Posts by CimmerianX

To clarify: By 'rendering laptop' do you mean the actual rendering process or just displaying the images during build and manipulation?

If by 'rendering' you actually mean rendering, then don't do it on a laptop. Rendering should always (if at all possiable) be done on another host or a render farm. You don't want to render on the same unit you use to produce the content. This is true for CAD and 3dsmax, not so much for photoshop.

IF you only want speed during the build and manipulation, then you'll want a vid card with supported GPU.

I.e. for photoshop, here's the list: http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/tested-video-cards-photoshop-cs5.html

Any card that supports (almost all of the decent ones nowadays) OpenGL 'may' be supported to some extent. So you need to check each software website for a compatibility list to see if the app can take advantage of the GPU on the card. Even if it is not supported 100%, there are tweaks you can use (especially in photoshop) to turn off certain features if the app becomes buggy.

I don't see a question there?

My thoughts on whether or not to scrap old drives....

1) If you have the cash, you can buy new, large drives with much for onboard cache to replace older units.
2) IF you don't have the cash, running drives in a raid array has its own set of pro's and cons (more complex setup vs possible gains and/or losses in read/write speeds depending on the raid level).
3) Running those extra HDs will pull more power and generate more heat.
4) SSD drives are becoming cheaper. No moving parts usually means much longer life for SSD vs platter drives.

In my own home setup, I use a single SSD for the OS then a larger drive for Data. I image the C and backup the Data nightly on a sceduled job.

Perhaps some of the tracks in iTunes are WMV. when tranferring to the ipod, IIRC you are prompted to convert WMV to another format, if you don't, the tracks aren't transferred. At least that's how it works on my older gen ipod.

The servers need physical conenctivity. I am assuming the 2 hosts each have internet conenctivity only. Is that correct?

How do they connect to the internet? What equipment to you have to work with? Do they have static, public ips? What do you expect these servers to do with each other once connected? Will end users at each site need access to the other server or is it just server to server?

Sounds like the OP is after an itunes replacement, not just a media player.

VLC is the best player for a PC regardless of OS. It plays anything. However it will not manage your media like itunes, nor will it connect to various 'stores'.

The problem with the ipods is that apple changes the database structure of the device with a recent firmware update. 3rd party apps that could transfer music to and from the device no longer worked because of the change in the table structure and AFAIK, no one has desinged an app to do the same types of transfers.

I have an old ipod classic also. I manage my own music folder, I manually move stuff I buy/rip into that folder. I still use itunes to get music/media to and from the device. If there is an alternative, I'd love to hear it.

Not sure what you are asking here. The 'internet' is the medium through which data traffic propagates. Emails messages are sent from one email server to another.

I'll offer this suggestion. Load the application into a Virtual Machine with no outbound connectivity to the public web. This way you can analyze the app without risk of data exposure. Or if you have the software available, you can load it in a sandbox (i.e. Avast offers this IIRC).

I'm just curious and I have to ask. What is the purpose of changing a docx to a gif? For display on a site?

You can download the service pack on another machine. Search windows web site for the Service Pack Administrative installer. Instead of a web download, you'll get a very large executable that will install the SP.

You are missing an opening ' right in front of $contact_name

I would say to start with 'bridged'. That will make the VM appear to be directly connected to your internal network.

Does your network have DHCP off of a router or other device? Or are you assigning IP addresses manually? If it is manual, then you need to setup your VM with an IP on the network along with proper dns.

You should be able to ping the default gateway from the VM. Can you?

Marketers and sales teams need to explain the upside of such action. And "IT needs to proactively court those that are building the new business winners," Gardner added.

WTF? Marketers and Sales Teams have NO BUSINESS telling IT what tech they need to implement. Anytime a marketer has ever told me 'we need to move into the cloud' I'll look at him dead on and ask why. Then watch as he struggles to come up with an answer other than 'because I heard its the cool new way to work".

The cloud storage is just 1 tool in the IT toolbox. The cloud is not the end all solution for every problem.

Local Virtualization is a must have for maximum ROI on hardware. But public clouds should be used sparingly and only for very specific solutions.

Check to make sure you only have 1 vss writer on the server:
"vssadmin list writers"

Multiple writers sometimes cause issues.

You could try a full VSS reset:

net stop "System Event Notification Service"
net stop "Background Intelligent Transfer Service"
net stop "COM+ Event System"
net stop "Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider"
net stop "Volume Shadow Copy"
cd /d %windir%\system32
net stop vss
net stop swprv
regsvr32 /s ATL.DLL
regsvr32 /s comsvcs.DLL
regsvr32 /s credui.DLL
regsvr32 /s CRYPTNET.DLL
regsvr32 /s CRYPTUI.DLL
regsvr32 /s dhcpqec.DLL
regsvr32 /s dssenh.DLL
regsvr32 /s eapqec.DLL
regsvr32 /s esscli.DLL
regsvr32 /s FastProx.DLL
regsvr32 /s FirewallAPI.DLL
regsvr32 /s kmsvc.DLL
regsvr32 /s lsmproxy.DLL
regsvr32 /s MSCTF.DLL
regsvr32 /s msi.DLL
regsvr32 /s msxml3.DLL
regsvr32 /s ncprov.DLL
regsvr32 /s ole32.DLL
regsvr32 /s OLEACC.DLL
regsvr32 /s OLEAUT32.DLL
regsvr32 /s PROPSYS.DLL
regsvr32 /s QAgent.DLL
regsvr32 /s qagentrt.DLL
regsvr32 /s QUtil.DLL
regsvr32 /s raschap.DLL
regsvr32 /s RASQEC.DLL
regsvr32 /s rastls.DLL
regsvr32 /s repdrvfs.DLL
regsvr32 /s RPCRT4.DLL
regsvr32 /s rsaenh.DLL
regsvr32 /s SHELL32.DLL
regsvr32 /s shsvcs.DLL
regsvr32 /s /i swprv.DLL
regsvr32 /s tschannel.DLL
regsvr32 /s USERENV.DLL
regsvr32 /s vss_ps.DLL
regsvr32 /s wbemcons.DLL
regsvr32 /s wbemcore.DLL
regsvr32 /s wbemess.DLL
regsvr32 /s wbemsvc.DLL
regsvr32 /s WINHTTP.DLL
regsvr32 /s WINTRUST.DLL
regsvr32 /s wmiprvsd.DLL
regsvr32 /s …

You should also take a good look at Linux Mint. Latest version is based off ubuntu 12.04 desktop but gives you a more 'classic' GUI instead of the ubuntu garbage that is loaded by default now.

For SQL I usually back up to a local folder using SQL's tools.
I then run a scheduled task to syncronize the backups using ROBOCOPY to a remove host.

For a monthly, I FTP a copy of a FULL SQL backup offsite to a VPS running out of state.

What I would do:
1 - remove all non essential devices. Pull all addon cards, cdrom, anything that draws power.
2 - check to make sure all fans are turning
3 - Did you use heatsink compound when installing the heat sink/fan on the processor? You should
4 - Check the mobo and proc specs, make sure your Power supply is large enough to support the power requirements. I would assume yes unless you have a really tiny PS.
5 - Testing with another power supply would be best.

I agree with JorgeM. You need to ID the traffic 1st to find a solution.

Rate limiting certain high volume sites is a good idea. You don't want 50 people all streaming hulu at the same time.

Also, installation and use of a caching proxy might be something to consider. All traffic must flow through the proxy which allows common images and static content to be caches and delivered ffrom the proxy, not the internet site. You can also implement web block features at the proxy. Want to block facebook, block it at the proxy.

Squid is a great, free one that can be setup quickly. more advanced features may take you some time to tweak.

Start with a reboot.
Still bad, try a different browser.
If works, go back to 1st browser and clear cache/history, and retry. If fails, try different PC.

If different PC works, then go back to yours, and start a virus scan/malware scan. Check the threads for Malware bytes and hijackthis for usable tools.

In device manager, does it show a yellow !?

If device manager shows it without any errors, hop over to disk management and force a rescan/refresh. IT should show up here. FYI, you can't assign a drive letter to a drive, just to a partition on the drive.

Off the top of my head....

Is this the IPSEC client or the AnyConnect client?
Do you have any other VPN clients on that PC? Many times, multiple ipsec clients don't play nice together.
Don't enable the network on the VPN software, that will happen when you establish a tunnel.....
Did you check your event viewer for any items that occur at the time you start the service?

For item #2, every MS server has RDP enabled for admin that allows you to use remote desktop to access ther server with the admin account.

mail.serverdomainname.com is a DNS entry that most likely resolves to 98.23.60.100. Either entry will get you to the same host. If you don't understand how the name is translated to an IP, google "how dns works" to get some info on the subject. Someone had to have created the DNS record that matches the DNS name to IP in a DNS server that is authoritative to that serverdomainname.com zone (read the DNS how-to to understand).

For item 3, a Virtual Host can have different flavors of network connectivity. If you want users to access a virtual host, you would most likely need ' bridge mode' on the virtual server. The virtual server would get an IP from the range and you'd probably want to create a DNS record for it also.

For the rest, I think we may need more specific info on the Virtual product you are using...

If it is a personal project.... no one will care.

If you are designing a new device, the infrared components were probably licensed from a 3rd party manufacturer anyway. Once you identify the part, you can always go to that manufacturer and sign your own agreement for use of their tech in your device.

If you reverse engineer to learn how the thing works then use that knowledge to design your own... better make sure you aren't stealing any propriety tech that they have patented....

With LAptops on a Domain, the user can still sign into the domain using 'cached user credentials'. So once the user signs into the domain and the profile is created in the Users folder, you can unplug the laptop from the domain, reboot, then at the signon screen you can still auth against the domain because the credentials are remembered.

When in the field, the laptop has no communications to the domain, so if an admin disables an account or resets a PW, this has no impact on the laptop until it returns and plugs back into the domain.

The laptop has to connect to the domain once every 30 days otherwise the computer account goes out of sync with the domain.

I do this all the time for my company's mobile workfoce.

You can also use a Vpn solution like cisco anyconnect that offers a 'start before logon' so that a vpn conenction to the office is established before the GINA so that you auth against the domain over a vpn connection.

You wouldn't need to use the route command on a host unless there is more than 1 gateway on the subnet and the host must determine what gateway to use for what destination subnet.

Usually, all traffic for hosts that are not on your same subnet would be sent to the 'default gateway' which then sends along its way.

1) 4 hour, onsite replacement service
2) Quality parts - especially drives
3) redundant power.

My 2 cents on #3... homemade cables will always have a much higher chance of errors then pre-fab'd cables. Plus since plre-fab cables can be had fow a few dollars, it usually makes more sence to buy them premade than to have you $50 per hour person sit there and make a bunch.

A handful of cables, maybe.

100 cables, buy them prefabbed.

Instead of hotspot shield, try Riseup instead.

Also, choose a vpn provider carefully. Make sure to find one that doen't keep logs of connections for extended periods.

http://torrentfreak.com/which-vpn-providers-really-take-anonymity-seriously-111007/

This depends on your type of installation.

Many cable companies and some fiber installs utilize shared bandwidth into an area. Imaging a 10 meg pipe into your apartment building (it's not really like this but just for explanations sake).

If you are the only person in the building using the service, you get all 10 meg.

If there are 20 people in the building all using the service, but you are the only one online, you still get all 10 meg.

If its 8PM and everyone is trying to stream netflix, now that 10 meg line is shared between all 20 people.

Check the routers for the newest firmware just to cover any software bugs.

Turn off all Intrustion Detection systems on the router (if any).
Turn off all firewall features on the router (if Any)
Remove any blocked keywords if your router has that feature (remember block the word 'sex' and www.marsexplorer.com will also be blocked.

Its not one or the other. Use the right tool for the right job.

I use linux for all my servers.
I use linus to run asterisk for the VOIP system.
I use linux desktop distro for all my python coding.
I use windows as my normal workplace desktop for mail and productivity crap.

I would say no.

What keeps 'files' in a directory isn't the location of the files on disk, but rather the filesystem pointers that arrange files in the structered visual order. The defragmentation softwares out there would only make the files contiguous. I've never heard of one that will arrange files on disk according to file system pointers.

Sure.

Edit /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf

Add in the line:

bantime = 600 
maxretry = 3

So after 3 attempts, the IP is banned for 5 min.

You can allso add in IPs to ignore so they never get banned:

ignoreip = 127.0.0.1 1.1.1.1 2.2.2.2

Fail2Ban gets my vote also. We use it on every server installation.

It will watch for auth failures. AFter a certain number of failures you can block the source IP for a set time or forever.

For me, I usually do 5 missed auths gets you a 20 minute ban. And I have it email me so I can watch for recurring attempts.

So, I am a novice with python. I'm trying to teach myself python just to expand my skills.

I gave myself a simple challenge and I need some guidance here on how to get it done.

The goal is to read in a dhcpd leases file, read through the lease records, and end up with a list of dictionary items for each lease.

The input file will look like this:

lease 192.168.10.102 {
  starts 2 2012/03/13 10:24:01;
  ends 2 2012/03/20 10:24:01;
  cltt 2 2012/03/13 10:24:01;
  binding state active;
  next binding state free;
  hardware ethernet 90:4c:e5:18:5c:24;
  uid "\001\220L\345\030\\$";
}
lease 192.168.10.109 {
  starts 4 2012/03/15 00:44:53;
  ends 4 2012/03/22 00:44:53;
  cltt 4 2012/03/15 00:44:53;
  binding state active;
  next binding state free;
  hardware ethernet 00:24:d7:2b:43:d0;
  uid "\001\000$\327+C\320";
  set ddns-fwd-name = "pc.domain.local.";
  set ddns-txt = "3100bdf5ca9dabd07e5a8ef0ffe4755fc5";
  set ddns-rev-name = "109.10.168.192.in-addr.arpa.";
  client-hostname "pc";
}
lease 192.168.10.142 {
  starts 4 2012/03/15 03:34:56;
  ends 4 2012/03/22 03:34:56;
  cltt 4 2012/03/15 03:34:56;
  binding state active;
  next binding state free;
  hardware ethernet 00:0e:35:97:e4:30;
  set ddns-rev-name = "142.10.168.192.in-addr.arpa.";
  set ddns-txt = "00fc80f10784541b93c67f45b46993d112";
  set ddns-fwd-name = "t42.domain.local.";
  client-hostname "t42";
}

Each lease item has its set of attributes.
Now if each lease was on its own line, I'm sure I could do this using the examples from the tutorials I've been through with a line split. But I can't get my head around how to read in the block of info and then extract the items to a dictionary.

This was simple attempt:

file_to_parse = '/home/kane/djangodev/dhcpmon/sampledhcplease.txt'
file_to_write = …

Enable both and post a "IPCONFIG /ALL" and a "ROUTE PRINT"

I use nmap for all scanning needs. Works well in windows and linux. http://nmap.org/

Clients do not need to be domain members to do dns lookups.

what ITG is saying is you need to make sure that the IP address of the DNS server is listed as the client's DNS server IP. You check this with IPCONFIG /ALL at the sommand prompt.

Next is to make sure the DNS server is running on the host and that a zone is created for your fqdn (i.e. mycompany.com exists as a zone on the server).

The 'RUN AS' would still require a password, no?

AFAIK, there is no 'sudo' in windows.

My suggestion:

Turn off DHCP and DNS on the router.

On the server, enable DHCP and DNS services.

Configure DHCP with your ip scope assigning the router ip, dns ip (make this the 2k3 server), and wins options 44 2k3ip and 46 0x8 for hybrid.

Configure the DNS with a forwarder to the open DNS servers.

Open DNS servers let you sign up to control dns lookups for free. You can cut off certain web pages by 'turning off' dns resolution for those pages. the local DNS server will cache results and help speed up dns lookups.

For root, you can also do 'sudo -i'.

I"m with ITG-JM. If it's only for 1 user (you), then use a VPN client on your machine.

IF you have an IP on that server... log on to that server and go to http://www.canyouseeme.org That site will verify your IP that the public would see. Then type in port 80 into the field and test. 80 is used for web traffic. that site will test your port and let you know if it is open or closed. If it is open, then your settings are correct.

Your DL speed is usually going to be measures in bits, not bytes. So a 52 Kb/s is 6.5 kB/s. Lets make sure we have the measurements correct here.

To verify your connection, use speedtest.net or any online speed testing tool.
Make sure you are the only user of the connection with no one else sharing it.

DL speed is also not just dependent on your speed, it is also affected by the distance/latency to the remote server, load on the remote server, etc...

When you plug in the touch, is it recognized as a usb drive? Does windows show "1 new device connected"? Or is it just not showing up in itunes?

Have you tried connecting the ipod touch on another PC running itunes?

What model is the current router?

If the router that connects public wifi to the internet will ALSO be used to create a VPN tunnel, this is still a safe config if done correctly.

Just separate out the public wifi space from the private space in 2 VLANs isolated from each other. Both route outbound. THe VPN tunnel is built to match the interesting traffic to only the private wifi subnet.

I do this all the time.

>>How did this IT person explain that a person could connect back to the work network through a public wifi?

I think he meant that he wanted to take a router and connect it downstream from the public wifi router. So that his wan port is connected to the public router and he offers his own wifi. His router would then create a peer to peer vpn tunnel.

#1 - most consumer routers will not let you connect WAN to a wifi network.
#2 - if somehow you got around #1, if you leave your wifi open, then yes, everyone could connect to the remote network.
#3 - Your IT person should have suggested just using a client on your PC.

For something like this, I would do the following:

1) make sure you have a driver for your wireless adapter ahead of time.
2) boot into SAFE MODE by pressing F8 as the machine boots, then select safe mode from the menu.
3) Go to you Device manager . Rght click my computer - manage - device manager
4) Find your wifi adapter and uninstall it.
5) reboot
6) on reboot, the pc should auto detect the adapter and prompt you for a driver.
7) point it to the driver and then test out the connection.

What I mean is, if all you are after is a backup of the drive. Clone the VM, then power off the clone and backup THAT vmdk file.