Re: [Fed-Talk] Re: Macs and OSX in DoD Space
Re: [Fed-Talk] Re: Macs and OSX in DoD Space
- Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] Re: Macs and OSX in DoD Space
- From: "Joel Esler" <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2006 08:28:39 -0400
Dalton, if you don't mind I'd like to add my 2 cents for Fed on the back of your email.
I used to work for
army.mil, for one of the RCERTS. I have been all over and done vulnerability assessments, network assessments, taught classes (perhaps some of you!), network analysis.. Basically I was a jack of all trades. My most important job being traffic and network analysis and IDS configuration.
In that office we used a version of Windows (don't want to say which one, because this list is public, and is googlable), of coursre, very secure (well, as best as you can get Windows), and very locked down and restricted.
Our sys-admin (was|is) a great guy, and I dare not take anything away from him, her perhaps knew more about Windows than anyone I have ever met.
All that being said, to say this:
In 2003 I bought an iBook for home use. At first it frustrated me because i knew not where some items were (being a heavy Windows Desktop user, and I administered about 25 Linux/Bsd machiens), but all that was quickly overcome. Of course I am not your typical computer user either. I loved my mac, however, I couldn't get our funding agency to even think about buying a mac.
I progressed at home from an iBook to a Powermac Dual G5, and gave my wife the iBook. I removed all Windows from the house (save for my virtual test machines) and I no longer use Windows at any point.
In reflection back to my old office, Could I have used a mac? The Answer is a resounding yes. Granted I had three programs that required Windows (AFAIK), One -> Remedy (Trouble Ticketing system) Could I have over come this? Easily. Two -> Office Access Not sure how I would have overcome this restriction, however, I am sure I could have ran it in a VM or something. and the third was a propreitary program that we coded for doing traffic analysis which quickly grabbed lots of data out of mutiple petabytes of storage.
When I came to my present job, (I work for Sourcefire, the makers of Snort), we use alot of Macs. Actually, we kinda use whatever we want, but most of us use Macs. The Reason for this is, no problems, no maintenance, high security, and high compatability. We use no proprietary programs that need Windows. The most proprietary thing we use is MS Office. (and alot of us don't use it.. we use iWork)
Now, the moral of this story is, there is absolutely no reason people can't transition to a mac, in whatever environment. People just need to stop being concerned about "but will it", or "but can it" and just do it (tm).
On another note. I really don't like Microsoft. kthx. :)
J
On 4/14/06, Dalton Hamilton <email@hidden
> wrote:Because of this email, I've had multiple people ask me what I use my
OSX systems so they can possible write justifications for more Macs.
Here is a very brief summary of what I use my systems for:
y way I can.
The most important thing I do with my Powerbook when I'm traveling is
the inspection of Medical networks. My inspections are for medical
networks in which we have to test the network to make sure it is
ready to run a new application the Docotors(Providers) use called
CHCSII or AHLTA.
Others were using Windows systems and it took many hours of going to
each wiring closet and testing latency and access to server processes
running on certain ports both at the local hospital data center and
the main patient data repository in the States. When I started doing
this, I decided to write a custom OSX Cocoa application to do this.
It takes about 30 seconds to test 40 of 50 IP addresses and sockets
to make sure Latency (RTT) and layer 4 connectivity is adequate and
provides a text based report. If this could be of use, I could
rewrite it to be generic -- which is something I've been thinking of
doing. In this way, anyone could use it by filling in a description
field of what they are testing, an IP address, and a list of ports.
Then provide the ability to enter 40 or so of these and save them.
This way, when you start the NRA (Network Readiness Assessment) tool,
it is already loaded with everything you need to test. It already
has the ability to create and save different sites, because each site
I go to has a certain set of specific settings. It is a beautiful
application but I don't want to send out a copy as-is because it
defaults to all our IPs and ports for DoD (Navy, Airforce, and Army)
Medical applications which is classified.
Another role I have as the Senior Network Engineer for Europe, is to
monitor all WAN circuits at all the medical hospitals. To do this, I
use a few tools. One is MRTG for OSX -- which is very instrumental.
MRTG can be found at: http://oss.oetiker.ch/mrtg/. Of course I
don't have MRTG running on my Powerbook, though I could. I have it
running on our OSX Server PowerMac G5. I wanted the server close to
my office so I didn't get an Xserve but the PowerMac instead --
though the XServe is a better choice. Our other Navy sites are
purchasing Xserves.
Another tool I use and is the BEST networking monitoring application
I've used - hands down - is InterMapper, http://
www.intermapper.com/. I HIGHLY recommend this software. It is
extremely easy to setup and use yet provides very strong monitoring
of Cisco routers and switches. I use it mainly for monitoring IOS
based Cisco routers at the edge of all of our European sites. It
does a great job of displaying relevant information relating this
data to the admin by using different colors, and different types of
lines, etc. It provides the ability to graph many MIB variables over
extended amounts of time and put multiple variables on one graph. It
monitors many critical variables by default -- like CPU, input
errors, output errors, memory, octets in and out, etc. It also
provides email alerts. Also provides Remote InterMapper client
ability where you can have engineers in the field connect back to the
console InterMapper Server and see certain maps that you've given the
access to. This may sound time consuming or hard but it isn't. It
takes literally no time to set this up and is so Intuitive, I don't
think I used any documentation.
The only problem with InterMapper type tools is to get the most out
of them, you have to be sitting at your system. It doesn't provide
any reporting ability to give you how many outages happened over a
given amount of time, broken down by site, etc. To solve this
problem, I wrote an application called NetCheck, http://
www.scriptsoftware.com/netcheck/. This app is awesome. It lets you
define email groups and then define devices to be monitored by ICMP
pings, define services (applications) running on given ports, provide
dependencies (per device) to check before generating an alert and log
event, and provides excellent reporting -- which is something I have
to do to many divisions in Europe and the US -- including each site
rep. The alerts are fully customizable. This application is a
Universal App.
Another tool I use which I also wrote is called MountWatcher. This
automatically mounts all my drive mappings (SMB and AFP). I wrote
this to keep me from having to continue to mount many different
mounts manually and especially comes in handy when I travel with my
Powerbook. I've really only been using this software myself and
letting some engineers at Navy sites in Europe use it along with some
friends in the States. However, everyone likes it so much, I'm
making it available at this address next week. http://
www.scriptsoftware.com/mountwatcher
Anther very valuable tool that I use is NTOP. NTOP is one of those
tools that few people use because they don't know why to use it.
There is no free version of NTOP for Windows. Cisco devices support
the ability to send out traffic statistics using a protocol called
NetFlow. On the Cisco device, when you configure NetFlow to report
data, you need to specify which destination IP addresses the
statistics should be sent to and on what UDP port. To be able to
understand these statistics, you need an application that can
understand the NetFlow format. NTOP does that along with the ability
to understand other format from other vendors (like Foundry). These
statics show you details of converstions, like who the top talkers
where, what ports/applications they were using, and provides much
more. NTOP provides the ability to monitor multiple NetFlow traffic
flows by allowing you to create multiple NetFlow interfaces within
the software. Each interface reads a different UDP port so you would
have each remote router report on a different port. NTOP can be
found at http://www.ntop.org
Of course, I use tcpdump a lot. I use the built-in features of tftp,
ssh and sftp, Apache and TomCat, and Zterm.
I also use iWork extensively -- specifically Pages. I produce all my
reports using Pages and the export as PDF to send to Government reps
that need my reports. Pages is awesome.
I will soon be producing video courses for training of certain
hardware under our control. These videos will be produced using a
new OSX system we just purchased.
That is all I have time for. Hope this helps.
Dalton Hamilton
On Apr 13, 2006, at 9:21 AM, Dalton Hamilton wrote:
> As more and more people are introduced to OSX, this grass-roots
> explosion will also include Government representatives with
> decision authority. I think of these as a younger more technically
> knowledgeable group. I see this happening weekly. As this happens
> and as Microsoft's problems continue, our day will come. I travel
> to sites all across Europe. I take only my Powerbook - provided to
> me by DoD because they asked me what I needed to do the job and I
> told them. When I show up at a given site and do network
> inspections and presentations using my Powerbook, I more and more
> frequently run into Mac and OSX advocates. Included in these
> groups are Commanders and GS personnel in decision making roles.
> These people have told me they converted at home and they love Macs
> and OSX. They say they would not have a problem purchasing Macs if
> the opportunity presented itself. It is my opinion that this
> belief rings true more times than not and most sites want to put
> the right tools in place to do the job.
>
> Through a little discussion and understanding, they say to simply
> present the proposal to them showing an XServe or iMac (or
> whatever) is the right tool for the job, present the cost, and they
> will make it happen. I've helped sites do this over and over here
> in Europe and where they have budget, it is happening and where no
> budget exists yet, they want it to happen and have it on the
> horizon as a project they want to fund.
>
> Yes, I focus on my job but while I'm doing this, I do what I can to
> make a difference and when the two meet, I focus on building
> relationships with those that are pro-Mac and discuss upcoming
> projects to try to help them see where Macs and OSX can fit --
> mostly projects that my group has nothing to do with. I then help
> these engineers and department heads realize that the Government
> doesn't mandate Microsoft and that their Commanders want them to
> have the right tool for the job. On an ever-increasing basis, OSX
> is the right tool.
>
> Presented the correct way, purchases are happening and solutions
> are being designed around OSX.
>
> Don't give up the fight.
>
> Dalton Hamilton
>
> On Apr 12, 2006, at 9:04 PM, Michael Pike wrote:
>
>>
>> Here is the part that sux... all of this research is being done on
>> my own systems because our division won't order any more Macs..
>> niiiiiiiiiiiiice.
>>
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