Mailbag: DNS Is Serious Business

If one is running any type of e-commerce or production system that is public-facing, you absolutely have to take DNS (and the entire infrastructure) seriously. If DNS is broken, the following can happen:

1. If DNS is not properly configured, then your customers will have an inconsistent experience when trying to access your Web site. Result: Customers will go elsewhere and you'll lose possible revenue.
2. If DNS is not working at all, then customers will not even be able to contact your site. They might assume your site doesn't exist or is no longer in service. Result: Customers will go elsewhere and possibly never return -- loss of immediate and possibly future revenue source.
3. If your DNS is hacked or spoofed so that your customers go to a fake version of your site...well, not only will you lose money, your customers might possibly lose money also, further damaging your brand and reputation.

So yes, one should take DNS very seriously.
-Tony

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/30/20080 comments

Is Your Job Recession-Proof?

Now, pushing aside the fact that we're not technically in a recession -- it just feels like one -- this is good news indeed. (And here's a little hint from the editor in chief of Redmond magazine: Our upcoming salary survey has some more good news!)

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/29/20080 comments

Mailbag: Cheap Macs Not So Good

I think they tried licensing out the OS about 10 years ago. Didn't seem to work out all that well for Apple, seeing as how their bread and butter was computers back then. Granted, the company and its product line had other problems at the time, so perhaps there would be better results if they ever tried it again. I suppose if their OS got as big as Vista, er, I mean, Windows, it would be worth it to them. Otherwise, in a short time, there would be no more Apple.

As time marches on, computers will become a smaller part of their product mix. If the iPhone and whatever follows in its footsteps continues to advance, a less expensive device running OS X could well happen. Until then, a $500 Mac laptop strikes me as something one would not call "good," either in performance, durability or effects on Apple's bottom line and by extension, OS X.
-Bill

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/29/20080 comments

But the Squeeze Is Still On

The group says that IT budgets overall were set to rise some 4 percent, but due to a tough economy, a lot of this money will never get spent.

It also claims that IT last year spent $7,397 for each user, but will only spend $6,667 per person this year. If IT is spending that much for each of us, where's my new dual-core laptop?

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/29/20080 comments

Microsoft Joins Apache, Why?

Seeing as how Microsoft sales reps have probably pushed IIS on you a million times, you're probably asking, "Why?" Me, too.

The answer isn't that Microsoft is putting its weight behind the open source Web server and bailing on IIS. From what I can tell, this has nothing to do with IIS. On a high level, Microsoft wants to appear friendly to the open source community. Gaining trust and cooperation can go a long way toward building interoperability.

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/29/20080 comments

Hyper-V Runs Solaris -- With a Little Help

The most interesting part of Transitive might not be its product, but one of its advisors. Dr. Mendel Rosenbaum is a technical advisor to Transitive. Virtualization buffs may recognize that as the name of VMware's co-founder and chief scientist. Is it any wonder, then, that QuickTransit also works with VMware?

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/28/20080 comments

Mailbag: Trust Open Source?

I still have my old, patched, hippie pants. What I miss is being the size I was when they fit.

As for trusting open source software, or any software for that matter, my motto is "trust, but verify."
-Dave

I trust open source 100 percent. I have used Open Office for years, both on Windows and Mac; I do not use MS Office. I also use Firefox on Windows and have had no problems -- it's also much faster than IE. Nothing is 100 percent secure (I work in IT and manage Windows desktops/servers, Cisco, F5 Firepass -- they all need to be patched). But 100 percent for open source! I introduced many people to OO and Firefox and haven't heard any complaints.

Do I miss my hippie jeans (and also my tie-dyed shirts and bell bottoms)? Sure do...but I still have the long hair!
-Bob

Actually, I don't trust any computer, no matter who wrote the software. I manage to make a pretty good living working on them, but I have no delusions that they are making my life better. If you do trust them, don't cry about how your life got screwed up. You messed it up putting your faith in a stupid machine.

I will say that you can install any software in an exploitable manner. Most software can also be installed in a reasonably secure manner. If you do it right, it will work (yup, even Microsoft software); if you do it wrong, it won't work well (yup, even Microsoft software). What would be helpful would be to get past the name-calling and accusations and focus on getting a tool that does what you need.
-Anonymous

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/28/20080 comments

DNS the New Hole?

Those folks sure were prescient as Microsoft recently had to patch its DNS implementation -- a patch that itself caused problems such as Exchange outages.

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/28/20080 comments

Vista Cash Back

The bad news for HP? Kido is a blogger, and her entire story of two months worth of e-mail and telephone calls ended up on Valleywag More

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/28/20080 comments

Mailbag: Thoughts on Jobs

Mr. Jobs IS a rather remarkable man, but every remarkable human in history has had to retire at some point.

Organizations need to plan for the same and the rest of us can count our blessings to have coincided in time with the lives of the living remarkable.
-Anonymous

I watched the iPhone 3G announcement video a while back and I was taken aback at how gaunt Jobs looked. Not being an Apple customer, I don't keep track of what happens there so I was not even aware he had been sick. After reading that investors are dumping stock simply on the rumour of his ill-health, I can't imagine what will happen if/when he passes away.

I agree with you. The industry will, eventually, lose one of the most important figures in the history of personal computing. Get well, Steve!
-Dan

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/24/20080 comments

Jobs OK?

The New York Times looked into the matter and reporter John Markoff writes that Jobs himself has been reassuring friends and Apple board members that he's just fine. There's apparently a problem that caused him to lose weight, and he had surgery to straighten that out (imagine that: surgery to actually gain weight!).

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/24/20080 comments

Windows Leader Leaps to Juniper

When I first heard the news, I figured Johnson was taking the rap for the poor market performance of Vista, and the fact that Microsoft lost over a billion dollars in its online business.

Posted by Doug Barney on 07/24/20080 comments