Jay's Blog

XServe and H5N1

Hello,

Today was interesting.  I was able to set up my first Apple XServe, ever.  Although the setup is far from complete, she is alive and kicking.  One thing afar from the massive price tag, is the lack of a built-in security device.  Every Mac desktop and laptop has a kensington lock or a security loop, but not the XServe.  I even called AppleCare to see if I was missing anything and I wasn't thankfully we have rack-doors.  I think the Apple designers behind iMac, Mac Pro and MacBooks are not the same folks whom designed the XServe.  Behind the price and the packaging, it is just another Intel rack-mounted server. Kind of a bummer, really...

I just finished another audiobook from Audible.com, titled 'The Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic and the Virus that Caused it' by Gina Kolata.  A great story about a forgotten time in world history.  Millions of folks from around the world died in a global flu outbreak after the first world war.  The books follows the efforts of numerous doctors and scientists across eight decades in their pursuit to identify and reconstruct the virulent virus.  Great read/listen. 

Happy New Year! / WS2008 Cont'd

Hello,

Happy New Year everyone!

I would like to thank the a-holes that woke the baby and us up at midnight with screaming, yelling, and fireworks.  Staying up until midnight is not something one does with a newborn.  Or perhaps I am just getting old & crabby...

Windows Server 2008 (continued)

Now that we have a functional server up and running we can start to add roles which will customize it's operation.  The example I am going to choose here is adding the 'DNS Server' role.  WS2008 takes a role-based approach to administration much more seriously than it's predecessor did.  Any functionality for WS2008 must be added after installation.  Microsoft extends this idea to the features of the Windows Server operating system itself.  Two of the features we will need is the backup tool and the new Windows PowerShell.  Adding features can be done from the 'Add Features' link on the 'Initial Configuration Tasks' page.

Once the features are selected, choose 'Next >'.

DNS servers need to have a static IP address which will enable them to always be found by there clients on the network.  Additionally, the DNS server should be it's own client.  The server's own IP address or '127.0.0.1' should be listed as the primary DNS server on the server's IP configuration window.  Select the 'Add Roles' link on the Initial Configuration Tasks page.  A 'Before You Begin' page starts the 'Add Roles Wizard', notifying you of any considerations that have to be made. Read the notice and proceed.

Listed are all of the roles that are available to install on the server.  If a particular role is greyed-out, then it is already installed and no longer available.  Choose the 'DNS Server' role and click 'Next >'.

The next page givens more information on the WS2008 DNS server along with some helpful links built into the page, a step up from Windows Server 2003.  Click 'Next >'.

A summary page follows, the WS2008 install DVD may be needed during the process.  If everything is as desired, click 'Install'.

All done!  Further tasks need to be done from the DNS Console.  Further tasks would include; configuring forward/reverse lookup zones, forwarders, and resource record creation.

The DNS Console should now be available from the administrative tools section.

Windows Server 2008 Technical Reference: DNS

DNS is primarily used in support of Active Directory, but can function very well in a standalone capacity.  WS2008 and DNS can provide name resolution services for small to large networks without Active Directory.

 

Later...

 

 

 

 

I drank the Kool-Aid

Hello,

Yup...  I got one...  On Friday I broke down from any form of restraint and purchased an Apple iPhone.  I strolled into the local Apple store and picked up a 4GB model.  The whole process took less than ten minutes.  I took longer to pick out a case, none of which really appealed to me.  The folks I do know that have an iPhone suggested I get a case, as the phone is a bit slippery to handle. 

The activation process was done entirely at home, on this Mac.  Everything to do is done through iTunes.  Version 7.3 of iTunes is required to activate/sync iPhone.  Supported host platforms include OS X 10.4.x, Windows XP SP2 and Vista.  It is a bummer that 10.3.x is not supported, as I still have some 10.3.x Macs and consider it a very useful system.  I really would like to see how this works on Vista, but cringe at the thought of trying it.  I chose the basic AT&T plan for iPhone, now dubbed "jPhone" just like the iPod(s) have been dubbed "jPod".  The plan covers 450 minutes, unlimited data, nights & weekends, with 200 text messages.  An iTunes account is required because that is how the billing is handled, which tells me that direct purchase of content through iTunes on the iPhone is coming. 

The phone picked up my wi-fi connection and connected over WPA2 without a hitch.  The edge network provided by AT&T is a bit slow, akin to dial-up, so wi-fi is the best option.    My e-mail and settings were seamlessly pulled from Apple Mail and Contacts.  I do not usually use Apple Mail or Contacts, but instead choose to use Mozilla Thunderbird.  Thunderbird is a much more versitile program and works cross-platform, making it easy to import/export data & settings between computers running different operating systems.

So far, the battery consumption has been very good.  Not too many people have called me yet, but it is good.  The phone has a sleep button that seems to power the device off.  However, if a call comes in the device wakes and receives the call.  Working this way, the phone will have a very large battery resouce.

Today I used the phone to check mail, the weather while out and about.  The calendar application I found to be a bit tedious.  The calendar crashed three times while I was entering date appointments, losing the data in the process.  The method used to select the date is very new, resembling a casino slot machine.  That takes a little bit of getting used to.

The internal camera is a 2 megapixel unit without a flash or zoom, making it useless in all but great light outdoors, during the day.  Reaction time for the camera exceeds any camera I have ever used, coming close to my Nikon D40 SLR.

Example:

This one wins the "worst parking job of the year" award

Runnin with the Devil

Hello,

I apologize for the delay in postings lately.  We're ramping up to have the baby in September.  We had a 3D ultrasound last weekend.  Man, let me tell you computer technology drives some really cool initiatives. 

Check it out...

~ This post will not be about the iPhone ~

I am getting a little tired of all of the hoopla concerning Apple's latest money maker.  It's another smartphone, perhaps a Mac for your pocket, but get on with it already!

 

At work we have taken on a little project to test-deploy Windows Vista to our new lab computers.  Now, I have to actually care about Vista.  At least that is how a colleague described it to me.  For now Vista has been the new version of the arid platform known as Windows.  Since August, I have been running Vista Home Premium on a personal machine along with Office 2007. My take is that Vista is "alright", but still pales in comparison to Mac OS X or Ubuntu. 

My linux suggestions do not get the traction I wish they would get at work.  Besides, my clientel is so imbued into Microsoft document formats that to move to anything else is just not an option.  How nice it would be though...

Vista is tighter than XP, that is for sure.  The new machines we ordered should have enough horsepower to handle the normal operation of Vista and it's "Aero" interface.  These computers will be the first of their type joined to the University's Active Directory domain. They play nice with the other computers, they appear in the WSUS server's management console, and allow for authentication by the University's kerberos servers.

We are off to a good start...

Training This Week

Hello,

I am in training this week. A week full of information regarding Windows security. My favorite hemorrhoid, Windows (XP in specific) is the focus of my attention. I am surprised at how many of the other "admins" came equipped with a MacBook & Parallels.

The SANS Institute is providing the training. I have to say the course is pretty good. Day 1 was basic stuff I already knew regarding Active Directory and DNS. Day 2 covered Windows Group Policy, the "meat and potatoes" of Windows network security, the end of the day started to get into some tools and techniques I had not seen before. Day 3, today, covers PKI and crypto. These topics can get a bit dry, but are very useful for information security.

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Congrats J&J !!!

Hello,

News...

I would like to congratulate my friends, Jim and Jamie, on their new addition, a baby boy named Shane. 

My wife and I have the baby's room just about ready.  All we need to do is add furniture, then baby.

I started teaching a new MCSE class last Wednesday.  The class meets on Monday and Wednesday nights.  I am thinking of doing a companion podcast for this one.  We'll see...

Tech...

Windows Home Server (WHS) is still chugging away.  I do not use it as much as I probably should.  I run a mixed-mode environment with Windows at the tail end of things.  Not to mention, this copy is time-bombed, so that rules out placing all of my data there anyway.  Besides that WHS is a nice product.  I do wish there was stronger Windows 2000 support from WHS or Microsoft for that matter.

Yikes...

Busy day today...

Resetting passwords, fixing printers, applying updates.  I even retired an old Windows 98 computer, the last of it's kind, in my charge.  By Windows 98, I will not miss you in any way shape or form.  The host computer is fine, if not a bit old.  I plan to SpinRite the disk and install Damn Small Linux (DSL) on beige Dell XPS450 Pentium II. 

Fedora Core 7 came out earlier this week.  I routinely watch distrowatch.com t ose the latest and greastest distros as they come out.  FC7 is mainly available by bit-torrent download, but some of the official mirrors claim to have the .iso files.  I was not able to find and download any iso's this way.  I often purchase the popular Linux periodicals, which come with a CD/DVD offering the latest distros.  I'll wait...

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Tech. Lately...

Hi,

Sorry for the long time gone since my last post.  Things have been a bit busy.  It is a bit ironic, I think about blogging all of the time, but cannot.  I am not always in the position to blog or post, and when I am posting is the last thing I do. 

My wife and I are expecting our first child in September.  Last Monday, we found out that the little critter is a girl.  She will be known as "MacKenzie Elle".

Tech. News...

I have been doing a great with some of the newer products out on the computing market and about to come out on the computing market.  Last month there was the release of Ubuntu 7.04 "Feisty Fawn".  The folks at Canonical choose to give their projects wacky code names a la the folks at Debian Linux.  The revision is quite mild with very little additional features.  I upgraded to the beta version of Feisty via the "apt-get dist-upgrade" option from a running instance of Ubuntu 6.10 "Edgy Eft".  The whole process took about five hours to complete.  Since then I have been receiving numerous package updates that were included in the final release of Feisty.  Prior to the upgrade, I had a running LAMP install serving up some really basic web content.  Amazingly, the upgrade preserved my running settings without any loss of service.  I was not expecting that to happen.  So far, so good with Feisty.

Dell recently announced a possibility of selling PCs with Ubuntu pre-installed.  I guess they will have to find some new bloat-ware to pile on the HDD.  Why does Dell get together with Canonical, whom will then get together with Google, and cook up a custom distro based on Ubuntu?  We could call it "Goobuntu" or "Goodbuntu".  I bet Microsoft would love that...

/N

Octo-Pro

Hello,

It's here…  The Apple power-house that will redefine kick-ass across the computer market is here.  Yes, faster than your custom rigs, Maximum PC folks…

http://www.apple.com/macpro/

Yeah, Whatever...

Hello,

I am a big fan of tech, and the tech media.

One particular podcast I listen to on a regular basis is "Windows Weekly with Leo Laporte and Paul Thurotte"
On Friday every week or so Paul and Leo get together over Skype and discuss the goings-on in the Microsoft/Windows world. 

This week the discussion was focused around Windows One-Care and it's dismal performance reviews.  Poor reviews from Microsoft products are becoming par for the world's largest software developer.  The discussion switched to more security focused topics.  Usually, in these types of discussions, Linux comes up as does Mac OS X.  Leo and Paul do not claim to be experts on Linux or Linux security, but one comment that Paul made struck me a s way off... 

  Linux is not doing anything innovative...

The comment was made in respect to Linux's potential for wide-spread acceptance as a desktop operating system against Windows Vista.  I do agree that Linux has much to do in respect to catching up with Windows when it comes to market share.  Innovation would not be Vista's main point in life either.  Paul was also correct in saying that neither Vista or Linux is going to change computing for the masses.  Windows, Linux, and OS X pretty much do the same thing, albeit with slight differences.  I am writing this article from within a web-browser running on top of Mac OS X.  Not too much different would be required to do the same on a Windows or Linux computer. 

So why do I think Mr. Thurotte is wrong in his comment.  Linux's innovation is both technical and philosophical. It's free, Windows cannot match that.  Anyone can do what they want with Linux, the length and level of involvement is up to the user.  Microsoft locks the user into a basic payment plan and a future of updates and subscription plans.  The whole business model centers around re-generating user subscription.  The Linux community does not see it that way.  From one end to another, the user experience is about how much you can do with it. 

I think Mr. Thurotte's comment was wrong, and on the slim chance that my opinion is wrong, I have a feeling it will not be for long...

/N