Archive for the ‘System Information’ Category

Virtual Private Networking (VPN)

Posted: March 4, 2011 in Networking, Server, Server 2008, System Information
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Virtual private networking (VPN) provides a way of making a secured, private connection from the client to the server over a public network such as the Internet. Unlike dial-up networking, in which a connection is made directly between client and server, a VPN connection is logical and tunneled through another type of connection. Typically, a remote user would connect to an Internet service provider (ISP) using a form of dial-up networking (particularly good for users with high-speed connections).

The Routing And Remote Access server would also be connected to the Internet (probably via a persistent, or permanent, connection) and would be configured to accept VPN connections. Once the client is connected to the Internet, it then establishes a VPN connection over that dial-up connection to the Routing and Remote Access server.

 

Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA)

Posted: March 4, 2011 in Active Directory, Internet Protocol, Networking, System Basics, System Information
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Automatic Private IP Addressing

 

Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) is a feature introduced with Windows 2000; it is also included in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

 

APIPA allows a computer that is configured to obtain an automatic IP address to assign itself an address from a private range should no DHCP server be available. APIPA assigns addresses in the range 169.254.0.1 through 169.254.255.255—a range reserved by Microsoft for just this purpose.

 

APIPA is really designed for small networks that don’t use a DHCP server. APIPA allows computers running Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XP to plug into a network and recognize one another with little configuration necessary. If your network uses a DHCP server and you see that a client has been assigned an address in the APIPA range, it means the client could not locate a DHCP server.

 

IP Routing

Posted: March 4, 2011 in Internet Protocol, Networking, System Basics, System Information
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Routing is the process of moving information along a path from a source to a destination.

On a TCP/IP network, the source and destination are called hosts and the information is broken apart into small packets that are transmitted between these hosts. The IP handles the routing of all these packets for the network.

 

Remember that a protocol such as TCP or UDP hands down a packet of data to the IP protocol for transmission to a remote host. IP must determine where the packet goes.

First, it compares the network ID of the local host with the network ID of the destination host identified in the packet. If the two network IDs match, the two hosts are on the same network segment and the packet can be sent directly to the destination host.

 

If IP determines that the network IDs of the local host and the remote host do not match, that means that the two hosts are on different network segments and the packet cannot be sent directly. Instead, IP must send the packet to a gateway, which is a router connecting one network segment to another. When this gateway receives the packet, its IP protocol goes through the process of comparing network IDs to determine the best place to send the packet. If the destination host is on one of the network segments to which the gateway is directly connected, the gateway can forward the packet straight to the destination host. Otherwise, the gateway forwards the packet on to another gateway, and then perhaps another, until the packet finally reaches its destination. Each time a packet crosses a gateway that is referred to as a hop. For example, if a packet must cross three routers to reach its destination that is considered three hops.

 

Usually, the source host is configured with the IP address of a default gateway, a router to which all packets are sent if the destination host is not found on the same network segment. Routers (and all devices with IP installed, for that matter) are able to consult routing tables that are stored in the router’s memory. A routing table holds information on preferred routes for various network IDs. This way, the router can determine the best gateway to which to send a packet based on the network ID of the packet’s destination host. There are two ways in which a router can build its routing table:

 

■ Static A static router has a routing table that is constructed and updated manually.

In other words, someone must actually access the routing table to create

routes the router can use.

 

■ Dynamic A dynamic router builds and updates its own routing table as it finds

appropriate routes. When it finds shorter routes, it favors those over longer routes.

Most important, dynamic routers can also share their information with other

routers on the network. Almost all the routers in use today are dynamic routers—

manual routers are just too much work. Dynamic routers use one of two common

routing protocols: Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Open Shortest Path First

(OSPF).

 

Dell Open Manage Installation Guide for ESX

Posted: March 4, 2011 in Networking, Open Manage, Server 2003, Server 2008, System Information
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Installing Dell OpenManage 5.x on ESX 3.X

Note: ESX 3.5 systems, Patch ESX350-200802412-BG need to be installed prior to the OpenManage Installation. This patch addresses an issue related to event reporting in Dell OMSS. This patch may be downloaded from http://www.vmware.com/download/vi/vi3_patches_35.html. For further details, refer to http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003459.

 

Dell OpenManage Package from support.dell.com

 

Use the following steps to download Dell OpenManage:

 

1. Go to http://support.dell.com

 

2. Select “Drivers and Downloads”

 

3. Select the appropriate server model (example: PowerEdge 2950) or enter the Service Tag of the server

 

4. For “Operating System,” select “Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4”

 

5. For “Category,” select “Systems Management”

 

6. Click on “Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node” to download a tar package for Server Administrator.

 

7. If the version of Dell OpenManage you require is not the latest release, click on “Other Versions” to find previous releases

 

The following are the steps to install OpenManage 5.x on ESX 3.x:

 

1. Log on with administrator privileges (root) to the Service Console.

 

2. Make sure there is at least 512MB of free disk space in the /root partition of ESX Server service console. This can be verified by running the df –lh command in the service console.

 

3. Use the following steps to install OpenManage Server Administrator:

 

Copy the file to ESX using WINSCP to

 

# /etc/tmp/update

Create an Update folder under /etc/tmp

 

Unzip the file

$ tar -zxvf OM_5.1_ManNode_LIN_A00.tar.gz

 

where OM_5.1_ManNode_LIN_A00.tar.gz is the file downloaded from http://support.dell.com

 

4. Install OpenManage by executing the installation script and following the onscreen instructions:

# ./setup.sh

 

a. If you are installing OpenManage on a Dell PowerEdge 1855, PowerEdge 1955, or on a system that does not have a Dell Remote Access Card (DRAC), use the following command:

 

$ ./srvadmin-install.sh –b –w -s

 

b. If you are installing Dell OpenManage on a PowerEdge M600, M605, or a server with DRAC, use the following command:

 

$ ./srvadmin-install.sh –b –w –r -s The options used in the OpenManage installation script expand as: b: Base install of OpenManage Server Administrator w: Web interface for OpenManage Server Administrator r: Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC) services s: OpenManage Storage Management (OMSM)

 

5. To start the OpenManage services without rebooting the system, execute the following command:

$ srvadmin-services.sh start

 

 

6 To access the ESX server using an OpenManage Web Administrative console, open the ports used by OpenManage using the following commands:

 

$ esxcfg-firewall -o 1311,tcp,in,OpenManageRequest

 

 

To check the Dell Open manage

 

https://esxip:1311

 

Cisco ASA5505 Firewall

Posted: March 4, 2011 in Firewall, Networking, Server, Server 2003, Server 2008, System Information
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Cisco ASA5505 Firewall overview

Cisco ASA5505 firewall is a small box with the following layout:

It has eight Ethernet ports marked 0 to 7 and one Console port marked blue.

–  Connect the Console port to the local server or any computer from which you will configure the box: the Console      cable must be connected to Serial port of the computer. Note: it is needed for configuration only; later this    connection can be removed.

–  Port 0 of the ASA must be attached to Internet Provider’s equipment: connect it to the ISP modem.

–  Port 2 of the ASA must be attached to the local Ethernet switch.

–  Connect the Server and computers to the Ethernet switch.

 

CONFIGURATION

In order to configure the firewall, you will need a configuration template (not included in this document, supplied as a separate file). Follow the instructions inside the configuration template in order to adjust it to the profile of your site and use the following configuration sequence:

–  Log in to the server or a computer that was connected to ASA box;

–  Open up the HyperTerminal program (Start à Programs à Accessories à Communications). Set up a new connection to COM1 port.

–  Clear any existing configuration from the firewall using the following set of commands:

Devicename> enable ↵

Devicename# config terminal ↵

Devicename(config)# clear configure all ↵

Devicename(config)# write memory ↵

–  While in configuration mode, copy-paste the configuration file that you prepared earlier.

–  Save the configuration of the firewall:

Devicename(config)# write memory ↵

 

Having this done, your firewall is set up for operation. Verify if your internet are working.

 

 

Search Particular files in Drive

Posted: March 4, 2011 in Bios, Commands, System Basics, System Information
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To search Particular set of File Types in a large set of Folders or in a drive, Instead of Windows Search which take long time usually, You can Run a Command which gives you the Log File with the Details of the File name, Location, Drive, space consumed.

To Proceed to Search the files:

1. Open Command Prompt

2. Get to Root Directory (i.e The Drive name in which you want to search)

3. Run the Command “dir /b /n /s *.wma,*.mp3,*.mp4,*.avi,*.mpg,*.mov,*.jpg,*.bmp >C:\ drivespace.txt”

 

You can search any kind of file by editing the above command, I have shown the command to search the Media and Photo files.

The Part (>c:\drivespace.txt) : here you can mention the file name and the path to save the file after execution.

 

Net Use Command to Add Drives

Posted: March 4, 2011 in Bios, Commands, Networking, Server 2003, Server 2008, System Information
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Net Use Command:

 

To Add a Drive

net use (drive-name): \\Servername\Foldername :persistent

 

To Delete a Mapped Drive

net use (Drivename): /del                           or                                net use (Drivename): /delete

 

In case if you get any error while running the Net use command like : NET NOT RECOGNIZED AS A COMMAND

Then Follow the Below Steps:

Open Command Prompt> Go To “C” Drive> “Windows” Folder> “System 32″ Folder”

and then run the Net Use Command mentioned above.

Also check the below Value:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment\Path

I suspect it is a Reg_SZ value. It should be a Reg_Expand_SZ value

 

Review of Active Directory in Server 2008

Posted: January 5, 2011 in Active Directory, Server, Server 2008, System Information
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Active Directory is Microsoft’s implementation of a directory service. A directory service holds information about resources within the domain. Resources are stored as objects and include users, computers, groups, printers, and more.

In Windows Server 2008, five different server roles support Active Directory:

 

>Active Directory Domain Services

>Active Directory Certificate Services

>Active Directory Federation Services

>Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services

>Active Directory Rights Management Services

 

The primary role is Active Directory Domain Services. The other roles add to the capabilities of Active Directory. Objects include users, computers, groups, and more. The Active Directory database is stored only on servers holding the role of domain controllers.

 

A significant benefit of using Active Directory Domain Services is that it enables you as an administrator to manage desktops, network servers, and applications all from a centralized location.

 

Read-Only Domain Controllers in Server 2008

Posted: January 5, 2011 in Active Directory, Server, Server 2008, System Information
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A read-only domain controller (RODC) hosts a read-only copy of the Active Directory database. This is somewhat of an untrue, because changes can be made to the database. However, the changes can come only from other domain controllers, and the entire database isn’t replicated; instead, only a few select objects are replicated.

 

Usually, domain controllers are considered peers where they are all equal (with a few exceptions). Any objects can be added or modified such as adding a user or a user changing their password on any domain controller. These changes are then replicated to other domain controllers. However, with RODCs, changes to the domain controller can come only from other domain controllers. Moreover, the changes are severely restricted to only a few select objects.

 

The huge benefit of the RODC is that credentials of all users and computers in Active Directory are not replicated to the RODC. This significantly improves the security of domain controllers that are placed at remote locations.

 

Anonymous Proxy Server

Posted: October 21, 2010 in Internet, Internet Protocol, System Information, System Modifications, System Tricks, WorkStation
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An anonymous proxy server (from time to time called a trap factor) mainly attempts to anonymize trap surfing. There are discrete varieties of anonymizers. One of the more routine variations is the bare proxy. Because they are typically difficult to track, introduce proxies are principally profitable to those seeking online anonymity, from governmental dissidents to computer criminals. Some users are essentially interested in anonymity for added security, hiding their identities from potentially malicious websites appropriate for illustration, or on grounds, to further constitutional charitable rights of naturalness of philippic, instead of instance. The server receives requests from the anonymizing representative server, and thus does not profit information forth the intent purchaser’s address. Though, the requests are not anonymous to the anonymizing proxy server, and so a rank of conviction is today between the proxy server and the user. Many of them are funded through a continued advertising link to the user.

Access hold sway over: Some proxy servers implement a logon requirement. In large organizations, authorized users obligated to log on to attain access to the web. The organization can thereby track usage to individuals.

Some anonymizing surrogate servers may forward figures packets with header lines such as HTTP_VIA, HTTP_X_FORWARDED_ALSO IN BEHALF OF, or HTTP_FORWARDED, which may reveal the IP address of the client. Other anonymizing delegate servers, known as elite or ear-splitting anonymity proxies, but number the SLIGHT_ADDR header with the IP address of the agent server, making it show that the delegate server is the client. A website could quiescent be suspicious of a proxy is being toughened if the client sends packets which encompass a cookie from a antecedent to by that did not put to use the high anonymity surrogate server. Clearing cookies, and by any chance the cache, would solve this problem.

 

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