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Web Washing

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So I run into more and more computers compromised by malware or
viruses everyday.  With internet access ubiquitous and with
computers connected to the internet 24/7 it’s just a matter of time
before some malicious hacker attempts to add your home computer to
a botnet somewhere in the world.  And staying on top of all the
required security updates can be daunting for a typical home user. 
Our computers are supposed to make our lives easier, right? 
They’re not supposed to cause us headaches and give us a night job
just keeping them secure.


One free tool that I have found invaluable for home networks is
OpenDNS for free content filtering for the everyman.  I recommend
this service to every home user.  This amazing service not only
protects your computer, but it protects your kids as well by
blocking viruses and malware, as well as filtering other yucky
content like porn, drug references or other adult contet.  All for
free if you’re a home user.  They do offer businesses service as
well for an incredibly cheap price.

They have great walk throughs on setting it up on their website
(http://www.opendns.org), but to summarize, you configure your home
router to use OpenDNS servers to resolve internet addresses instead
of the DNS servers your ISP provides.  Most users will need to run
a small piece of software on one pc on the network to update
OpenDns whenever your IP address changes, but it’s aslo very easy
to set up.

I can’t recommend this service enough – I’ve been using it for
several years now.

Here is a great blog post that gives instructions on configuring
many different types of home routers:

Other:Using OpenDNS to filter unwanted sites to your home network.

Microsoft Professional’s Start your Engines!

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So okay, I wasn’t able to sleep so I started reading some email.
You kow trying to catch up on some inbox reading.  I then came
across my occasional MCP Flash email that told me about a new
online game.  It is a  Microsoft Professional Quiz Show style
game!  I know sounds geeky, but I figu re if you are reading my
blog you might be into this kind of thing.  Anyways, You can use
your passport login on Live ID whatever you have, and give it a
go.  If you login it will track your progress so that you can leave
and pick up where you left off later.  Also for me it was adictive,
and it points out what I need to brush up on (since this is my
career I figure I need to stay sharp). 

Questions Range from Easy, Medium, and Hard and it is timed when
you see your answer choices.  There are also some lifelines or as
they call them, “Vouchers” that you can use.  Questions topics
include but are not limited  to: Win 2008, 2003, Exchange 2007, Win
7, XP, and SQL 2005.  There could be more but I didn’t play for
long.

The name of the game is Are You Certifiable?. 
And, here is the link:
http://www.microsoft.com/click/areyoucertifiable/default.aspx

If you want add me as a friend in the game, screen name: DRMILES

Happy Gaming!

I bleed SonicWall blue

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Over the past 10 years I have worked on a multitude of routers /
firewalls.  SonicWall is my absolute favorite.  In operating
systems, I have switched around liking one over the other but in
firewalls, SonicWall has always been my champion.  

One of the best features is you do not have to be a genius to
program the firewall.  No memorizing long commands and perfect
syntax to be used in command line.  There is a simple, easy to
understand GUI that is web based.  Any computer with IE or Firefox
(no chrome support, yet) can connect and make changes.

The price is just awesome as well.  We have had customers
request Cisco and I throw in a SonicWall quote to compare;
SonicWall wins hands down every time.  The add-ons that people
crave like Intrusion Protection Service, Antivirus / Anitspyware
protection, and Content Filtering are very solid products with low
prices.  

Wireless: SonicWall has you covered.  My first sonicwall
wireless install was for a 3 story 15,000 square foot office
building.  I placed the access point dead center vertically and
horizontally and I had the whole office covered.  Not one single
dead zone.  This was in 2005.  Pretty much unheard of to cover that
much area for about $500.  Recently we installed a much smaller
office with 4 access points, let’s just say the neighboring tenants
are now having trouble using their wireless because the SonicWalls
are broadcasting so well.  

The two things that just bring it home for me are support and
reliability.  When I call support, I do not wait that long and I
get knowledgeable people.  This is not like calling a PC company
and everyone reads a script.  In the reliability department, I have
installed hundreds of these units and the most common replaced
part, power adapters.  In 10 years, I have sent 1 SonicWall back to
the manufacturer for replacement.  

Everyone’s blood is blue until it hits oxygen, mine just happens
to be SonicWall blue.

Dell and XenServer – So Happy Together

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With all of the new features of XenServer 5.6, I have been very
excited about rolling it out.  There has been one thing though. 
OpenManage and XenServer haven’t been the best pals.  When we had
been trying to rollout any XenServer on a Dell Server, it seems
that we had to jump through hoops to make OpenManage work.  Well
Dell has really worked on being more XenServer Friendly and
released a Supplemental Pack for XenServer. 

A Supplemental Pack is an install package that can be
slipstreamed into the install of XenServer.  So if you were
installing XenServer you would simply start with the install CD,
then use the Linux Templates Supplemental CD, and then use the Dell
OpenManage CD when it asks for you to continue the install.  It is
great!

I had to call Dell to get a copy of the ISO because it was not
yet available on the website.  Here is the link so that you too can
enjoy some Dell and Citrix Xen!



http://ftp.dell.com/sysman/OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-LX-6.3.0-2075.XenServer56_A00.10.iso

 

By
the way, Thank You! Johanness Far (Dell Enterprise Technical
Support Senior Analyst) for getting me the link. 

 

The Accidental Hacker

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A couple of weeks ago I was helping a client with an issue with their VPN.  Basically, a vendor that they use for support of a vertical application could no longer remotely connect to their server.  After investigating the issue and making sure that I could VPN into their network, I called the Software Vendor.  I merely stated,”I am calling from company XYZ and you said that our VPN was not working.” This is where it gets interesting.  I ask the vendor if they are able to connect now that we confirmed the VPN worked, so they tested and informed me that they still could not connect.  I asked the technician if he could open telnet and try to connect to the IP address over port 1723.  He did not know how to do this and I was eager to resolve the problem, so I quickly asked, “Do you mind if I connect to your computer and try to troubleshoot the problem?”  To my astonishment the technician said, “Sure”.  I guided the gullible technician to logmeinrescue and proceeded to walk him through letting ME onto HIS computer.  Once on his computer I tried to pull up telnet but it was Windows 7 and by default there was no telnet application available.  I then asked if I could download Putty so that I could test the telnet ability.  He said, “Go for it.”  I was again astonished at the disreguard for the control he was giving me.  I then confirmed through the use of Putty that telnet was immediately getting dropped.  I speculated that it was their firewall blocking PPTP outbound.  He checked  with an IT guy that was strolling by and confirmed that they were blocking outbound PPTP.  They asked for the IP address so that they could add it to the firewall, so I told them the external IP address of the firewall they were trying to connect to.  Now the icing on the cake, the IT guy uses the computer that I am remote controlling to access their CISCO ASA.  He logs into the web management of the ASA and proceeds to create the rule to allow the PPTP to get through.  Now I am mesmerized by the lack of security.  I even corrected the IT guys spelling on the firewall.

Now that the exciting turn of events are over, I reflect on what happened.  How easy was it for me to get on their network?  Pretty easy.  All I needed was 3 pieces of information:

  1. I needed to know the name of the company who was in need of support.
  2. I needed to know the Key Line if Business Application and the company who made it.
  3. I needed to know the problem.

These 3 things are pretty easy to determine and even ask for and easily get the information about.

This is called Social Hacking.  All I needed was a good attitude, frinedly personality, and a few bits of info and I was able to get on their network.  The point here is that it should not be that easy to get on their computer since I called them. It is not like the called me asking for help.  I called them to give help.  They thought the problem was way down stream at their clients firewall.

Simple rule, never give donations to someone that calls you, always call them to give donations AND never accept techincal support remote control from someone that called you to tell you about a problem that you have that you don’t even know.

By the way, once they added the rule to the firewall, the VPN worked.

My Top 10 So Far in 2010

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This past year I have spent much time trying to work more efficiently and find excellent solutions for my clients that will not break the bank.  In my pursuit I have tested Linux and Windows software.  Some have been duds and others have been GOLD.  Below you will find my top ten for 2009 and receive David Shoffitt’s seal of approval.

XenServer – http://www.citrix.com

Wow.  Let me say it again, WOW.  Citrix has released a wonderful Virtualization Solution with a robust HyperVisor that allows companys to start a virutalization initiative at NO COST, provided that you have the hardware to run it on.WHen we first started trying it out we ran it on a PC class machine with a Core2Duo at 2.4 GHz.  We ran 6 servers on the small computer with no speed problems.  We then migrated them to an enterprise class environment.  We also converted 2 baremetal machines to virtual in the process all at no cost.  Let me say again WOW.  We have no need for VMWare at our business because we have a enterprise class solution at again no cost.  There are some added features that you can get that cost money like enhanced Storage Link Technologies, and email alerts and notifications, and rapid server provisioning which still would come in at a fraction of the cost of VMWares solutions. Cost :Free

True Crypt – http://www.truecrypt.org

I use this software on my laptop.  It works great!  I use preboot authentication so that if someone were to steal my laptop they would have to know a password that is well over 20 characters before they could access the files or even boot the computer.  My data issafe.  You can also create virtual HardDisks on your computer that are encrypted if you just want to encrypt some data but not all data.  I recently had corrupted my OS on my computer and was able to plug my HardDrive into another computer to recover my files.  The harddrive was not readable until I used the TrueCrypt software on my PC and mounted the drive as an encypted volume and then I was able to read it.  Very Powerful product. Cost :Free

Drop Box – http://www.dropbox.com

This is a nice synchronization tool that allows you to synchronize a folder on your computer with other computers over the internet.  Very useful!  Also it will allow you to go to the website and download your files directly in case you are not around any of your subscribing PCs or laptops. Cost :Free

CloneZilla – http://clonezilla.org/

In my line of work it is almost a daily necessity to take a point in time fully restorable backup of a PC before you potentialy kill it with some update or possible fix to resolve a problem that would require you to rebuild the computer.  Well with this software you can reapidly redeploy a computer with its configuration prior to when you formatted it along with all of the partitions that were on the harddrive originally. I like the version based on Ubuntu. Cost :Free

Ultimate Boot CD – http://www.ubcd4win.com/

The Ultimate Boot CD is a must have for any technician.  It will empower you to be able to reset the local admin password if you ever forget it.  It will also allow you to browse the HardDrive of a computer that is broken and allow you to fix partition tables and even copy files to a network resource or USB Drive. There are many, many more utilities on this disk that are useful for a technician.  Cost :Free

RichCopy – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2009.04.utilityspotlight.aspx

I often have the responsibility of moveing large numbers of files and large amounts of data from location to another and Windows File Copy rarely fits the bill.  What I have found is RichCopy which offers a large amount of options so that you can leverage multiple threads to copy more than one file at a time.  I love this tool and user atleast once a week! Cost :Free

USB to SATA –  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2329300&CatId=3770

A wonderful tool that will allow you to hook your SATA or IDE HardDrive of another computer up to your computer via USB without having to open the case of your computer to use it..  Simple tool, great flexibility. Cost :~$20

CD Burner XP – http://cdburnerxp.se/

My favorite CD Burner application.  Can burn audio or data.  Can make ISOs and burn them too.  Everything I need a nice little package.  Cost :Free

FileZilla Server – http://filezilla-project.org/

FileZilla is a simple and robust FTP server that allows for Secure Encrypted FTP along with normal FTP.  The best thing about this software is that it comes with all the necessary bells and whistles to setup a small business FTP Server.  The big feature I would like to see would be Active Directory Lookups or LDAP Authentication.  Cost :Free

PrtScr – http://www.fiastarta.com/PrtScr

Nice and easy screen capture utility that allows you to do freeform captures and markups.  Cost :Free

Winter Wonderland

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Here in Fort Worth we are not too familiar with snow.  We usually get one or two days of ice per year and anything more than that is the end of the world.  This winter, however, has been somthing of an anomaly.  We had the first white Christmas in 83 years.  A couple of weeks ago, we had about 12 inches of snow.  My daughter and I made a snow girl in the front yard.  It was beautiful.

The problem is that we Texans don’t know how to handle snow or ice.  Everything shut down.  Businesses and houses lost their power, schools closed and the city looked likea  ghost town.  This kind of thing can be devastating for the economy.  In my business, managing client’s computer networks, we don’t have the luxury of taking a snow day.  We have clients around the country relying on us to keep their systems running and to provide help desk services no matter what the weather in Fort Worth is doing.

One of the tools that we rely on to work when we can’t get to the office is Citrix XenApp.  This software lets you run business applications from any computer with an internet connection as if you were sitting in the office.  In fact, if it’s properly configured, many user’s cannot tell that the program isn’t running on their local PC.  This software is amazing for when you’re on the road and you need to access your company’s database application.  Or perhaps your kid’s school called to say your child is sick – with this software you can be just as productive at home as at the office.

To find out more information or to see a demo of this product, give us a call at 817-224-2020.

iSad

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I was one of THOSE people who held my breath for the new apple tablet dubbed the iPad.  I won’t say I was obsessed with it, but I did follow the it awfully closely, devouring any kind of rumor about specs or leaks of its capabilities.  On the day of the launch, I had three tabs of my firefox open to different livebloggers who were at the event and I would cycle through them to see the product pictures or specs.

In the interest of full disclosure, The Strickland Group is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.  I have worked with and advocated for Microsoft technologies for more than half my life.  I was an early adopter of Windows 95, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows 7.  I used a Windows Mobile phone for years, though I have an iPhone currently.  I really wanted to love the iPad.

I think the iPad will be a great device for the average well-to-do consumer.  I’d even go so far as to say that when the common home user is looking to replace their XP laptop in a year or two, the iPad might be a good enough choice for them.  And at an entry point price of $499, it’s not too shabby.  If you were to buy it as a top of the line e-book reader and that’s all you wanted to use it for, it would be a great device.

However, despite all my efforts, I just don’t love the iPad. Sure, it’s not all bad – at least it’s got it’s looks.  Also, the websites they demoed rendered beautifully.  I believe it would be a pleasure to read the New York Times on the device.  But it’s what the thing won’t do that’s stands out for me.

  • No support for flash.  Are you kidding me Apple?  You’re going to release an device that “puts the internet in your hands” that doesn’t play flash.  Dumbfounded.
  • No camera.  Would have been an amazing video conferencing device.
  • No multi-tasking.  I can’t listen to pandora while I’m surf?  I can’t  pause a game I’m playing and go google something I just saw on TV? I can’t keep IM going in the background?

Oh well.  Holding my breath for iPad 2.0…

What is the Cloud and why should I care?

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It seems that everywhere I go I am being inundated with Cloud Computing.  It’s on radio talk shows, magazine advertisements, sitcoms, websites, and billboards.  Much like the marketing phase we all suffered through a couple of years ago where any product could be granted hipness by slapping an “i” or an “e” on the front of it’s name, marketing executives seem to think that any product can be transfored into cutting edge or revolutionary by placing the word “cloud” somewhere in the product’s name.  But what does this buzz word du jour really mean?  Why do I care if something is in “the cloud?”

At the most basic, cloud computing means that you can access data from your computer or phone where the data is hosted by someone on a server somewhere.  The server is in the cloud.  The beauty of cloud computing is that you don’t care who manages the servers, what software runs them or where they’re located.  The important part is that you can access your data or application very easily.

We all use the cloud in at least a limited sense.  For instance, Google.com is a cloud based app.  When you type in a search for best cheese curl recipe your query is sent of to banks and banks of servers somewhere.  You may be getting results from a server down the street or across the world.  It doesn’t really matter.  As far as we’re concerned, who cares what database system is processing my recipe request – as long as the answer to my question comes back fast and is the answer in the ballpark for what I wanted.

Although websites are the most obvious cloud application we run into, they’re not the only game in town.  At The Strickland Group, we’ve been using a cloud based backup product for a couple of years now.  It’s a server that sits on a client’s network and takes periodic backups throughout the day.  At night – or whenever the client’s off-peak internet bandwith hours are – this server compresses the day’s backups into one file, encrypts it with AES 256 bit encryption and sends it to a datacenter on the East Coast US.  From there the data is replicated to another datacenter on the West Coast.  This gives the client emergency disaster recovery capabilities if something happens to their server room.  This product has several other killer features such as the ability to create a virtual server from the most recent backups – if your mail server has a hardware issue, this device can build a virtual mail server that your employees can use without any action on their part until you can get the hardware issues repaired.  Really amazing technology.

Another up and coming cloud app is Cloud based antivirus.  This is a new slant on anti-virus software.  Essentially, your files are sent to the AV providers servers where they are scanned.  Your PC is not spending valuable CPU time scanning files because it’s all done on a server somewhere in the cloud.  You don’t have to keep virus definitions up to date, you don’t have to install the latest version, you don’t have to keep your computer on certain nights of the week so a scan will run.  All you really need is a very fast internet connection.

It will be interesting to see what comes of the cloud computing trend.  I think it’s safe to say that the buzz worthiness of the concept will wear off, but the technology of cloud computing is here to stay.  More and more of our online lives will be in the cloud.

Ways to Help in Haiti

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Wondering what you can do to help
the suffering in Haiti?  Here are some practical suggestions.


Make a CWS Kit 
–

For those seeking
additional ways beyond donations, Church World Service, a key
relief partner of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is
providing hygiene, infant and medical kits. These kits are
assembled by volunteers and shipped to people in need.   For
individuals or groups wanting to assemble kits, visit the link
listed.  Kits can be dropped off at the Religious & Spiritual
Life Office in the first floor of Jarvis Hall at TCU. http://www.churchworldservice.
org/kits_main



Stay Aware and Involved – Various departments and
student groups will be coordinating their own efforts in the months
ahead. Post what you’re doing at the Facebook group “Horned Frogs
Reaching Out to Haiti” or email
faith@tcu.edu to receive occasional updates and let us know what
you’re doing.

Volunteer Locally – by getting involved with our
local Chisholm Trail American Red Cross chapter, you join others
who provide assistance during various disasters and relief efforts.
 This can include providing safety and health services,
transportation, education, disaster services and much more.  Click
here to volunteer http://chisholmtrail.redcross. org or email
faith@tcu.edu if you’re interested in Red Cross volunteering and
training with others at TCU.

A List of Selected Agencies Providing Assistance:
Visit the sites of the organizations below to give
online:

    The American Red Cross International Response Fund  
          http://www.redcross. org

    Partners In Health Haiti Earthquake
Fund
      http://www.pih.org

   Disciples of Christ Week of Compassion Fund
      http://weekofcompassion. org
   
   UNICEF Haiti Earthquake Fund  
    http://www.unicefusa.org

    International Medical Corps, Earthquake in Haiti Fund
      http://www.imcworldwide. org

    Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake
Fund
      http://www.mercycorps. org
  
    Doctors Without Borders
      http://www. doctorswithoutborders.org
  
    Oxfam Haiti Earthquake Response
Fund
      http://www.oxfamamerica. org

    Catholic Relief Services
      http://www.crs.org

    American Jewish World Service Earthquake Relief Fund
      http://www.ajws.org
 
   CARE
      http://www.care.org

    International Rescue Committee IRC Haiti Crisis Fund
      http://www.theirc.org