10 Reasons I Hate Server Name Changes

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There’s been a, um, heated discussion at my work about our current server naming standards. Personally I hate our naming scheme. However, a lot of people have become accustomed to it, and a lot of applications use the standards in their configurations, often to automate management. So when the idea of changing it came up again this week, the O.C.D. part of me was anxious to “fix” our naming. Then I realized just what that meant.

For those that can’t read my handwriting (with explanations):

#10. Time consuming to “fix” existing servers (must update files, DNS, monitoring, reboot, etc)
#9. Nobody is every happy (or rather, for every person you please you probably tick someone else off)
#8. This would be irrelevant if everyone used CNAMEs (’nuff said)
#7. Breaks bcfg setup (our config management system bases some configs on the hostname)
#6. Adds time to RH6 upgrade process (rather than an OS upgrade being transparent, now the owners need to update all their configs)
#5. Invariably will end up repeating this again later (this is the 3rd or 4th naming “standard”)
#4. Angers end-users (they need to update their configs, and notify everyone that depends on their apps – would be irrelevant if #8 didn’t apply)
#3. DCops must relabel everything (datacenter guys must label every server)
#2. Value? Makes us $0. Saves us $0.
*DRUMROLL*
#1. Must open 700 WOs for Windows to update DNS (my team does not have DNS rights, so we must open a request and coordinate each change).

If this doesn’t sound like a “make work” project, I don’t know what does.

Finding ECC memory errors on HP servers

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A little perl utility to help you find failing memory in HP servers.. This utility parses hpdiags output to report the value of the ECC memory error counters in the spd registers since the last boot. This utility will report errors even when memory prefailure notification (which would otherwise log these errors to the IML) is disabled in the BIOS. Note that a small number of corrected errors does not necessarily indicate a problem.

At a minimum it requires perl and the XML::Simple module. It will run hpdiags and parse the output, though you can pass it an existing hpdiags XML filename instead with the ‘-f’ option. The output or any errors looks like this:

[root@hpserver ~]# /tmp/hpdiags_ramcheck 
hpserver.domain.com:
    Product Number : 555555-001      
    Serial Number  : USE1234567
    Model          : HP ProLiant DL385 G6
    ROM            : A22 02/09/2010
        (1) Corrected single bit error(s) on DIMM 1
            SPS-DIMM 4GB PC2-6400 SDRAM DDR2 RDIMM  (P/N 501111-001)
        (7) Uncorrectable multibit error(s) on DIMM 2
            SPS-DIMM 4GB PC2-6400 SDRAM DDR2 RDIMM  (P/N 501111-001)

The Pompous Bill Smith

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Bill Smith, editor and publisher of the local “Evanston Now online newspaper and I had lengthy discussion today. It started when I commented on his article entitled Library Board Votes To Levy Own Tax.

My comment was summarily deleted because his interpretation of the statue that I cited differed from mine. When I pointed out that he was removing comments trying to start a civilized and informed discussion, he instead replied with a smug retort.

Incidentally, my original comment simply linked to the (quite lengthy) Illinois Local Library Act, and questioned how the unelected library board could decide to levy taxes when the act clearly stated that only the “corporate authorities” (the City Council) could do so, and only via voter referendum.

As Mr. Smith owns and operates the Evanston Now website, he’s free to remove any comments from his website he deems (un)fit, even if doing so is in direct conflict of his own Terms. Of course, I’m free to point out his journalism double-standard here.

Incidentally, I would have very much liked for another citizen “who can read” to “point out to [me] in public what [I was] unable to find in the statute”. After all, my complaint about the Library Board is not that there is a tax to pay for the library (though $366/year seems awfully steep), but that the Library Board has suddenly deemed itself a taxing authority.

What follows is my e-mail discussion with Mr. Smith:

>On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 9:44 AM,  wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Geoff,
>>>
>>> I've pulled your comments about the library funding dispute because you've
>>> missed the key provision of the statute, from the library board's
>>> perspective.
>>>
>>> The statute says at (75 ILCS 5/3-5) that the library board of trustees
>>> gets to specify the amount that the corporate authorities (the city council)
>>> "shall" levy -- the implication being that the city council has no
>>> discretion in the matter -- it must levy whatever the library board tells it
>>> to (within the caps set by the statute).
>>>
>>> Evanston for many years has used a different process -- in which the City
>>> Council determines what the library's budget will be and funds that amount
>>> out of the general fund -- not from a separate library fund.
>>>
>>> The last time the library board tried to flex its muscles on the issue a
>>> couple decades ago, the then city attorney persuaded them to back down by
>>> threatening to take them to court.
>>>
>>> If you'd like to discuss this further, drop me a note at
>>> bill@evanstonnow.com or give me a call at 847-733-7526.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Bill Smith


On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 1:45 PM, Geoff Silver  wrote:
>> You guys moderate civilized comments by removing them?  Seriously?
>> SERIOUSLY?
>>
>> If you're only going to allow comments which are pro-Evanston than what's
>> the point of allowing comment at all?  You disagree with my interpretation
>> and so my comment is removed?
>>
>> Wow, nice yellow journalism there.


On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 2:27 PM, Bill Smith  wrote:
>
>Excuse me ... I was trying to save you the embarrassment of having
>someone who can read point out to you in public what you were unable
>to find in the statute.
>
>I didn't realize you'd rather be publicly embarrassed. I'll make a
>note of that for next time.
>
>--
>Bill Smith
>Publisher
>Evanston Now
>bill@evanstonnow.com
>847-733-7526


On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 2:35 PM, Geoff Silver  wrote:

No need.  Any website which leaves comments like "The INTERNET and
e-books has replaced librarys. Those that still use the library should
pay for it! The taxes in this city have almost made it unliveable to
want to live here as it is. Give us another reason to sell and move!"
yet summarily "moderates" (removes) comments like "here's a link to
the precise documents" isn't worth the screen it's printed on.  You
can keep your moderation - I'd rather get my news from an unbiased
and trustworthy source.

The 5 Best Reasons to Jailbreak Your iPhone 3G

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While there are tons of things I love about my jailbroken iPhone 3G (OpenSSH, VNC, Google Voice), I have a few favorite apps. As I’m cheap, all of these are free, save for my #1, which was well worth the $0.99:

      5. Five Icon Dock lets you add an extra icon. Yeah, it seems trivial at first glance, but you can put all four Stacks on your dock, plus still have single-touch access to a fifth icon. Mine has my Phone first, followed by a Stack called “Apple” (with SMS, iPod, Mail, etc), a Stack called “Web”, a Stack for “Games”, and a Stack for “Utilities”.
      4. Stack v3 gives you sort of an instant categorization view. I put mine on my Five Icon Dock, which gives me access to about 90% of what I do every day within two touches of any screen.
      3. The 3G has a camera, but only the 3GS an newer can shoot video… until now. Cycorder gives you 15 FPS video on your 3G.
      2. Apple might have added multitasking to iPhone OS 4, but they won’t enable it on the iPhone 3G. Get ProSwitcher and listen to Pandora or Slacker while running other Apps.
      1. If you have iPod/iPhone accessories which aren’t “Apple Certified”, you’re probably tired of the Airplane Mode warning. I found it annoying when I would occasionally use the USA Spec iPod Integration in my MDX, but with the iPod/iPhone alarm clock I got for fathers day, I suddenly found myself anooyed every night. Fro $0.99, Popup Blocker is my sanity savior, allowing me to block dozens of different types of nusiance alerts.