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Swimmer

Member Since 05 Dec 2003
Offline Last Active Jul 09 2011 09:41 AM
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Posts I've Made

In Topic: Build a server now where do you send it to get it on the internet?

25 December 2009 - 11:10 PM

The issues is not always the hardware.  Depending on where you decide to co-located there can be fees like no other.   If you server breaks, the co-location company is not going to touch it.  There may be a fee to enter the data center on off hours. You are responsible for the hardware, security, and maintenance on your server.   Unless you are going to put 5 or 6 racks in for a small business it is way easier to buy a dedicated server and most likely cheaper in the long run.

In Topic: router purchase help

09 December 2008 - 12:26 AM

I am a fan of Linksys equipment...  However, the newer stuff that they are putting out is pure garbage, wrt54g2.  If I were to buy one right now it would either be one of the dlink gaming routers or an old school Linksys WRT54g. 

I have been running ddwrt for quite some time now and all i can say is that it will blow any manufacturer's firmware out of the water.  It is that good!  The one place yiou might want to check would be a circuit city store near you.  I was at one shortly after Thanksgiving and the networking area was still fairly well stocked, only like a 10% discount. 

In Topic: Public wi-fi network - need to make it unavailable to use p2p-applications

02 December 2008 - 04:38 PM

Alright a few things... This is just about impossible to do, shutting down p2p apps.   The reason being that most of the applications that are being used today use encryption.  So any type of traffic recognition is not going to work.  If the users are fairly dumb.. you might get them off which is about 10% maybe.   Most of the bit torrent stuff is going to have encryption enabled to begin with.

The most logical solution would be to install something like pfSense or m0n0wall.  (most people know that I am a Smoothwall guy.. I will explain in a minute why I like these two products)  The reason for this is to gain a hold of you network.  Using the same network for both your business transactions and your guests is a really really really ( that is 3 reallys) bad idea.  You really should segment the wireless and the business components to prevent any worms, viruses, etc from your network.   

Now the fun stuff..  I don't know if your users have to accept a User Agreement prior to using the network...  The two products that I recommended will allow you to create a captive portal.  Meaning that prior to giving them access to the Internet they will have to accept your terms.   The other great thing is that if the users are using p2p you can queue their traffic, if it is identifiable. Kazaa and the other non bit torrent should be a little easier to block as they require a specific port to connect to the master servers.

So I would start with looking into those two products... My guess would be that m0n0wall is going to be the way to go due to the captive portal and traffic shaping flexibility.   If you have any more detail on your network that would also help.  You are really not going to be able to do anything with a consumer router.

In Topic: how can i test the speed of my broadband

02 December 2008 - 02:43 PM

Click the Download or Upload link at the top of the page?!?!

http://www.testmy.ne...d_speedtest.php

That will also take you there.

In Topic: MacBook Pro vs. XPS M1530

02 December 2008 - 02:08 PM

Quote

I won't go into why I think the OS is better, because some idiot will come in and say you can't even right click. And I really don't even feel like dealing with that.

You cant even right click...  :cool:

Personally I would go with the Mac..  There are a few reasons.. 

A) The build quality is going to be better..   Dont get me started..  If you are remotely interested in a machine that lasts longer than 2 years go with a business class laptop.  You might pay a bit more and most likely wont get the bells and whistles like you would on a consumer laptop.. but they are built to last!  The nice thing about Apple is that their consumer laptops are business class.. So you dont have to worry about that and you get some pretty nice hardware for the price.

B) Dont have to deal with the crap ware, at least not yet.

C)  Vista.. next

that is just IMO