5 steps to transform support services
<em>This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter's approach.</em>
<em>This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter's approach.</em>
Managing modern networked systems and applications is daunting because infrastructure is complex and things can go wrong in so many parts of the technology stack -- servers, storage, network devices, applications, hypervisors, APIs, DNS, etc. How can you address the challenge?
In the previous column on hacking PingPlotter I discussed how you can use the tool's Web interface and the curl utility to add targets to be tracked, for example, to add a single host you would enter the following on the command line:
An easy step-by-step guide to the Bash command-line shell and shell scripting
Picture this: You're sitting down
We're at an awkward stage as the age of network-streamed multimedia matures. Broadband and cell providers have only recently realized the public's enormous appetite for streaming video, VoIP, and the combination of both.
Network-attached storage (NAS) can make your business easier to run and more efficient in multiple ways.
Given the importance of telephone systems, refreshing the technology can be daunting. However, for small and midsized businesses who consider upgrading from a PBX to VoIP, the benefits are clear and, with proper planning, the implementation is not very frightening. Consider these three steps:
A reader has noticed that the Wi-Fi at her local library has slowed considerably in recent months, and she's wondering what's causing it: "Is it our computers, bogged down with too much junk, or is it something to do with the library's system?"
I'm a big fan of working at offsite locations--meaning my local Wi-Fi-equipped coffee shop. In fact, I'll often spend the afternoon hunkered down at Panera Bread, iced tea in one hand and a French Toast bagel in the other. (It's bad form to set up shop without buying something.)
Have you ever broken the connector on an Ethernet cable, but didn't want to go out and buy a replacement? If you only have one or two broken cable heads, it's probably not worth it to find a crimper and new RJ45 connectors. This quick, clever, and inexpensive hack from Instructables makes quick work of repairing a snapped Ethernet connector with a razor, cutting pliers, and two cable ties.
Hair-pullingly bad experiences with wireless networking have led me to formulate Snyder's First Law of Home Networking: No matter who sells you the router, you'll have at least one excruciating session with tech support before you have an Internet connection.
With Windows 7, you can more easily share files and printers across a network via the new HomeGroups feature. HomeGroups lets you connect to files and printers with a group password - if all the PCs have Windows 7. But I'll show you how to get your Windows 7 PC to play nicely on a network that also has Macs and XP/Vista PCs.
Networking isn't just for business anymore--these days, home networks are the norm.
Network problems are the thorniest to resolve. They've been known to reduce my vocabulary to curses so strong they'd embarrass Quentin Tarantino.