Well, it took over a year, but we now have definitive proof that the Lost USB Drive application works! When I launched the Lost USB Drive Experiment in early June of last year, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had all but forgotten about the experiment.

So, imagine my surprise when I had this in my inbox this morning:

Dale,

I recently took over Costa Coffee Eastleigh and have found your USB Memory stick, I’m not sure how long it has been here but if you would like to pop in and collect it I will put it to one side.

Thanks

Matthew
Store Manager

Costa Coffee
27-29 Market Street
Eastleigh
SO50 5RG

To be honest, I was a little shocked! But, at the same time, this totally made my day! Just goes to prove that there are some honest people out there and that a little ingenuity can go a long way!

If any of you are in the area of Matthew’s store, go in, congratulate him on his honesty and integrity, and buy the biggest, most expensive coffee on the menu! Way to go, Matthew!

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2008/06/11/long-lost-drive-found/trackback/

It is always important to know what is going on in your network. And, from time to time, you should perform a simple audit of your network just to determine what is exactly happening.

This is something that I do on a regular basis using an inexpensive network auditor that I built.  (Actually, all I did was install a custom Linux distribution designed for security.)

What You Need

Here are all the tools that you need

• An old laptop (if you want it to be portable) or desktop
• BackTrack Linux Distribution

It’s pretty easy to find a computer that will work and BackTrack is available for free as an ISO.  This is something that probably everyone could do with what they have available.

Build The Analyzer

The steps involved to build the analyzer are pretty simple.

1. Download the ISO.
2. Burn the ISO to CD.
3. Boot the computer from the CD.
4. Log into the BackTrack system with username root and password toor.
5. Create partitions on the hard drive (Be aware that this will destroy the hard drive so make sure that the drive has no needed data.) using fdisk.
6. Write the file system using mke2fs.
7. Mount the devices using mount.
8. Run the GUI installer (K → System → Backtrack Installer).
9. Click Install.
10. Wait for the installation to complete (There is a long pause at about 80% so please be patient.).
11. Remove the CD and reboot to the new system.

If you are looking for a more complete step by step document, there is one available.

Explore

There is a lot to discover in BackTracks.  Dig through the system and see what you can find, both on the system and in your network.

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/09/07/build-an-inexpensive-network-security-auditor/trackback/

We are presently working on a project to convert all of our servers to virtual servers. There seems to be a number of players in this arena and I wanted to just present them for all to see.

Each of these come with an open source/freeware version that can be used indefinitely for as long as you want.

VMWare

Obviously, the big boy in the field. These guys have recently gone public with their stock and have made a big splash. They have several different products but their server virtualization product is what interests me. Here is what their website has to say:

Begin enjoying the benefits of server virtualization with the free VMware Server. VMware Server installs on any existing server hardware and partitions a physical server into multiple virtual machines by abstracting processor, memory, storage and networking resources, giving you greater hardware utilization and flexibility. Streamline software development and testing and simplify server provisioning as you utilize the ability to “build once, deploy many times.”

• Provision a new server in minutes without investing in new hardware
• Simplify IT testing of patches, new applications and operating systems
• The benefits of server virtualization can be realized by a company of any size

• Website: http://www.vmware.com
• Download: http://www.vmware.com/download/

XenSource

• Packaged Xen Virtualization
• Blazing Fast Performance for Windows and Linux Guests
• XenCenter Single Server Management
• Seamless Upgrade Path to XenServer™ and XenEnterprise™
• Free

XenExpress v4 is a free, production-ready virtualization platform that enables everyone to quickly get started with Xen virtualization. Easily installed and seamlessly upgradeable, XenExpress is your on-ramp to Xen and the XenSource v4 product family.

XenExpress v4 offers all of the base performance, tools, and easy to use features of XenEnterprise v4 and is built to run on the broadest range of standard server hardware. It supports dual socket servers with up to 4GB of RAM and can host up to four virtual machines on each system.

XenExpress v4 can be quickly upgraded to the richer capabilities of XenServer or XenEnterprise by the simple addition of a license key, with no need to reinstall software or convert guests.

• Website: http://www.xensource.com
• Download: http://www.xensource.com/Pages/XenExpress.aspx

Virtual Iron

Virtual Iron provides enterprise-class software for server virtualization & virtual infrastructure management. The product offers comparable capabilities and performance to established proprietary offerings – for just a fraction of the cost.

By taking full advantage of industry standards and open source economics, Virtual Iron dramatically reduces the cost and complexity of virtualization and for the first time, makes production-ready capabilities available to the mainstream market.

A Comprehensive Virtualization Solution

Virtual Iron enables server partitioning for single and multi-server configuration, no downtime virtual server migration (LiveMigrate™), advanced management capabilities for rapid provisioning, high availability and disaster recovery (LiveRecovery™) and capacity management (LiveCapacity™). With these advanced capabilities, users can:

• Virtualize enterprise-class workloads running on unmodified Windows and Linux operating systems.
• Improve the utilization of current systems and reduce power, space and cooling issues through server consolidation.
• Quickly set up development, test and production environments.
• Recover from failures quickly, reliably and cost-efficiently.
• Match resource capacity to workload demands automatically.
• Reduce human labor and errors via policy-based automation.

• Website: http://www.virtualiron.com/
• Download: http://www.virtualiron.com/products/download_single_server.cfm

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/09/05/virtual-server-options/trackback/

I spent some time over the past couple of weeks playing with the new Windows Home Server beta. I thought that I would share some of my preliminary findings with my DCoT readers!

I put together a screenshot tour of this new product along with some of my discoveries and opinions, some which may surprise you (e.g. blank administrator password!?). There are over 50 screen captures of how the system installs, configures, and works.

Windows Home Server Screenshot Tour

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/03/12/windows-home-server-screenshot-tour/trackback/

For those of you who have been following the Microsoft home line of products, you may be interested in getting your hands on the beta 2 for Windows Home Server. You can sign up at http://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer.

At this point, if you are saying to yourself, “What in the world is this Windows Home Server?” you may want to check out some of these websites:

• Windows Home Server Blog
• Windows Home Server Preview
• Bill Gates Press Release for Windows Home Server
• Q&A: Windows Home Server Simplifies Digital Life for Families
• Windows Home Server will live in your closet, simplify your life
• Windows Home Server Fact Sheet
• Windows Home Server Backgrounder

Essentially, it is a small network device that can be used for backups, etc. that sits in your home but you do not use it as a regular day to day operating system.

I would really like to get on the beta list and see how it compares to FreeNAS!

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/02/16/signup-for-windows-home-server-beta/trackback/

The Asimo robot is one of the more amazing developments in the robotic industry. It has gone through a number of incarnations and they keep getting better.

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/02/06/asimo-robot-impresses/trackback/

The gang at TwistedTechTV check to see which web browser is truly fastest.

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/01/30/fastest-web-browser/trackback/

One of the best ways to test a new product is to let it loose on the people who are going to use it so that they can find it’s flaws. One of the best ways to test a new security product is to let it loose on the people who are going to hack the system so that they can find the flaws.

This is the theory behind WIBU System’s latest challenge. According to an eWeek article, Company Throws Down Gauntlet for Hackers, if you are the first one who can find and demonstrate a security flaw in their CodeMeter product between 6 p.m. EST Jan. 31 and 5:59 p.m. EST March 14, they will pay you a $40,000 prize.

So, if any of you “security specialists” out there are interested in $40,000 and you have the skillz to pull this off, this may be a good opportunity for you. Also, this could potentially land you a job with the company. Who knows?

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/01/05/hack-a-system-win-40000/trackback/

I was once talking with a friend of mine about wireless networking and I indicated that my company had no plans to deploy it within the company. He looked me square in the eye and said a sentence that chilled me to the bone:

“Either prepare to deploy this technology for your company’s employees or they will deploy it for you!”

The truth of the matter is that he is right, and not just about wireless networking. There is a history of technologies gaining popularity out side the enterprise and then creeping into the corporation. A good example is e-mail.

This is why it is so important to not only know and understand new technology but be in control of it in your enterprise. Arguably, the most critical component to this is the sandbox. According to Wikipedia, a sandbox is:

… a testing (or virtual) environment that isolates untested code changes and outright experimentation from the production environment or repository, in the context of software development including web development and revision control, and by extension in web-based editing environments including wikis.

Nemertes Research has written an excellent article entitled Build an Open Source and Web 2.0 Sandbox. It talks about the importance of the sandbox as part of your testing and control management process along with some important considerations when setting up a sandbox.

I believe that it is important for every company, regardless of how small it is, to have access to a sandbox. This can be something as small as an old desktop no longer in use or as large as an entire server room running several virtual servers. Regardless of the size, make sure that you are segregating the sanctioned from the unsanctioned to protect your company’s IT assets.

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2006/12/30/prepare-for-todays-test-box-to-become-tomorrows-critical-server/trackback/

I’ve always been impressed by people who know enough about the Linux operating system to build their own distribution or LiveCD. I have been struggling through building Linux from scratch but I haven’t had the time to work on it as of late. I think it would be cool to have your own customized distribution or at least version of a Linux distribution.

Well, I just happened to stumble upon Reconstructor today. It give you the ability to create a custom distribution of Ubuntu so that it runs the way you want it to out of the box.

From their website:

Reconstructor is a Live CD creator for Ubuntu Linux.

It uses the Ubuntu Linux Live CD as a base, and then allows customization of boot screens (usplash), gnome settings, and software (you can also use the chroot environment to make other changes before creating the live cd).

Reconstructor uses the solid Ubuntu foundation, and allows for extensive customization. For example, create a custom Live CD with blender, inkscape, etc. included for a friend in graphics, or simply use econstructor to re-brand your environment (wallpaper, fonts).

It’s a pretty simple program to use. The screenshots tell you exactly what to expect.

The current version of Reconstructor is 2.1-1 and there are several modules available for it.

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2006/12/25/diy-custom-ubuntu-livecd/trackback/