Network Rebuild

Well, since I've told you about the WiFi Upgrade, More Network Woes, and then the Network Progress, I felt that it would be appropriate to provide you an update with where the network as gone to where stands right now as a result of all of this turmoil. I also truly hope that this will be where my network status remains for some time to come.


To start things off, I'm going to show you what my network looks like now. Then I will explain how and why it got to be this way. As I am pretty sure you've noticed, it looks considerably different from where things started before the lightning stuck my network.

The first couple things that should jump out at you is that my WiFi router is now directly connected to the cable modem and my phone adapter is in a DMZ. Yes, DMZ stands for Demilitarized Zone; networking has one of these also. Anyway, these two devices have swapped places because of an issue I encountered immediately following the installation of the new phone adapter.

As soon as I got my new adapter, I knew I had killed WAY too many peak time cell phone minutes, so I was quite excited about getting it up and running ASAP. After all was said and done, I had gone over 215 minutes OVER my calling plan for the month. But I digress, once the new adapter was put into place at the head of my network, in the old location, I started to experience issues. These issues were that my VPN connection to work would not remain stable. I thought I was having issues with my Internet connection. So, I dealt with it for a while. However, when I was done working, I was still having the same issue with my other computer w/o a VPN connection. Therefore, troubleshooting started. I rebooted my entire network. Unfortunately, this didn't fix a damn thing.

Later, I decided that I needed to see if I could find log files on one of my network devices to determine what was happening. Was this issue in my network or in my connection. Well, this new phone adapter device is drastically different, in a good way, from that of the Linksys device that was replaced. One of the unique values that are readily displayed on the status screen within the admin module for the device is its up-time. This up-time value was very telling. Every time I would experience an issue with my Internet connection and I would look at the up-time value for this device, it would tell me it in seconds.

This was obviously what identified this as the issue. Because of the successful identification of the issue, I called my service provider, Teleblend. I am not going to tell you all of the details associated with my experience with their tech support. That could be a rant all of its own. What I will tell you is that they were less than useful. Thankfully I am not a typical service provider. I took matters into my own hands. I moved this device from being the first stop in my network to being within my network. This move is where the DMZ came from. In order to ensure all of the SIP protocol communication reached this device, DMZ was the answer. With a DMZ, any inbound communication requests will do to an assigned location if the requests were not already being forwarded to a different device. Therefore, there wasn't a functional difference between how the device would be working whether it was first or second on the network. Therefore, using the DMZ allowed me to maintain a stable Internet connection AND utilize my VoIP service.

Once you get past the swap in location of the WiFi router and the phone adapter, the next thing you may notice is that there is a new device in the diagram. Well, you might think that, but not really. The network switch included in the new diagram was present in the old configuration. Just this time I felt like documenting it. You might be asking, with 2 routers with 4 port switches with a combined total of 7 ports on the network already, what do I need another switch for. Well, the answer is simple. There is only one CAT-5 drop in my office and I currently have 2 computers in there. Although, I haven't touched the second machine in a couple of weeks and should be returned to USBank shortly, but that depends on them. I have requested the shipping materials, labels, and so forth and have yet to receive them. Until that point, I will keep it up while I still have it. Therefore, to keep both machines up in the office, I have added the switch.

One additional change you may notice is the lack of DHCP addresses on two of the workstations. In my last network update, I mentioned that I was able to get the routers to play nicely with one another and using the wired router's WAN port. Well, this introduced a bit of a problem. I couldn't get the DHCP configuration to play nicely. I'd rather have the physical configuration that I want and deal with the software configuration manually. I have yet to put major effort into figuring out this DHCP issue and thus, the two workstations are currently static that are attached to this router.

In getting the two routers to play nicely, I had to set some static route points on the wifi router so it could acknowledge the wired network. On the wired router, I had to disable NAT (Network Address Translation). Google it if you are that interested. However, even when I had the wired router's DHCP server enabled, the workstations would not pick it up. But, if I were to assign static IPs to the machines, they started working just peachy. I don't know what the deal is, but for the time being, I'm not too worried about it. I don't foresee adding any new devices to the wired network any time soon anyway.

The last thing I completed, although it is likely pretty noticeable in the diagram, is the location of my server. I moved the server from being directly attached to the wifi router to being behind the voice adapter. The voice adapter is the DMZ after all. I felt that it only made sense that my external responding server should be there also. Ironically, moving the sever from one network segment to another was more difficult than it has any right to have been. Just like when I had to replace the NIC from the power surge, I had to do a bit of fighting to get this to work.

Before changing the IP in the server, I removed the port forwarding configuration in the WiFi router configuration. I then added the port forwarding to the phone adapter configuration. I left the server in its old location. The server reconfig was to be the last step so that hopefully, if I did it all correctly, it would just plug in and work. Well, in reconfiguring the server to be in different subnet, I initially reassigned the IP address, broadcast address, and local network. Once I completed this, restarted the network adapter and recabled the server into the LAN port of the phone adapter. I expected it work.

Of course, this was asking too much. In attempt to identify where the configuration was lying, I moved the switch to be behind the network adapter and cabled in my laptop. I have Apache installed on my laptop, so the standard tests to see if the network was prepared properly would apply to port 80. Well, to my surprise, it worked on the first try. Additionally, my laptop was able to communicate to the server with the ability to pull the website and SSH for remote access to the server. Therefore, my webserver hosting issues were not network device related. However, with all of the issues I've encountered along the way, I couldn't get the possibility of a network issue out of my head. I was so stumped as to what the issue could have been, I called Exile for assistance. He agreed it was a network related issue, but in the server network configuration, not the external network devices. He recommended that I research how IPTables as configured against this NIC.

Once I pulled up a list of all of the firewall filters and took some time to review them seriously, I was unable to identify any rules that would be causing my server to not respond to my requests. I then spent a ton of time searching for where the IPTables log information was being stored, but was unsuccessful. As it turns out, it wasn't relevant anyway. During my Google search, I came across a forum post that referenced the routes file in the same location as ifcfg-eth1 file. Well, this was the key. Once I opened this file, I realized immediately what this file contained. With all of the configuration settings stored in the ifcfg-eth1 file, the Default Gateway was not defined in there. Since I was moving the server from 172.16.2.0 to 172.16.4.0, the Default Gateway needed to be changed. So, as you can guess, once I made this configuration modification everything just popped in. Isn't networking and system administration fun?

In conclusion, if I set up the DMZ and server correctly (which I'm not sure I did or can readily prove), this should isolate my server from the rest of my network. For example, I am unable to access the server from my laptop by its local IP for SSH. In order to talk to my server over SSH, I must access my network's public IP. However, I can pull the server's website up via its local IP. I think this is a good indicator that I might be close at least. Therefore, if my DMZ is hacked, the rest of my machines should be safe. However, since I can't access my UI on my Linux server with any useful results, I guess I won't know until I rebuild it, replace it, or put my network switch back into the same network as the server and see what I can do. This is not an invitation for a hacker to try. However, if anyone has any suggestions how to better isolate my DMZ from my internal network, I am all ears.

Later.

Edit: I am unable to access my server by its IP address from within my network. I discovered today that the browser caching the response. Therefore, the only way I am able to access the server is to traverse the external route that the general public uses.

Read More......

Update's on our rainfall

As I'm sure everyone has heard on the news about Fay. Pretty much the last of her rainfall came through the other day. I have yet to hear an update of where we are to date on lack of rain. After what we have received, I'm sure we are getting closer to where we need to be.

But, hearing on the news the other night we will be receiving more rain at the beginning of next week from this new hurricane Gustav (I'm hoping that is the proper name and spelling). Sounds like he is going to be a pretty big storm when he hits the U.S.

Now as I hear there is another storm behind Gustav named Hannah. After hearing this I know that we will be getting the rain that we needed to get out of this drought. After or during each of these storms I'll give you updates of how we fair.

Read More......

Driving Rant - The Drivers Utopia

The second installment in the rant is not so much a rant but it is a reflection on my favorite part of the drive from Pittsburgh to Atlanta and vice versa. There is a section of road in WV that is just fun to drive. By fun, I mean it is akin to a road course track. The road just continuously turns in a cutback fashion that is a real way to see where your driving skills are at and how your car handles.

When I'm driving this section of road, there is not a preference of driving north to south or south to north. If there is any preference, it would be on the drive north. This direction gives you a gradual introduction into the turns. You can slowly realize you are in this area. Conversely, during the drive to the south, you suddenly find yourself in the turns and they eventually fade out.

Please keep in mind, this area is not always fun or anywhere close to safe in which to screw around. The majority of driving in WV is in the mountains and is prone to bad weather. Snow, rain, and/or fog will really make this area more "fun" than it has any right to have. Although, if you catch this section when it is clear, day or night, you can put the pedal down and really challenge yourself and your car.

This segment of road that is so much fun is between mile marker 57 and 99 on I-79. However, this is not 42 miles of continuous twists and turns. I think that there are really three sections in this 42 mile stretch. When driving north, you will get on to I-79 from Route 19 at marker 57. From mile 57 to 69 the turns are gentle and are very spread out. During this 12 mile segment, you can slowly ramp up your speed and see what you are willing to handle. However, these turns are slightly more gentle than the ones in the later sections of this road. You may not even realize that you are here when you first get here. It isn't until you get into the second section that the frequency and tightness of the turns may catch your attention. From marker 69 through 79 you may begin to realize that the fun is approaching, but these still do not hold a candle to the best section of the road.

Mile marker 79 - 99 is just a constant barrage of turn after turn and hill after hill. These turns are not Indy car sharp, but for an over the road experience, I've yet to find better. I have been able to take these turns in a few different vehicles and I can say that you must pay attention to your car and what it has to tell you.

Before I get into the details of how I have fared while driving this section of highway, I have to explain my standards for this drive. This is exceptional important to discuss because I am not claiming that I've driven through this area the fastest. I have been passed through the main segment of these turns. However, because of the way the people who have passed me were driving, it made my life difficult. My standard is that brakes are not to be used. Only the throttle deceleration is acceptable to make this drive fluid. The people who have passed me through this section would enter the turns way too fast and slam on their brakes to keep their car on the road. I think this is poor a practice. While you are highway driving you are at the mercy of the other drivers on the road. Brake lights don't tell you how much they are braking. Brake lights alone don't tell you why they are braking. Particularly during night driving, they could have seen a cop or in these mountains, worse, a deer.

I feel that brakes should be reserved for very specific circumstances. I believe that the only reasons brakes should be used on the highway is in an emergency situation, to avoid an accident because of slower (not to mention ignorant) traffic, traffic jams, or police in the vicinity. Outside of that, you should maintain a speed that is easy to control and does not require braking into a turn. I understand that there are times when you enter a turn too quickly and have to brake. I'm not perfect, I've entered a turn too hot before and had to brake. However, the cars that I mentioned were braking into every turn, not just one here and there. They were obviously driving way too fast for the conditions.

So, you may be asking yourself, why I don't think braking into a turn is a good idea? Well, I will give you a simple answer. I like my car, my car is more expensive than I would like to pay to have fixed or replaced. If I don't have to brake into a turn, that tells me that I am in full control. When driving in the mountains, such as this segment of highway, conditions can change in a heartbeat. Therefore, if I am comfortable enough with my speed to not brake, then my car is stable enough to help me react to a change in condition more safely than if I were already braking. So, now that you know my standards, lets talk about what I've done.

I've driven an SUV through here and I could barely get to 80 and maintain it safely. The SUV had too high of a center of gravity to try to push it through the turn at a faster speed. Also, the SUV was not mine and I had only as much experience driving it from Pittsburgh to this point of the highway; all highway driving. Not to mention, this vehicle was not built for speed and I acknowledge that. This truck was for comfort and it did that well, just don't ask it to perform like a car because it won't.

I've driven a Hyndai Elantra through here and was pleasantly surprised. It was not too difficult to push the car to doing 90 through here. However, Angel didn't like me pushing her car that fast through the turns (and I'm sure being on the phone didn't help that opinion much either). But I was certainly pleasantly surprised how it handled. However, I think that 90 was about as fast as I could have gone comfortably.

I've driven my current car, Chrysler Sebring convertible several times through this exhilarating gauntlet. I throttle myself to drive it at 90, though, I could go faster. With all of my fearlessness, driving through here faster than 90 just seems reckless. Yeah, I realize that going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit is reckless already, but to push things further would put my life and well being at additional risk.

The first time I made the trip north through this section in the Sebring, I was very surprised. Since this is the first front wheeled drive vehicle I have ever owned, I thought that with certainty that this car would act differently through these turns. I thought I would loose the feeling of the rear of the car. Therefore, I thought I would loose the ability to enjoy the twists and turns like I had before. Well, I was quickly proven wrong when I decided to test myself at this point in the drive. I started out pretty reserved; getting the feel of the car and the road in the earlier sections. I was quick to learn that the feeling of the car on the road was very similar to that which I was used to in my rear wheel cars. This gave me the confidence to push it a bit harder. I think this first time through these turns I may have pushed the envelope to the vicinity of 95. It was so exhilarating and additional confirmation that I did buy the right car for me.

The only other vehicle that I have driven through this area was my 96 T-bird. To date, this has been the gold standard of a vehicle for me to enjoy through here. I could sustain 90 easily through here, yet I doubt that I ever pushed it more than just peaking out at 100. Please keep in mind that triple digits for me is not common.

So, let me put this driving experience into comparison with some other areas that may be a bit more well known.

No, I can't provide an accurate comparison to Mulholland Drive in California. I have never had the opportunity to be on the road regardless of the chance to drive it. The only reason that I know anything about this road and its racing history is due to "Street Rod 2" It had a race over the road in question. However, I have come to learn that the road in the game was not a representation of the road in real life. I guess that isn't a big deal, knowing the name is what was more important from my perspective.

However, for you Pittsburghers (which most of you are), there is a road that I can make a small comparison against. Baldwin Road is very much a fun road to take, particularly in the ascending direction from Rt. 60. I find the uphill to be more exhilarating and much less dangerous than the descending on this part. If I knew the road was closed and could afford the disaster that could result (personally and to my car) I might think about the downhill (but that will never happen). Furthermore, I think it is unreasonably dangerous. There are just way too many things that could go wrong in the tight turns and narrow road. Conversely, in the uphill direction, there is not as much that could go absolutely disastrously wrong. Going up, you are limited by the horsepower the car can contribute and the suspension to keep the car in the correct lane and the wonderful effects of gravity. The speed limit on this road is 35, and under any but the best of conditions is completely reasonable. Although, living in Pittsburgh for as long as I had, I've had plenty of good condition shots at this road.

So, what is so exciting about this 1/2 mile hill climb? Well, it is the tight and blind cutbacks that bring you to the crest of the hill. Of my cars that I've pushed up this hill, my fastest speed has been a sustained ~55 MPH. However, after doing that once, I didn't want to seriously try to match that pace. The adrenaline was pumping that day. That record was set with my '89 T-Bird SC. I haven't owned a car since that I could ever think of getting back up to that speed. The '96 T-Bird didn't have a chance because of the lack of the supercharger on the same engine as the '89 possessed. I have too much respect for my Sebring (well earned respect mind you) to try to tach out in any sort of attempt to compare with my personal record. Also, I think the horsepower to weight ratio is just wrong to put out some real competition with the SC on this hill. Yet, it will still allow me to comfortably pull ~45+ MPH around the bends.

If anyone else has any twisty or tricky roads to share, I'm all ears.

Read More......

Hockey - League Week #6

This will be a quickie. This past weekend was a bye week for my team. Therefore, I didn't play and don't have any performance or injury reports this week. Next week is also a down week due to the holiday. I'll provide my next update in about 2 weeks.

Read More......

Much needed rainfall

In case you haven't read prior posts or maybe forgot. We have been slowly coming back from a severe drought since last summer. It was stated last year that the only way to recover from it was a tropical storm. Seems like it never fails that Florida gets hit every year with some kind of system. Even if it's not hurricane strength they always get hit with something. One would think that with being the next state up that we would benefit with the rain. Last year it seemed like there was a bubble over most of Georgia.

This summer we are much closer to being out of the drought but still behind on rainfall. Last I heard we were wavering around 12"(not a hundred percent sure when I saw an update last.) behind. Fay did hit Florida about a week ago or so. Last week we were keeping our fingers crossed in northern Georgia that the rain will make it up to us. Fortunately, the weather pattern wrapped herself through Alabama and back to us. So, for the past few days we've been getting rain.

Granted about half of the rain is just light rain but we need whatever we can get. This may not pull us completely out but she will help fill the lakes a little more.

I'm sure the amount of rainfall has been updated over the past few days but with the Olympics going on most of the news has been a big blur for me. I'm sure that most of you don't care but as soon as I hear an update with lack of rainfall I'll update everyone.

Read More......