|
Issue #1: August, 2001
Contents:
-
-
Code Red rehash [NT, 2000]
• Code Red versions
• Vulnerabilities
• What you need to do to protect your network
-
Useful Information on Windows XP and Office
XP [All]
• Office XP review from ArsTechnica
• Windows XP first look from Tom's Hardware Guide
• Microsoft announces they're releasing Windows XP early &
my take on it.
-
Newsbites
• Novell is giving away eDirectory? (NDS) [Network
Administrators]
• Seagate announces fastest, quietest hard drive [All]
-
Tips, Tricks & Links - Wireless!
• Useful sites for PDA users [All]
• GroupWise Wireless device support [GroupWise
Administrators]
-
-
Fun & Cool [All]
• Human clock
• Sorting poker chips with a vibrating table
Key: [NT, 2000] affects users of Windows NT or Windows 2000, [Network
Administrators] is primarily of interest to LAN administrators,
[All] is of interest to everyone.
Welcome
Welcome to the semi-monthly newsletter! This newsletter contains an
assortment of newsworthy items, tips and tricks, and computer industry
analysis. I hope to make things short and sweet so you can get the most
out of it with the least amount of effort.
My goal with this newsletter is to help give people as much information
as possible about their computer systems and about their options. I spend
a lot of time staying up-to-date with the latest industry news websites
& magazines, and I really enjoy writing. Thus, a newsletter seems
like a natural outgrowth of this.
As always, if you have any questions or comments about anything at all,
please don't hesitate to contact me at bdp@bdpnetworks.com
For more information on BDP Networks, please see the section below entitled
Information about BDP Networks.
Code Red Rehash
What is all of the controversy surrounding Code Red about? Named after
a new cherry-flavored version of Mountain Dew popular with computer programmers,
it's a worm (similar to a virus) that spreads through security holes in
hardware and software. It may have originated in China (though Chinese
officials deny this) and it attacks servers running Windows NT or 2000
with Microsoft's IIS (Internet Information Server) web software. In addition,
it seeks out Cisco 675 modems with web-based management enabled, and causes
them to seize up, thus dropping their connection to the Internet. After
being around for almost a month, there are still tens of thousands
of unprotected servers out there, so it continues to spread.
There are now three variants of this worm, with each new version being
more destructive than the previous one. The newer versions will actually
leave a "backdoor" in your server that continues to operate
even after you have patched, disabled, or even uninstalled IIS. There
will be many more versions of this worm to come, so it is advisable that
you take steps immediately to patch your systems if you haven't already
done so.
It is no longer possible to completely undo the effects of the newer
Code Red worms simply by patching and rebooting your servers, so Microsoft
and Cisco have released patches and step-by-step documentation on how
to resist and remove this worm.
If you have Windows NT or Windows 2000 and are running IIS, you should
go here to download and install the patches.
You'll most likely need to install the patch first, then you'll also
want to run the Code Red II Cleaner Tool, which removes the backdoor.
Are you running Windows NT or 2000 but you're not sure if you have IIS
or not? You can look for a program called the "World Wide Web Publishing
Service" in the "Services" icon in your Control Panel:
That's IIS. If you are still unsure, you should install the patch anyway
as IIS is used on WinNT/2K by many third-party programs.
To reprogram your Cisco 675/678 to prevent it from being hit by Code
Red, have a look at Qwest's customer service page. There's a .PDF here
that gives you very detailed instructions on how to do this: http://www.qwest.com/dsl/customerservice/coderedvirus.html
I think Code Red is just the first of a new breed of "smart worms,"
written by people who really know what they're doing. Up until now, most
viruses and worms were just written by amateurs... Microsoft software
may be popular because of its functionality, but it's not known for its
security. Because of this, everyone should be continuously prepared with
the latest system patches and signature updates for their virus scanning
package.
If you need help with any of these patches, or even help with selecting
or managing your virus protection software, please give me a call at (206)351-7964,
or contact us through our web page at http://www.bdpnetworks.com/contact.html
- There are other ways to protect your systems from outside invaders,
and we can help get you set up with the right combination of services
for your needs.
Office XP, Windows XP, etc.
The short gist of the review is this: SmartTags aren't as bad as people
say they are; the new Activation Scheme will be okay for most but will
really annoy people who change their hardware around a lot; Refreshable
Web Queries are okay as is the built-in Voice Recognition; SharePoint
Team Services is a killer app that integrates seamlessly with Office XP.
My take on it? I have not yet used Office XP at all, so I can't yet
comment on how well it works, but I really like the idea of SharePoint
Team Services (basically "portal in a box") but think it could
open up even more security holes everywhere, especially when companies
try to scale it from a few users to hundreds without proper planning.
As with any Microsoft product (especially with the new licensing scheme),
I would strongly advise AGAINST upgrading to Office XP (even if you're
already on an Microsoft Enterprise Agreement) until:
1) It has been around for at least a year
2) There is at least one service pack available for it
3) There are specific features in the product your users would really
benefit from
4) Microsoft has threatened to stop offering technical support for Office
2000
I would even recommend requesting that all of your new PCs come with
Office 2000 preinstalled until Office XP matures a bit*. There's a difference
between "cutting-edge" technology and "bleeding-edge"
technology and it all boils down to how much you want to spend on technical
support. I recommend that you don't take the plunge until others have
gone before you...
(* Actually, it's more complicated than this, and again it depends on
whether you're on a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement or not, and whether
or not you re-image your PCs after they come from the factory or you just
install your applications on top of the pre-installed OS. Call me for
more information.)
Windows XP is the first "convergence" platform that Microsoft
has been promising for over five years. It is meant to combine the ease
of use & compatibility of Windows 98/ME with the stability and performance
of Windows NT/2000. However, many people have taken to simply calling
it "Windows NT 5.1."
The screenshots look great--it is definitely the best-looking OS Microsoft
has ever released, and is almost looks as good as the new MacOS X. It's
controversial because Microsoft has packed the OS with so many different
features that used to be supplied by third-parties, such as an image browser,
instant messenger, remote computer control, cd burner, video player, firewall,
ZIP file extractor and compressor, and more. This sounds good for consumers
(especially if all of these programs work as written) but remember that
many people may choose not to go to third-party vendors for better software,
since these features are already built-in (and this is in fact what helped
kill Netscape). Make no mistake about it: Microsoft has AOL and RealNetworks
directly in their crosshairs; other companies such as Symantec (pcAnywhere)
and WinZip could suffer, too. Yes, it's convenient for consumers, but
our choices are being severely limited by Microsoft wanting to throw every
last possible tool into their OS.
Further complicating things are threats from Congress about trying to
get the courts to grant an injunction against Microsoft because of these
anti-competitive issues. This is probably why, to much surprise, Microsoft
announced a few weeks ago that they would ship Windows XP a month early,
most likely to get it out the door before any judges can do anything about
it.
As far as whether or not you should use it when it comes out? Again,
I recommend adopting a wait-and-see approach, unless you like to spend
lots of extra money on support costs. Wait six months to a year, wait
for some patches, and wait for things to stabilize.
By the way, I just found a rather dark (but humorous) article at the
LA Times about the downside of Microsoft's plans for standardizing everything
with their software--it has some very valid points and is well worth a
quick read:
http://latimes.com/technology/la-000064605aug09.story
Quick Newsbites
Novell is giving away NDS eDirectory! Novell has announced
that they will now offer a 250,000 user license of NDS eDirectory to companies
developing directory-enabled software, which they can then bundle into
their final product. This means that if you buy a piece of software that
requires directory services (such as a big HR database, for instance)
the company you're purchasing it from can bundle in a FREE 250,000 user
license of NDS from Novell. This looks to be a great way to help sell
NDS to big organizations and promote its use.
In my opinion, NDS is one of the best network management technologies
on the market - it allows you to put all of your resources in one easy-to-manage
"tree" and assign rights to objects on far-flung branches just
by pointing and clicking. Novell also provides a single, centralized management
console that allows developers to write small "plugin" modules
that manage their object types, so for instance, instead of running a
separate program to manage your e-mail system, you use the same program
you would use to create user accounts and assign file permissions. (It
just adds e-mail specific "tabs" to the user object.) The power
of this is really evident in programs such as Novell's BorderManager firewall,
which allows you to set Internet policies based on NDS user object name
(rather than hard-coding an IP address like most firewalls) and their
ZENworks package, which pushes down system policies and applications to
workstations based on NDS object rights. (I've seen companies that run
this mix of products, and they almost consistently tend to have smaller
IT departments than their Microsoft-based counterparts because of the
leverage they get from these products.)
It would seem that this idea of Directory Services should have been
"obvious" to everyone and realized some time ago, but the truth
is that the industry is still too immature for really innovative technologies
like this. Microsoft has helped teach the value of Directory Services
by pushing its Active Directory, a similar product to NDS. But many IT
decision makers still don't understand the technology enough to realize
its time-saving (and cost-saving) benefits.
NDS has been traditionally hampered by its requirement for Netware and
lack of marketing expertise on Novell's part. NDS eDirectory 8.5 is cross-platform,
running natively on Linux, Windows NT, Windows 2000 AIX, Solaris and Netware
4.x through 6.x. In fact, it has the ability to actually absorb and manage
Active Directory trees and NT 4 Domains (keeping user information seamlessly
synchronized across everything), but it doesn't go the other way: Active
Directory can't manage an NDS tree.
NDS is also fast, stable, secure, and distributed (information automatically
resides in several locations so the directory stays up even if a server
goes down). That means it's really, really hard to break it.
I'm sorry if this sounds like a commercial for NDS - It isn't, and Novell
doesn't pay me to talk about their products. But I think this is a really
great technology that is often overlooked.
Seagate announces fastest, quietest hard drive: Seagate
has announced a new hard drive that uses a special new fluid bearing;
it drops the noise level of the drive to below anything humans can hear.
Additionally, they engineered a way to cram even more data on hard drive
platters, reducing access time considerably (when data is packed together
tighter you can read more of it, faster). Pretty cool technology, but
more impressive is the fact that in the past few years, Maxtor and IBM
have generally been the ones to introduce the nifty new hard drive technologies.
Does this mean Seagate is starting to innovate once again?
Tips and Tricks - Wireless Devices
Useful sites for PDA owners: Despite recently sluggish
sales, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) continue to be invaluable tools
when you use them with the right software. You may be using your PDA to
store appointments, tasks, or even reply to e-mail. But did you know you
can read today's newspaper, check stock prices, look at the weather forecast
& find the nearest 4-star restaurant (with reviews) without a wireless
Internet connection? Here are some of my favorite links:
AvantGo: AvantGo offers the Mobile Internet Service,
which lets you subscribe to hundreds of different channels in various
categories. During the registration process, you download special software
that plugs into your synchronization manager (i.e. HotSync) and software
that resides on your PDA. (It's easier than it sounds, really). Then you
pick the channels you would like to take with you (such as The Seattle
Times or the Weather Channel, or even My Yahoo) and they're automatically
retrieved each time you synchronize your PDA with your computer. You can
even quickly create channels for websites that aren't listed in the AvantGo
directory with a wizard.
I really like this service because I read Wired News, ZDnet, the Seattle
Times & a few other online magazines with it. I can also get weather
& movie listings at a glance, including showtimes for all of the local
theaters. It's almost as good as having a live Internet connection on
your PDA! Best of all, this service is totally FREE: http://www.avantgo.com
Vindingo: Vindingo is a more recent addition to the
PDA landscape; they offer a service that lets you store city directories
on your PDA. When you have downloaded and installed all of the software
(just like AvantGo), you start by setting your intersection on your PDA
(i.e. Pine & Broadway, Seattle, WA). You can then query it for restaurants,
shops, clubs & movie theatres in the area. It'll give you user reviews
and ratings, as well as calculate a step-by-step list of directions on
how to WALK to the place it suggests. Again, it's FREE and doesn't require
a live Internet connection on your PDA. http://www.vindingo.com
Software: There are seemingly dozens of other third-party software sites
for PalmOS and Windows CE-based units out there... I won't name them,
because I really don't have a favorite one. If you have a favorite, please
send me e-mail and I'll put your comments in the next newsletter.
I just recently purchased a Palm IIIc (upgraded from a Palm III) and
am really enjoying it's expanded memory capacity and stunning color screen.
I use AvantGo to download the Seattle Times and Wired; I then take my
Palm to the cafe (Vivace, on Broadway & Denny - this is not a paid
advertisement!) and read news while I sip on my favorite Soy Caramel Latte
(Mmmm!). I must admit I am a bit biased towards the PalmOS-based units;
they tend to be cheaper and easier to use than their Windows CE (Windows
Powered) counterparts. But the Windows CE units are a force to be reckoned
with; their faster processors & rich feature sets are trying to replace
laptops, I think... but they are more expensive.
GroupWise Wireless Support: If you own GroupWise 5.5ep
(or above), you can download a FREE GroupWise Wireless Gateway from Novell
that installs on top of WebAccess in no time at all. The Wireless Gateway
lets you read & compose e-mail, check your calendar, and even lets
you manage your to do list and address book. It supports HDML devices:
cell phones with a built-in microbrowser from Sprint, AT&T & a
few other services. If you own a phone with only the newer WAP support
(and I found this out through lots of trial and error with my Cingular
service) you're out of luck until Novell releases the Wireless Gateway
1.2 (which should be very soon).
Novell has been aggressive about supporting wireless devices for GroupWise
- If you own GroupWise 6, you can get an additional gateway that supports
PQA (Palm Query Applications) pages, which is sort of a reduced version
of the web for Palm devices. They will also directly support Compact HTML
(Japanese i-mode phones) and RIM Blackberry devices pretty soon.
Novell once again has some really cool technology (remember: you have
to BUY the corresponding components for MS Exchange or Lotus Notes!) that
they aren't doing a very good job of marketing. Sigh...
Information about BDP Networks
If you have read this far, THANK YOU! Although this newsletter may be
a bit rough around the edges, it is the culmination of an idea I had a
long time ago and finally have the time (and drive) to implement.
BDP Networks(located in Seattle, WA) is owned and managed by myself,
and I maintain a network of contacts with other independent computer consultants
and computer support firms for subcontracting purposes. I've been doing
this consulting thing for quite a while as an employee of other computer
service companies. While my experiences were very enriching, I've generally
been frustrated by the lack of consistency or innovation at those companies
& the overhead a lot of them carry. I think I can do a better job
by myself at a lower cost, so I formed BDP Networks in June.
I intend to start by simply doing what I'm best at: helping people to
get their networks to run more smoothly so they can concentrate on other
things. Unfortunately, I've seen way too many companies that simply don't
have adequate network support. A lot of companies are pouring vast sums
of money into their infrastructure just to keep it stable, let alone add
value or features to it. This doesn't have to be the case; I have the
experience necessary to help get these networks running well again &
know how to add innovative features onto them that will benefit everyone.
I offer a free one-hour onsite consultation to new clients, so you have
NO RISK! If you would like to set up an appointment, give me a call at
(206)351-7964 or e-mail me at bdp@bdpnetworks.com
Fun & Cool
Human Clock: A guy in Portland with too much time on
his hands. (I think Digital mode works best for now, but he's working
on Analog mode, too.)
http://www.humanclock.com
Sorting Poker chips with a vibrating table: You need
to see this one to believe it. Someone has figured out a way to isolate
motion of individual objects and actually direct them across a computerized
vibrating table. Hard to explain, but trust me:
http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~nalldrin/upm/
That's it for now!
Feel free to forward a copy of this to whomever you wish; please leave
the contents intact.
If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, please
send e-mail to subscribe@bdpnetworks.com
or unsubscribe@bdpnetworks.com
- don't worry about the format of your message because the requests are
read by a real, live human being.
Questions, comments, concerns or flames may be directed to newsletter@bdpnetworks.com
Thank you for reading!
INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS"
WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT
NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT.
|
