FredTech: Information Technology Help

        * UNIX/Linux/BSD Resources  * Microsoft Windows/Terminal Server * Hardware/SCSI * Telephony * C/C++  * SQL

UNIX/Linux/Solaris References I use often or so infrequently that I had to write them down:

Fred's simple everyday UNIX admin. scripts and tutorials:
~ If you use Linux Software RAID here is a tutorial I wrote on Software RAID Disaster Recovery (Mainly if you run RAID-1 or clone disks)
~ Are the IT police blocking your default Sendmail port 25? Read this SENDMAIL: Listening to multiple SMTP ports on a single mail server instance
~ Do you need to clone a disk? Here is the method I use and here is another yet method.
~ Here is a simple script I use to backup file systems to DLT tape: DumpAll (we know have LTO tape and use Veritas.. Life is good)
~ Pug is just a PERL wrapper for the ole ps -ef |grep command. (instead of a shell alias - simple but has it's purposes)

Sun Solaris References:
* Sun Freeware has many Open Source packages already compiled for Solaris
* Blastwave.org is another great place for Open Source Solaris packages.
* Get your Sun BootROM Images and OBP Firmware Patches here.
* OpenBOOT parameters are listed here.
* The Sun Managers Forum at NetSys can be a life saver!
* SunSolve has all your patches, tech notes, and troubleshooting tools.
* Learning Solaris is a site that easily updates you on new Solaris info (Many good Solaris Zone tutorials)
* I've been setting up Solaris x86 lately to support networking infrastructure like SaMBa/yp/NIS environments.
* SearchSolaris.com is a great place to find the latest X86/Sparc Solaris info.
* Check out THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE SUN SOLARIS™ OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

Linux and BSD References:
* The Linux Documentation Project site show be your first stop for Linux HOW-TO's and MINI HOW-TO's.
* The BSD equivalent is at the FreeBSD Documentation Server (not quite as nice at the Linux doc Project but give it time)

SGI Irix References:
* Here is a great guide to installing Irix (it may save you many hours)
* Silicon Graphic's also has all their tech pubs On-Line (it's free but you pay for it by buying and SGI )
 

Microsoft Windows Terminal Services (Citrix Metaframe/NCD Unix Integration):
  • Keep an eye on Rdesktop the free RDP client written in C (and it's free!!!!!!).
  • If you want to add a second NETBIOS name to your Windows Server add the following registry key:
    \HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters\OptionalNames This is a [REG_MULTI_SZ] key. Simply put the name in the parameters.
  • TheThin.net is a great place to visit for Windows Terminal Server information.
  • Lab Mice.net is a great Windows 2000/Terminal Server Resource
  • Here is a link to the latest Application Compatibility Scripts maintained by Citrix.
  • Here is one great Terminal Server FAQ in the UK
  • NCD support for the UNIX Integration Services for Terminal Server
    Misc:
  • Before you buy any hardware please go to Tom's Hardware Guide!
  • The Modem Doctor has an on-line database of modem init strings. Good Stuff
  • Java & JavaScript can be free, fun, and will impress your friends.
  • The Experts Exchange is the place to go to get your problems solved.
  • US Robotics has a decent page for helping with general modem hardware/software issues.
  • WHATIS.COM will tell just what all those crazy computer terms mean.
Network Hardware/Software References:
 
Fred's Oracle Backup & Recovery Resources:
The basic export command line goes something like this:
  exp system/password file=full.dmp log=fulldump.log full=y buffer=2000000 compress=y
The following three scripts are used to do a "hot" export of a database.
The first file can be called from cron and is the main file: backup_pcms_nt.oracle
The second is a SQL command file called from the first file: backup_pcms_nt.sql
The Third is a Oracle dump parameter file (user & export info): backup_pcms_nt_parfile
OK now you've got know how to import these babies too:
  imp system/password file=full.dmp full=yes buffer=2000000  (imp help=y for help)
 

Here are some resources I always use for C and C++ Compilers:
  • Get GCC or EGCS C/C++/f77 compilers for Win32 at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
  • When using Borland/Turbo C++ 4.5x: Use <cstring.h>
  • When using the SGI IRIX 6.2 C++ Compiler 7.1: Use <mstring.h>
  • When using Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0/6.0: Use <string>; if you want the iostream operators to be overloaded also use iostream rather than iostream.h. Here's sample code in MSVC++ 5.0/6.0/.NET:   i.e.
    • #include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std; // put standard names into default namespace
int main()
{
        string cs("hello");
        cout << cs << endl;
        return 0;
}

Mathematical Units

Type Alternate Name Bus Width (bits) Bus Speed
(MB's/sec)		 Max.
Devices		 Bus Length
(Meters)
Single HVD LVD
SCSI-1 Narrow SCSI 8 5 8 6 25  
Fast SCSI Narrow Fast SCSI 8 10 8 3 25  
Ultra SCSI Narrow Ultra SCSI 8 20 8 1.5 25  
Ultra2 SCSI Narrow Ultra2 SCSI 8 40 8   25 12
Fast Wide SCSI   16 20 16 3 25  
Wide Ultra SCSI   16 40 16 1.5 25  
Wide Ultra2 SCSI   16 80 16   25 12
Ultra3 SCSI Ultra160 SCSI 16 160 16     12
Ultra320 SCSI   16 320 16     12
Serial ATA (Gen 1)    
150 MB/sec 1.2 Gbps
       
Serial ATA (Gen 2)    
300 MB/sec 2.4 Gbps
       
Serial ATA (Gen 3)    
600 MB/sec 4.8 Gbps
       
SCSI Type Code Pins Connector Comments
SCSI -1 A 50 External - Centronics C50
Internal - Ribbon cable
SCSI-2 A 50 External - High Density D50M
Internal - Ribbon Cable
SCSI-3 P 68 External - High Density D68M
Internal - High Density
External - VHDCI connector