The Technical Drill-Down #1. The InterNIC has 3 parts: Registration services, Database services and Information services. Each service is managed by a different organization, but together give the user/applicant a powerful suite of tools. Registration services assign network IP addresses and top domain names, like adobe.com or ncsa.uiuc.edu. The last three characters tell what kind of domain you are. The most common designations are .edu (educational), .com (commercial), .org (organization, usually non-profit) and .mil (military). Depending on your needs, you can register for a presence on other domains and databases maintained by InterNIC; whois and IN-ADDR.ARPA are examples. The IN-ADDR.ARPA domain provides a special support gateway to guaranteed host-mapping (host IP address-to-hostname). To register for IN-ADDR.ARPA , the site must provide the IN-ADDR.ARPA domain, the network name and the hostnames of the 2 hosts that will act as IN-ADDR.ARPA servers. All forms for InterNIC registration may be obtained by US Mail, e-mail to hostmaster@internic.net or retrieved via ftp at the InterNIC anonymous ftp sit. They are in the /templates directory. #2 I’ve been writing HTML documents for years now, and can provide examples of the browser docs on disk. I have helped set up 22 WWW sites, using all manner of variants of the CERN httpd daemon. Servers can also be purchased perconfigured, the best being the SUN Netra Internet server. Secure http server software is available from Netscape Communications, but is very expensive. The Josten's Web site is a Sparc 5 running the CERN http in proxy mode as part of the firewall scheme. My Acucobol site is still under construction. This site has been more problematic due to the fact that it configured on and Intel box running BSDI and manual configuration is very tedious, as you can imagine. BSDI support has been spotty at best. The HTML docs I have produced are, in all modesty, the best I have ever seen anywhere on the Web. They support hyperlinks to our marketing department, North American sales force, international distributors, Tech Support group and can utilize the client browsers as ftp, mail and gopher clients. I am also experimenting with Adobe Acrobat and the Web on 2 levels. First, to use Acrobat files as the corporate standard for cross-platform documentation for Marcom and Tech support and second to use the Acrobat files as an adjunct to HTML by embedding hyperlinks to http sites. For developing HTML docs, I use BBEdit with the HTML extensions and HTML Editor for Macintosh. My HTML docs have been QA’d on Mosaic, Netscape (Macintosh, Windows and X-Windows versions), WinWeb, MacWeb and Cello. Due to my extensive knowledge of bitmap graphics and design, I feel my HTML is of the highest quality available #3
The Josten's site was configured on a BRI ISDN line, with CerfNet acting as the services provider. This access point uses a Novix gateway (TCP to IPX) with a SUN Sparc 5 host (jlc.com). Terminal sessions are provided via the Novix for Windows/DOS clients. The Novix and a Cisco router function as the firewall, since TCP?IP is not forwarded into the internal network segments. At Acucobol we are using a BSDI x86 host configured for PPP. This will support e-mail, usenet, ftp, telnet, gopher and WWW services. SLIP/PPP services will provide the outbound sales force with direct telnet, ftp and WWW access to the corporate network. I have implemented SMDS for a service bureau for file transfer of very large postscript files within the central Kentucky area. SMDS is an LEC service that uses much the same packet-frame technology as ATM. The advantage of SMDS is that it can provide the same logical services as T1, without the expense of private dedicated lines. It is connectionless, with any-to-any without the cell callup, and as easy to configure as plugging in an AppleTalk connector. Error checking and flow control are handled by the end nodes. Other “fast-packet” technologies I have worked with include: Frame Relay-variable length packets with global connection scale-up. Provides 56Kbs to 1.544Mbs speeds. ATM- Fixed cell length, high bandwidth.
#4 I have experience configuring Cisco, Black Box (SynOptics) and Cayman Gatorbox routers, generally used to split LAN traffic for efficient packet load control and keep disparate networks and workgroups from overburdening the main servers. Modems-you name it. This includes Telebit Netblazers and 16 port Digiboards. ISDN- The ISDN line at Acucobol replaces a standard dial-up line using 3 14.4 modems. It is a Basic Rate Interface with 2 64Kbs channels. Preliminary test are VERY encouraging! Our ISDN line is provided by PacBell, with CerfNet providing the ISDN hardware, a 128K Terminal adapter with provisions for a dual 232. After some testing we found the results to be very encouraging. The bottom line on performance, however, is now pretty clear: I routinely get throughput of about 6 Kbytes per second, and sometimes as much as 7 Kbytes per second, when browsing the Web and downloading files via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). That's more than four times what I used to get through a 14.4-Kbps dial-up connection -- even though I'm still exploiting only one of the two data channels in the Basic Rate Interface that's standard for ISDN connections to homes and small businesses.
CSU/DSU- Mainly for switched 56 and MS/DBU using the Northern Telecom DATAPATH standard. Frame Relay- The Black Box FRAD-1 and FRAD-4 units are my primary contact point experience for T1-LAN interfaces. #5 Most network security I have dealt with is fairly straightforward. Usually it has been single-password protected logins with restricted permissions by the administrator (su). On the original Acucobol dial-up, I added a remote password that changes every month. The new password is distributed via US Mail and voice telephone with authentication passwords. The Internet server is set up quite differently. A Cisco router will be used to block access to the internal network by rejecting non-acucobol.com IP packets so that the Bastion Host is the only machine seen from the outside. This, plus running the CERN http software in “proxy” mode gives us a Firewall that is easy to administer, flexible, scalable and very difficult to attack. The CERN http software also handles anon. ftp, mail and gopher requests. The Bastion server handles ALL document and binary requests from inside, while the router provides physical security by only allowing access to specific ports (ex., port 80 for WWW) by non-acucobol.com IP packets from the outside. #6 Sendmail is the goal of any company that wants the best way to route and deliver mail with corporate Internet access. We are currently using smail, but feel that sendmail will provide the best hand-off mechanism between internally routed mail and the Internet. We are only beginning the configuration process since our domains are still being handled via uunet, and we are switching to CerfNet managing the Internet domains. The key to sendmail is proper set up of the sendmail.cf file. Set up is tedious, but the payoff is flexibility. Besides routing mail between internal user programs such as elm and pine, sendmail will also receive and deliver SMTP mail and provides system-wide mail aliases. I intend to run the sendmail daemon at TCP port 25 for internal/external mail and for SMTP as it comes online. Currently we are running a stable DNS setup as far as named hosts and rhosts, mail addresses and the like. This will be updated when the Internet host goes online. The DNS database is stored in RAM and is distributed on 3 servers in case of crashes. With Sun OS/Solaris, I have always used the Admin Tool for managing the network, and have not had the opportunity to use Sun Netmanager yet, #7
I have performed every “boilerplate” task a system administrator can for a TCP/IP based network. This includes cutting and installing the cable and connectors, all the way up to superuser functions (adding/deleting user and groups, managing the network databases, bootparams etc) adding workstations, PC’s Macintoshes, line printer, laser printers and NCD and Tektronix terminals. I have also performed these tasks for Novell 3.12 IPX/SPX networks. I have performed extensive client-side installs of SLIP/PPP packages for Macintosh, Windows and X-Terms. The X-servers I have managed were all pre-configured with the X-11 standard X-11 superset lib. I have configured X terminal emulators for DOS, Windows and Macintosh clients. Our current network supports NFS access. We have user programs on a variety of UNIX boxes, and NFS is the standard for providing transparent user access to these services. Users can mount the directories they need via Chameleon NFS or Versa NFS, using the TCP/IP backbone for the communications link. #8 This could be a really big list, but here goesUsing a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being lowest competency rating and 10 being highest rating. Rating 10 •All Intel PC’s from 8086 to 80486. I have built these from scratch. and have installed everything from DOS 3.3 to Windows NT and SCO on them. •The entire Apple Macintosh line, including Power Macs. •SUN Sparc 5, 10 and 20. •NCD and Tektronix X Terminals •3Com, Intel and generic NIC’s. •Upgrades for RAM, hard disks (IDE and SCSI), controllers, floppy drives, tape drives (DAT and QIC) and anything else you can think of. •Installing network and standalone line printers, laser printers and inkjets using Postscript™, QuickDraw™, PLC™ protocols. Upgrading RAM for laser printers and Linotype Imagesetters. Rating 8 •UNIX SCSI drives •Scanners •Modems •Digiboards •PCMCIA cards •Servers configured with BSDI and SCO UNIX. In other word, just about anything you can throw at me. #9 1=Best, 10 =Worst
1) Macintosh OS 6.x and 7.x. 2) DOS/Windows/Windows for Workgroups 3) Sun OS 5.2 and Solaris 2.3 4) Windows NT 5) SCO 3.4/4.2 6) BSDI for x86 7) Linux for x86 #10 I have not written and compiled a program since 1985. I wrote fire control programs for the Naval Tactical Data System, in ADA. I have written shell scripts for a variety of function and can provide examples. #11 10= Highest, 1=Lowest Rating 10 Microsoft Solution Provider® for: • Microsoft Windows 3.11 and NT 3.1 • MS Windows for Workgroups 3.11 • Microsoft Word 5.1/6.0 • MS Excel 4.0/5.0 • Microsoft PowerPoint 3.0/4.0 Adobe Authorized Trainer • Adobe Photoshop 2.5/3.0( Macintosh and Windows) • Adobe Illustrator 4.0/5.5 ( Windows and Macintosh) • Adobe Dimensions 2.0 • Adobe Acrobat (all platforms) • Aldus PageMaker 5.0 ( Macintosh and Windows) Operating Systems & Other • Solaris 2.X/ SunSoft OpenWindows • SCO Open Desktop/Unix version 3.2, 4.2 • Novell Netware 3.1x • Oracle RDBMS/SQL*Net Rating 8 Other • Lotus 123 for DOS and Windows • Lotus Notes (some development work) • WordPerfect for UNIX, DOS and Windows • Aldus Persuasion • Claris FileMaker Pro • Framemaker 4.0 • Quark XPress 3.3 In other words, I can learn anything.
#12 At Josten’s Learning my main task was the support of schools using the Sparc series of servers to deliver lessons. I have installed the Sun OS and Solaris 2.3 on these machines, set the TCP addressing added users installed the Oracle 7 database and tuned it for the student users, set permissions for files installed the physical network using Macintoshes as clients and set up the Macs with MacTCP and NFS Share for server access. Much of this work was pre-configured, but I have had to manually adjust the user accesses with the Administration Tool and troubleshoot network performance using various software tools and LANCAT products. #13 My presentation and demonstration skills are outstanding, as are my training skills. I have done presentations for technical and non-technical audiences, and most recently to the International Distributors and Global Sales force for Acucobol. My main tool is Aldus Persuasion for slide shows and custom workbooks for training. #14 Salary History 1991- @ $22,000/year 1992- $25,152/year 1993- $28,322/year 1994- $32,570/year 1995- $36,000/year 1996- $44.000/year 1997- $48,000/year 1998- $54,000/year current salary #15 My vision is to thoroughly integrate all MIS functions and business processes at the company I work for. That’s one reason why I am finishing up my MBA, to better understand the “mechanics” of business processes. I do not believe in the “glass house” approach to Information Services; IS should be so completely embedded in a business culture that it is almost invisible. One way to do this is to run the IS dept along the internal market model, where, in effect, the IS dept must continually “sell” itself to the other department and continually measure customer satisfaction (the users). This provides the incentive for IS to continually improve services and processes via TQM methods so as to bring down costs and improve performance. That’s my goal. #16 This is the easiest question of all. Economy of scale. The company buys into my vision, but funds are very tight and the company is family-owned. People are fired for reasons unknown and hired at such an alarming pace, that continuity is difficult to maintain.
If you wish to explore any of this in more detail, please contact me at rwagner3@netscape.com or by phone at 606-278-7095 Sincerely Yours,
Russell Wagner