Taking things to the next level
I got a comment over the weekend suggesting that I could really take things to the next level with photos, illustrations, and videos. I don’t know if it was a serious comment or spam (the link provided...
View ArticleLiving with a past-its-prime computer
I’m playing catch-up a bit. This weekend, Lifehacker ran a guide about living with a computer that’s past its prime. I’ve made a career of that. One of my desktop PCs at work (arguably the more...
View ArticleHow to start over with MySQL in Debian
I got my new 64-bit web server up and running today. Now the main task that remains is to get my data moved over to it. I talked myself into going with an Apache setup, since one program I want to run...
View ArticleThe old days of viruses
Blogging pioneer John Dominik, inspired by my Michelangelo memories, wrote about his memories of viruses later in the decade. So now I’ll take inspiration of him and share my memories of some of those...
View ArticleCutting Apache preforks seems to help small web servers
I’ve had a ton of downtime this week (this seems to be the busy time of year for my web server), but I think I traced the problem to a known issue. My server has a 1.5 GHz single-core CPU and 1 GB of...
View ArticleHome network projects for a budding sysadmin
A very good question came in as a comment to my earlier post, the benefits of practicing IT at home. What do I mean by putting some Windows 7 machines on a domain? I mean standing up a server with...
View ArticleAnother easy Apache tweak
I ran my site through Google Page Speed on Tuesday, and scored a surprising 88 out of 100–higher than I expected. Getting above 90 is going to take some optimizations on files that WordPress updates...
View ArticleSSD write endurance (aka longevity) vindicated
I found this chart earlier this week regarding SSD write endurance. Basically, it plots out how long an SSD would last if you set out to deliberately destroy it by writing to it continuously. You could...
View ArticleAnd this is why I’ve been saying to uninstall Java, rather than disable it
Apple just uncovered and fixed a vulnerability that allowed an exploit to re-enable Java in a browser when it’s been disabled, which then of course allows a litany of exploits. There are two lessons...
View ArticleThe explanation about Windows vs. Linux kernel performance makes sense
An anonymous Microsoft developer spilled some juicy opinions about why Windows kernel performance isn’t all it could be. Although he has recanted much of what he said, some of his insights make a ton...
View ArticleThe benefits of doing IT at home, too
Earlier this week, The Register touted the benefits of having a home lab. That lab doesn’t necessarily have to be elaborate. But there is definitely something to be said for having some equipment that...
View ArticleUse Apachebench to test your webserver optimizations
If your web server is slow and you want to fix it, it’s nice to be able to quantify what you got. Enter Apachebench, which is part of Apache and probably already on your server. Usage is tricky. The...
View ArticleLinux admins beware, there’s a web server exploit in the wild
No OS is 100% secure if there’s enough desire to get in. There’s a web server exploit targeting Apache, Nginx, and Lighttpd running on Linux–a first of its kind, in at least one regard. Ars Technica...
View ArticleMore details on the Target hack come to light
Yesterday I read, via Ars Technica, that the malware resided on cash registers (which I’d heard elsewhere before), and that the first step to getting there was via a compromised web server. And that...
View ArticleSome security short-takes I never got around to posting
Here’s some stuff I’ve found in recent weeks that I never got around to posting, so I’ll just round it all up briefly. Let’s lead off with an interesting walkthrough of reverse-engineering:...
View ArticleHow long does a hard drive last?
And speaking of hard drives, I found this study on hard drive longevity last week. I take issue with the opening paragraph but the rest of the article is very good. The opening paragraph is a bit...
View ArticleThe Phoenix Project: A must-read book for anyone who aspires to IT leadership
After a bad day at work last week, I went home and ordered The Phoenix Project (or here it is on Amazon), started reading it, and felt better. Like Office Space, but there’s more to learn from it....
View ArticleMacs aren’t the only computers that last forever
In the midst of Microsoft reminding everyone that Windows XP’s doomsday is less than a month away, Apple quietly announced that Mac OS 10.6’s doomsday was sometime last year, and no more security...
View ArticleCMD.EXE and its shellshock-like qualities
“So did you know there’s a Windows version of Shellshock?” a coworker asked the other day. “What, Cygwin’s bash?” I asked. “No, in CMD.EXE.” I thought for a second, back to some really nasty batch...
View ArticleWhy a non-web server has Apache and OpenSSL on port 2381
I was doing some scanning with a new vulnerability scanner at work and I found something listening on a lot of servers, described only as Apache and OpenSSL listening on port 2381. The versions varied....
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