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Get Smart Real Fast

No matter how much preparation someone may do, nothing is more of a test then going "live." After a weekend of watching the web server logs, monitoring the E-Mail server, and replying to positive feedback, I feel the transfer has been a success. Thank you, kind reader, for your support during this transition. Long time readers may see slight changes in the way the site appears, mainly due to the reduction in bandwidth that I have against what my old ISP had, but nothing drastic.

Some "get-smart-really-fast" topics that I dealt with recently include:

  • Figuring out that the "latest and greatest" version of Apache 2.0.44 does not play well with XP (or, maybe even 2000). This was the root cause of "slight to major delays in page views," sometimes 30 to 60 seconds before the page appeared. It is, in part, due to "networking" issues and random timeouts.
  • Learning to lock down the E-mail server so it is not an "open relay" for the planet. After several failed attempts, I finally figured it out.
  • Configuring the E-Mail server to provide "server side filtering" of my incoming E-Mail. Drastic as it may seem, tons of spam have been dropped before I even see it. Dumping "non-MIME" encoded E-Mails and "pure HTML" messages kill a lot of spam. I have not implemented the barbarian aproach of "DNS block lists.".. yet. I will see how this goes, for now.
  • Writing all BIND (DNS) configuration files from scratch because the "default" configurations (or even an "example") are NOT included with the Win32 version. Of course, when I post my "WWW" guide, I will not fail in this regard.
  • Rewiring of the network and placing (most) systems on an UPS (battery backup system). Even though the cost of a "large scale" UPS is way beyond my reach, I have not experienced a prolonged outage of service (more then 15 minutes) for four years. Consumer (home) level products fill that gap at a resonable cost.
Posted in News, Software, Web Site Updates

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