Hosted BES for GAPPS by myIT!

November 8th, 2009

Later this month we’ll be unveiling a new hosting service for Google Apps Premiere Customers. Hosting the BES (or BPS) server for you through our Amazon.com dev-pay service.

No physical server or Microsoft license to buy. Simply provide us with your BES (or BPS) license and we’ll set it all up. You pay for bandwidth, storage and backup. No power, no Internet connection, no physical server at your location. With BPS licenses starting at 99.00 per user, it’s not exactly expensive.

You simply provide us with your existing Blackberry server licenses, or we procure them for you and your own license for Microsoft Outlook 2007. This is different from other offerings in that it is not shared with other companies, it is your own Blackberry server, the licensing of which belongs to you.

If you are interested in our Google Apps offerings or already have one and want someone to get you started with your own Blackberry server, head on over to our website and give us a call.

After reviewing with you, you can purchase it here, but you will need an Amazon account first:

https://aws-portal.amazon.com/gp/aws/user/subscription/index.html?offeringCode=25505230

Setup is usually available in 1-2 business days after order is placed.

pfSense and Packet Captures

November 8th, 2009

Remembering when I had a problem with my first pfSense installation, I had some help from a friend who did a quick packet capture. it seems the ITSP, even after being told three times they were, was still not sending signalling to sipXecs on port 5080. It was being sent to 5060.

In doing a quick packet capture, Diagnostics>Packet Capture, it was very easy to turn capture on for the WAN port, call the system from the outside and stop the capture. Then download the capture file and open with wireshark on your PC.

Don’t have wireshark? Go get it from the wireshark.org download page!

In my case, looking at the capture file showed the signalling still being sent to port 5060. So that explained a lot. While there are a lot of firewall packages I like, a lot of them lack this feature.

GO PFSENSE!

pfSense Traffic Shaping for sipXecs (for dummies)!

November 6th, 2009

Recently, I took a look the traffic shaper wizard in pfSense (1.2.3Prelease version).

I liked the fact that they had an easy to follow definition in there. I tinkered with two files that defined the protocol/port and name of VOIP related services so it would work well for sipXbridge in an ITSP trunking role and for remote workers coming into the network.

If you’d like to try, replace these files located in /usr/local/www/wizards (winscp makes that easy):

traffic_shaper_wizard.inc

traffic_shaper_wizard.xml

If you start the wizard and state your connection upload/download speed, it will allow you to do four things:

  1. Prioritize VOIP over all other bandwidth.
  2. Choose your VOIP provider (in this case you choose sipXecs). Specifying sipXecs specifies the ports/protocols used by sipXecs for trunking and remote workers.
  3. Specify the internal IP address of your sipXecs installation
  4. Set the total amount of reserved bandwidth to 80% from a dropdown box.

The overall rates can be adjusted but the margins (80%) cannot.  I would encourage some feedback on the sipx-users list to modify this so it can be included on a wiki somewhere. What I find is if I have a pipe almost solely dedicated to voice traffic, I have to overstate my upload speed in order to specify MORE bandwidth for voice traffic to free up the last 20% and prevent data from over-running my voice.

Even if your circuit is completely dedicated to voice for sipXecs, there is still DNS and voicemail to email traffic as well as remote UserUI traffic happening, and I want voice traffic prioritized FIRST.  You can also preset the bandwidth amounts in the “inc” file to make it brainless for your installs. I have already approximated 86k of bandwidth in increment steps (so you can prioritize by the number of calls you will have at your site).

Example: I have a 7100k (7.1Mb download) and 768k upload DSL connection, you should use this as an example.

Here I say I have a 7100k download speed and a 1200k upload speed (I have to fudge the upload to get the most out of my upload bandwidth, since that’s the more limiting factor here). The Real-time control over shaping only allow you to state 80% of your total bandwidth in either direction for shaping.

Start the shaper and Enter your connection speed

Here you state your desire to prioritize VOIP, choose sipXecs as the provider, put in your sipXecs IP address on your LAN, and choose your nearest “best guess” of total VOIP bandwidth (number of call times 86k) and choose the best selection from the drop down box. (Hint: For four calls simultaneous from the outside, select the fourth speed in the list).

Choose to Prioritize VOIP, choose sipXecs, put in your IP and your upload usage for voip (total)

Now this will finish, hopefully without an error. If you get an error about exceeding “80%”, start over and REMOVE SHAPER. State a slightly higher upload speed than you really have if you need to.

Finish and Loaded, but not active!

WAIT! A bug in their shaper doesn’t actually activate it until you apply it, so. What i do is go back to the FIREWALL>SHAPER screen and edit the description of the rules with the “e” edit icon. By default it will have VOIP adapter. I just scroll to the bottom and change it to VOIP then click “SAVE” and APPLY SETTINGS button at the top which actually starts to run the shaper (a bug with the wizard).

Edit the rule descriptiona nd apply to activate!

You can go to STATUS>QUEUES and watch the rules in action now!

Watch the Queues

Thanks and ENJOY!


Three Things I Really Like About sipXecs 4.0

November 4th, 2009

Published a new basic guide on setting up sipXbridge with bandwidth.com.

This is my first attempt at a how-to, and while it might not meet every need, should be handy for folks connecting to bandwidth.com who need a basic step-by-step guide. I’ll be polishing this up after I get some feedback.

Three_things_I_really_like_about_sipXecs_4.pdf

Call-Setup-Example-sipXecs-through-ITSP

sipx_bridge_pfsense_bandwidth-dot-com.pdf

sipXbridge and Bandwidth.com with Polycom Phones

October 26th, 2009

What I have found works, and works well. Your Polycom phones should be at Bootrom 4.2 and Firmware 3.1.3RevC (no later!).

Have MOH disabled in Polycom phones. Have MOH enabled on the SBC. Apply this patch for sipXbridge.

From the sipx console,

mkdir /bridgepatch

cd /bridgepatch

wget http://track.sipfoundry.org/secure/attachment/22062/patch14.zip

unzip patch14.zip

cd patch

chmod +x runme.sh

./runme.sh

You should check that

/usr/share/java/sipXecs/sipXbridge/sipXbridge.jar

and

/usr/share/java/sipXecs/sipXcommons/jain-sip-sdp.jar

are brand new files, backup copies will be in the saved-files directory relative to your patch in the event you need to get back to where you started..

Now restart sipxbridge (ITSP TRUNKING) and sipXconfig from services and see how it works!

This post will be updated to show MOH on in the Polycom phones, the necessary steps and bandwdth.com configuration, and will all move to the sipfoundry wiki.

mkdir /bridgepatch
cd /bridgepatch
wget http://track.sipfoundry.org/secure/attachment/22062/patch13.zip
unzip patch13.zip
cd patch
chmod +x runme.sh
./runme.sh
You should check that
/usr/share/java/sipXecs/sipXbridge/sipXbridge.jar
and
/usr/share/java/sipXecs/sipXcommons/jain-sip-sdp.jar
are brand new files, backup copies will be in the saved-files directory relative to your patch in the event you need to get back to where you started..

pfSense and sipXbridge

October 23rd, 2009

Most firewalls randomize ports (rewrite the source port) of outbound traffic. This is problematic for some protocols (like PPTP, IPSEC and SIP).   sipXbridge needs static port NAT, or symmetric signalling in order to work properly. This means when sipXbridge makes an media connection at port 30001, it must be sent out on port 30001 (not rewritten by the firewall), and also come back on the same port. This is done by choosing “Firewall>NAT>Outbound” and selecting “Manual (AON)”. I’ve tried to make it easy by providing a sample setup which can be edited in a word process or (like Wordpad) and uploading to the system.

A friend of mine helped me to get this implemented, and so I thought I’d share.

After doing a basic install of pfSense,  login to the webgui and go to “Diagnostics>Backup and Restore”. Do a backup and open the config.xml in wordpad or other basic text editor. Then grab this file and do a find/replace to match your settings ( IP addresses, etc.). After that, restore the new config file to your system.

Find and replace commands:

  1. Domain name – mydomain.com with your domain name like example.com
  2. DNS – Change 198.6.1.2 and 198.6.1.5 to some of your own liking that will work with your ISP.
  3. pfSense Webgui – I have it set for https on port 10443, change it to something you want, but remember stay away from: 80,8443, 5060-5080, 30000-31000.
  4. LAN IP – I have pfsense here on 192.168.2.1, I also have sipXecs at 192.168.2.10. Change these as needed to suit your needs, don’t forget to match your mask.

I think if you properly do a find/replace on your IP’s/mask/gw’s it should be fairly straightforward.

After restoring, you should go to the CLI and reset the password, which will be “pfsense”, then go to SYSTEM>PACKAGES>INSTALLED and remove any that are there.

This pfSense config does not include vlans or traffic shaping, and is a basic config. More complex use cases might be coming later, but that’s it for now. Hope to post a complete step-by-step how-to on the sipx-wiki.

Here’s a basic step-by-step guide to getting pfSense installed:

If you need a VMWARE image, go www.pfsense.org and grab the vmware image. In the meantime, if you are installing on an standalone PC, use this ISO image. After installing the VMWARE Image, you should remove any installed packages and install the VMTOOLS package (to get timesync correct, and set you correct timezone (ex: America/New_York).

http://files.pfsense.org/mirror/downloads/pfSense-1.2.3-RC3-LiveCD-Installer.iso.gz

First step, install a Video card, Keyboard, a CD-ROM drive, an IDE hard Disk drive, 128MB of ram or more and at least two Network interfaces in your target machine. Do not install any unnecessary hardware like a modem because Pfsense cannot use it.

The hardware setup for the installation tested was Pentium Pro 200, 128MB EDO ram, Floppy 1.4MB, Trident VGA, 4 Realtek 8139D PCI cards, ATAPI CD_ROM 24X, 2 IDE 1GB drives. As you can see it was quite an old system but it all still worked quite well. Pfsense was also installed on a DELL Dimension 4100 800MHz without any problems.

Next, take the downloaded ISO file and burn the CD as an ISO (not a file copy).

Set up your BIOS to boot from the CD and then insert the CD into the drive. Reboot the machine and watch the FreeBSD 6.2 operating system boot up your machine. Do not worry if you cannot catch everything that is scrolling by because you can see all of it when the boot is complete by pressing the Scroll LOCK on your keyboard and using the Page UP/DN keys. The boot process should stop and ask you to configure the network interfaces. If you managed to make that far the rest of the installation, most likely, will be successful.

Answer no to the first prompt asking to setup Virtual Interface/Lan by typing n.

Now it will ask you to select the LAN interface. This is the interface that you will attach to an Ethernet switch if more than one computer will be accessing the pfsense to get to the internet. To select this interface use the automatic procedure by disconnecting all interface cables from all the network interfaces of the pfsense. Follow the instructions on the screen and then attach the computer via an Ethernet cable to the LAN port. Mark this interface as the LAN interface.

Next it will ask you to select the WAN port. If you have not set up your DSL/CABLE modem/routers yet select an interface by specifying the name of the interface as shown on the display. This interface can be changed later on.

Pfsense will start to load and configure itself. With a little luck, you will pass the point where pfsense configures the WAN interface. This is where the interrupts are tested and if your hardware is set up properly, or if you have a newer computer, it will breeze through and arrive at the Pfsense Console Setup page. Here you will install pfsense to your hard disk by entering 99. If you do not make it to this page you have a hardware compatibility problem with the FreeBSD operating system.

Installation is pretty painless, tell it to format and make a new partition if you want everything cleaned off, and once complete you’ll see FreeBSD loading. The loading will take some time .

At the CLI you will have an option to set the LAN IP address, go ahead and make sure you can connect to that IP with a web browser from a PC on the LAN. Now run through the wizard and set a password, etc. In Diagnostics, go to grab a backup (config.xml) and start putting your password, ip/mask/gateways and domain name into the one posted here and do the restore.

Remember to use a port for pfSense to connect to (the example we’ve provided is 10443 as https) and connect to it after the restore has occurred.

Coming Up – Setting Up Example siptrunk with ITSP Bandwidth.com via sipXbridge! Soon afterwards, traffic shaping for sipXecs and pfSense!

<?xml version=”1.0″?>
<pfsense>
<version>3.0</version>
<lastchange/>
<theme>nervecenter</theme>
<system>
<optimization>normal</optimization>
<hostname>voicefw</hostname>
<domain>mydomain.com</domain>
<username>admin</username>
<passwordREPLACE_WITH_YOUR_pfSense_password_from_your_backup_config_file</password>
<timezone>America/New_York</timezone>
<time-update-interval/>
<timeservers>0.pfsense.pool.ntp.org</timeservers>
<webgui>
<protocol>https</protocol>
<certificate/>
<private-key/>
<port>10443</port>
</webgui>
<disablenatreflection>yes</disablenatreflection>
<ssh>
<authorizedkeys/>
<port/>
</ssh>
<enablesshd>yes</enablesshd>
<maximumstates/>
<shapertype/>
<dnsserver>71.242.0.12</dnsserver>
<dnsserver>198.6.1.5</dnsserver>
<dnsallowoverride/>
</system>
<interfaces>
<lan>
<if>bge0</if>
<ipaddr>192.168.2.9</ipaddr>
<subnet>24</subnet>
<media/>
<mediaopt/>
<bandwidth>100</bandwidth>
<bandwidthtype>Mb</bandwidthtype>
</lan>
<wan>
<if>xl0</if>
<mtu/>
<blockpriv>on</blockpriv>
<blockbogons>on</blockbogons>
<media/>
<mediaopt/>
<bandwidth>100</bandwidth>
<bandwidthtype>Mb</bandwidthtype>
<disableftpproxy/>
<ipaddr>4.5.6.7</ipaddr>
<subnet>29</subnet>
<gateway>4.5.6.1</gateway>
<spoofmac/>
<dhcphostname/>
</wan>
</interfaces>
<staticroutes/>
<pppoe>
<username/>
<password/>
<provider/>
</pppoe>
<pptp>
<username/>
<password/>
<local/>
<subnet/>
<remote/>
<timeout/>
</pptp>
<bigpond>
<username/>
<password/>
<authserver/>
<authdomain/>
<minheartbeatinterval/>
</bigpond>
<dyndns>
<type>dyndns</type>
<username/>
<password/>
<host/>
<mx/>
</dyndns>
<dhcpd>
<lan>
<range>
<from>192.168.2.10</from>
<to>192.168.2.245</to>
</range>
</lan>
</dhcpd>
<pptpd>
<mode/>
<redir/>
<localip/>
<remoteip/>
</pptpd>
<ovpn/>
<dnsmasq>
<enable/>
</dnsmasq>
<snmpd>
<syslocation/>
<syscontact/>
<rocommunity>public</rocommunity>
</snmpd>
<diag>
<ipv6nat/>
</diag>
<bridge/>
<syslog/>
<nat>
<ipsecpassthru/>
<advancedoutbound>
<rule>
<source>
<network>192.168.2.0/24</network>
</source>
<sourceport/>
<descr>Auto created rule for LAN</descr>
<target/>
<interface>wan</interface>
<staticnatport/>
<destination>
<any/>
</destination>
<natport/>
<dstport/>
</rule>
<enable/>
</advancedoutbound>
<rule>
<protocol>udp</protocol>
<external-port>5060</external-port>
<target>192.168.2.10</target>
<local-port>5060</local-port>
<interface>wan</interface>
<descr>sipx signalling</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<external-port>5060</external-port>
<target>192.168.2.10</target>
<local-port>5060</local-port>
<interface>wan</interface>
<descr>sipx signalling</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<protocol>udp</protocol>
<external-port>5080</external-port>
<target>192.168.2.10</target>
<local-port>5080</local-port>
<interface>wan</interface>
<descr>itsp signalling receive from bw.com</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<protocol>udp</protocol>
<external-port>30000-31000</external-port>
<target>192.168.2.10</target>
<local-port>30000</local-port>
<interface>wan</interface>
<descr>sipx media</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<external-port>80</external-port>
<target>192.168.2.10</target>
<local-port>80</local-port>
<interface>wan</interface>
<descr>http to sipx</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<external-port>8443</external-port>
<target>192.168.2.10</target>
<local-port>8443</local-port>
<interface>wan</interface>
<descr>https redirect to sipx</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<external-port>10443</external-port>
<target>192.168.2.9</target>
<local-port>10443</local-port>
<interface>wan</interface>
<descr>voicefw redirect for remote mgmt</descr>
</rule>
</nat>
<filter>
<rule>
<type>pass</type>
<interface>wan</interface>
<max-src-nodes/>
<max-src-states/>
<statetimeout/>
<statetype>keep state</statetype>
<os/>
<protocol>udp</protocol>
<source>
<any/>
</source>
<destination>
<address>192.168.2.10</address>
<port>5060</port>
</destination>
<descr>NAT sipx siganlling</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<type>pass</type>
<interface>wan</interface>
<max-src-nodes/>
<max-src-states/>
<statetimeout/>
<statetype>keep state</statetype>
<os/>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<source>
<any/>
</source>
<destination>
<address>192.168.2.10</address>
<port>5060</port>
</destination>
<descr>NAT sipx signalling</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<type>pass</type>
<interface>wan</interface>
<max-src-nodes/>
<max-src-states/>
<statetimeout/>
<statetype>keep state</statetype>
<os/>
<protocol>udp</protocol>
<source>
<any/>
</source>
<destination>
<address>192.168.2.10</address>
<port>5080</port>
</destination>
<descr>NAT sipx siganlling</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<type>pass</type>
<interface>wan</interface>
<max-src-nodes/>
<max-src-states/>
<statetimeout/>
<statetype>keep state</statetype>
<os/>
<protocol>udp</protocol>
<source>
<any/>
</source>
<destination>
<address>192.168.2.10</address>
<port>30000-31000</port>
</destination>
<descr>NAT sipx media</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<interface>wan</interface>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<source>
<any/>
</source>
<destination>
<address>192.168.2.10</address>
<port>80</port>
</destination>
<descr>NAT http to sipx</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<interface>wan</interface>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<source>
<any/>
</source>
<destination>
<address>192.168.2.10</address>
<port>8443</port>
</destination>
<descr>NAT https redirect to sipx</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<interface>wan</interface>
<protocol>tcp</protocol>
<source>
<any/>
</source>
<destination>
<address>192.168.2.9</address>
<port>10443</port>
</destination>
<descr>NAT voicefw redirect for remote mgmt</descr>
</rule>
<rule>
<type>pass</type>
<descr>Default LAN -&gt; any</descr>
<interface>lan</interface>
<source>
<network>lan</network>
</source>
<destination>
<any/>
</destination>
</rule>
</filter>
<ipsec>
<preferredoldsa/>
</ipsec>
<aliases/>
<proxyarp/>
<cron>
<item>
<minute>0</minute>
<hour>*</hour>
<mday>*</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/usr/bin/nice -n20 newsyslog</command>
</item>
<item>
<minute>1,31</minute>
<hour>0-5</hour>
<mday>*</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/usr/bin/nice -n20 adjkerntz -a</command>
</item>
<item>
<minute>1</minute>
<hour>3</hour>
<mday>1</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/usr/bin/nice -n20 /etc/rc.update_bogons.sh</command>
</item>
<item>
<minute>*/60</minute>
<hour>*</hour>
<mday>*</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/usr/bin/nice -n20 /usr/local/sbin/expiretable -v -t 3600 sshlockout</command>
</item>
<item>
<minute>1</minute>
<hour>1</hour>
<mday>*</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/usr/bin/nice -n20 /etc/rc.dyndns.update</command>
</item>
<item>
<minute>*/60</minute>
<hour>*</hour>
<mday>*</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/usr/bin/nice -n20 /usr/local/sbin/expiretable -v -t 3600 virusprot</command>
</item>
<item>
<minute>*/60</minute>
<hour>*</hour>
<mday>*</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/usr/bin/nice -n20 /usr/local/sbin/expiretable -t 3600 snort2c</command>
</item>
<item>
<minute>*/5</minute>
<hour>*</hour>
<mday>*</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/usr/local/bin/checkreload.sh</command>
</item>
<item>
<minute>*/5</minute>
<hour>*</hour>
<mday>*</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/etc/ping_hosts.sh</command>
</item>
<item>
<minute>*/140</minute>
<hour>*</hour>
<mday>*</mday>
<month>*</month>
<wday>*</wday>
<who>root</who>
<command>/usr/local/sbin/reset_slbd.sh</command>
</item>
</cron>
<wol/>
<installedpackages>
<package>
<name>siproxd</name>
<website>http://siproxd.sourceforge.net/</website>
<descr>Proxy for handling NAT of multiple SIP devices to a single public IP.</descr>
<category>Services</category>
<config_file>http://www.pfsense.com/packages/config/siproxd.xml</config_file>
<depends_on_package_base_url>http://files.pfsense.org/packages/7/All/</depends_on_package_base_url>
<depends_on_package>siproxd-0.7.0_1.tbz</depends_on_package>
<pkginfolink>http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Siproxd_package</pkginfolink>
<version>0.7.2</version>
<status>Beta</status>
<required_version>1.2.1</required_version>
<configurationfile>siproxd.xml</configurationfile>
</package>
<package>
<name>nmap</name>
<maintainer>billm@pfsense.org</maintainer>
<descr>NMap is a utility for network exploration or security auditing. It supports ping scanning (determine which hosts are up), many port scanning techniques (determine what services the hosts are offering), version detection (determine what application/service is runing on a port), and TCP/IP fingerprinting (remote host OS or device identification). It also offers flexible target and port specification, decoy/stealth scanning, SunRPC scanning, and more. Most Unix and Windows platforms are supported in both GUI and command line modes. Several popular handheld devices are also supported, including the Sharp Zaurus and the iPAQ.</descr>
<category>Security</category>
<depends_on_package_base_url>http://files.pfsense.org/packages/7/All/</depends_on_package_base_url>
<depends_on_package>nmap-4.76.tbz</depends_on_package>
<config_file>http://www.pfsense.com/packages/config/nmap/nmap.xml</config_file>
<version>4.76</version>
<status>Stable</status>
<pkginfolink>http://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Nmap_package</pkginfolink>
<required_version>1.2.1</required_version>
<configurationfile>nmap.xml</configurationfile>
</package>
<menu>
<name>siproxd</name>
<tooltiptext>Modify siproxd users and settings.</tooltiptext>
<section>Services</section>
<url>/pkg_edit.php?xml=siproxd.xml&amp;id=0</url>
</menu>
<menu>
<name>NMap</name>
<tooltiptext>NMap is a utility for network exploration or security auditing. It supports ping scanning (determine which hosts are up), many port scanning techniques (determine what services the hosts are offering), version detection (determine what application/service is runing on a port), and TCP/IP fingerprinting (remote host OS or device identification). It also offers flexible target and port specification, decoy/stealth scanning, SunRPC scanning, and more. Most Unix and Windows platforms are supported in both GUI and command line modes. Several popular handheld devices are also supported, including the Sharp Zaurus and the iPAQ.</tooltiptext>
<section>Diagnostics</section>
<configfile>nmap.xml</configfile>
</menu>
<service>
<name>siproxd</name>
<rcfile>siproxd.sh</rcfile>
<executable>siproxd</executable>
</service>
</installedpackages>
<revision>
<description>No shaper items picked, unsetting shaper configuration</description>
<time>1256159252</time>
</revision>
<rrd>
<enable/>
</rrd>
<ezshaper>
<step2>
<inside_int>lan</inside_int>
<download>7100</download>
<outside_int>wan</outside_int>
<upload>768</upload>
</step2>
<step3>
<provider>Asterisk</provider>
<address/>
<bandwidth>32</bandwidth>
</step3>
<step4>
<address/>
<bandwidthup/>
<bandwidthdown/>
</step4>
<step5>
<bandwidthup/>
<bandwidthdown/>
</step5>
<step7>
<msrdp/>
<vnc/>
<appleremotedesktop/>
<pcanywhere/>
<irc/>
<jabber/>
<icq/>
<aolinstantmessenger/>
<msnmessenger/>
<teamspeak/>
<pptp/>
<ipsec/>
<streamingmp3/>
<rtsp/>
<http/>
<smtp/>
<pop3/>
<imap/>
<lotusnotes/>
<dns/>
<icmp/>
<smb/>
<snmp/>
<mysqlserver/>
<nntp/>
<cvsup/>
</step7>
</ezshaper>
<shaper>
</shaper>
</pfsense>

Navigating the Cloud

October 10th, 2009

In the past six months, we’ve unplugged 17 physical servers. That’s right, turned them off. What were we using them for?

Backup. DNS. FTP. Web Servers. Monitoring Systems. Email. Spam filtering. File Services. The list goes on.

While we still have some of this in house, it was helpful to reduce our electronic footprint by going to datacenters and to mostly cloud based services.

What is a cloud? I have a hard time explaining this. We use a PC endpoint security system that is delivered completely via the Internet. That provider does this via a distributed parallel computing system connected to the Internet and is worldwide. Is it cloud based? Yes, since it is everywhere at the same time. Is their application written and an application and OS-less? No. So it is cloud “friendly” but is not a complete cloud based system.

We have some VMWARE systems at a few datacenters. These are GUEST OS’s running on top of hardware that may not actually have a running OS, but since the GUEST is a full OS, it is not “cloud based” but is connected in a way that allows us to move the image from one part of the country to another and crank it back up. So it is “cloud friendly” too. Still not a completely cloud based system.

Two VERY GOOD EXAMPLES of cloud based system:

1. Google Apps – Third Party developers write applications to Google’s API and connect to Google. These API’s can run AT GOOGLE in their cloud, so no hardware is necessary, nor a full OS.

2. Amazon – Amazon’s Storage and S3 products are the same way. You can attach to them with many different 3rd party software. Our Windows Server customers use a subscription plan to backup their data to Amazon and get billed directly from them.

Why is Cloud based the way to go? We’re not saying it is, but we’ve reduced our internal operating costs by over 80% across the board. We no longer maintain 17 different pieces of hardware,  reduced our power bill, become much more distributed in the event of a disaster, and plays very nicely into our distater recovery planning for ourselves and for customers.

We haven’t factored the reduced labor maintenance costs yet. We already know the contrast is stark!

Unread messages in GMAIL

September 30th, 2009

Using filters in GMAIL is very powerful. For example, taking all the email from a specific email address or domain, applying a label and skipping the inbox gives you an automated sort of incoming mail, JUST LIKE rule based processing on say, an Exchange server.

While some filters are telling the new mail to skip the inbox, and maybe other filters do not skip the inbox, it means your unread mail is in multiple places. The workaround?

Add a labs feature called “quick links”, then after this is added type “label:unread” in the search window for your mail and let it find your unread messages (note: this will not search the Spam” label). Now that you have this view up, click the “add quick link” text under “Quick Links” and give it a name, like “Unread Messages”, then click “OK”.

Now you can see any unread email at once. I did this to clean up a customer who has “thousands” of unread messages. It’s interesting to note that when you do a “select all” there is an option to not select only the 20 or 50 messages showing is selected, but you also have an option to select “all” for that label. This same “select all” function as a search does the same thing, meaning it instinctively selects “ALL” since the search parameter already found “ALL”.  So even though it does not prompt you for the “do you want to select all 1679 items”, it actually already is and might only tell you “select hundreds” because it won;t actually give you an indication of exactly how many it matched the result against.

sipXecs 4.02 shipped, added Skype for SIP (beta)

September 28th, 2009

That’s right, now you can use Skype for business as a gateway type in sipXecs 4.02. What does this mean? We’re not exactly sure as we have not navigated the whole Skype thing yet.  We simply have not had time to see how reliable their platform is, and whether their call detail systems are business worthy, etc.  Stay tuned. If sipXecs only had a GoogleTalk gateway.

http://www.skype.com/business/products/pbx-systems/sip/

Chrome and User Scripts

September 28th, 2009

We’re still toying of getting a way to run user scripts in Chrome. It can be done, but the preferred function we want is to play WAV files via an embedded player in Gmail (Vonage, Voipo, sipXecs, etc.).

The current usable script for Firefox would have to be rewritten because some of the functions called in the firefox script are not allowed in the chrome port due to security restrictions.