Samba 4 with Active Directory Support

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Admin, Linux/Unix, Reviews, Technology

New test version of Samba is available for download. You can check their Release Notes. They’ve spent 3 years in development. It’s still a Technology Preview to allow users, managers and developers to see the progress and get the feedback and support. This means it’s still not a Stable release and they’ve warned that Technology Preview is not secure.

New features of Samba 4:

    Active Directory support
    Built in LDAP Server
    Kerberos implementation
    Integration of user-friendly SWAT
    New VFS (Virtual File System) features
    New java script interface that can talk to samba internals
    Based on LDAP-like Database

Useful Network Tools

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Admin, Links, Network, Security, Technology

Very useful 2 Online and 2 Desktop network utilities

Online Tools:

    1. DnsStuff.com
    It a a very comprehensive tool that contains almost everything that you want to do with DNS. This is what DNSstuff says about itself: “We strive to be the fastest, most accurate, and most comprehensive site for DNS, domain name, WHOIS, IP address and other networking tools!”

    A Firefox Toolbar is available and should be useful for network admins.

    2. CentralOps.net
    Some of the utilities are similar to DNSstuff but there’re few interesting tools like Browser Mirror: See what your browser reveals and Domain Dossier: Investigate domains and IP addresses, which can also do service scan. Source code is available for most of the utilities.

Desktop Tools:

    1. Ethereal
    A free network protocol analyzer that allows you to capture and analyze the live network data. It is the most popular sniffing tool used by network admins.

    2. Angry IP Scanner
    Very fast, free and open source ip and port scanner. It can scan Mac addresses and resolve net-bios names. The report can be saved in many different formats.

Buddha Boy (Update)

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit, Buddha Boy, Life, Nepal

UWB has an article Ram Bahadur Bomjan: The Buddha Boy. The story is translated from original Nepalese article published in Kantipur Daily newspaper. It is an interesting update with almost everything possible known about the Meditating boy. The photo below is linked to it’s original source UWB.

A team of doctors observed him for half an hour and this is what they had to say:

    “In a time period of half an hour the meditator inhaled three times, swallowed saliva once and moved his eyelashes” said Dr Sah. He further added that even if he eats during the night he is an extraordinary person for being able to sit in a single posture for 12 hours in a row. He thinks that Bomjan has been able to do the impossible because of the practice of Yoga. Shah says,” Investigation is necessary for this challenge to the medical world.”

Buddha Boy of Nepal

Secure Remote Access (SSL VPN)

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Admin, Network, Reviews, Security, Technology, VPN

Last Saturday we had fun in our annual lunch and I presented about secure mobile remote access (SSL VPN). I wanted to let everyone know that there is a better, easier and safer way to connect to the corporate network remotely.

Different sort of remote access are being used today. It’s a necessity and convenience upon which businesses are relying. VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a mature technology and many big networks are connected to each other by it. The main technologies being used for VPN today are IPSec (IP Security), PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol), L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol) and SSL (Secure Socket Layer). If we categorize them in terms of their use then the VPNs can be of 2 types.
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Buddha Boy of Nepal

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Body, Mind & Spirit, Buddha Boy, Life, Links, Nepal

Buddha boy

I’m sure you’ve heard about the Buddha Boy of Nepal (his name is Ram Bahadur Bomzon). If you haven’t check this BBC story or Nepali Times (the photo on the right corner looks latest and is linked to it’s source, Nepali Times, but you need to login to read the whole story). I’m very curious (of course everyone is!). A teenage boy just walks out of his home at midnight to meditate and find peace. His followers, friends and people who’ve been watching him say that he’s sitting there and meditating for more than 6 months without food and water. It just seems impossible to believe how a human can survive for such a long time without food and water. It defies all the rules that modern medicine has known. Now there’s a team of Nepalese scientists gathered to find the truth. Like everyone else I also want to know the truth but having said that deep inside me I think something phenomenal is happening here. The boy himself has never claimed that he’s a Buddha and that he’s meditating without food and water.
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PCCW is entering 3G with a bang

by niranjanPosted on Posted in Hong Kong, Life, Technology

If you are in Hong Kong then you should be aware that PCCW recently acquired Sunday mobile operator. And now they’re entering the mobile communication with a bang by offering a free 6 month trial of 3G service for Hong Kongers. In their website they mention:

  • Service Plan $0
    * Unique PCCW Platinum U636 model 3G handset with 1.3 mega pixel camera and 262k color QVGA dual display
    * Unlimited use of local intra-network SMS, MMS and video calls
    * Unlimited local GPRS usage for browsing the PCCW mobile 3G WAP portal
    * Free enjoyment of the unique wealth of content on “TVB Channel”
    * Free enjoyment of Voice Mail, Call Hold, Conference Call, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding and Call Barring
    * Waived mobile service license fee and related charges

    • The offer looks very attractive, I’ve already registered and if you’re in Hong Kong you can try it free for 6 months. The most compelling part is Unlimited Local GPRS use (wow…). But you’ll have to be careful terminating your service after 5 months if you don’t want to continue because they’ll be charging your credit card after 6 months for a service plan which is not fixed yet.

    Secure and out-of-the-box Server/Gateway

    by niranjanPosted on Posted in Admin, Email, Linux/Unix, Reviews, Security, Technology

    If your are a network or system administrator of a SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) then you’ll have to do a lot of things that go beyond the call of your duty. You need to find systems, softwares and tools, recommend them to the management, justify your recommendation and make sure everything runs smoothly. There is a never ending search for perfect systems and softwares which are of good qualities and cost as less as possible. A typical SME would need at minimum following servers in order to run their business smoothly:

      Email Server
      Web Server
      DNS Server
      File Server
      Print Server
      Internet Gateway (Firewall/Router/Proxy)

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    Apple MacBook Pro

    by niranjanPosted on Posted in Apple, Technology

    Apple released the Intel notebook which it calls MacBook Pro. It is the slimmest apple notebook and performs 4 times faster than previous powerbooks. Looks like a dream machine… but I still have a new samsung notebook. So, I’ll have to wait for a while and hope the existing notebook breaks soon… 🙂

    MacBook Front

    MacBook Side

    Top Open Sources

    by niranjanPosted on Posted in Admin, Links, Linux/Unix, Reviews, Technology

    The Independent has an article Open source websites: All change on the internet that lists out the best open source websites where users can change the content (according to the authors Ana Kronschnabl and Tomas Rawlings). The list goes as following:

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    Amazing Video: Epic 2015

    by niranjanPosted on Posted in Life, Links, Technology

    I came across an amazing flash video called Epic 2015 . This is a very interesting video (documentary style) with exact facts about history and prediction on future. They present it in a way that the future seems so real as if you’re living in 2015. It’s about 8 mins long and I can assure you won’t regret watching it.

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