THE FLORIDIAN LAB SYSTEM

The Floridian Lab System was designed to handle 3 items. First it ensures reliable coding from me by providing the tools I need to perform proper testing as much possible. Second it is a learning tool that assist me in my studies, performing system administration, backups, etc. And last but not least, it provides the backbone for my web sites providing web hosting and a number of other features. The Floridian Lab System (The heart of Webbones) operates 24 X 7 with systems in place for data and power backups. I believe it rivals other companies lab systems.  I believe by testing while coding as much as possible, you can solve many challenges before they begin saving time and money.  Let me break it down for you what each system does.

SKYLARK

Skylark is my main server.  It stores not only all the data, graphic, and wave files, but all programs that can be installed over the LAN.  It storage capacity is well over 80 gigs and it has a dual AMD300 with a tape backup systems to boot.  Every morning a 1:30 it starts a backup program I wrote and puts the required files on all the other systems that needs them. It then sends them to Bingo for archiving. After all that is done, it dumps everything it did to tape as a final backup to itself.  An additional duties is security.  It has a USB camera that watches the house 24-7.  I've put in a motion detector that signals Skylark to tell the camera to take a picture and copies it to 6 different systems and sends a page to me.  Update: Skylark is now on Windows 2000 Advance Server. Update: Decommission procedures have started for Skylark with the replacement of Skylark II.  Skylark II has 8 drives ( Over 500 gigs )  with Raid 3 support (running on a AMD 850MHZ system).   Expect complete transfer of files, applications, and system production programs NLT 28 Jan 02.Update: Change 99, Skylark handles all data files. Skylark II handles backup data files from Skylark and all applications (main install server). Taken off camera duty with Bingo in charge. Still performs the backups of data files. Update: Skylark now a data files system running Linux as a server installed 260 gig drive to handle server application duty on the Linux and Unix side as a last resort backup.  S

BINGO

Bingo is my archive system.  Its job is to take all of the backup files that Skylark sends to it, compresses and puts them in the proper directories. In addition, it also takes really important files and burns them on a CD.  With storage of 30gigs plus, It also serves as a CD duplicator on data and program files only. Update: Bingo has been upgrade to Windows 2000 Advance Server with an additional 40 gig drive.  This systems will continue to serve as an archive system, plus as a backup of applications installs of Skylark II. Update: Bingo handles the Xanboo security system which is an addition to the Guardian alarm system for the home. Bingo handles 4 sensor color cameras and 3 sound and contact sensors. When the cameras are armed, they sent a picture and an email so that I may be able to check anywhere that I maybe. The sensors send a message. I also have the ability to see my home live. After what happened on Sept 11, I added this feature as an inexpensive way to protect my family and our home.

LUCKY  

Is my duel Windows 98 and Linux 7.0 system.  In Windows mode it has 4 USB cameras that watches the house and keeps an eye on our puppies (Shelby and Sheldon/see home page).  When I need another Unix like system to do testing on. then I reboot Lucky for that purpose.  Lucky is a 333 Celeron with 98MB of memory and has PC Anywhere on it so I can see the area from any other system within our home or dialing in on a modem. It was a great help to me during my Unix training ( Note: see resume Education Section ). Update: Change to a fully operational Linux server system.   In addition to Bingo, Lucky has a copy of all applications installs from Skylark II. Test completed on installing Windows 2000 Advance server on a Windows Professional system from a Linux Server. Update: Changed to a productive server system. Backs up Skylark II and Bingo in the application area and servers as the main web server for www.billsommerville.com in a pre prod state before going live at arb.net. . Development and testing on any web pages/applications are done on Falcon before being ported to Lucky. Update: Lucky has been upgraded to Linux Red Hat 7.2 Professional. Still backups up Skylark II and Bingo on the application side. Update: Taken off home surveillance camera duty. Bingo assume these duties now. Update: Lucky is now upgraded to a full Linux Pro system. It backup Floridian with concerns of Webbones. Update: Lucky has been decommissioned. Thunderbolt handles the Webbones backup duties.

ROCKET  

My main develop system and gateway system. I do over 80 % of my work on Rocket.  It has over 40 gigs and can duplicate CD ( mostly music ).  It serve as gateway to the web also. Rocket does not play,  It's running a Pentium II at 550 MHZ with a 131MB of Ram. Update: Taken off gateway duty.  Wireless DSL port router installed and upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional Update: Upgraded to a AMD Thunderbird 900MHZ with 228 MB of RAM with 2 Ultra 66 drives and one Ultra 100 drive. It can handle up to 8 drives ( 4 66’s and 4 100’s). Also installed the ATI 32MB Rage video card. The older CPU went to Technafide (See below). So Rocket is really smoking now. Update: Rocket has been upgraded to a new motherboard and case. Running a AMD 2.0 gigaherts and 3 40 gig drives. In addition it has 1 burner (Plextor Writer) and a DVD player/cd player. In the memory area is a whopping 2 gigs. Due to this great leap, I may have to change the name for Rocket is not fast enough of a name. Maybe LightSpeed or maybe WarpSpeed. Your input on this one would be appreciated.

SONSUN

Is my backup to Rocket.  It has everything Rocket has and can be switched to in a matter of seconds.  Most of my programs operational files are backed up to it from Rocket while I am working on them in real time.  This way if Rocket crash is serious and time is of the essence, Sonsun can jump right in and take over.  It does not happen much, but when it does, it has saved my buns in those times when I needed it most.  Sonsun also handles the tape backups.  All files that Skylark backups goes to Sonsun for processing on the tape system.  The tape log files are then sent to Moscow where the are merged in with the other log files for processing. Update: Taken off of backup duty to Rocket. Moscow assumes these duties. Update: Sonsun has been converted to a Sun Ultra 10 server with a 300MHZ CPU. Will be used as partner with Thunderbolt and Lightfoot on the Sun side for Netegrity SiteMinder and Oblix operations.

MOSCOW

MOSCOW is the newest (with the except of the overhaul on Rocket) system online.  It has Windows 2000 Professional running with a AMD750MHZ with 64 megs of ram.  I am running it through a few trial tests (see home page project area).  I have discovered some interesting elements already that the pros have not and will not tell you.  People ask me why I place this picture with MOSCOW. I tell them it reminds me of the country and the city,  Structured yet confusing and like the system, we won't know the results for a while.

Update: Moscow is running several Perl scripts I wrote to make the reading of the backup logs from the different systems easier. After all the backups are done, MOSCOW gathers all of the log files. Then it goes through each one looking for the most current information. Once it finds it then it merges all the current info into another file for quick review. This file is sent to DOMINQUE where it sends the log out by email to me. This way I can check all the most current info from all the systems in one file. In most cases less than 5k. Update: Assumes duties as backup to Rocket. Update: Moscow taken off conversion file duty. DOMINIQUE (note: name spelling changed) will assume all merge and mailing duties representing Skylark as the official mail server for the lab Skylarkserver@Skylark.com. Update: Moscow re commissioned as backup log processing. Skylark II handles tape backup on a 4mm system. Dominique has its own mailer address now and acts as the official mail server for the Floridian Lab. Update: Moscow acts as the test bed for web development. Upgraded to a 1.6 gig AMD with 350megs of ram and 2 20 gig hard drives.

FALCON    

Falcon is my develop/semi production Unix/Linux system using the popular Red Hat Gome, KDE system.  It has 2 drives ( total of 20 gigs ) with a 40x CD ROM.  Falcon is used for shell programming in a UNIX environment, testing FTP protocols with Dominque and other systems, as my main SAMBA server, and will be used in testing with MOSCOW. When Lucky is up on the Unix side it is used for testing between 2 Unix like systems also. It also has it own mail server and sendmail system (falconserver@falcon.com) This system was of great assistant also for the UNIX training. Update Falcon has been upgraded to Linux 7.0 Server Professional.  It is on the web with SAMBA running on the network.  Falconserver@falcon.com. Update: Falcon now running Apache as a development environment for web pages. Update: Now running Linux Red Hat 7.2 Professional Server Version. Update: Falcon is now upgraded to Linux 8.0. Still work for us on the development sandbox system.

DOMINIQUE   

Located next to Falcon, it is my main system that is used in network programming and communications with Falcon and other systems.  It also FTP's important files from Falcon, calls Skylark, and send the files to a special directory there where Skylark later backs them up. It is Skylark’s mail representative on the PC side (skylarkserver@comcast.net) and sends daily reports to me by email automatically of all backups that have accrued and the results. In addition is keeps all files that have been on Chockum and keeps Chockum updated on the latest files constantly. Falcon is not very fast.  It just has an old Celeron 370 running about 400MHZ and they were not popular on speed. But it dose have drive space (25gigs) and dual CDROM with one of them being a burner. Plus a Sony 4gig backup tape system. Update: Dominique has had a major overhaul. Drives are all the same. Memory has been kicked up to 160 megs. CPU is an AMD Atholon 1 gigaherts. Will assume all file merging and mail sending requirements. This is the only system still running Windows 98 for comparability issues.

MONTEREY    

MONTEREY is my laptop,  Mostly used for emails, and writing up quick drafts in Word or Excel. It also serves as a database for Compaq Ipaq ( Chockum ).  It has a wire and wireless network card that can connect to my network lab in seconds. Lately I have been using it to do some VB, C, and Perl work.  Like all my other systems it is connects to the internet through the router.

THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT

Thunderbolt is a the second Sun Ultra 10 (Yes it was a special, 2 for the price of 1). This fellah will have the Siteminder policies and LDAP for future development. With 2 drives and 25 gigs of drive space I believe this Sun will do just find with Solaris 8 running on it. Lightfoot is a Sun Sparc 4 system with 128 megs of ram and a 200 cpu. It has a gig of hard drive and it was threw in to make the deal sweeter, normally it runs 90 bucks. Currently they are being configured.

CHOKUM ( CHOKE-UM ) 

This is a special Palm type system by Compaq.  This little fellah has Windows CE on it and keeps all my notes in reference of the operations, languages, commands, certain procedures and other information job related.  It has lots of memory and I have down load whole log files for later review with ease. Chokum is a Korean word. It means small. Update: Chokum has been upgraded to an IPAQ running Pocket PC. It has over 200 MB of storage space that can be used. It keeps all my work and personal data (under password key of course) and performs daily updates over the web of the latest news in subject areas that I have chosen. It has it's own keyboard and handles all type of documentation (Word, Wordperfect, PDF's, TXT, Handwritten, you name it). It can also play MP3 files that sound pretty good on it's little speaker. In case the sound is not good enough, there is a jack for your headphones also.

SKYLARK II

First assigned as replacement to Skylark, Skylark II has been reassigned to receive backup files from Skylark, dump them to tape, and act as the leading application install server. Skylark II has over 1/2 Terabyte of storage capacity (See Skylark for more into) and ensures data currency with several Perl and C scripts that run in the background. Update: SkylarkII has become main application server with Skylark and Apache as backups. Upgraded operating system to Windows 2003 Server.

APACHE

Is a Linksys network drive (20 gigs) that hold unique files. It can be accessed from Windows (98,ME,2000, XP) or Unix/Linux systems. Update: Network drive went down. Took HD from system and built new system with a 260 MB driver that backups up SkylarkII in the Application arena.

MAYNARD

The newest member with a 20 gig HD and a 1 gigahert CPU and a OS Novell server with 256 MB of ram. Maynard is used to study the workings of Novell Netware in a system administration environment using NWadmin32 and other tools of the trade. Dedicated the late great jazz trumpet master MAYNARD FERGERSON.

As you can see, this is just information on some of my systems which I have a specific use for.  Yes I could cut down on the number but I have found that this provides me great flexibility that few have.   Plus with the backup system I have created, I do not have to worry about losing files again.  All systems (except the palms) are on battery backup and have the ability to save current projects before shutdown if it goes that far.  In addition, a newly installed generator system will provide the electricity required for hours in the event of a power lost . The Floridian Lab systems and servers (with the exception of the Sun's) were built from the ground up.  The Floridian Lab System provides quick insight of challenging situation, a broad range of development areas that only the power of the I.T. lab world provides, and the production of great automation and security programs that have become a great asset.  The Floridian Lab System has become a vital tool to my work and accomplishments.

UPDATE

Due to the need to consolidate, the Flordian lab has be redueced to cut cost and be more efficient. Named as Floridian II, the reduction is quite noticable. Please note below: