Networking for the Lazy
This last few weeks I have been working with my cable team to build out our new Technical control facility in Brussels, Belgium. As you all know I am getting ready to move so I have been pushing these guys hard to get this done before I leave. I hate to leave things unfinished. They have all done good work and I want to thank them for all their help in getting this done.
This gallery contains 6 photographs in all as photograph etc.
So yes, it has been a very long time since I have written on here but from my last post I had just started my new job in Brussels Belgium. What can I say it has kept me busy and now has led to a promotion (cheers for me J). However as with all good things I have to take the bad also, which leads me to the process of getting ready to move so I can take the promotion. (Moving Sucks ASS!!!) So where am I going? Well it is a terrible place but I have to take one for the team ;). So soon I will be calling Vicenza Italy my new home as you can all guess it toke all of 2 seconds to say yes, I will take it to the HR rep.
Just got my new internet connection installed in the new house today. I know it is not google fiber but it is the fastest internet connection I have ever had in the house. I have used faster at work but they generally don’t let me mess with them.
I recently had to set this up on a friend’s router and I was not aware that there had been API changes to the DDNS protocol so many of the configurations I found on the internet no longer worked. So below I am posting a working configuration for the DDNS configuration supporting dyndns.com dynamic DNS update service using the current APIs along with an explanation of how each command works.
Continue reading Post ID 226
I hate cheap uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). I live in a small village in Germany where at times the power can be a bit unreliable. So to counter this I have a number of UPSs in the house from Trust and APC. I must admit that I only bought the Trust UPS because they are cheap, however you get what you pay for. Do the UPS from Trust work? Yes they do however they have some issues that I find problematic.
I have two power strips on my server rack with each power strip attached to its own UPS. This is done to distribute the load and maximize system uptime in case of a power outage. However, as you can see in the photo I only have a switch and two Atom servers. The switch and the servers are on separate power strips additionally my desktop is on the power strip with the switch. Now with this in mind, before I had the APC UPS I had two Trust UPSs. This leads to the main issue I had with the Trust UPSs.
Continue reading Post ID 226
The first layer of defense in your network is often the most misunderstood. In the movies and TV the hacker always seems to find a way around or through the firewall with crazy matrix like skills that defies common sense. However, if you ever encounter a true hacker they will tell you that a properly configured firewall is the most effective way to stop their attacks. Therefore, what is a firewall and what types of firewalls are out there, and what are the types that I have used at work and at home.
Continue reading Post ID 226
IT manager duels gets a second look and a longer game play session today. After playing the tutorial last week and covering, the basics of game play along with some fundamental mechanics of the game. This week like in the movie Inception, we will be going deeper but not Deep Throat deep as that would be too much for the younger readers. So where do we start? Well maybe we should look at the strategies of winning the single player game.
Today as many as 57 cities in the United States have municipal Wi-Fi (Springer, 2013). Nevertheless, these systems are little more than secondary internet connections to most people. Right now, 85% of Americans over the age of 18 have access to the internet and 70% of adults have high-speed internet in their homes. Of the portion of the population, that does not have internet in their home, nearly half claim that they simply do not want or need it. Thus, for the vast majority of the population, municipal Wi-Fi plans will only provide a supplement to household connections (Springer, 2013).
Continue reading Post ID 226
What is a database? In basic terms, it is an organized collection of data. This data is typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality in a way that supports processes requiring this information (Wikipedia, 2014 ). Our modern life is inundated by their use to store and make usable the massive amounts of data that we now generate. A 2011 study by IBM estimated that our society creates about 2.5 quintillion (1018) bytes of data every day (StorageNewsletter, 2011). Databases allow humanity to use all that data that is generated.
Everyone has their opinion as to what are the best security practices. At work, we have at least 20 booklets on network security specifying in detail how to secure our network from attack. I am not going to lie the books are very good and the information in them is sound for our network implementation, but what we consider our best security practices may not work for someone else. Here are some of my best practices. Continue reading Post ID 226
