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The iPad as an IT professional's tool
John Welch over at Ars Technica wrote a wonderful post about using an iPad as a system administrator's tool, noting that Apple's tablet is "an addition, not a replacement" to the many tools that IT pros currently use to complete their daily tasks. Welch brings up points that I discovered when I first started taking my iPad along on client visits -- the size is right, the battery life is wonderful, and it's much more handy than a laptop or an iPhone. Note-taking, for example, is much easier to accomplish on the iPad, and it's possible to prop up the iPad for easy reading at a distance instead of squinting at a small screen. Welch notes that he's able to easily analyze data from Cacti or Nagios with just a glance, keeping an eye on how things are doing. With Welch's iPad, there's no waiting for a laptop to start up every morning. Most devices can be monitored in the aforementioned Web-based systems, he has email to catch messages about systems going down, and once a problem is found, he can "get a lot done over SSH." Welch uses Prompt (US$7.99) as his SSH client of choice, perfect for logging into Mac or Linux servers and desktop machines. For other sysadmin tasks, Welch has some concerns. There's no iPad analogue to Apple Remote Desktop, for example, although Windows network admins have a wonderful tool available in WinAdmin ($7.99). Apple hasn't released any management tools for Mac OS X Server that run on the iPad, but there are some limited third-party tools available such as Server Admin Remote ($9.99). Still, there's a good-sized market for sysadmin tools for the iPad, and if Apple doesn't step up to the plate to deliver them, Welch hopes that third-party developers will. If you're a system administrator who uses an iPad regularly at work, let us know in the comments what tools you use or would like to see.
How your company will control your Windows RT Tablet
Windows on ARM really opens up the world of Windows to some great hardware. So great in fact that you'll probably have to buy one yourself if you want one to use at work. But a time will come where you'll want to get your work email and maybe even an app or two. You might already realize that by adding an ActiveSync email account to your tablet opens your new device up to restrictions by your system administrator -- like requiring a lock screen password or the ability to remotely wipe it – and in the Windows x86 world, your company uses things like an Active Directory (AD) Domain and its Group Policies to lock things down. But, AD isn't an option for Windows RT. According to the Building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft has instead built in the ability to connect to the company network to access apps, while at the same time, gives the admin the ability to control all the familiar AD security settings like bad password attempts, complexity requirements and can even verify your anti-malware software status. Of course if you leave the company or just want to use your tablet without entering a password, you can always break the tie and regain control of the security.
System Administrator Appreciation Day is here, show them some love (or suffer the consequences)
Last year, on July 29th, we asked you to show a little love to your sysadmin because, without them, our world would probably come to a screeching halt. We suggested a card, or at least a polite nod in the hallway. Instead, you went all out and actually gave them a bit of raise. That doesn't mean you can let System Administrator Appreciation Day slip by this year without acknowledgment, however. We're not saying you've got to outdo yourselves and get them some sort of super yacht -- a simple thanks will do. But, they probably wouldn't mind a repeat of last year's gift either.
It's System Administrator Appreciation Day, show your sysadmin you care
What would the world be like without sysadmins? Chaos. That's what. So take a moment before the day is over to acknowledge the hard work that your own system administrator does day in and day out; a gift, a card, a nod in the hallway -- anything will do. Trust us. You don't want to make them angry. [Thanks, Adam]
First Look: iStat for the iPhone
My very favorite Dashboard widget is iSlayer's iStat Pro. It is invaluable for figuring out how fast Internet connection is moving, tracking down what processes are hanging up the system and monitoring CPU usage.But what if you want to monitor your systems performance remotely? What if you have a Mac server and you want to keep track of the memory and network usage? This is exactly what iStat for the iPhone was designed to address. Bjango (the new venture from part of the iSlayer team) was nice enough to let me try the app before it hits the App Store, and put it through the paces.This is how it works:You install the lightweight iStat Server deskop app (you need to be running Mac OS X 10.4 or higher) and then you run the iStat app for the iPhone to connect it to your Mac.If you are on the same local network, Bonjour will take care of everything, you'll see your computer name on a list and you just need to enter in the passcode displayed in the iStat Server app to access your data.If you are connecting to a remote server, just enter in the IP address and port number (the default is port 5109) and your passcode and you're good to go.The iStat program will show you information on your iPhone or iPod touch and any computers or servers that you've configured with your device.Take a look at the gallery and read on (the next page) for more details.%Gallery-42277%
Movies that could be MMOs: Tron
"Greetings, programs." These are the first words you hear as you enter the vast, coldly glittering chamber, prodded forward by a hulking, cowled figure wielding a shockstaff. You glance nervously around you. Your companions seem equally confused and frightened. High above you upon a raised platform, glowing redly, is an Enforcer -- one of the Master Control Program's elite warriors. "You have been chosen to compete against each other for our amusement. Failure to compete is rewarded with deresolution. A victory ensures another day of life. You shall compete until you lose. A loss is punished with deresolution. Today you will receive training. Tomorrow you shall compete. End of line."One of the cowled figures roughly thrusts a glowing blue disc into your trembling hands, which you hold to yourself like a lifeline, which it is. Your training begins.Released into theaters in 1982, Tron is a movie about computers, written before the emergence of the World Wide Web. It posited a world inside the hardware, occupied by anthropomorphized programs. Though some of its ideas bear little resemblance to reality, the story and themes still hold up to repeated viewing, and it's a fun ride with interesting visuals. Despite the numerous adaptations into videogame form the movie has endured, the world of Tron could make a fun and engaging MMO. We'll take a look at how its mechanics might work after the jump.
Angry UNIX sysadmin tries to shut down California power grid
Looks like someone's trying to inspire a new generation of BOFH posts -- Lonnie Charles Denison, a UNIX sysadmin working at power grid data center in Folsom, CA, just pled guilty to attempting to kill the western US power grid in April. Denison had been fighting with his bosses and lost his access privileges to the system, which apparently led him to sudo up the old-fashioned way -- by taking a hammer to the data center's emergency shutoff switch. Fortunately, he did it late on a Sunday night, when the power-management center was not in high demand, but officials say he could have caused a power disruption in the western US if he'd gone loco in the AM. Denison also apparently emailed in a fake bomb threat to another worker the next morning, leading to his eventual arrest, and it looks like he's facing a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in jail. Wonder if he flipped an excuse card while on the stand?
TUAW Video: LANrev demo at WWDC
Click To Play Scott sat down with Martin Bestmann of LANrev to talk about their powerful cross-platform client management application and got a sneak peek at what's coming in the next version.
"Hello, tech support? My book isn't working"
"Have you tried closing and opening it again?"
Why your school doesn't want boot camp
A trend I'd like to see go the way of the dodo: every time Apple introduces something new that doesn't seem to appeal to the average home user, the net lights up with wild speculation that it's for the education market. Most of the time it's not, and Boot Camp is no exception. The reaction to Boot Camp from MacEnterprise and other education and business Mac communities has not been positive. It's ranged from "wait and see" to "why me?" with most of the responses at the "why me?" end. Boot Camp is, in the words of University sysadmin and TUAW reader Jason Young, quite possibly "any IT staff member’s worst nightmare come true." And here are just a few of the reasons I think he's right:First, we live in a very imperfect world. Heterogeneous networks are messy, messy things. Sure there are protocols for Active Directory, Open Directory, LDAP, DHCP, etc., but vendors do one of two things: fail to implement the spec properly, or add a bunch of proprietary bells and whistles that aren't part of the spec, are technically add-ons, but still seem to mysteriously cause hardware or software to fail when they aren't present. Throw a couple of DNS forwarding issues, some CISCO equipment and maybe a Radius server into the mix, and things get ugly fast. What's the admins final line of defense against complete network chaos? Hardware addressing. Figure out what hardware is sitting at which MAC address, and build policies based on that. It's not ideal, but it's the the way the real world works. If you can't predict the OS type from the MAC, your job becomes 10 times harder in a flash.Second, nobody actually wants to reboot. It's time consuming, stressful on the hardware, and just generally not too much fun. It also means getting users in the habit of interacting with the firmware, which is something sane sysadmins want to avoid at all costs. What admins, and others, want is real virtualization. Not dual booting. Not emulation and compatibility layers. Real virtualization. When Apple delivers that, there will be partying in the streets.Third, there's no support and it doesn't look like there's ever going to be. Unlike the rest of us peons, large education and enterprise clients spend a lot of money on premium AppleCare services. They have reps who know them by name, and part of what makes Macs appealing is that you call one number and get integrated hardware and OS support. If Apple won't support Windows, dual booting will mean buying a second support contract for the same machine. hat more than negates the cost benefit of a single machine solution. Beige boxes are cheap and procurement already has contracts with HP and Dell. There is, of course, a potential for third parties here to step up and become Apple Authorized Resellers offering pre-configured machines with support, but that's a niche market. Most organizations that buy Macs want to deal directly with Apple.And then for education tech support, there's the added fun of personal machines that people use to connect to the network....Individual admins, of course, are thrilled. Being able do dual boot, say, a MacBook Pro means only needing one machine to administer everything. But supporting it for users? That's a different story.
