I have been searching for a cost effective WAN acceleration solution for work, but have found nothing. It seems that everyone wants around $150,000+ to implement WAN acceleration at our 12 offices. So I found a little project that is currently getting underway called TrafficSqueezer.
Its an open source projected dedicated to developing a network acceleration application. Looks like an interesting project.
Open Source WAN Accelerator
http://trafficsqueezer.sourceforge.net/
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Reasons for a dedicated SQL server
We recently built a dedicated SQL server for a project at work. Nothing massivly huge just a Dell 2850 with dual 3.0Ghz CPUs, and 4GB of ram. However I started to think about the benefits to having a dedicated machine running your SQL databases.
Most companies like us probably end up have numerous applications that require an SQL database. Most of these install SQL Express for this. So you end up with multiple application servers all running their own instance of SQL Express. This is a huge waste of system resources. The memory, and processing power required to run SQL could be saved by running a dedicated SQL box.
We have started taking this approach, and have reduced the memory requirement of many of our application servers by moving all the databases to our dedicated SQL server.
Our applications perform better because the database is much faster. It has more memory cpu, and disk io avaliable than before. The application servers are only running the application so that makes it even faster.
Now the problems you have is that when you need to take down your SQL server all your applications come down too. We are resolving this by using database mirroring.
Most companies like us probably end up have numerous applications that require an SQL database. Most of these install SQL Express for this. So you end up with multiple application servers all running their own instance of SQL Express. This is a huge waste of system resources. The memory, and processing power required to run SQL could be saved by running a dedicated SQL box.
We have started taking this approach, and have reduced the memory requirement of many of our application servers by moving all the databases to our dedicated SQL server.
Our applications perform better because the database is much faster. It has more memory cpu, and disk io avaliable than before. The application servers are only running the application so that makes it even faster.
Now the problems you have is that when you need to take down your SQL server all your applications come down too. We are resolving this by using database mirroring.
OpenOffice Revisited
Several years ago I evaluated the possibility of using OpenOffice as a replacement to MS Office for basic users. It fell through due to performance issue with the application, and usability when compared to the MS Office suite.
I just saw an add for OpenOffice, and thought I would give it another go. I'm actually impressed with how far it has come along so we are now evaluating it again at my current employer.
I have found several small issue with the current build 2.4 that should be address in build 3.0 such as the ability to open Office 2007 documents. However we are not using Office 2007 in any substantial way so its not that big of an issue for us.
I just saw an add for OpenOffice, and thought I would give it another go. I'm actually impressed with how far it has come along so we are now evaluating it again at my current employer.
I have found several small issue with the current build 2.4 that should be address in build 3.0 such as the ability to open Office 2007 documents. However we are not using Office 2007 in any substantial way so its not that big of an issue for us.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Cisco CE500
This is more of a rant than anything, but I feel that its very cheap of Cisco to have left the CLI out of their CE500 line. I know that the switch is marketed to the SMB, but common places with 50-250 users still might want the CLI for remote/automated management. Not everyone in the SMB IT dept is a GUI only nut.
Some of us dont feel the need to purchase a $2000+ switch for PoE, and dont need L3 routing forced on us to get PoE. The CE500 does a fine job at switching, and PoE. Just put the darn CLI in the CE500. OK Cisco!
Some of us dont feel the need to purchase a $2000+ switch for PoE, and dont need L3 routing forced on us to get PoE. The CE500 does a fine job at switching, and PoE. Just put the darn CLI in the CE500. OK Cisco!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Fixing DFSR after an AD domian rename
After renaming an Active Directory domain DFS Namespace Folders no longer recognize their Replication Groups. The Replication Groups are not updated during the normal domain rename process, and replication fails between members.
In the DFS Management tool the Namespace Folders will not display as having replication configured, and the Replication Groups will display old DFS Namespaces. To resolve this issue the DFS Replication Groups must be manually updated to reflect the domain name changes made. This can be accomplished using ADSIEdit tool found in the Windows 2003 Support Tools.
1. Open ADSIEdit.msc.
2. Locate the DFS Replication Group settings “Domain\DC=domain,DC=com\CN=System\CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings”.
3. Rename each of the effected Replication Groups using double slashes between sections of the Replication Group Name. “CN=domain.com\\{DFSRNamespace}\\{DFSRFolder” the double slashes will automatically be removed after you refresh “Domain\DC=domain,DC=com\CN=System\CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings”, but are required for some of the calculated values for the DFS Replication Group to be correct.
4. For each Replication Group correct the “msDFSR-DfsPath” value to reflect the correct DFS Namespace Folder for this Replication Group. This is located in “Domain\DC=domain,DC=com\CN=System\CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings\{DFSRNamespace}\{DFSRFolder}\CN=Content\ CN={DFSRFolder}” This value should reflect the new DFS Namespace, and Folder. Example “\\domain.com\{DFSRNamespace}\{DFSRFolder}”
Now when you open DFS Management tool all your Namespace Folders should be correctly linked to their proper Replication Group.
In the DFS Management tool the Namespace Folders will not display as having replication configured, and the Replication Groups will display old DFS Namespaces. To resolve this issue the DFS Replication Groups must be manually updated to reflect the domain name changes made. This can be accomplished using ADSIEdit tool found in the Windows 2003 Support Tools.
1. Open ADSIEdit.msc.
2. Locate the DFS Replication Group settings “Domain\DC=domain,DC=com\CN=System\CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings”.
3. Rename each of the effected Replication Groups using double slashes between sections of the Replication Group Name. “CN=domain.com\\{DFSRNamespace}\\{DFSRFolder” the double slashes will automatically be removed after you refresh “Domain\DC=domain,DC=com\CN=System\CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings”, but are required for some of the calculated values for the DFS Replication Group to be correct.
4. For each Replication Group correct the “msDFSR-DfsPath” value to reflect the correct DFS Namespace Folder for this Replication Group. This is located in “Domain\DC=domain,DC=com\CN=System\CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings\{DFSRNamespace}\{DFSRFolder}\CN=Content\ CN={DFSRFolder}” This value should reflect the new DFS Namespace, and Folder. Example “\\domain.com\{DFSRNamespace}\{DFSRFolder}”
Now when you open DFS Management tool all your Namespace Folders should be correctly linked to their proper Replication Group.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)