why enterprise network monitoring tools important

In enterprise environment where service and network uptime is crucial in the daily operation, network managers requires uninterrupted monitoring tools to alert shift controllers.
Often tools are bought but are not fully used.
Among recommended tools are from Paessler (www.Paessler.com) , GFI and Opmanager.

Most elements depends on the snmp protocol to send the alarms and alert to the monitoring server.

to be continued...

Should you buy Checkpoint firewall?

I wouldn't be surprised to know that most of the telcos in Malaysia are running Checkpoint firewall in their data centres or even the UMTS network.
It's either the excellent marketing strategy made by the local partner/supplier/distributor or the proven capability of the firewall itself.
Firewalls are divided into 2 types, which is the software based and the 2nd would be the appliance.
In the early 90s, companies uses appliance firewall due to its effectiveness and faster thruput. Back then the firewall is just up to layer 3 filtering.
In todays environment, firewalls are evaluated based on their performance up to layer 7. That is how Checkpoint firewall differ with the rest of the firewalls in the market. Eventually most of the firewalls in the market today, claims that theirs are capable to run layer 7 fire walling.
Some of the points and advantages why I feel Checkpoint leading the market is;
1. ease of configuration via the smartdashboard
2. able to alert if there's duplication of rules or objects
3. ease of performing packet tracking based on current or past traffic.
4. sniffing made easier with fwmon
5. SPLAT(secure platform) friendly features
6. UMTS functionality for pdp context filtering

I've listed some that come across my mind and with the checkpoint community froup cpug in the net, the solution to most of the problems are easily made available.

The points above are based on my personal experience handling Cisco and Netscreen.

cheers..

Japanese humour from youtube

I found this clip funny.(just thought of sharing)Sometimes Japanese humor are creative, but most of the times they are a bit ridiculous.

Work! Work! work

It's been a while since my last post. Too many things happening with maid issue. I just can't believe how much Malaysian would spend to get good maid.
We'll, I've been changing maid 4 times in 2007.
It's a challenge of course, since your work, time and family is disturbed by some petty issues.
Other than maid, work of course is just another part of my daily task even when at home.
I have to live with it until I'm out of the around the clock kinda work. When no problem with the network, it's pretty ok. But when the fire started to build up, we are just the fighting the fire with fire. At this stage, experience came into play..'Only the know-how-&what-to do' people will survive the pressure and endurance.
Not necessary manuals are needed as they always say RTFM (read the f**kin manual)
I'm wondering how doctors deal with standby environment since they deal with human, and we(network support) deal with machines.
It's easy to blame the machine and kick them once we are sick and tired of their repeated problem, but can doctors do that?
Hmmm.. thank god I am no doctor. Me am cheap labor doing nite and day work :)
Just can't wait to be out of town vacation with family. (that of course if time permits)

Another you by CROMOK

Fisher Price recall its products purchased after May 2007

Being a parent whose son loves Sesame Street characters had us bought lots of fisher price Elmo toys and other non Sesame street products. It's a bit expensive, but I can tell you, the toys are durable and last longer than other normal toys.
If you bought any fisher price toys after May 2007, please visit this site http://service.mattel.com/us/recall/39054_IVR.asp?prod=

We have one in the list but we bought it before 2007 :)

I quote the site above;
'Fisher-Price Toys with Lead Paint Hazard Recall

Fisher-Price, in cooperation with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission is voluntarily recalling a limited number of Nickelodeon and Sesame Street painted toys produced by one specific contract manufacturer during a narrow timeframe. The recalled products were sold in retail stores nationwide since May 1, 2007. Paint on affected products contains lead in excess of permissible levels.

Lead is toxic if ingested and can cause adverse health effects. '

Commonly Used Linux Command

Sometimes, I do have problem remembering Linux commands when I'm on my console.
I will list the most common Linux commands and also specific for Checkpoint fw running on SPLAT(Secure Platform). It's a bit odd how they short form it to SPLAT :)
I'm not any GURU expert on Linux,, but just for the sake of sharing the infos.
Here goes a few:
ls -l (to list the files)
ls -lrt (list the files according the dates, the last line will be the latest file)
df -h (to view the size of the disks created, if the disk is 100% utilized, you might experienced some problem, especially if you are running the fw management server)
df -k (the same as above, instead of megabytes, it will show you the size in kilobytes)
netstat -rn (to show the routing table of your device)
ifconfig ( to show the list of available interfaces)
if your Linux has the tcpdump features, (i think most are pre-installed) the commands to sniff the packets on specific interface are as below;
# tcpdump -i -s 1500 net 10.200.1.0/24 -w /var/tmp/xxw.pcap
*the interface name is the interface sets on your device. If you want to filter based on the network address, you should put as above, if filter based on host, change it to 'host 10.200.1.1'. The -s 1500 indicate the normal 1500 size packet you want to capture. If you don't define 1500, the packets captured will show incomplete details.
-w is used to save the files to a specific folder. By defining the file extension with .pcap, you'd be able to double click the file to open it via ethereal.
trace route (to do normal trace route functions. In windows, you'll use tracert)
ping (to check the response of the destination server)
ssh (to ssh using a defined username)
grep command can be used at the end of the normal commands to grab specific name you wish to search for. Example, in your routing table, you wish the routing at your interface eth3. You'll use below commands;
netstat -rn | grep eth3
If you wish to display the routing table per page, use | more at the end of your command line. Example;
netstat -rn | more
ps -ef (to check the processes running and identify the process ids and also which are consuming the most RAM)
snmpd service stat (to check the status of the snmpd daemon)
I will add on more later..
For specific Checkpoint command line, the most commonly used are;
cphaprob stat ( to check the Checkpoint High Availability status)
cpstart ( to start the checkpoint application)
cpstop (to stop the checkpoint application)
sysconfig (to enter the network setting on the SPLAT machine)
cpconfig ( to enter the checkpoint setting)


more to add soon


new ones for Chechkpoint firewall

cplic print (print the license)


cpstat (to check cp stats)

cpstat -vs 3 fw -f policy (to check the stats on the firewall VID=3 based on the fw vsx)

other stats finding command lines

cpstat os -f all
cpstat os -f cpu
fw tab -s -t connections
fw ctl cpstat

Some Pictures taken at S'pore

Kids-Online games

I've learned that to avoid having your kids to play with your PC/notebook at home, it's best to let them occupied with 'online games' rated for toddler.(with supervision of course)
Give them the chance to move the mouse and the arrow keys on the console. My son started the online game when he knows Sesame Street. :) So we(the parents, of course) would be searching for Elmo characters on-line since he loves Elmo very much. When we bumped into Sesame Street online, guess what??, there's a link to the online game.. hurrayy!! (note that sometimes the link take longer time to reload)
There's a lot of characters to choose from, starting from the friendly Elmo till the grouchy Oscar :)
I prefer the mighty Super Groover.. :p
Then we started to search for other on-line games, to name a few which my son likes to watch on Astro are Bing and Bong, Bob the Builder, Pingu, etc.
You guys can also visit BBC kids(BBC-CBeebies) for a whole lots of online games and you can prints the characters for you kids to color.
You can find all the BBC kids characters here. http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/characters/

For school children, I would recommend FunBrain for a start.

Enjoy :)

Investment in Unit Trust

I've recently invested in Public Bank unit trust and prior to that, I was quite skeptical about the way the 'unit trust' provide the profit. However, after listening to my agent, the aggressive fund, not so aggressive, moderate, etc, I've decided to buy two funds which I hope can provide a good return in the long run.
I've had wanted to invest in PB Mutual, but didn't have the time and the money to do so.After postponing for few times (since the money quickly disappear from my pocket :) ), I've managed to dump the money into the Public Asia Ittikal Fund and Public Islamic Balanced Fund. A combination of an aggressive and a moderate fund.
It's easy to see the summary of the trust funds at this link http://www.publicmutual.com.my/

I am hoping to hear any unit trust which have proven to be a good investment, prudential, SSB, AMBG, etc.
Please share any :)
I've found this link that give me some understanding on unit trust investment and how to invest and spend wisely. www.irwan.biz

Firewall: Checkpoint vs Netscreen

I've been using Checkpoint firewall since 2002 and still using it now. I've also had hands on with Netscreen and Cisco Pix. Till now I still prefer to use Checkpoint (given the option, provided your company can spend extra money to pay for the expensive software subscription and also its platform maintenance warranty.
Of all platform I've been using, i.e, SUN SPLAT, Nokia, Resilience, HP/Rainwall, I prefer to use SUN SPLAT more. I think it's because easy to use, easy to trace the logs via smartview tracker and my server running MRTG can pick up the stats from the SUN servers well.
If budget is a constraint, then Pix firewall is a good choice :)
However, Netscreen provide an alternative to Checkpoint due to its scalability and functionality.
Pros using Checkpoint
1. Can configure the fw policy offline and execute the policy at a later stage during maintenance window.
2. Can track fw logs easily and filter based on ports, source, dst ip, and rules #.


Pros using Netscreen
1. It's a hardware appliance based and the process of firewalling is more faster.
2. Whatever being configured on the WEBGUI is pushed automatically. (this can be a cons)
Anybody want to share their experience?

my first new blog

I'm just starting this new blog for fun and see if I can make good use of it. Hopefully I can share some of my experience and also learn new things frm others on the net.
My first upload picture would be a picture of KLCC, taken at jln pinang.(i think it's jln pinang)