IT Ideas

junjun · Post by **junjun** » 16 Oct 2007, 12:24

Hi Guys

Well, like the Topics says "IT Ideas",thats what im looking for, anything and everthing that will make the life of an IT Specailist easier.

For eg: I setup Wireless AP's accross all our Boardrooms , to do away with the need to have cables running around, we also setup Radius on our Wireless Network as well for authentication and i also setup a deployement Server to do all our Software installs and Conifigs.

basically , im hoping this thread will be of some use , where we can put in our ideas to help in any IT enviroment ,be it corporate or SME

douglash · Post by **douglash** » 16 Oct 2007, 12:31

MOM server for all office applications...

also a WSUS server to make life easier.

edit: also, a file server purely for backup of information, that's if they are not on a domain already though...

SBSP · Post by **SBSP** » 16 Oct 2007, 12:52

Ive set up a PC as a server dedicated for automation purposes.

Like sending daily reports, using Windows Task scheduler and batch commands
Sending messages and emails ect.

_SamIAm_ · Post by **_SamIAm_** » 16 Oct 2007, 13:15

douglash wrote:MOM server for all office applications...

also a WSUS server to make life easier.

edit: also, a file server purely for backup of information, that's if they are not on a domain already though...

QFT, although i prefer symantec Ghost a awesome tool which you can go as far as rebuilding machines remotely

and of course WSUS is a must have! ISA2004 is also pretty awesome for you internet and firewall needs

junjun · Post by **junjun** » 16 Oct 2007, 13:29

Thanks , Sounds Good, Although we have most of them live on our Production Network,

Currently , we trying Virtualisation on our networks , its pretty cool, i have 5 VS running on one server, so it pretty much saves alot on cost and space and down time is practically zero now.

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » 16 Oct 2007, 13:52

have you looked at RouterOS? works well as a Radius server for wireless auth. never mind the numerous routing abilities

junjun · Post by **junjun** » 16 Oct 2007, 15:54

Thanks
will check it out

Mow · Post by **Mow** » 16 Oct 2007, 20:35

Dude unless you have a very large campus type network with allot of guest access or the need to secure very sensitive data, radius is not worth it. Besides if security is a concern and you have extra budget. Have a look at the enterasys c2/3 switches and the per user policy based authentication. These babies dynamicly allocate a user to a policy based on the type of data they are sending. Guest is authenticated ... pushed through a certain vlan based on the fact that he is sending http. As soon as that user start sending ofdm his dropped into a block hole vlan. Case 2 , your web designer is allocated a user standard amount of bandwidth , that is until he uploads the new site to a specified remote webserver. The policy will automaticly be adjusted to allow him more bandwidth or reroute him out a different gateway.

These make you life really simple.

EVILer · Post by **EVILer** » 17 Oct 2007, 07:49

Forget Ghost

Forget MOM

ALTIRIS.....thats where the gold is

Google it, i work for a large bank(blue) bank and we run it across the whole country!
I cant sit in joburg and load windows and software on a pc in cape town with patches and drivers. But it can also be your worst nightmare if you dont know what you are doing. one guy by accident reloaded and entire floor of about 500+ workstations when he wasnt looking!

but look it up if you want power at your finger tips!

junjun · Post by **junjun** » 17 Oct 2007, 08:23

Altiris is awesome man, we using it here, including the altiris notification and deployment servers, its super powerful, its scary

EVILer · Post by **EVILer** » 17 Oct 2007, 13:04

Ye you can cause some serious damage if you dont look what you are doing!

im loading about 20 pc's at the moment and its flying!

douglash · Post by **douglash** » 17 Oct 2007, 14:09

Altiris looks really good, but please explain how you deploy an OS installation remotely if the HDD is formatted...

can you give a quick rundown of how you deploy 20 at a time please?

EVILer · Post by **EVILer** » 17 Oct 2007, 17:07

There are a number of ways in doing this, we use PXE, its basically a dos Bootup option that Altiris uses with your mac address to identify you on the notification and deployment server. All new NIC's have this built in.

so this is very basically what happens.

you boot your pc up using PXE(also not that you must have a whole lot of network configurations already set to work with this ie. VLAN, DHCP) and your VLAN will point you to the correct deployment server wher it puts you on hold after downloading the correct dos boot disk.

then on the deployment server or console you will see this pc as its serial number ie. czc972dp. In the console you have already set up jobs(loading OS, apps, actually anything you can do on a pc you can create a job for this is way to long to explain now)then you drag that job to the pc and the server takes it from there. format load OS, apps, whatever. one job or 200 jobs.

and then you are basically done.

and that is a VERY basic idea of how this works VERY basic.

douglash · Post by **douglash** » 18 Oct 2007, 07:32

sw33t - i need to get this to start playing around with it...

can you tell me how much it costs?

EVILer · Post by **EVILer** » 18 Oct 2007, 07:50

well thats gona be a problem! how many hundreds of thousand do you have lying around

you do however get a trial version, the other problem is that its not really like you can just start playing around. i went for 2 full week course to LEARN how to use it and there are still things i dont know. i have 4 books as big as an MCSE handbook each.

ill have a look for the trial and get back to you.

douglash · Post by **douglash** » 18 Oct 2007, 08:16

if it is worthwhile, i may approach management to allow me to purchase and install it...

i just can't seem to find a cost anywhere on the site...

oh, and money is not really a problem with this company, if it's a viable option...

EVILer · Post by **EVILer** » 18 Oct 2007, 10:21

i dont think you will get a cost on the site, they have a whole specialized sales team that analizes your needs and then works out the correct type of deal for the company, the software is scalable so you dont always need all the functionality.

i cant find my training cd with the trial on it.

what i suggest is to contact them, they will give a whole sales pitch if you are really interested.