Information Technology

Why Linux & Windows Server Management Is Necessary

The go-go 90s are history, and now that the partys over, corporations the world over are nursing a king-sized post-bubble hangover. From the factory floor to the data center, businesses large and small are looking to reduce costs by wringing maximum efficiency out of scarce resources. In short, everyones looking to do more with less.

This trend is especially true in IT. Todays computing infrastructure is absolutely critical to a modern organization. From email to file servers to ERP systems, the health of a business is dependent on the health of its IT infrastructure. In spite of ITs growing importance, budget constraints are forcing CIOs to manage increasingly complex hardware and software infrastructures without increasing the ranks of system administration personnel. In fact, many organizations are experiencing staffing reductions, making this task even more daunting for those left behind.

Navigating todays tough business environment means effectively managing the existing mission critical infrastructure without increasing costs or administrative resources. One of the ways to accomplish this is by leveraging server management to increase the level of automation for routine but necessary tasks. Let’s take a look at what server management entails, as well as the various types of server management tools available today and what they can do to make life easier for today’s harried CIO or IT manager.

Why Server Management?

Make no mistake: Server management is absolutely necessary. Server OSes must be patched, applications must be upgraded, new applications must be installed, and server configurations must be frequently audited to ensure that corporate policies and guidelines are being followed. The difference lies in the level of automation: performing these vital tasks manually takes time and puts a strain on scarce resources.

The key to doing more with less means using server management tools that automate many of the tasks currently performed manually.

Corey Ferengul, vice president and principal analyst of Operations Strategies at the META Group, says there are numerous tools available for server management. These tools perform tasks such as server provisioning, configuration auditing, patch deployment, inventory, execution of administrative tasks, and monitoring of server log files, says Ferengul. Successful server management automates many of these tasks so they run behind the scenes.

Have Tools, Will Automate

As the recent flurry of damaging, selfreplicating worms demonstrated, OS patching to repair vulnerabilities is a critical server management task. But, manually managing the constant stream of security patches and updates quickly becomes a Sisyphean task: You need to promptly apply patches, yet you also must test them to ensure that they don’t interfere with the computing environment. And just when the madness stops, another virus or worm attack begins the cycle anew.

Enter server management: There are server management tools available that take some of the drudgery out of patch/update application by automating this process. These tools enable administrators to instantly apply a patch or update to multiple servers from a central location. Tools are in the works that maintain details on server configuration and automatically download, test, and install OS and application patches when needed.

Another task that server management can automate is preparing newly acquired servers for service. In a 2003 Yankee Group study, the Yankee Group’s Jamie Gruener, senior analyst for Enterprise Computing and Networking, points out that 76% of system administrators install server OSes and applications in other words, perform server provisioning manually.

According to the study, some of the tasks that must be performed when provisioning a server include OS installation, network identification configuration, application installation and configuration, storage capacity provisioning, configuration of user and application-centric policies, and testing and establishment of backup procedures. Server management tools that ease this burden by providing server-provisioning automation are compelling and can save both time and money.

Inventory and asset management is another necessary task that’s amenable to automation. Most organizations have policies that govern the proper configuration of hardware assets, including application and licensing requirements. Tools that maintain configuration information and automatically audit systems for compliance can add tremendous value.

So Whats Out There Now?

The aforementioned 2003 Yankee Group study defines four broad, feature-based categories for server provisioning tools: policy-based server management; provisioning, inventory, and asset management; change and configuration management; and image management. CIOs looking to purchase server management tools should assess their needs and apply this feature-based methodology when evaluating tools.

Image management tools manage OS and application images used for rapid deployment of corporate-approved configurations across multiple servers. Change and configuration management tools focus on the deployment and administration of application and OS software updates and patches. Inventory and asset management tools are used for auditing server assets and ensuring that production configurations are in tune with standard, policy-based images. Finally, policy-based server management and provisioning tools combine elements of all the aforementioned tools into one. (For specifics on some of the tools available, see “Server Management Tools”.)

The Holy Grail

The Holy Grail of server management is the automated, behind-the-scenes distribution of computing resources where needed. This is currently getting quite a bit of press in the marketplace and is known by various names, including utility computing and computing on demand.

The underlying vision is that of a server management application that constantly monitors computing resources, such as processor power, memory, and bandwidth, and instantly optimizes the deployment of those resources based on demand. In the ideal world of utility computing, idle infrastructure capacity is minimal because resources are constantly being deployed where they are needed the most.

In this vision, a server farm is transformed from a collection of discrete, isolated devices into a common, readily available pool of computing power.

While this vision is not yet market reality, companies such as IBM, HP, and Sun are busy developing applications to implement it. IBM has been especially active in the promotion of “autonomic computing”: IT infrastructure that is able to monitor, configure, heal, and regulate itself without manual intervention. As server management evolves, this is a trend that IT administrators and CIOs should keep in their sights.

The Future

As server management tools evolve, the level of automation they provide will continue to increase. Ferengul, for example, says server management tools will soon provide more integration between server monitoring and administration. In this scenario, Ferengul says, monitoring tools trigger automated actions from provisioning or configuration change tools. The Yankee Group’s Gruener foresees server management tools that measure resource allocation and use so that computing power use can be charged for by IT departments.

This article is distributed by Server Buddies Server Management and Monitoring by Server Buddies

Time Is Up- IPv6 OMB Mandate

Three years ago, the OMB set a June 2008 deadline “by which all agencies’ infrastructure (network backbones) must be using IPv6 and agency networks must interface with this infrastructure.”

Agencies are supposed to demonstrate that they can:
*Transmit IPv6 traffic from the Internet and external peers, through the core (WAN), to the LAN.
*Transmit IPv6 traffic from the LAN, through the core (WAN), out to the Internet and external peers.
*Transmit IPv6 traffic from the LAN, through the core (WAN), to another LAN (or another node on the same LAN).
(Source: OMB IPv6 FAQs)

One year ago, the OMB reviewed the Enterprise Architecture Assessment Framework results and found that six of the twenty-four agencies were on track to achieve the June deadline. Two months ago, there was a good article by Carolyn Marsan Duffy about the status of compliance. Take a look at this article because it seemed like there was a lot of backpedaling going on about meeting the date-using phrases like “we don’t like the term mandate” and “more of a recommendation than a mandate.” At the time, only three agencies were in compliance.

Duffy just wrote an updated article, “Feds say they have aced IPv6 deadline”, and suddenly two months later, all lights seem green. As of June 24, ten of the twenty-four agencies sent emails to the OMB stating that “they have successfully transmitted IPv6 packets.” Fourteen still need to report in, but none have asked for an extension. And all of it was done through the regular tech refresh budget over the past three years. So if this is true, kudos to the feds!

Right around the time of the first not-so-rosy article, we ran a survey at FOSE, the big federal government IT show. We asked attendees if their agencies would be ready by the deadline:
*33% said they would be ready
*6% said they were already there
*33% said they would NOT be ready
*About a quarter didn’t know

What was really interesting is that we asked this same question in 2007, and the audience was equally split (yes/no) on whether or not their agencies would meet the mandate-1 in 5 (2007) instead of 1 in 3 (2008).

So what can explain these numbers? Surprisingly, out of the attendees we talked to, only 65% of them said that IPv6 is important to their operations, making it second to last on the list of IT priorities covered by the survey. Maybe the answer lies in the relative “unimportance” of the milestone – that just the network backbones (and the routers supporting them) be capable of passing IPv6 packets. The true test for government IT workers will be when actual IPv6 applications must be supported which will impact networks, systems, application and monitoring tools throughout the government.

So was this a nice checklist item for the Bush administration? This initial deadline is the only one for IPv6 mandates from the current OMB incarnation. Actually running IPv6 applications, that’s a whole ‘nother story, apparently for a new administration.

Julia Lim is VP of Marketing for ScienceLogic, at IT company specializing in server monitoring software. Julia has extensive corporate, strategic and product marketing experience at companies ranging from early-stage startups to large public firms. She has an MBA in technology marketing from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

What You Need To Know About Ajax

You hear the word Ajax a lot these days, particularly in technology, so; what are people talking about? A Greek hero from the Odyssey – sure. A bathroom cleanser that gets your sink sparkly – indeed. But today, more often then not, Ajax refers to a specific type of web programming that has taken the internet by storm.

The term Ajax was coined as shorthand for – Asynchronous JavaScript and XML by a man named Jesse James Garrett who founded a technical consultancy called Adaptive Path. He would want me to make it clear that Ajax is not an acronym (so it isn’t spelled AJAX).

What Mr. Garrett described back in 2005 was a stack of technologies (not a single technology) being used at the time by very cutting-edge web sites. This stack of technologies allowed web sites to be turned from a set of static documents connected by hypertext links into something that approximated a true application. This was the intellectual birth (or coming out party anyway) of the Rich Internet Application (RIA).

At the heart of Ajax is a software object built into all browsers called the XMLHttpRequest object. This mouthful is frequently shortened to XHR for those that want to talk about it in fewer syllables. This software object allows JavaScript code, executed in the browser, to go out and request data from a server without reloading a page.

This technology was not new in 2005, but Mr. Garrett put a catchy name to it, and people noticed. Around the same time, a number of web applications such as Gmail emerged and people wondered, “how the heck did they do that?”

Think of a typical web page as one where you have to click a link or submit a form then wait for a new page to be returned to see your result. It’s slow and doesn’t really act the way we expect software to act. Now look at web applications like Flickr, Gmail, or Youtube. You can click in a box and enter some data, and your updates happen without you leaving the page. The magic that’s happening in the background is Ajax (or and XRH call).

With Ajax, the idea is that you get a richer, faster user experience. Properly implemented, a web page can become a rich internet application (RIA). Most extremely popular web sites use Ajax to some degree. Amazon’s rating system, where you click on the number of stars you give a book or CD is one example.

Even though Ajax and XMLHttpRequest both refernce XML, the data that is used does not necessarily have to be formatted as XML. In fact, more and more other data formats, such as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), are being used. One restriction on XHR is called the single origin policy. This is a security policy, enforced by the browsers, that only allows JavaScript to request data from the server that originally served up a page. There is a technique using JSON that get around this restriction.

Since 2005 a number of toolkits have emerged that have allowed web developers to more easily implement Ajax in their applications. Some of these are Dojo, Prototype, jQuery, GWT, YUI… and many many others.

As a technology stack, Ajax is now quite mature and being used almost everywhere on the web. Ultimately, the most important thing to remember is to create the best posisble user experience.

John Moore is a Web 2.0 expert who creates Rich Internet Applications. He has created the web’s first RIA community at http://www.riaspot.com

Ten Indicators that Tell You it is Time to Move Your Site to a Dedicated Server

If you have a high traffic website with dynamic features, then switching to a dedicated server is probably the best choice for you. The major advantages are faster load time, increased security, and total control over your website.

This dedicated server is a single web server, devoted solely to the use of one organization, unlike shared servers that host a number of other users and websites. Particularly suitable for larger corporations that process and store high quantities of secure data, dedicated servers often require a higher capital investment yet have a number of key advantages:

1. Higher speed and performance levels
By switching to a dedicated server, the entire host is devoted to running one organization’s software and website. With a shared server, the actions and usage of other websites can impact upon the response times of a website and can even cause a time-out, especially if one website has a promotion and experiences a sudden surge in traffic.

2. Increased capacity
Because a dedicated server is created for just one organization, capacity is only limited by the size of the server rather than the number of users present on that host. Dedicated servers provide a more reliable website which can run full-time with less server jamming. Websites can feature more complex functions and there are fewer limitations on the number of email accounts and attached databases.

3. Increased security
By sharing the server with other sites and users, there is a possibility that other customers may be able to view secure files and in some cases overwrite certain files. This can be extremely risky if a company stores and processes highly sensitive data. If any website on the host is attacked by a hacker or virus, this also makes the rest of the sites on the server vulnerable.

4. Increased site control
With complete server dedication, it is possible to have more control over data access and over what happens on that server, such as which scripts can be run and which online activities can occur.

5. Ability to customise hardware set-up
Dedicated hardware is provided for the server which can only be used by one customer. This allows the customer to have control over the hardware and make any alterations or upgrades.

6. Customised software
Many shared sites have limited features and software availability due to security and stability issues. For example, JSP support on shared servers is still rare. With a dedicated server, there is greater freedom of choice as to which programmes run, allowing a customer’s individual needs to be catered for.

7. Creation of more than one domain
Companies that have multiple divisions or chains benefit greatly from a dedicated server in that they can create several domains on one server. This is more cost effective and efficient than each outlet renting space on a different host and creates a uniform sales platform with a simplified administration and support system.

8. Increased reliability
It only requires one rogue website in a shared server to cause a search engine to ban the entire server, due to the shared IP address. With a dedicated server, reliability is no longer compromised by other customers’ poorly written scripts or security problems.

9. Effective large website maintenance
A dedicated server provides the ability to run a large website, which can be remotely controlled and operated, without the need to employ large numbers of staff. There is no requirement to purchase or maintain server equipment and server upgrades are more cost effective.

10. Technical support
Many dedicated server providers offer additional administrative, trouble-shooting and management support.

If your website does not have any of these qualities, then you know that it is time to move your site to a dedicated server. You’ve put a lot of work into your website, so you deserve to have the best service possible.

Premiere provider of managed IT services with data centre locations across Canada, provides managed services and managed hosting solutions for enterprises that require the highest levels of security and availability.

Very Important Rules of Any Website Design

Designing a website, though quite simple to some, requires the designers and the planners to combine thoughts of what message you are trying to project. Below are a few rules that I suggest for a good quality web development plan.

1.Navigation
The single most important part of the website where more people falter is the navigation factor. The ease of navigation in your website can set you apart from your competition. The idea is simple, the easier it is for the user to browse through your website, the more pages he or she is going to end up reading and this could result in more profits for you depending upon your business model. The idea is to carefully plan your entire website before you start to actually design it. I do this with a paper and pencil. Thinking through about the various pages and the way they would be interlinked helps a lot to an easy navigational system on your website. Search engines love html(text) navigational systems; as it gives them an easier path to follow on your website.

2.Readability
You must have at some point of time encountered a website that had a, what I call eye-unfriendly color scheme. Some website owners think this will attract visitors where it does the exact opposite. Most of the times you would end up closing the eye unfriendly website without even bothering to see what the content is. So, it is again very important to make designs that don’t hurt the eye. Your website represents who you and your company are. You need to choose the colors carefully keeping in mind that the entire website must have readable text and your message must be clear within each page.

3.Screen Real Estate
The golden rule is the “Content is the King” rule. If you give a good deal of your real estate to your content you are attracting more people. You should plan how you will divide the space amongst your content, advertisement, graphics and navigation menus. Compare your layout from other new websites that have attracted you. An easy layout makes it easier for your web page to be read, don”t bunch up a lot of text in one area as visitors wont even read it. Make your body paragraphs short and to the point. Your message will be read lot more in small sections rather than one big huge text block.

4.Quick Loading Web Pages
How quickly your page loads is a very key parameter for the users to like or dislike your website. We have all clicked off a website when it does not load instantly, the web is to big to wait for some websites to load, I personally think next and press the back button. I am proudly guilty of this action myself. So make sure you have limited flash and smaller images on your website. Huge flash or images will up your load time drastically. So keep it simple!

5.Compatibility
Any discussion on a good website design will not be complete without the mention of the websites compatibilities. A good designer will always test the website in multiple browsers and in multiple resolutions. It is good to plan a layout which is compatible on all the browsers and looks alright on various resolutions and nowadays also the hand held devices. Planners may however also want to consider a target group of audience and then plan the best possible layout for them and have alternatives for the others. Make sure everyone can see your website efficiently!

Creatively yours,
Todd Herman, Senior Vice President
GlobalWebsiteCreations.com

President
GlobalWebsiteCreating.com

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