most about FastServers.Net. He responded, "All of the techs are good at what they do and each of us have our own specialties. That allows me to depend on my coworkers, and at the same time, I can enjoy being a valuable asset to the company. It's good to be needed," he said. Andrew, we do indeed appreciate your specialties just as we appreciate all FastServers.Net employees and their specialties. It's what makes the company stand in front of the line. It's both unique and rewarding.