All my peeps have a smartphone!

Today is a hot day here in Maine. When it gets hot, in the 90’s, things slow down quickly. You have to remember that our bodies, our minds and our buildings are programed with the goal of staying warm. Staying cool just isn’t a necessity, since we have four warm days out of the year.

Like I said, today is hot. So to help deal with the heat, I decided to write about a light subject, something easy to swallow. Today’s blog is about my peeps and their SmartPhones.

Jon has an iPhone. I nag Jon everyday for being an Apple lemming. My issue with Apple goes back a long time and is purely personal. I was a eight years old and I really wanted a Macintosh. My parents couldn’t afford a Mac, it was only for the better off people. This divide made me bitter.

As far as a phone goes, it is one of the best. The double touch screen is slick, over all he doesn’t seem to have any complaints. The software selection is good but regulated. If Apple doesn’t want you to build a program for their phone, then you can’t sell it. Again, I’m kinda bitter about this.

I have the AT&T Tilt. This is a Windows Mobile phone that has its good and bad points. The best thing about my phone is that it is NOT an iPhone.

Since the Windows Mobile environment stretches across multiple platforms and has been around for quite a while, the software selection is abundant. In general it is an open environment and has a vibrant community.

The screen isn’t as responsive as I would like and sometimes you can really mess up your phone if you install the wrong piece of untested software. Can you say “Bricked!”?

Dale just got a Google phone. Dale was one of those people who always said, “I don’t need a phone like yours. I only make calls.”  It has been a few days, and he has clearly changed his song. He is now a disciple of the goodness that is SmartPhone technology. Dale is installing apps, using GPS, texting and making calls. He is a happy camper.

So why am I telling you about my peeps and their different phones? Simply put, we  have three different camps of people, with three different ways of thinking.

You have your iPhone people, who want their provider to make sure every app works on your phone, protects you from any bad application and distributes their apps via one common provider. You get a good, safe and friendly phone.

You have the Windows Mobile camp, who believe that any app, no matter how bad or untested it is, should be available. They want choice, multiple phones, multiple options and freedom. The Windows Mobile world has its ups and downs. If you are not careful, you can get more then you bargained for.

The GPhone has a large community. Their software is built on an open source environment. They are safe, regulated by the users, tested by the users and over all crunchy.

Even though all of these phones are different, they still can easily communicate with each other. Maybe our politicians should learn a lesson from the ups and downs of the SmartPhone market? Maybe they could learn to communicate with each other in one common protocol and have the luxury of error checking?

What a wonderful world we live in? I wonder what technology my daughter will use when she is my age?

- JimmyD

Import your Google Notebook data into EverNote

I was a big fan of Google Notebook, until they discontinued the service. I know, you can still use all of it’s wonderful features but our relationship just isn’t the same.

I had looked at EverNotes note taking application before but for some reason I didn’t like it. Now things are different!

I have a Windows Mobile phone so the deciding factor in any note taking application is how well it integrates into my phone. As a side note, they have an app for quite of few mobile devices like the iPhone.   EverNote mobile allows you to take typed, handwritten, voice and picture notes with its simple interface.  Best of all it automatically sync the notes to your desktop and your EverNote account (which is free).

I hate changing applications and the one big issue that I had with EverNotes was loosing my old Google Notes. I spent a long time creating those notes. In some ways I used Google Notebook as an enhanced bookmark manager.

Luckily, after a little research,  I found out that you can import your all of your Google Notebook entries into your EverNote account via the Google ATOM format . Here are the steps

1. Log into your Google Notebook account and click on the “Manage Notebooks”

2. Under the notebook that you want to export, click the “Export” link. Make sure to export it as an ATOM file. Save it in an easy to find location.

3. Log into your EverNote account and then go to the EverNote Import Page.

The import page has easy to follow instructions. If that isn’t enough for you they even have a video tutorial for you.  To import all of your notebooks just repeat the above steps. You can even use the ATOM files as a backup if you want.

I think that EverNote agrees with my excitement over their Google Notebook import function, they wrote a blog about it.

Ravica's Sensor Controlled Relay – The Rosetta Stone?

A few weeks ago I talked about using the sensor controlled relay to turn on lights once an alarm had been triggered. In this blog I wanted to give another example of how versatile these units can be.

Solutions . . .

A great example is the solution that I found for a local amusement park. One of their outdoor venues was having an issue with their digital photography equipment overheating. It wasn’t economical to add air condition to the unit, so they needed to find a way to turn on multiple overhead fans automatically.

The management of this unit fell under the IT department, and the admin wanted to remotely monitor the data from his office (or any other portable device). The end solution was to monitor multiple environmental variables with the Ravica Sensor Probe and use the Sensor Controlled Relay to switch on the fan when the room temperature rises beyond the threshold level.

Since the sensor control unit has a user friendly web interface and an autosense feature, setting up the Sensor Controlled Relay is easy. The Sensor Controlled Relay can also be controlled via external computers, using the included SNMP command line utilities either interactively or programmatically.

From the unit itself, you can monitor the status of the Sensor Controlled Relay by four LEDs on the board. You can also monitor the unit remotely by using SNMP traps or the web interface, as well as e-mail and SMS alerts.

Implementation . . .

“The Sensor Controlled Relay provides 1 high-power SPDT 5V relay, with the maximum load up to 15A at 220 VAC. It includes Metal Oxide Varistors (MOVs) and Snubber circuits to protect the open contacts of the relays from high voltage spikes or noise transients. It monitors the power and load, and accepts a control signal, which is sent from the SensorProbe.“

We outsourced a local contractor to do the electrical work and the end result was better then we expected. Not only did we eliminate the equipment from overheating, but we are also able to trend the temp of the units over a given amount of time. This gave the admin a better picture of demand and heat generation.

Another thing to remember is the inlaid protection of this sensor. The Sensor Controlled Relay, it has a built in 16Amp circuit breaker and a 15Amp fuse (380 VAC, 125 VDC) giving it double protection for the external devices and possible damages by electrical fault. This assures protection for your sensor and your investment.

Conclusion . . .

As you can see, the Ravica Sensor Controlled Relay has many uses. It’s ability to control an array of analog devices makes it a versatile solution. It’s ability to monitor and protect itself make it a smart investment. That is why I recommend it every chance that I get.

- JimmyD

School uses Ravica sensorprobes to measure green energy

We just received a call from a community college in the Mid West. They wanted to purchase four AC Voltage Detectors to integrate into their solar and wind power project. Since I am big on alternative energy and the application of technology to measure it, I jumped on this call right away.

The energy project is a collaboration between the Engineering and Information Technology programs of the college and funded by a local community grant. The goal of the project was to help middle school students build two unique energy sources using the power, and in the end, collect data for reporting. Each energy segment needs to be monitored separately. The first segment was going to be wind and the second would be solar.

The solar side would consist of  two collectors and one battery storage unit. Each one of these collectors would have a sensorprobe (the storage unit would have a sensor probe and a digital voltmeter). This would allow the team to record how much energy the cells produced, at any given time. We would also be able to tell the combined energy sent to the storage unit and, at the same time, tell how much energy is in the storage unit.

The wind side would have a similar setup. Each turbine would have a sensor. This would tell us how much energy the turbine was producing. Adding the digital voltmeter to the main feed of the storage unit would tell us combined energy production. The AC Voltage Detector would tell us the state of the wind turbines at any time. What makes the wind side of the project different is that the turbine can produce energy any time.

In both of these cases,  the students would have to construct the power units from general industry parts. They couldn’t buy an off the self solution. One of the reasons they decided to go with the Ravica line of sensorprobes for data collection was due to the fact that the probes were totally independent of the energy production system. Setting alarms gives you the added feature of being able to monitor the entire system. This is what they needed to meet the needs of the project, not to mention it helped them come in under budget.

On the data side of things, the team would compile the data from each sensor and reference hourly data from gathered the NOAA weather data. They would then take all of this data and feed it to a community web portal. In the end, they would be able to see how much energy each unit was able to produce at any time. They would all be able to see how weather played in each of the individual units production, and if the entire system compensates for any loss per unit.

I am going to keep this project on my radar. It’s exciting to see these kids having fun and exploring alternitive forms of energy.

- JimmyD

The not so funny side of Network Management

Something odd happened today.

I was in a planning meeting with my manager and my AT&T Tilt started to vibrate. I find this very annoying. Of all things to happen during this super exciting meeting, this had to take the cake. Yes, I am being sarcastic and a bit over dramatic. The issue is still the same, I hate being annoyed.

The real point to this rant is to point out the subject of the alert. It was a SMS page from my Ravica tempature probe. It had been violated.

This issue raised multiple questions. The first, and most  important, would be how to politely excuse myself from the meeting. In general, this wouldn’t be a hard thing to do, but my manager was excited about the new data room expansion project. By excited, I mean elated, and by elated, I mean that he expected everyone to have the same level of passion or face the most harsh punishment executed on mere mortals.

Knowing that I could lose my admin privileges, I forged on. I told Jon that something is happening in the sever room and had to leave. He said “ok” and went on with his conversation.

Puzzled, I quickly went into the server room and found the issue. Brandon, our new, green intern had placed his super hot cup of coffee next to the temp sensor. He was in the process of cleaning up cables and listening to the Ramones on his headset.

The heat from his coffee cup quickly raised the temp around the sensor.

From this I have learned two things. The first is that you should never leave your interns unattended. They can cause way too much damage. The second is to not locate your temperature sensor where someone can obstruct it in any way.

Now I have to explain this to my boss. Wish me luck.

- JimmyD

Securing your data center with Ravica equipment

I started working with an interesting client today.

The company is a small hosting service provider with approximately 100 clients. What made this company different was that their clients would come on site quite often. Each client would has a key card; this identifies who is coming in and out of the server room. The problem is that the cards were being handed off to other employees. Since the company promised the utmost in security, this started to become a concern.

The goal of my client was to provide a video record of each entry.  To accomplish this, I suggested that we add security sensors to each door. This would tell us when each and every person went through the door. Next, we added multiple security cameras, to record who was in the server room. The dry contact sensors would also give us a good idea of when the person left. The next hurdle was the lights, since they are off most of the time.

We used the Sensor Controlled Relay to turn the lights on and off  in the room. This gave the security cameras more then enough light for recording. This was implemented via the alert from the trigger of the security sensor.

The Sensor Controlled Relay is easily controlled by any of Ravica’s extensive selection of sensors. The relay can provide automatic responses to sensor alerts. This made it easy to configure a scenario where the security sensor on the door was tripped and the lights were turned on.

In the end, the process worked perfectly. When a customer entered the server room, not only was their entry logged via the keypad, but they were also getting video record of that visit. We are currently working on providing a common interface between all of the data sources.

- JimmyD

Can I save the world one coffee cup at a time?

Now for something completely different . . . . .

I don’t know why but I got it in my head to reuse the Kcups in our office coffee machine. Don’t get me wrong the Keurig, single cup coffee maker is awesome. I have one at home, but I could never get over throwing the little cups away. Seemed a waste.

At home,  I have the reusable containers. This eliminates the need to use the prepackaged Kcups. After a quick Google search I found these little plastic lids that cover the Kcup, allowing you to reuse it. I figured that I could replicate that here in the office.

5 tips to protect your data center hardware

I work with network administrators everyday and I hear one common story. They are not buying servers. The IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker supports me on this. Server vendors are reporting that their business is off 24.5 percent from last year, falling to $9.9 billion in the first quarter of 2009.

They don’t have the budget or can’t get the budget to update their aging equipment. So, what can these admins do to extend the life of their equipment?

Just like an older automobile, maintenance and proper care of the equipment can easily extend your equipment’s life. Constant monitoring of your system inside and out can save you from loosing mission critical servers. Environmental monitors like the temperature and humidity, airflow, smoke and water sensors can be used to make sure that the environment that your systems operate in are the best they can be.

Now, I know what you are saying, “Jim’s just a salesman and wants you to buy something.” Although I might get excited about a product and preach its goodness, I am not a sales person . I might dream of being the star of a Shamtastic infomercial, but trust me, I’m not. What I do want you to know, is that there are some simple things that you can to to help save your hardware.

• Your server room is not a storage area! If it is, it really shouldn’t be. Extra stuff in the room can cause heat issues and possibly be a fire hazard. Keep the area clean and free of obstacles.
• Manage your cables properly. I had a boss who had a hang up on making sure the all cables were organized correctly. You guessed it, I didn’t think it was all that important. In hindsight, I was wrong. Keeping them organized is great for physical management, but more importantly, it makes it easier to manage airflow. Be it a cable tunnel or just pulling them together with a zip tie, making sure your servers get the correct ventilation is important.
• Have a physical maintenance window for your machines. It might bring you back to youthful A+ days, but making sure the servers are dust free  and cables are in the correct place can help immensely.
• Monitor the servers health with an SNMP Trending app. Most servers can give you CPU, Server Temp, Fan Info and other valuable information, via a simple SNMP walk. A SNMP trending application, like Denika,  will allow you to gather historical information on this data and alert on it.
• Monitor your environment.  As I mentioned before, monitoring the room temp, humidity and airflow will make your admin life a lot easier.  If you have some room in your budget, this might be the best way to spend it.

So there it is.  I guess the old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is correct. Even in today’s super digital world!

- Jimmy D

Todays piss off your wife moment . . .

OMG! My wife was IM’ing me this morning and then left.  It was an important budget conversation and I had questions. I called, called and called again. I really needed to speak to her.

She has the same phone that I have, At&T Tilt SmartPhone . It’s on all the time. There are more computer in my house then in most small offices. They are all connected to the internet. Why can’t I continue to talk to her?

So what did I do? I figured I would piss her off!

I recorded a small track of me saying “Where are you?”. I then emailed that track to my self. I then remoted  into my server and then over to her laptop.

I knew that she had been working on something since it was on and things were open. I then grabbed the file from my email, opened the player and set it to repeat. I also made sure that the volume was up.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my wife. I have the up most respect for her. She is beautiful and intelligent and yes, we do have a loving relationship. The issue is the everyone else seems to be able to get in contact with her but me! Very flustering.

She still hasn’t called or IM’ and more the likely I will have to sleep on the couch (again), but I do feel redeemed!

Free Wireshark training – Packet capture 101

I use Wireshark all the time. In general, I just scratch the surface by using  it to test whether or not NetFlow is coming into Scrutinizer.

Golden Rule: Using an external third-party application, like Wireshark,  to test connectivity helps establish credibility in any situation.

Most people whom I speak with have a general understanding of what a packet capture is. The problem is, they don’t know how to gather or use the data once they have obtained it. So I thought I would do a little homework and find some resources that provide some basic Wireshark training for the busy IT professional.