Is it weird to say that DNS is my favorite protocol? Because DNS is my favorite protocol. There's something about the simplicity of UDP packets combined with the power of a service that the entire Internet relies on that grabs my interest. Through the years, I've been impressed with just how few resources you need to run a modest DNS infrastructure for an internal network. more>>

In my last article, we began an exploration of date math by validating a given date specified by the user, then explored how GNU date offers some slick math capabilities, but has some inherent limitations, the most notable of which is that it isn't on 100% of all Linux and UNIX systems. more>>

For some time now, there has been tremendous growth in the world of Web applications. It's quite amazing to see what you can do just via a Web browser—not only can you buy just about anything, but also a growing number of sites offer "software as a service", often abbreviated as SaaS. The idea is that in exchange for a monthly service fee, you get access to a service. more>>

I suspect there are as many Ubuntu-based Linux distributions as there are all other distributions combined. Many of them are designed with a specific purpose in mind. Whether the desire is for a different looking desktop, custom kernel or just pre-installed packages, there's probably a version of *buntu out there to fit every need. more>>

Years ago, I worked for an automotive IT provider, and occasionally we went out to the plants to search for rogue Wireless Access Points (WAPs). A rogue WAP is one that the company hasn't approved to be there. So if someone were to go and buy a wireless router, and plug it in to the network, that would be a rogue WAP. more>>

I use OS X quite often during my day job. I'm able to tolerate it largely due to the terminal. If I couldn't do my work with green text on a black background, I think I'd go crazy (or crazier). Unfortunately, OS X doesn't come with all the command-line tools I need. That's where Homebrew comes in to save the day. more>>

RAID is awesome, and LVM is incredibly powerful, but they add a layer of complexity to the underlying hard drives. Yes, that complexity comes with many benefits, but if you just want to spread your files across multiple storage locations, there's a much easier way. more>>

UBOS is a new Linux distro that I like for two reasons. One is that it works toward making it easy for muggles to set up their own fully independent personal home servers with little or no help from wizards. The other is that it comes from my friend Johannes Ernst. more>>

I think it was in the late 1990s, possibly into the 2000s, when it was common to put a cutesy graphic on the bottom of your Web page letting everyone know your site more>>

One of the most interesting trends in the computer world during the past few years has been the rapid growth of NoSQL databases. The term may be accurate, in that NoSQL databases don't use SQL in order to store and retrieve data, but that's about where the commonalities end. NoSQL databases range from key-value stores to columnar databases to document databases to graph databases. more>>

Silicon Mechanics, Inc. has announced the open submission period for its 4th annual Research Cluster Grant Program.  This competitive grant will award two complete high performance compute clusters to two institutions of higher education and research. The competition is open to all US and Canadian qualified post-secondary institutions, university-affiliated research institutions, non-profit research institutions, and researchers at federal labs with university affiliations.

more>>

The problem: you have a large team of admins, with a substantial turnover rate. Maybe contractors come and go. Maybe you have tiers of access, due to restrictions based on geography, admin level or even citizenship (as with some US government contracts). more>>

Two open source titans put their rings together and joined forces to announce that Red Hat Enterprise Linux v7.1 beta is now available on the IBM Power Development platform. Last month Red Hat announced that v7.i beta supported IBM Power Systems based on little endian mode. more>>

3-D printers are becoming popular tools, dropping in price and becoming available to almost everyone. They can be used to build parts that you can use around the house, but more and more, they also are being used to create instruments for scientific work. more>>

In past articles, I've discussed my BirdCam setup and how it automatically archives video footage from my bird feeders to YouTube every night. That's a really cool process, but unfortunately, it saturates my upstream bandwidth in the evening. more>>