Trend Micro’s Client Server Security for SMB is a well designed security solution for small businesses. One of its greatest features is the ability to be deployed, updated, and controlled via the local network. With the push of a button you can scan all networked computers, increase security, send messages or print reports.

I’ve recently taken over the role of administrator for a company and unfortunately the Trend Micro passwords were lost.

Fear not, there is a simple method to resetting the password (too easy?)

1. Navigate to: \Program Files\Trend Micro\security server(officescan)\private
2. Open ofcserver.ini in Notepad
3. Press CTRL-F to search for: master_pwd
4. Once found, the string should look similar to: master_pwd=!CRYPT!xxxxx
5. xxxxx is representative of a long string of hex characters making up an encrypted password
6. In place of !CRYPT!xxxxx put “70″ so it will look like: master_pwd=70
7. 70 is the hexadecimal value for “1″
8. Save the file
9. Press Start -> Run -> Type: services.msc and press enter
10. Find “Trend Micro Security Server Master Service” and restart the service
11. Login to the Trend Micro Security Dashboard with the password as “1″ without the quotations
12. The default URL for the dashboard is: https://IPADDRESS:4343/officescan/default_SMB.htm

5 Comments |  Print This Post

One of the challenges with a traditional SATA or SAS hard disk based server is data manipulation.

Small databases are able to run entirely in memory, while large databases need to be stored on disk and pulled into memory when needed. One of the challenges with database servers is having a storage subsystem that can handle the raw throughput and read/write IOPS required to manipulate gigabytes or even terabytes worth of data.

As you may have seen in my benchmarks with the Dell MD1000 DAS with 14 – 15k SAS drives, the throughput is pretty good (500MB/s in a RAID 10 array) but the read and write IOPS just aren’t there yet. Hard disk access times increase with more complex RAID arrays – which is the exact opposite of what we want in a quick and powerful storage system.

SSDs are considerably more expensive than a similarly-sized SAS drive. The SSDs have IOPS that are 8-14 times that of an SAS drive. The new line of Intel SSDs (X25-E) have read IOPS in the range of 30, 000 and write IOPS in the 3000 range. If you are working with small (4K) reads and writes in a database system, you can replace 8 SAS drives with 1 SSD and achieve similar performance.

Databases with large queries will rely more heavily on the raw throughput numbers of a hard disk to measure performance. In this area SSDs still outperform SAS drives 3-to-1. I’ve worked with many companies that require reports and data collaboration that run into the gigabytes per query. It takes several minutes for some queries to be performed, something that can be drastically reduced with an SSD subsystem.

Not all large databases have large data requirements. Some large databases have mostly ‘small’ queries that move small amounts of data. Likewise, some small databases move large amounts of data with very few queries.

When sizing a disk and memory system for a database server, you must take into consideration the type of data to be stored, the main purpose of the data (for storage archive or retrieval), and the number of queries/users.

SSDs are still too expensive for most databases that have large data speed requirements. Although SSDs outperform the SAS disks 3-to-1 or slightly more in MB/s, the cost for a reliable setup is still running about 5-to-1 or more.

It is a different story when sizing a system for a web server, forum or search archive (or a similar high-use, small data transfer) database. With systems that have a large number of users pulling small data blocks, an SSD can perform read IOPS way beyond that of an SAS drive. A typical LAMP server running a vBulletin forum can handle more than 30 times the traffic of an SAS drive.

How nimble is your data? With the new crop of SSDs, ease of data manipulation will increase substantially. It is far too taxing on database servers to run various “what-if” scenarios. It simply takes too long to perform. MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, MSSQL all run well until they run out of memory and need to page the hard disks. This is where SSDs will be leveraged. Large enterprises will be able to manipulate their data faster and more effectively without their servers grinding to a halt.

No Comments |  Print This Post

I got a couple of nasty emails yesterday calling me a Microsoft fanboy, and that I should switch to Linux.

My comments were aimed at WordPress’ extremely slow and inefficient templating system. I was also making a JAB at Microsoft. A few people failed to realize I was making light of the fact that IIS is considered inferior.

I work with both Windows and Linux. Linux works well, but unfortunately in a business environment, most boxes are windows. My website focuses on IIS and Windows because that IS the most frustrating part of my day.

I AM a big fan of Linux, and I do use it where it is necessary. But when someone asks why I don’t run certain servers on Linux, I say “exchange doesn’t run on linux.”  Not to mention all the industry specific software I NEED to run.

I’ve tried Open-Xchange (http://www.open-xchange.com/) and unfortunately it hasn’t matured to the level where it can replace Exchange Server. It too, is not free. It’s a bit cheaper than Exchange Server, but that won’t convince a company to switch from Exchange Server.

Part of management decisions to implement a certain infrastructure over another is: cost, ease of use, and disaster recovery.

When dealing with cost, Linux is usually cheaper in the long run, but not always. Even though you can download and install most distros of Linux for free, knowing how to use them, or getting someone that knows how to use them costs money. Linux admins (in my area) make more than Windows admins.

Ease of use is directly related to the skill of the IT department and workforce in your company. I can bet Windows will be “easier to use” than Linux. Sorry, but for the desktop, it’s just not there.

For disaster recovery, it’s a mixed bag. You’ll obviously find whatever you’re using to be easiest. So what about a different disaster: You’re the only IT person, and you die in a car accident. Your servers are running Slackware, and no one knows how to use them. You go to the local IT companies and most only know Windows, or have only dabbled in a bit of Ubuntu, Redhat, Debian. ?

I started off in computers running Slackware. I’m 25. I couldn’t afford Windows 3.1 back then. I still use Slackware on an old machine to have fun. But it’s 90% Windows and 10% Redhat that gets my paycheck signed. Heck, let’s all use FreeBSD.

1 Comment |  Print This Post