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Deploying Gearman across multiple environments

A new article on using the work distribution tool, Gearman:

The open source Gearman service allows you to easily distribute work to other machines in your network, either because you want to spread the work over a large body of machines or because you want to share the functionality of different languages and environments with each other. In this article, you will look at some typical uses of Gearman and how it can solve a variety of issues and problems in modern applications. You will also learn how Gearman can be combined with other tools, like memcached, to help speed up your application and processing requirements.

I’ve tried to pay particular attention to using it where you might normally use RPC or web services, or when you want to execute large quantities of jobs and spread them over a number of machines or different parameters.

Read it Deploying Gearman across multiple environments

Saving money with open source, Part 3: The OpenChange solution offers great promise

The third and final part of my series on saving money with open source covers the OpenChange mail server, designed to provide a complete, protocol and functionally equivalent collaboration environment to Microsoft’s Exchange server.

From the article:

In today’s economic climate, everyone is looking for ways to reduce expenses. In the IT sector, one way to cut costs is by turning to open source alternatives instead of using expensive licensed products. This last part of our series explores OpenChange, which is designed to be used as an Exchange groupware server. E-mail is probably the backbone of your business; When the e-mail servers go down, everything can quickly grind to a halt. In this article, learn about the OpenChange e-mail server and whether it is ready for prime time.

Read: Saving money with open source, Part 3: The OpenChange solution offers great promise

Saving money with open source, Part 2: Tap into the power of OpenOffice

The second part of the series on saving money using open source technology looks at OpenOffice, a complete Office software suite comprising word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation package, among other tools.

From the intro:

On the desktop, the operating system and environment are less important than the applications that support the main operating functions for your office. Your business drives your application requirements, but most businesses will also use an office suite, such as OpenOffice, to support their core operations.

The OpenOffice suite is open source, freely available, and completely compatible with a wide range of different office suites, including Microsoft Office. It’s a compatible product, both in terms of file readability and usage, and you can try out OpenOffice with no barriers.

Read: Saving money with open source, Part 2: Tap into the power of OpenOffice

Saving money with open source, Part 1: Use the Ubuntu operating system

I completed a series earlier this year on using various tools within the open source world that can save you money in place of spending money on commercial products and licenses.

The first article looks at the Ubuntu Linux distribution. From the intro:

Part 1 discusses Ubuntu, a community developed Linux-based operating system for laptops, desktops, and servers. Ubuntu contains many applications: a Web browser; presentation, document, and spreadsheet software; instant messaging; and much more. This article explores Ubuntu’s:

• Benefits
• Updates and stability
• Desktop version
• Compatibility and integration
• Hardware support

Read: Saving money with open source, Part 1: Use the Ubuntu operating system}

Systems Administration Toolkit: Using SNMP data

A new article on consuming and using the SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) data that is published and provided by different devices is now available:

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is built in to many devices, but often the tools and software that can read and parse this information are too large and complicated when you only want to check a quick statistic or track a particular device or issue. This article looks at some simplified methods for getting SNMP information from your devices and how to integrate this information into the rest of your network’s data map.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Using SNMP data

Systems Administration Toolkit: Understanding DNS

A new article on understanding the Domain Name System (DNS) is now available:

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the service that converts hostnames and domain details into the IP addresses required for application to communicate. Under UNIX, the primary DNS service is based on BIND, and DNS itself is a key part of most UNIX installations. This article looks at the basics of DNS setup, how servers and requests are distributed, and exchanged and how to set up and keep a DNS environment running smoothly.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Understanding DNS

Systems Administration Toolkit: Log file basics

A new article on some basic log file information and maintenance is available:

A typical UNIX or Linux machine creates many log files during the course of its operation. Some of these contain useful information; others can be used to help you with capacity and resource planning. This article looks at the fundamental information recorded within the different log files, their location, and how that information can be used to your benefit to work out what is going on within your system.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Log file basics

Aperi Discovery and Probe Videocast

As a follow up to my first introductory video on using Aperi, I now have a follow-up videocast on how to add storage systems to your Aperi installation. The process is two-stage, first you have to run a discovery process (to find the devices) and then a probe (to find out information about those devices, such as the specific configuration of the SAN).

You can view the videocast online: Watch the “Discovery and Probe” demo

Or you can download it for viewing at your leisure: Download the “Discovery and Probe” demo (13.3MB)

Systems Administration Toolkit: Network scanning

A new article on scanning your network for information, both in a general device/service level and at a more detailed data level is now available.

Discover how to scan your network for services and how to regularly monitor your services to keep uptimes to a maximum. A key way of ensuring the security of your network is to know what is on your network and what services individual machines are at risk of exposure. Unauthorized services, such as Web servers or file sharing solutions, not only degrade performance, but others can use these services as routes into your network. In this article, learn how to use these same techniques to ensure that genuine services remain available.

Read: Systems Administration Toolkit: Network scanning

System Administration Toolkit: Distributed administration using SSH

System administration and SSH is a topic I’ve covered before (see System Administration Toolkit: Set up remote access in UNIX through OpenSSH), but what I didn’t cover in that article was how you can use SSH as a solution for running commands remotely over one, or more, machines simultaneously.

From the new article:

Use Secure Shell (SSH) to run commands on remote UNIX systems and, with some simple scripts, put together a system that enables you to manage many systems simultaneously from one machine without having to log in directly to the machines themselves. Also examine the basics of a distributed management system and some scripts and solutions using the technique.

Read: System Administration Toolkit: Distributed administration using SSH