OIT Technology Meeting - November 2005

Announcements

Kevin Conover, NBCS
SMTP Auth will be required for sending mail through RCI and Eden starting in February (for RCI) and March (for eden). This applies to everyone inside and outside of Rutgers address space. Devices which send mail automatically such as printers and network switches will be added to a whitelist to allow them to continue to do so.

Listserv will be replaced with Mailman software. Current list owners will be required to acknowledge that they still want their lists, and to transition their list settings to Mailman. CSS will take care of transitioning list members. Lists that are not acknowledged or migrated will be deleted. Email.rutgers.edu will be changed to point to the new system on the cutover date.

Beth Binde, IPS
An OS hardening class taught by Dr. Eric Cole will be held during spring break. There will be one day devoted to Windows (3/14/2006) and another to Debian Linux (3/15/2006). Register at edseries.rutgers.edu which will link to more information. The fee is $100.

Presentations

MSI Packaging
Jeremy Schaefer, ESS
MSI packages are file/setting databases, like RPMs, which allow applications to be easily dropped onto a system. Most users will have either v2.0 or 3.1 already installed on their Windows system. Custom software installs can be created by tweaking settings of each MSI package. Active Directory can be used to push installations to Windows clients.

MSI packages can be created manually for software that doesn?t already supply them. This involves:

• Installing software on a vanilla, mimimal install of the OS already running the Wise installer or WinInstall LE (which has been snapshotted beforehand).
• Machine should not be running anti-virus software.
• Use another post-install snapshot, along with the original, to create the MSI using the Wise installer or WinInstall LE.
• Use Orca or WinInstaller LE to clean and configure the MSI once you've created it.
• Vmware and Norton Ghost are both useful for providing baseline OS installs to do this.
• WinInstall LE will not survive a reboot. Wise will, but it's commercial and costs money.
• More info at http://www.appdeploy.com, microsoft.com, or the Microsoft.public.windows.msi newsgroup.

PowerPoint presentation.


Future Directions for Wireless Technology
Ivan Seskar, ORBIT Lab/WINLAB
Wireless network survivability questioned by failure of enterprise technologies such as 3G and success of 802.11. 802.11 elected board of 500 members and immediately went into "alphabet soup" by redefining the protocol over and over. Many new wireless standards put on the market quickly (RFID, Bluetooth, 802.11, etc.) Everyone claims they're the best.

The ORBIT lab was created as a radio grid which emulates a trial field network by injecting noise into the grid to control "distance" between the nodes. Robots drive under the grid and test connectivity as they pass from for access point to access point. The grid consists of 400 custom manufactured PC's suspended from the ceiling, each with its own set of radios and Ethernet. PCs can be re-imaged with virtually any OS in minutes (using Frisbee freeware imaging software.) Experiment time is sold in 2 hour slices. Experiment results are sent to a log server and collected in a MySQL database. Applications or experiments can be retrieved from an app server. A grid of observers monitors experiments and results should the need arise to qualify or contest experiments in the future.

A live field trial is also planned which will test wireless technology across a coverage area spanning Busch Campus and parts of Livingston and New Brunswick. A 3G base station has been placed atop the CORE building and is awaiting FCC approval. Mobile nodes will be deployed throughout campuses and on Rutgers busses (which travel in a set pattern.) The network will provide 802.11 by the end of January, and can/should provide RUNet as a side effect. Mailing Lists: http://www.orbit-lab.org/community/mailingLists.
Presentation in pdf format.

VMWare
Doug McCrea, Rutgers College
VMWare allows one PC to run one or more virtual machines, each with its own OS install and hardware configuration. It provides a perfect testbed for installation and development of new services and software before enterprise roll-outs. There are three variations to the software:

• Workstation
• GSX Server - for small scale server environments, scales to allow a test AD domain, utilizes multiple CPU environments.
• ESX Server - for multiple enterprise-class servers, runs atop its own Linux kernel.

VMWare can provide baseline OS installation by re-using and/or cloning the VM. It has the ability to create a small client/server test environment with only one physical machine. You can pause the VM and walk away to come back later. Servers can be Ghosted and the image re-loaded into its own VM to replicate existing machines for testing. Multiple virtual NICs can be created for VMs, allowing servers to be easily multi-homed. http://www.vmware.com.
PowerPoint presentation.

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