Hey, folks, just a quick update. Lori is already enjoying the holiday with her family, and I will be starting that happy activity later this afternoon. We will be back next Monday.

On behalf of Lori, Mike, myself, and the entire Network Computing staff, I would like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

• Workshop: Web Infrastructure: Relieve Web Performance Anxiety
• Sneak Preview: Cisco Updates Do-All Switch Line
• Career Coach: Advice for the Job-lorn

Aha! Remember that ob_start() and ob_end_flush() are your friends in PHP when trying to set headers from include calls. The first call tells the server to not send HTTP headers until you tell it to, making it possible to include other pages that may need to set a cookie (like a login servlet). Once past that, it was fairly simple to get some additional coding done to view orders on a customer specific basis.

We also talked about the problem with boot order and found there's really nothing we can do about it. The Exchange machine needs the ADS machine to be up or it fails to start running Exchange correctly, but there's no way to insure that the ADS machine comes up first after a shut down. I've got the same kinds of problems at home, where the backup machine needs to be up in order for other machines to mount the backup volumes, but it's a catch 22 as the other machines need the DNS server to come up to resolve addy's first. It seems there's no automatic method of forcing specific machines to come up in a specific order.

I suppose, though, that if something so terrible happens that we lose power long enough for the machines to all shut down that we're going to need to go in and make sure everything is okay anyway so we'll live with the situation. At least they shut down gracefully!

Well, the dynamic issue is solved, but now the darn servlet doesn't process the query correctly when it's called from the Web server. If you access it directly it works, but not from the Web server.
Maybe a reboot is in order?

We're still waiting for our switches. I'm anxious to get the network finished and running as it should be so I hope they arrive soon.

I think there is a conspiracy to keep me from coding. I spent a couple hours this morning working on getting things like login's and customer registration up and running. Almost there, got some weird issue with an include file that's just driving me nuts. But I'm set for a day of coding when the phone rings. Sick child.

The last few days I've been testing products and today it's a sick child. There is definitely a conspiracy out there to keep me from coding.

All looks well with the applications at the moment, except for this weird PHP error I'm seeing. When the include is hardcoded, it works fine. When it's generated dynamically by WebSphere, it doesn't. That doesn't make sense. All the other includes generated by WebSphere work fine, but this one. It's the only one that takes a query and I'm beginning to suspect the query parameters as the problem. Hmmm....

I've been to several of them myself -- for the uninitiated, it's so big that it's split into two seperate convention halls, not to mention various conference rooms throughout the tightly packed hotels. The Exhibits booths can look more like Broadway performances than technology showcases, with stages, music, dancers, flashing strobes and occasionally (very well-compensated) celebrities. It's basically like a working Spring Break for the IT industry. If regular folks are planning a vacation to the Rat Pack's ol' stompin' grounds, this time of the year ain't it.

At least that used to be the case. As Jerry relates, Comdex has slimmed down considerably. For the first time in maybe a dozen years, the Hilton Convention Center is dark and locked, devoid of anything Comdex related.

Over at the Vegas Convention Center, there's no long lines to get into the registration tent. Heck, there's no tent! The parking lot where it used to be is being used for...parking. Inside, cordoned off areas and press rooms that in previous years were exhibit spots are serving as a further sign of the times.

If things keep up, Comdex might be ready to vanish from Vegas like a White Siberian tiger cub in a Siegfried and Roy performance.

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Good day everyone. We've just posted the first installment of our November 15th issue, where you'll find a wireless blowout by our own Dave Molta, focusing on fixed point-to-point wireless solutions. According to Dave,

"If you're looking for lightning-quick ROI and aren't afraid to try off-the-beaten-track technology, make a date to check out fixed point-to-point wireless. You'll find a cost-effective solution for interbuilding connectivity, and while this approach is a bit riskier than stringing fiber, the latest generation of fixed wireless offerings will meet most organizations' reliability needs."

As always, you can grab the entire contents of the new issue from our RSS feed, or you can browse for stories here.

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November 16, 2002
Just when you think all is well...
By Lori MacVittie at 06:56 AM

I was coding on our apps and getting things hooked up to the web server when I noticed that all the descriptions for the widgets in our inventory tables in DB2 were truncated at 128 characters. Hmmm... You'd think I wouldn't mess with those tables but I did. And initially lost the entire inventory because of the reload. Luckily I tried again and had more success, so now our widgets will have the correct descriptions.

Steve's test of the UPS was successful, but I noticed that there are still some start up issues. Like Exchange doesn't start, even though all the services are "automatic" and when you start it manually, it's fine. WebSphere is the same way. I think it may be due to the order in which machines come back up. The ADS machine must be up and running before any other machine and if it isn't, these services fail. At least that's what it looks like.

So we'll have to figure out how to insure that the ADS machine comes up first.

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November 14, 2002
From the watch for media stupidity on media
By Mike DeMaria at 10:19 AM
"This DVD will self destruct in 8 hours." No really. Get this. "Once the packaging is opened, the disc will work for only eight hours before being made unreadable by a dye sandwiched between the DVD's layers that interacts with air, leaving it opaque." This will be tested by Nappy Roots, a hip-hop group that sounds like every other hip-hop group out there for the past 7 years. Brilliant comment from P.J. McNealy, a research director for Gartner: "Unless there's stunningly tremendous additional content, consumers may not warm to it." Oh you think?

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The things we do after hours...
By Tom LaSusa at 08:45 AM
Anyone who knows me, knows that Halloween is my absolute, all-time favorite holiday. I've loved it since my first trick-or-treat many, many (many) years ago; and while I don't ring doorbells anymore begging for goodies, I still have alot of fun getting dressed up. This year, my friends and I deciced to do a "group" costume effort, and dressed up as the X-Men (the comic book versions, not the movie). We even joined the NYC Halloween parade in the Village. Well, one word of this, and I was practically ordered by Brad to post some pics online. I tried to be crafty, and delay having my pics developed, but someone discovered that there was a website with oodles of pics posted from the parade, and sure enough, there was the X-Men.

So, a promise is a promise, and my pride be damned! Here's a pic of a few of the X-Men (the rest are out of shot). For those keeping score, I'm Wolverine.

If you're interested, you can see more pics from Halloween at Nonegatives.com (including a few more X-Men shots).

Hey, I may be wearing yellow and blue tights, but at least I didn't shave my head to be Professor X like my friend did!
Not sure which of us got the better deal.

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November 12, 2002
New Stuff
By Tom LaSusa at 12:57 PM

Yesterday afternoon, we received the first two pieces of our Cisco equipment via FedEx. They are two Cisco 7400ASR Routers. Booya! Hopefully, the Ethernet switches will not be long behind.

Mike today reloaded one of our lab machines, a HP Netserver LH6000 that had an old Windows load on it that was approaching cruft force 6. It had also been experiencing some hardware issues that we were able to fix by maintenencing the server. Mike blew all of the dust out of it and reseated all the cards and connectors and it's behaving very nicely now. I haven't had a chance to work with the NSS devices again yet, but hopefully that will happen later this week. I have some of my normal magazine testing-and-writing stuff to do and it's keeping me from playing with all the new toys. Ah, well, I will have more time later this week. I will update again when more happens. Take care, everyone.

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November 11, 2002
Sucessful Test
By Tom LaSusa at 08:03 AM

We tested the UPS subsystem with gracefull shutdown for all the PCs in the lab. Works nice. Mike B is working on one of our lab machines this morning, a HP NetServer that has been giving us trouble. While he is doing that, he is also reloading the 8way Compaq machine in the NWC Inc rack. Our origional load on it was a mistake, we loaded Windows 2000 server, not Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and it wasn't taking advantage of all eight processors.

I am still fighting with the NSS NAS devices, I am going to give them a call to day to see if they have any ideas. They connect to ADS, but they won't authenticate. It's weird.

On the switch front, we hope to have all of our Cisco switches in this week. There was significant hope that Cisco would ship last Friday, and that would mean machines more than likely this week. I'll keep you posted on that.

Lori is in her home-office today, coding through a cold, I am sure we will hear from her in the next day or two on what's going on on the code end of the game. Thats all for now, everybody take care.

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November 10, 2002
New content on www.nwc.com
By Brad Shimmin at 07:58 PM
Good morning all. We have a new issue of Network Computing on tap this morning, starting off with a great review of telecomm security solutions by By Joe Hernick, Dean Ellerton and Jim Wiggs as well as a useful workshop on electronic record keeping by Sean Doherty.

As always, you can grab the entire contents of the new issue from our RSS feed, or you can browse for stories here.

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Wiring Closet from Hell
By Brad Shimmin at 07:40 PM
Thanks to everyone who submitted pictures of their not-so-organized wiring closets. We are going to publish our favorite in an upcoming issue of Network Computing, but for now, we invite you to enjoy this select sample.

From Lorie Zemblowski "Get a good look at this!Ý Next August,Ý we move to a "brand new" building with a central wiring closet location and all new Gigabit wiring.Ý Thank God!Ý One of my 2003 budget projects was going to be to re-wire this mess!"

We can see why it's important to have a stepping stool in there, but it looks a little hard to use.

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November 07, 2002
Everyone must record code
By Brad Shimmin at 08:14 PM
I remember mucking around with Rexx in OS/2. It was a truly liberating experience, especially after spending way too much time with Edlin and batch files. It's OO-ness, simplicity and consistency helped me automate a variety of mundane systems admin tasks. But after the demise of OS/2, I found myself staring yet again at a less-than-useful set of scripting tools on the Wintel desktop.

That is perhaps one reason why CLI-savvy OSes like Linux, BSD, and even Mac OS X are findings their way onto many admin desks. They are rife with tools that let non-coders create a wide range of scripts. But one often overlooked capability available within these OSes is that of automation routines.

Just ask any Photoshop user how to tackle a repetitive task, and she'll tell you to just record a set of actions while performing the task at hand.

No scripting, just doing. Record once, run anytime.

I'd like to see the same notion applied in a standardized manner across apps as well as OSes. A systems admin in South Bend Indiana could then record and annotate a set of "backup" actions for a given environment. He could post those actions to a shared source server, returning the favor for already downloaded actions created by other admins. Others could download this source code and modify it to suite their specific needs.

Of course, without some abstraction layer or at least scripting standard that could accommodate for different file locations, formats, etc., this idea will never leave the application-specific space. Ah well. It's nice to dream. Anyone for a little HyperCard?

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Analog, the next big technological breakthrough
By Brad Shimmin at 07:45 PM
In honor of Microsoft's newly released Tablet PC, Bare Bones Software re-posted its seminal press release announcing the only improvement possible to Microsoft's uber device, namely, the PAD.

Bedford, MA -- April 1, 2002 -- Bare Bones Software today announced its first entry in the lucrative handheld market, the Bare Bones Personal Analog Device, or PAD. The Bare Bones PAD is an expandable handheld personal organizer, which can contain addresses, appointments, notes, drawings, and more.

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Dilbert was right
By Brad Shimmin at 07:26 PM
From MSNBC:

Researchers in Japan have scientifically documented what dwellers of Dilbertville have known for years: Prolonged daily computer use can make you sore and sap your strength, energy and motivation.

I could have told you that...

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Simulations Coded
By Lori MacVittie at 11:28 AM

After a couple hours of coding, the simulations for the lab are finished.

We'll be simulating order entry and inventory management via Java servlets. Of course the next step is to set up a system to run the simulations on a regular basis, but that will have to wait until after the system management agents have been loaded. Mike and Steve are planning on testing out the automatic shut down controlled by the APC racks this afternoon so I'm holding off on setting up the simulation infrastructure until after we're finished making sure our systems will shut down gracefully in the event of a power outage.

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November 06, 2002
Pretty Pictures
By Tom LaSusa at 08:36 AM

Photographers are in this morning, taking pictures of the NWC Inc infrastructure and lab for the print article coming up on this project. Since we can't get within 10 feet of the racks right now, not much progress is being made.

Mike and I worked all day yesterday on the NSS NAS devices and all is working well except we can't get them to validate through the Active Directory server. It SEEs all of the users, but won't validate anybody. Coincidentally, we got a new version of the SPANstor OS that the NSS machines run in the mail today, so I think we will give that a try and see if it helps. Well, that's it for now, take care!

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November 05, 2002
More progress! I've finally gotten
By Lori MacVittie at 02:16 PM

More progress!

I've finally gotten back to the code crunching and managed to put together a servlet to simulate the manufacturing process. Basically it just increases the inventory of our widgets.
WebSphere Studio is great at automating database queries, but I've found that for some things - like the simulations - it's overkill. I'm still using Studio to write the servlets, as it still provides the base configuration for deployment to our app server.

Next up - simulation of orders.

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Progress!
By Tom LaSusa at 08:04 AM

Well, we borrowed a switch from Contributing Editor Joel Conover, and were able to get our new NSS NAS1000 network attached storage devices up and running. Now, we need to get them to talk to the ADS server. I should have news on getting our Cisco switches today, or tomorrow morning. Lori has been coding away between testing some equipment for an article, and all in all we are making good progress. Mike Brandenburg, our contractor is making good progress whipping the lab into shape besides.

I will have another update on my battle with the FreeBSD based NAS1000 by NSS and MS ADS later today or tomorrow morning. Take care, all.

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November 03, 2002
New on nwc.com
By Brad Shimmin at 09:13 PM
In addition to our current issue, we've also posted the following features. We hope you enjoy them.

• Five-Minute Workout: Identity Management
• Webcast: CEO Minute: PoliVec's Roberto Medrano
• Webcast: This Week at Network Computing
• Compare IT: Load Balancers
• On Location with Children's Hospital Boston Forum and Blog
• Network Design Manual: SOAP
• New Top 11 List: Things to Do While Waiting for Windows to Reboot.
• TechQuiz: Online Voting Technologies

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New Issue Online
By Brad Shimmin at 09:07 PM
Good morning all. We've just published the first installment of our November 1st issue, in which David Joachim takes us behind the scenes once more to find out how Children's Hospital Boston rolled out its ERP solution.

As always, you can grab the entire contents of the new issue from our RSS feed, or you can browse for stories here.

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November 01, 2002
DSL Woes, Help and Progress
By Tom LaSusa at 11:06 AM

Okay, we are finally making some progress. We have employed a systems administrator who has some time off between jobs right now to do some of the work in the Lab. His name is Mike Brandenburg, and he is doing installation and that essential "polishing" that our poor NWC Inc infrastrcture needs. It's a limited contract, but Mike will be able to help us get things done that Lori and I have been unable to get done due to our regular magazine workload.

The next thing is that our DSL from Choice One communications has been installed! 1.5mbps up and down. Its sweet. We had some initial problems getting it installed. The installer came unannounced and simply asked around if "anyone was expecting DSL". Well, low and behold, the new State Farm Insurance agent on the first floor was expecting a DSL install soon, too. Well to make a long story short, he had our DSL for a short while. Dennis, the State Farm agent, was excellent about it when we realized what had happened, and Choice One came out and ran the line into our suite instead. An honest mistake, but one that delayed our DSL install by a week.

Still in talks with Cisco about the switching environment, we should know more about that soon. We are also talking with folks at CellAntenna (www.cellantenna.com) about getting a cellular repeater for our lab. Being in the basement as we are in the mighty East Port Center we have almost no cell reception in the lab. I will let you know what happens with that. Thats all for now, with Mike onboard giving us a hand, there should be a lot more updates as we go. Take care, all.

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