Solaris IPsec: Basics
IPsec is a technology widely known. Created for IPv6 and backported to IPv4, it adds a security layer into the IP stack. Prior to IPsec we needed to encrypt data before sending it down the stack and then decrypt it on the other side once it came back out using technologies like SSH or SSL/TLS. IPsec simplifies this by transparently handling encrypt/decrypt as well as header authentication. But for all its intended simplicity and ...
Explore Your Storage with FileBench
FileBench is one of the most powerful and flexible benchmarking tools around. Your typical tool like Bonnie++ or IOzone tend to take some discrete operation and do it multiple times at differing block sizes (8K file in 1K blocks, 8K file in 2K blocks, etc). These commonly used benchmarks are known as "micro-benchmarks". Using them tends to be controversial and can be confusing, leading to claims like "My new Seagate disk gets 800MB/s!!!" ...
Thoughts on “Open Storage”
Some marketing terms come along that make you stop and think. Sun is pushing Open Storage, pairing up terms like "revolution", and you have to ask: Whats really new here? I suppose you have to step back and consider that all industries are not the same and what one customer considers "catching up with reality", another customer considers "a fresh new approach". When I think about what Sun concept of Open Storage really boils down to it ...
Sun Introduces New “Open” Storage Array Line: J4000
Sun's recently been on an "Open Storage" kick. They define this as using "industry standard components" together with "open source software". Frankly, the pitch sounds pretty similar to the one Sun has had for the last 2 decades of "open standards" products... the new tact is really just pitching the cost savings of specifically depending on open source software freeing you (potentially) from high licensing costs. So, there are 3 ...
Christianity
I commonly refer to my faith in blogs and writing but never directly spoken regarding it. This is largely because there have been very few good resources out there for Christians, at least that I was aware of, to actually refer people to, and I don't like leaving people hanging. I'm always happy to have a "Tell me about Jesus" discussion with people interested, but I realize a lot of people are jaded when it comes to Christianity due to "bad ...
Cuddle Labs Update
Cuddletech Labs has been slowed to a crawl lately as we move from Fremont to Tracy to our new home. For those who are interested, here's a personal update... Nova is 4, Glenn is 2 going on 3 in July, and Tamarah and I are blessed with our third child on the way (current names are Conrad or Eve, depending on gender). The house in Fremont is a rental, we moved to it from an apartment in Fremont just before Nova was born. We're moving because ...
Ode to Dads
There are a great number among us who have a job more important to us than tech... we're fathers and husbands. I've been privileged to know several of the great dads in the Sun/OpenSolaris ranks. Dr. Stephen Hahn, Jeff Bonwick, Bill Moore, Paul Armstrong (Google), and Chris Baker are all absolutely first rate fathers, aside from being brilliant technologists. I am immensely thankful for the opportunity to know not just these great men ...
Possible iPhone 2.0 Leak
My Moto RAZR was recently lost/stolen (I left it on a table in a resturaunt, 5 minutes later it was no where to be found and a call suggested the SIM card was yanked), but I haven't really dispaired. I've been very interested in iPhone 2.0 but needed clarification on what features it would have, namely I want 3G, GPS, and a better camera. This leak found on CrunchGear suggests that it'll be even better than that! Apparently the iPhone will ...
Solaris on Dell PowerEdge x950 III
Solaris has recently hit a milestone in my mind, at least if your a Dell PowerEdge fan. As of Build 88 (I recommend snv_89 or newer) Solaris runs like a dream on Dell PowerEdge servers such as the recently released 2950 III which offers Dell PERC6/i (LSI MegaSAS), the latest Intel Quad-Core CPU's and has greatly reduce power consumption over the Dell 2950 II. Prior to Build 88 Solaris didn't have support for the MegaSAS controller, thus ...
Solaris ACL’s Today
Quite some time ago I wrote about ACL's in my blog entry ACL!...Bless You. A funny title and play on the pronunciation of the acronym Access Control List ("Ackel"), but not readily found via Google. Sadly, if you are running Solaris 10 with ZFS or better yet a Nevada or OpenSolaris build you are going to get confused if you do a search and get ancient articles telling you to use getfacl and setfacl. These tools are used for viewing or ...