tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27151124876255953102024-03-14T03:09:50.663-04:00blog.storming01101001.01100101.00111001<br>
<i>taking interest in all things digital</i>randyjcresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18093514341259038179noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-60905683247796137022018-12-24T01:51:00.000-05:002018-12-24T07:13:02.161-05:00an outlook for security improvements in 2019 v18.12.24.txtAs we wrap up 2018, my news feeds and various email inboxes are littered with security breaches, security vendor hardware, software and training solutions.<br>
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All citing an infamous undertone of someone that clicked on a bad link ultimately ending in unwanted code execution that led to more code execution and finally data exfiltration.<br>
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I am taken aback by our current ecosystem of general purpose operating systems and their bloated sense of "purpose". <br>
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When is the last time you purchased multi-layer security solutions for your best of breed gaming platforms in your home network environment? How often do you bludgeon your children's minds with security awareness training when downloading skins, avatars, games and expansion packs from the respective console gaming platforms online stores? Do you recognize the computational power, network connectivity and deeply connected devices in your most personal home networks linked to video cameras, door locks and vast array of sensors in your living space?<br>
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Most likely you don't, and rightfully so. Because of trust. Trust that the underlying operating systems are doing one fundamental task that needs to be invoked and placed on the highest pedestal and given the most attention in your business networks: <br>
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Code execution should only occur from digitally signed publishers that undergo a formal submission process to be included in a formal release cycle. <br>
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I believe this one simple solution applied to operating systems within business networks would have a profound impact on our overall security and anti-security ecosystem. Probably so much so that security vendors would end up with no reason to exist in their current capacity. <br>
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This is scary for many in the security industry, almost reminiscent of using oil to power gasoline engines to turn wheels on vehicles for personal transportation. Oh wait, we still do that as well, maybe 2019 will be different.randyjcresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18093514341259038179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-60526463151280071692018-12-11T01:09:00.001-05:002018-12-11T01:13:29.408-05:00eeg and strava quick thoughts v18.12.11.txt- geocoding EEG raw data and presenting it in a Maner similar to Strava for performance data.<div><br></div><div>- Allow for tagging throughout the recording process to annotate key events (think strava sections and KOM). Ex: completion of a significant task, researching and full focus reading specific types of articles.</div><div><br></div><div>- monitoring of facial expressions during meeting to catch subtle insights and characteristics to coincide with Otter or Voicera timestamps</div><div><br></div><div>- BCI with webhooks for high confidence indicators</div><div><br></div>randyjcresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18093514341259038179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-22256814065913611562017-04-23T00:42:00.000-04:002017-04-23T00:42:00.799-04:00potential future of smart glasses v17.04.23.txt- ideal smart glasses:<br />
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<li>bluetooth low-energy to smartphone for connectivity and local compute resources</li>
<li>dual heads-up display with full overlay</li>
<ul>
<li>black-out mode for immersive virtual reality</li>
<li>transparency mode for virtual reality combined with augmented reality</li>
</ul>
<li>bone conductor technology for audio</li>
<li>two split microphones for stereo sound processing</li>
<li>auto-tinting lenses vs. swappable (polarized)</li>
<li>video recording at 1080p or higher</li>
<li>haptic feedback - low frequency waves through transducer (bone conducting)</li>
<li>sweat and water resistant</li>
<li>pluggable to external power bank via cable through glasses retainers (ie: croakies)</li>
<li>eye tracking</li>
</ul>
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- processing capabilities:</div>
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<ul>
<li>motion sense to read own hand gestures for audio/video start/stop</li>
<li>integration with cloud-based natural language processing (siri, alexa, cortana, google, etc)</li>
<li>augmented reality overlays (like snapchat, better than recon pro)</li>
<li>cloud sync of audio/video recording</li>
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<li>speech to text for metadata indexing throughout the day</li>
<li>video post processing for object recognition</li>
</ul>
<li>use of smartphone gps coordinates for onscreen maps</li>
</ul>
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- eliminated devices</div>
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<ul>
<li>smart watches</li>
<li>dash cameras</li>
<li>in-car gps</li>
<li>airpods, headphones, earbuds</li>
<li>sunglasses</li>
<li>body cams (public safety)</li>
<li>vr glasses</li>
</ul>
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- second-life like but in the physical world</div>
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<li>imagine looking at someone through these glasses and their attire has been replaced with digital attire and is based on their current physical clothes contain <a href="http://optitrack.com/motion-capture-animation/" target="_blank">markers</a> like optitrack and what you see is a augmented reality version of the digital clothes the individual wanted you to see?</li>
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<li>this would be akin to avatar building on an xbox 360 but for your own self interacting in the physical world.</li>
<li>sports celebrity players could have dynamic stats show on their clothes along with rotating advertisements (eye tracking) could gauge your interest in specific areas and natural language processing could be used to request more information to be displayed dynamically at the bottom of the heads-up display</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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- all technologies exist today and just need to be converged.</div>
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randyjcresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18093514341259038179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-70340297092814321642017-03-29T06:49:00.000-04:002017-03-29T07:03:14.254-04:00internet privacy protections vs. encryption - quick thoughts v17.03.29.txt- privacy loss will surge measures to ensure <a href="https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere" target="_blank">https everywhere</a><br />
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- chrome and firefox will implement this extension or variant in next application releases<br />
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- opendns will push for mainstream dnscrypt - commercial customers running umbrella already have this feature. isps running dns will become a less popular choice<br />
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- google's famous 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 will adapt for a customer friendly option to encrypt dns traffic<br />
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- iot traffic will become very valuable - consumers unaware if continuous data streams are encrypted<br />
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- opportunity for router manufactures to inform owners of potentially unsafe traffic being passed (of course this gives them ability to inspect)<br />
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- iot manufacturers tokenize term to ensure individual's privacy of data in transit<br />
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- awaiting a technology response to make this seamless for all internet citizensrandyjcresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18093514341259038179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-33507883744743937962017-03-27T05:04:00.000-04:002017-03-27T05:04:13.787-04:00iPad Pro with multipoint force touch and regional haptic feedback to iot household item restocking v17.03.27.txtiPad Pro becomes the platform with force touch that allows for multiple points to recognize various pressures with regional haptic feedback<br />
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Immersive interaction giving a z-level to object and applications. Game changer for UI design when working with flat surfaces - depth would add the ability to move through 3D space. App developers and UX designers would have a field day!<br />
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If weight could be determined this could be modified for a flexible roll application to put in kitchen cabinets to detect and read food weights for automatic reordering based on consumption - would need to figure out how to deal with non OCD item placement (kids)<br />
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No need for target subscriptions or amazon dash buttons. Data for household item consumption data could be send back to the company supplying the flexible fabric to understand daily consumption with a massive amount of data to parse.<br />
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Could link to calorie consumption, over or under eating and recommendations for eating habit adjustments (diets) - links back to Apple health app<br />
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<br />randyjcresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18093514341259038179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-83728441001325200582017-03-26T12:37:00.002-04:002017-03-26T12:42:56.296-04:00citrix acquisition by microsoft - speculations on what could happen - v17.03.26.txtentertaining the thoughts of a Citrix acquisition by Microsoft (only speculation)<br />
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- Windows desktops are going away, Windows apps are as well<br />
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- utilize Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop to hang on to published apps in the azure platform</div>
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- consume Netscaler VPX as your azure engine of choice to replace the long history of proxy server and isa server and threat management gateway. Microsoft needs this more than Cisco and with the nitro API, MS could hide all of the complicated parts within the azure dashboard</div>
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- make HTML5 mainstream for azure-based Microsoft apps</div>
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- use HDX adaptive transport (over UDP) to compete with PCoIP (VMware competition for the long-haul)</div>
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- incorporate ShareFile into OneDrive for Business to enhance it's positioning against Google G-Suite apps, using network connectors to bring in on-premise file server data will help with compliance concerns</div>
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- be thankful that GoTo products are are broken off since that would compete with Skype</div>
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- use Microsoft lingo and drop: Enterprise, Platinum, etc and go to X1, X3, X5 for feature plans</div>
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- work relentlessly and tireless with Citrix and Microsoft teams to fix roaming profile issues and reduce the size of this ecosystem of product offerings that should have never existed. MDM yes, profile management no.</div>
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- move all Octoblu teams in with Microsoft Flow and get a solid IoT platform running in Azure to compete with Amazon offerings - tie in Cortona</div>
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- should Microsoft try again an the Windows phone market or just give in - if they intend to carry the Surface line of tablets over 5 years it would be wise to have a companion handheld compute device. Otherwise, drop the Surface and let the OEM manufacturers handle this</div>
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- merge XenMobile and Intune - make it simple and compatible with all major OSes (drop Windows mobile from that list, not worth it)</div>
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- realize that Windows App Store was dead on arrival, drop it and make the acquisition of Citrix your launch point to make all apps (Windows, Cloud, iOS, Android) accessible through SSO (with Active Directory as your IdP) </div>
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- end of thought</div>
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randyjcresshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18093514341259038179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-6139199731451870822011-07-17T10:52:00.000-04:002017-03-25T10:43:02.197-04:00vmware esxi5 licensing thoughts v11.17.07.txtAt surface level it looks to set an expectation of two things for their hypervisor: an assumed amount of memory allocated to a VM, and the role of the VM (server or client based). Unfortunately they are basing this off of today's model.<br />
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Example:<br />
Server role: paying $6990 per 96GB RAM sounds like 24-32 VMs per box (2cpu,4core)<br />
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Now when you have a (2cpu,12core) host with 192GB RAM, they lost an additional $6990 revenue and you gained 24-32 more VMs. The new licening model is a way for VMware to get that money back before the cores/RAM grow too quickly. That is the smart move on their part to capitalize on Intel and AMD's progress.<br />
Unfortunately, it stiffles innovation: ie allocating large RAM amounts to VMs for system cache (thinking Citrix PVS and other RAM caching software) that would dramatically reduce SAN IOPS. How thoughtful of them considering EMC is their parent company, since we all can agree that the most compelling reason to increase the RAM on a VM is to decrease the OS interaction with the slower disk subsystem. So long are the days of dreaming of a read-only OS with all system and application exectuables and dlls pre-cached in RAM ready to serve out apps with near 0 READ IOs and an efficient use or WRITE IOs when there is something important to put on disk.. We'll all continue to run Java QuickStarter, Adobe SpeedLaunch, and AntiVirus programs that thrash our disk arrays with wasted READ and WRITE IOs and buy bigger and better caching storage arrays to mitigate the problem.<br />
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Client role: with the desktop virtualization license from VMware, they now consider the role of the VM running on their hypervisor to matter? This is a very blurry line as we move out a few years and does provide incentive to only run their View product on ESXi 5 instead of any other brokers (thinking XenDesktop). Will there soon be a new cost for using 3rd party security VM appliances instead of vShield because of the role of the VM? When does running Microsoft Windows explorer.exe as your desktop shell not matter, and launching Windows applications from Apple IOS and Google Android desktop OS back to a multi-user Windows "Server" OS running Terminal Services and XenApp finally defeat spinning up hundreds of "Client" OS VMs? Maybe when VPNs die and application virtualization matures.. maybe..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-69506497139022514402010-10-17T13:26:00.000-04:002017-03-25T10:42:47.988-04:00art of desktop and application virtualization v10.17.10.txtPreparing for a presentation at the fall NCGLISA conference on desktop and application virtualization. Topics will include include real world scenarios for implementing desktop virtualization for an entire organization and how to get there. I am a bit disappointed that everyone is playing off VDI as a point-specific technology. With the help of application virtualization and presentation virtualization you can form a strategy to centralize the full scope of your project.<br />
This concept is akin to private cloud with other goals of be dynamic via scalibility and app agile.. well, as agile as you can get with Windows-based applications.<br />
A key point to remember is that Windows is a multi-user operating system. I think this valuable tidbit has been lost over time during the VDI hype cycle. This should lead you to think that I am not a proponent of delivering XP, Vista, or Windows 7 VMs to users.. if so, you are right.. until I hear that the Windows operating system is no longer multi-user then I'll rethink that last statement.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-88070072286156551872010-04-08T03:14:00.000-04:002017-03-25T10:43:24.489-04:00apple ipad yar with other thoughts v10.08.04.txtOk, so after looking at my predictions for the iPad, I guess it was just more wishful thinking than reality.. <br />
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So, there was plently of room for a multi-color LED it was not included. Seriously, how difficult would it be to put an LED in the bezel so you can tell if you have a new email when you flip open the case? The background email checks with the little new email sound is nice, but with no customization I don't think it would be fun in a room with one or more iPads (think classroom)<br />
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The Citrix Receiver for the iPad and immediate followup with the Citrix 2.2 Receiver as a wireless mouse for the iPhone was timed perfectly for that thin client proving ground concept. It works great, it takes all of 2 minutes to setup and really if as simple as your email client.<br />
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Thoughts for the industry, start using SRV records for services over the internet in a more simple approach. Upon watching the iPad waiting to resolve where my ActiveSync service was located for Exchange, it prompted a quick Google search that revealed the AutoDiscover process and the use of SRV records. The implementation is undesirable to say the least. Why would the service name be called _autodiscover? That is the point of the SRV records, the service name should be named the service that is being offered!! IE: _msactivesync, exchangeowa, etc.. AutoDiscover is precisely what the SRV records do, not something that should be shoved into on particular product and branded.. (thanks marketing.. your always there to stifle technology)<br />
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Along this same concept, Citrix should do the same for finding your external entry point for your CAG, CSG, WI, or whatever you may have stood up in front of the server farm. That would really fall in line with the Dazzle concept quite nicely.<br />
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As for the iPad and the lack of filesystem.. this may have merit on the iPhone/iPod Touch, but makes for very unstable approach when you attempt to use the larger device as a laptop replacement. I am not sure why you would take the time to expose your photo album across all applications and then sandbox all documents to each individual application. And yes, the functionality is there.. I am waiting to jailbreak the device just so I can symlink the documents folders from each installed application to a central location. The reality of this limitation is as follows...<br />
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You received a .doc/.docx attachment in you email client, if you have Pages installed, you have a nice "Open in Pages" integration button (so much for non-Apple apps doing the same.. follow your own rules Apple) the .doc now is in Pages, but you really want to make it available to GoodReader and file it away since it isn't something you need to edit.. Not possible.. unless you throw the .doc to a cloud-based storage service and pull it back down.. why should I have to do that when the .doc file is sitting in the filesystem already?? Again, this is a major short coming.. keep in mind without multitasking of non-Apple apps, you would never have to worry about document contention either..<br />
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Aside from that, it is just like any other weather report.. all of the nice things and expected things that could be said will just be forgotten or assumed. I would like to see a case that incorporates a holder for the iPhone or iPod touch and more app developers taking advantage of bluetooth or ad-hoc wifi pairing to create interesting mixes.. heading off to test the Camera A, Camera B app now..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-92066065980349666082010-01-31T01:33:00.002-05:002017-03-25T10:43:41.069-04:00twitter zero following change predicted v10.31.01.txtNot really anti-social here, but there is an inherent problem with twitter that will likely cause people to rethink their following lists. The 0 following may reduce DM functionality but there are always tradeoffs and mentions are fine in a public timeline perspective.<br />
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30 minute follow-up, it would appear that the linkage is stronger if you protect your tweets..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-64169409981360295792010-01-24T14:52:00.004-05:002017-03-25T10:44:20.718-04:00apple 10-inch ipod slate pad err qualcomm tablet best guess v10.24.01.txtEveryone gets a guess at this right? It is brilliant that Apple can keep something like this from mainstream media so well.<br />
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My best guess without justifications:<br />
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- Qualcomm Mirasol 10" display to advance the ebook reader market<br />
- Qualcomm Snapdragon single-core with 1-2GB RAM, 32-64GB NVRAM<br />
- Qualcomm GOBI chip supporting over-the-air activation for AT&T and Verizon<br />
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- Based on iPhone OS 4.0 with code-signing and application approval through AppStore, not a full OSX.<br />
- More initial applications that run backgrounded besides Safari and Mail.<br />
- Push notification will be more robust.<br />
- A multi-color LED indicator<br />
- Limited theming (based on AppStore approved themes)<br />
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- Price: $599<br />
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- Time to jailbreak: 4-7 weeks from launch date by @geohotUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-83888065165850321252010-01-18T17:13:00.004-05:002017-03-25T10:44:37.640-04:00yet another vmware zimbra take v10.18.01.txt<div>
Yet another response to zimbra acquisition by vmware.. in this case, the catalyst was an article provided by Gestalt IT: <a href="http://gestaltit.com/all/tech/virtualization/rich/vmware-zimbra-vmail">http://gestaltit.com/all/tech/virtualization/rich/vmware-zimbra-vmail</a></div>
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First, no software application should be "optimized" for a specific hypervisor. Citrix claims this with XenApp and then doesn't openly publish what the optimizations are. Why do I want a hacked up hypervisor that can run specific applications faster than others? Imagine if RAM and Hard Drive manufacturers started making claims that Adobe Photoshop runs faster because of specific optimizations on the controllers provided by Crucial and Western Digital.</div>
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VMware's sudden diversity isn't really all that sudden, they've stagnated Thinstall's application a year ago while they were trying to break into the application virtualization market. While I would love to see the product mature, it appears to have back burnered it to launch VMware View without an effective way to delivery applications with minimal images. Read the forums regularly, you'll understand the dilemma.</div>
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Finally, to the Zimbra purchase. IMHO, email is already a hybrid cloud solution with dependencies on DNS (hybrid cloud) and plenty of users and devices connecting from disparate internet connections. Plenty of businesses have moved their primary mail exchangers (MX) into the cloud for spam filtering since it tends to reduce the amount of traffic to filter locally thus providing more bandwidth. </div>
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After that is done let's get to the real issue if you move your mailboxes into the cloud in an environment with many LAN users. If every user has to pull an email over the internet that contains a 1MB attachment (work-related or not) then you've just increased your demands on your internet pipe. With an in-house solution, that 1MB email came in from the outside and now can be redistributed to users internally without the need for any additional internet bandwidth consumption. If their solution involves "caching" VMs, I don't think we've simplified IT, we've just made it more complex.</div>
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Are they "EMC/VMware" planning to utilize the RSA wing to make the product compliant with security regulations.. much like's Google's purchase of Postini for Google App users? What about the VCE coalition and Cisco's purchase of Ironport? Could that be the agreed upon spam firewall in the cloud as well? I can't seem to get a timeline on when the Ironport will be virtual appliance, so maybe not anytime soon. </div>
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When it is all said and done, it's just email and it either has a per socket cost with mailbox scalability limits or it's another per mailbox charge. </div>
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Imagine VMware/Zimbra as a slider bar:</div>
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[Microsoft Exchange] <----> [VMware/Zimbra] <----> [Google Apps/Postini]</----></----></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-28683832821935675642010-01-14T00:50:00.007-05:002017-03-25T10:45:01.081-04:00adobe 9.3 remote code fix security categories v10.14.01.txtAfter the upmteenth time of having to upgrade Adobe Acrobat Reader because of remote code exploits that we see everyday, I took a look under Edit - Preferences and noticed the "Security" and "Security (Enhanced)" tabs are visible in 9.2 and in 9.3. Although there are slight changes, just the fact of having a "security" category with an "advanced security" button and yet another "security (enhanced)" category it is time for some consolidation, or maybe not!<br />
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<sarcasm><br />My suggestion, based on current industry practices and just to clarify would be to go with the following new categories:<br /><br />Security (Bronze)<br />Security (Silver)<br />Security (Gold)<br />Security (Platinum)<br />Security (Titanium)<br />Security (Titanium Plus)<br />Security (No really, we mean it, we are just going to render PDF files, you'll be safe, really!)</sarcasm><br />
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Your own recommendation for the security flaw in 9.2 (<a href="http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa09-07.html">APSA09-07</a>) involves making a change under Edit -> Preferences category for the javascript blacklist functionality. Again, not even under the security category.. Maybe it's time to take some of your money put into the <a href="http://www.nosltd.com/index.php/products/nos-installation">NOS Installer</a> and invest into a 3rd party company to address your security issues instead.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-68990797668273140082010-01-12T23:04:00.004-05:002017-03-25T10:45:14.380-04:00an app for me v10.12.01.txtAfter watching to special on CBNC about apps, I decided to submit an idea to MEDL's App Incubator: <a href="http://www.medlmobile.com/index.php?page=viewapp&appId=4">http://www.medlmobile.com/index.php?page=viewapp&appId=4</a><br />
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The app is plain and simple and should be free.. however I can see MEDL charging users to create the app, but that is up to them.<br />
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Google search: "there's an app for that" - 21,400,00 results : <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ye837en">http://tinyurl.com/ye837en</a><br />
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Google search: "there's an app for me" - 8 (eight) results : <a href="http://tinyurl.com/y9dcu9s">http://tinyurl.com/y9dcu9s</a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">(maybe this post will make 9)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>The app is simple, I tell a person, there's an app for me and they just search the appstore for randyjcress download it (for free) and then you'll they'll a quick button for all of my contact info.<br />
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Now, this could be static data in the app, or pulled for MEDL's servers via a webservice that I could login to an change.. ie: my facebook, twitter, and linkedin accounts would be obivous, but it could also have my work and mobile phone depending on user's that download and run the app.. but that is getting more complicated for the initial idea.<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></span>So let's hope MEDL likes that idea or anyone that can compile and submit a simple app to the appstore.. then I can buy a t-shirt from<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><a href="http://www.vistaprint.com/t-shirts.aspx">VistaPrint</a> with my app icon, name and "There's an app for me".<br />
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As a side note, regardless, I think I'll hack up some webapp code and atleast be able to publish a webapp with a full screen UI that will link to my pages. I am still not sure why developers that are frustrated about their apps that depend on data service don't just make webapps in the interim?? IPSwitch did a great job with their internal <a href="http://www.whatsupgold.com/products/mobile.aspx">WhatsUp Gold Mobile Access </a>for the iPhone!<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-60061361656204773132009-12-31T16:06:00.002-05:002017-03-25T10:45:45.140-04:00ssd iometer follow-up tests v09.31.12.txtI needed to followup on my test results with the Iomega IX4-200d SSD iometer testing to see what could be going on.. see <a href="http://blog.randyjcress.com/2009/12/howtokillanix4-200dwithssdiometertests1.html">http://blog.randyjcress.com/2009/12/howtokillanix4-200dwithssdiometertests1.html</a> for the first set of numbers, but I will duplicate them here for comparision purposes.<br />
<br />
The main goal was to keep the (4) Kingston SSDNow V-Series 128GB SSD Drives in a hardware RAID10 array throughout the testing process. I will drop the millisecond avg and max because it matters, but isn't the focal point..<br />
<br />
<strong>Group_A</strong>: Iomega IX4-200d RAID10 SSD drives, 1Gb/s iSCSI to VMware ESX 4.0.0 bld 208167 with Windows Server 2008 x86 VM.<br />
<br />
<strong>Group_B: </strong>Iomega IX4-200d RAID5 1TB mechanical disk, 1Gb/s iSCSI to VMware ESX 4.0.0 bld 208167 with Windows Server 2003 VM - <a href="http://www.gabesvirtualworld.com/?p=909">http://www.gabesvirtualworld.com/?p=909</a><br />
<br />
<strong>Group_C: </strong>RAID10 SSD Drives with LSI Logic PCIe MegaRAID SAS 8204ELP on Windows 7 Enterprise x64 direct IOMeter tests on the SYSTEM volume (C:)<br />
<br />
<strong>Group_D:</strong> RAID10 SSD Drives with LSI Logic PCIi MegaRAID SAS8204ELP on Windows 7 Enterprise x84 with StarWind iSCSI Free Target with 1Gb/s Broadcom network connection<br />
<br />
Results:<br />
<br />
Test 001a - Max Throughput 100% read<br />
<br />
Group_A: 1891.9 IOPS @ 59.1 MB/s<br />
Group_B: 1761.9 IOPS @ 55.1 MB/s<br />
Group_C: 4758.0 IOPS @ 148.63 MB/s<br />
Group_D: 3361.7 IOPS @ 105.1 MB/s<br />
<br />
Test 001b - RealLife-60%Rand-65%Read<br />
<br />
Group_A: 179.2 IOPs @ 1.4 MB/s<br />
Group_B: 89.2 IOPS @ 0.70 MB/s<br />
Group_C: 109.0 IOPs @ 0.85 MB/s<br />
Group_D: 99.3 IOPS @ 0.78MB/s<br />
<br />
Test 001c - Max Throughput-50%Read<br />
<br />
Group_A: 1589.9 IOPS @ 49.7 MB/s<br />
Group_B: 705.3 IOPS @ 22.0 MB/s<br />
Group_C: 1220.0 IOPS @ 38.0 MB/s<br />
Group_D: 1771.63 IOPS @ 55.4 MB/s<br />
<br />
Test 001d - Random-8k-70%Read<br />
<br />
Group_A: No Results (SCSI failure)<br />
Group_B: 64.7 IOPS @ 0.51 MB/s<br />
Group_C: 121.8 IOPS @ 0.94 MB/s<br />
Group_D: 95.0 IOPS @ 0.74 MB/s<br />
<br />
Happy New Year!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-91412762063345894822009-12-30T22:40:00.003-05:002017-03-25T10:46:05.475-04:00decaf v2 quick review v09.30.12.txt<span style="font-size: 85%;">After reading the emails on COFEE and DECAF because of some odd newsletter I am subscribed to and then seeing the following post: <a href="http://windowsir.blogspot.com/2009/12/lions-and-tigers-and-decafoh-my.html">http://windowsir.blogspot.com/2009/12/lions-and-tigers-and-decafoh-my.html</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">I figured it would only be prudent to give it a shot..</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">First impression.. Is this whole thing a 2009 end of year joke? While I understand it has value, here are some simple steps to side-step decaf or just understand is weakness..</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">It runs in the systray, right-click, maximize and close it. That was easy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Or if you don't want to touch anything on the system, just rename your tools.. I didn't take the time to join the forum and search is disabled for guests, but the signatures.dat file isn't utilizing MD5 or SHA-1 hashes. It's just plain and simple process name matching..</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Tested tools that you can try yourself..</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">autoruns.exe, pslist.exe, pskill.exe, windd.exe, PasswareKitEnterprise.exe</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">Note the case-sensitivity in the PasswareKitEnterprise.exe.. I renamed NOTEPAD.EXE to passwarekitenterprise.exe and noticed that the workstation didn't lock, renamed it with with the proper case to match the commercial app and voila, decaf responds!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">I am not assuming the person that decides to run decaf to "protect" their workstation should be a Windows Administrator, but atleast take the time to google "Software Restriction Policies" and see what you can do with hash rules, path rules and for the most-restrictive systems, certificate rules.. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 85%;">In the meantime, decaf should focus on making the signatures.dat and open standard with plain-text readable filenames, hash values (MD5 and SHA1) with version numbers instead of lack-luster case-sensitive process executable name matching to call a lock workstation API method.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-72014556896982697612009-12-30T14:01:00.006-05:002017-03-25T10:46:32.091-04:00how to kill an ix4-200d with ssd iometer tests v09.30.12.txtIn response to Gabe's Virtual World post on his IX4-200D testing @<br />
<a href="http://www.gabesvirtualworld.com/?p=909">http://www.gabesvirtualworld.com/?p=909</a><br />
<br />
and the follow-up from Ewan's blog:<br />
<a href="http://ewan.to/post/307847803/thoughts-on-iomega-ix4-200d-performance-tests">http://ewan.to/post/307847803/thoughts-on-iomega-ix4-200d-performance-tests</a><br />
<br />
<br />
My test environment is:<br />
<br />
Host: VMware ESX 4.0.0 bld 208167 2Gb/s etherchannel<br />
VM: Windows Server 2008 x86<br />
<br />
NAS: Iomeda IX4-200d with (4) Kingston SSDNow V-Series 128GB SSD - RAID10<br />
<br />
IOMeter with OpenPerformanceTest.icf<br />
<br />
Test 001a - Max Throughput 100% read<br />
<br />
1891.9 IOPS<br />
59.1 MB/s<br />
32.4 Ms Avg<br />
139.2 Ms Max<br />
<br />
Test 001b - RealLife-60%Rand-65%Read<br />
<br />
179.2 IOPS<br />
1.4 MB/s<br />
332.0 Ms Avg<br />
17150.3 Ms Max<br />
<br />
Test 001c - Max Throughput-50%Read<br />
<br />
1589.9 IOPs<br />
49.7 MB/s<br />
38.1 Ms Avg<br />
296.5 Ms Max<br />
<br />
Test 001d - Random-8k-70%Read<br />
<br />
- NO RESULTS - Kills the NAS iSCSI with the ESX vmkernel's log of:<br />
<br />
vmkernel: 0:01:12:59.532 cpu5:4116)WARNING: ScsiDeviceIO: 1266: Failed to issue command (0x16) on device naa.5000144f84161597: Timeout<br />
<br />
Rescanning the VMFS volumes didn't help, removing and re-adding the VMware iSCSI Initiator entries didn't help.. what worked is rebooting the Iomega IX4-200d device. This was tested three times for verification.. if anyone cares to browse the vmware logs let me know..<br />
<br />
Ran the ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46 from: www.attotech.com<br />
<br />
Ended up getting close to a 40MB/s write and >70MB/s read rates overall..<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhna6PJQyvnItL_jlvkA5rohv9BWxEfhc5jn4YT6C-WMVeb3NRT4e7hoVXPyfH-8IKWca47wqokYQU4xS5qLMC1uSjNqb_KzYPIy3-SEqXVoTgQzL3EuUY4_RHNuwvh8cuCVzwHfoi-4Kc/s1600-h/results.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421123069950189618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhna6PJQyvnItL_jlvkA5rohv9BWxEfhc5jn4YT6C-WMVeb3NRT4e7hoVXPyfH-8IKWca47wqokYQU4xS5qLMC1uSjNqb_KzYPIy3-SEqXVoTgQzL3EuUY4_RHNuwvh8cuCVzwHfoi-4Kc/s320/results.png" style="cursor: pointer; height: 320px; width: 252px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-59105098229006242922009-12-19T00:24:00.004-05:002017-03-25T10:46:59.603-04:00reduce 1st run backup time and size with sdelete v09.19.12.txtThis should be the first in a few very interesting findings while trying to reduce backup windows and disk/tape storage requirements for a fully virtualized environment in <a href="http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere">vSphere</a> 4.0 with <a href="http://www.veeam.com/">Veeam</a> 4.1.<br />
<br />
Ok, I figured this would have some impact after reading about zeroing free space on an NTFS volume..<br />
<br />
Single server test on a VM (HW ver 7) that is 3 years old:<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">(bound to be alot of deleted data from windows updates and software upgrades)</span><br />
<br />
ServerA - 8GB C:, 10GB E: - 18GB Total Provisioned Space<br />
<br />
Pre-zeroing free space: Backup Time: 5:03, Total .vbk size: 5,852,222 KB<br />
Post-zeroing free space: Backup Time: 4:23, Total .vbk size: 4,139,682 KB<br />
<br />
Full 1st run backup time savings: <span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">13% (40 seconds)</span><br />
Full 1st run backup disk space savings: <span style="color: rgb(0 , 102 , 0); font-weight: bold;">29% (1,712,540 KB)</span><br />
<br />
Two unique jobs were created in Veeam using optimal compression, VSS, and Change Block Tracking (CBT) was not turned on.<br />
<br />
The tool used to zero the free space was the Systernals: <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx">SDelete</a> from 2005!<br />
("<span style="font-family: "courier new";">sdelete -c c:</span>" then <span style="font-family: "courier new";">sdelete -c e:</span>")<br />
It took a couple of minutes to run inside the VM, very easy..'<br />
<br />
I wanted to run this on one VM to highlight the potential savings (and to get quick results) in order to see how this would scale to hundreds of VMs.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 0);">If you can save ~25% on your first run backups, think of the money you could save with backup solutions that charge based on backend storage used.. EMC </span><a href="http://www.emc.com/avamar" style="color: #660000;">Avamar</a><span style="color: rgb(102 , 0 , 0);"> comes to mind.</span> <br />
<br />
This is pure speculation and it would be very difficult to predict. Factors include length of VM service and number of updates and software upgrades performed. On database servers that export to flat files you may have very large deleted files, etc..<br />
<br />
So, before you jump on a solution, take a few minutes to realize that there is a bunch of blocks used by your VMs that can be zeroed and compressed very nicely saving you time, disk space and money.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-63806768584506485212009-12-05T21:44:00.002-05:002017-03-25T10:48:13.852-04:00client workload virtualization xp with ramdisk v09.05.12.txtWhere blog.storming meets brain.storming.. Here is a sample of what can be achieved with a Windows XP Pro SP3 Virtual Machine running on a Windows 7 x64 laptop with VMware Workstation 7 with 4GB RAM carved into a 2GB RAMDisk and 384MB VM:<br />
<br />
http://j.mp/8kkdeN (if you can spare 75 seconds to watch the video)<br />
<br />
Next step is to run Windows 2008 x64 with 16-32GB RAM and a 24GB RAMDisk serving a Citrix Provisioning Services volume to a PXE Boot client connected with a full 1GB/s ethernet link..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-12695787622660173262009-11-28T22:39:00.004-05:002017-03-25T10:48:49.297-04:00citrix xenapp repurposed pc into thin client v09.28.11.txtAfter reading quite a few blog posts and coming to the conclusion that is a time and place to 3rd party PC re-purposing applications, I still feel the client provided by Citrix should be able to accomplish the goal.<br />
<br />
Well there is a way, and here is a quick video showing you how you can modify the desktopappliancelock.msi from Citrix with a quick msi modification using Orca to allow the client to be used to log into the local desktop and immediately be taken to their Citrix XenApp Published Desktop.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://goview.com/?id=0d491709-e1fa-42a4-a88a-24d85ee15fb4"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Video Link</span></a> (6:52 runtime for full process) - link corrected 11/30/09<br />
<br />
Items accomplished with the method above:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Single sign-on with domain joined workstations</li>
<li>Not running explorer.exe as the shell locally</li>
<li>CTRL-ALT-DEL passthrough to the backend server (ie: task manager for the right app set)</li>
<li>Logoffs on the backend server result in a local logoff as well</li>
<li>HDX support if Adobe Flash is loaded locally</li>
<li>Local administrator login bypasses this setup and goes straight to the local desktop (explorer.exe)</li>
<li>No additional costs for 3rd party software to create this environment</li>
</ul>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-51428139397878146682008-10-07T19:42:00.005-04:002017-03-25T10:49:12.102-04:00cisco waas kvm hypervisor revealed v08.07.10.txtDisregard XenSource as the hypervisor (only looking at OUI gets you nowhere).. (updated)<br />
<br />
Apparently <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">OUI</span> has little <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">relevance</span>.. 00:16:3E is used by KVM/QEMU as well.<br />
<br />
Figure 14-3 on the following documentation page: <a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/waas/v411/configuration/guide/virtual.html#wp1052098">http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/app_ntwk_services/waas/waas/v411/configuration/guide/virtual.html#wp1052098</a><br />
Screenshots show a virtual interface with the MAC of: 00:16:3E:54:B6:23<br />
and with a quick <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">OUI</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">lookup</span> at:<br />
<a href="http://www.wireshark.org/tools/oui-lookup.html">http://www.wireshark.org/tools/oui-lookup.html</a><br />
<br />
we'll see that 00:16:3E is: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Xensource</span>, Inc. (irrelavent, sorry)<br />
<br />
- quick note on this.. what is the point of having a standard if everyone is going to canabilize it! I can understand MAC spoofing from a hackers point of view, but just disregarding it from a vendor level makes it even worse.. I was upset when I couldn't copy the existing MAC from a physical NIC to one under VMware, but I understood their point (and rightly so, they did put a switch to allow an override via the .vmx config)<br />
<br />
Other notable points:<br />
<br />
- <a href="http://kvm.qumranet.com/kvmwiki/Virtio">virtio</a> is a selectible disk emulation type, used by KVM.<br />
- KVM uses .img file formats and that is discussed as the backup option (file.img)<br />
- kvm.tar.gz exists in WAAS41.bin (not going any further than that)<br />
<br />
retrospect time..<br />
<br />
- <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Cisco</span> works with Microsoft to be one of the first vendors to be certified on the new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">SVVP</span> program.. people shake there heads and say what??<br />
<br />
- <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Cisco</span> announces a new virtual switch designed to run under the new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">VMware</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">ESX</span> platform based on the Nexus product line running a Linux kernel.<br />
<br />
- <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Cisco</span> releases a new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">WAAS</span> product with 4.1 allowing for virtual-blades utilizing the open-source <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">KVM </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">hypervisor</span>. (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">PV</span> drivers yet to be determined.)<br />
<br />
So, I would say this is a very smart move for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Cisco</span> in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">virtualization</span> space.. they have no allegiance to anyone and are able to capitalize from everyone! Great job!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-15506856740718814732008-09-29T23:08:00.003-04:002017-03-25T10:49:38.711-04:00citrix pvs large ad slow console hotfix v08.29.09.txtquick note - <a href="http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX118566">http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX118566</a><br />
<br />
this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">hotfix</span> along with it's rudimentary installation method of manually stopping a service and then copying in files and restarting a service does work to dramatically increase the speed of the management console when working with any size <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">PVS</span> farm with a large AD environment.<br />
<br />
if you are looking to deploy PVS 5.0 and/or demo some of the features and it is looking rough with the response times to change device properties this patch is for you! the bad thing is that it doesn't show up in a small demo vm lab since you usually don't have a large AD environment to deal with, then you go and rebuild in production and everything slows to a crawl.<br />
<br />
I'm just curious how many PVS hotfixes will have to be deployed like this.. I think there are a few application packagers out there under GPL.. you know, Citrix being an "Application Delivery" company any all...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-57395550370548400442008-09-24T19:50:00.005-04:002017-03-25T10:50:03.793-04:00silly vendors ft is for everyone v08.24.09.txtFrom Mike D's blog entry: <a href="http://mikedatl.typepad.com/mikedvirtualization/2008/09/time-for-some-r.html">Time for Some Real Names Stratus</a><br />
<br />
It is only advantageous to the end user for you guys to duke it out in order to weed out the marketing fluff.. not sure you should "ban" a user from posting comments because he may have lied about his site being down. He did say "my site" and not necessarily that of the company that his ARIN <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ip</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">lookup</span> shows. I think people have many facets, and the fact that a Stratus employee is running VM<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ware</span> and updating it to the latest code should be a good sign.<br />
I was affected by the time bomb bug as well, and I do feel VM<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ware</span> should have had a bigger hit.. it was a grave mistake and you guys got off pretty easily. Congrats, when yahoo or blackberry has an outage, people start getting skeptical.. just remember it was your loyal customers that wanted to make sure your product looked good that kept you afloat during this.<br />
As for FT, everyone is on this bandwagon.. I don't care so much for the super-high Stratus tax and the fact the even the $40k servers run 80<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">gb</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">SATA</span> drives, or that Marathon has teamed up with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Xen</span> only, or that you guys haven't released the product and that it will only support 1 core. The bottom line is that it is a race, and there is going to be pushing and shoving... All I can say is supply your engineers <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">plenty</span> of energy drinks, and may the best vendor reach the market first with a FT product that is semi-affordable for the masses.<br />
<br />
Until then, we will continue to rely on the software <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">manufacturers</span> to develop active-passive and active-active configurations.. oh wait! That is what they should be doing and you shouldn't even be worried about FT anyway! Unfortunately that will never happen.. so you guys are still in luck.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-78285345891997690112008-09-20T01:06:00.004-04:002017-03-25T10:50:21.863-04:00thinlaunch quick take v08.20.09.txtafter reading Michael Keen's post at: <a href="http://www.brianmadden.com/blog/MichaelKeen/Have-you-heard-of-ThinLaunch">http://www.brianmadden.com/blog/MichaelKeen/Have-you-heard-of-ThinLaunch</a> I headed over to <a href="http://www.thinlaunch.com/">http://www.thinlaunch.com/</a> for the eval since repurposing existing winxp clients is something I am interested in..<br />
<br />
first thing is that it requires .net 2.0 framework.. this shouldn't be an issue but just another hurdle and for whatever reason I don't have snapshot for my winxp sp2 vm with .net 2.0 already installed.. atleast not on this laptop.<br />
<br />
quick install and at the end it asks you for what executable you want to run at startup.. browse and select something.<br />
<br />
now for the guts.. it's is scary!!<br />
<br />
it creates a local user that is a member of Local Users AND <strong>Administrators</strong> called:<br />
ThinDesktopUser with a password of: test!123abc!!@#<br />
<br />
then proceeds to modify the registry to autologin and run C:\Program Files\Thin Desktop\ThinDesktop.exe /s, via the UserInit key.<br />
<br />
ThinDesktop.exe then reads: HKLM\SOFTWARE\ThinLaunch\Thin Desktop\LaunchCommand (which has the full path to the exe you defined earlier)<br />
<br />
so... my quick and dirty lockdown that is going to set me back $20-26 per workstation has created a local admin account with a standard password and is still running explorer.exe as the shell..<br />
<br />
good news is there is an alternative and Microsoft was so kind to provide it for free.. regedit.exe<br />
<br />
simply browse to: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon and change the Shell key to the full path of the executable of your VDI client, XenApp full client or better yet, frontend a web-portal with Public Web Browser from <a href="http://www.teamsoftwaresolutions.com/">TeamSoftware Solutions</a><br />
<br />
PWB will set you back $125 per year for a site license so you'll need atleast 5 clients to repurpose to realize your ROI versus ThinLaunch. This is only if you want to do the web portal, setting the Shell key to any other .exe is free and requires a keyboard, but PWB does give you alot of other neat features.<br />
<br />
The above solution works as a local or domain USER not admin, and won't expose you to the vulnerabilities that appear very obvious with ThinLaunch.<br />
<br />
Sorry, throwing together a quick .NET 2.0 app that modifies the registry and perform a ShellExec API command (possibly more, don't want to understate it) isn't worth $26 per client when there is alot of hard work and engineering that goes into many other client licensed products around that price range such as appvirt, antivirus, device control, and full disk encryption.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715112487625595310.post-15940162426882129812008-09-18T23:09:00.006-04:002017-03-25T10:52:59.858-04:00kayo fs aka crippled melio fs v08.18.09.txt(enter rant mode - you've been warned)<br />
<br />
- bear in mind I am looking at using one of the Sanbolic products for a HA solution, but with all of the potential announcements with vmworld and the new release of Sanbolic Kayo FS, I have to stop and wonder where it is all going..<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.sanbolic.com/kayo.htm">Kayo FS</a> is priced at $299/physical server designed to run on a Windows 2008 Hyper-V machine to give VMware ESX and Citrix XenServer a run for their money. After all, after 20 some odd years of existance our operating system vendor of choice has never made a true multi-host aware filesystem.. nothing new here, I think they just now gained the concept of a multi-user system. meanwhile the *nix world has their clustered filesystems and have pretty much commoditized them.<br />
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enter Sanbolic, filling the niche and making their money.. if you thought VMware ESX was expensive, wait until you see the pricing to patch up NTFS.. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be cheaper to pay premier support to MS and have them rewrite NTFS.. I seem to recall that you could pay a onetime fee for them to program the DST changes for unsupported OSes... maybe they'll do the same for Windows 2008 since they just launched it..<br />
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my problem is that I'm not sure how long Microsoft will let them continue.. and at $299/server I wouldn't mind Kayo.. but I want to run it under vmware esx for Citrix Provisioning Server and that is a no no.. the setup.exe pops up a dialog and immediately tells you that is unsupported uner a virtual machine and exits. after quite a few right clicks, double-clicks and drag and drops, kayo_fs looks to have the capability to run under vmware, there is just a nice DetectVirtualMachines.dll that is being called.. that and the combination of HKLM registry keys with per_process keys of vmware.exe, vmserverdWin32.exe, vmserverdWin32.exe set to report_ntfs..<br />
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I would come to the assumption that this is clearly a crippled version of melio_fs that is set not to run under any virtualization platform and only to make Hyper-V look good until MS can enhance NTFS.<br />
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(end rant mode)<br />
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UPDATE - after speaking with Sanbolic, I felt bad and removed the post since it was after a long day of work and school, but after re-reading it, I don't feel there is anything geniunely wrong with my first assumption. I will most likely be utilizing Melio FS Enterprise (since standard isn't supported under ESX).. but it all works out and will only end up being a $30-35/per wks cost.. a few tests next week will help determine this figure.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0