Quick update, just got my JNCIA certification. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
The move from 1and1 to Dreamhost
Posted on May 16th, 2009 by Ryan Reed
I migrated all of my websites to my new Dreamhost provider.
For the past 4+ years, I have been with 1and1.com. They had been decent for the time I was with them but I had many issues with their service. One large problem was in the amount of mysql databases I was allowed. 1 is not enough. While I could work with 1 database, it makes things easier being able to use as many databases as I want, 1 for each site.
While that was a minor issue, the biggest issue I had with 1and1.com was their service. While there wasn't a huge amount of downtime, there was a noticeable amount. In the last couple weeks, I had seen a large amount of downtime with the site and email which was extremely frustrating. Calling 1and1.com for help only connected me with outsourced tech support who couldn't understand what i was trying to say or ask.
Dreamhost has been extremely easy to setup, in general. Except for a minor blip in email service, which I received extremely quick support for, there was very little issues. Getting the sites up with almost no down time was extremely easy. I think the only thing I might complain about is the inability to modify a mysql database without having the domain ready. I had to wait until my domain transfers went through and the nameservers updated before I could restore the main database for this site.
I can highly recommend Dreamhost as a webhost so far. I would also recommend steering clear of 1and1 as their uptime is spotty, trying to regain domains is troublesome, and their phone support is near impossible to actually get anyone who can help.
New photos with the Nikon D5000
Posted on May 2nd, 2009 by Ryan Reed
I ended up picking a nice new Nikon D5000 and decided to get some pictures. To be honest, I'm a beginner into the DSLR world so these photos aren't the best and my car could certainly use a good wash.
As you can see, the car was extremely dirty and the pictures are so so. I'm going to work on learning all the ins and outs of my camera. Those were just using the auto program feature. After messing around for a while longer, I think I prefer using the manual or aperture modes. We'll see how things go. Expect some nice photos at the end of this month, beginning of next month as there is a road trip with 2 of my buddies, Brian Roy and Randy McCaig, to Houston, TX from Providence, RI. Should be a fun time.
Let me know if you have any thoughts, questions, or anything of that nature.
VW GLI Progress Update
Posted on April 26th, 2009 by Ryan Reed
Ah, sorry for the lack of updates. I'm a tad slow, in that regard. Anyway, I've been working on a few things. My first little project is my car. Since I got my car, I've been working on getting my car to look exactly like I'd like. Mostly thinking about different things I wanted to do to my car. Then I saw the following car:
(I honestly can't remember who's car it is so if the owner sees this, let me know so I can give you credit)
It's an excellent looking car. It's classy and not too flashy. It's lowered to an excellent height, although I'm not sure if the car would survive in New England. My buddy, Brian Roy, put his Photoshop skills to work and whipped it up to match my car's color.
I have already ordered the grille pieces to replace my current honeycomb grille. While I enjoy the honeycomb grille (it is extremely aggressive looking), I think the Euro style grill from the pictures above is a tad more classy. The ride height will be coming later in the future. I haven't decided if I'll be getting a new set of wheels as I like the huff blades.
Note: I did recently see that PGJetterFTW from VW Vortex has a similar setup. It looks great.
I do think, after the grille, the Euro taillights will be my next purchase. I think they look really good. I'm disappointed that they aren't included in the states stock but I guess it happens. It'll take a little work and a VagCom unit but should be pretty nice looking. I'll definitely post updates as soon as the grille pieces come in.
Another new design…
Posted on March 26th, 2009 by Ryan Reed
So, yet again, I decided to redesign the 'ol site. This new design looks a little more professional but will take some more refining to get all the posts and pages to display properly. Currently, the Contact Me, Portfolio, and Resume pages have been removed. I need to update them to use the new look. Unfortunately, they don't display properly at all. The pages are really high up on my list of things to do for the site. How will anyone find my resume if it's not linked?
Please let me know if you notice any problems with the new view. It's still a work in progress.
Long drought…
Posted on March 16th, 2009 by Ryan Reed
Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I've been busy with a few things. First, I've been redesigning my entire site. Again... I have a problem of wanting to code a little when I'm bored. Unfortunately, that usually means that my site takes most of the brunt. Maybe it works out better that way anyway. It keeps the site interesting. I'm not a huge fan of my current design anyway. Check out the work in progress.
Really, the last thing I've been busy with is my new car. I picked up a 2009 VW GLI. My last vehicle was a 2001 Nissan Xterra. I love the car but it was really bad on gas, not very attractive, and was starting to get a large decent amount of mileage on it (roughly 120k). The new car is sleek, fast, and has decent modding possibilities for when I get bored. Check out some pictures below.
Read the rest of this entry »The Netscreen Manager – You could use some work…
Posted on February 17th, 2009 by Ryan Reed
This little post is more of a continuation from a previous post. It is important to note that while this post dwells mostly on the negative, I am actually a large fan of Juniper Netscreen Firewalls. There are just various elements of the firewall that bother me.
All the problems I have with the firewall actually revolve around the Netscreen Manager. I'm not against Graphical User Interfaces. I believe it makes reviewing easier when I actually see the rules rather than the commands. Unfortunately the user interface that Juniper has come with has many major faults
- The interface is built on Java. Java isn't a bad language but it does have the problem of being memory/cpu intensive many times. Most days, within 20 minutes of opening the application, NSM is using roughly 500MB - 800MB of memory. There have also been countless memory leaks in the application. It's important to note that Juniper is working on the issues and has patched a memory leak issue we were having at the 'ol job.
- The more users working in the NSM server, the slower NSM appears to be. Where I work, we only tend to have up to 5 users in NSM at any point but NSM still slows to a crawl. It doesn't help that NSM is not optimized to use multiple core processors. This is a pretty major issue in the world of multi-core servers.
- When a netscreen contains IDP and firewall blades, there is a nifty little checkbox to allow the user to push ONLY IDP policies when checked. This seems like an awesome option when you have multiple policies and you just want to push the IDP policy on the firewalls. Unfortunately, this button does not work as desired. If you happen to be pushing to a bunch of firewalls, you'd better be sure they have IDP. Logic would dictate that if that box is checked, and there's no IDP, then NSM shouldn't push anything. Unfortunately, when NSM sees no IDP policy and the checkbox is checked, NSM will push the firewall policy.
- The audit logs are next to useless, in my opinion. It's hard to find anything you're really looking for. I would much prefer if Juniper took a page from Checkpoint in the way audit logs were handled.
A few run on sentences never hurt anybody. ;-) There are a few minor annoyances but those were just a few of the large problems I have with NSM. It's important to note that Netscreens are still excellent firewalls and I'm sure Juniper is working on the issues I've described. It's also important to note that my company uses Netscreens a great deal and it's possible that Juniper never expected such a large amount of policies to be used on the same NSM server. It's quite possible that users/companies with a smaller list of firewall policies in use would not see the issues I've noticed.
Keep a lookout for my post on some of my favorite features of Netscreens that make it such an awesome firewall (NSM included)
Some interesting links
Posted on February 3rd, 2009 by Ryan Reed
Just a few interesting links that are good to know
- RFC 1925 - The Twelve Networking Truths
- The case of the 500-mile email - An interesting story of the limit of the 500-mile email
* Credit for the links to my buddy, Patrick Dyl
Pix/ASA Site-to-Site VPN Generator
Posted on January 26th, 2009 by Ryan Reed
I decided that after working on various Pix and ASA firewalls, that it would be nice to have a VPN generator that could easily output the code needed to setup a site to site VPN. Apparently, someone at the 'ol workplace had created one but I only realized it after I ha mostly created the script. Ah well, not a huge deal.
So what are some of the feature of the generator?
- Has the ability to generate version 6 or 7/8 code for VPNs
- If not pre-shared key is entered, a random key will be generated
- The information stays on the page and is not posted. All the processing is done on the client's computer so that the sensitive information isn't transmitted over the internet
There are a few things this script does not do
- It will not create the access-lists required (for the encryption domains)
- The NONAT will not be generated (leaves it open to the user to decide if NONATting is desired, etc)
- Has not been completely tested as of yet (syntax wise)
Because I'm all for openness, I'm releasing the script under the GPL. Take it, enjoy it. A small request, if you modify the code, let me know. I'm a curious one.
Comptia Network+
Posted on January 22nd, 2009 by Ryan Reed
Just a quick update. I went for my Network+ certification, my first so far. I passed with a 600. Minimum required score was a 554. Pretty happy with how it went. Next up.... Security+ or a Juniper cert. Not positive yet but I will start studying soon enough.