Tagged Questions
The best-practices tag has no wiki summary.
3
votes
3answers
65 views
Is there a good layout convention for cron files?
I'm currently confronted with a cron file that contains a dozen different applications' tasks--some have only one, some have lots. I'm trying to figure out a good way to organize and document these ...
0
votes
1answer
44 views
What content is best practice to include in a 503 page to provide best user experience in the case of overloaded backend?
The classic example is the "Fail Whale" on twitter. But I'm interested in what people's thoughts are on this.
4
votes
2answers
55 views
Tool(s) for labeling cables with unique ID numbers
We are looking to (finally) implement a cable labeling procedure.
We already have a labler. Now we need a system to maintain unique IDs not related to anything.
I thought of getting a tally counter ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
250 users with a data dir on a central server - how would you set it up?
I'd like to get best-practice advice on how to setup a scheme where 250 users or more have OS independent access to their own data-dir / user-dir on a central server in the local network. from the ...
3
votes
3answers
110 views
Ranges for Multiple DHCP Server: Better to overlap or separate? wireless vs ethernet clients?
I know there are mixed feelings about running multiple DHCP servers on one LAN, but I'm wondering about the best way to set their ranges.
In my case, I have a router which performs DHCP and also my ...
0
votes
2answers
40 views
Where to create a subversion repository on a server?
When managing my own servers, I normally keep data such as svn repositories in /srv/svnrepo.
In the organization I currently a part of the SAs have been using /home/svnrepo.
My decision to ...
6
votes
4answers
153 views
In Puppet, how would I secure a password variable (in this case a MySQL password)?
I am using Puppet to provision MySQL with a parameterised class:
class mysql::server( $password ) {
package { 'mysql-server': ensure => installed }
package { 'mysql': ensure => ...
3
votes
3answers
94 views
Win7 Domain User Profile- Desktop Icon management best practices request
Here's the situation:
We have a large (5,000+ user) organization that is currently using folder redirection to manage the windows desktop icons. This folder is redirected to a network share where we ...
8
votes
4answers
334 views
Best practice for automated Linux updates
We are working on a way to perform automatic updates for our RHEL/RHEL-based servers.
Initial idea: Using Puppet, we disable the default repositories and point to our own. Then, we use ensure => ...
4
votes
2answers
140 views
Sharing responsibilities within a SysAdmin team
I used to work in a small System Administration team that consisted of 3 members. We each had our own area:
E-mail
Server build and monitoring
File sharing
I am not sure if this is typical but it ...
1
vote
2answers
116 views
ZFS: Best-practices doc state: “On systems with 1,000s of ZFS file systems…”?
The docs state:
"On systems with 1,000s of ZFS file systems, provision 1 GB of extra memory for every 10,000 mounted file systems including snapshots."
What does that mean - how do these people use ...
3
votes
3answers
205 views
How can I load-balance a load balancer?
I'm about to convert a single-server single-database web application into a physically distributed high-available configuration with servers on two physical locations (for now). Now, obviously, I need ...
5
votes
2answers
115 views
Best practice advise asked when users want to work on their workstation and from remote (but on their desktop), on Windows
I've got a work-group of 5 people. All of them have their dedicated machine with Windows 7.
They are all connected to a central server running Windows Server 2008 R2, currently mainly offering the ...
0
votes
2answers
53 views
Best practices to build a scalable Java webapp
We got this JavaEE WebApp (JSP+Struts+Hibernate+MySQL) which currently is running on a single server. Due to growth of the website and performance issues we've decided to cluster the project on some ...
0
votes
0answers
89 views
Nginx & long poll: Best practices to reduce memory and bandwidth footprint
I use nginx in this mode for BOSH and chat clients along with gzip.
location ~* /http-bind/ {
proxy_buffering off;
keepalive_timeout 55;
access_log off;
tcp_nodelay on;
...
1
vote
5answers
89 views
Granting access to user's file store without their knowledge or consent [closed]
As a system administrator, if you were asked to facilitate access to your users' file store so that a director could look at what types of files are being stored, what would your response be?
The ...
3
votes
6answers
415 views
Is it better to have four average servers or one awesome server
Ok, I want to have one high spec server (two quad core processors, lots of ram, raid 5, Server 2008 R2 etc), my colleague wants to spend the same money on four average pre-owned servers (Dual core ...
0
votes
2answers
84 views
Xen host: vm's management best practises
I just wanna know what is the most recommended method to use for managing your vm's. Let's say you have big dedicated server something like 8 cores cpu and 24gb ram. What method you'd choose for ...
0
votes
0answers
43 views
Best Practice for keeping Master/Slave Data in Sync during deployment?
So far, one best practice I've discovered is as follows, but it has a couple holes.
Presume that you've got a single load balancer, 2 web servers (A & B) and 2 database servers (M & N - kept ...
1
vote
2answers
45 views
Methods for allowing administrators to set desktop software's per user configuration
Edit: Hello serverfault, they didn't like my question on programmers and migrated it here.
In short my questions is: How do you (administrators) prefer to control settings for third party, off the ...
3
votes
3answers
125 views
Should redundant servers have exactly the same configuration, or slightly different?
If you provide a service on two servers to ensure high-availability, is it better to configure them in exactly the same way, of instead should you introduce slight differences to prevent "freak ...
0
votes
0answers
57 views
How can I make an init script (or daemon?) for an arbitrary program that runs in the background?
I want to use Markdoc, a system that converts markdown files into wiki pages. Markdoc comes with its own server. I created a new user for the wiki and put the wiki files into that user's home ...
4
votes
1answer
184 views
Acceptable level of hard write errors on tape?
What is an acceptable level of hard write errors on tape? Specifically, what is acceptable on HP LTO-2 media? Is it a hard number of errors, a ratio of hours in use to errors, or something else ...
3
votes
3answers
86 views
Ramifications of rebooting a file server when files are open
This may prove to be a stupid question, but I've scoured in internet and found nothing to that gives me a concrete answer.
I'm curious as to potential consequences of a file server being rebooted or ...
1
vote
1answer
140 views
Firewall Security Guidelines
I'm looking for some best practices or Security guidelines for Firewall and VPN.
Trying to study a little more about network security and write a sort of decalogue (set of rules). Usefull to follow ...
1
vote
1answer
37 views
dns settings for SERVER 2003 domain controllers for a new client of mine
I have recently taken over a new client in a windows server 2003 domain environment. The only issue i see with the setup is that the second domain controller's dns entries might be wrong, hence why i ...
2
votes
2answers
69 views
things to check prior to moving all FSMO roles to a new domain controller before decommission original old domain controller
need to move a domain controller, the first in the forest that holds all the fsmo roles, to another location in a clients building. it will require turning off this dc, call it dc1 for this question. ...
0
votes
2answers
140 views
Maintenance page on nginx, best practices
I want to configure the server to show a maintenance page when it exist. I tried this code and works:
location / {
try_files /maintenance.html $uri $uri/ @codeigniter;
}
But I noticed it would ...
1
vote
1answer
47 views
gpt partition for raid 6 that was 4.5TB, will i have any issues under server 2008 64bit r2?
has anyone had any issues with using one large gpt partition of 5TB on a raid 6 setup with a 3ware raid controller. i am using the partition as a basic file sharing backup repository, nothing fancy. ...
0
votes
1answer
37 views
Getting files onto Fresh Install of Server 2008 “The Right Way”?
I am still fairly new to windows server administration. I have a Server 2008 r2 ec2 instance running and will need to bring a new one up every so often. I like that it is locked down by default, but ...
0
votes
0answers
54 views
Group Policy Settings for Servers Hosting SQL Server and/or Exchange
My company is in the process of building a new AD Domain for our VDI environment. Once the VDI rollout is complete, we will be migrating everything out of our existing domains into this new domain.
...
1
vote
1answer
68 views
Importance of Segregating Backups?
We are in the midst of an infrastructure overhaul, and we're now looking at backup solutions for our new servers. We will have a relatively simplistic server infrastructure consisting of 5 servers, 3 ...
2
votes
2answers
57 views
Adding a new disk to shared machine, what do we do?
I hope this is the right 'exchange' to ask in.
I work in a research group, we have no SA's etc. monitoring our servers. We have total access to them, and decide what happens or doesn't happen on ...
-3
votes
3answers
87 views
What should I install/do to “accelerate” my website? [closed]
I have deploy a website in the production enviroment, but it's going a bit slow, you know it takes too much time to load the pages..
What should I install to "accelerate" my website? I will install ...
1
vote
1answer
83 views
How to rename a mail-enabled security group?
I work in an organization that is prone to frequently renaming teams.
What is the best way to manage name changes to mail-enabled security groups? So far, I have just been using the ADUC GUI on our ...
1
vote
1answer
99 views
Backup strategy for SMB
I'm supporting a small business with 4 XP desktops, 2 Windows 7 desktops and 1 Server 2008 (R1) which is the file/print server, domain controller and contains Active Directory.
I've tested regular ...
1
vote
1answer
108 views
Actions to take during/after a power outage
We're in the process of replacing the shelving in our server room, and I found a piece of paper that had been covered over which lists various actions to take during/after a power outage:
ADSL modem ...
0
votes
0answers
204 views
Best practices to handle very large databases
The problem:
Our new project aims to use a very...very large database. Basicly ~one million of new records have to be stored per month. This requirement gives to the enterprise application a very big ...
3
votes
2answers
100 views
Best practices for managing a web-server
Hi I want to ask what are the best practices when installing new software on a web-server,
I'm pretty much self-taught, I have on my home PC: Ubuntu 11.04 with LAMP installed,
and a VPS that I manage ...
0
votes
1answer
81 views
Software RAID to hardware RAID, can it be done?
Can it be done ... well.
(For the record, I did not set this server up.)
In my server there are 4 disks. 3 of them are in a software RAID5, and 1 has the OS installed. I want to buy a RAID ...
10
votes
5answers
288 views
Tips to gracefully take over a (UNIX) production server
After months of neglect, e-mail flames and management battles our current sysadmin was fired and handed over "the server credentials" to me. Such credentials consist in a root password and nothing ...
4
votes
1answer
142 views
Merging two companies: Best practice?
Situation:
Company A purchased Company B. Offices are 40 miles apart. There are about 10 employees in each office. We want to have everyone be able to access all network resources independent of ...
4
votes
2answers
182 views
best practice for fixing mysql slow query log error 13
CentOS 5.5
MySQL 5.5 installed via a yum repository
[ERROR] Could not use /var/log/mysqld.slow.log for logging (error 13). Turning logging off for the whole duration of the MySQL server process. ...
0
votes
3answers
68 views
A service accessing an UNC path, Win 2008R2, best practices?
I have an Apache Webserver service running on Machine A.
It serves some files from machine B, by having an
Alias /foo \machineB\someshare
MachineB\someshare is read-accessible to "Everyone".
...
0
votes
2answers
87 views
Where should python and rails-based web apps be placed in the Linux filesystem?
/etc?
/srv?
/home?
Apps in these languages shouldn't be under document root (which, in my opinion, goes under /srv/www). But, otherwise, I can't think of a location/scheme that's best practice to ...
8
votes
1answer
343 views
How to manage Nagios dependencies on big clusters?
I'm using quite a big nagios configuration (about 4000 services), without any dependencies. This results in a huge mess of notifications when something goes wrong.
I try to look for best practices ...
3
votes
2answers
294 views
How can I check access of a Group/User in AD before I delete it?
I'm cleaning up an inherited domain that is not well documented. How can I check that a particular group or user has no ACEs across the AD?
Things like searching DACL/SACL for AD objects and file ...
4
votes
2answers
93 views
Making Changes to Our File Server
Currently we have one Windows 2008 R2 Server acting as a domain controller and fileserver. We're serving about 6 million jpgs to 4 IIS servers which are then served to web users. The problem is ...
1
vote
2answers
184 views
When is it not worth putting Apache in a chroot jail?
I don't mean to question the well established security precaution of putting apache in a chroot-jail in most scenarios but in my scenario I have doubts.
We have a virtual server hosting a single ...
2
votes
1answer
262 views
SAN design: File & Block level access?
The short question: can I share file and block level traffic on the same SAN? Perhaps more importantly, should I? The gory details are below...
I'm hopefully putting the finishing touches on a new ...
