Monthly Archives: September 2011

Server Message Block

Posted on by at 2:58 am

In computer networking, Server Message Block (SMB), also known as Common Internet File System (CIFS, /ˈsɪfs/) operates as an application-layer network protocol[1] mainly used to provide shared access to files, printers, serial ports, and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network. It also provides an authenticated inter-process communication mechanism. Most usage of SMB involves computers running Microsoft Windows, where it was known as “Microsoft Windows Network” before the subsequent introduction of Active Directory. Corresponding Windows services have names “server” (for a server part) and “workstation” (for a client part).

via Server Message Block – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

How to hot-swap SATA drives in Linux

Posted on by at 2:26 am

If you want the drives to be automounted and your automount system uses pmount to do the mounting (pmount allows mounting by a normal user without an entry in /etc/fstab) you may need to edit /etc/pmount.allow. If the drives are seen as non-removable, which SATA hard disks usually are, pmount will refuse to mount them unless you add the device name to /etc/pmount.allow, for example.

echo ‘/dev/sdb1′ >>/etc/pmount.allow

echo ‘/dev/sdc[123]‘ >>/etc/pmount.allow

echo ‘/dev/sdd*’ >>/etc/pmount.allow

The first allows one particular partition to be mounted by pmount, the second example permits three specific partitions on a drive, while the third lets through every partition on a drive. Note the use of single quotes to stop the shell interpreting the wildcards.

via How to hot-swap SATA drives in Linux | TuxRadar Linux.

Fibre Channel

Posted on by at 12:16 am

Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) is a transport protocol (similar to TCP used in IP networks) which predominantly transports SCSI commands over Fibre Channel networks.[1][2]

via Fibre Channel – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Despite its name, Fibre Channel signaling can run on both twisted paircopperwire and fiber-opticcables.[1][2]

I still need to know how this is done over fibre.

How to configure OpenFiler iSCSI Storage for use with VMware ESX.

Posted on by at 11:29 pm

I wanted to test an Openfiler as a solution forHA and vMotion with ESX Server and vCenter. Using Openfiler is a great way to save some money on expensive SANs and for home lab testing and learning, this choice is just great. I did not have 3 physical boxes (2 for ESX hosts and one for Openfiler) so I opted for a hybrid solution, where I’m actually running one ESX server inside of VMware workstation.

via How to configure OpenFiler iSCSI Storage for use with VMware ESX. | ESX Virtualization.

Openfiler

Posted on by at 7:51 pm

The Openfiler distribution is available as an installable ISO CD image to be deployed on bare-metal or a pre-installed disk image for use in one of the several supported virtual machines monitors.

Installable images are available for both x86 and x86-64 architectures. Supported virtual machines monitors include Xen, VMware, QEMU, Virtual Iron and Parallels.

via Openfiler — Download.

Facebook stores up to 800 pages of personal data per user account

Posted on by at 4:52 pm

If you live in Europe, then you have the right under a European data protection law to request a copy of all information stored about you on any given service. In the case of Facebook, you can demand such information via the Personal Data Requests form.

via Facebook stores up to 800 pages of personal data per user account | Geek.com.

Facebook is relatively new and the average person doesn’t value their privacy — thus, Facebook has been able to acquire a huge amount of personal information on each member.  Organizations might soon value privacy and see value in the data they generate,  in which case local highly available onsite (or perhaps offsite)   SANs will become a useful investment.  Associations without a central authority (i.e. Facebook) might become desirable.  It is however not feasible for an average person or small business to run their own web server.  They should, however, be in complete control over the data their web site generates.  Users of Facebook have no control over the dissemination of the data they and their connections generate.