Blackberry2Droid Version 1.0.2 Released
After a few months with no development I’m pleased to announce that BlackBerry2Droid has reached version 1.0.2. With the latest version comes support for messages encoded with UCS-2 (a way of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cisco ASA TCP SYN Checks
In certain circumstances you may wish an ASA not to inspect the TCP SYN flags of packets. This is usually the case if the device will not see the return traffic, such as in the following example: To do...
View ArticleCisco Basics: Port Security
Port Security is a feature of Cisco Catalyst switches which restricts the number of MAC addresses per port. The intention is to prevent users plugging in unmanaged switches to extend the network by...
View ArticleCisco Basics: NAT and PAT
Address Translation commonly referred to as either NAT or PAT is the process of altering traffic as it passes through a router so that it appears to come from different addresses. Address translation...
View ArticleCisco Basics: Access Lists
Access lists allow you to group network objects such as IP addresses, services or users and act upon that information. They are most commonly used to permit or deny certain types of traffic though they...
View ArticleCisco Basics: Spanning Tree
Spanning Tree is a network protocol designed to prevent network loops. A loop exists at Layer 2 of the OSI model where there are multiple paths between any two devices. If you draw out a network...
View ArticleMigrate from Spaceguard to FSRM
For years a company called Tools4Ever have been producing the excellent Spaceguard, providing flexible quota management for network shares. With the release of Windows Server 2008 R2 Microsoft...
View ArticleCisco ASA NAT problems with TCP Port 2000
I came across a somewhat unusual issue earlier this week whilst trying to setup a NAT entry to forward HTTP traffic over port 2000. The firewalls being used were a pair of Cisco ASA 5505s. The relevant...
View ArticlePublic Key authentication on Cisco IOS
I rely on SSH pretty heavily, be it for remotely managing a hanful of Linux systems or connecting to Cisco routers. I do this from my laptop and more recently – my phone. Rather than type passwords all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setting up CloudFlare with WordPress
Over the last few weeks I’ve paid more and more attention to optimizing the performance on this website. As well as service as a blog, this site is a great place I can test techniques to keep on top of...
View ArticleFalling from 10ft hurts
I’ve written quite a lot of late about Cisco equipment, Windows servers and Website Optimization. I wanted to take a break and write up a recent rock climbing accident I was unfortunate enough to have....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Using Squid and Juniper PBR as a transparent proxy
Organisations can use proxy servers for various reasons; to restrict access to certain content, to cache web pages and reduce internet traffic – whatever the reason various approaches can be used:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
VMware Certified Associate (VCA) Exam
Last week I was browsing the VMware website in an attempt to figure out the certification paths available when I noticed some new certifications had launched, VMware associate. The associate...
View ArticleOutlook error 0x8004011d during Send/receive
When using Microsoft Outlook (2007 or 2010) to automatically initiate a dial-up connection you may receive error 0x8004011d during the Send/Receive process. This problem occurs under Windows 7 when all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My historical Linux desktop experience
Valve Software, a popular gave developer and distribution company have recently released a beta version of their own Linux distribution named SteamOS. Whilst SteamOS is designed to be a gaming-only OS,...
View ArticleSymantec Endpoint Protection Database Size
When configured to use MSSQL, SEP stores data in the “sem5″ database. Depending on retention settings this can grow to a significant size. Revisions of virus definitions and installation files are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cisco breaks compact flash cards
A colleague of mine has recently been buying Cisco branded CF cards from eBay. At first it seemed like he was just unlucky, each card that arrived would die once plugged into a router. Some further...
View ArticleGet latest installed update with PowerShell
Assuming you have an array of computers (be it from LDAP or otherwise) you can quickly enumerate them using the WMI Win32_QuickFixEngineering class to check the most recently installed HotFix. Whilst...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What’s holding back desktop Linux
In December last year I wrote-off my laptop by pouring coffee over it. After hunting for a suitable replacement I ended up with a Lenovo X230 sporting 8GB ram and a speedy SSD. I decided it would be a...
View ArticleBrocade Java Problems
Brocade Fiber Channel switches running FabricOS, in particular the DS-300B switches suffer from problems when trying to make use of the web based Switch Explorer. This usually results in getting an...
View Article