Here’s a tip for Firefox. An extension called BugMeNot enables you to right click on “general” forms and say “Login with BugMeNot.” Firefox will call the BugMeNot extension which looks up in an external database login information. For instance, www.nytimes.com requires a login, which is a great place to test it out. http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info/bugmenot

Status: ✅ All is well for some disasters, but what happens if our entire office burns down? SSH+rsync to the rescue, again. I first setup the PDC and webapp server to backup to the file server on a regular basis (PDC: incremental every day, full on Saturday). Then the file server takes those backups (including the files stored on the file server) every night and syncs them with another server across the States. In case something drastic happens, these off-site backups should be a savior.

My night is winding down at 2:30 a.m., and sleep seems like a good idea. Looking at my arm, the relentless mosquitoes must have read yesterday’s post; they have practically drained the life from my left arm. What I really meant to say is that my time in this flat is finally nearing its end. Today I listed the networking equipment I used to work away from the office on Trade Me (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Networking-modems/ADSL-modems/auction-46922291.htm). Wish me luck!

I realized tonight that there is one small part of New Zealand life I have not yet made peace with: mosquitoes. Mozzies, as they are called here, seem to have a special talent for appearing just when I am trying to concentrate. The small ones are the worst because I cannot always tell whether I am seeing a mosquito, a speck of dust, or just my imagination after too much time staring at a screen. I refuse to spend the evening clapping randomly at the air, though I admit the temptation is real.

I have a feeling we will shortly be deploying many Linux servers to perform certain actions. Maybe we will implement Asterisk to be used as a VoIP interchange between locations, maybe the backup servers will be Linux based, maybe the BDCs. One thing that could speed up implementation at remote sites is to build live cds for certain purposes. For instance, on the file server in PDX to keep updated live cds for certain projects. Like, a BDC live cd or a backup live cd. Already setup with the most current packages (or scripts to fetch+install them). So when we get to the site we just put the CD in, click or type “load” and poof, the server is installed and configured.

A developer just showed me an interesting framework to produce python-backed sites VERY quickly. This is mainly for you Ian, it natively supports AJAX as well. Here’s the link: http://www.turbogears.org/ I watched the demo, pretty interesting.

I close my eyes and write in my blog in an attempt to fall back asleep. As many of you know, I have never had a problem falling asleep. I have slept in the dirt while camping, in a bathtub, on a concrete balcony, and on countless trains. In fact, name a place and I have most likely slept there. Except when I have had coffee. My body responds very strongly to caffeine, and last night was no exception. At about midnight, I decided to have a cup of tea, pouring not a teaspoon of leaves into my cup but a heaped tablespoon. Oops. I could not get to sleep until almost 6 a.m. Then my alarm went off at 9:55 a.m. for a meeting, only for it to be cancelled!

We don’t want to have a billion servers each doing their own task – so what can we use as a solution? Server virtualization (or semi-virtualization or para-virtualization). This involves cutting down a server into mini servers that each have full customization. Our VPS at hostmysite is like this. So why would you want to do this? A few reasons actually. -Localize exploits. Let’s say DNS gets exploited – the access gained would only be for DNS, and not for mail and web and everything else.

My friend Ian told me about this originally, but my pen-testing cousin just send me the link as well. p2p VPN, w00t. Hamachi is a VPN alternative that does not have the normal router problems associated with IPSEC and PPTP vpns. That is good because of firewalls and nat and things like that. http://www.hamachi.cc/

Status: ✅ The webapp server is running fine, but backups are important. Better yet, a hot computer is a great idea. To do this, I setup an older spare rackmount as a ’live’ webapp server, just in case. A duplicate LAMP was setup, web apps copied over SSH via rsync on a regular basis, and the icing on the cake: mysql replication. So, if the dedicated webapp server dies a painful death, a quick change of IP for the webapp server in the internal DNS to the backup rackmount, and nobody will know anything happened.