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Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Unix: Book Review -- Absolute OpenBSD: Unix for the Practical Paranoid by Michael W. Lucas, Open Starch Press, 2013
I don't know which should come first -- why you should look at OpenBSD or why you should buy this book, but these questions seem tightly wound around each other. For those of us who have settled into one of the most popular Unix/Linux systems -- Red Hat, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, Mint, Suse, Solaris et al, OpenBSD may seem like a Unix from long ago, but there are aspects of this OS that set it apart from other popularly used Unix systems and this book by Michael W. Lucas and published by no starch press will help you understand, not just those differences, but how to install, deploy, manage, troubleshoot and thrive with an OpenBSD system.
To begin with, let's start with the subtitle -- "Unix for the Practical Paranoid". There's a lot in that title. These days, anyone who manages servers that interact in any way with the Internet are probably somewhat paranoid. In fact, the author says "If you're not paranoid on the Internet, you're in trouble". And why is OpenBSD "for the paranoid"? For one reason, it's because OpenBSD is regarded by many as the most secure OS (yes, even without the benefit of SELinux). Its focus on security borders on the fanatical. OpenBSD pays a lot of attention to the "baked in" kind of security -- auditing their source code with a keen eye toward routing out bugs that could represent an eventual compromise, rather than waiting for flaws to be discovered through successful exploits and addressing them then.
OpenBSD also has built-in cryptography, the systrace system call and the pf packet filter. Due to its ground up dedication to security, it is often used as the OS basis for intrusion detection systems, firewalls, VPN gateways and secure web sites. It's open source, yet it touts some of the highest quality documentation.
The first edition of Absolute OpenBSD: UNIX for the Practical Paranoid was published 10 years ago in 2003 -- ten years ago! It was so well thought of that it became something of a collector's edition and a lot of people have been hungrily waiting for this second edition. I was deeply entrenched in Solaris in 2003, though I still clearly remembered that "SunOS" prior to the birth of "Solaris" was a BSD-based operating system. About the same time that BSD and System V were merged to create Solaris, OpenBSD shot off from NetBSD, providing a clear option for those who wanted to remain in the BSD camp.
This book, in its nearly 500 (490) pages, covers nearly everything I can imagine stuffing into a book on OpenBSD and provides nearly a total immersion on the OS. Yet the author is not so arrogant as to presume you won't need to reach out to other information sources as well -- Chapter 1 is actually devoted to additional sources of information. Even so, you won't get through this book without acquiring a solid grounding in OpenBSD.
To begin with, let's start with the subtitle -- "Unix for the Practical Paranoid". There's a lot in that title. These days, anyone who manages servers that interact in any way with the Internet are probably somewhat paranoid. In fact, the author says "If you're not paranoid on the Internet, you're in trouble". And why is OpenBSD "for the paranoid"? For one reason, it's because OpenBSD is regarded by many as the most secure OS (yes, even without the benefit of SELinux). Its focus on security borders on the fanatical. OpenBSD pays a lot of attention to the "baked in" kind of security -- auditing their source code with a keen eye toward routing out bugs that could represent an eventual compromise, rather than waiting for flaws to be discovered through successful exploits and addressing them then.
OpenBSD also has built-in cryptography, the systrace system call and the pf packet filter. Due to its ground up dedication to security, it is often used as the OS basis for intrusion detection systems, firewalls, VPN gateways and secure web sites. It's open source, yet it touts some of the highest quality documentation.
The first edition of Absolute OpenBSD: UNIX for the Practical Paranoid was published 10 years ago in 2003 -- ten years ago! It was so well thought of that it became something of a collector's edition and a lot of people have been hungrily waiting for this second edition. I was deeply entrenched in Solaris in 2003, though I still clearly remembered that "SunOS" prior to the birth of "Solaris" was a BSD-based operating system. About the same time that BSD and System V were merged to create Solaris, OpenBSD shot off from NetBSD, providing a clear option for those who wanted to remain in the BSD camp.
This book, in its nearly 500 (490) pages, covers nearly everything I can imagine stuffing into a book on OpenBSD and provides nearly a total immersion on the OS. Yet the author is not so arrogant as to presume you won't need to reach out to other information sources as well -- Chapter 1 is actually devoted to additional sources of information. Even so, you won't get through this book without acquiring a solid grounding in OpenBSD.
Monday, May 13, 2013
Is Unix Now The Most Successful Operating System Of All Time?
A fascinating little point made in a much longer piece about the smartphone wars. One that makes me wonder whether Unix can now be considered to be the most successful operating system of all time. Which is certainly a change from when I first entered the computing industry when Unix boxes were vast behemoths and the Windows based PC was what was used by the masses.
Within that, roughly 1.1bn had ‘smartphones’ at the end of 2012, of which around 900m ran either the iOS or Android versions of Unix. (As an aside, it is pretty striking that almost a fifth of the earth’s adult population has a Unix box in their pocket.)
Yes, it is true that both Apple AAPL +0.39%‘s iOS (and OSX come to think of it) and Google GOOG -0.28%‘s Android are variations of the basic Unix operating system. And 900 million concurrent users might indeed be the largest number of people using an operating system yet.
The only viable contender is of course Windows. DOS was never a large enough marketplace before Windows took over from that. And I agree that Windows sales numbers are, over time, much higher than of these Unix variants. Windows 7 for example sold 450 million copies all told. Windows 8 so far 100 million. So I’m willing to agree that Microsoft MSFT +1.05% has, over all the generations of Windows, sold more licenses than the current usage of the two Unix variants, Android and iOS.
But I’m really not sure whether the installed base of Windows has ever been 900 million units. Not all operating at the same time. And we are indeed saying that the current, today’s installed base of Unix is that 900 million. Even if that were shown to be wrong, that there are, or have at some time been, more than 900 million operating PCs running Windows, I don’t think that Windows would keep the crown for very much longer. For the growth rates are wildly divergent.
Almost all tablets and smartphones now run some variant of Unix (yes, I know, Windows Phone and Surface but really, volumes here are pretty small) and those markets are still growing by leaps and bounds. And the PC market is actually shrinking. So even if Windows might, just, still be the world’s leading OS I don’t think that that will last for very much longer.
But my gut feel for this is that Unix is indeed the world’s most successful operating system ever. 900 million concurrent users? I don’t think even Windows has managed that.
Within that, roughly 1.1bn had ‘smartphones’ at the end of 2012, of which around 900m ran either the iOS or Android versions of Unix. (As an aside, it is pretty striking that almost a fifth of the earth’s adult population has a Unix box in their pocket.)
Yes, it is true that both Apple AAPL +0.39%‘s iOS (and OSX come to think of it) and Google GOOG -0.28%‘s Android are variations of the basic Unix operating system. And 900 million concurrent users might indeed be the largest number of people using an operating system yet.
The only viable contender is of course Windows. DOS was never a large enough marketplace before Windows took over from that. And I agree that Windows sales numbers are, over time, much higher than of these Unix variants. Windows 7 for example sold 450 million copies all told. Windows 8 so far 100 million. So I’m willing to agree that Microsoft MSFT +1.05% has, over all the generations of Windows, sold more licenses than the current usage of the two Unix variants, Android and iOS.
But I’m really not sure whether the installed base of Windows has ever been 900 million units. Not all operating at the same time. And we are indeed saying that the current, today’s installed base of Unix is that 900 million. Even if that were shown to be wrong, that there are, or have at some time been, more than 900 million operating PCs running Windows, I don’t think that Windows would keep the crown for very much longer. For the growth rates are wildly divergent.
Almost all tablets and smartphones now run some variant of Unix (yes, I know, Windows Phone and Surface but really, volumes here are pretty small) and those markets are still growing by leaps and bounds. And the PC market is actually shrinking. So even if Windows might, just, still be the world’s leading OS I don’t think that that will last for very much longer.
But my gut feel for this is that Unix is indeed the world’s most successful operating system ever. 900 million concurrent users? I don’t think even Windows has managed that.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Physical Layer SW Engineer-PHY,Algorithms,C,Linux,Unix,DSP
Physical Layer SW Engineer, Layer 1, PHY, Algorithms, C, Linux, Unix, DSP, IOT, Embedded Systems, Debug
WANTED! I am currently seeking a Physical Layer Software Engineer to join a world-leading team working on physical layer embedded software.
Required Skills and Experience:
- Excellent Knowledge in wireless embedded systems;
- Proficient in C coding;
- Excellent knowledge of real-time SW programming;
- Extensive DSP understanding;
- MUST be eligible to work in the UK.
Do you have the above skills and experience? Would you like to be part of a world-leading company? Don't hesitate to get in touch for the full job description and details!
I look forward to hearing from you!
Physical Layer SW Engineer, Layer 1, PHY, Algorithms, C, Linux, Unix, DSP, IOT, Embedded Systems, Debug
WANTED! I am currently seeking a Physical Layer Software Engineer to join a world-leading team working on physical layer embedded software.
Required Skills and Experience:
- Excellent Knowledge in wireless embedded systems;
- Proficient in C coding;
- Excellent knowledge of real-time SW programming;
- Extensive DSP understanding;
- MUST be eligible to work in the UK.
Do you have the above skills and experience? Would you like to be part of a world-leading company? Don't hesitate to get in touch for the full job description and details!
I look forward to hearing from you!
Physical Layer SW Engineer, Layer 1, PHY, Algorithms, C, Linux, Unix, DSP, IOT, Embedded Systems, Debug
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Oracle brings data center fabric to Sparc systems
Oracle has extended its data center fabric to its Sparc-based Unix platforms, promising to let enterprises tie more servers and applications into the high-speed infrastructure.
The fabric technology, which Oracle acquired in its purchase of startup Xsigo Systems last year, connects servers and storage over Ethernet and Infiniband and allows for thousands of virtual network interfaces. That saves IT departments from having to install multiple network interface cards and host bus adapters in its physical servers, while tying together the resources in the data center at speeds up to 80Gbps (bits per second).
The addition of Unix support is the first change Oracle has made to Xsigo's technology since the acquisition, apart from rebranding it as Oracle Virtual Networking, said Charlie Boyle, senior director of marketing for Oracle's data center division. The company added Oracle Virtual Networking support to its Sparc T5, T4 and M5 servers and for the Oracle Solaris 11 OS on both Sparc and x86 hardware. Connecting Unix servers to the fabric will give users, as well as other servers, faster access to the critical applications that often run on those platforms, he said.
Oracle expanded the Sparc-based T and M server lines last week with the T5 and the M5-32, both of which are based on new processors. It's the first time the company has built M-class servers based on its own chips.
Oracle Virtual Networking is designed to deliver the benefits of software-defined networking (SDN), including rapid application provisioning, detailed quality-of-service controls and simplified movement of virtual machines from one physical server to another. It's built around the Oracle Fabric Interconnect hardware platform, which provides the high-speed connectivity. The company claims Oracle Virtual Networking can boost application performance by four times while cutting LAN and SAN capital expenses in half.
The fabric technology, which Oracle acquired in its purchase of startup Xsigo Systems last year, connects servers and storage over Ethernet and Infiniband and allows for thousands of virtual network interfaces. That saves IT departments from having to install multiple network interface cards and host bus adapters in its physical servers, while tying together the resources in the data center at speeds up to 80Gbps (bits per second).
The addition of Unix support is the first change Oracle has made to Xsigo's technology since the acquisition, apart from rebranding it as Oracle Virtual Networking, said Charlie Boyle, senior director of marketing for Oracle's data center division. The company added Oracle Virtual Networking support to its Sparc T5, T4 and M5 servers and for the Oracle Solaris 11 OS on both Sparc and x86 hardware. Connecting Unix servers to the fabric will give users, as well as other servers, faster access to the critical applications that often run on those platforms, he said.
Oracle expanded the Sparc-based T and M server lines last week with the T5 and the M5-32, both of which are based on new processors. It's the first time the company has built M-class servers based on its own chips.
Oracle Virtual Networking is designed to deliver the benefits of software-defined networking (SDN), including rapid application provisioning, detailed quality-of-service controls and simplified movement of virtual machines from one physical server to another. It's built around the Oracle Fabric Interconnect hardware platform, which provides the high-speed connectivity. The company claims Oracle Virtual Networking can boost application performance by four times while cutting LAN and SAN capital expenses in half.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Unix: Rooting out the kits
Rootkits are both tricky and stealthy, but there are still some things that you can do if you suspect that one of your Linux system has been infected. After all, a rootkit is going to be doing something if it's to be of any value to the miscreants that deployed it. In addition, its authors will have had a hard time trying to engineer their tools to avoid everything that detection tools are going to throw at it to identify and remove it.
The bad news is that detecting rootkits takes far more insight than noticing and identifying your typical virus. Many are designed to resemble device drivers so that it's possible for them to run at a more privileged level in the operating system. Rootkits often replace a keyboard or network driver, for example. The way that modern operating systems are broken into distinct privilege "layers" and numerous modules, loaded when needed and each of which manages a distinct function within the OS, makes this possible.
Sometimes root kits will replace commands such as netstat, du, find, ifconfig, netd, killall and lsof while they will just provide support for other malware -- allowing it to run undetected or providing access to the system through backdoors. The flexibility and modularity of operating systems is, thus, also something of a "weak link" as far as security is concerned.
When you suspect a rootkit has been installed on a system, the first thing you need to decide is what the first step ought to be. Some will say that you should immediately detach it from your network, isolating it for further analysis. Others will say that you may lose valuable insights into what the rootkit is doing if you move too quickly. Besides, depending on the role the system is playing, pulling it off the network could have drastic implications if provides a critical service. On a well designed network, your critical services will be set up in such a way that you can roll them over to another system.
If your aim is to learn as much as you can about the rootkit, rebooting the system might be a bad idea. The rootkit might be one that is confined to memory and your evidence may be gone if you reboot too soon. In any case, this – how to proceed when a rootkit is suspected -- kind of decision is one that should be made long before you have to act.
You should consider detaching from your network and, at some point, shutting down the system and booting in single user mode. The key question is what's more important -- figuring out what happened or getting the system up and working again. If you must get it online again as quickly as possible, are you prepared to make an image of the infected system for analysis? If you can, that image might provide you with important insights after the fact.
It's a good to have a rescue CD or DVD on hand so that you can look at an infected system (or a potentially infected system) without depending on tools or commands that are installed on the system.
The bad news is that detecting rootkits takes far more insight than noticing and identifying your typical virus. Many are designed to resemble device drivers so that it's possible for them to run at a more privileged level in the operating system. Rootkits often replace a keyboard or network driver, for example. The way that modern operating systems are broken into distinct privilege "layers" and numerous modules, loaded when needed and each of which manages a distinct function within the OS, makes this possible.
Sometimes root kits will replace commands such as netstat, du, find, ifconfig, netd, killall and lsof while they will just provide support for other malware -- allowing it to run undetected or providing access to the system through backdoors. The flexibility and modularity of operating systems is, thus, also something of a "weak link" as far as security is concerned.
When you suspect a rootkit has been installed on a system, the first thing you need to decide is what the first step ought to be. Some will say that you should immediately detach it from your network, isolating it for further analysis. Others will say that you may lose valuable insights into what the rootkit is doing if you move too quickly. Besides, depending on the role the system is playing, pulling it off the network could have drastic implications if provides a critical service. On a well designed network, your critical services will be set up in such a way that you can roll them over to another system.
If your aim is to learn as much as you can about the rootkit, rebooting the system might be a bad idea. The rootkit might be one that is confined to memory and your evidence may be gone if you reboot too soon. In any case, this – how to proceed when a rootkit is suspected -- kind of decision is one that should be made long before you have to act.
You should consider detaching from your network and, at some point, shutting down the system and booting in single user mode. The key question is what's more important -- figuring out what happened or getting the system up and working again. If you must get it online again as quickly as possible, are you prepared to make an image of the infected system for analysis? If you can, that image might provide you with important insights after the fact.
It's a good to have a rescue CD or DVD on hand so that you can look at an infected system (or a potentially infected system) without depending on tools or commands that are installed on the system.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Use OS X services to reveal or open file paths
Apple's Spotlight offers a quick way to find user files and resources like applications or system preferences. However, it does not locate items in the system folder or in hidden folders, though at times you might need to access them. This limitation may be especially cumbersome to deal with if you are troubleshooting a problem in OS X or helping someone do so, meaning you may need to ask them to locate a specific hidden file and remove it or modify its contents.
For some system resources you can simply navigate through the Finder; however, in its default view the Finder does not show a number of hidden files and folders such as the user library. So, for example, if you tell someone to access his or her user library to locate the Fonts folder, since the user library is hidden he or she might instead erroneously access the global library at the root of the hard drive.
Even if you are familiar with standard Unix file path notation and direct someone to open the ~/Library folder, if that person doesn't know what the tilde character means then he or she might go to the wrong directory in the Finder.
To get around these potential areas of confusion both for yourself and when instructing others, you can make use of some services and features in OS X that make possible quick access to any file or folder based on a typed path you provide, which can help avoid confusion and make it straightforward for anyone to open a specified Unix-compliant path.
The first option is to use the system's contextual services: if you have a full Unix-compliant path typed out, then you can simply highlight it, right-click the selected text, and then choose either Open or Reveal from the Services contextual menu, and the system will then display the item in the Finder or try to open it with its default handling application.
For example, you can triple-click the following folder path examples or otherwise select each in its entirety, and try opening the items in the Finder (note that if you use the Open service the system may ask for confirmation before opening the path):
If you come across a file path as part of an instruction for tweaking your system or troubleshooting it, you can use these services to access it by selecting the file path and right-clicking in this way. Additionally, if you are attempting to help others access parts of their systems and you know the exact file or folder path they should use, then you can likewise send it to them and have them perform this procedure to quickly open it.
Open and Reveal services in OS X
These contextual services are built into OS X and should be enabled by default, but if they aren't then they can be enabled in the Services section of the Keyboard system preferences, under the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
While useful for opening a full file path from a text document or Web page, these options are also convenient in other areas. If you are a power user and access the Terminal regularly, then you probably have a number of file paths listed in your command history that you previously acted upon. If you need to open one of these paths in the Finder, you can use these services to quickly select and open it.
A last and related way to navigate through a full file path is to use the OS X Go to Folder feature that is available in the Finder's Go menu (and can also be invoked by pressing Shift-Command-G). With this option, you can copy a full file path or even a partial one with respect to the directory of the current Finder window, and then paste it in the Go to Folder field instead of using the Open or Reveal services, which should open it for you in the Finder. For example, select and copy any of the file paths listed above, and then paste it in the Go to Folder field to have the system open it in the Finder.
For some system resources you can simply navigate through the Finder; however, in its default view the Finder does not show a number of hidden files and folders such as the user library. So, for example, if you tell someone to access his or her user library to locate the Fonts folder, since the user library is hidden he or she might instead erroneously access the global library at the root of the hard drive.
Even if you are familiar with standard Unix file path notation and direct someone to open the ~/Library folder, if that person doesn't know what the tilde character means then he or she might go to the wrong directory in the Finder.
To get around these potential areas of confusion both for yourself and when instructing others, you can make use of some services and features in OS X that make possible quick access to any file or folder based on a typed path you provide, which can help avoid confusion and make it straightforward for anyone to open a specified Unix-compliant path.
The first option is to use the system's contextual services: if you have a full Unix-compliant path typed out, then you can simply highlight it, right-click the selected text, and then choose either Open or Reveal from the Services contextual menu, and the system will then display the item in the Finder or try to open it with its default handling application.
For example, you can triple-click the following folder path examples or otherwise select each in its entirety, and try opening the items in the Finder (note that if you use the Open service the system may ask for confirmation before opening the path):
If you come across a file path as part of an instruction for tweaking your system or troubleshooting it, you can use these services to access it by selecting the file path and right-clicking in this way. Additionally, if you are attempting to help others access parts of their systems and you know the exact file or folder path they should use, then you can likewise send it to them and have them perform this procedure to quickly open it.
Open and Reveal services in OS X
These contextual services are built into OS X and should be enabled by default, but if they aren't then they can be enabled in the Services section of the Keyboard system preferences, under the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
While useful for opening a full file path from a text document or Web page, these options are also convenient in other areas. If you are a power user and access the Terminal regularly, then you probably have a number of file paths listed in your command history that you previously acted upon. If you need to open one of these paths in the Finder, you can use these services to quickly select and open it.
A last and related way to navigate through a full file path is to use the OS X Go to Folder feature that is available in the Finder's Go menu (and can also be invoked by pressing Shift-Command-G). With this option, you can copy a full file path or even a partial one with respect to the directory of the current Finder window, and then paste it in the Go to Folder field instead of using the Open or Reveal services, which should open it for you in the Finder. For example, select and copy any of the file paths listed above, and then paste it in the Go to Folder field to have the system open it in the Finder.
Monday, February 4, 2013
I.B.M. Slims Down Its Big Data Offerings
I.B.M. is cutting the price on its least-expensive Power server computers by 50 percent, to under $6,000. The pricing move is one of a series of hardware and software announcements on Tuesday intended as a strategic push more broadly into the fast-growing market for Big Data technology and to tailor offerings for smaller businesses.
The overall market for Big Data technology — hardware, software and services — is projected to increase to $23.7 billion by 2016, from $8.1 billion last year, according to IDC, a market research firm. Every major technology company including Oracle, EMC, Microsoft, SAP Hewlett-Packard and SAS Institute, as well as an entire generation of start-ups, is chasing the opportunity to supply the tools of advanced data analysis and discovery to business.
I.B.M.’s Power servers run the company’s Power microprocessors. These chips were originally designed for big computers using I.B.M.’s proprietary version of the Unix operating system, AIX. Over the years, the company has developed specialized chips using the Power technology for other markets like video game consoles. The I.B.M. chips can be found in the game machines made by Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
The I.B.M. Power servers also run Linux, the open-source version of Unix. And Linux is the preferred operating system for much Big Data software, notably Hadoop, the foundation layer that manages many distributed, data analysis applications.
But the hardware challenge for I.B.M. is that most Hadoop software is running on industry-standard servers, powered by chips from Intel or Advanced Micro Devices.
The price cut helps make the case for Big Data computing on I.B.M. Power servers, which are designed to juggle many computing tasks efficiently and reliably, a potential advantage in the data-analysis market. “I.B.M. is bringing the actual price down to be very, very competitive,” said Jean S. Bozman, an analyst at IDC. “And they have to do it.”
The lower price is also a bid for the small- and medium-size business market, as these companies seek to adopt Big Data computing. “This brings the entry point down quite a bit and opens the way for more businesses to use Power technology as a preferred environment,” said Steven A. Mills, senior vice president for software and hardware systems at I.B.M.
One small company looking at using the I.B.M. technology for advanced data analysis is Westside Produce, which harvests, packs and markets cantaloupes for growers in California. The company, with 15 full-time employees and many seasonal contract workers, already runs its accounting, inventory and operations-management software on an I.B.M. Power server.
But Justin K. Porter, director of technology at Westside Produce, said his company would like to be able to more closely track and analyze all kinds of data, including harvest practices, weather patterns, shipments, melon sizes, and prices paid by specific supermarket chains and distributors. The goal, he said, would be to fine-tune operations and marketing to trim waste and improve profits.
“It’s definitely something that we’re going to look into,” Mr. Porter said.
The overall market for Big Data technology — hardware, software and services — is projected to increase to $23.7 billion by 2016, from $8.1 billion last year, according to IDC, a market research firm. Every major technology company including Oracle, EMC, Microsoft, SAP Hewlett-Packard and SAS Institute, as well as an entire generation of start-ups, is chasing the opportunity to supply the tools of advanced data analysis and discovery to business.
I.B.M.’s Power servers run the company’s Power microprocessors. These chips were originally designed for big computers using I.B.M.’s proprietary version of the Unix operating system, AIX. Over the years, the company has developed specialized chips using the Power technology for other markets like video game consoles. The I.B.M. chips can be found in the game machines made by Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.
The I.B.M. Power servers also run Linux, the open-source version of Unix. And Linux is the preferred operating system for much Big Data software, notably Hadoop, the foundation layer that manages many distributed, data analysis applications.
But the hardware challenge for I.B.M. is that most Hadoop software is running on industry-standard servers, powered by chips from Intel or Advanced Micro Devices.
The price cut helps make the case for Big Data computing on I.B.M. Power servers, which are designed to juggle many computing tasks efficiently and reliably, a potential advantage in the data-analysis market. “I.B.M. is bringing the actual price down to be very, very competitive,” said Jean S. Bozman, an analyst at IDC. “And they have to do it.”
The lower price is also a bid for the small- and medium-size business market, as these companies seek to adopt Big Data computing. “This brings the entry point down quite a bit and opens the way for more businesses to use Power technology as a preferred environment,” said Steven A. Mills, senior vice president for software and hardware systems at I.B.M.
One small company looking at using the I.B.M. technology for advanced data analysis is Westside Produce, which harvests, packs and markets cantaloupes for growers in California. The company, with 15 full-time employees and many seasonal contract workers, already runs its accounting, inventory and operations-management software on an I.B.M. Power server.
But Justin K. Porter, director of technology at Westside Produce, said his company would like to be able to more closely track and analyze all kinds of data, including harvest practices, weather patterns, shipments, melon sizes, and prices paid by specific supermarket chains and distributors. The goal, he said, would be to fine-tune operations and marketing to trim waste and improve profits.
“It’s definitely something that we’re going to look into,” Mr. Porter said.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Stephen Watt, a.k.a. “The UNIX Terrorist,” to Keynote Infiltrate Con, April 11-12 - First Public Talk Since Conviction in World’s Largest Financial Cyber-Heist
It was the biggest identity theft case in U.S. history - between 2005-2007, 170 million credit card numbers were stolen from Heartland Payment Systems, TJX and other national companies. The operation - known as Get Rich or Die Tryin’ - was led by convicted hacker Albert Gonzalez. But the U.S. Attorney’s Office would later convict former rogue DefCon speaker and Wall Street programmer Stephen Watt of complicity in the crime for writing the packet-sniffing program “blabla” that was used by Gonzalez.
Now, after two years of incarceration in SeaTac Federal Detention Center, a $171.5 million restitution and still on probation, Stephen Watt a.k.a. ‘The UNIX Terrorist’ will be giving his first public talk at this year’s Infiltrate offensive security conference in Miami Beach, April 11-12, 2013.
“We’re happy that Stephen’s lawyer was able to get him approval to keynote at this year’s conference,” said Dave Aitel, CEO of Immunity Inc. and organizer of Infiltrate. “Stephen has a formidable reputation as a programmer and an original thinker, and we’re looking forward to his talk on the criminal justice system as it pertains to com-puter crime. This talk is especially relevant given the recent death of Aaron Swartz, who also faced the same prosecutor as Stephen.”
The title of Watt’s keynote presentation is, “Turning Down an Offer You Can’t Refuse.”
“My talk will be a journey through the legal system; essentially, what to expect if you don’t snitch on your friends,” said Watt. “I’m going to tell people the truth about what it’s like to be prosecuted under today’s computer crime laws - from the overzealous tactics of prosecutors to the near-impossibility of thriving in a post-conviction life. Federal litigation exponentiates fines and sentences by stringing endless amounts of charges together. Most notably, in the case of file-sharing charges. So basically, this talk will cover everything from pretrial, to the courtroom, prison and probation.”
On probation since February 2012, Watt is currently prohibited from using a non-Windows operating system on his government-monitored laptop. He’s also banned from using an iPhone or Android device. “I’m allowed to use a BlackBerry, but they’ve told me ‘there’s just too much you can do on an iPhone,’” he said.
In spite of the severity of his punishment, Watt never benefited financially from his involvement with Gonzalez. While in prison, he also turned down a movie studio offer to option his life story for the big screen. Eric Eisner has since optioned the rights to Rolling Stone’s story on the group, “Hackers Gone Wild: The Fast Times and Hard Fall of the Green Hat Gang.”
Watt remains an opponent of computer vulnerability disclosure and the commercialization of exploit development. He has since developed a passion for discussing matters such as free speech, as well as prosecutorial and investigative tactics as they apply to cybercrime cases.
Stephen Watt’s keynote isn’t the only noteworthy talk at this year’s Infiltrate. Here is a preliminary list of other talks at this year’s conference:
Chris Eagle – Keynote Speaker
Esteban Guillardoy - Jurassic Jar: Their World. Our Rules.
Miguel Turner - Exfiltrate: Efficient Blind SQLi
Matias Soler - The Chameleon: A Cellphone-Based USB Impersonator
Alberto Garcia - Enterprise Malware, There Is Always a Way. (DNS/DNSSEC)
Sergey Gordeychik - Siemens Under the X-Ray
Ling Chuan Lee and Lee Yee Chan - TTF Font Fuzzing and Vulnerability
S.A. Ridley and Stephen Lawler - Advanced Exploitation Of Mobile/Embedded De-vices: The ARM Microprocessor
Josh Thomas - NAND-Xplore -> Bad Blocks = Well Hidden
The conference will also include advanced training classes for professionals:
Unethical Hacking - Immunity’s most popular class focuses on teaching the fundamentals of Windows x86 exploitation by having students write exploits. This class attempts to teach a strategic approach to attack and penetration that goes beyond “penetration testing” to model how a real attacker targets your company. It’s recommended students be familiar with x86 assembler, some reverse engineering, debugging and Windows memory management.
Immunity Master Class - Fun with modern exploit development and vulnerability discovery techniques. Intermediate to advanced exploit development skills are recommended for students wishing to take the Master class.
Web Hacking - A favorite among developers as well as infosec professionals, this class focuses on understanding common web hacking techniques by having students exploit vulnerable systems.
ABOUT INFILTRATE
Now in it’s third year, Infiltrate (http://www.infiltratecon.com) is an exclusive offensive security conference for the infosec community, focused on advanced hacks, exploits and all things offensive. Organized by Dave Aitel and Immunity Inc., the conference is April 11-12, 2013 at the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach. Past speakers at Infiltrate include Charlie Miller, Andrew Cushman, Thomas Lim, Dan Rosenberg, Cesar Cerrudo and Jon Oberheide.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/1/prweb10349836.htm
Now, after two years of incarceration in SeaTac Federal Detention Center, a $171.5 million restitution and still on probation, Stephen Watt a.k.a. ‘The UNIX Terrorist’ will be giving his first public talk at this year’s Infiltrate offensive security conference in Miami Beach, April 11-12, 2013.
“We’re happy that Stephen’s lawyer was able to get him approval to keynote at this year’s conference,” said Dave Aitel, CEO of Immunity Inc. and organizer of Infiltrate. “Stephen has a formidable reputation as a programmer and an original thinker, and we’re looking forward to his talk on the criminal justice system as it pertains to com-puter crime. This talk is especially relevant given the recent death of Aaron Swartz, who also faced the same prosecutor as Stephen.”
The title of Watt’s keynote presentation is, “Turning Down an Offer You Can’t Refuse.”
“My talk will be a journey through the legal system; essentially, what to expect if you don’t snitch on your friends,” said Watt. “I’m going to tell people the truth about what it’s like to be prosecuted under today’s computer crime laws - from the overzealous tactics of prosecutors to the near-impossibility of thriving in a post-conviction life. Federal litigation exponentiates fines and sentences by stringing endless amounts of charges together. Most notably, in the case of file-sharing charges. So basically, this talk will cover everything from pretrial, to the courtroom, prison and probation.”
On probation since February 2012, Watt is currently prohibited from using a non-Windows operating system on his government-monitored laptop. He’s also banned from using an iPhone or Android device. “I’m allowed to use a BlackBerry, but they’ve told me ‘there’s just too much you can do on an iPhone,’” he said.
In spite of the severity of his punishment, Watt never benefited financially from his involvement with Gonzalez. While in prison, he also turned down a movie studio offer to option his life story for the big screen. Eric Eisner has since optioned the rights to Rolling Stone’s story on the group, “Hackers Gone Wild: The Fast Times and Hard Fall of the Green Hat Gang.”
Watt remains an opponent of computer vulnerability disclosure and the commercialization of exploit development. He has since developed a passion for discussing matters such as free speech, as well as prosecutorial and investigative tactics as they apply to cybercrime cases.
Stephen Watt’s keynote isn’t the only noteworthy talk at this year’s Infiltrate. Here is a preliminary list of other talks at this year’s conference:
Chris Eagle – Keynote Speaker
Esteban Guillardoy - Jurassic Jar: Their World. Our Rules.
Miguel Turner - Exfiltrate: Efficient Blind SQLi
Matias Soler - The Chameleon: A Cellphone-Based USB Impersonator
Alberto Garcia - Enterprise Malware, There Is Always a Way. (DNS/DNSSEC)
Sergey Gordeychik - Siemens Under the X-Ray
Ling Chuan Lee and Lee Yee Chan - TTF Font Fuzzing and Vulnerability
S.A. Ridley and Stephen Lawler - Advanced Exploitation Of Mobile/Embedded De-vices: The ARM Microprocessor
Josh Thomas - NAND-Xplore -> Bad Blocks = Well Hidden
The conference will also include advanced training classes for professionals:
Unethical Hacking - Immunity’s most popular class focuses on teaching the fundamentals of Windows x86 exploitation by having students write exploits. This class attempts to teach a strategic approach to attack and penetration that goes beyond “penetration testing” to model how a real attacker targets your company. It’s recommended students be familiar with x86 assembler, some reverse engineering, debugging and Windows memory management.
Immunity Master Class - Fun with modern exploit development and vulnerability discovery techniques. Intermediate to advanced exploit development skills are recommended for students wishing to take the Master class.
Web Hacking - A favorite among developers as well as infosec professionals, this class focuses on understanding common web hacking techniques by having students exploit vulnerable systems.
ABOUT INFILTRATE
Now in it’s third year, Infiltrate (http://www.infiltratecon.com) is an exclusive offensive security conference for the infosec community, focused on advanced hacks, exploits and all things offensive. Organized by Dave Aitel and Immunity Inc., the conference is April 11-12, 2013 at the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach. Past speakers at Infiltrate include Charlie Miller, Andrew Cushman, Thomas Lim, Dan Rosenberg, Cesar Cerrudo and Jon Oberheide.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/1/prweb10349836.htm
Thursday, January 24, 2013
South Africa: Mobile Ubuntu - a Unix Powered Smartphone
Mark Shuttleworth, South African IT millionaire and Open Source Champion recently announced and demonstrated the planned release of the Linux-based Ubuntu operating system (OS) for smartphones. The Canonical boss revealed that future devices will not only run the new mobile OS, but will also boot the desktop variant of Ubuntu when docked to a keyboard, mouse and monitor. This would mean that you will literally be able to use your phone to power your PC.
It is planned that you would be able to install Ubuntu on most Android devices, and although it is a totally new OS (not just an Android skin), because it is built on Linux in the same way that Android is, there should be no problem installing it on modern Android phones.
Visually the phone interface is very clean and makes no use of permanent buttons, instead the system is totally gesture-based and different functions are triggered by swiping the phone from sides or top or bottom, similar to Windows 8. From an overall design perspective, Ubuntu looks to offer a pretty dynamic home screen experience that's quite a bit different to Windows Phone, Android, or iOS. It's focused more around recently used content - like contacts you've spoken to recently, music you've added, and apps you've used - rather than a static grid of content.
During his keynote address earlier this year, Shuttleworth continually referred to 'emerging' markets as the battleground on which an Ubuntu Phone would fight it out for impact... "It's this sector, the low-end, that the battle for the hearts, minds and hands of the less tech-savvy will take place."
However, while Canonical has plenty of experience hosting cloud-based services and app stores (a major hurdle for new entrants to the mobile space), it doesn't have a great track record in bringing physical products to market that use its software. Hopefully, application developers will take the lead in ensuring a stream of new and exciting applications.
So, although a low-cost platform has appeal for handset manufacturers, there's hardly a shortage of them to choose from right now, with Firefox OS and Tizen being the most recent examples of what can be achieved by fully embracing and supporting HTML5.
An Android alternative
Carolina Milanesi, mobile analyst at Gartner, feels that there is place in the marketplace for an alternative platform to Android.
It is planned that you would be able to install Ubuntu on most Android devices, and although it is a totally new OS (not just an Android skin), because it is built on Linux in the same way that Android is, there should be no problem installing it on modern Android phones.
Visually the phone interface is very clean and makes no use of permanent buttons, instead the system is totally gesture-based and different functions are triggered by swiping the phone from sides or top or bottom, similar to Windows 8. From an overall design perspective, Ubuntu looks to offer a pretty dynamic home screen experience that's quite a bit different to Windows Phone, Android, or iOS. It's focused more around recently used content - like contacts you've spoken to recently, music you've added, and apps you've used - rather than a static grid of content.
During his keynote address earlier this year, Shuttleworth continually referred to 'emerging' markets as the battleground on which an Ubuntu Phone would fight it out for impact... "It's this sector, the low-end, that the battle for the hearts, minds and hands of the less tech-savvy will take place."
However, while Canonical has plenty of experience hosting cloud-based services and app stores (a major hurdle for new entrants to the mobile space), it doesn't have a great track record in bringing physical products to market that use its software. Hopefully, application developers will take the lead in ensuring a stream of new and exciting applications.
So, although a low-cost platform has appeal for handset manufacturers, there's hardly a shortage of them to choose from right now, with Firefox OS and Tizen being the most recent examples of what can be achieved by fully embracing and supporting HTML5.
An Android alternative
Carolina Milanesi, mobile analyst at Gartner, feels that there is place in the marketplace for an alternative platform to Android.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Sr. Unix Administrator (Indians only)
Saudi Networkers Services - SNS Group
Our client is looking for a Senior Unix Administrator having no less
than 10+ years experience, IBM P-Series preferably Indian nationals, a
6 month contract extensible based in Egypt.
Package is lucrative and availability should be within a month or so.
Package is lucrative and availability should be within a month or so.
Skills
Unix Administrator - 10+ years experience, IBM P-Series, clustering
experience, managing an environment of 80-100 LPARS, + AS/400 LPARS,
Performance and Management etc.
Company Profile
Saudi Networkers Services (SNS) is a Telecommunications, Oil &
Gas and IT Consultancy Services Provider, founded in 2001 and has
excelled ever since in providing the biggest multinational companies in
MENA regions with very high standards of quality service in the
recruitment field.
Today, SNS Group is one of the leading consultancy services providers with more than 1500 employees worldwide, ISO 9001:2008 certified company and is highly regarded.
Source http://jobs.emirates247.com/en/job/?xid=1918997
Today, SNS Group is one of the leading consultancy services providers with more than 1500 employees worldwide, ISO 9001:2008 certified company and is highly regarded.
Source http://jobs.emirates247.com/en/job/?xid=1918997
Monday, December 24, 2012
Migration from Unix to Linux and Cloud are key driving factors for our business”
Arun Kumar, General Manager, Red Hat India, talks to KTP
Radhika about their growing middleware business and the business
opportunities in open source Cloud.
You have made a few acquisitions in the recent past and tried to diversify business. Where do you stand now?
Till 2006, we were a single-product firm offering Red Hat Linux enterprise solution. After acquiring JBoss, open source application server in 2006, we got a whole set of middleware products. JBoss stands as the most popular middleware application available in market today. In 2008, we bought Qumranet, a software company offering desktop virtualisation kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) technology. In Virtualisation, KVM is a very important open standard-based choice for companies and enterprises. Last year, we acquired Gluster, which has Cloud storage and big data services. Recently, we took over FuseSource, a provider of open source integration and messaging from Progress Software Corporation and business process management (BPM) technology developed by Polymita Technologies. We have gone from a single-product solution provider from a broad portfolio to the middleware stack and to Cloud computing. We have been diversifying our portfolio for quite some time, working with the open source development community and through major acquisitions.
What are the key verticals driving growth for Red Hat?
Globally, government, telecom and the BFSI sectors have been the biggest adopters of open source solutions. In India too, the trend remains the same. The government is an integral part of our business in this market. Apart from the central government, many state governments are also adopting open source solutions. Indian CIOs are looking for cost effective and open infrastructure solutions, and Red Hat is committed to address these growing demands for open source solutions in Indian enterprises by ourselves and also through partners.
Migration is one of the key aspects of our business globally and in India. Many companies, who are still working with Unix-based servers and infrastructure, are now migrating to the Linux platform. We see a big opportunity in this shift from legacy infrastructure to commodity architecture. Red Hat is working with those customers to help them migrate to a commodity architecture. While enabling migration, we will also help them virtualise. Once they virtualise, it will be easy for them to move to Cloud. In India, there is also a much bigger opportunity in greenfield infrastructure especially in the public sector.
You have made a few acquisitions in the recent past and tried to diversify business. Where do you stand now?
Till 2006, we were a single-product firm offering Red Hat Linux enterprise solution. After acquiring JBoss, open source application server in 2006, we got a whole set of middleware products. JBoss stands as the most popular middleware application available in market today. In 2008, we bought Qumranet, a software company offering desktop virtualisation kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) technology. In Virtualisation, KVM is a very important open standard-based choice for companies and enterprises. Last year, we acquired Gluster, which has Cloud storage and big data services. Recently, we took over FuseSource, a provider of open source integration and messaging from Progress Software Corporation and business process management (BPM) technology developed by Polymita Technologies. We have gone from a single-product solution provider from a broad portfolio to the middleware stack and to Cloud computing. We have been diversifying our portfolio for quite some time, working with the open source development community and through major acquisitions.
What are the key verticals driving growth for Red Hat?
Globally, government, telecom and the BFSI sectors have been the biggest adopters of open source solutions. In India too, the trend remains the same. The government is an integral part of our business in this market. Apart from the central government, many state governments are also adopting open source solutions. Indian CIOs are looking for cost effective and open infrastructure solutions, and Red Hat is committed to address these growing demands for open source solutions in Indian enterprises by ourselves and also through partners.
Migration is one of the key aspects of our business globally and in India. Many companies, who are still working with Unix-based servers and infrastructure, are now migrating to the Linux platform. We see a big opportunity in this shift from legacy infrastructure to commodity architecture. Red Hat is working with those customers to help them migrate to a commodity architecture. While enabling migration, we will also help them virtualise. Once they virtualise, it will be easy for them to move to Cloud. In India, there is also a much bigger opportunity in greenfield infrastructure especially in the public sector.
How is your middleware business catching up?
After the Linux stack and the infrastructure stack, the middleware is what most customers are evaluating more seriously from an open source perspective. The main reason for this is the cost factor. Open source middleware can be made available at the fraction of cost than the proprietary stack. Globally, many customers, who have deployed proprietary stacks have shifted to JBoss. We are seeing that trend in India as well. Red Hat, as an open source company is bound to help customers in this migration. We explain to them the architecture, migration plans, risks in migration and so on. In the middleware space, we have to take maximum care since it actually touches business applications.
Further, integration remains a key driver for the adoption of middleware technology. Rising mobile phone connectivity, Cloud and hybrid infrastructure and the explosion in data are bringing in new requirements for integration technology. This is exerting huge pressure on existing systems. Today, the opportunity for integration middleware software is evolving from traditional solutions that focus on foundational integration capabilities to higher-level integration capabilities. These include business rules management and BPM. Red Hat has already provided a foundational integration offering with JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform as well as a business rules management offering via JBoss Enterprise BRMS. Complementing these, existing products with additional technologies and talent like SOA and BPM acquired from FuseSource and Polymita will help us enhance position in the enterprise middleware marketplace.
CIOs are now looking forward to Cloud for enhancing efficiencies. What are Red Hat's offerings in this space?
Cloud is going to be universal. We have very specific cases where Cloud has helped CIOs. Cloud promises commodity architecture, interoperability, IT-on-demand and is highly scalable. These factors are there with open source architecture as well. Open source provides high interoperability since it publishes the source code. Linux also has a highly scalable architecture, and provides interoperability. We work on a subscription-based model. Open source Cloud software is widely used today on commodity servers, so it is a natural evolution to leverage open source for Cloud computing on commodity storage.
Over the past 12 months, we announced two solutions on Cloud. One is CloudForms, which is an open hybrid Cloud-management framework. Another is OpenShift, a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). We also have introduced a port for OpenStack for which the preview is on. The Cloud world is evolving everyday. In Open source Cloud, it is all about where the developers are. We are seeing a huge rush in the developing community. We are actually monitoring all the activities in there. We are actively involved in this space and it is one of our focus areas for the next three years.
After the Linux stack and the infrastructure stack, the middleware is what most customers are evaluating more seriously from an open source perspective. The main reason for this is the cost factor. Open source middleware can be made available at the fraction of cost than the proprietary stack. Globally, many customers, who have deployed proprietary stacks have shifted to JBoss. We are seeing that trend in India as well. Red Hat, as an open source company is bound to help customers in this migration. We explain to them the architecture, migration plans, risks in migration and so on. In the middleware space, we have to take maximum care since it actually touches business applications.
Further, integration remains a key driver for the adoption of middleware technology. Rising mobile phone connectivity, Cloud and hybrid infrastructure and the explosion in data are bringing in new requirements for integration technology. This is exerting huge pressure on existing systems. Today, the opportunity for integration middleware software is evolving from traditional solutions that focus on foundational integration capabilities to higher-level integration capabilities. These include business rules management and BPM. Red Hat has already provided a foundational integration offering with JBoss Enterprise SOA Platform as well as a business rules management offering via JBoss Enterprise BRMS. Complementing these, existing products with additional technologies and talent like SOA and BPM acquired from FuseSource and Polymita will help us enhance position in the enterprise middleware marketplace.
CIOs are now looking forward to Cloud for enhancing efficiencies. What are Red Hat's offerings in this space?
Cloud is going to be universal. We have very specific cases where Cloud has helped CIOs. Cloud promises commodity architecture, interoperability, IT-on-demand and is highly scalable. These factors are there with open source architecture as well. Open source provides high interoperability since it publishes the source code. Linux also has a highly scalable architecture, and provides interoperability. We work on a subscription-based model. Open source Cloud software is widely used today on commodity servers, so it is a natural evolution to leverage open source for Cloud computing on commodity storage.
Over the past 12 months, we announced two solutions on Cloud. One is CloudForms, which is an open hybrid Cloud-management framework. Another is OpenShift, a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). We also have introduced a port for OpenStack for which the preview is on. The Cloud world is evolving everyday. In Open source Cloud, it is all about where the developers are. We are seeing a huge rush in the developing community. We are actually monitoring all the activities in there. We are actively involved in this space and it is one of our focus areas for the next three years.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Windows/Linux/UNIX Team Lead
Job ID GBS-0524431
Job type Full-time Regular
Work country USA
Posted 13-Dec-2012
Work city San Jose,CA
Job area Consulting & Services
Travel No travel
Job category IT Specialist
Business unit ConServ
Job role Infrastructure Specialist
Job role skillset AIX/UNIX
Commissionable/Sales-Incentive jobs only No
Job description
IBM is leading the way to a whole new generation of intelligent systems and technologies, more powerful and accessible than ever before. Be a part of our progress as an Infrastructure Architect.
The Team Lead will be responsible for providing direction for a technical team of server (Windows, Linux, and Unix) and VMWare specialists.. This position requires a good fundamental overall understanding of a Windows Server environment, Linux (Red Hat), VMWare, and Linux, Unix infrastructure. It does not require current hands on experience in these areas, but sufficient knowledge to direct with understanding. This person will be the principal person in the development of a overarching virtualized architecture consisting of Windows, Linux, Unix, SAN, virtual infrastructures, and network infrastructure components.
Partner with some of the best minds in the industry, and apply your technical know-how to manage and operate IT hardware, software, communications and/or application solutions. You'll manage the resources required to plan, develop, deliver and support expertly engineered IT services and products that meet worldwide clients' needs.
The challenges don't stop there. You'll be responsible for preparing for new or changed services, management of the change process and maintenance of regulatory, legal and professional standards. You'll also manage the performance of systems and services, as well as brought-in services, including public networks, virtual private networks and outsourced services.
Deliverables include service-level reporting, risk and contingency planning.
Virtual Architectural development is a key focus area for this position. Additionally, providing support direction for persons who are supporting the individual component areas (Window, Unix, Linux) .Support-related responsibilities include sizing, troubleshooting and critical customer situations. In this position you will primarily apply your technical skills in an internal or external customer billable services implementation environment.
Come develop some of the most exciting technologies and product innovations in the world today. Join us.
Interested in learning more about IBM? Check out the IBM Global Careers newsletter.
The work location for this position is Seaside, CA.
Required
Job type Full-time Regular
Work country USA
Posted 13-Dec-2012
Work city San Jose,CA
Job area Consulting & Services
Travel No travel
Job category IT Specialist
Business unit ConServ
Job role Infrastructure Specialist
Job role skillset AIX/UNIX
Commissionable/Sales-Incentive jobs only No
Job description
IBM is leading the way to a whole new generation of intelligent systems and technologies, more powerful and accessible than ever before. Be a part of our progress as an Infrastructure Architect.
The Team Lead will be responsible for providing direction for a technical team of server (Windows, Linux, and Unix) and VMWare specialists.. This position requires a good fundamental overall understanding of a Windows Server environment, Linux (Red Hat), VMWare, and Linux, Unix infrastructure. It does not require current hands on experience in these areas, but sufficient knowledge to direct with understanding. This person will be the principal person in the development of a overarching virtualized architecture consisting of Windows, Linux, Unix, SAN, virtual infrastructures, and network infrastructure components.
Partner with some of the best minds in the industry, and apply your technical know-how to manage and operate IT hardware, software, communications and/or application solutions. You'll manage the resources required to plan, develop, deliver and support expertly engineered IT services and products that meet worldwide clients' needs.
The challenges don't stop there. You'll be responsible for preparing for new or changed services, management of the change process and maintenance of regulatory, legal and professional standards. You'll also manage the performance of systems and services, as well as brought-in services, including public networks, virtual private networks and outsourced services.
Deliverables include service-level reporting, risk and contingency planning.
Virtual Architectural development is a key focus area for this position. Additionally, providing support direction for persons who are supporting the individual component areas (Window, Unix, Linux) .Support-related responsibilities include sizing, troubleshooting and critical customer situations. In this position you will primarily apply your technical skills in an internal or external customer billable services implementation environment.
Come develop some of the most exciting technologies and product innovations in the world today. Join us.
Interested in learning more about IBM? Check out the IBM Global Careers newsletter.
The work location for this position is Seaside, CA.
Required
- High School Diploma/GED
- At least 2 years experience in LINUX or UNIX Systems Administration and Maintenance.
- U.S. citizenship required
- English: Basic knowledge
Preferred
- Bachelor's Degree
- At least 4 years experience in LINUX or UNIX Systems Administration and Maintenance.
- At least 1 year experience in directing a team of infrastructure specialists
- Security clearance of Secret - Active
- Certified in Security +
- English : Intermediate
Additional information
To be an official applicant to IBM, you must submit a resume and online application. Resumes submitted remain active for six months.
To ALL recruitment agencies: IBM only accepts resumes from agencies on our Approved Agency List. Please do not forward resumes to our applicant tracking system, IBM employees, or send to any IBM company location. IBM is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
IBM is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.
Monday, December 3, 2012
El Reg Movember lads sprout mighty Unix beards for cancer charity alert print comment Your LAST CHANCE to donate cash to razor-free fundraiser
What is it about facial hair and computing? From the greats of
SmallTalk and C++ to Java and Ruby, beards and moustaches are not a rare
sight in the world of computer science.
James Gosling, Barjne Stroustrup, Alan Kay and Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto have expressed their genius not just through the curly braces in the machine but also the curly wurlies on their chins.
From data centers to dev teams, from the Ruby hipsters to Unix admins, top-lip warmers and jowl scratchers are more than well represented.
Inspired by these legends, El Reg staffers have been sending their top lips into the world unshaved for the whole of November in the name of a good cause: Movember.
The Reg Movemberists have been growing their tashes to raise money for the global fight against testicular and prostrate cancer. One in nine UK men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to the Movember movement.
So far our Movemberists have raised £392. Last year, Mo Bros and Mo
Sisters across the world raised £79.3m; this year we’re all hoping for
more.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Setting limits with ulimit
Administering Unix servers can be a challenge, especially when the
systems you manage are heavily used and performance problems reduce
availability. Fortunately, you can put limits on certain resources to
help ensure that the most important processes on your servers can keep
running and competing processes don't consume far more resources than is
good for the overall system. The ulimit command can keep disaster at bay, but you need to anticipate where limits will make sense and where they will cause problems.
It may not happen all that often, but a single user who starts too
many processes can make a system unusable for everyone else. A fork
bomb -- a denial of service attack in which a process continually
replicates itself until available resources are depleted -- is a worst
case of this. However, even friendly users can use more resources than
is good for a system -- often without intending to. At the same time,
legitimate processes can sometimes fail when they are run against limits
that are designed for average users. In this case, you need to make
sure that these processes get beefed up allocations of system resources
that will allow them to run properly without making the same resources
available for everyone.
To see the limits associate with your login, use the command ulimit
-a. If you're using a regular user account, you will likely see
something like this:
$ ulimit -a core file size (blocks, -c) 0 data seg size (kbytes, -d) unlimited scheduling priority (-e) 0 file size (blocks, -f) unlimited pending signals (-i) 32767 max locked memory (kbytes, -l) 32 max memory size (kbytes, -m) unlimited open files (-n) 1024 pipe size (512 bytes, -p) 8 POSIX message queues (bytes, -q) 819200 real-time priority (-r) 0 stack size (kbytes, -s) 10240 cpu time (seconds, -t) unlimited max user processes (-u) 50 virtual memory (kbytes, -v) unlimited file locks (-x) unlimited
One thing you might notice right off the bat is that you can't create
core dumps -- because your max core file size is 0. Yes, that means
nothing, no data, no core dump. If a process that you are running
aborts, no core file is going to be dropped into your home
directory. As long as the core file size is set to zero, core dumps are
not allowed.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Learning Unix for OS X Mountain Lion
This was a perfect size book for what I needed. What I needed was a book
that would get me back up to speed quickly on UNIX. I have not used
UNIX since the late 80's, and I have not used Mac since the early 90's.
The book starts off with a nice introduction to you Unix and why you would want to use it. The second chapter using the Terminal, is a nice introduction to Terminal's capabilities and shows you how to customization.
After the first two chapters the book starts digging into the details of what you can do with Unix on the Mac. I have listed the chapters below.
1. Why Use Unix?
2. Using the Terminal
3. Exploring the Filesystem
4. File Management
5. Finding Files and Information
6. Redirecting I/O
7. Multitasking
8. Taking Unix Online
9. Of Windows and X11
10. Where to Go from Here
As you can see from the chapter names the author covers some of the most important topics you need to know with a chapter dedicate to each.
The only chapter that is not completely clear on what it covers is Taking Unix Online. That chapter digs into remote login, web access, and FTP.
Although the book talks about using the code samples that come with the book, I could not find any online. That did not take anything away from the book. The samples are short enough to be able to type them yourself. I found that I wanted to read this book with my Mac turned on to try the different samples that the author covered.
The author has a great writing style that makes the book an easy read. I have some other UNIX books where that is not true.
Overall I think this is a great book for getting up to speed with UNIX quickly. This book along with my Macintosh Terminal Pocket Guide
have covered everything that I had to look up to date.
Source http://www.sys-con.com/node/2431885
The book starts off with a nice introduction to you Unix and why you would want to use it. The second chapter using the Terminal, is a nice introduction to Terminal's capabilities and shows you how to customization.
After the first two chapters the book starts digging into the details of what you can do with Unix on the Mac. I have listed the chapters below.
1. Why Use Unix?
2. Using the Terminal
3. Exploring the Filesystem
4. File Management
5. Finding Files and Information
6. Redirecting I/O
7. Multitasking
8. Taking Unix Online
9. Of Windows and X11
10. Where to Go from Here
As you can see from the chapter names the author covers some of the most important topics you need to know with a chapter dedicate to each.
The only chapter that is not completely clear on what it covers is Taking Unix Online. That chapter digs into remote login, web access, and FTP.
Although the book talks about using the code samples that come with the book, I could not find any online. That did not take anything away from the book. The samples are short enough to be able to type them yourself. I found that I wanted to read this book with my Mac turned on to try the different samples that the author covered.
The author has a great writing style that makes the book an easy read. I have some other UNIX books where that is not true.
Overall I think this is a great book for getting up to speed with UNIX quickly. This book along with my Macintosh Terminal Pocket Guide
have covered everything that I had to look up to date.Source http://www.sys-con.com/node/2431885
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The true legal vulnerability of Linux
A recent focus on the problem of software patents raises the question: could Linux be sued off the face of the Earth?
The not-so-random thought came up this weekend when I read the New York Time's special report, "The Patent, Used as Sword."
This article, which I highly recommend you read when you get a chance,
comprehensively examines the broad landscape of software patents without
really coming down too hard on one side or the other. It does, I should
add, leave you with the sense that something is wonky with this whole
idea that billions can be spent and companies can go down just because
one side's lawyers are quicker on the draw than others.
If I were the uncharitable type, I would say that this is also the
article that shows where The Times finally gets a clue, but that's not
really the case. The staff at the Grey Lady knows full well what's going
on in the land of software patents, having covered it for quite some
time. But reading the piece, I could now help but feel a little sense of
relief that the Times was finally giving the topic the level of detail
that a lot of us in the tech media have been hollering about for years.
I hope that the increased attention on
the issue helps bring some pressure on the patent system to bring some
real reform. But then I also hope I'll win the lottery, so there's that.
Reading some of the ugly anecdotes of companies going down, it was
very hard not to imagine someone pulling the trigger like that on a
Linux company. Which led to the central question of this blog: why
hasn't someone fired the litigious missiles at Linux yet, and is it just
a matter of time before Linux gets big enough that someone will make
the effort?
Well, for one, companies have come at Linux already, and thus far
their efforts have been either blocked in court or elegantly countered.
The first, and most infamous major example of this was, of course,
The SCO Group's clumsy attempt to try to muscle Linux users into a
licensing program based on the (wrong) premise that they (a) owned the
rights to Unix and (b) Linux infringed on Unix and therefore Linux users
owed SCO some coin. (For further background, see Groklaw. Pretty much all of it through 2010.)
Now, as we all know, in 2003 SCO went after some big-pocketed
customers (AutoZone and DaimlerChrysler) and the richest Linux player at
the time, IBM. This would be the first real case that all of us at the
time were waiting for and dreading: Linux now had some money behind it,
and now someone wanted to get their share.
But then things went sideways for SCO, and the real test of the case,
that Linux allegedly infringed on Unix, never got a strong test in
court. Novell started making noises that SCO did not have the right to
sue on the basis of the Unix copyrights because, lo and behold, Novell
still owned those rights. SCO immediately sued Novell to shut them up
and maintain that it owned Unix… and lost.
Crash, boom, bye bye SCO.
There have been others, mostly directed at Red Hat, which has
established that there's gold in them thar hills, and therefore the
inevitable lawyers chasing after what they can get. Red Hat successfully
fended off Acacia-owned IP Innovations in a 2010 East Texas jury trial
(I know, go figure!), invalidating three of IP Innovations' patents.
But later that same year, Red Hat would settle with another Acacia-owned company, Software Tree LLC, for an undisclosed amount.
Early in 2010, Red Hat was dragged into Canadian company
JuxtaComm-Texas Software LLC's infringement claims for a patent (US
Patent No. 6,195,662) covering the manipulation and exchange of data
between computer systems, along with companies like British Air. A quick
check of Pacer reveals that while that case in the Eastern Texas
district court ended just last month, Red Hat seems to have settled
again on August 22, 2011.
That's too bad, because in July of this year one of the other
remaining defendants in the case, Pervasive Software, blew a hole in two
claims within '662 and rendered the patent invalid. On September 19,
JuxtaComm would end up being ordered to pay the remaining defendants'
court costs.
Red Hat doesn't always settle… in another case it's defending itself
against from Twin Peaks Software, Red Hat took the unique step in
defending itself from a patent infringement claim by leveling a
counterclaim that Twin Peaks is in copyright violation on mount, the
file management app that is licensed under the GPLv2. Not only is Red
Hat seeking GPL compliance, it's also going after Twin Peaks for damages
and is seeking an injunction on Twin Peaks' own product sales.
On one level, using the GPL as a weapon is pretty funny,
but in seriousness it really only work against companies that are
actually practicing entities, not the non-practicing entities
colloquially known as patent trolls.
It should not be taken away from this article that I'm picking on Red
Hat. But as the most visible Linux player these days that's making some
real money, Red Hat will no doubt find itself embroiled in other
lawsuits.
But what about the Big One? The mother of all lawsuits destined to Destroy All That Is Penguin?
Many in the Linux community believe that, as a proxy for Microsoft,
that SCO case was just that. Rather than the death through a thousand
cuts approach all of these individual trolling cases seem to be taking,
the SCO case was the biggest concerted effort against Linux that would
have (if they could have pulled it off) potentially put Linux under the
boot of a decidedly unfriendly company. But the case was bungled so
badly, if there was a conspiracy, then I have little doubt that the
actors in such a cadre were left feeling very burned by the experience.
Does that mean the Big One will never come? No one can predict for
sure, but I have a gut feeling that no, it won't really happen. While
there will always be the odd troll, I don't think it's in the interest
of a major competitor to try a take down of Linux in the courtroom.
Why not? Simply because Linux is so pervasive now. Suppose
patentgeddon did somehow happen, and Linux were forced to change
drastically in order to comply? Do you know how many core
infrastructures would be blown up were that to happen? And where would
these IT departments go? To Microsoft? To Oracle? If one of these
companies happened to be the Plaintiff, then I think not. More likely
Linux customers would be so angry at having to give up or overhaul their
Linux machines, they would start to resent said Plaintiff's products
with a vengeance.
And then there's the simple reason of: why bother? Why would
Microsoft try to destroy Linux when it can simply co-opt the technology
and use it within its own products as needed? In fact, that's exactly
what the company is doing, and is actually becoming a larger player in
the Linux kernel space.
Free software, whether as in freedom or as in beer, just makes it less productive to mount a shock and awe campaign.
That's not to say Microsoft and other players won't keep trying to
whittle away at Linux through various licensing campaigns and veiled
threats. This is a war of slow attrition and the ultimately the goal
will not be the destruction of Linux, but the control.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Army releases $5B ITES hardware RFP
The Army has released the solicitation for its $5 billion Information Technology Enterprise Solutions 3- Hardware contract.
Proposals for the five-year contract are due Oct. 22.
The Army will use the contract, known as ITES-3H, to buy a variety of IT equipment to support the Army’s IT infrastructure. The hardware has to be compatible with the Army’s network operations and net-centric operations.
The equipment to be purchased will fall into nine broad categories, such as Unix and non-Unix services; workstations, desktops and thin clients; storage systems; networking equipment; video equipment; and cable, connectors and accessories.
The contract will have multiple winners, who will compete with each other for task orders. ITES-3H has a three-year base and two one-year options.
ITES-3H replaces ITES-2H, which is held by CDW, Iron Bow Technologies, Dell Inc., GTSI Corp., IBM Corp. and World Wide Technology.
According to Deltek, $4.1 billion in task orders have been awarded under the contract over the last five years. Iron Bow and World Wide have captured the most business, each taking in over $1 billion in awards. IBM had the lowest amount with $136.6 million in business.
Source http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/09/25/ites-3h-solicitation-released.aspx
Proposals for the five-year contract are due Oct. 22.
The Army will use the contract, known as ITES-3H, to buy a variety of IT equipment to support the Army’s IT infrastructure. The hardware has to be compatible with the Army’s network operations and net-centric operations.
The equipment to be purchased will fall into nine broad categories, such as Unix and non-Unix services; workstations, desktops and thin clients; storage systems; networking equipment; video equipment; and cable, connectors and accessories.
The contract will have multiple winners, who will compete with each other for task orders. ITES-3H has a three-year base and two one-year options.
ITES-3H replaces ITES-2H, which is held by CDW, Iron Bow Technologies, Dell Inc., GTSI Corp., IBM Corp. and World Wide Technology.
According to Deltek, $4.1 billion in task orders have been awarded under the contract over the last five years. Iron Bow and World Wide have captured the most business, each taking in over $1 billion in awards. IBM had the lowest amount with $136.6 million in business.
Source http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2012/09/25/ites-3h-solicitation-released.aspx
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Enterprise Networking: Centrify Brings Centralized User Management to Heterogeneous Networks
Sold in suite form, Centrify Suite 2012 Enterprise
Edition brings several elements together to create a user and system
management suite that leverages Active Directory while incorporating
Linux/Unix/Macintosh systems into the mix. Centrify's centralized user
management helps tame the new security paradigm created by multidevice
user access scenarios to servers, applications and endpoint systems in
the cloud and on-premises. The product's centralized management screen
makes it easy to define roles, groups, zones and other container-level
directory elements, while incorporating a single sign-on methodology for
end users. With Centrify
Suite 2012 Enterprise Edition, administrators can remotely deploy
software, as well as enable advance auditing capabilities, transparently
to users of Windows, Linux, Unix and Macintosh systems and servers.
Unlike meta-directory synchronization tools, Centrify brings direct
integration capabilities, allowing just a single directory to hold all
account data, eliminating the need for cross directory synchronization.
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