Kevin Newman wrote:
>
> Okay, so when I was complaining about problems with my network
> connections, especially FTP, why did the HPRC Network Engineer tell
> me that I should turn it off?  Why the mixed signals from the
> knowledgeable group consensus and the HPRC?  I just went through to
> turn them all off, at HPs request.  Do we need to educate HP? ....
> Again??

When you place a call with the HPRC, or for that matter any vendor, your
mileage may vary with the front-line support "engineers".  Now I am not
making a blanket remark about the HPRC in general, as there
are many engineers of excellent qualifications still on the front line,
but if they are "really good" they get pulled back to another tier of
the support chain and replaced by somebody else.  This works for the
most part, but in your case it may not have.

There are many HPRC engineers on the list that post regularly, in
addition to the CSY crew; but I don't think they are working the front
lines.  They are only consulted when the front lines fail to resolve
your problem.

As to why they would suggest you set checksums off, it is the default.
The official, documented, shipping configuration from HP.  If you
deviate from that, the "front line" wants you to revert to the
officially supported settings first.  If the problem goes away, it is
because you changed the defaults; if it doesn't, then perhaps you will
get escalated to the next support tier.  In short, you will get the
"RTFM" answer from the front lines if there isn't a known bug in their
searchable database.  Failing that, your case is forwarded up the chain
of expertise.  But always, it *depends* on who takes your call.
There used to be universally good expectations of HPRC crew in the past,
but (IMHO) it has degraded somewhat in the past few years.

This has been done for honorable objectives - to free the "experts" from
the front-end call center.  You just ran into a corner case where, with
respect to TCP Checksums, the official HP stance is still
unchanged from the original "NO" default.  If we feel strongly enough
about the issue, it should perhaps be made into an official SR (or at
least an enhancement request) if it hasn't already.  When the official
stance changes to "YES" then the front-line will comply; but rarely will
the front-line deviate from HP's official recommendations.

Jeff Kell <[log in to unmask]>