As submitted to http://acanac.org/blogs/geek/

If you're an avid reader, you probably already know that I am a big fan of SmoothWall Express.  I currently run version 3.0 and it serves as a multi-purpose appliance in my home network.  It's a router, a firewall, a DNS manager, an intrusion detection system (IDS), and it's a lot of fun.  Diving back into the Linux world after so many years away was challenging, but with huge help from the the community forums over at http://smoothwall.org - it couldn't have been any  easier.

I run what's called a red-green-orange-purple network.  Exciting isn't it?  Take a look at the image below for a little more detail and explanation.  I grabbed this image from http://www.linux-tip.net.  Basically the networks are as follows:

• Red - Incoming Internet connection - basically my DSL modem
• Green - Standard internal network for all of the computers and devices (and a few servers)
• Orange - DMZ Server network managing mail and web servers
• Purple - Wireless segregated network

In case it wasn't clear, each colour coded network runs on it's own subnet and is isolated from the others.  Each colour is also an individual nic in the server.  Obviously this greatly improves the security of my home network.  This weekend I set out to configure the purple network that was never set up properly.  Totally my fault :)

So, for my purple setup I used a D-Link DL-524+ wireless-g router.  In order to do this, you have to configure it to run in wireless access point (WAP) mode.  All you have to do is set the router to a static IP within the subnet and turn off DHCP within the router.  Please note that you have to have DHCP enabled on the SmoothWall purple interface for this to work.  To select your new router/WAP IP, look at the gateway address.  If your gateway (purple network) is something like 192.168.30.1, then your WAP IP should be something like 192.168.30.55.  If you are really stuck with this part, visit the forums and do a bit more reading.  In my case, the problem I had with my setup is that I had the WAP plugged into the wrong nic on the SmoothWall computer.  That was my stupid mistake for the day!

Since then I have slept much better knowing that my easily cracked wireless (does secure wireless really exist?) is isolated from the rest of my network.

As submitted to http://acanac.org/blogs/geek/

Last night I embarked upon a mission to get my media drives back online.  Not sure what I am talking about?  Let me start from the beginning then.  I have a decent sized home network.  I have multiple servers in a rack which include web servers, database servers, firewall and routing appliances, domain controllers, and miscellaneous other devices.  Recently, I did a bit of a server consolidation and merged certain services and servers to create a more efficient design.  The goal was to eliminate a server through this project and that was what I did.  The problem was that when I was done, I had some IDE drives left over that couldn't fit into my new SCSI based system that held the domain controller which used to double as a file server.  That was a mouthful.  So I went a couple of weeks with network storage while I devised a plan.

What I came up with brought back the eliminated system, which totally messed up my plan to green up my server room.  lol

Back to yesterday...  I rebuilt the old AMD 1200+ system with the IDE drives and got ready to learn about FreeNAS.  FreeNAS is a free NAS server built on the FreeBSD platform.  One of the great things about it is that it runs from a CD.  You basically just plug a small USB key into the system to write server configuration to, then set the bios to boot from CD.  It's as simple as that.  Well, there might be a few extra steps, but not many!  When you boot it up for the first time, you have to use a console to complete some very basic setup.  Using the menu based system you can assign an interface and setup you IP address.  Once that is complete, simply load the web interface from any browser on your network and finish the configuration.  I won't get into all of the details here, the FreeNAS wiki has all you need to get up and running. 

FreeNAS will allow you to connect to a domain or run standalone.  It also works with multiple file systems.  I added one UFS drive and two NTFS drives and it had no problem with either of them.  The system will monitor the drives using S.M.A.R.T. and email you if there are any problems.  It literally took just over an hour to get the whole thing going and configured just the way I wanted it.  If you are in the market for a NAS setup, I strongly recommend checking it out!

Ok, I have to start out by saying that the guy who did what I am about to tell you about is my new hero.  The genius that he has demonstrated actually makes me feel a little inept.  The truth is obvious that there is genius in simplicity.  Brian DeHamer needed a place to do his work.  With his old home office being rededicated as a child's bedroom, and an increasing amount of distractions with a new baby, it became apparent that he needed to expand.  Anyone who has ever worked from home can attest to the fact that family can not only be distracting for you, but also distracting for others you might be teleconferencing or videoconferencing with.  In this particular case, the options were limited - move into the garage, or add onto the house.  Neither of those were very attractive to Brian.  So what did Brian do to solve his problem?

He bought a DIY shed kit.

And so began one of the coolest home office projects that I have ever seen.  Behind his garage was a 10' x 17' concrete slab that he wasn't doing anything with and it was the perfect location for adding a shed.  He purchased an 8' x 15' Standard Ranch Storage Building from a company called Tuff Shed and his new office was born.  The guys from Tuff Shed even assembled it for him.  As you can imagine, sheds are great for lawn mowers, but don't make for very good living space.  Brian put in some insulation, drywall and carpet to give it a more comfortable feel.  He wired the shed completely with power, networking, audio and lighting - making it no different that any other room in the house.  He also notes that he is less tempted to work after hours on a "quick email" because of the commute through the back yard.  Check out Brian's full article here and also his home office photo gallery here.

Nope, I'm not crazy.  This can be done and it works quite well.

Have you used the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) before?  If you haven't, you really are missing out.  The UBCD is a suite of top notch freeware tools that help you solve and recover from an abundance of bad scenarios.  I've been using UBCD for years.  Typically, one would put the UBCD into the computer that needs some fixin and restart it.  The BIOS would then detect the disk and boot from the CD ROM.  Rather than loading your traditional operating system (Windows), the UBCD loads it's own small OS and offers the user a menu to select tools from.  The tools incorporated into the UBCD include:

• CPU Tests
• Memory Tests
• Peripherals Tools
• CPU Information
• System Information
• Benchmark Tools
• BIOS Tools
• Hard Disk Installation Tools
• Hard Disk Diagnostic Tools
• Hard Disk Wiping Tools
• Hard Disk Cloning Tools
• Hard Disk Low Level Editing Tools
• Partition Tools
• Boot Managers
• File Tools
• Anti-Virus/MalWare Tools
• Network Tools
• DOS Boot Disks
• Linux Boot Disks

As you can see, there isn't much it can't do and the best part is that it is all FREE.  You can download it right from their site.  The most recent versions include scripts to prepare your USB drive so that it can be used on newer machines that support booting from USB devices.  Anyone who has every tried to fix a broken PC when their administrator tools CD was scratched will know why this is a good idea.  Plus, it's easy to store today's small and compact USB thumb drives.  If you have any trouble getting it going, this post explains a different process for creating your USB key UBCD.  This tool suite is a must for everyone from the system administrator to the DIY computer repairer.

Yesterday was a holiday.  Victoria day to be exact.  Such a joyous and wonderful time, where we pay tribute to the Queen of England - for reasons unknown to me.  For many it's a signal to start up the summer parties, to others it represents the onset of the fishing season, and to me - well, it pretty much just means a day off of work.  I spent a good chunk of the weekend pulling the wiring for the sub, amp, and speakers out of my Saturn Ion.  It's a lease and it has to go back soon.  At about 3:00 pm on Victoria day, my wife asks me when I am going to replace the dishwasher.  Now the last time I checked, I wasn't in a hurry.  We had a perfectly fine and functional dishwasher already, however it just didn't match the rest of the stainless steel appliances that we had a acquired, so it had to go. 

After much complaining and fuss raising, I decided to have at it.  You might be as shocked as I was when I tell you that I had no problems at all.  At least no plumbing or electrical problems.  I did encounter a sizing issue in that the new dishwasher is about 1/2 an inch smaller than the old one on the width.  Oh well, what can you do?  So here are the steps I went through, in case you find yourself in the same boat.

1. Turn off power and water to old unit
2. Remove bottom faceplate from front of dishwasher (2 screws)
3. Test electrical to ensure it is off
4. Open electrical junction box and remove wiring
5. Remove two under-counter screws and slide dishwasher out
6. Disconnect water line (I cut mine off at the old washer for reconnection to the new one)
7. Remove clamps on water disposal line and disconnect
8. From the old dishwasher, I removed the brass elbow fittings to be reused on the new dishwasher
9. Connect the fittings to the new dishwasher (after removing the bottom front panel)
10. Connect the waste water line to the previous hookup and clamp
11. Connect the hot water line to the elbow fitting reused from the old system
12. Wire up the electrical box
13. Slide the new dishwasher into the cupboard space where the old unit was
14. Power up the new unit and start the normal cycle a couple of times to test plumbing and drainage.
15. Replace the bottom panel and secure the dishwasher in place per instructions

That's it.  That is what I lived through.  If you are not handy with electrical and/or plumbing, then don't try this at home.  Not for the novice.

As submitted to http://acanac.org/blogs/geek/

I came across a post earlier this evening that really got me thinking.  I have a lot of loyalty cards in my wallet.  You know what loyalty cards are, right?  They are those little credit card sized cards what identify you to a particular retailers loyalty program.  For example, in my wallet I have an AirMiles card, a Marriott Rewards card, a Starwood Preferred Guest card, and that is just to name a few.  They really bulk up my wallet to the point where I am probably doing damage to my spine just having the wallet in my back pocket.  I guess I am a very loyal customer.  Often I find myself removing them from said wallet and just not having them when I need them.  I realize that I am doing myself a very big injustice by not having the cards with me.  Imagine how much free stuff I am losing out on.  It's out of control.

In the particular post that I read, which you can find over at tisgoud.nl, it was brought to my attention that I don't need to have all of those cards is my wallet.  Now the answer is painfully obvious, so make sure you are sitting down for this.  If you own an iPhone (I don't) or some other similar device with a sizable screen, you can take a picture of your card and place it on the device.  In most cases the retailer will only need the number, however even if it has a barcode on it, the lasers can scan a barcode from an LCD display.  I borrowed an image from the aforementioned blog just to demonstrate how simplistic it really is.  Imagine how many cards you can eliminate from your wallet, by simply adding them to your cell.  This is great.  Now I just have to get me an iPhone!