Monday 25 January 2010

Sport Relief - I'm running six miles!!

I'm doing my bit for Sport Relief by running six miles, but you don't have to run... you only have to sponser me!

Whatever you can afford would be gratefully recieved: http://www.mysportrelief.com/andytang

Wednesday 20 January 2010

IAG Logs - Extending?

A common issue raised by customers have been regarding how far back the IAG logs can go back.

I have posted in the past about how to use Syslog server with IAG, which will allow the logs to be stored elsewhere for longer, but you may still have issues with what or how much is being reported.

Extending your historical logs:
  • In the IAG Configuration console, select the "Admin" menu and select "Event Logging"
  • Select the "General" tab
  • Change the "Queue Size" to 100
  • Change the "Max Report Results" to 10000
  • Click on "OK"
  • Activate the IAG Configuration

Change the settings for report clean up:

  • In the IAG Configuration console, select the "Admin" menu and select "Advanced Configuration"
  • Change "Start Cleanup at:" to 10000
  • Change "Stop Cleanup at" to 100
  • Change "Number of Undeleted Files" to 100
  • Click on "OK"
  • Activate the IAG Configuration

You may need to wait up to 48 hours to see if these changes have helped, but these settings can be tweaked further to fine tune the logs for your reporting needs.

Monday 18 January 2010

Celestix on Facebook and Twitter

In case you weren't aware, Celestix are on Facebook and on Twitter (@CelestixNetwork)

I'm on both but hey, I'm sure I'm not as interesting!!!

IAG SP2 Update 3?

Well I've had word that IAG SP2 Update 3 should be out in a month or so.

The components being addressed with this update, are that Windows 7 will be recognised correctly and 64-bit clients will be supported.

Obviously you have seen that I have documented a 32-bit Windows 7 workaround, but there are still issues with this when using certain applications. The only 64-bit client that can be made work is Windows 7, as long as your computer has the ability to run XP Compatibility Mode (which will mean that only specific processors are supported)

As soon as I see that update, I will get it installed and tested, as my work laptop is both Windows 7 and 64-bit..... you can see I like a challenge!!

Saturday 9 January 2010

Celestix Technical Training - Microsoft UAG & TMG

Celestix will be giving training in Microsoft UAG and TMG (which will replace Microsoft IAG and ISA server) on the 3rd February.

If you are a reseller based in the UK and this is of interest, please register here

Websense V10000 - Web Security Appliance

Most people are aware that Websense are a market leader in the web filtering market, but tradionally has only been a software only option.

The software can either filter via a network sniffer (via a mirror or span port on a switch) or integrated with another solution such as a Cisco firewall or Microsoft ISA server.

The software has some limitations or lacked features that were being demanded from an enterprise perspective. These were addressed with Websense Security Gateway, which gave the following features:
  • Web proxy server
  • Integrated anti-virus solution
  • Real time content classification
  • Real time security scanning

This brought other considerations, due to the nature of this software, it would only be supported on a Linux platform. At the time I spoke with a number of customers who were put off by this, as they only had Windows administrators, and did not have the capacity to support a Linux server.

Websense took this onboard, and developed the V10000 appliance, which is a Websense branded appliance, which runs a Linux operating system and runs the Websense Security Gateway software within a virtualised environment. The specification of the hardware, will allow the appliance to run the Email Security and Data Security features in the future as well.

In short, Websense have produced an enterprise class proxy server, with enterprise web security in an appliance form factor.

At e92plus, we are technically proficient with the Websense range, where we not only carry out web demonstrations, deal with presales questions, deliver proof of concept deployments, architect and deploy full solutions, we also deliver both bespoke and certified Websense training.

SecurityPlus - IT Security Newsletter from e92plus

As you may know I work for e92plus, an IT Security Distributor based in the UK.

Richard Hicks of Celestix Networks and a Microsoft MVP wrote an interesting article about re-perimeterisation for our newsletter.

We are very grateful to Richard Hicks and Celestix for their continued support.

The article can be found here: SecurityPlus from e92plus

BETT 2010 - London Olympia 13th to 16th January

BETT is an educational technical show that is based in London.

This year we have two of e92plus' vendors at the show, Xirrus (innovative wireless solution) and NComputing (cost effective desktop virtualisation)

I will post more detailed information about each of these vendors later.

More information about the show is available here: BETT 2010

Wednesday 6 January 2010

Happy New Year for 2010!

And what a way to see in the New Year.

Currently where I live in the UK there is 3-4 inches of snow, which has made it very difficult to get off my driveway, let alone drive to work.

Fortunately I can work from home, thanks to a Celestix WSA appliance running Microsoft IAG!

I have access to my emails via OWA, intranet site, CRM server and Terminal Server.

This has allowed me to pretty much carry on as normal!

If you are stuck at home today, I hope you are working!! ;)