Archive for May, 2010

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Psychometric Testing


2010
05.31

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Posted in LIFE SUCCESS, Management | No Comments »

Psychometric tests are structured tests, taken in exam-like conditions, which aim to measure objectively a person’s ability, or certain aspects of their personality. Their aim is to provide employers with a reliable method of selecting the best applicants. Nowadays employers are more using Psychometric tests to select the potential candidate.

Psychometric tests measure your ability to understand the written word, or to reason with numbers. Others measure your ability to solve mechanical problems, or follow instructions accurately, or be able to understand data which is presented in a variety of ways. And then, of course, there are the personality tests, assessing everything from motivation to working preferences.

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Active Directory Management & Reporting Tool


2010
05.27

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Posted in INFRASTRUCTURE, ITIL, Management, ServiceDesk, WINDOWS | 1 Comment »

ADManager Plus is a simple, easy-to-use Windows Active Directory Management and Reporting Solution that helps AD Administrators and Help Desk Technicians with their day-to-day activities. With a centralized and Intuitive web-based UI, the software handles a variety of complex tasks like Bulk Management of User accounts and other AD objects, Delegate Role based access to Help Desk Technicians, and generates an exhaustive list of AD Reports, some of which are an essential requirement to satisfy Compliance Audits.

What problems does it solve?
• Eliminates repetitive, and complex tasks associated with AD Management.
• Automates routine AD Management and Reporting activities for AD Administrators.
• Facilitates Creation, Management and deletion of AD objects in Bulk.
• Acts as an essential resource during Compliance Audits like SOX, HIPAA, etc.
What features does it offer?
• Single and Bulk User Management
• Computer Management
• Group Management
• OU-based Administration
• Contact Management
• Help Desk Delegation
• AD reports (Schedulable/Compliance Oriented)

Ref: ADManager Plus

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Branch Office Connectivity


2010
05.25

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Posted in INFRASTRUCTURE, Management, Network, Security | No Comments »

One of the major concern most of the companies now facing is branch office connectivity speed. More and more applications are accessed from branch offices. Applications are centrally deployed. Branch offices may be connected with higher bandwidth link, but still the application delivery will be slow. User raises the complaint upgrade the link again; add wan acceleration devices etc… How to handle such situations.

There is a formulated approach required to tackle this issue. Couple of data we have to collect and do the analysis. I can describe you one of the practical methodology here:-

1. Collect the number of users in each branch.
2. Collect details of applications you want to deliver to branches.
3. Collect the bandwidth requirement of each application.
4. Information of the application design / delivery. E.g. Application published over Citrix, Application accessed through Java, Web applications, File Share etc.
5. Collect the time taking to complete a transaction / access application over present connection. Tabulate bandwidth with type of connection (type of VPN).
6. Information of bandwidth usage with protocol / type of application both HO and BO.
7. Time of the connection congestion. Morning / evening, more users access / do big transaction.

Once we tabulate the data we can do analysis and build the productive branch connectivity.
a) One of the reasons we will find branch office users will be consuming more bandwidth for internet browsing. That slows down your business application delivery. Need to add control on top of internet.
b) WAN acceleration / optimisation devices will not work on top of some applications / mode of delivery.
c) Type of VPN connection established to branch PPTP / L2TP / IPSec / SSL / Site to Site.

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Future Applications


2010
05.23

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Posted in INFRASTRUCTURE, LINUX, Management, Network, SOLARIS, Security, ServiceDesk, Storage, UNIX, WINDOWS | No Comments »

Future applications are web based. Web applications are offering lot of advantages. Technology advances in web applications and tools giving more growth in this area. The flexibility, easy to build, rich contented, speed, run all devices (mobile devices). HTML 5 is giving more advancement in web applications. It’s integration; add video, audio, images. All the browser are supported applications and open standards. What are the benefits of web applications?
1. Installation not required. If you have a web browser you can run the application.
2. Updates are seamless to user. You don’t want to do any user system level upgrade of application.
3. Available anywhere any time. It can be accessible from any device, from anywhere.
4. Platform independent. No dependency with client OS and browser.
5. Easy of deployment, and Ease of access.
6. Lower TCO.
7. Secure.
8. User friendly, simple to use. Users are familiar to use.
9. Speed of application is higher. Access is faster.
10. Availability.

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VirtualBox – Virtualization


2010
05.19

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Posted in INFRASTRUCTURE, SOLARIS, Virtualization, WINDOWS | No Comments »

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Some of the features of VirtualBox are:
• Modularity. VirtualBox has an extremely modular design with well-defined internal programming interfaces and a client/server design. This makes it easy to control it from several interfaces at once: for example, you can start a virtual machine in a typical virtual machine GUI and then control that machine from the command line, or possibly remotely. VirtualBox also comes with a full Software Development Kit: even though it is Open Source Software, you don’t have to hack the source to write a new interface for VirtualBox.
• Virtual machine descriptions in XML. The configuration settings of virtual machines are stored entirely in XML and are independent of the local machines. Virtual machine definitions can therefore easily be ported to other computers.
• Guest Additions for Windows, Linux and Solaris. VirtualBox has special software that can be installed inside Windows, Linux and Solaris virtual machines to improve performance and make integration much more seamless. Among the features provided by these Guest Additions are mouse pointer integration and arbitrary screen solutions (e.g. by resizing the guest window). There are also guest additions for OS/2 with somewhat reduced functionality.
• Shared folders. Like many other virtualization solutions, for easy data exchange between hosts and guests, VirtualBox allows for declaring certain host directories as “shared folders”, which can then be accessed from within virtual machines.
• Virtual USB Controllers. VirtualBox implements a virtual USB controller and allows you to connect arbitrary USB devices to your virtual machines without having to install device specific drivers on the host.
• Remote Desktop Protocol. Unlike any other virtualization software, VirtualBox fully supports the standard Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). A virtual machine can act as an RDP server, allowing you to “run” the virtual machine remotely on some thin client that merely displays the RDP data.
• USB over RDP. With this unique feature, a virtual machine that acts as an RDP server can still access arbitrary USB devices that are connected on the RDP client. This way, a powerful server machine can virtualize a lot of thin clients that merely need to display RDP data and have USB devices plugged in.

Ref: VirtualBox

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SIP Trunking


2010
05.18

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Posted in INFRASTRUCTURE, LINUX, VOIP | No Comments »

A SIP Trunk is a service; telephone call is routed over the IP backbone of a carrier using VoIP technology. SIP Trunks are used in conjunction with an IP-PBX and are thought of as replacements for traditional PRI or analog circuits. The popularity of SIP Trunks is due primarily to the cost savings of SIP, along with the increased reliability as backed by the SLAs of SIP Trunk Providers.

A SIP trunk is a service offered by an ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider) that permits businesses that have a PBX installed to use Voice-over-IP (VoIP) also outside the enterprise network by using the same connection as the Internet connection.

SIP trunking is a way to enjoy significant savings on your current phone bill. Using an Internet connection right from your current PBX, a SIP trunk uses SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) for a VoIP connection.

In these tougher economic times, more and more businesses, both small and large at looking at the advantages of SIP trunking and creating call treatments in their PBXs to take more chargeable calls out through these cost saving routes. And this trend is likely to substantially increase over years.

SIP trunking takes data, voice and video out over your Internet connection.

Some of the benefits of SIP trunking include:
• Much lower rates on long distance calls, International calls and in-bound toll free calls.
• The ability to establish virtual numbers in other geographic areas so that callers can use these numbers instead on more costly 800 numbers.
• Using virtual numbers from other areas to establish a “point of presence” for the company.
• Reduced costs as no TDM cards are required.
• Getting the benefits of Hosted VoIP without having to abandon existing equipment or investing in IP phones.
• The ability to easily add more calling trunks without the need for expensive digital PRI / analog station (port) cards.
• The ability to use an IAD for connecting regular analog phones, instead of having to buy more expensive equipment.
• Expansion of lines is dependent on bandwidth, which can easily be increased if needed. Additional lines can be set for compressed codecs (G729 and others) to use less bandwidth per call.

Ref: TMCnet.com

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IP V6


2010
05.13

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Posted in INFRASTRUCTURE, Network | No Comments »

IP V6 stands for Internet Protocol version 6. It is the second version of the Internet Protocol to be used generally across the virtual world. The first version was IPv4. IPv5 was a protocol of a different sort, intended to support video and audio rather than all-purpose addressing. IPv6 is also known as IPng, which stands for IP Next Generation.

One of the main upgrades in IPv6 is in the number of addresses available for networked devices. For example, each mobile phone or other kind of electronic device can have its own IPv6 address. IPv6 allows 3.4×10^38 addresses. This is mainly due to the number of bits in each protocol. IPv4 addresses have 32 bits in them and so allow a maximum of four billion addresses. IPv6 addresses have 128 bits.

However, IPv4 is still the protocol of choice for most of the Internet. The transition will be a steady one, and IPv6 is the future of Internet addressing, mainly because industry experts believe that they are close to running out of available addresses altogether.

Another example of an IPv6 upgrade is multicasting, which is standard in IPv6 but only optional in IPv4. Multicasting is delivering a data stream to multiple destinations at the same time, with no duplication unless called for. Those functionalities are not supported by IPv4. The other two types of addressing that are standard practice for IPv6 are unicast and anycast. The former is a transmission from just one host to just one other host; the latter is from one host to the nearest of many hosts.

IPv6 also has two other significant advantages over IPv4. IPv6 offers a higher level of built-in security, and it has been specifically designed with mobile devices in mind. The security comes in the form of IPsec, which allows authentication, encryption, and compression. The mobility comes in the form of Mobile IP, which allows roaming between different networks without losing an established IP address. Both of these functionalities are requirements of IPv6 and so are designed to be built into every IPv6 stack, address, and network.

Resource / Reference:-
IPv6 Certifications
Step-by-Step Guide for Setting Up IPv6 in a Test Lab
Everything you need to know about IPv6

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Data Loss Prevention


2010
05.10

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Posted in INFRASTRUCTURE, Security | No Comments »

The loss of control over protected or sensitive data by organizations is a serious threat to business operations. While some data is leaked or lost as a result of theft or espionage, the vast majority of these problems result from poorly understood data practices, a lack of effective policy architectures, and user error. The phrase “Data Loss Prevention” (DLP) refers to a comprehensive approach covering people, processes, and systems that identify, monitor, and protect data in use (e.g., endpoint actions), data in motion (e.g., network actions), and data at rest (e.g., data storage) through deep content inspection and with a centralized management framework. Over the last several years, there has been a noticeable shift in attention and investment from securing the network, to securing systems within the network, to securing the data itself. DLP controls are based on policy, and include classifying sensitive data, discovering that data across an enterprise, enforcing controls, and reporting and auditing to ensure policy compliance.

Tools for implementing control
Cyberoam End Point Data Protection Suite is one of the tools in this category. It covers the major challenging areas business facing now in DLP.

 Prevent endpoint data leakage
 Extend data security beyond the network
 Enhance employee productivity by blocking unauthorized applications
 Streamline IT infrastructure management
 Lower Total Cost of Ownership of IT infrastructure
 Reduce malware penetration through patch management
 Meet security compliance with IT asset management
 Reduce legal liability and business losses

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Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 – the better together features


2010
05.03

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Posted in INFRASTRUCTURE, WINDOWS | No Comments »

Windows Server 2008 R2 has many features that are designed specifically to work with client computers running Windows 7.

Direct Access: Automatically establishes a secure remote connection to the corporate network without requiring VPN
Branch Cache: Caches content from remote file and Web servers on a server or client in a branch location
Read only Distributed File System (DFS): Supports read-only copies of files stored in DFS; this feature improves security in branch offices
Desktop and Application Feeds: Allows end users to launch remote applications on Windows Server 2008 R2 via RDP from a central location on a Windows 7 desktop
Agile VPN: Multiple network paths between points in the VPN tunnel; if one network path gets disconnected, Agile VPN automatically uses another network path.
BitLocker keys in Active Directory: Allows you to store a backup of the BitLocker key in Active Directory. I suppose this works only if you raise the functional level of Active Directory to Windows Server 2008 R2.)
Offline Folders enhancements: Offline files are copied to the Offline Files cache and then synchronized in the background with the server. This saves bandwidth and improves performance.
AppLocker: Restricts program execution on user desktops based on publisher signature
RDP 7: The version number of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) will probably be 7 in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.