tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44651226167282626292024-03-17T20:03:13.477-07:00Networks and ServersTechnologies and tendencies in cyberspaceRui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-82033031453837350552017-05-25T12:08:00.001-07:002020-11-20T07:53:37.199-08:00Windows Server 2012 Hardening (Part II)<h2>Using the Security and Configuration Analysis </h2> <p>Microsoft provides security templates for Windows Server and client operating systems, containing security configuration designed for different scenarios and server roles. There are some security templates that are part of the operating system and get applied during different operations, such as when promoting a server to a domain controller. <p>In Windows Server 2008 and later versions, security templates are located in %systemroot%inf and are more limited than in Windows Server 2003. Templates include: <ul> <li>Defltbase.inf (baseline) <li>Defltsv.inf (web/file/print servers) <li>DCfirst.inf (for the first domain controller in a domain) <li>Defltdc.inf (other domain controllers)</li> <p>Basically, you should repeat the procedures already explained for <a title="SCA" href="https://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2017/02/hardening-window-7-part-i.html#SCA">Windows 7</a> with two different <a title="Policy Analyzer" href="https://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/03/hardening-window-7-part-ii.html#Policy Analyzer">tools</a>, but instead of loading the .inf from the STIG now you load one of the security templates shipped with Windows Server 2012. <p> <h3><b>Analyze the baseline template with the Policy Analyzer</b> </h3> <p>Add the baseline template <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LDgG4lUVYRM/WScrLSZae-I/AAAAAAAAOZo/XA76waR7fVkdVYYve_xaUlGBIwx5AHC4wCHM/s1600-h/image3"><img width="742" height="608" title="image" style="border-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rZgI5AUuhe0/WScrMNAZM9I/AAAAAAAAOZs/OhGAjx3UtKkwPYE_jao1PQLVn5cYY6fxQCHM/image_thumb1?imgmax=800" border="0"></a> <p> </p></p></p></p></p></li></li></li></ul></p></p><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/05/hardening-windows-server-2012-part-ii.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-6788664080650044652017-05-24T23:04:00.001-07:002017-05-25T12:13:40.346-07:00Windows Server 2012 Hardening (Part I)<p>Servers are the penultimate layer of security between potential threats and your organization’s data. Therefore, applying proper security policies specifically for each server profile is both important and necessary.</p> <p>Common sense recommendations are to "stop all unnecessary services" or "turn off unused features". Fortunately, every new version of Windows Server is built to be more secure by default. That said, it is common to have several of different roles assigned to a single server as well as multiple sets of file servers, web servers, database servers, etc. So, how can we guarantee that each of these servers, with their different characteristics, is configured in compliance with the best security practices?</p> <h2>Using the Security Compliance Manager</h2> <p>Using SCM in Windows Server is basically the same as using it on a workstation. The major difference is related to what you can do with your GPOs once you are done.</p> <p>You cannot install SCM 4 on a Windows Server 2012 just like that, you’ll probably get a warning from the Program Compatibility Assistant. This is a known issue when installing SQL Server 2008 Express, even on supported OSes.</p> <p>Besides, Windows Server is not on the list of SCM 4 supported OSes…</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P1yjAG3Rp3g/WSZzbCKtZ-I/AAAAAAAAOWw/01yRg_2-F6s2NYPKQtTUHh06KOkxvnPNgCHM/s1600-h/image2"><img width="601" height="418" title="image" style="border-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; float: none; display: block; background-image: none;" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xqD0b-LGr8Q/WSZzb_BjDcI/AAAAAAAAOW0/mEhOUqoXmdQP2MZFNz8jmSEIKh7s6sUYACHM/image_thumb?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p> <p>To overcome this, install a newer version of SQL Server, like SQL Server 2014 Express, before installing SCM and everything will go smoothly.</p> <p>The procedure will be exactly the same as what we did for <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2017/04/windows-10-hardening-part-ii.html">Windows 10</a>, but now we are going to do same extra steps. </p><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/05/windows-server-2012-hardening-part-i.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-30665171916350356532017-05-24T11:11:00.001-07:002017-05-24T23:08:22.728-07:00GPEdit vs SecPol<p>Many users have questions regarding the difference between Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and the Local Security Policy (secpol.msc) but there is not nothing mysterious about these two tools. </p> <p>Both are used for administering system and security policies on your computer. The difference between the two is most visible on the scope of policies which those tools can edit.</p> <p>To start explaining the difference, we can say that the secpol.msc is a subcategory of gpedit.msc.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kfjIyb8GhzU/WSXM5KRoKdI/AAAAAAAAOWU/hpWgGn9iWVE84-NQoXPVhYt1pB7XeYc5QCHM/s1600-h/image%255B74%255D"><img width="752" height="531" title="image" style="border-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ULmTSmfabs0/WSXM5_gi8hI/AAAAAAAAOWY/oKWvarFEA4wEjrE9-iQegRJ2tva0GnmiACHM/image_thumb%255B30%255D?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p> <ul> <li><u>Gpedit.msc</u> is a file name for the <strong>Group Policy Editor</strong> console, mostly a graphical user interface for editing registry entries. This is not very easy because they are located at many places throughout computer registry but this tool makes the administration of registry easier. <li><u>Secpol.msc</u> is another Windows module that is also used for administration of system settings. The <strong>Local Security Policy</strong> is a smaller brother to the Group Policy Editor, used to administer a subgroup of what you can administer using the gpedit.msc.</li></ul> <p>While group policies apply to your computer and users in your domain universally and are often set by your domain administrator from a central location, local security policies, as the name suggests, are relevant to your particular local machine only. </p> <p>You can see that when opening the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc), you get to see more than when opening the Local Security Policy Editor (secpol.msc), and that is the major difference. </p> <ul> <li>The gpedit.msc is broader. <li>The secpol.msc is narrower and focuses more on security related registry entries.</li></ul> <p>Previous post: <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/04/windows-10-hardening-part-ii.html">Windows 10 Hardening (Part II)</a></p> <p>Next post: <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2017/05/windows-server-2012-hardening-part-i.html">Windows 2012 Hardening (Part I)</a></p>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com91tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-10636717358754890642017-04-10T02:54:00.001-07:002017-05-24T11:13:07.838-07:00Windows 10 Hardening (Part II)<h2>Using the Security Compliance Manager</h2> <h4></h4> <p>SCM 4.0 provides ready-to-deploy policies based on Microsoft Security Guide recommendations and industry best practices, allowing you to easily manage configuration drift, and address compliance requirements for Windows operating systems and Microsoft applications. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EX5w9OfMyl4/WOtWLIS4IGI/AAAAAAAANsQ/jSJ4y0X0EPU/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hTRMZ5tEVQU/WOtWLi0QRNI/AAAAAAAANsU/hqn9NcrpzlU/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="763" height="418"></a> <p>Update baselines <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F7R_n-IH4mk/WOtWMOiIqxI/AAAAAAAANsY/YbJI5SoZ3-U/s1600-h/image%25255B6%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sYy1KDfT6jk/WOtWMcTYSVI/AAAAAAAANsc/43bhmhx_NAs/image_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="626" height="381"></a> <p> <h3></h3> </p></p></p></p></p><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/04/windows-10-hardening-part-ii.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-14410769066904136622017-04-08T10:34:00.001-07:002017-04-10T03:27:04.324-07:00Windows 10 Hardening (Part I)<h2>Using the STIG templates</h2> <p>Just like in previous version of <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2017/02/hardening-window-7-part-i.html">Windows</a>, some of the requirements in the Windows 10 <a href="https://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2017/02/hardening-window-7-part-i.html#STIG Viewer">STIG</a> depend on the use of additional group policy administrative templates that are not included with Windows by default. The new administrative template files (.admx and .adml file types) must be copied to the appropriate location in the Windows directory to make the settings they provide visible in group policy tools. <p>This includes settings under MS Security Guide, MSS (Legacy), and the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2017/03/hardening-window-7-part-ii.html">EMET</a>) tool. The MSS settings have <a href="https://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2017/02/hardening-window-7-part-i.html#Sec File">previously</a> been made available through an update of the Windows security options file (sceregvl.inf). This required a change in permissions to that file, which is typically controlled by the system. A custom template was developed to avoid this. <p>The custom template files (MSS-Legacy and SecGuide) are provided in the Templates directory of the STIG package. The EMET administrative template files are located in the tool’s installation directory, typically “\Program Files (x86)\EMET x.x\Deployment\Group Policy Files\”. <p>The .admx files must be copied to the \Windows\PolicyDefinitions\ directory. The .adml files must be copied to the \Windows\PolicyDefinitions\en-US\ directory. <p><b>NOTE</b>: EMET’s end of life date is being extended until July 31, 2018a and at this time there are no plans to offer support or security patching for EMET that date. For improved security, everyone should migrate to the latest version of Windows 10. EMET 5.5 is compatible with current versions of Windows 10 but according to this <a href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2458544/the-enhanced-mitigation-experience-toolkit">article</a>, it won’t be compatible with future versions of the latest Microsoft OS. <p>Before the installation of the STIG templates, Windows 10 Enterprise has: <ul> <li>2283 Computer configuration settings <li>1731 User configuration settings</li> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AgmDolmFudo/WOkezfgEirI/AAAAAAAANpY/jl9WuxVTL_M/s1600-h/image3.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PpYyt1sEVos/WOke0ABH55I/AAAAAAAANpc/tPGgmKmLm7Q/image_thumb1.png?imgmax=800" width="730" height="515"></a></p> <p> </p> </li></ul></p></p></p></p></p></p><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/04/windows-10-hardening-part-i.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-8516352236909758732017-03-08T05:07:00.001-08:002017-03-08T05:21:33.355-08:00Linux Hardening with OpenSCAP<p>The <a href="https://www.open-scap.org/">OpenSCAP</a> project is a collection of open source tools for implementing and enforcing this standard, and has been awarded the <a href="https://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2017/02/system-hardening.html#SCAP">SCAP</a> 1.2 certification by NIST in 2014. The project provides tools that are free to use anywhere you like, for any purpose. </p> <p>The OpenSCAP basic tools are: <ul> <li><strong>OpenSCAP Base</strong> <ul> <li>Provides a command line tool which enables various SCAP capabilities such as displaying the information about specific security content, vulnerability and configuration scanning, or converting between different SCAP formats.</li></ul> <li><strong>SCAP Workbench</strong> <ul> <li>User friendly graphical utility offering an easy way to tailor SCAP content to your needs, perform local or remote scans, and export results.</li></ul></li> </li></ul></p><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/03/linux-hardening-with-openscap.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-24782855586176119022017-03-05T09:08:00.001-08:002017-03-08T05:20:34.801-08:00Linux Hardening with OpenVAS<p>The Open Vulnerability Assessment System (OpenVAS) is a framework of several services and tools offering a comprehensive and powerful vulnerability scanning and management solution.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S6PzeF8dNA4/WLxFtSXqkBI/AAAAAAAANTk/uiARqLrP9TU/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iVcBzIi2lBI/WLxFt21lE7I/AAAAAAAANTo/dQlAt-9x4SM/image_thumb.png?imgmax=800" width="624" height="370"></a></p> <ul></ul> <p>The security scanner is accompanied with a regularly updated feed of Network Vulnerability Tests (NVTs), over 51,000 in total (as of February 2017).</p> <h2>OpenVAS Features</h2> <p>The <a href="http://www.openvas.org/">OpenVAS</a> security suite consists of three parts:</p> <ul> <li><b>OpenVAS Scanner</b> <ul> <li>The actual scanner that executes the real-time vulnerability tests; <li>It can handle more than one target host at a time; <li>Uses the OpenVAS Transfer Protocol (OTP); <li>OTP supports SSL. </li> <li><b>OpenVAS Manager</b> <ul> <li>Handles the SQL Database where all scanning results and configurations are stored; <li>Controls the scanner via OTP and offers XML based OpenVAS Management Protocol (OMP); <li>It can stop, pause or resume scanning operations; <li>Makes user management possible including group level management and access control management. </li> <li><b>OpenVAS CLI</b> <ul> <li>Command line tool acting as a client for OMP. </li></ul></li> </li></li></li></ul></li></li></li></li></ul></li></ul><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/03/linux-hardening-with-openvas.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-8605622182568003382017-03-04T07:22:00.001-08:002017-03-05T09:46:38.028-08:00Linux Hardening with Lynis<p>Lynis is a powerful open source auditing tool for Unix/Linux like operating systems. It scans the system for security information, general system information, installed software information, configuration mistakes, security issues, user accounts without password, wrong file permissions, firewall auditing, etc. </p> <p>Lynis is also one of the most trusted automated auditing tools for software patch management, malware scanning and vulnerability detecting in Unix/Linux based systems. This tool is useful for auditors, network and system administrators, security specialists and penetration testers.</p> <h2>Installing Lynis in Ubuntu</h2> <p>This application doesn’t require any installation, it can be used directly from any directory. So, it’s a good idea to create a custom directory for Lynis:</p> <p><b>sudo mkdir /usr/local/lynis</b> <p>Download the stable version of Lynis from the <a href="https://cisofy.com/">website</a> and unpack it:</p> <p><b>cd /usr/local/lynis</b> <p><b>sudo wget https://cisofy.com/files/lynis-2.4.0.tar.gz</b> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rEjTo_MLfLQ/WLrblvUh4yI/AAAAAAAANQw/ZxrJYg_OF9Q/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w2xmTIMZ0sc/WLrbmGWo2NI/AAAAAAAANQ0/5CGgk5QHjXQ/image_thumb.png?imgmax=800" width="638" height="211"></a></p> </p></p></p><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/03/hardening-linux-with-lynis.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-89514437072562678372017-03-03T16:39:00.001-08:002017-03-04T17:14:39.199-08:00Linux Hardening with Tiger<p>Tiger is a security tool that can be used both as a security audit and as an IDS. It supports multiple UNIX platforms and it is free and provided under a GPL license. </p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gz4dgx9oVq4/WLoMYnsCjkI/AAAAAAAANNU/7k_uOPgXsXw/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CwcRjamYcOo/WLoMZMW3-AI/AAAAAAAANNY/o6mpJvs-s-4/image_thumb.png?imgmax=800" width="638" height="345"></a></p> <ul></ul> <p>Check all the details on the official <a href="http://www.nongnu.org/tiger/">website</a>.</p> <h2>Installing Tiger in Ubuntu</h2> <p>Install the application by running the command:</p> <p><b>sud</b><b>o apt-get install tiger</b> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Q-rAOXtW398/WLoMZ2GdsAI/AAAAAAAANNc/rBPvMGXFM3U/s1600-h/image%25255B5%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--wDTaPvOCQs/WLoMaQtQQII/AAAAAAAANNg/bMJiOjkD0gU/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="638" height="368"></a> <p><b></b></p> </p></p><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/03/hardening-linux-with-tiger.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-74267931132031074732017-03-01T06:19:00.001-08:002017-03-04T17:13:31.148-08:00Windows 7 Hardening (Part II)<h2>Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit</h2> <p>EMET is a free tool built to offer additional security defenses against vulnerable third party applications and assorted vulnerabilities. EMET helps prevent vulnerabilities in software from being successfully exploited by using security mitigation technologies. These technologies function as special protections and obstacles that an exploit author must defeat to exploit software vulnerabilities. These security mitigation technologies work to make exploitation as difficult as possible to perform but do not guarantee that vulnerabilities cannot be exploited. <p>Download the tool <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=50766">here</a> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q-F_FXBBc2w/WLbYDCvhkfI/AAAAAAAANF8/49Fa_sfiuVU/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-90QZXQpL65M/WLbYDpgaCFI/AAAAAAAANGA/6FuLB5HSJ3Q/image_thumb.png?imgmax=800" width="638" height="258"></a> <p>and the User’s guide <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=50802">here</a>. <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X7CMDLLZs24/WLbYEJRlfkI/AAAAAAAANGE/XWy5JoBUHpA/s1600-h/image%25255B5%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qlx46LAYNUY/WLbYEr7LtnI/AAAAAAAANGI/vPKJ_IPNMAc/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="638" height="208"></a></p> </p></p></p></p><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/03/hardening-window-7-part-ii.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-39251703665151487952017-02-28T07:36:00.001-08:002017-03-04T17:12:04.763-08:00Windows 7 Hardening (Part I)<h2>Using Microsoft Security Baseline Analyzer</h2> <p>Download <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=7558">MSBA 2.3</a>. Install it and start a default scan on your Windows machine: <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u2Xn_k-jCNA/WLWYneKVYqI/AAAAAAAAM_w/HdBot-msN6k/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LoU1z3CDhp4/WLWYn9w4dlI/AAAAAAAAM_0/8o404t5vxw8/image_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="638" height="431"></a> <p>Typical results: <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uW_FuXJdXCA/WLWYoV6BUBI/AAAAAAAAM_4/eoohlzTwOJg/s1600-h/image%25255B7%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MUFS5TsRKIE/WLWYo_IPnRI/AAAAAAAAM_8/zXhSztseWm0/image_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="544" height="569"></a> <ul> <li>Analyze the report and the proposed solutions. <li>Enable the IIS Windows feature. <li>Repeat the MSBA scan <li>Analyze the new report an compare it with the previous one.</li> </li></li></li></ul></p></p></p></p><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2017/02/hardening-window-7-part-i.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-62111889030702153562017-02-26T15:40:00.001-08:002017-05-22T15:18:19.942-07:00System Hardening<p>System hardening refers to providing various means of protection in a computer system, eliminating as many security risks as possible. This is usually done by removing all non-essential software programs and utilities from the computer. While these programs may offer useful features to the user, they might provide "back-door" access to the system and thus must be removed to improve system security.</p> <p>Extended system protection should be provided at various levels and is often referred to as defense in depth. Protecting in levels means to protect at the host layer, the application layer, the operating system layer, the data layer, the physical layer and all the sub layers in between. Each one of these layers requires a unique method of security. <p> <h2><span id="SCAP" class="mw-headline">Security Content Automation Protocol</span></h2> <p>SCAP is a method for using commonly accepted standards to enable automated vulnerability management and security policy compliance metrics. It started as a collection of specifications originally created by the US government which are now an industry standard. <p>It was developed through the cooperation and collaboration of public and private sector organizations, including government, industry and academia, but the standard is still maintained by the the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. <p> <h3>Benefits of SCAP </h3> <p>Automated tools that use SCAP specifications make it easier to continuously verify the security compliance status of a wide variety of IT systems. The use of standardized, automated methods for system security management can help organizations operate more effectively in complex, interconnected environments and realize cost savings. </p><a name="more"></a> <h3>SCAP Components </h3> <ul> <li>CVE - Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures <ul> <li>Catalog of known security threats </li></ul> <li>CCE - Common Configuration Enumeration <ul> <li>List of “identifiers” and entries relating to security system configuration issues <li>Common identification enables correlation </li></ul> <li>CPE - Common Platform Enumeration <ul> <li>Structured naming scheme to describe systems, platforms, software </li></ul> <li>CVSS - Common Vulnerability Scoring System <ul> <li>Framework to describe the characteristics and impacts of IT vulnerabilities. </li></ul> <li>XCCDF - eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format <ul> <li>Security checklists, benchmarks and configuration documentation in XML format. </li></ul> <li>OVAL - Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language <ul> <li>Common language for assessing the status of a vulnerability </li></ul> <li>OCIL – Open Checklist Interactive Language <ul> <li>Common language to express questions to be presented to a user and interpret responses </li></ul> <li>Asset Identification <ul> <li>This specification describes the purpose of asset identification, a data model and methods for identifying assets, and guidance on how to use asset identification. </li></ul> <li>ARF - Asset Reporting Format <ul> <li>Data model to express the transport format of information about assets, and the relationships between assets and reports. </li></ul> <li>CCSS - Common Configuration Scoring System <ul> <li>Set of measures of the severity of software security configuration issues </li></ul> <li>TMSAD - Trust Model for Security Automation Data <ul> <li>Common trust model that can be applied to specifications within the security automation domain.</li></ul></li></ul> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YZHpD8Ziv4A/WLNnXKdl9GI/AAAAAAAAM-4/ZSZl4kGXCTM/s1600-h/image%25255B4%25255D.png"><img title="image" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="image" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dYzysJKhFoQ/WLNnXxufQII/AAAAAAAAM-8/URG60_DiOw8/image_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="642" height="350"></a></p> <h2>Security Baselines</h2> <p><b></b> <h3>US Government Configuration Baseline</h3> <p>The purpose of <a href="https://usgcb.nist.gov/">USGCB</a> initiative is to create security configuration baselines for Information Technology products widely deployed across the federal agencies. <p>The USGCB is a Federal government-wide initiative that provides guidance to agencies on what should be done to improve and maintain an effective configuration settings focusing primarily on security. <p><b><i><u></u></i></b> <h3>IT-Grundschutz</h3> <p>The aim of <a href="https://www.bsi.bund.de/EN/Topics/ITGrundschutz/itgrundschutz_node.html">IT-Grundschutz</a> is to achieve an appropriate security level for all types of information of an organization. IT-Grundschutz uses a holistic approach to this process. <p>Through proper application of well-proven technical, organizational, personnel, and infrastructural safeguards, a security level is reached that is suitable and adequate to protect business-related information having normal protection requirements. In many areas, IT-Grundschutz even provides advice for IT systems and applications requiring a high level of protection. <p>There are also the <a href="https://www.bsi.bund.de/EN/Topics/ITGrundschutz/ITGrundschutzCatalogues/catalogues.html">IT-Grundschutz Catalogues</a> where you will find modules, threats and safeguards. <h3>CERN Mandatory Security Baselines</h3> <p><b><i><u></u></i></b> <p>The <a href="https://security.web.cern.ch/security/rules/en/baselines.shtml">Security Baselines</a> define a set of basic security objectives which must be met by any given service or system. <p>The objectives are chosen to be pragmatic and complete, and do not impose technical means. <p>Therefore, details on how these security objectives are fulfilled by a particular service/system must be documented in a separate "Security Implementation Document". <p><b><i><u></u></i></b> <h3>Microsoft Security Baselines</h3> <p><b><i><u></u></i></b> <p>A <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/device-security/windows-security-baselines">security baseline</a> is a collection of settings that have a security impact and include Microsoft’s recommended value for configuring those settings along with guidance on the security impact of those settings. <p>These settings are based on feedback from Microsoft security engineering teams, product groups, partners, and customers. <p><b><i><u></u></i></b> <h3><b><i><u>Cisco </u></i></b><b><i><u>Network Security Baseline</u></i></b></h3> <p><b><i><u></u></i></b> <p>Developing and deploying a security baseline can, be challenging due to the vast range of features available <p>The <a href="file:///H:/•%09http:/www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/solutions/Enterprise/Security/Baseline_Security/securebasebook.html">Network Security Baseline</a> is designed to assist in this endeavor by outlining those key security elements that should be addressed in the first phase of implementing defense-in-depth. <p>The main focus of Network Security Baseline is to secure the network infrastructure itself: the control and management planes. <h2><span class="mw-headline"></span> </h2> <h2><span class="mw-headline">Security Standards</span></h2> <p>These are common industry-accepted standards that include specific weakness-correcting guidelines. The main ones are published by the following organizations: <p> <h3>Center for Internet Security </h3> <p><a href="https://learn.cisecurity.org/benchmarks">CIS Benchmarks</a> are recommended technical settings for operating systems, middleware and software applications, and network devices. Developed in a unique consensus-based process comprised of hundreds of security professionals worldwide as de facto, best-practice configuration standards. <p> <h3>International Organization for Standardization </h3> <p><a href="http://www.iso.org/iso/home/store/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=54533">ISO/IEC 27002:2013</a> gives guidelines for organizational information security standards and information security management practices including the selection, implementation and management of controls taking into consideration the organization's information security risk environment(s). <p> <h3>National Institute of Standards and Technology </h3> <p>The <a href="https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/ncp/repository">National Checklist Program</a> (NCP), defined by the <a href="http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.html#SP-800-70-Rev.%203">NIST SP 800-70 Rev. 3</a>, is the U.S. government repository of publicly available security checklists (or benchmarks) that provide detailed low level guidance on setting the security configuration of operating systems and applications. NCP is migrating its repository of checklists to conform to the SCAP thus allowing standards based security tools to automatically perform configuration checking using NCP checklists. <p> <h3>Defense Information Systems Agency </h3> <p>The <a href="http://iase.disa.mil/stigs/Pages/index.aspx">Security Technical Implementation Guides</a> (STIGs) and the <a href="https://www.iad.gov/iad/library/ia-guidance/security-configuration/#libraryMenu">NSA Guides</a> are the configuration standards for DoD Information Assurance (IA) and IA-enabled devices/systems. The STIGs contain technical guidance to "lock down" information systems/software that might otherwise be vulnerable to a malicious computer attack. <p> <h3>Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik </h3> <p>The <a href="https://www.bsi.bund.de/EN/Publications/BSIStandards/BSIStandards_node.html">BSI Standards</a> contain recommendations on methods, processes, procedures, approaches and measures relating to information security. <p> <h2><span id="Compliance Requirements" class="mw-headline">Compliance Requirements</span></h2> <p>Any organization managing payments, handling private customer data, or operate in markets controlled by security regulations, need to demonstrate security compliance to avoid penalties and meet customer expectations. These are some of the major compliance requirements: <p> <h3>Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard </h3> <p>The <a href="https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/">PCI DSS</a> is a set of security standards designed to ensure that all companies that accept, process, store or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment. It was launched on September 7, 2006 to manage the ongoing evolution of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards with a focus on improving payment account security throughout the transaction process. <p> <h3>Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act </h3> <p>The <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/index.html/">HIPAA Privacy Rule</a>, also called the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, essentially defines how healthcare provider entities use individually-identifiable health information or the PHI (Personal Health Information). <p> <h3>Information Technology Infrastructure Library </h3> <p><a href="https://www.axelos.com/best-practice-solutions/itil">ITIL</a> compliance guidelines include categories such as change management, security architecture and help desk systems. Companies can then find ways to accomplish ITIL compliance by using the appropriate systems and strategies. <p> <h3>Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology </h3> <p><a href="https://cobitonline.isaca.org/">COBIT</a> is a framework created for IT governance and management. It is meant to be a supportive tool for managers and allows bridging the crucial gap between technical issues, business risks and control requirements. <p> <h3>National Institute of Standards and Technology </h3> <p>The <a href="http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SMA/fisma/compliance.html">NIST</a> is responsible for developing cybersecurity standards, guidelines, tests, and metrics for the protection of federal information systems. While developed for federal agency use, these resources are voluntarily adopted by other organizations because they are effective and accepted globally.</p> <p>Next post: <a href="https://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2017/02/hardening-window-7-part-i.html">Windows 7 Hardening (Part 1)</a></p>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-39402952999866633662016-02-28T15:09:00.001-08:002016-02-28T15:16:36.861-08:00Creating Virtual Machines in Windows 10 <br>
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Once you are done with the installation of Hyper-V, the creation of VMs is an easy procedure. First, you'll have to locate the Hyper-V manager icon and I suggest you place it in an easily accessible spot:</div>
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BEaGq9Q5Bxc/VtN-Jg7iFzI/AAAAAAAAMjE/FRVYzbttk8M/s1600-h/Hyper-V%252520Manger%252520Icon%25255B7%25255D.png"><img alt="Hyper-V Manager Icon" border="0" height="235" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7OLaho5xkUs/VtN-J9f560I/AAAAAAAAMjI/KLADxDIjYEQ/Hyper-V%252520Manger%252520Icon_thumb%25255B13%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Hyper-V Manager Icon" width="108"></a> <br>
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Now, all you have to do is start the Hyper-V manager and you'll be presented with an interface apparently identical to the one previously available in Server 2012. </div>
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nXaQcZTFj-k/VtN-KeJM4MI/AAAAAAAAMjM/brMV_jQOJlU/s1600-h/Hyper-V%252520Manger%25255B3%25255D.png"><img alt="Hyper-V Manager" border="0" height="454" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_O1zMn_RG2w/VtN-KjEXPII/AAAAAAAAMjQ/0YfD3ZGqfuA/Hyper-V%252520Manger_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Hyper-V Manager" width="566"></a> <br>
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However, this modern hypervisor has at least one option worthy of separate explanation and that is the Second Generation Virtual Machines. </div>
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2016/02/creating-virtual-machines-in-windows-10.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-22792487330517785322016-02-26T17:24:00.001-08:002016-02-26T17:35:51.772-08:00Virtualization with Windows 10 <br>
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Many versions of Windows 10 and Windows 8.x include the Hyper-V virtualization technology. It is the same virtualization technology previously available only in Windows Server but this desktop version is referred to as Client Hyper-V. As in server versions, it is a <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2011/11/full-virtualization-explained.html#Type 1 Hypervisor" target="_blank" title="Type 1 Hypervisor">Type 1</a> hypervisor which enables you to run more than one 32-bit or 64-bit virtualized operating system at the same time on top of a single physical host. </div>
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PeicmUdSh3I/VtD6yjy9o-I/AAAAAAAAMhQ/H_ALpObSyus/s1600-h/Hyper-V-v108.png"><img alt="Hyper V v10" border="0" height="237" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WI110I4b79A/VtD6zMC7MSI/AAAAAAAAMhU/kALvckE_5tA/Hyper-V-v10_thumb4.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Hyper V v10" width="308"></a> <br>
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The technical approach remains pretty much the same as it was with <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2011/11/how-to-setup-virtualization-lab-i.html#A closer look at Hyper-V" target="_blank">Windows Server 2008</a> but a number of other features are now available. </div>
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<a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Rz9--jq8YDQ/VtD6zaZhzuI/AAAAAAAAMhY/hV0apuMzxJs/s1600-h/Hyper-V-20105.png"><img alt="Window 2010 Hyper-V " border="0" height="302" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UMzLbaAA9M0/VtD6zxcZBSI/AAAAAAAAMhc/ANjMQ-PNCjk/Hyper-V-2010_thumb3.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Window 2010 Hyper-V " width="566"></a> <br>
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The management of the VMs created inside the Client Hyper-V can be performed using tools created for Server Hyper-V, such as VMM P2V or Sysinternals Disk2vhd, and Hyper-V virtual switch extensions and PowerShell scripts for managing VMs that you develop and test on Client Hyper-V, can be latter on moved to Server Hyper-V.<br>
</div><a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2016/02/virtualization-with-windows-10.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-79916091846634918982013-10-13T14:07:00.001-07:002013-10-13T14:37:21.746-07:00Cyberspace’s Ecological ImpactElectricity consumption in data centers worldwide doubled between 2000 and 2005, but the pace of growth slowed between 2005 and 2010. This slowdown was the result of the 2008 economic crisis, the increasing use of virtualization in datacenters, and the industry's efforts to improve energy efficiency. However, the electricity consumed by datacenters globally in 2010 amounted to 1.3% of the world electricity use. Power consumption is now a major concern in the design and implementation of modern infrastructures because energy-related costs have become an important component of the total cost of ownership of this class of systems.<br />
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Thus, energy management is now a central issue for servers and datacenter operations, focusing on reducing all energy-related costs, such as investment, operating expenses and environmental impacts. The improvement of energy efficiency is a major problem in cloud computing because it has been calculated that the cost of powering and cooling a datacenter accounts for 53% of its total operational expenditure. But the pressure to provide services without any failure leads to a continued scaling systems for all levels of the power hierarchy, from the primary feed sources to the support. In order to cover the worst-case situations, it is normal to over-provision Power Distribution Units (PDUs), Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) units, etc. For example, it has been estimated that power over-provisioning in Google data centers is about 40%. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z3BVT6o6p-U/UlsSI5lRjfI/AAAAAAAAK6k/WXSTW0Nm4eY/s1600/Cyberespace200.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cyberspace" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z3BVT6o6p-U/UlsSI5lRjfI/AAAAAAAAK6k/WXSTW0Nm4eY/s1600/Cyberespace200.png" title="Cyberspace" /></a></div>
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Furthermore, in an attempt to ensure the redundancy of power systems, banks of diesel generators are kept running permanently to ensure that the system does not fail even the moments that these support systems would take to boot up. These giant generators work continuously to ensure high availability in the event of a failure of any critical system, emitting large quantities of diesel exhaust, i.e., pollution. Thus, it is estimated that only about 9% of the energy consumed by datacenters is in fact used in computing operations, everything else is basically wasted to keep the servers ready to respond to any unforeseen power failure.<br />
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When we connect to the Internet, cyberspace can resemble a lot to outer space in the sense that it seems infinite and ethereal; the information is just out there. But if we think about the energy of the real world and the physical space occupied by the Internet, we will begin to understand that things are not so simple. Cyberspace has indeed real expression in the physical space, and the longer it takes to change our behavior in relation to the Internet, in order to clearly see its physical characteristics, the closer we will be to enter a path of destruction of our planet.<br />
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2013/10/cyberspace-social-impact.html" title="Cyberspace's Social Impact">Previous Post</a> – Next Post<br /><br />Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-40818563834832223302013-10-10T15:41:00.001-07:002013-10-13T14:37:49.232-07:00Cyberspace's Social ImpactDespite being fashionable and many people refer to it, only a few seem to know what the "cloud" really is. A recent study by Wakefield Research for <a href="http://www.citrix.com/news/announcements/oct-2012/cloud-confusion-survey.html" title="Citrix Survey">Citrix</a>, shows that there is a huge difference between what U.S. citizens do and what they say when it comes to cloud computing. The survey of more than 1,000 American adults was conducted in August 2012 and showed that few average Americans know what cloud computing is.<br />
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For example, when asked what "the cloud" is, a majority responded it's either an actual cloud, the sky or something related to the weather (29%). 51 percent of respondents, believe stormy weather can interfere with cloud computing and only 16% were able to link the term with the notion of a computer network to store, access and share data from Internet-connected devices. Besides, 54% of respondents claimed to have never used a cloud when in fact 95% of those who said so are actually using cloud services today via online shopping, banking, social networking and file sharing.<br />
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<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Lqv_9W9scWg/Ulcs_x5LlnI/AAAAAAAAK6I/ylZRLLqRqBo/s1600-h/Cloud%252520Computing%25255B2%25255D.png"><img alt="Cloud Computing" border="0" height="289" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-h7P69oapCo4/UlctAckigLI/AAAAAAAAK6M/DInhqvnxaf8/Cloud%252520Computing_thumb.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Cloud Computing" width="296" /></a><br />
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What these results suggest is that the cloud is indeed transparent to users, fulfilling one of its main functions, which is provide content and services easily and immediately. However, the lack of knowledge about the computing model that supports all of our everyday activities, leads to a growing disengagement with the consequent deterioration of the security concerns of content and privacy. <br />
In reality, cyberspace is not an aseptic place filled only with accurate and useful information. The great interest of cyberspace lies precisely in that it allows for social vitality, based on a growing range of multimedia services. Its fascination comes from acting as a booster technology for the proliferation of all forms of sociability, being a connectivity instrument. Therefore, cyberspace is not a purely cybernetic thing, but a living, chaotic, and uncontrolled entity.<br />
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Beyond these concerns, others equally serious are emerging. By analyzing our daily use of these new technological tools, we conclude that the growth of the Internet is suffocating the planet. We have to face the CO2 emissions produced by our online activities as internal costs to the planet. <br />
We can start by showing some awareness of the problem, restricting our uploads and even removing some. Why not? What about reducing our photos on Facebook and Instagram? Keeping them permanently available consumes energy! If no one cares about our videos on YouTube, why not delete them? At least keep them where they do not need to be consuming energy.<br />
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We still have to go further and think that if awareness and self-discipline are not enough, we must consider the possibility of a cost for the sharing of large volumes of personal information. It is perhaps the only way to get most people to stop making unconscious use of the cloud, clogging it by dumping huge amounts of useless information into cyberspace. The goal is not to limit the access to information, this should always be open access, but rather give it a proper and conscientious use.<br />
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2013/10/cyberspaces-ecological-impact.html">Next Post</a><br /><br />Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-9396882521831069402013-03-16T12:06:00.001-07:002013-10-13T14:06:13.462-07:00The Evolution of Computing: Cloud Computing<br />
Cloud computing has recently emerged as a new paradigm for hosting and delivering services over the Internet. Cloud computing is attractive to business owners as it eliminates the requirement for users to plan ahead for provisioning, and allows enterprises to start from the small and increase resources only when there is a rise in service demand. Cloud computing is first and foremost a concept of distributed resource management and utilization. It aims at providing convenient endpoint access system while not requiring purchase of software, platform or physical network infrastructure, instead outsourcing them from third parties.<br />
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The arrangement may beneficially influence competitive advantage and flexibility but it also brings about various challenges, namely privacy and security. In cloud computing, applications, computing and storage resources live somewhere in the network, or cloud. User’s don’t worry about the location and can rapidly access as much or as little of the computing, storage and networking capacity as they wish—paying for it by how much they use—just as they would with water or electricity services provided by utility companies. The cloud is currently based on disjointedly operating data centers but the idea of a unifying platform not unlike the Internet has already been proposed.<br />
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In a cloud computing environment, the traditional role of service provider is divided into two: the infrastructure providers who manage cloud platforms and lease resources according to a usage-based pricing model, and service providers, who rent resources from one or many infrastructure providers to serve the end users. Cloud computing providers offer their services according to several fundamental models: software as a service, infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, desktop as a service, and more recently, backend as a service.</div>
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The backend as a service computing model, also known as "mobile backend as a service" is a relatively recent development in cloud computing, with most commercial services dating from 2011. This is a model for providing web and mobile applications developers with a way to link their applications to backend cloud storage while also providing features such as user management, push notifications, and integration with social networking services. These services are provided via the use of custom software development kits (SDKs) and application programming interfaces (APIs). Although similar to other cloud-computing developer tools, this model is distinct from these other services in that it specifically addresses the cloud-computing needs of web and mobile applications developers by providing a unified means of connecting their apps to cloud services. The global market for this services has an estimated value of hundreds of million dollars in the next years.</div>
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Clearly, public cloud computing is at an early stage in its evolution. However, all of the companies offering public cloud computing services have data centers, in fact, they are building some of the largest data centers in the world. They all have network architectures that demand flexibility, scalability, low operating cost, and high availability. They are built on top of products and technologies supplied by Brocade and others network vendors. These public cloud companies are building business on data center designs that virtualize computing, storage, and network equipment—which is the foundation of their IT investment. Cloud computing over the Internet is commonly called “public cloud computing.” When used in the data center, it is commonly called “private cloud computing.” The difference lies in who maintains control and responsibility for servers, storage, and networking infrastructure and ensures that application service levels are met. In public cloud computing, some or all aspects of operations and management are handled by a third party “as a service.” Users can access an application or computing and storage using the Internet and the HTTP address of the service.</div>
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2013/03/the-evolution-of-computing.html" title="Virtualization">Previous Post</a><br />
<br />Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com154tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-53371713203362387772013-03-14T15:55:00.001-07:002013-03-16T12:17:42.817-07:00The Evolution of Computing: Virtualization<br />
Countless PCs in organizations effectively killed the need for <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2011/11/server-virtualization-explained.html" title="Virtualization">virtualization</a> as a multi-tasking enabled solution in the 1980s. At that time, virtualization was widely abandoned and not picked up until the late 1990s again, when the technology would find a new use and purpose. The opportunity of a booming PC and datacenter industry brought an unprecedented increase in the need for computer space, as well as in the cost of power to support these installations. Back in 2002, data centers already accounted for 1.5 percent of the total U.S. power consumption and was growing by an estimated 10 percent every year. More than 5 million new servers were deployed every year and added a power supply of thousands of new homes every year. As experts warned of excessive power usage, hardware makers began focusing on more power efficient components to enable growth for the future and alleviate the need for data center cooling. Data center owners began developing smart design approaches to make the cooling and airflow in data centers more efficient. <br />
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At this time, most computing was supported by the highly inefficient x86-based IT model, originally created by Intel in 1978. Cheap hardware created the habit of over-provisioning and under-utilizing. Any time a new application was needed, it often required multiple systems for development and production use. Take this concept and multiply it out by a few servers in a multi-tier application, and it wasn't uncommon to see 8-10 new servers ordered for every application that was required. Most of these servers went highly underutilized since their existence was based on a non-regular testing schedule. It also often took a relatively intensive application to even put a dent in the total utilization capacity of a production server. </div>
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In 1998, VMware solves the problem of <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2011/11/server-virtualization-explained.html#Problems in x86 Virtualization">virtualizing the old x86</a> architecture opening a path to a solution to get control over the wasteful nature of IT data centers. This server consolidation effort is what helped establish virtualization as a go-to technology for organizations of all sizes. IT started to notice capital expenditure savings by buying fewer, but higher powered servers to handle the workloads of 15-20 physical servers. Operational expenditure savings was accomplished through reduced power consumption required for powering and cooling servers. It was the realization that virtualization provided a platform for simplified <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2011/02/high-availability-overview.html">availability</a> and <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2011/02/high-availability-terminology-ii.html#RTO">recoverability</a>. Virtualization offered a more responsive and sustainable IT infrastructure that afforded new opportunities to either keep critical workloads running, or <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2011/02/high-availability-terminology-i.html#Disaster Recovery">recover</a> them more quickly than ever in the event of a more catastrophic <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2011/02/high-availability-terminology-i.html#Failure">failure</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2013/03/the-evolution-of-computing-internet.html" title="Internet Datacenter">Previous Post</a> – <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2013/03/the-evolution-of-computing-cloud.html" title="Cloud Computing">Next Post</a><br />
<br />Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-66583666529923140622013-03-12T12:26:00.001-07:002013-03-12T12:28:23.739-07:00The Evolution of Computing: The Internet Datacenter<br />
The boom of datacenters and datacenter hosting came during the dot-com era. Countless businesses needed nonstop operation and fast Internet connectivity to deploy systems and establish a presence on the Web. Installing data center hosting equipment was not a viable option for smaller companies. As the dot com bubble grew, companies began to understand the importance of having an Internet presence. Establishing this presence required that companies have fast and reliable Internet connectivity. They also had to have the capability to operate 24 hours a day in order to deploy new systems.<br />
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<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-4cCHeMKmhps/UT-A9DVWo2I/AAAAAAAAKvY/EQZwHFdVZ4U/s1600-h/Data%252520Center%25255B2%25255D.png"><img alt="Data Center" border="0" height="259" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-TYRXOnyKWDw/UT-BFAfnJQI/AAAAAAAAKvg/5mzYKEA_9Ws/Data%252520Center_thumb.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Data Center" width="387" /></a> </div>
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Soon, these new requirements resulted in the construction of extremely large data facilities, responsible for the operation of computer systems within a company and the deployment of new systems. However, not all companies could afford to operate a huge datacenter. The physical space, equipment requirements, and highly-trained staff made these large datacenters extremely expensive and sometimes impractical. In order to respond to this demand, many companies began building large facilities, called Internet Datacenters, which provided businesses of all sizes with a wide range of solutions for operations and system deployment.<br />
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-Vcz1df4pHXs/UT-BPjFOirI/AAAAAAAAKvo/HS-Esi9sY98/s1600-h/Datacenter%25255B2%25255D.png"><img alt="Datacenter" border="0" height="259" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NVrrq5QgMd0/UT-BUP4UP3I/AAAAAAAAKvw/D6vEvnFvc0c/Datacenter_thumb.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Datacenter" width="387" /></a> </div>
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New technologies and practices were designed and implemented to handle the operation requirements and scale of such large-scale operations. These large datacenters revolutionized technologies and operating practices within the industry. Private datacenters were born out of this need for an affordable Internet datacenter solution. Today's private datacenters allow small businesses to have access to the benefits of the large Internet data centers without the expense of upkeep and the sacrifice of valuable physical space.</div>
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2013/03/the-evolution-of-computing-distributed.html" title="Dsitributed Computing">Previous Post</a> – Next Post</div>
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<br />Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-69260040757486427592013-03-11T11:59:00.001-07:002013-03-11T12:04:00.079-07:00The Evolution of Computing: Distributed Computing<br />
After the microcomputers, came the world of distributed systems. One important characteristic of the distributed computing environment was that all of the major OSs were available on small, low-cost servers. This feature meant that it was easy for various departments or any other corporate group to purchase servers outside the control of the traditional, centralized IT environment. As a result, applications often just appeared without following any of the standard development processes. Engineers programmed applications on their desktop workstations and used them for what later proved to be mission-critical or revenue-sensitive purposes. As they shared applications with others in their departments, their workstations became servers that served many people within the organization.<br />
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In the distributed computing environment, it was common for applications to be developed following a one-application-to-one-server model. Because funding for application development comes from vertical business units, and they insist on having their applications on their own servers, each time an application is put into production, another server is added. The problem created by this approach is significant because the one-application-to-one-server model is really a misnomer. In reality, each new application generally requires the addition of at least three new servers, and often requires more as follows: development servers, test servers, training servers and cluster and disaster recovery servers.</div>
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Therefore, it became standard procedure in big corporations to purchase 8 or 10 servers for every new application being deployed. It was the prelude for the enormous bubble that ultimately would cause the collapse of many organization who thought cyberspace was an easy and limitless way to make money.</div>
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2013/03/the-evolution-of-computing-personal.html" title="Personal Computing">Previous Post</a> - Next Post</div>
<br />Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-51761969662529994072013-03-10T13:00:00.001-07:002013-03-11T12:36:56.866-07:00The Evolution of Computing: Personal Computing<br>
Initially, companies developed applications on minicomputers because it gave them more freedom than they had in the <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.pt/2013/02/the-evolution-of-computing-mainframe-era.html" title="Mainframe Era">mainframe environment</a>. The rules and processes used in this environment were typically more flexible than those in the mainframe environment, giving developers freedom to be more creative when writing applications. In many ways, minis were the first step towards freedom from mainframe computing. However, with each computer being managed the way its owner chose to manage it, a lack of accepted policies and procedures often led to a somewhat chaotic environment. Further, because each mini vendor had its own proprietary OS, programs written for one vendor's mini were difficult to port to another mini. In most cases, changing vendors meant rewriting applications for the new OS. This lack of application portability was a major factor in the demise of the mini.<br>
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During the 1980s, the computer industry experienced the boom of the microcomputer era. In the excitement accompanying this boom, computers were installed everywhere, and little thought was given to the specific environmental and operating requirements of the machines. From this point on, computing that was previously done in terminals that served only to interact with the mainframe — the so called “stupid terminals”— shall be made on personal computers, or machines that have their own resources. This new computing model was the embryo of modern cyberspace with all the services that we know today. <br>
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-C7gdNDgzQ50/UTzmaKlHvzI/AAAAAAAAKs0/djZYTe0zc9E/s1600-h/IBM%252520PC%2525205150%25255B2%25255D.png"><img alt="IBM PC 5150" border="0" height="284" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-BtakutIcByU/UTzmb5SMQhI/AAAAAAAAKs8/meQBU01hoG4/IBM%252520PC%2525205150_thumb.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IBM PC 5150" width="387"></a> <br>
<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-evolution-of-computing-personal.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-81846881865689624702013-02-25T11:06:00.001-08:002013-03-10T13:16:10.034-07:00The Evolution of Computing: The Mainframe EraModern datacenters have their origins in the huge computer rooms of the early computing industry. Old computers required an enormous amount of power and had to constantly be cooled to avoid overheating. In addition, security was of great importance because computers were extremely expensive and commonly used for military purposes, so basic guidelines for controlling access to computer rooms were devised.<br>
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<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sVA-vkro80k/USu1xs_utJI/AAAAAAAAKcs/PnebZ-768-8/s1600-h/IBM%252520704%252520%2525281954%252529%25255B3%25255D.png"><img alt="IBM 704 (1954)" border="0" height="314" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-sVhWbjN0h2Q/USu1y9VCtbI/AAAAAAAAKc0/LFNrmqx6q34/IBM%252520704%252520%2525281954%252529_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="IBM 704 (1954)" width="387"></a><br>
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-evolution-of-computing-mainframe-era.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-38338194005444071222013-02-24T15:33:00.001-08:002013-02-25T11:13:15.897-08:00The Evolution of Computing: OverviewIn our time, cyberspace is an integral part of the lives of many millions of citizens around the world that dive in it for work or just for fun. Our daily life is now occupied by a plethora of user-friendly technology that allow us to have more time for other activities, increase our productivity and have a lot more access to all kinds of information. But it was not always so, and until we reach this stage we went through about 50 years of development. This series of articles will summarize the evolution of different computing models that underpin much of modern life and discuss some of the future trends that will certainly change the way we relate to information technology and interact with each other.<br />
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In recent decades, computer technology has undergone a revolution that catapulted us to a growing complexity of effects revealed in a new society and, from a certain point, we started to take for granted the use of all the technology at our disposal, without thinking about the future consequences of our actions. Therefore, amongst all that we take today for granted, cyberspace is near the top of the list. The promise of the Internet for the twenty-first century is to provide everything everywhere, anytime and anywhere. All human achievements, all culture, all the news will be within reach with just one simple mouse click. The history of computers and cyberspace is critical to understanding the contemporary communication and although they do not constitute the only element of communication in the second half of the twentieth century, they must, by virtue of its importance, come first in any credible historical analysis since they were handed a huge set of tasks that go well beyond the realm of communication.<br />
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For many internet users, the access to this virtual world is a sure thing but for many others it does not even exist. Despite its exponential growth and its geographical dispersion, the physical distribution of communications networks is still far from being uniform in all regions of the planet. Moreover, the widespread of mobile telecommunications gives cyberspace a character of uniformity which permits an almost complete abstraction of its physical support. The last few years have been a truly explosive growth phase in information technology, particularly the Internet. Following this expansion, the term cyberspace has become commonly used to describe a virtual world that Internet users inhabit when they are online, accessing the most diverse content, playing games or using widely varying interactive services that the Internet provides. But it is crucial to distinguish cyberspace from telematics networks, because there is a widespread conceptual confusion.<br />
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Telematics produces distance communication via computer and telecommunications, while cyberspace is a virtual environment that relies on these media to establish virtual relationships. Thus, I believe the Internet, while being the main global telematics network, does not represent the entire cyberspace because this is something larger that can arise from man's relationship with other technologies such as GPS, biometric sensors and surveillance cameras. In reality, cyberspace can be seen as a new dimension of society where social relationships networks are redefined through new flows of information.<br />
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We can visit a distant museum in the comfort of our home, or access any news of a newspaper published thousands of miles away, with a simple mouse click on our computer. Thus, it becomes necessary to think about a regulation of this area in the sake of the common good of the planet. The economy of cyberspace has no mechanism of self-regulation that limits its growth so the current key issues for business are getting cheap energy and keep the transmission times in milliseconds. Revenues from services like Facebook and YouTube are not derived from costs to users so, from the user's point of view, cyberspace is free and infinite. As long as people don't feel any cost in cyberspace usage, they will continue to use it without any restrictions and this is will some become unbearable.<br />
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Therefore, the purpose of these articles is to present a brief analysis of the rise and transformations through which these machines and associated technologies have undergone in recent decades, directly affecting the lives of human beings and their work and communication processes.<br />
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-evolution-of-computing-mainframe-era.html">Next Post</a>
<p></p>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-82547939341587492752012-01-11T15:22:00.001-08:002012-01-11T15:27:23.560-08:00How to use the Virtualization Lab (II)<br>
Picking up from where I left, it was now time to change the setup into something very different. The first step was the creation of another VM inside Hyper-V to be used as an alternative source for iSCSI storage. I achieved this by installing the Microsoft iSCSI Target 3.3 on a new Server 2008 R2 x64 VM. I created this machine with two vhd files; one for the OS and the other one for the iSCSI storage.<br>
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I will now show you the steps taken to create three new iSCSI virtual disks:<br>
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Creation of the iSCSI target:<br>
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<a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-2Y6DRn8-qfc/Tw4ZJClP7eI/AAAAAAAAIxg/GU10OMa1PCM/s1600-h/iSCSI-15.png" target="_blank"><img alt="iSCSI 1" border="0" height="290" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-SkSWyMv5A3g/Tw4ZJ0man9I/AAAAAAAAIxo/e-CdFSOiAYI/iSCSI-1_thumb1.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="iSCSI 1" width="645"></a><br>
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-use-virtualization-lab-ii.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4465122616728262629.post-3219307265666893172012-01-03T04:04:00.001-08:002012-01-03T04:13:19.702-08:00How to use the Virtualization Lab (I)<br>
I finished last post on this <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-setup-virtualization-lab-iii.html" target="_blank">series</a> with a fully working <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2011/02/high-availability-terminology-ii.html#cluster" target="_blank">cluster</a> installed between two Hyper-V virtual machines (VM) using a virtual <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2011/09/high-availability-storage-ii.html#SAN Protocols" target="_blank">iSCSI</a> solution installed on a Virtual Box VM as depicted in the next picture:<br>
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<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Pu3rs4BKo5c/TwLtuvB0wrI/AAAAAAAAIuA/akHqT5RggcA/s1600-h/Virtualization%252520Lab%2525201%25255B8%25255D.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Virtualization Lab 1" border="0" height="425" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-H3FqB2jyKJM/TwLtvjSv7EI/AAAAAAAAIuI/QKP-ZtJx54A/Virtualization%252520Lab%2525201_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Virtualization Lab 1" width="638"></a> <br>
Before moving on in the process of adding complexity to the lab scenario, don't forget to safeguard your work; although this just a lab, it doesn't reduce the nuisance of having to reinstall everything in the event of any <a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2011/02/high-availability-terminology-i.html#Failure" target="_blank">failure</a>. So, create VM snapshots:<br>
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<a href="http://networksandservers.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-use-virtualization-lab-i.html#more"></a>Rui Natáriohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12067366039242874604noreply@blogger.com1