Linux

Nov 11 2009   6:31PM GMT

Free online IT education resource

Posted by: Troy Tate
tutorial, IT education, technology education, information technology reference, information technology tutorial, certification, programming, sql, Database, Microsoft education, Microsoft, Macromedia, Adobe, Networking, network technology education, MAC OS, Linux, XML

I recently came across an excellent IT education resource that is free. It is the eTutorials.org website. According to the website it is a source of  thousands online tutorials, useful tips, articles, and researched recommendations.

Some of the content on eTutorials includes topics like:

Adobe:

• Adobe Illustrator CS
• Adobe Photoshop 7. How to
• Adobe Premiere 6.5. Teach yourself in 24 hours
• Adobe Indesign CS2. Professional Typography

Networking:

• Lan switching fundamentals
• Router firewall security
• Wireless lan security
• Integrated cisco and unix network architectures
• Lan switching first-step
• Mpls VPN security
• Beginner’s guide to wi-fi wireless networking
• 802.11 security. wi-fi protected access and 802.11i
• Wimax Technology for broadband wireless access
• Wireless community networks
• Network security assessment
• Network security hacks
• Network Management
• Wireless networks first-step
• LAN switching first-step

Certification:

• A programmer’s guide to java certification
• CCNP BSCI Official Exam Certification Guide
• Sun certified solaris 9.0 system and network administrator all-in-one exam guide
• Advanced DBA Certification Guide and Reference

Other technology sections include:

• Macromedia
• Programming
• SQL
• Server Administration
• Microsoft Products
• Mac OS
• Linux systems
• Mobile devices
• XML
• Misc

An example of the table of contents in the CCNP BSCI Official Exam Certification Guide tutorial includes the following sections:

CCNP BSCI Official Exam Certification Guide, Fourth Edition - Graphically Rich Book
Each chapter includes:
“Do I Know This Already?” Quiz
Foundation Topics
Foundation Summary
Q&A

Introduction
Part I: Introduction to Scalable Networks
Chapter 1. Network Design
Chapter 2. IP Address Planning and Summarization

Part II: EIGRP
Chapter 3. EIGRP Principles
Chapter 4. Scalable EIGRP

Part III: OSPF
Chapter 5. Understanding Simple Single-Area OSPF
Chapter 6. OSPF Network Topologies
Chapter 7. Using OSPF Across Multiple Areas
Chapter 8. OSPF Advanced Topics

Part IV: IS-IS
Chapter 9. Fundamentals of the Integrated IS-IS Protocol
Chapter 10. Configuring Integrated IS-IS

Part V: Cisco IOS Routing Features
Chapter 11. Implementing Redistribution and Controlling Routing Updates
Chapter 12. Controlling Redistribution with Route Maps
Chapter 13. Dynamic Host Control Protocol

Part VI: BGP
Chapter 14. BGP Concepts
Chapter 15. BGP Neighbors
Chapter 16. Controlling BGP Route Selection

Part VII: Multicasting
Chapter 17. What Is Multicasting?
Chapter 18. IGMP
Chapter 19. Configuring Multicast

Part VIII: IPv6
Chapter 20. Introduction to IPv6 and IPv6 Addressing
Chapter 21. IPv6 Routing Protocols, Configuration, and Transitioning from IPv4

Appendix A. Answers to Chapter “Do I Know This Already?” Quizzes and Q&A Sections

There is a LOT of tutorial content on this website! I would highly recommend using this resource for reference materials and increasing your knowledge in the technology topics offered.

Thanks for reading and please share with other IT Trenches readers what online tutorial resources you use for reference or education.

Dec 4 2008   6:54PM GMT

Did you see this? - IBM creates Microsoft-free linux virtual desktop

Posted by: Troy Tate
administration, hardware, IBM, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Virtualization, reporting, design, Microsoft

Many IT trade publications are reporting that IBM is launching alternative to Microsoft-centric software and the bloated hardware required by recent operating system releases.

The Virtual Linux Desktop ranges in price from $59 to $289 per user, depending on level of software and service desired, according to the report. IBM estimates that the software package could save corporate customers up to $800 per user, when compared with the cost of maintaining Microsoft’s Vista operating system, Office suite, and collaboration tools, the newspaper said.

For more information see:

Wall Street Journal -IBM Creates ‘Microsoft-Free’ Desktop: Applications for Thin Clients Would Operate From Back-Office Server

VNUNet

Silicon.com

What do you think? Can Big Blue pull it off?

Oct 27 2008   8:52PM GMT

Did you see this? - (Wire)Sharkfest 2008 videos - including Vint Cerf - now available

Posted by: Troy Tate
Networking, forensics, Security, tools, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Monitoring, web, reporting, Google, internet, IT education, WAN, LAN, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, Performance, Network TAPs, howto, network analysis, Metrics, wireshark, packet capture, research, education, toolkit, man-in-the-middle, analysis

Checkout the Sharkfest 2008 videos at LoveMyTool.com. If you use Wireshark or want to learn network troubleshooting, this is one of the best resources you can have in your toolkit. The videos will give you a better understanding of this tool and other tools out there.

There is even a video of Dr. Vinton G. Cerf, vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google. He is responsible for identifying new enabling technologies and applications on the Internet and other platforms for the company. Widely known as a “Father of the Internet,” Vint is the co-designer with Robert Kahn of TCP/IP protocols and basic architecture of the Internet.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Jun 17 2008   2:33PM GMT

Did you see this? - can MY browser do this?

Posted by: Troy Tate
Networking, tools, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Browsers, web, reporting, Mobile, DataCenter, WWW, website, Performance, Metrics, diagnostics

Here’s a great website for testing your browser functionality and understanding the different features of each application.

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!

Jun 17 2008   2:05PM GMT

Did you see this? - Online e-book library

Posted by: Troy Tate
administration, Networking, Storage, Security, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Database, Virtualization, Development, SQL Server, web, CIO, Mobile, DataCenter, DataManagement, IT education, WAN, LAN, Exchange, website, Performance, howto, network analysis, Metrics, research, awareness

Check out this digital online library for IT professionals. Bet you can’t read just one!

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!

Apr 29 2008   5:11PM GMT

I can’t get no technical (support) satisfaction

Posted by: Troy Tate
Networking, Security, tools, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Monitoring, CIO, DataCenter, troubleshooting

My apologies to the Rolling Stones for munging their classic song.

How many times have you encountered a situation in your organization where something needs to be done yet either IT is not able or willing to support your business related efforts. There are lots of reasons for this to happen in the business world.

One division of our business is electronics manufacturing solutions where we assemble parts designed by the customer. I recently encountered a situation where a customer has some onsite testing gear to measure QA data on devices we manufacture for them. The testing gear was not for our engineers but for the customer. According to the supporting engineer, his IT department was not interested in supporting these test devices. So, the engineer was asking my organization to support the test hosts.

Well, our side of the story now… these test devices run linux as the operating system. My IT organization typically does not support linux because our focus is on Microsoft Windows systems. So, here’s the conundrum… who supports this engineer and his manufacturing requirements? The test hosts are owned and designed by the customer, yet the hosts are at my organization’s facility.

Tough situation for sure! Right now our answer is to do our best effort in supporting this engineer and the engineer is going to talk to his in-house IT department to see if they will support his requirements. It seems to be a shame that this engineer cannot find support from his own organization. He really could use this when in the end, these test systems are there to support the quality of his organization’s product.

What are your thoughts on this situation? Does your IT organization have to support third-party systems within your facility? If so, what protections have you put into place for your organization?

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!

Apr 15 2008   1:00PM GMT

VMWare Player:My ears are still ringing!

Posted by: Troy Tate
Security, tools, Linux, Virtualization, vmware, troubleshooting, Performance

Wow! I didn’t know my laptop could have such loud alerts. Yesterday, I shutdown a virtual machine in VMWare’s VMPlayer application. As soon as I clicked the shutdown button in the guest OS, my laptop let out with the most amazing shriek that seems to still be ringing in my ears several hours later.

I had to actually remove power and the battery from the laptop to get the awful racket to stop. Fortunately, the machine restarted without a glitch.

I was running the Protech ONE security ISO image (this is a nice tool for security testing and education). The VMWare Player is a great tool for running an ISO image if you want to take one for a test drive. I had tried running this same ISO image in Microsoft’s VirtualPC environment but there are issues with this particular ISO and how it handles key mapping so it was just easier to change to VMWare’s Player.

However, now my ears are ringing because of the incredibly loud beeping that my machine let loose when shutting down the guest OS. My laptop speakers are always turned to the lowest level possible so I really have no clue why shutting Protech ONE down would have created such a loud event. I guess I need to see if there is a way I can shutdown this environment without waking up my nearby neighbors in the company Tax department.

Have you ever used any application that performed odd startup or shutdown activities? What did you do to overcome those issues?

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!