To see the magnitude of the problem, go to download.com and check the user opinions of the software listed there.
Lets say you go to see the user opinions of Mailwasher Pro or Disruptor OL.
These programs integrate with Outlook Express and are very easy to configure.
Now half the people who gave these programs negative reviews did so because they couldn't fsking understand what to do.
Who's fault is it then? When they can't understand easy programs like Mailwasher or Disruptor then how do you expect them to figure out stuff in Linux?
For these dumb heads, there is nothing you can do.
Its a known fact that the easier a firewall is to install and configure, the more insecure it is.
A good firewall should be one where you need to configure many of the options yourself.
Is somebody going to tell that to the users of Zone Alarm which pretty much needs no configuration?
Linux is more secure because a lot of stuff is configurable.
Although it states doctoral, its "medical doctoral". That means that there are many universities like STFX( Antigonish, Nova Scotia) that not included because of the medical tag...
I don't get it. How is it going to sue linux users without showing them the code?
Companies that have been sued by SCO have bought their products from Red Hat or similar companies. This means, the responsibility actually falls on Red Hat and SuSe etc.
In essence SCO is suing Red Hat etc. But Red Hat and SuSe are already suing SCO, and so is IBM.
This means the companies, users using linux aree insulated because their case will not proceed until the above cases are solved.
the next time the terrorists want to strike the US, they will go after the power generation stations. This blackout just pointed out a big weak point in the nation's infrastructure. All they have to do is take out a 2 or 3 major power generating stations( eg. the Niagara hydroelectric) so that there is a major reversal of power and then blow up the some major transmission lines and stations.
Yes, planes might be harder to hijack but a tractor trailer filled with high powered explosives is more than enough for this kind of jobs.
Whatever city or cities are affected will be crippled for atleast 1-2 months.
Blackouts for 1-2 days in the summer is been bearable(it still has its costs though). Not in the fall or winter.
Seriously though, once the world starts to move to a IPv6 platform, then what will the corporations do with their non compatible routers and networking equipment?
Maybe companies in poorer countries could aquire it for their internal networking. Stuff like this is real costly right now.
I would love to see some real good networking stuff on ebay for cheap.
Please keep your overly hippie comments to yourself. We are talking about gatherings in private spaces, not anything like the bitch rant you have about.
It won't make sense to you so forget it. All you need is an oppurtunity to talk about all shit and drag ashcroft and what not to spice up your post.
Dont bother replying to this, your now on my foes list. Hehe.
If those addresses are valuable to you, I could
probably sell you a book or two full of them. I'll even throw in the phone
numbers for free!
You sir IMHO are the one who is stupid. Addresses+SSN's are very valuable.
Please take a look at search page google serves up on identity theft.
Google/Google
news.
The parent post is absolutely right about the data people leave behind.
Ok. Lets figure this out. Say you have the SSN's and the addresses of some
people. What is there to stop you from opening a bank account in their name? If
they do not have an account in say Bank of America or Harris Bank but do have
one at Wells Fargo, then do you think the teller of BOA is going to check if the
signatures match with WF?
If you are a victim of identity theft, then it takes an average of 1 year to
clear the matter. You have to spend a lot of time and money clearing your name
and goodwill etc.
Melamine Foam Sound Proofing for the Computer Case
If you have a noisy computer you know how annoying it can be after just a few minutes. I usually spend my time on the computer with a pair of headphones on just so I can escape the noise of the three or four cooling fans rattling around inside my computers' case.
If I had a big enough desk I would have kicked the case to the back and pilled on a few errant sweaters to deaden the sound, but since I don't, a good pair of headphones are the next best thing.
Obviously this isn't really a solution to the problem of computer noise, so I began looking into ways of quieting the computer. In a perfect world, my computer would be absolutely silent. Since we are often forced to deal with reality, the best we can hope for is a very low noise signature.
To accomplish the task of quieting down my computer there are basically three options. The first is to replace all the components with lower-end versions that don't need active cooling, or require as much of it. This isn't going to happen anytime soon, and so the next best thing would be to replace all my expensive cooling hardware with other gear, either designed to be much quieter and with the same level of performance, or which is silent and performs pretty poorly in comparison. This is pretty easy to do, and could take away much of the noise my computer creates, but I wanted to try something else first.
Finally, the last option is to insulate the case against noise. Given the small amount of space a computer case offers users to play around with, this is the most challenging option. If you do your research and pick the right materials it's an easy way to knock several decibels off the amount of noise a computer creates.
How to Make a Computer Quieter?
After hunting around for a manufacturer which offered some kind of sound proofing product for computers the only one I could find was Akasa's PaxMate. Unfortunately none of the retailers around here carry this product so I can't tell you how well it works yet. I stumbled upon a few Japanese companies which made various type of sound absorbing materials specifically for the computer, but again, there was no where to buy them.
As the sound eminating from my Antex SX1030B grew more and more irritating I decided to forgo the store bought stuff and see what the world of industrial sound absorbing materials could offer.
My only two criteria for sound proofing the Antec case were that the sound absorbing material would have to be less than 3/4" thick, and not too expensive. With constraints like that, more than half of the commercially available sound absorbing foams and pads were out of the question. Many of them were hundreds of dollars a sheet, and 3"-6" thick.
Industrial Melamine foam for a quieter computer?
(photo)A close up shot of the Melamine Foam. Measuring 8.5mm thick, this soft foam is coated on each side with a stiff fiberglass fleece which resists bending. The soft foam can be compressed, and will spring back to shape. Some 'Melamine Foam Sound Absorbing Ceiling Tiles' I stumbled upon caught my eye because it had a listed NRC value of 0.95, (where 1.0 is the most sound absorbing you can get), was just 1/2" thick, and was reasonably priced for a good-sized sheet (see blue box at right for where to get this material). The trade name of this product is reportedly 'Whiteline', and it's made by Illbruck GmbH.
NRC stands for Noise Reduction Coefficient, and it is a number which ranges from 0.01 to 1.0, representing the average amount of sound absorbed by a material. Materials are tested in a sound lab at 200Hz, 500Hz, 1000Hz, and 2000Hz for their sound absorbing properties, and the average of all those results is the NRC number. Different materials absorb different frequencies of sounds differently, so the NRC number offers a common way to draw comparisons.
In any case, the Melamine Foam appeared to be a good sound absorber, and didn't seem to have too much of a thermal insulati
35922 Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 116 / Tuesday, June 17, 2003 / Notices Dated: June 12, 2003. D. L. Gamberoni, Technical Coordinator, Office of the Secretary.
POSTAL SERVICE In-Person Proofing at Post Offices (IPP) Program
AGENCY: U. S. Postal Service. ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The USPS is announcing the availability of an In-Person Proofing at Post Offices (IPP) Program to support the activities of U. S. Certificate Authorities and government organizations. EFFECTIVE DATE: June 9, 2003. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chuck Chamberlain at 703Ð 292Ð 4172, or Brad Reck at 703Ð 292Ð 3530
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent years, a number of new federal statutes have sought to preserve the ability of the public and private sectors to use the efficiency of the internet to rapidly exchange time sensitive communications while assuring that people receiving and sending messages are in fact who they say they are. A number of top quality private sector businesses have mastered the technology around the use of secure digital signatures, yielding a greater demand for improved identity verification for individuals seeking to use digital signatures. This need for improved '' online identity'' creates a unique service opportunity for the Postal Service to provide value to the public, leverage our retail network and enable internet communications to enjoy a new level of security and reliability. Numerous organizations have approached the U. S. Postal Service to conduct In-Person Proofing (IPP) of customers nationwide for physically authenticating an individual's identification at a post office before the organization issues a digital signature certificate to the individual. IPP supports efficient, affordable, trusted communications through the use of identification verification at Post Offices, incorporation of process enhancements required by the Postal Service, active management of the IPP program by the USPS, and use of a First Class U. S. Mail piece to verify physical addresses of applicants. We believe that IPP conducted at local post offices will create a new broad based capability for the Nation that promotes improved public trust and greater efficiency in the electronic delivery of a wide range of services. These efforts support achieving the goals of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998, Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 and numerous Presidential Directives on eGovernment. The following is a brief description of how IPP would work. An organization can establish a relationship with a qualified U. S. Certificate Authority to integrate digital signing with improved identity verification into an online application. Any individual desiring to use digital certificates that include USPS IPP will complete an application online. The online system will verify the individual's identity via commercial data base checking. The system will then produce a standard Postal Service form to be printed out at the '' applicant's'' personal computer. The individual requesting the service will present this form to a participating post office where the '' In Person Proofing'' process is conducted. After successful completion of the IPP event, the CA will notify the applicant to download their digital certificate. For clarity, the steps in the IPP process are outlined below.
1.0 DESCRIPTION 1.1 Purpose IPP is a postal program to improve the public key infrastructure of the Nation.
The public key infrastructure has emerged as an accepted infrastructure component for protecting and facilitating the electronic communications of the Nation. 2.0 BASIC STANDARDS 2.1 Eligib
Installing, Running and Maintaining Large Linux Clusters at CERN
Vladimir Bahyl, Benjamin Chardi, Jan van Eldik, Ulrich Fuchs, Thorsten Kleinwort, Martin Murth, Tim Smith CERN, European Laboratory for Particle Physics, Geneva, Switzerland
Having built up Linux clusters to more than 1000 nodes over the past five years, we already have practical experience confronting some of the LHC scale computing challenges: scalability, automation, hardware diversity, security, and rolling OS upgrades. This paper describes the tools and processes we have implemented, working in close collaboration with the EDG project [1], especially with the WP4 subtask, to improve the manageability of our clusters, in particular in the areas of system installation, configuration, and monitoring. In addition to the purely technical issues, providing shared interactive and batch services which can adapt to meet the diverse and changing requirements of our users is a significant challenge. We describe the developments and tuning that we have introduced on our LSF based systems to maximise both responsiveness to users and overall system utilisation. Finally, this paper will describe the problems we are facing in enlarging our heterogeneous Linux clusters, the progress we have made in dealing with the current issues and the steps we are taking to 'gridify' the clusters 1. INTRODUCTION The LHC era is getting closer, and with it the challenge of installing, running and maintaining thousands of computers in the CERN Computer Centre. In preparation, we have streamlined our facilities by decommissioning most of the RISC hardware, and by merging the dedicated and slightly different experiment Linux clusters into two general purpose ones (one interactive, one batch), as reported at the last CHEP[ 2]. Quite some progress has been made since then in the automation and management of clusters. The EU DataGrid Project (EDG), and in particular the WP4 subtask[ 3], has entered its third and final year and we can already benefit from the software for farm management being delivered by them. See [4] for further details. In addition, the LHC Computing Grid project (LCG)[ 5] has been launched at CERN to build a practical Grid to address the computing needs of the LHC experiments, and to build up the combined LHC Tier 0/ Tier 1 center at CERN. In preparing for the LHC, we are already managing more than 1000 Linux nodes of diverse hardware types, the differences arising due to the iterative acquisition cycles. In dealing with this high number of nodes, and especially when upgrading from one release version of Linux to another, we have reached the limits of our old tools for installation and maintenance. Development of these tools started more than ten years ago with an initial focus on unifying the environment presented to both users and administrators across small scale RISC workstation clusters from different vendors, each of which used a different flavour of Unix[ 6]. These tools have now been replaced by new tools, taken either from Linux itself, like the installation tool Kickstart from RedHat Linux or the RPM package format, or rewritten using the perspective of the EDG and LCG, to address large scale farms using just one operating system: Linux. This paper will describe these tools in more detail and their contribution to the progress in improving the installation and manageability of our clusters. In addition, we will describe improvements in the batch sharing and scheduling we have made through configuration of our batch scheduler, LSF from Platform Computing[ 7]. 2. CURRENT STATE In May last year, the Linux support Team at CERN certified RedHat Linux 7. This certification involved the porting of experiment, commercial and administration software to the new version and verifying their correct operation. After the certification, we set up test clusters for interactive and batch computing with this new OS. This certification process took quite some consid
Slashdot Mirror
To see the magnitude of the problem, go to download.com and check the user opinions of the software listed there.
Lets say you go to see the user opinions of Mailwasher Pro or Disruptor OL.
These programs integrate with Outlook Express and are very easy to configure.
Now half the people who gave these programs negative reviews did so because they couldn't fsking understand what to do.
Who's fault is it then? When they can't understand easy programs like Mailwasher or Disruptor then how do you expect them to figure out stuff in Linux?
For these dumb heads, there is nothing you can do.
Its a known fact that the easier a firewall is to install and configure, the more insecure it is.
A good firewall should be one where you need to configure many of the options yourself.
Is somebody going to tell that to the users of Zone Alarm which pretty much needs no configuration?
Linux is more secure because a lot of stuff is configurable.
MontaVista swats back at SCO.
Although it states doctoral, its "medical doctoral". That means that there are many universities like STFX( Antigonish, Nova Scotia) that not included because of the medical tag...
When I read the headline "Worm vs. Worm Battle", nanotechnology came to mind. Now instead of people battling each other, worms will do it for us.
You know you've been slashdotted when your cockpit simulator crashes without even taking off.
You know you're not exercising your prostate gland enough when SCO stories on slashdot are more regular than your mastubatory sessions.
porno time...
I don't get it. How is it going to sue linux users without showing them the code?
Companies that have been sued by SCO have bought their products from Red Hat or similar companies. This means, the responsibility actually falls on Red Hat and SuSe etc.
In essence SCO is suing Red Hat etc.
But Red Hat and SuSe are already suing SCO, and so is IBM.
This means the companies, users using linux aree insulated because their case will not proceed until the above cases are solved.
That means SCO can kiss my ass.
the next time the terrorists want to strike the US, they will go after the power generation stations. This blackout just pointed out a big weak point in the nation's infrastructure.
All they have to do is take out a 2 or 3 major power generating stations( eg. the Niagara hydroelectric) so that there is a major reversal of power and then blow up the some major transmission lines and stations.
Yes, planes might be harder to hijack but a tractor trailer filled with high powered explosives is more than enough for this kind of jobs.
Whatever city or cities are affected will be crippled for atleast 1-2 months.
Blackouts for 1-2 days in the summer is been bearable(it still has its costs though). Not in the fall or winter.
future of SCO revealed..
microsoft's no.1 concern- linux
Hydroponics is NOT suitable for large scale agriculture.
You would think that companies like MS have to *rely* upon their credit ratings to deal with companies?
If they want something from some company and that company decides not to sell it, MS can buy that whole friggin company itself.
Credit ratings only matter when your a small or medium-small business.
How naive.
You can have mine too - 192.168.0.1/24.
Seriously though, once the world starts to move to a IPv6 platform, then what will the corporations do with their non compatible routers and networking equipment?
Maybe companies in poorer countries could aquire it for their internal networking. Stuff like this is real costly right now.
I would love to see some real good networking stuff on ebay for cheap.
Please go fuck yourselves for all I care. Shove that critical mass up your ass. Muahahahaha
Please keep your overly hippie comments to yourself. We are talking about gatherings in private spaces, not anything like the bitch rant you have about.
It won't make sense to you so forget it. All you need is an oppurtunity to talk about all shit and drag ashcroft and what not to spice up your post.
Dont bother replying to this, your now on my foes list. Hehe.
If those addresses are valuable to you, I could probably sell you a book or two full of them. I'll even throw in the phone numbers for free!
You sir IMHO are the one who is stupid. Addresses+SSN's are very valuable.
Please take a look at search page google serves up on identity theft. Google/Google news.
The parent post is absolutely right about the data people leave behind.
Ok. Lets figure this out. Say you have the SSN's and the addresses of some people. What is there to stop you from opening a bank account in their name? If they do not have an account in say Bank of America or Harris Bank but do have one at Wells Fargo, then do you think the teller of BOA is going to check if the signatures match with WF?
If you are a victim of identity theft, then it takes an average of 1 year to clear the matter. You have to spend a lot of time and money clearing your name and goodwill etc.
Cache
Melamine Foam Sound Proofing for the Computer Case
If you have a noisy computer you know how annoying it can be after just a few minutes. I usually spend my time on the computer with a pair of headphones on just so I can escape the noise of the three or four cooling fans rattling around inside my computers' case.
If I had a big enough desk I would have kicked the case to the back and pilled on a few errant sweaters to deaden the sound, but since I don't, a good pair of headphones are the next best thing.
Obviously this isn't really a solution to the problem of computer noise, so I began looking into ways of quieting the computer. In a perfect world, my computer would be absolutely silent. Since we are often forced to deal with reality, the best we can hope for is a very low noise signature.
To accomplish the task of quieting down my computer there are basically three options. The first is to replace all the components with lower-end versions that don't need active cooling, or require as much of it. This isn't going to happen anytime soon, and so the next best thing would be to replace all my expensive cooling hardware with other gear, either designed to be much quieter and with the same level of performance, or which is silent and performs pretty poorly in comparison. This is pretty easy to do, and could take away much of the noise my computer creates, but I wanted to try something else first.
Finally, the last option is to insulate the case against noise. Given the small amount of space a computer case offers users to play around with, this is the most challenging option. If you do your research and pick the right materials it's an easy way to knock several decibels off the amount of noise a computer creates.
How to Make a Computer Quieter?
After hunting around for a manufacturer which offered some kind of sound proofing product for computers the only one I could find was Akasa's PaxMate. Unfortunately none of the retailers around here carry this product so I can't tell you how well it works yet. I stumbled upon a few Japanese companies which made various type of sound absorbing materials specifically for the computer, but again, there was no where to buy them.
As the sound eminating from my Antex SX1030B grew more and more irritating I decided to forgo the store bought stuff and see what the world of industrial sound absorbing materials could offer.
My only two criteria for sound proofing the Antec case were that the sound absorbing material would have to be less than 3/4" thick, and not too expensive. With constraints like that, more than half of the commercially available sound absorbing foams and pads were out of the question. Many of them were hundreds of dollars a sheet, and 3"-6" thick.
Industrial Melamine foam for a quieter computer?
(photo)A close up shot of the Melamine Foam. Measuring 8.5mm thick, this soft foam is coated on each side with a stiff fiberglass fleece which resists bending. The soft foam can be compressed, and will spring back to shape.
Some 'Melamine Foam Sound Absorbing Ceiling Tiles' I stumbled upon caught my eye because it had a listed NRC value of 0.95, (where 1.0 is the most sound absorbing you can get), was just 1/2" thick, and was reasonably priced for a good-sized sheet (see blue box at right for where to get this material). The trade name of this product is reportedly 'Whiteline', and it's made by Illbruck GmbH.
NRC stands for Noise Reduction Coefficient, and it is a number which ranges from 0.01 to 1.0, representing the average amount of sound absorbed by a material. Materials are tested in a sound lab at 200Hz, 500Hz, 1000Hz, and 2000Hz for their sound absorbing properties, and the average of all those results is the NRC number. Different materials absorb different frequencies of sounds differently, so the NRC number offers a common way to draw comparisons.
In any case, the Melamine Foam appeared to be a good sound absorber, and didn't seem to have too much of a thermal insulati
35922 Federal Register / Vol. 68, No. 116 / Tuesday, June 17, 2003 / Notices
Dated: June 12, 2003.
D. L. Gamberoni,
Technical Coordinator, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03Ð 15347 Filed 6Ð 13Ð 03; 11: 53 am]
BILLING CODE 7590 01 M
POSTAL SERVICE
In-Person Proofing at Post Offices (IPP) Program
AGENCY: U. S. Postal Service.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The USPS is announcing the
availability of an In-Person Proofing at Post Offices (IPP) Program to support
the activities of U. S. Certificate Authorities and government
organizations.
EFFECTIVE DATE: June 9, 2003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chuck Chamberlain at 703Ð 292Ð 4172, or Brad Reck at 703Ð 292Ð 3530
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In recent years, a number of new federal statutes have sought to preserve the ability of the public and private sectors to use the efficiency of the internet to rapidly exchange time sensitive communications while assuring that
people receiving and sending messages are in fact who they say they are. A
number of top quality private sector businesses have mastered the
technology around the use of secure digital signatures, yielding a greater
demand for improved identity verification for individuals seeking to
use digital signatures. This need for improved '' online
identity'' creates a unique service opportunity for the Postal Service to
provide value to the public, leverage our retail network and enable internet
communications to enjoy a new level of security and reliability. Numerous
organizations have approached the U. S. Postal Service to conduct In-Person
Proofing (IPP) of customers nationwide for physically authenticating an
individual's identification at a post office before the organization issues a
digital signature certificate to the individual.
IPP supports efficient, affordable, trusted communications through the use
of identification verification at Post Offices, incorporation of process
enhancements required by the Postal Service, active management of the IPP
program by the USPS, and use of a First Class U. S. Mail piece to verify physical
addresses of applicants. We believe that IPP conducted at local post offices will
create a new broad based capability for the Nation that promotes improved public trust and greater efficiency in the
electronic delivery of a wide range of services. These efforts support achieving
the goals of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998, Electronic
Signature in Global and National Commerce Act of 2000, Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002, and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 and numerous
Presidential Directives on eGovernment. The following is a brief description of
how IPP would work. An organization can establish a relationship with a
qualified U. S. Certificate Authority to integrate digital signing with improved
identity verification into an online application. Any individual desiring to
use digital certificates that include USPS IPP will complete an application
online. The online system will verify the individual's identity via commercial
data base checking. The system will then produce a standard Postal Service
form to be printed out at the '' applicant's'' personal computer. The
individual requesting the service will present this form to a participating post
office where the '' In Person Proofing'' process is conducted. After successful
completion of the IPP event, the CA will notify the applicant to download their
digital certificate. For clarity, the steps in the IPP process are outlined below.
1.0 DESCRIPTION
1.1 Purpose
IPP is a postal program to improve the public key infrastructure of the Nation.
The public key infrastructure has emerged as an accepted infrastructure
component for protecting and facilitating the electronic
communications of the Nation.
2.0 BASIC STANDARDS
2.1 Eligib
The USPTO needs a patent for itself.
What's the patent about?
All our brains are not belong to us.
somebody actually beat amazon.com to a patent?!
I bet there's an earthquake occuring somewhere.
now we only need to find one who is good at dupes.
It has "USB (2.0) x 4, Ethernet Port x 2, PS/2 x 4, VGA x 2".
4 USB ports are fine..
but 2 ethernet ports - proxy server??,
4 ps/2 ports - 1 mouse, 1 keyboard, rest??
2 vga ports - ?!
I haven't heard of a weirder configuration than this before.
So that they can survive a slashdotting? ;)
Installing, Running and Maintaining Large Linux Clusters at CERN
Vladimir Bahyl, Benjamin Chardi, Jan van Eldik, Ulrich Fuchs, Thorsten Kleinwort, Martin Murth, Tim
Smith CERN, European Laboratory for Particle Physics, Geneva, Switzerland
Having built up Linux clusters to more than 1000 nodes over the past five years, we already have practical experience confronting some of the LHC scale computing challenges: scalability, automation, hardware diversity, security, and rolling OS
upgrades. This paper describes the tools and processes we have implemented, working in close collaboration with the EDG project [1], especially with the WP4 subtask, to improve the manageability of our clusters, in particular in the areas of system
installation, configuration, and monitoring.
In addition to the purely technical issues, providing shared interactive and batch services which can adapt to meet the diverse and changing requirements of our users is a significant challenge. We describe the developments and tuning that we have
introduced on our LSF based systems to maximise both responsiveness to users and overall system utilisation.
Finally, this paper will describe the problems we are facing in enlarging our heterogeneous Linux clusters, the progress we have made in dealing with the current issues and the steps we are taking to 'gridify' the clusters
1. INTRODUCTION
The LHC era is getting closer, and with it the challenge of installing, running and maintaining thousands of
computers in the CERN Computer Centre. In preparation, we have streamlined our facilities by
decommissioning most of the RISC hardware, and by merging the dedicated and slightly different experiment
Linux clusters into two general purpose ones (one interactive, one batch), as reported at the last CHEP[ 2].
Quite some progress has been made since then in the automation and management of clusters. The EU DataGrid
Project (EDG), and in particular the WP4 subtask[ 3], has entered its third and final year and we can already benefit
from the software for farm management being delivered by them. See [4] for further details. In addition, the LHC
Computing Grid project (LCG)[ 5] has been launched at CERN to build a practical Grid to address the computing
needs of the LHC experiments, and to build up the combined LHC Tier 0/ Tier 1 center at CERN.
In preparing for the LHC, we are already managing more than 1000 Linux nodes of diverse hardware types,
the differences arising due to the iterative acquisition cycles. In dealing with this high number of nodes, and
especially when upgrading from one release version of Linux to another, we have reached the limits of our old
tools for installation and maintenance. Development of these tools started more than ten years ago with an initial
focus on unifying the environment presented to both users and administrators across small scale RISC workstation
clusters from different vendors, each of which used a different flavour of Unix[ 6]. These tools have now been
replaced by new tools, taken either from Linux itself, like the installation tool Kickstart from RedHat Linux or the
RPM package format, or rewritten using the perspective of the EDG and LCG, to address large scale farms using just
one operating system: Linux.
This paper will describe these tools in more detail and their contribution to the progress in improving the
installation and manageability of our clusters. In addition, we will describe improvements in the batch sharing and
scheduling we have made through configuration of our batch scheduler, LSF from Platform Computing[ 7].
2. CURRENT STATE
In May last year, the Linux support Team at CERN certified RedHat Linux 7. This certification involved the
porting of experiment, commercial and administration software to the new version and verifying their correct
operation. After the certification, we set up test clusters for interactive and batch computing with this new OS. This
certification process took quite some consid