Diary of a Network Geek

No, I haven’t done it. Yet.

But, when I do, I probably won’t end up using MythTV, like I thought I would. Rather, I think I’ll be using BoxxeeBox. Where MythTV is geared toward making a DVR, like Tivo, BoxxeeBox is more geared toward making home theater/multimedia machine, which is really what I want.

So, yeah, there are options.  Check this one out if you’re thinking about building a home theater machine.  It’s worth considering.

(And, yes, I’m trying to clean out old posts that have been lingering as drafts again.  New Year and all.)

I’ve been doing a lot more on my phone lately.

I’m not really big into the latest and greatest phone technology.  I don’t go out and grab the latest phone just because it’s come out and has new bells and whistles.  No, really!  But, I have to admit, my new iPhone has pretty much taken over a significant portion of my technological life.  And, I’m pretty much okay with that, because I love it.  One of these days, Real Soon Now, I’m going to write up a review of the VNC software I use on it to manage my servers remotely.  But, until then, I’m going to give you a quick high-light of something absolutely miraculous: secure shell sessions for your phone.

Yeah, now, notice that I didn’t write “for your iPhone”, but, rather, “for your phone”.  There are actually secure shell clients for all three of the big smartphone players; Blackberry, iPhone and Palm.
Now, for those of you not sure what I’m talking about, that’s okay, it’s a geek thing.  Secure shell is a protocol that hardcore, professional geeks like me use to securely access remote systems.  In a nutshell, it’s like Telnet, another hardcore geek tool, but it doesn’t pass information like usernames or passwords in “clear text“, which makes it more secure.  And, that’s the reason guys like me use it.  It lets us securely access servers remotely over networks in ways that don’t endanger our networks or users.  It used to be really only for Unix and Linux, but there are secure shell clients for just about everything now.  Frankly, more professional geeks should be using it for a lot of reasons, but many don’t.

Regardless, I think we’ve reached the pinnacle of technology when I can get a secure shell client for every major smartphone out there.  What that means is I can securely access virtually any kind of server from my phone, where there is a speedy enough data link.  Think about that for a second.  From my PHONE, I can securely access servers, wherever I may happen to have the freakish whim to do so and can get a decent cell signal.
I remember back in the days when you had to have an actual dial-up MODEM to get into servers remotely.  There was no method, secure or otherwise, to get into a server from home or anywhere else.  Now, I can do it, securely, from my PHONE!  How crazy is that?  Seriously!
So, if you want to be able to do that, too, here are links to three reviews of SSH software for the various smartphones. They should all have links to where you can actually download the software, if you want it.
SSH for Blackberry
SSH for iPhone
SSH for PalmOS

Also?  There are lots of applications for managing Windows servers, especially for the iPhone.  Check out Managing Servers and other systems from the iPhone.  It’s why I couldn’t hardly wait for the prices to come down to reasonable levels and why I babble about how there’s an app for everything on this iPhone. Really, it’s made so many things so much easier for me, I cannot begin to tell you.
But, I may just try.

There’s a new version of Wireshark out.

If that means nothing to you, then you’re not one of my geek readers.  And, that’s cool.  Hold on and something more interesting will be coming for you soon.

For those of you who are geeks, check this out, okay?  There are tons of improvements, including a Windows 64-bit installer, improved reports and assorted output, the inclusion of GeoIP lookups, and many, many more.  I’ve used Wireshark, on and off, for several years now and these are really good additions.  I especially dig the ability to lookup where IPs may be coming from more easily.  I often have to deal with international TCP/IP traffic and knowing which is from where can be really helpful.
And, yes, there is still a version for Mac and Linux, besides the new Windows versions.

So, go check this out.  If you didn’t want to fillow the link above to Lifehacker, you can just jump right to the Wireshark site to see their marketing pitch on the latest version.  And, of course, it’s still all free.

So, last month, I was talking about rolling your own distro.  This week, it’s rolling your own LiveCD.

Over at TechRepublic, they ran an article on using some tools built into Ubuntu to make your own, custom Ubuntu LiveCD.  For those of you not in the know, a “LiveCD” is a bootable version of an operating system, in this case Linux, that will run from the CD without installing on the workstation.  It’s a great way to try out a new operating system or bring a portable, emergency software toolkit with you without damaging or changing a PC.

The tool, for my fellow wireheads, is called Reconstructor and the article pretty well takes you through step-by-step on how to do it.  Well worth the read if you’re a Linux geek, most especially if your distro is Ubuntu.

Well, okay, maybe not non-geeks, but non-network-geeks, at least.

As many of you well know, I am almost always pressed for time. That’s partly due to my work, which seems to include more and more front-line support and less and less networking coolness. It’s just the way things go. In any case, …

So, don’t be intimidated by this. You can diagnose most of your own network problems. Just head on over to the Linux Journal’s website, where Mike Diehl has written a pretty comprehensive article on Troubleshooting Network Problems. Oh, and don’t let the fact that it’s on a Linux website throw you, he has tips for Windows users, too.

Okay, it’s not quite Apple’s Time Machine, but close.

Mac users know all about Time Machine. It’s a really great feature of OS X that makes small, incremental backups of your system. It lets you roll back changes to both system and data files to a particular time and day. The backups work pretty quietly and seamlessly, too. I have to admit, it’s one of the coolest features of OS X.

Well, if you’re a Linux user, now, you can get the same thing, more or less. It’s called Back In Time, and it requires a little more knowledge and setup, but the idea is basically the same. Oh, and it’s free, but if you all use it, and like it, they do as for donations to support their efforts.

If you use Linux, it’s worth checking out.

(And, yes, I know I’m late and this is not the post I talked about at the Geek Gathering Friday night.  I also overslept by an hour this morning.  I think it’s going to be a long week.)

My regular readers all know how much I love Linux.

Okay, I’ll admit that I don’t run it as my main OS, but I love it for servers. Truly, truly, I do. I use it for all kinds of things, including my own, home-grown imaging system. Sure, it’s not Novell’s ZENWorks, but it does work pretty well. Back in the days when everyone seemed to be coming out with their own specialized distribution, I always thought it would be fun to roll one of my own. Yeah, I know, I am such a geek!

Anyway, thanks to PC Plus, you can roll your own Linux distro. Hit the link to see their super-excellent tutorial.

Or are you just happy to be using opensource software?

I never know if I should capitalize “opensource”. Should it be OpenSource? Gah, I hate stuff like that!
But, I love Linux. I may not be incredibly well versed in the ways of Ubuntu, but, that’s okay because now I can download a free pocket guide to Ubuntu in PDF format. Of course, you could buy the $10 print version, but why?

So, c’mon you Linux geeks and wannabe Linux geeks! Go get it!

No, really, it’s way, way too easy.

Why do I say that? Because an eight-year old has just become an MCSE.
Look, there’s a lot of debate in the industry around how valuable certifications really are. Most of us know that the only real value that certifications have are to get you past Human Resources and in front of a hiring manager who actually knows the technical side well enough to know if you’re really qualified. Sure, I’ve got my Novell and a Linux certification and, yes, that attracts Headhunters who have to sort us some way, but they’re not an accurate measure of what I can really do. I’ve never bothered to get my Microsoft certifications, though I probably should. I haven’t bothered because they’ve got the worst reputation for being so-called paper certifications. It’s possible to get them without ever having touched a machine with Microsoft systems installed on it at all. A point proven by an eight-year old completing the certification.
What is wrong with that picture Microsoft?

Whoa!

Okay, this is for the geeks, specifically for the Netware geeks, like me. Novell has canceled next year’s BrainShare. It’s not clear whether this is just due to a really bad economic situation this year, or whether this will be permanent, but, after 20 years, Novell has canceled their premier convention/training session/user-conference. It does not give me a good feeling for the future of Novell or Netware in general. (If you’re interested, you can read the actual announcement here: Novell BrainShare.)

Wow.
I’m just so shocked I’m not sure what else to say.

Netware was the first real, viable Local Area Network operating system that wasn’t UNIX or some other mainframe system. Yes, there were others, Banyan VINES, SCO XENIX, and even the early Windows Server, but none were as robust and easy to use in those early days as Novell’s Netware. And, you could load it on what was basically a high-powered desktop machine. It might not run well on that, but you could do it.
Novell was the first certification I got when I was new to the network-geek-game. Back in the day, Netware was the thing to know. Now, it seems like a dead, or dying, technology. Now, we’re all learning Linux and UNIX, which, of course, was what Netware was modeled after. Wow, the times, they are a changing.

So, if you’re a fellow network geek like me, I’d love to hear your opinions in the comments. I have to say, I’m really shocked by this news. It cannot mean good things for Novell, even if they only cancel for this year and start up again next year.