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Newsletter Archive: 2003

"All-in-One" Network Appliance

The Oculan 250 is the ultimate solution for managing your entire IT infrastructure. And for a fraction of the costs you would incur purchasing stand-alone solutions.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/1222.html

12.22.03

IIS Workflow Described

Before we dig into the details, be sure to fully understand the implications of this overall order of processing: no data is logged by IIS before the request is finished. The reason for this is that IIS log files contain data like the total number of bytes sent or the processing time required. This data is only available when the request is finished. This also means that when an attacker either crashes IIS or exploits a vulnerability that does not allow it to reach step 3, no log data is written. As a side note, the same is true for Apache.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/1219.html

12.19.03

Improve application reliability with new AdminStudio 5.5

Need a way to prepare higher-quality applications for deployment in far less time? Need a way to better manage your enterprise's packaging team? InstallShield has the answer. Check out the two new application preparation and management solutions below and learn how InstallShield makes it easy for you to improve the reliability of your enterprise's applications.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/1202.html

12.02.03

Detecting Password Attacks on Windows

Windows servers and workstations have become a primary target for malicious users. Be it hackers that try to deface a web site, the Warez community in search for "free" FTP server space or just your internal users interested in restricted files. One common thing about them is that the need to break in either via a software vulnerability or by breaking in into a user account. This article focuses on the later scenario, the try to break in into an account. Fortunately, this occurs not only often but is also relatively easy to spot - and the countermeasures are very simple and effective.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/1119.html

11.19.03

Free technology and product tutorials from IBM

Build your skills in open standards technologies and products! Use the IBM developerWorks Tutorials and Training center to master the technical skills you need to get ahead with over 300 free online tutorials covering a broad range of technologies including Java programming, Linux, Web services, Wireless, XML technologies and IBM products. Most tutorials take less than one hour to complete, and walk you through a scenario with source code so you can follow along.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/1104.html

11.04.03

Combining Log Files

The timestamp for the repetition message is often later than the last message. It would be terribly misleading if possibly unrelated messages from other log files were merged between the last message and its associated repetition message.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/1021.html

10.21.03

How to Monitor Windows NT from Unix

Many system administrators are running Unix / Linux based monitoring and alerting for a long term. The basic idea behind a successful monitoring and alerting system is to centralize all system events at a single monitoring station. Once the information is centralized, it can be used to build an alerting system or even carry out corrective actions.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/1002.html

10.02.03

System Administrator Appreciation Day

From the site: "System Administrator Appreciation Day - A special day, once a year, to acknowledge the worthiness and appreciation of the person occupying the role, especially as it is often this person who really keeps the wheels of your company turning."

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0911.html

09.11.03

VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP)

The VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) is an interesting Layer 2 feature of Ciscos Catalyst switch line, and one that is definitely useful, especially in large, switched environments that include multiple Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs). In the last article in this series, we took at look at the concept of a VLAN, along with VLAN tagging protocols like ISL. If you recall, the purpose of configuring VLAN tagging was to allow traffic from multiple VLANs to cross a trunk link used to interconnect switches.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0807.html

08.29.03

Using Web DAV With IIS 5.0

The basic purpose of WebDAV is to provide file I/O through HTTP. This permits your to load, edit, delete, create subdirectories, and basically manage files located on the Web Server from the client desktop. Of course, MS has several products that already permit remote manipulation of remote websites.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0814.html

08.14.03

Administer Linux On The Fly

The /proc filesystem is one of Linux's great features, and this article gives you a thorough grounding in some of its most useful aspects. With it, you can administer many details of the operating system without ever having to shut down and reboot the machine, which is a boon for those who need to keep their systems as available as possible.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0807.html

08.07.03

3 Tips for Managing a Windows Network

Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine's TechMentor Conference is known for its in-depth training, world-class instructors, and a no-nonsense approach to learning.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0805.html

08.05.03

Independent Report The Hidden Costs of Virus Protection

Make a comprehensive assessment of the true cost of your virus protection. Get the independent report, "The Hidden Costs of Virus Protection" written by Peter Lindstrom, Research Director with Spire Security.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0722.html

07.22.03

An Alternative To Perl: Shell Scripting With PHP

I know that you all want to get rid of Perl Scripts because of their complexity and the fact that Perl is not an easy language to learn. With the introduction of PHP version 4.2, PHP has started supporting a new SAPI (Server Application Programming Interface) called CLI (Command Line Interface). This facility was introduced to help developers create small shell application (scripts) with PHP, meaning that you can kiss Perl goodbye forever!

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0716.html

07.16.03

Authenticating By Public Key (OpenSSH)

SSH is a protocol for secure, remote logins and file copying; and OpenSSH, provided with most Linux distributions, is its most popular implementation. This recipe, selected from Chapter 6 on "Protecting Outgoing Network Connections," shows you how to use public-key authentication to prove your identity to a remote OpenSSH server, a technique more secure than using login passwords.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0710.html

07.10.03

Network Neighborhood, Visionfs, Samba Authentication And All That

Unix and Linux machines have been able to provide Network Neighborhood style file and print services for some time now, but I constantly see confusion and problems due to misunderstanding of how these things work.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0702.html

07.02.03

User Rights - User Privileges Category

The Windows XP Professional operating system allows for Rights to be configured to both individual users as well as to groups of users. Right are best described as permitted actions that are allowed to those users or groups on a specific system or allowed actions within the domain.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0619.html

06.19.03

Combating SPAM Problems In A Corporate Environment

First, let’s take a look at the system resource that are consumed by SPAM. Any time that an E-mail message is sent to someone in your organization, the message must first pass through your organization’s Internet connection and through the firewall before reaching your Exchange Server. Regardless of how much bandwidth your organization may have, there is a finite amount of data that the Internet connection can handle in a given amount of time.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0603.html

06.03.03

Enhancing Exchange Security

These days, it seems as if it’s almost impossible to do business without having access to an E-mail account. Because of this, Microsoft Exchange has quickly become a mission critical application for many businesses.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0501.html

05.01.03

Common System Administration Terms Explained

the man page for crontab says that the PATH will be "/bin:/usr/bin:" but the above PATH is what actually happens on my 5.0.5 system. The difference is especially significant because of the placement of the lone ":", which adds "." to cron's PATH. According to the manual, the "." would end up at end of the path, and thus would be the last place searched. It actually ends up at the beginning. As the first command found is the command executed, this can cause unexpected results.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0424.html

04.24.03

Repackage faster and build better MSIs

tSo your organization is migrating to Windows XP and management is counting on you to repackage all applications in the Windows Installer format. If you don’t use the right solution, you could be in for serious problems.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0422.html

04.22.03

The Latest in Internet Monitoring Software

Do you want to increase bandwidth efficiency, reduce security threats and reduce legal liability? Check out WebSpy's complete line of email, web monitoring and management software. These products can boost work productivity saving your company valuble time and money.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0327.html

03.27.03

Protection Across Multiple Platforms

Don’t just think your network is secure – know it is. See how your current anti-virus solution stacks up to Sophos Anti-Virus. Sophos is an award-winning leader in the anti-virus field, certified and tested by ICSA Labs, Virus Bulletin, West Coast Labs, and AV-Test.org.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0318.html

03.18.03

Detecting Password Attacks on Windows

Windows servers and workstations have become a primary target for malicious users. Whether it's hackers trying to deface a web site, the Warez community in search for "free" FTP server space, or just your internal users interested in restricted files, they all have one thing in common - their desire to break in, either via a software vulnerability or by through a user account. This article focuses on the latter scenario - attempting to break in into a user account. Fortunately, this occurs rarely and is also relatively easy to spot, and the countermeasures are very simple and effective.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0313.html

03.13.03

Simplify Cross-Platform Performance Management

PROGNOSIS is a family of powerful, real-time, integrated systems management products that optimizes the performance and availability of Windows, UNIX, Linux and HP NonStop environments.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0306.html

03.06.03

Dynamic Address Assignment

In many networks, IP addresses are manually assigned to hosts. There are a number of reasons why for most hosts this is an unnecessary and even undesirable arrangement.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0227.html

02.27.03

Building Up Defenses

It’s easy to lose control of virus activity on your network with so many systems and so many end users. The problem is that it’s your job to clean up the mess when something goes wrong, and that’s a pretty compelling reason to install the right anti-virus solution.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0211.html

02.11.03

Do You Know If Your Site Is Down?

In just a few minutes, you'll be able to see the benefits of monitoring your systems with SiteScope. SiteScope is agentless, so you only have to install it on one server. You won't have to run around and install it on multiple servers like you would with agent-based solutions. Think of the time and legwork you'll save. In less than an hour you'll be able to monitor more than 65 aspects of your IT systems with SiteScope.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0206.html

02.06.03

Do you have a false sense of anti-virus security?

As you know, viruses can have a crippling effect on your business, costing you money by simply causing downtime during removal. This vendor neutral white paper is must-have, critical information. Learn how to protect every tier in your network from malicious attacks.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0205.html

02.05.03

SQL Slammer Lessons

In this article, I analyze why the SQL Slammer worm was so successful in bringing down the Internet - and what can be learned from the attack. I will not analyze how the worm worked in detail. There are already a number of good analyses out; please see the links section, especially [1] and [3], if you are interested in that. Hello Readers,

Most importantly, this paper tries to figure out why the attack was so successful.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0204.html

02.04.03

Windows XP Remote Assistance

Last week I covered one of my favorite new features in Windows XP, the System Restore feature. This week I’ve decided to cover another exciting new capability that I’m sure will be a major help to system administrators who also have responsibility for support users – the Remote Assistance tool.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0130.html

01.30.03

The Hidden Risk To Your Network

It’s vital to recognize that your network is a complex system, each tier requiring a battle plan against the never-ending assault from viruses. Sure, you realize you must protect users’ PCs, but what have you done to defend your other tiers?

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0128.html

01.28.03

Active Directory and DNS

Microsoft's Active Directory relies heavily on DNS. DNS is used to find important resources like domain controllers. Because these in turn are needed to authenticate users, Windows 2000 will not work properly without a correctly configured DNS.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0123.html

01.23.03

Join MCP Mag @TechMentor in the Big Easy!

Make plans today to attend the premier conference and exposition for Windows networking professionals. Join hundreds of network administrators, managers and consultants who have experienced the special TechMentor brand of education, training, peer networking and product demos.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0116.html

01.16.03

The Top 10 SANs vs. NAS Decision Factors

Many administrators find themselves answering a new question: Should I use Storage Area Networks (SANs) or Network Attached Storage (NAS) to store my data?

NAS filers (dedicated machines serving files via NFS, CIFS, or NCP) were once perceived as "NFS in a box," and no one would think about using them to hold large databases. In contrast, SAN disk arrays were perceived as too expensive for the average user. The decrease in the price of a SAN array, and the increase in functionality and speed of NAS filers have changed all that.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0114.html

01.14.03

Working With User Profiles

One of the main reasons that sharing a system between multiple users is difficult is that any change that one user makes to the PC affects all of the other users, too. For example, I once worked in an office where two users who shared a PC constantly fought over the Windows color scheme. One user would change it and the other user would change it right back. Having users fight over color schemes can be annoying, but much worse things can happen when users share PCs. I once saw a user who didn’t know any better accidentally erase the contents of the My Documents folder, which of course contained documents for everyone in the entire department.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0109.html

01.09.03

Windows 2000 Terminal Services

Terminal Services is a centralized computing architecture that lets users execute Windows-based applications on a remote Windows 2000 server. Previously, a special edition of NT 4.0 called Terminal Services Edition had to be installed to gain this functionality. Now it is built into Windows 2000 Server and above. Terminal Services supports a full range of clients inlcuding Windows 3.x 9x, NT, CE, 2000. With additional software it will also support Unix, Macintosh and MS-DOS. Terminal Services enhances computing environments by allowing companies to deploy a "thin client" solution to deliver 32-bit Windows applications to a wide range of legacy desktop hardware devices. This can be particularly useful during the period of migration to Windows 2000.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0108.html

01.08.03

Monitor Your IT Systems

Freshwater Software's SiteScope makes it cost-effective and straightforward to monitor your IT systems. Using agentless technology, you'll ensure database queries are successful, DNS servers are working, URLs are loading quickly, CPU utilization is acceptable, application servers are running optimally, and much, much more. All from a single monitoring location.

http://www.sysadminnews.com/2003/0107.html

01.07.03