Protecting Your Kids Against the Dangers of the Cyber World

I always thought I had technology on the brain before, but it’s impossible to work in the Information Security industry without letting even more paranoia into your life outside of the office.  My job has put me on the front lines of the cyber wars that are being fought every day, or rather, every second of the day.  I’ve seen glimpses of digital grifters working hard to scam regular people out of their life savings, malware attacks being used to allow cyber criminals into protected systems, and Advanced Persistent Threats from organized professionals in other countries trying to attack our own.  It’s enough to make anyone paranoid.

That’s why even before my son Kaden was born, and now that we have a little girl on the way, my mind has already been racing years into the future to make a game plan for how I can protect them from the dangers that lurk just beyond the keyboard.

The thing is, cybercrime isn’t always what Hollywood makes it out to be.  Hackers aren’t always young, scrawny kids wearing sweatshirts with their hoods up, sitting in the dark in their parents’ basement as they clack away on their keyboards with their noses just mere inches from the screen.  They’re not always hacking into banks to fill their accounts or their schools to bump up their GPA.  They’re not always on a crusade against “the man.”  In fact, you don’t even have to be a “hacker” to be a cyber criminal.

Cybercrime is exactly what it’s name implies…it is unlawful activity that just happens to take place on a computer.  Theft, extortion, espionage, it can all happen online, and it does every day.

The Internet has also made many crimes must easier to commit.  Decades ago, sexual predators would have to somehow charm their victims in person to gain their trust.  Years ago they moved their playing field into chat rooms where they could pretend to be someone else and lure others into traps.  Nowadays all they need is a Facebook account.

It’s a scary world out there, and there are several windows into that world scattered across our homes in the form of computers, tablets, smartphones, and now even watches. So what are we supposed to do?  Do we boycot technology and purchase a horsedrawn carriage?  Or more realistically, do we prevent our children from using computers outside of doing homework and keep them away from electronic devices?

This is the 21st century.  Technology is a huge part of life and to force your kids back into the stone age is going to negatively affect their social and intellectual growth.  When I was growing up, we didn’t actually get a computer in our home until I was around 9 or 10 years old.  However, both of my grandparents had computers that they didn’t know how to use that I was immediately drawn to.  My grandpa on my mom’s side had an old, DOS-based PC on which I used to write my own little stories using the text editor.  Thinking back, I’m still surprised that I was able to teach myself how to navigate in that text-based operating system without Google to help me.

My grandma on my dad’s side had an old (well, “new” at that time) Apple Macintosh Classic II, which I fell in love with.  Even though it was black and white and the drawing program only had different shades of gray, I had a lot of fun with that machine.  I also introduced myself to the first stages of programming by figuring out how to edit a choose-your-own-adventure game that was installed and creating my own side-stories.

As years went on and my grandma replaced her Mac II with a blueberry iMac, I continued to experiment with the new technology as my cousin Ty and I discovered how to change the error sounds to be a voice recording of us chanting “Grandma you screwed up!” instead.

Comparing my life now to my adventures as a child, I see that I still learn the same way.  Whenever I come across a new piece of technology, the way I figure it out is just by experimenting with it until I know how it works and what it’s capable of.  It’s how I’ve made it where I am today.  I’m grateful that my grandparents allowed me to play with their expensive toys, and that my parents were able to invest in some computers at our house as well so that I could improve my talents.

On the other hand, while growing up I was surprised at how dangerous the digital frontier could be.  I’m not just talking about computer viruses or worms, but about how mature content could be introduced so easily.  It was terrifying how easily a web search for how to beat a level on a Nintendo game could turn into pictures of naked women.  Luckily I had trained myself to close the window as soon as I saw anything like that, but I’m sure not everyone who was surprised with those pop-ups would do the same.

In today’s world, the situation is both better and worse.  With nearly all browsers including pop-up blockers and other similar features, it is much harder to come across offensive content on accident like it was years ago.  It is much easier to protect our kids from getting blindsided by pornography by putting the proper filters in place.  However, with the help of Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines, finding the same content on purpose has never been easier and is only a search away.

Just as the threat landscape has changed, so has the need for us to protect our children in a different way.  Is it enough anymore to put firewalls and content filters in place, or spy on your kids’ activities by rifling through their Internet history?  First of all, boundaries can always be overcome when someone wants to badly enough.  Firewalls have weaknesses and filters can be bypassed.

Does that mean you shouldn’t bother turn on parent controls at all?  Of course not.  But technology alone will not solve the problem.  Let me talk about three things that need to be done to protect your family against the dark side of the digital world.

 

Be aware of what’s out there

Not everyone is tech savvy.  In fact, many don’t know how to do more on a computer outside of checking their email, writing a document, and looking at Facebook.  However, if you are a parent then you need to know a little more than that if you want to keep your children safe.  That doesn’t mean that you need to rush to the library and check out “Internet for Dummies” or sign up for an adult learning class (although if you’re ambitious enough to do that then well done!), but you do need to become familiar with the risks that your children have the potential of facing every day so that you can help them to overcome them.

Every year the company that I work for holds a security conference known as RSA Conference, which features many very interesting security-related keynote presentations.  One of these presentations was called Into the Woods: Protecting Our Youth from the Wolves of Cyberspace.  One of the panelists in this presentation, Alicia Kozakiewwics, shares the story of how she was abducted as a young girl because she was innocently chatting with her would-be captor on the Internet, believing the person was somebody else.  You can watch her story on YouTube here.

Because of what happened to her, she started The Alicia Project, the purpose of which is to raise awareness of Internet safety with children.  On her website is a great page of Internet Safety Tips that I highly recommend to parents so that they can know at a high level how to prepare their children for the dangers that are out there.  This leads me to my next suggestion.

 

Train them while they’re young

While it is never too late to teach your children about Internet safety, your advice will be much more influential if you can train them from the beginning.  Teach them to never share private or identifying information like their home address, where they go to school, etc.  Teach them the dangers of “checking in” with apps like FourSquare and Facebook, as it can alert potential predators to their location.  Engraining these habits in your children while they’re young will make sure that they exercise these good practices for years to come.

 

Make them a part of the team

So what is the best way to go about teaching your children?  Do you use scare tactics to try to make them afraid of the Internet?  No, rather than telling cyber ghost stories, it is better to make them a part of the team so that they can work with you to keep your family safe.  So how do you go about doing this?  Another panelist from from same keynote presentation I mentioned gave a good example of how this technique can be done.

Let’s say you are concerned about how much time your child spends on Instagram. and are worried that the wrong types of people could be following her profile.  Since we all know that kids in this day and age become one with technology from the ground up, we can always count on them to teach us something new.  (Heck, my one-year-old son has somehow already managed to learn how to scroll through photos on an iPhone whenever he can manage to get his hands on one.)

Imagine you walk up to your child and find her looking at Instagram on her phone.

“What are you doing?” you ask.
“Just looking at Instagram,” she replies.
“Oh yeah?  How does it work?”
“C’mon Dad, you’ve seen it before.  I follow my friends and I get to see when they post pictures, and they get to see mine.”
“Wow, that’s pretty cool.  Do you think it’s something I would like?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Alright, do you think you could help me set it up on my phone?  And maybe I could follow you so that I can see your pictures too.”
“Ok sure.  It’s easy, I’ll show you.”

There you have it.  It’s not rocket science, and now instead of playing Big Brother and spying on your kids and their Internet usage, you are able to show your trust in them while still being able to know what’s going on in their digital lives.  It also opens the door for you to teach them about potential pitfalls that may come about and make it into a learning experience rather than scolding them on how they are acting.

Here’s another example:

“Is that Minecraft you’re playing?” you ask your son.
“Yep, I’m just playing it with my friend down the street.”
“Oh nice, so you can chat with him while you play?”
“Yeah, see?  I just sent him a message.”
“Oh yeah you’re right.  So can other people on the Internet chat with you too?”
“Sometimes.  I usually don’t though.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t dare either.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, remember how we taught you when you were younger not to talk to strangers?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you remember why?”
“Yeah, it’s because they could really be bad guys and try to steal me or hurt me.”
“Exactly.  So chatting with people you don’t know on the computer is just like talking to strangers in real life.  You don’t know who they really are and if they’re really bad guys.”
“Oh yeah, I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

Giving your kids the opportunity to have open discussions with you about these sorts of things is much better than having them be afraid to talk to you or believe that you won’t understand or relate to them.

 

Conclusion

It is a scary world out there, but that doesn’t mean you have to shut all the blinds and unplug your modems.  The Internet is hear to stay and is only becoming more and more prevalent in our lives.  The more that we can go on the offensive and preemptively train our children to be on the lookout for digital hazards, the more rewarding your lives will be.

I don’t pretend to be an expert, especially seeing as my oldest child hasn’t even learned to walk yet.  But I know that every parent has or will face these dangers and it is important to know what we can do to protect our family from the seen and the unseen.  There are many resources at our fingertips and we just have to use them.  But on top of that, we just have to continue to love our children and be willing to communicate with them.  By doing this, we will know that our families are protected from any dangers that the Internet may introduce.

On the Brink of Fatherhood

It's crunch time.  The buzzer sounded and we've gone into overtime.  Our little baby boy's due date was three days ago on March 27th and he's still in the womb trying to build as much suspense as he can so that everyone will remember his birthday.

But even though Whitney and I are extremely anxious to bring the baby into the world, the past few days have served to be very reflective for me.  I've said it many times before over the past few months, but things are starting to get very real.

As Whitney and I have made preparations here and there, it became more and more apparent to me that we'll soon have a little baby boy for whom we are solely responsible.  When we went shopping for baby clothes, I would hold up a shirt with a bass guitar and think it would be so cool to get for our little boy, and then when I'd pull it out of the shopping bag on the way home,  it would strike me that soon there will be a little body wearing this shirt.

Working on the nursery made things very real to me.  We found our crib and changing table only a few weeks after finding out that Whitney was pregnant. We also decided early on that we wanted to paint one of the walls of the soon-to-be-nursery a sky blue, so that was our next task.  We then went about finding a rocking chair, a dresser, and everything else that goes into a nursery.  After many weeks and months, the room was finally finished and ready for a new occupant.

I have to say that when the nursery was finished, I had to take a step back and smile because of the work we had done.  This little room was going to be somewhere that we'll spend a lot of time with our baby boy--especially Whitney--and we really did our best to make it feel like home.  With the help of Whitney's sisters and sister-in-law, we were able to decorate the crib area with a colorful banner and an origami crane mobile that I managed to hang from the ceiling without falling off the ladder.

It was also very important to us that we have a picture of Jesus in the room, so we mounted one of Whitney's favorites just above the changing table.  Above the picture we hung a photo of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple that was taken the day of our wedding, which to me is honestly better than any picture that could have been purchased at a store.  Finally, next to the picture of the Savior is a small mirror, so that the baby can look at himself while being held and changed and see himself next to his Elder Brother.

Yes, I'm very happy with the room.  I'm also sure we went overboard in some cases, but as a first time parent I'm completely alright with that.  Not only did we buy the Angelcare baby monitor that detects sound, temperature, and whether or not the baby is moving so as to prevent SIDS, we also decided to get a video monitor that I mounted on the wall so that we can check on the baby any time at night.  It is actually very handy and can be accessed from our laptops or from an iPhone app.  Knowing how we were when we transitioned our puppy into another room, I know that we'll be pretty paranoid about our baby in his crib at night for the first little while, and it will be nice to quickly calm any fears by checking up on him without waking him up by opening the door.

But preparing ourselves physically is only a small part of what is to come.  It has been so crazy for me to think about the this next week.  Within the next few days, I will be changing diapers.  I'll be rocking and singing a little baby to sleep.  I'll be burping him over my shoulder.  I'll be a daddy.

I have had a lot of time to think about this, mostly while laying in bed in the middle of the night.  I feel like a movie reel is constantly rolling through my head.  During my sleeping and waking moments, I have visions of loading a baby into his car seat, holding him on my lap to play with him, pushing him in a stroller, and just looking into his beautiful, shining eyes.

While I'm also terrified of being responsible for another life, I am extremely excited to be a father and can honestly say that I am looking forward to it with bated breath.  Over the past year of being married and the time leading up to it after Whitney became a part of my life, I have been happier than I can remember.  I'm sure that the same thing will happen when our little boy officially joins our family, and my level of happiness will skyrocket.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful opportunity to be a dad and am so thankful for my incredible wife and everything she has had to endure during this long pregnancy.

Let the adventure begin!

A Fair Share of Goodbyes

To say that the past few weeks have been full of changes would be an understatement, and all of those changes have resulted in my having to say goodbye more often than I can remember in such a short period.

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently changed positions at my job and am now working in the RSA Security division of EMC.  This change in position was truly a blessing for me, and has provided me with a way to more easily support my family and prepare for our baby boy, who will be due in just a few short months.  My new role is a lot less stressful, and is right in line with my career path for which I got my degree.

But even though this was such a good move for me to make, it was still extremely difficult to leave the team that I’ve been working with for almost two years now.  This probably sounds strange because we’re all still in the same building, but within the different divisions there is a sort of culture, and I have grown very familiar with it and have gained friends from all over the globe from Boston to Australia to Ireland because of it.

It has also been difficult to transition from my last role as an escalation point.  In my last post I explained in detail—probably too much detail, I’m sure—what my previous position entailed.  I was what is referred to as a Subject Matter Expert, or SME, which means that I was an escalation point and mentor for a specific technology called Fully Automated Storage Tiering, or FAST.  After another colleague from Utah and I became SMEs, our two mentors in Boston moved up the corporate ladder and we became the primary escalation points.  Because of how busy the work was, their positions were never backfilled, and although I was able to teach a few training courses on the subject, nobody else were ever raised to SME status.

When I “gave my two weeks,” I agreed to remain in my old seat for some extra time to act solely as a mentor and trainer.  During that time, I wrote training articles and PowerPoint presentations, built out a Support Wiki with tutorials on troubleshooting FAST cases, and worked with my team to help them take and work cases in which I specialized.

But there eventually came the time where we went our separate ways.  Because EMC leased additional space in our building, most of the divisions changed their locations in the building and my old team moved upstairs to the new area.  The RSA team, who was at that time on the 3^rd floor, moved down to the area adjacent to where I had been sitting since I was hired.

Even though the physical move itself wasn’t too bad, it was surprisingly very hard to say goodbye to my old team.  Many of them have become some of my closest friends, and it was hard to think that I wouldn’t be able to sit and chat in person with them while I worked each day.  Again, I’m surprised at how hard it was because they are now only a floor away, and I am still able to go up to their area to assist every now and again, and with our company’s instant messaging setup we are still to chat with each other any time.

I am also pleased to say that my new team is really great as well, and in the short time that I have worked with them I have already really grown to like them and know that it will be exciting to work with them.  They are very knowledgeable but also very down to earth and humble when working with me, and are not condescending in any way that I am newer to the ball game.  My new manager is also incredible.  She was my manager in my old division until she moved over to RSA about six months ago, and has been so kind to me.  She has been very close with me and has made sure to keep updated on our baby’s progress and is so excited for us.  She even gave us a wedding present when I got married!

However, this leads me to other goodbyes that came about.  As part of accepting my new job, I was required to fly out to Reston, Virginia, for two weeks to be trained on the product that I will be supporting.  My manager decided that it would be best for me to go in January so that I would be back with plenty of time for the baby to be born.  It would also be easier to go this month than wait until we have a new baby that I would also have to leave behind.  Making the trip now will also really help me to dive in head first with my new position and really grasp it as soon as possible.

At this very moment I am sitting in the Salt Lake City airport waiting for my first flight to Denver after having endured the hardest 24 hours I’ve had in a long time.

My wife Whitney has been extremely supportive of this position change and even this business trip because she knows that everything I’m doing is for the benefit of our family and is truly the best move for us at this time.  She has really helped me feel alright with leaving, even though I’ve been plagued with guilty feelings since I found out about trip, knowing that I was leaving my pregnant wife home alone for two full weeks.

Somehow I was able to go about my days until the trip without stressing too much, probably because I forced the thoughts to the back of my mind to deal with them when I had to.  But I knew the day would come when I would be leaving, and knew how hard it was going to be.

Whitney and I have known each other for about a year and a half now, and will have our one-year wedding anniversary on February 1^st, the day that I return from my trip.  During that time, the longest that we’ve ever been apart was for the one week when I was sent to Boston for FAST SME training.  After our marriage we’ve only spent one night apart, which was when my band played a show in Roosevelt, UT, and the band and I were put up in a hotel because our performance ended after midnight and it was about a three-hour drive home.

Because of this, we both knew that it was going to be really hard to say goodbye for such a long time.  This increased exponentially by knowing that Whitney is in her third trimester.

But to make the trifecta of goodbyes complete, my brother Easton is leaving on his two-year mission to Aguascalientes, Mexico, on Wednesday.  He has been preparing for his mission for a very long time and is such an incredible example to me.  Without a doubt I can say that he is very ready for his mission, and has prepared for it even more than I have for mine by studying the scriptures and the Preach My Gospel manual on a daily basis for weeks now and by attending the temple regularly with family and friends.

I was so disappointed when I found out that I would be missing his farewell talk in church the Sunday before he left because I would be on an airplane, and that I would not get to send him off.  But last Thursday Easton asked me to give him a Priesthood blessing to help him with his mission, which I was only too grateful to do.  It was such a humbling experiencing getting to place my hands on his head, jointly with my dad and brother-in-law, to give him a blessing of comfort, peace, and strength.

Also because I was leaving, Easton chose to come to our house last night to give me my own private goodbye.  It was very touching that he would do such a thing, and that he spent time with me, my wife, and my crazy dog before he left.

We talked about his mission and his preparation, and had a great chat.  We then said our goodbyes, and we all cried openly.  Believe it or not, with how hard it was for us to say goodbye, I think our dog Bronx took it the hardest.  He is very keen on emotions and sensed something was going on, and when Easton left our house Bronx bounded out with him and dashed down the stairs and down the sidewalk as if he expected to go with him.  After capturing him and saying another tearful goodbye to Easton, we went inside and Bronx sat at the door and cried.  This wasn’t the same whine as “I’m hungry” or “I’m bored, play with me,” it was a sadness in seeing Easton go.  It was funny and heart wrenching at the same time.

But even with how difficult it was to say goodbye, it was so wonderful to know that Easton was leaving to dedicate the next two years of his life to serving the Lord and being a literal representative of Jesus Christ.  I was—and am—so proud of him, and I just know that he is going to do miraculous things down in Mexico, and that the Lord is preparing people down there as we speak to learn of the Gospel through his words.

Even though I won’t get to be there for his send off, I will get to call him before he leaves to say goodbye once more, and have also packed paper, envelopes, and stamps so that I can send him some letters while I’m gone.

But now back to the most difficult goodbye of all:  saying goodbye to my sweet wife.  After Easton left our house, I can honestly say that it was difficult to keep it together, and a lot of tears were shed.  She is worried about me and my safety, I am worried about her and her safety, and we’re both sad at the fact that we will be so far away from each other for so long.  But I had the wonderful opportunity to give her a Priesthood blessing last night as well, which I believe really helped us both.

It is difficult for me to even fathom how it will be to sleep in a bed alone and be so far away from the person I love more than anyone else.  To me, two weeks feels like an eternity.  But I am so grateful that I will get to see her again soon and that, until then, I will be able to remain in contact with her on the phone and through text messages and even Apple Facetime if we want to.

I am also so grateful for the power of prayer and knowing that Heavenly Father will take care of the ones I love while I am gone.  It is truly a test of my faith to understand and believe in this principle, but I sincerely know that my prayers will be answered.

While saying all of these goodbyes has been very difficult, I know that I am where I need to be right now, because I am doing this for my family.  Because of that knowledge, I am going to get out to Virginia and work my very hardest to grasp the concepts and information as quickly and comprehensively as possible, so that I may come home and apply my knowledge to assist my career even further, and to know that this trip and this heartache was not in vain.

I also know that my faith and testimony will increase dramatically from being away from my sweet wife for so long, as it will cause me to depend on the Lord more than I have been recently, and to trust in His power.  And when I get home, I know that I will take Whitney in my arms and never want to let her go again, because I am certain that our love for each other is going to increase tenfold over the next fourteen days.

What on earth does Jeff actually do?!

I have been wanting to sit down for a while now and write about my job and what exactly I do for forty hours each week, mainly because I feel so bad for my wife and family whenever they get popped the question and have to fumble around to try to explain it.  Even I have a hard time trying to describe it to people when asked, and usually have a few different explanations based on the technical understanding of the person asking the question.  Some of the responses I'll often give are....

• "I work in the IT industry."
• "I work in maintaining data centers."
• "I work with 'The Cloud' and data storage."
• "I am a tech support engineer."
• "I support Network-Attached Storage arrays."

That's just a small sample of the different replies I give to people who want to know what I do for a living.  But in reality, my job is pretty complex to explain.  In fact, even my entire title is an acronym:  FAST VP SME, which stands for Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools Subject Matter Expert.

That's certainly a mouthful, so I'll try to start at the beginning.

I work at EMC Corporation in Draper, which is an IT company that is most widely known for its storage arrays and its acquisitions of VMware and RSA Security.  Not being able to afford multi-million dollar computer equipment, I'd never really heard of EMC in terms of their data storage systems, but knew who they were because of VMware and RSA, which I was exposed to quite a bit while studying at UVU.

If there was one word I could use to describe EMC, it would be "HUGE!"  Especially after coming from a small business of maybe 80 employees, I was incredibly shocked to be surrounded by several hundred employees just in Utah, as well as hundreds if not thousands more worldwide, all supporting a large variety of products.

I was hired on as a Technical Support Engineer for the Symmetrix department.  I don't usually like to refer to myself as being in "tech support" because of the call-center stigma that is associated with it, because even though I work with customers in resolving break/fix issues, I think the term "technical support" doesn't do my role very much justice.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  I think I should first explain a little bit about what this Symmetrix thing is.  The Symmetrix storage array is the first product created by EMC, and is what is called a Network-Attached Storage (NAS) array.  These arrays look like giant refrigerators that line up beside each other like a football team on the scrimmage line, and are filled with hundreds or thousands of hard drives.  

Why on earth would someone need so many drives?  Well, just think about it.  If you're reading this post, then chances are you have a Facebook account, unless somehow I'm way more famous that I think I am...which is not very.  How many photos and videos would you say you've uploaded to your account?  Hundreds?  Thousands?  Ok, now ask yourself how many users exist on Facebook right now?  I sparked my own interested just now and Googled the answer, and it turns out that Facebook has about 1.19 BILLION active users as of October, 2013.  So multiply that number by the number of photos and videos you have on just your account and see what you get.  I'm not sure my calculator even goes that high.

Well, all those pictures have to be saved somewhere, and that's a LOT of storage space.  That's where storage arrays like the Symmetrix come into play.  These powerful machines can hold petabytes and petabytes of data, and make sure that it's ready and accessible every time someone needs to use it.  These arrays have loads of features to make sure that the data remains intact no matter what by having several backup power supplies, spare replacement hard drives that will kick into gear the moment one starts to fail, and even the ability to have a mirrored system set up hundreds of miles away just in case a major disaster occurred in the area like an earthquake or tornado and the primary data center went offline.

I was trained to support these arrays for all of our customers (which are pretty much all Fortune 500 companies) and make sure that there are no problems accessing their data at any time and at the speed that they want.

The Symmetrix has a really interesting system in place where it actually complains automatically to EMC whenever it's having any problems.  This "call home" feature allows the array to automatically dial home to an EMC server with any issues, which in turn automatically opens a support ticket for my team to investigate.  These "dial home errors" that dial home arrive in the form of a four-digit hexadecimal number with a two-digit modifer number which refers to a specific error.  Some examples of these errors are 24AF.78, 01B3.C0, 0471.02, and 033E.38.

This was probably one of the hardest parts of the job, learning how to decipher these codes to know what they are referring to.  One may refer to a failed drive that needs to be replaced, whereas one may refer to a backup power supply that won't hold a charge, and another could indicate that a cable was plugged into the wrong jack.  I look at the list of errors now and am still surprised when I know what they mean, when they looked completely Greek to me months before.

This is why I say that we are not the "traditional" type of technical support center, because in our case we will receive a report of an issue and have it corrected or a local representative onsite with a replacement part before the customer even knew there was a problem in the first place.

The way we do this is by remotely accessing a laptop built into one of the arrays, which is called the service processor.  The same way that I'll patch into my dad's computer to help him get rid of a virus or install a program, I can connect to an array in Sweden or Australia or anywhere else and remotely troubleshoot issues.

My primary role when I was hired was to investigate and resolve these dial home errors, which I performed until I was enrolled in a two-week course taught by a colleague from our Hopkinton, MA, office.  James Nigrelli was a Technical Support Engineer (TSE) like I was, but he had been flown out to Utah to teach me--along with a small group of people--about a new feature in our top-of-the-line Symmetrix VMAX arrays called FAST VP, or Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools.

This feature is surprisingly exactly what it sounds like, although it probably makes no sense to anyone reading this at the moment.  But in a nutshell, here's how it works.  There are essentially three types of drive technologies that make up a storage array.  The first type is called SATA, which is the hard disk that most of us are used to, with the spinning metal plate touched by a spindle used to read and write data, making it essentially look like a tiny vinyl player if you were able to see inside its chassis.  Next comes the Fibre Channel (FC) drive type, which is essentially a SATA drive but with a much faster, optical connection and a faster speed.  Third is the Enterprise Flash Drive (EFD) type, which is an Enterprise version of the Flash or Solid State technology, which is what you'd find in a USB thumb drive, your iPhone, or even some computers like the Macbook Air.

Obviously the faster, better drives are going to be more expensive than the slower ones, and customers want to make sure they're getting their money's worth out of them.  FAST VP is a completely automatic system built into the VMAX arrays that collect performance statistics on the data and then uses those statistics to make sure the data that is "hot" and being used all the time is being kept on the faster drives so they can be accessed quickly and that the "cold" data that isn't being used very much stays on the slower, less-expensive drives.

Did I lose you?  Well, then think of if this way.  Let's imagine you are a fashion extraordinaire and have a pretty extensive wardrobe, but just moved into a small apartment with only one closet.  With all of the clothes you have, you're going to need to keep them in three different locations: your closet, the garage, and at your parents' house.  Naturally you're going to want the clothes you wear all the time in the closet, the clothes you might wear every now and again in the garage, and the clothes you own but really should have been given to Goodwill a long time ago at your parents' house.  It's the same thing with FAST VP, but with data.

I really enjoyed learning about FAST VP and, after James returned home, I soon became the "go-to guy" for any FAST VP-related cases that were opened.  I had such an aptitude for it that, one year ago, my manager approached me and informed me that he wanted to send me out to the Hopkinton lab with another TSE named Richard Kimball (no relation to Harrison Ford) to study FAST VP "from the masters" in order to become a Subject Matter Expert.

The trip was incredible, but also difficult because it was one week before my wedding.  But I learned a ton, studying alongside James and his mentor Rob Tasker.  They taught me so much, and I was able to experience the busy life of those in Boston for a while, which actually made me pretty grateful that the Utah lab is a bit more mellow.  I also had the opportunity to meet the Symmetrix developers, including the programmer who invented FAST VP, who shockingly is actually a pretty young guy.

Upon returning from my trip, I was bestowed the title of FAST VP SME, or FAST SME for short.  Richard and I then became the first escalation point for Utah TSEs before having to escalate to the Hopkinton lab for help with FAST VP-related issues.  

A few months later, James announced that he had taken a job in the development team and would be leaving the support lab.  Shortly after that, Rob announced that he was being promoted to the L2 Support Team, which is the elite escalation team for all cases.  While he would still be a resource for troubleshooting FAST cases, I soon found myself to be the primary escalation point on a global scale, as I have a Monday through Friday shift and have more of a full exposure to the feature than Richard, who works on a rotating shift and will often spend up to a week at a time away from the lab.

Being one of two FAST SMEs on shift globally during the US business hours, I had a lot of responsibilities on my hands.  Not only was I expected to take all the FAST-related cases that appeared in the support queues and act as an escalation point to others, but I also participated in weekly and bi-weekly conference calls with the developers (referred to as Engineering) that I met in Hopkinton to discuss current and new issues that affected the feature, participating in a group called the FAST Task Force.

I have truly learned a lot while in this position.  Not only have I had to stretch my technical understanding to great lengths in order to understand the abstract concepts behind the product I support, but I have also had to hone my customer-facing skills as I have grown accustomed to sending dozens of emails each day and participating in several impromptu conference calls throughout the week.  I also became very adept at writing knowledgebase articles and other technical documents to help my colleagues in diagnosing various issues relating to FAST VP and its counterpart technology known as Virtual Provisioning.  (I'm not even going to attempt to explain this concept, as it's much more complex than even FAST VP!)

This job has been really wonderful, and yet very stressful at the same time.  More than occasionally would I go twelve hours without eating anything because I had to work through my lunch, and would come home with throbbing headaches from swiveling between my four workstations.  But on the whole, I really loved my job and felt like I lived up to expectations.

You may have noticed that I have been using the past tense when describing my job.  That is because I announced today to my team that I have taken on a new role as a TSE II in the RSA Security department, supporting the Security Analytics (also known as the NetWitness) platform, which is a tool for identifying and putting a stop to hacker infiltration attempts.

As I obtained my degree in IT Security, this has been pretty much what I would call my "dream job."  I always wanted to work in the IT Security field, keeping hackers at bay and fighting the virtual battle on the cutting-edge of technology.  I now hold a position in one of the leading IT Security companies worldwide.

This role is going to be much different than supporting the Symmetrix storage arrays, as I will be forgetting about hexadecimal error codes and proprietary software commands, and will instead be returning to my Linux roots, which I couldn't be more excited for.  I'm also being sent on a two-week business trip to Washington DC and Virginia in a few weeks for extensive onsite training to learn more about the product that I'll be supporting.

To say that I am excited would be an understatement.  This job opportunity also came at the perfect time, as Whitney and I will be having our first child at the end of March, and have had a lot to do in order to prepare for his arrival.  It really was a blessing that I discovered the offer when I did, so that I could take advantage of it and make this huge change in my life.

While I'm afraid of leaving the Symmetrix team, especially as I will be putting the burden of my role onto others' shoulders, I definitely feel like this is the right move for me at this time, and that I am doing what is in the best interest of my growing family.  But I am also so relieved and grateful that it includes starting a role in the job I've always dreamed of having.

Here's to the future!

A Time for Giving Thanks

I attended church today knowing, as this is the last Sunday before Thanksgiving, that I would be hearing several talks all bearing the subject of gratitude and giving thanks.  What I didn't know, however, was how much this would affect me and cause me to turn my mind inward on all of the reasons that I have for which to be thankful.

This past year has been one unlike any other for me, with so many changes in my life and so many experiences, both great and difficult.  That is why I am going to dedicate this blog post to try to put into words my gratitude for the wonderful blessings I have in my life.


My incredible wife Whitney
One year ago, I was engaged to be married to the most amazing, beautiful, incredible woman I had ever met.  I am pleased to say that, even after being married for 10 months now that I have a better marriage than I could ever have hoped for.

Whitney is the most loving individual that I know.  She truly understands me and blesses my life every second that I am with her.  She has given my life new meaning and has loved me more than I ever thought I could be loved.

Growing up, I always dreamed of having a wife that loved me as much as I loved her.  However, I never really thought that this would be the case.  As hard as I tried to envision it, I always saw myself in a relationship with someone who didn't reciprocate, or never put as much effort into the relationship as I did.  However, I was beyond blessed to find Whitney...or rather, for her to find me.

I can honestly say that Whitney is my biggest fan.  She supports me in everything that I do, and truly makes me feel like I matter.  I enjoy my time with her more than anything else, and can't begin to express how happy I am that we get to be together forever.

Becoming a dad
Whitney is now 22 weeks pregnant with our baby boy.  This is the most exciting, yet terrifying event I've experienced.  But I am really looking forward to being a dad.  I've been hit again and again with glimpses into the future; whenever I get to feel the baby kick, whenever I see a little boy staggering up and down the floor at church or in grocery stores, and especially when I spend time with my nephews.

While I know it's going to be hard in a lot of ways, I couldn't be more excited for the day when I get to hold him in my arms for the very first time, and I'm really looking forward to every moment I get to spend with him throughout the rest of my life.

My wonderful family
I have been incredibly blessed to have been born into an amazing family who loves me and has done everything they can to bring me up right and to be there for me in my time of need.  My parents are so great.  I have a mom who is always willing to give a listening ear and who is always there for me when  I need her.  I can't even begin to count the number of times I've had a heart-to-heart with her while growing up after having a difficult or stressful day.  She is also such a wonderful mother-in-law to Whitney, and that has been a huge blessing in both our lives.

My dad has also been there for me throughout my entire life and has always been willing to help me with anything.  Whenever I need help, he is there and ready to give 100%.  He has been an incredible example to me of service and generosity, and he has helped me to become the man that I am today through all of his life-lessons, whether they were intentional or unintentional.

I am also very lucky to have two siblings that are also my best friends.  I feel like we broke the mold (at least to some degree) when it comes to the stereotype of sibling rivalry.  Rather than fight, we played with each other and did everything with each other.  Even today, I believe that we really respect and love each other and continue to teach each other every time we're together.  I'm also grateful to have a great new brother-in-law who I love just as much.

When I married Whitney, I also inherited some incredible in-laws.  I have a mother- and father-in-law who I love very much and who have been great examples to me.  They have really welcomed me into their family with open arms, as have my brothers- and sisters-in-law, and I have been so grateful to have them all in my life.  It is also so wonderful to finally be an uncle, and to 3 nephews and 5 nieces!

My job
Sometimes with how stressful my job can be, I forget to consider it a blessing.  But in reality, I am so grateful for the job that I have and how much it has helped me in my life.  I work at a company that is on the cutting edge of technology, which is exactly where I've wanted to be.  I work in a great atmosphere doing what I love, and with great people.  I have an income that allows me to provide for my family, as well as unbelievably good benefits.  It is also so breathtaking to work somewhere where I feel like I can truly grow and expand my knowledge and skill set, and where I feel like I can continue for years to come.

Bronx
Yep, even as mischievous as he can be, I'm very grateful for the little wiener dog.  He has been such a fun addition to our home, and is such a lovable little creature.  He always makes us laugh with his funny antics and, even though he's still just a puppy who makes mistakes, he is getting better with his training every day, whether it is to ring the bell by the door to go potty or to stay out of the kitchen while we're cooking or eating.  He is also very in tune with our emotions.  If someone is upset or emotional, he will trot over immediately to provide whatever comfort he can.  He is truly a good dog, and I am happy that we have him.

I could easily go on and on, and end up turning this blog post into a novel.  But I am just so thankful for everything--and everyone--I have in my life, and for all of the support that have been given from everyone around me.  I'm challenging myself to be more aware of these blessings and gifts throughout this next week and do my best to remember that this week isn't about the turkey or about the Christmas shopping, but about expressing gratitude for everything we have.

Taught by a Nightmare

I woke up to a nightmare last night.  Not one of those nightmares involving monsters or ghosts, but one of those that caused me to wake up in a cold sweat and that continued to bring itself to the front of my memory all morning, bringing with it the same sense of unease and anxiety.

I dreamed that, for some reason or another, I was being admitted into a penitentiary.  Whether or not I was guilty or innocent of the crime that was committed wasn't important or made known in the dream, but it was known that I would have to be locked up for at least one year. 

While the details of the dream were and are hazy, I remember more vividly the feelings and emotions that were felt while I was asleep and trapped in that situation.

As I stood in line, waiting my turn to be processed by my old mission president (who was the official in charge for some reason), my mind turned inward as I began to reflect on the situation. 

I've always been the kind of guy that tries to find the silver lining in difficult situations and to look on the bright side of things.  This was the same case in this dream.  As I thought about the confinement that I would be in, my mind thought that at least I would be able to catch up on a lot of reading and studying without interruption.

However, as soon as that thought crossed through my mind, it was followed by a sickening feeling of dread as I realized how much I would be missing.  I would be away from my wife.  I would be away from my parents and my family.  And worst of all, I would miss the birth of my firstborn child.

I wish that I could say that I woke with a start upon feeling those emotions, but I had to endure what felt like an eternity of those feelings before my back pain finally jolted me awake, followed by my alarm shortly thereafter.

As I mentioned earlier, even after being awake I was plagued by the memories of this nightmare, that my memory unwillingly recalled over and over again while I prepared myself to go to church.  Sitting in sacrament meeting, I was still bothered by the dream, and prayed silently for comfort.  It was at that time that a feeling of understanding came over me about the dream that I had.

It's always been in my nature to be able to get immersed in projects, studies, and solo activities, whether they be something music-related (such as practicing the guitar for hours at a time and/or writing music), something technical like building a website or learning and reading up on technology that I work with or want to know more about, and/or even just reading for entertainment and leisure.

With life being so busy these days, those things have nearly become a thing of the past.  After working full-time at a satisfying yet stressful job, I come home and simply want to spent time with my wife.  I no longer sit in front of my computer with my guitar in hand, wearing headphones, or sit down with my Kindle in hand for hours at a time.  There just isn't time.

But what this dream has brought to my realization is that this doesn't matter.  The thing that means the very most to me in my life is my family, and it always will be.  More and more, in fact, as my family continues to grow.

This week is very special for me and my wife, because on Wednesday we will finally get to find out the gender of our little baby.  My thoughts on what it will be changes almost every day, but I will be absolutely thrilled whether it be a girl or a boy.

Yesterday, my wife and I were able to do a lot of work to prepare for the baby's coming.  We worked on cleaning out the baby's future room, which still had been completely full of wedding gifts that we haven't been able to use or return yet.  We swapped out and hung drapes in the living room and two of our bedrooms.  We also finally got to move our dog's crate from our bedroom to the computer room, now that we finally have some drapes that will keep it dark when it's time for him to take his naps.

It was really wonderful to spend the day like that yesterday.  It was a lot of work and my wife and I were both pretty sore by the time we were finished, but it felt amazing to know that we were preparing for the new addition to our family.  I think about our little baby every single day and how great it will be when the time finally comes to meet him or her.  I already know that it will be a sacred experience for me and Whitney.

I love my wife very much.  She is my rock and my reason for waking up every morning.  I love every second I get to spend with her and am so excited that I have all of eternity to be by her side.  Some of my favorite moments that I've had since being married were just lying in bed with her talking about our day, or worries, our excitements, or anything else that came to mind.  She is the best person to talk to and I think we are each other's therapy in a lot of ways.

Having said that, it is no wonder why my nightmare affecting me so heavily.  The thought of being far from my wife, my child, and the rest of my family was--and is--unbearable.  I'm no psychologist, but I think that this was the primary fear that was manifesting itself to me while I slept.  But, as traumatizing as it was for me, I am grateful for the realization that was presented to me of exactly what my priorities are.

I know now without a doubt, as I'm sure I did before the dream as well, that my family is my highest priority in life, and I will do everything in my power and with all of my energy to make them happy and to be worthy of the eternal marriage that Whitney and I established on the first of February this year.

Llamado a Servir

Since the day that my little brother Easton entered my life eighteen years ago, I knew that the day would come when he received his call from the Lord to serve his two year mission.  However, that day always seemed to be part of a future that would never arrive, an everlasting tomorrow.  He was my little brother and always would be.

Despite that feeling, I never doubted that he would be an incredible missionary.  Throughout his entire life he has always had an amazing spirit about him that spoke volumes about his convictions and his testimony of the Gospel.  This sense of preparedness has seemed to skyrocket over the past few years and months, and even weeks.

Easton and I have always been very close.  Even while he was really young, he was my "little buddy."  He and I did everything together.  We were the perfect video game companions.  We rode bikes and skateboards.  We even just hung out and did whatever sounded fun.

I also had the unique opportunity of saying that I played in a rock band with my little brother.  When I was about eighteen years old, I began a band called Last Gamble with my cousins Joel Thompson and Jake Jensen.  It started out as a cover band, with us just playing renditions of our favorite songs by Millencolin, Tiger Army, and Rise Against.  At the same time, my grandpa Elliott--who played in a jazz band for about 38 years--was teaching Easton to play the drums, and he was really picking it up quickly.

I was extremely impressed with how well Easton had learned to play, especially at his young age.  I had attempted to learn the drums from my grandpa, but I just couldn't fall into it as much as I wanted to and shifted toward the bass guitar instead.  Easton, on the other hand, flourished and had a natural rhythm.

I decided to help my brother along with his gift and bought him a Tama Stagestar drum set, which is designed to be a smaller set used for gigs where you don't have a lot of storage space.  I, however, found it to be the perfect size for such a little guy.  Easton joined our little group and we began not only learning covers but writing our own material.  We even got invited to play several shows in local venues, one of which performing as the opening act to a band I would later join.

We became pretty well known in the Provo area because of Easton, and I got accustomed to getting calls from venues asking if we were "the band with that awesome ten-year-old drummer."  People looked forward to hearing us play, and I'm sure it was mostly because of how fun it was to watch a kid who was barely taller than his drum set playing some advanced fills in songs.

As time went by, our small group dissolved as I went on to play in larger bands and because Jake lived so far away, but my bond with Easton was still very strong.  One of my very best friends growing up was my cousin Joel, and when he had to move to California I was very sad that I had lost such a close friend.  I turned to Easton and we did a lot together, whether it was going places like Nickelcade or to movies, playing racquetball, or just hanging out at home playing video games.

Even after my mission we still spent a lot of time together, even though he was obviously in his teen years and had a lot of other friends that he hung out with.  Some of my favorite memories of my unmarried life are when Joel, East, and I would meet up in my basement with our Xbox systems to play Call of Duty or other games late into the night together, laughing at each other and just having a great time.

Throughout those teen years, East has continued to really impress me.  Even with his energetic, fun side he still had a strong testimony and stood up for what he believed in.  I distinctly remember a time when he and I were the only ones home while my parents and Steph were out of town, where we had a long, late night talk about a friend situation he was having.  His friend was not very interested in living by Gospel standards or attending church or seminary, and East was worried that remaining friends with him would affect his own spiritual standing.  He had turned to me for help because he had come to a crossroads where he needed to put friendships on the line to do what is right.  I am so happy to know that he made the right decision, and that such thoughts were even on his radar at that age.

I have been continuously impressed with him, especially during this time that his mission is drawing closer.  I was excited to know that he has been attending a mission preparedness class, and that he has been thoroughly studying the Preach My Gospel manual so that he can be as prepared as possible.  It was also wonderful to hear of his progress as he filled out his mission papers and met with the bishop and stake president.

This past Wednesday, the day finally came when the envelope arrived at my parents' home addressed to "Elder Easton Dean Shurtliff," stating that it was from the office of the First Presidency.

We all met up that night to go to Brick Oven to celebrate both the call and several family birthdays occurring that month.  After dinner, when Easton's nerves were undoubtedly ready to pop, we returned home and sat around him as he opened the letter.  We all made our guesses on where he would go, but I think honestly we could see Easton serving both stateside and foreign, and so could he.  We knew he would truly be happy with wherever the Lord sent him.

With emotions running high and the tension thick in the air, Easton opened his call.



Aguascalientes.  Easton--soon to be Elder Shurtliff--would be serving in the Mexico Aguascalientes mission, serving the Lord in the Spanish language.  He would be entering the Provo MTC on January 22nd.

Easton...obviously...couldn't be happier, and neither could we.  I am beyond words when I say that I am so excited for him to be serving in Mexico.  I know that he will be an incredible missionary, and that he will dedicate his whole heart and soul to the Lord during that time to help others to come unto Christ and experience the joys of the restored Gospel.

Last night I had the opportunity to attend the Priesthood Session of general conference with Easton for the last time before his mission.  It was so touching to look over at him as he hurriedly scrawled down notes from each speaker in his notebook, rapt with attention.

I just know that Easton will be a superb missionary, and I am so excited to love and support him as much as I can while he is gone with mail and by any other means necessary, and know that he will truly be used an an instrument of the Lord in preaching the Gospel to the Mexican people.

Just as he has been throughout his entire life, Easton continues to be a huge example to me and I look up to him so much.  I am so excited to learn from him and follow his progress during his mission, and to see the man that he becomes while he is out there.