Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Preplogic's LearnSmart Video Training

In the past I have relied on Sybex books and Exam Cram's to study for a Microsoft test. The next test I am taking is 70-290 and for this one I decided to try a CBT from Preplogic. So far I find it very helpful and worth every penny.

I also take practice tests from Transcender and feel that with the CBT and the practice test I will be able to pass with no problem. I guess we will find out next week and I will let you know how it goes.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Untangle - The Open Source Network Gateway

I recently attended a Webcast hosted by Harry Brelsford at SMBNation.com about a new and upcoming company called Untangle. The basis of this webinar was the fact that the new SBS 2008 will not have this ISA server included in the suite. Instead, users will have to have a hardware firewall or a separate ISA server in the network whereas before it was an "all-in-one".

Untangle states their applications are a "Commercial-grade open source alternative to SonicWALL and WatchGuard" that does Content, Spyware, Virus and Malware filtering, all for FREE.

At first, I was skeptical. What? A non Microsoft product in my SBS network? Never happen. Well, I decided I was being a little to pig headed and set out to try it in my own home network before I said anything negative. Needless to say I was impressed right out of the box. The install was simple. In an hour I had downloaded the 450 meg .iso, burnt it to a disk, installed and configured it on a spare server I had lying around.

It works.

Web threats are ever changing. In years past we had to worry about being hacked from the outside by a virus coming into the network from an infected PC or server on the Internet, hence the need for ISA. Now, we have to worry about users infecting us from the inside out. Content filtering is a big need in most networks since Social Engineering problems have increased. At least 75% of my customers have had this issue because of a user getting infected with Spyware or a Virus by downloading that free screen saver they wanted, or clicking on that popup that says your PC has been infected by Spyware.

Not anymore. The Untangle server is a solution to your problems. Don't believe me? Load up a box and drop it in your network in Transparent Bridge mode and turn on the monitoring feature. In a week I guarantee you will be amazed at what your users are doing.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Test from Windows Live Writer

I am testing Live Writer on my blog from my pc. I find it is easier to write with this tool. I wonder if I can write offline then upload at another time. Hmm...