Windows Server – Page 2

Howto Install MySQL on Windows Vista or Server 2003

This article will help to install MySQL database software on Windows Vista.

This document is written by Chris and focuses on installing MySQL on Windows Vista because its new security features require a few adjustments to allow MySQL to install properly. The general information provided in the paper could also be applied to Windows Server 2003.

From the article:

This week, the lab looks at configuring and installing MySQL – an open source relational database management system which is typically used for web applications.
This paper will provide an overview of configuring & installing this software on Windows. MySQL does not have as many features as PostgreSQL, however, and one would expect it to perform substantially better than PostgreSQL on Windows because of its thread-based architecture (PostgreSQL uses a process-based architecture instead).

MySQL on Windows: Configuration & Install (Download link PDF version)

Download of the day: Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) is a cumulative service pack that includes the latest updates and provides enhancements to security and stability. It includes updates, fixes and enhancements to a Windows oses. Service packs are the means by which product updates are distributed.

If you are using any one of the following version, you need to use this service pack:

Windows Server 2003 with SP2
Windows Server 2003 R2 with SP2
Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions with SP2
Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Editions with SP2
Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based Systems with SP2
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition with SP2

Download link

This is a released to market (RTM) only. You can download service pack by visiting this site. (release note, found via MSDN blog)

Understanding IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) for home and enterprise networking

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is a network layer protocol for packet-switched internetworks. It is a next version of current IPv4. IPv6 supports 2128 addresses, approximately.

ArsTechnica has published an excellent guide:

The engineers who design the machinery deep inside the bowels of the Internet have been working on it for more than a decade, but recently, companies like Microsoft and Apple have been more aggressive about enabling it in their new products: IPv6, the protocol that will power the next generation Internet.
TCP/IP has served us well since it was born in 1981, but for some time now it has been clear that the IP part has a limitation that makes continued growth of the Internet for decades to come problematic. In order to accommodate a large number of hosts but not waste too much space in the IP packet on overhead, the TCP/IP designers settled on an address size of 32 bits. With 32 bits, itâ€™s possible to express 4,294,967,296 different values. Over half a billion of those are unusable as addresses for various reasons, giving us a total of 3.7 billion possible addresses for hosts on the Internet. As of January 1, 2007, 2.4 billion of those were in (some kind of) use. 1.3 billion were still available and about 170 million new addresses are given out each year. So at this rate, 7.5 years from now, weâ€™ll be clean out of IP addresses; faster if the number of addresses used per year goes up.

=> Everything you need to know about IPv6

Your WordPress blog may get hacked if you are using 2.1.1 version

Iâ€™ve updated my blog few days back. But in case if you are still running 2.1.1 makes sure you get updated version.

This morning we received a note to our security mailing address about unusual and highly exploitable code in WordPress. The issue was investigated, and it appeared that the 2.1.1 download had been modified from its original code. We took the website down immediately to investigate what happened.
It was determined that a cracker had gained user-level access to one of the servers that powers wordpress.org, and had used that access to modify the download file. We have locked down that server for further forensics, but at this time it appears that the 2.1.1 download was the only thing touched by the attack. They modified two files in WP to include code that would allow for remote PHP execution.

HowTo: Crack a Windows 7 / XP or Vista Password With Ophcrack Live CD

Ophcrack is a Windows password cracker based on rainbow tables. It is a very efficient implementation of rainbow tables done by the inventors of the method. It comes with a GTK+ Graphical User Interface and runs on Windows, Mac OS X (Intel CPU) as well as on Linux.

There is also article and more screen shots at Lifehacker:
Extremely impressed at the ease and speed with which the Ophcrack Live CD cracked my Windows admin password when I tested it out last a few weeks ago, I thought it might be useful to throw together a quick guide detailing how to use this powerful little utility.

Crack a MS- Windows 7 / XP / Vista password with Ophcrack Live CD

Whether you need to recover the lost password to a Windows account, you’re looking to ensure that your passwords are secure, or you’re a super l33t h4x0r, the Ophcrack Live CD is a pretty useful tool.

Server Computer Configuration for an Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Here is a quick question from one of our reader:

What sort of computer should you buy for an ISP? We need a computer for mailing, hosting customer sites and running games like Quake. We are small startup ISP.

For mailing and webhosting need you need to purchase a dedicated server. You can build one for yourself (a whitebox) or order from Dell and other vendors. A minimum suggested configuration:

Web server
=> Dual Intel XEON or AMD Dual core processor

=> RAID 5 1/2 TB disk space

=> 4 GB Ecc RAM

=> Linux or FreeBSD UNIX operating system
This web server can handle shared hosting load. You can use same configuration computer for mailing with anti spam and anti virus software.

For gaming you can get a Dual core Intel / AMD CPU with lods of RAM and fast hard disks.

Remember an ISP server mean lots of services such as a Firewall, Web, FTP, RADIUS server etc. You should also consider operating system and your own level of handling the same. You can also purchase 3rd party game and management control panel. Basically you need to do good research before making a final decision.

Windows command line download, file transfer tool

How do you transfer files asynchronously between a client and a server using command line tool?

There is a nice tool called BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) for this job.

BITSAdmin is a command-line tool that you can use to create download or upload jobs and monitor their progress.

From BITS page:
A download job downloads files to the client, an upload job uploads a file to the server, and an upload-reply job uploads a file to the server and receives a reply file from the server application.

BITS continues to transfer files after an application exits if the user who initiated the transfer remains logged on and a network connection is maintained. BITS will not force a connection.

BITS suspends the transfer if a connection is lost or if the user logs off. BITS persists transfer information while the user is logged off, across network disconnects, and during computer restarts.

A must have tool for admins. For example download xyz.pdf from http://foo.com web site:

bitsadmin /transfer xnase http://foo.com/xyz.pdf downloaded.pdf

More examples available at MSDN web site.

Download robocopy.exe For Windows 2003 Server / XP / 7

Robocopy (Robust File Copy) is a command-line file copying tool included with the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit, free to licensed users of Windows. The tool, as with much of the resource kit, works under Windows XP as well as under the Windows Server platform.

Top virus threats in 2007

McAfee Inc, a leading dedicated security technology company, on Wednesday announced its top ten predictions for security threats in 2007 from McAfee Avert Labs. According to McAfee Avert Labs data, with more than 217,000 various types of known threats and thousands more not yet identified, it is clear that malware is increasingly being released by professional and organised criminals.

Malware or malicious software is a software designed to infiltrate and damage a computer system without the owner’s consent. The expression is a general term to mean various forms hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or programme code.

Computers are an essential part of everyday life. As a result there is a huge potential for monetary gains by virus writers. With sophisticated techniques on the rise, it is becoming increasingly hard for the general user to identify or avoid malware infections.

In no particular order, McAfee Avert Labs’ top ten security threats for 2007 are:

1. Number of password-stealing Web sites will increase using fake sign-in pages for popular online services

2. Volume of spam, particularly bandwidth-eating image spam, will rise

3. Popularity of video sharing on the Web makes it inevitable that hackers will target MPEG files

4. Mobile phone attacks will become more prevalent as mobile devices become smarter

5. Adware will go mainstream

6. Identity theft and data loss will continue to be a public issue

7. The use of bots will increase as a tool favoured by hackers

8. Parasitic malware, or viruses that modify existing files on a disk, will make a comeback

9. The number of rootkits on 32-bit platforms will increase

10. Vulnerabilities will continue to cause concern fueled by the underground market for vulnerabilities

Top 10 computer virus threats in 2007