Friday, August 29, 2008

Eddie Vedder 2008 East Coast Playbill "Sniper"


In efforts to share and combat jerks (probably the same jerks yelling at the shows) selling this on Craigslist and Ebay... Here is a FREE download of a scanned PDF of the Eddie Vedder 2008 East Coast Tour Playbill, "Sniper".

It was scanned at 150dpi and is 5mb.

And it's filled with good info. Don't worry, you don't need to sign up on the website or anything to download. Enjoy and share kindly.

Click Here.

When you are directed to the eSnips page, click on the pdf. Don't bother waiting for the iPaper thing to load. Scroll below that and there will be a "Download" button that will let you save the pdf to your computer.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

DFS Replication

It's great to find tools that Windows 2003 Server R2 has built-in to help you do your job. I'm by no means a Windows expert and usually have to do a bit of digging to figure out how to get something done. I'm usually at least successful at that. Google is my friend.

Recently I've been trying to figure out a way to replicate data from one server to another. Our call application by a 3rd party vendor has it's own "backup". It backs up the entire call app every night to a "standby" server into CAB files with an MSI. Which is good, but what if I need the server off site? We don't use tape backups and sending 30gb of data off site to our DR location is a bit of a chore. But with DFS Replication built into Windows 2003 Server R2, I can easily setup replication between the two boxes and - "fingers crossed", in the event of a failure or disaster, a few manual server name changes, I should be back up and running. Now, I'm still testing this all out but I will update this and let you know how it turns out. So, what I've done is:

1. Installed DFS on both servers.
2. Ran the call app MSI and installed the app on the backup server.
3. Setup one-way replication on the primary box to the backup.

I've also used DFS Replication to manage the content on our web servers..it's a great thing. Speaking of IIS. Windows Server 2008 has all kinds of cool ways to manage IIS 7 and your web data. My favorite is the shared configuration.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

BodyWorlds

So I went to the BodyWorlds exhibit last week at the Baltimore Science Center. I took my 13yr old daughter. The price to get in was around $22 and we were able to get through the exhibit in a little over an hour. I think part of why we got through quicker than others was due to my daughters uneasiness at the exhibit.

The exhibit isn't all just bodies. There are plenty of cases of brains and other organs such as the lungs, heart and intestines. It sounds like something out of a horror movie I know. I tried to mature up a bit while I was there. I couldn't help thinking about a remake of the Ben Stiller flick "Night at the Museum" and what a great horror film "A Night at the BodyWorlds" would be like. Academy Award!

There were plenty of bodies though, arranged in different poses. For example, there were the Ice Skaters, Skateboard Kid, The thinker, the Yoga Lady. Each exhibit had a "name"...I don't recall exactly but they are my descriptions, perhaps because at one moment I did get a bit light headed.

The process that these bodies go through once donated is called "Plastination".

I did take away this though...and that life is short...don't waste it, take care of it, enjoy it, love it and share it with others.

Viruses in Space


Well, viruses are officially in orbit. According to NASA, laptops that have been taken into space are infected with the Gammima.AG virus. The virus steals login credentials for popular online games and sends them back to a server..

NASA thinks the laptops were infected via a USB or flash device. AND..there is no antivirus on the laptops. hmm...are they running Windows to? NASA...what the?? Hello...your NASA. For a small fee..eh hum...I will be glad to fix those laptops for you.

Perhaps you should check out Devicelock, or McAfee's suite of products?

Friday, August 22, 2008

Dell Announces EqualLogic Price Reduction

"Dell Announces EqualLogic Price Reduction
Fri. Aug. 15, 2008

This morning Dell formally announced a pricing reduction in our EqualLogic PS Series hardware platforms and support services. As we continue to hear feedback from our Partners via surveys and our channel community, we will continue to evaluate our PartnerDirect program and offerings.

With up to a 10% reduction on Models PS5000E, PS5000X, PS5000XV and up to a 20% reduction on support services, our goal is to help our Partners stay competitive in the iSCSI storage market. According to Bob Skelley, Director, Enterprise Channel, “Reducing the list price on the Dell EqualLogic storage arrays enables our channel partners to offer a compelling value proposition to their customers. You can be competitive in the marketplace, continue to build a profitable business practice around our solutions and circle back to clients where price was the hurdle.”"

Taken from Here

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Evault



Backups, Restores, tapes, libraries, disks, disaster recovery...What does it all mean!!! Well if you don't know, you will most certainly find out the hard way when your supervisor requests a SQL database from last night's backup.

Evault provides online backup and disk to disk backup and recovery services, compliance and archiving.

I have been an Evault customer for several years using the Infostage product. Prior to Evault I used tapes in accompaniment with Backup Exec. The problem with tapes - for us was that they were becoming more difficult to track, expensive, unreliable, and time consuming. Everyday, an hour or so was dedicated to tape management, labeling, and working with our offsite vendor to collect and store the tapes for DR purposes.

We use the Evault Infostage product. Basically a local "vault" is stored at our primary site with a secondary "vault" offsite. Backed up are Windows servers, MS SQL, MS Exchange, and AIX. Evault has "Agents" that are installed on each host that are to be backed up. They also support UNC paths so for instance, you could install an agent on a Windows Server and use that agent to back up UNC paths on other shares..etc.

The first backup is the "seed" and every backup after that is the "delta" or changes in the file. For the Infostage product we actually have two backups that run each night, a HQ backup then a DR site backup. During the initial purchase, we didn't have any enterprise storage at the time. We purchased servers with enough storage to backup our data. Recently, we installed an iSCSI SAN and have allocated space for backup storage when we need it.

Because we have grown over the past few years, we are learning that what we need is vault replication to cut down on backup windows. I've contacted Evault about this and they now offer an enterprise vault backup. This would eliminate running a second backup and shorten our backup window. Backups would simply run at HQ then replicate to the DR site.

Evault provides Windows, Exchange, SQL, Oracle, *IX agents. The backups have an impressive compression ratio, and if your concerned about security -there are multiple ways to encrypt your data. There are also multiple backup retention policies, multiple ways to restore your data and archive older data to tape if necessary. Please note that to backup your data offsite, it obviously requires adequate bandwidth depending on the amount of data. This is true for any vendor with the ability to backup off site.

My experience with Evault has been excellent. Data is being backed up efficiently. It's fast and restores take minutes rather than several hours waiting for your archiving vendor to bring back your tape and then catalog and restore. Support is great and they offer plenty of documentation in their knowledge base. If your in the market for an enterprise backup product, I highly recommend Evault.

FFL Time!!!

Ahh...it's that time of the year. Fantasy Football. I'm keeping myself to one league this year.."The Swampy Duhmpers". Our draft was a few days ago and I came away with a full stomach. My pal's wife cooked excellent homemade spaghetti. She's Italian, shouldn't need to say anything more after that.

I enjoy watching football..going to games but I generally don't have an idea of who the players are when it comes to positions other than QB and RB. I didn't spend anytime reading FFL magazines but stuck to a few good online resources such as FantasySharks and FFToolbox.

Anyhow, I had 4th pick this year and came away with the following players.

QB1 - Ben Roethlisburger
QB2 - Donovan McNabb
QB3 - Matt Schaub
RB1 - Steve Jackson
RB2 - Clinton Portis
RB3 - Julius Jones
RB4 - Ahman Green
WR1 - Andre Johnson
WR2 - Steve Smith
WR3 - Roy Williams
WR4 - Kevin Curtis
WR5 - Joe Galloway
TE1 - Tony Gonzales
TE2 - Chris Cooley
K1 - Mason Crosby
K2 - Rob Bironas
D1 - Bears
D2 - Colts

Go Duhmpers!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Blog Updates

Ugh...I'm not a programmer. I was trying to edit my template. I goofed it up a bit and am working it out. BUT, I've added some new content.

- Google Search
- YouTube

Now, I'm trying to control a little bit of the content that YouTube displays - in other words, I don't want anything to offensive blasting across the screen.

With that being said. Enjoy. My blog is starting to generate a bit more traffic and that's fine by me.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Eddie Vedder at the Warner..night 1.



I should have worn a jacket. My first trip to the Warner. Great venue. When I picked up my tickets (pause) Thanks 10C (play) I looked at my tickets.."ok, great - center section...cool, Row L...hmm..1, 2, 3, 4, 5...who cares right...can't wait. Excellent seats...I felt I was in the center of the universe.

Added to the warning at the door should have been "Will not tolerate song requests my drunken/impolite jerk offs. All offenders will be shot." Putting that aside, excellent show. Ed' sounded great and at times I felt like I was in a space not too many people get to be. He made it personable. Thanks Ed.

..oh and Liam Finn opened..what an excellent choice. I urge everyone to check out Liam. Liam is the son of Neil Finn, former/current Crowded House member.

EqualLogic/Dell Firmware Upgrade

So I've noticed that I'm a few firmware versions behind on my EqualLogic/Dell firmware. The other day I got brave and decided to update to the latest supported release, version 3.3.3. I was a bit hesitant on applying the update just because I immediately thought...SAN, firmware...uhhh.. BUT, it was quite easy and painless.

I was able to download the firmware and FTP it over to the storage array, login via a serial connection and run the "update" command. It does require a restart so I thought ok, how am I going to restart my array when I have data on it? Fortunately I have an array that is waiting to be loaded with VM's...but for now, it's empty. I was able to move my data to the other array while online, which I thought was cool. No downtime, no help desk calls...And were talking SQL, Exchange. It took a bit of time to move, but it did and I was happy. Storage vendors say you can do these things but sometimes you always take it with a grain of salt. But not me...I thought, they say you can do it and it should just work. So why not? Once the data was moved, I updated my firmware, restarted, and moved my data back. I thought that was pretty cool..but coming from a SAN newb...all things SAN related are pretty cool.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Michael Phelps and 8000 Calories


Don't get me wrong, Michael Phelps is amazing. BUT! Just remember people, he trains religiously....eat 8000+ calories without exercise and you might end up like this. Think of it as motivation.

Crab Recipes


The one thing I truly love about living in Maryland is the CRABS!!! A visit to Maryland is incomplete with trying crabs. Here are a few recipes taken from area residents that are sure to satisfy.


Hot Crab Dip
Ingredients:
1 lb. backfin crabmeat
8 oz. softened cream cheese
2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbs. mayonnaise
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Mix softened cream cheese with Old Bay, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Add crabmeat and fold in. Place cheese on top and bake at 350 degrees for 34-40 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Cool slightly and serve with crackers of your choice.--Margaret Hurt, Parkton

Michelle and Michael Schaefer's Specials
Ingredients: 1 spoon of mayonnaise
3 pickles
Old Bay seasoning
Crabmeat
Bread -- optional
Instructions:
Break crabmeat apart into small pieces and place in a big bowl.
Chop pickles into small pieces and put them in the bowl, too.
Season with Old Bay to taste.
Add a spoonful of mayonnaise.
Mix together and eat it out of the bowl or make a sandwich.-- Michelle Schaefer, Baltimore

Crab Cakes
Ingredients:
1 lb. lump crabmeat
2 eggs
1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 sprinkle Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp. Old Bay
1 tsp. Horseradish
1 tbs. honey mustard
4 slices bread, no crust
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients except crabmeat.
Fold in crab and form cakes.
Fry at medium heat in 1/4-inch oil until brown on both sides. --Kathleen Weissner, Baltimore

The Perfect Crab Cake
Ingredients:
1 lb. Maryland crab cake meat
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup deli mustard
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup onion powder
A sprinkle of garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients, adding more mayonnaise or breadcrumbs to desired consistency.
Preheat broiler and spray with Pam butter-flavored spray.
Add four patties to broiler and broil for 8-12 minutes until brown and flip and do the same on other side until brown.
Serve with a side of broccoli and baked potato. --Ms. Taylor, Baltimore

Crab Roll
Ingredients:
1/2 lb. crabmeat slightly broken up
1/2 cup soften cream cheese
1 tsp. mayonnaise or salad dressing
Seafood seasoning (Old Bay)
Salt, pepper and paprika to taste
Shredded lettuce
Onions, celery, peppers, mustard
soft tortilla
Instructions:
Mix all ingredients (except crab, lettuce and tortilla shells) together
Spread mixture on tortillas -- cover completely
Put thin layer of crabmeat and lettuce over mixture
Roll very tight
Enjoy flat or cut into strips. --Wayne, Baltimore

Bay Poppers
Ingredients:
1 cup artichoke and spinach dip
1 lb. backfin crabmeat
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Cilantro
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
Instructions:
Mix dip and crab together gently with a fork in bowl. Form golf ball-size cakes. Mix egg with Old Bay, Tabasco, and cilantro and roll poppers in flour and egg wash. Deep fry until golden. Serve with horseradish sauce.--Wes McConnell, Timonium

Online Backups w/ Carbonite

I came across a great way to backup your data. Online backups are increasingly making it's way as a means for home users and businesses alike to backup critical files. With Carbonite, the backups are automatic, secure, encrypted and you can recover files in just a few clicks.

For home users in particular, many backup their data by placing copies of their files and folders in different folders on their hard drive. Many don't realize that if their drive completely fails, there is a good chance that they will lose data. Others put copies on external drives with no redundancy or RAID. This still is a problem because it is still a single point of failure.

With online backups, your data is simply backed up securely over the Internet and housed in offsite storage with built-in redundancy. Once you select the files and folders or your entire computer to be backed up, you set it and forget it. How easy is that?

Carbonite offers unlimited online backup for your small business for only $49.95/year. Try it free!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Maintenance Windows and Monitoring

I had to work last night into this morning due to work being performed on our ancient Leibert UPS that required some parts being replaced. The equipment in our data center needed to be turned off while this was occurring.

For me, I had to put together a listing of our servers and networking gear and determine the "order" of the shutdown process. It was fairly straight-forward, most of the devices sat in groups such as app servers, db servers, file and print, web..etc. And then switches, routers..etc.

Here is where I being to brag about one of our vendors, InfoSys Networks. InfoSys monitors, maintains and configures our networking gear. As part of their monitoring, they also watch our Windows servers so that we/I can be proactive at keeping everything running smoothly. Their monitoring solution, HarborNet is based on OpenSource software which they have further built upon into an excellent solution.

Back to last night. HarborNet really showed it's true value. As servers needed to be brought back online I could easily rely on HarborNet to verify that all of our servers, WAN links, and VPN connections were back up and running. There were even a few Windows services that failed to start that HarborNet quickly identified so that I could start the services.

The point I'm trying to make is that having a monitoring solution in place is critical to maintain a reliable network no matter what size. It allows you to be proactive instead of re-active so that network outages can be prevented and downtime limited. Because HarborNet is based on OpenSource, it can be customized to your liking.

InfoSys Networks also provides solutions for network architecture, network security and WAN redundancy. They are based out of Annapolis, MD.

Friday, August 1, 2008

All the hype with Acai.


I've been getting a lot of SPAM lately, mostly referring to the Acai berry. When I first said the word, I pronounced it as A-Kuy!!! Like Kung Fu, I want to beat you down town...to Chinatown. I was wrong, it's actually pronounced as Ah.Sigh.EE.

Basically, it's a fruit that studies have shown to have many excellent health benefits. BUT...don't go jumping in all at once. There are also some side effects and I've listed them below. The effects are listed mainly due to the Acai having not been thoroughly tested their effectiveness and safety in humans.

- There is no proven safe or effective dose for acai in adults or children.
- Avoid acai in patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or using oral contrast agents for MRI, as acai has been used as an experimental clinical oral contrast agent for MRI of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Acai may aggravate or initiate hypertension (high blood pressure) or edema (swelling). It may also aggravate or initiate gastrointestinal disorders (ulcers or intestinal bleeding).
- Use cautiously in patients taking antineoplastics (anticancer agents).
- Pregnant women or those breastfeeding should not take Acai.
- Acai may have cyclooxygenase COX-1 and COX-2 inhibition properties. Use cautiously with anti-inflammatory medications due to possible additive effects.
- Acai may have antiproliferative effects. Use cautiously with medication used in the treatment of cancer, such as antineoplastics, due to possible additive effects.

These were taken from Healthline.Com