enterprise data storage, administration, and research

Notice: Due to growth of the MySQL database that powers this site, a daily reboot is taking place at 4am ET to clear memory. This will continue until we install another 2GB memory. We have just increased the MySQL key buffer size to accomodate the load.

I have been working on my BBS (Bulletin Board System) and adding many new items. Besides the legacy telnet interface (a legacy internet access tool that was used before the invention of the ‘Web) there is now the addition of astronomy USENET newsgroups. This is linked to my astronomy blog, astroblog.
Implementing an expansion of FIDONET. Our current Fido conferences are part of Familynet (8:8/440): I have just filled out a FidoNet node application so this system can become a full-fledged FidoNet node. RminiNet (900:100/3140) is going to be back on line this month. This system has just been installed on a new server: a Dell Precision workstation with dual Xeon processors. An additional identical server has been installed that will eventually be clustered to this one to ensure greater fault tolerance.
- Steve Johns

From sakacc: YouTube vid on PowerPath install for VMWare:

Read an interview with the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee as he discusses the future of the technology. Read the article from EMC here.

This is a paper from a class on Oracle database administration that I had taken recently, and it describes different types of database administrators and some tools of Oracle.

ABSTRACT

The DBA is the administrator who plans, designs, implements, tests, operates, and maintains databases for an organization. The DBA wears many hats: there are numerous types of DBAs that contribute to the overall database functionality. This paper will examine the most common types of database administrators and the duties of each. Additionally, we will examine the database monitoring tools and Optimal Flexible Architecture, and how the DBA can administer security, performance tuning, and backup and recovery of the database.

Read the paper on the enterprise storage blog, Storageseek.org

Some crafty scammers are playing the numbers game in hopes of cashing in on Toyota’s massive recall. Here’s the problem. Look at the following two phone numbers. One is real and the other is real bad.

Toyota Number: 1-800-331-4331
Scam Number: 1-800-331-4431

The first number is the official number for the Toyota recall. It will be Toyota on the other end of the line. Now, look at the scam number and notice how similar it is to Toyota’s number. Apparently, it’s human nature than when you try to dial the real number, you may unintentionally dial an additional four. The scammers bought that number and are on the other end of that line.
“You get a quick message that says really, really fast that you’re going to be charges $5.96 on your phone bill if you call this other number,” said Tim Burns with the Better Business Bureau. “Then it goes into a message saying that because of the volume of calls, they would like you to call this other number for more information. When you call that number, your phone bill gets billed, plus then they ask you for information like your Social Security number to say they’re processing your request. What happens is you lose $5.96 plus you’re probably going to be a victim of identity theft if you fall for this scam.”
The worst part about this is that the scam number has made its way onto wire service reports and into many newspapers, including some here in metro Detroit.

Be careful when dialing Toyota. The real Toyota number is 1-800-331-4331.
MURRAY FELDMAN
WJBK | myFOX Detroit

Hopefully the authorities would have disconnected this number by the time you read this…

S.J.

This is a good article about the latest and baddest scam from The Red Tape Chronicles on the latest internet scam, ransomware. Many PC users are falling for this one, as the fake antivirus software that is demanding money from you looks so real. What happens is that sometimes you will get a pop-up on your computer that says that your computer is at risk, and many uninformed PC users click on it, and then: BAM – the software installs itself on your PC. Suddenly you cannot surf the Web or use certain applications, as these are being blocked by the fake security software unless you pay them $70 for their so-called registered version.

Read the article here. This is another extortion scam from those organized crime scumbags in Europe.

Since we are upgrading our EMC CLARiiON CX3 to a CX4 this month, EMC has suggested that I get some LUN’s off of the vault (I didn’t put them there) and migrate them to another series of LUN’s. The vault is an array of disks used for storing the system cache – I never liked having other LUN’s on it. So, I am migrating LUN’s off of it, and this is taking some time due to the amount of data. To migrate a LUN is simple:

First, it is required to have some spare LUN’s on a RAID group(s) that are the same size or greater as the source LUN. Right-click on the LUN to migrate (source) and select migrate. A selection of prospective targets LUNs will be displayed. Select the target and the migrate. Very simple. The target will assume the identity (LUN number) of the source LUN when the migration is completed, and this is entirely transparent to the host that is using the LUN and there will be no interruption in LUN access on the host. The migration could take some time depending on the amount of data of course.

*Advisory*

Cybercriminals have launched a search engine campaign to exploit the earthquake in Haiti.  Searches for “Haiti earthquake donate” or “Haiti earthquake donation” yield malicious links leading to rogue anti-virus products that will take control of a user’s computer.  E-mails are also being circulated claiming to help victims of the earthquake by having the user click a malicious link to donate money. 

If you are considering donating, please do so thru a reputable charity and go directly to their website(s).  Do not respond to unsolicited e-mails.

** Thanks Mari !

From http://blogs.msdn.com/securitytipstalk/archive/2009/12/17/plagued-by-the-privacy-center-learn-how-to-remove-it.aspx :

There is a new fakeware out on the ‘Net that looks like a anti-malware application, and it installs on your PC automatically without your permission. As with most fake software, it is actually spyware disguised as a ligitamate anti-virus or anti-spyware/malware program. A popular one currently is Privacy Center -this is not a Microsoft application. Click here to learn how to identify it and rmove it.

Here is the announcement from Microsoft:
“Privacy Center is not Microsoft software. It’s a new form of fake antimalware software (also known as rogue security software) that pretends to help protect your computer, but is really a new form of spyware. It can slow down your computer and damage your files.

To remove the Privacy Center, download and use Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft Windows Defender, the Windows Live safety scanner, or another up-to-date scanning and removal tool.

For more technical information, see the Microsoft Malware Protection Center: Win32/Privacy Center.”

Computer Associates has a good article on this also at: http://community.ca.com/blogs/securityadvisor/archive/2008/10/14/two-good-looking-windows-security-centers-one-fake-one-real.aspx

The Microsoft Office name is being leveraged by cybercriminals in two new campaigns meant to infect users’ machines. Email security firm Red Condor on Thursday warned of a spear phishing run in which messages appear to be invitations for recipients to update their Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access settings. Following the link, however, leads to the pernicious, data-stealing Zeus trojan. In another scam, searches for “office.microsoft.com” is leading to malicious websites hawking rogue anti-virus programs, internet security vendor Websense said Friday in a blog post.

Here are a few pics of my equipment. Right is the Ubuntu Server cloud that is being developed. It consists of a central cloud controller and a node controller.

The picture on the left is a shot of an a telnet BBS (Bulletin Board System) that has been running since the early 1990’s. The BBS was one of the origional means of public internet access. The top server is a soon-to-be scrapped web server, the middle is OhioFreeNet.org, and the bottom two are the future OhioFreeNet.org cluster. OhioFreeNet.org is the BBS. Go to http://ohiofreenet.org or you can open a command prompt or a dailer application and telnet to tek1systems.com. Have fun with some computing nostalgia and see what the internet looked like before the invention of the world wide web in 1993. BTW, the HP LC2000 server on the right of the BBS is a spare web server.

It began in the 1980’s. The universities first provided public internet access in the early 80’s, and soon home power users were developing access software that ran on Commador 64’s, Tandy’s, and Atari computers. Electronic communities soon had become popular, accessable via the humble dial up modem. There are still a lot of them around, although most are telnet access. I still run a BBS out of my home: http://ohiofreenet.org & telnet://tek1systems.com

Approaching the end of my graduate studies, I have been researching a thesis subject. Since I administer a SAN, I will write about a subject that I work with frequently – iSCSI or fiber channel over IP. IP is being re-discovered, so to speak, within the world of fiber optic topologies. We are seeing long-range trunks within SAN WAN’s consisting of FCIP (Fiber Channel over IP) that extend fiber networks over wide area networks. iSCSI on the other hand could be beneficial to the bottom line, as it provides access to storage targets via Ethernet that reside on a fiber-based SAN.

I have stashed a lot of content on StorageSeek.org - stay tuned.