Resources For Systems Architecture In An Apple Environment
I have been quite busy with my new job the past few months, but I hope to be back to a more active blogging starting with this post!
Since I've recently designed and implemented an HPC/HA system with mostly Apple technologies I thought to share some of the resources I used to achieve that goal.
Automating Os X Server Backups Without 3rd Party Software
There are plenty of different options to backup Os X Server, including free tools like the excellent Mike Bombich’s Carbon Copy Cloner and Open Source ones like lbackup or amanda. Michael Dhaliwal has a pretty good paper that he updates and publishes on his company (i.e. district13 computing) website.
For various reasons not worth listing here I decided to come with my own design while relying exclusively on built in tools (e.g. launchd). I thought this might help other OS X Server Admins so here it is.
Maximizing Os X Server Uptime
This is the first of 3 posts about the design I have implemented in my current position. Please note if you plan to use this as a reference that this setup was strictly meant for this particular environment so you *will* have to adapt it.
When it comes to uptime one of the way to go is to look at your design from Murphy’s perspective and come with the appropriate counter measure (e.g N+1 redundancy) for each different issue your can think of.
Here is my approach for an X Serve running Open Directory and AFP with a Vtrak Promise for User Data.
Is Metadata The Guide To Exploring The New World?
I have to admit I have been quite reluctant to leave the -virtual- security of having everything in its right place. First there was Unix and directories then came 2 alchemists and their magic algorithm aka Google Search...Make no mistake young reader less than a decade ago we were *all* fighting to keep *all* our digital files organized in a very studied folders structure.
Apple Software Updates In A Business Environment
There are many ways to deal with Apple Software Updates, here’s the one I’m currently using with the Mac pool (300+) I am in charge of.
1)Automate the download from the mother ships aka Apple servers back to my home planet aka my LAN and make the updates available.
Modify Default Printing Presets in Os X (10.5 & 10.6)
There you are with some customized printing presets for your fancy new printer and yet for some reason every time you open a new printing box the one showing up by default is not the want you wanted : 
fail
So you looked all over the OS, read some forums, used your Google-Fu and finally got to this post. Search no more the answer is here as seen on TV!
Network Bandwidth Testing At The Command Line
Whether when I’ve been designing networks for schools or BYOC parties , I’ve played with ethernet cables long 
enough to allow some custom tricks when it comes to bandwidth. The point of this post is *testing* not troubleshooting laaaaaaaaaag nor monitoring.
Nothing can truly emulate a bunch of hardcore gamers, leechers, hackers pushing your network to its limits but prior to opening your RJ45 gates you can certainly do some testing with the help of some command line tools and some basic scripting.
AppleScript to create a “ShowDesktop” shortcut
When I’m on Os X I often miss the “show desktop” shortcut icon you can easily get on Windows. 
Yes, there is the expose version but it doesn’t really work the same. My Google-fu showed few solutions (like clicking a visible piece of your desktop while holding option+command down) but none that I liked so here is my input.
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My Delicious
Blogs I Read
- All Commands
- Amazon Web Services Blog
- Cloud Scaling
- Danger Room @ Wired
- Dev2Ops
- IT @ Slash Dot
- Linux @ SlashDot
- Open Source @ Ars Technica
- Presentation Zen
- Robots.net
- Stay Safe Online
- Threat Level @ Wired
Books
Planned books:
- Lean IT by Steven C Bell, Michael A Orzen
Current books:
-
An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noise by John R. Pierce
-
Visible Ops by Kevin Behr,Gene Kim and George Spafford
Recent books:
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- Cybernetics, Second Edition: or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine by Norbert Wiener
- The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage by Clifford Stoll
- Apple Training Series: Xsan 2 Administration: A Guide to Designing, Deploying, and Maintaining Xsan by Robert Kite
- Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book) by Neal Stephenson
