| Rev | Author | # | Line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | JohnMcPherson | 1 | Location: CrawshawSchool%%% |
| 2 | Time: __early Winter start time of 7pm__ | ||
| 1 | CraigBox | 3 | |
| 3 | JohnMcPherson | 4 | !!!Summary |
| 6 | MattBrown | 5 | This was a very interesting meeting with Shay ~McAulay from the Hamilton City Council giving a presentation on the use of Linux within the City Council. A lot of insight was gained into what looks like a tightly run network operation for the city council. |
| 6 | Thanks a lot Shay! The meeting was followed by a quick question and answer session. | ||
| 3 | JohnMcPherson | 7 | |
| 8 | !!Hardware Platforms | ||
| 9 | The general trend is to move from Windows clients and [Solaris]/Linux servers to just Windows (frontend) and Linux (backend). There are still Legacy library apps on Solaris, but the trend is to having the applications running on a Java platform on a Linux cluster (RedHat Enterprise edition). Standardised hardware and disk imaging allows servers to be replaced by spares with a minimum of downtime. | ||
| 10 | Linux running on the [Compaq] servers gives more bang for much less buck | ||
| 11 | than the solaris platform and support it replaced. | ||
| 12 | |||
| 13 | !!Linux use | ||
| 14 | Combination of reasons given for linux use: | ||
| 15 | ;Cheaper costs: redhat enterprise licenses costs were comparable to windows, but no extra/hidden costs were involved, making the "[TCO]" less. | ||
| 16 | ;Security: code red virus introduced to network by laptop user (although detected and the port disabled within a minute), various email viruses (mostly controlled before more than 5-10% of clients infected) | ||
| 17 | ;Patch management: Microsoft patch for "Blaster" adversely affected [Citrix] servers. Microsoft patches now require extended testing on identically configured machines before being deployed. | ||
| 18 | ;Service separation/transparency: management like the fact that with linux, you can see exactly what is (or isn't) running on a particular machine. | ||
| 19 | |||
| 20 | |||
| 21 | !!Network | ||
| 22 | The city council has a large wide area network, comprising many sites: | ||
| 23 | * central | ||
| 24 | * 5 libraries (+ flagstaff in the future) (catalogs/issuing databases, as well as own networks) | ||
| 25 | * zoo (about to move off dialup?) | ||
| 26 | * cricket ground and waikato stadium | ||
| 27 | * parks/gardens operations | ||
| 28 | * water treatment plant | ||
| 29 | * refuse services | ||
| 30 | * Founders Theatre | ||
| 31 | * Museum | ||
| 8 | JohnMcPherson | 32 | Most of the sites are linked by fibre. The [NOC] is also connected to the central city closed-circuit fibre network and the traffic lights network. VLANs are used extensively which helps immensely in quickly locating suspicious behaviour/disabling ports. Most machines are on an internal private address range. |
| 3 | JohnMcPherson | 33 | |
| 34 | |||
| 35 | Future Plans: | ||
| 36 | *More backend stuff migrated to linux. | ||
| 37 | *More stuff online for ratepayers/residents... possibilities include payment of rates, fines, dog licensing fees... | ||
| 4 | JohnMcPherson | 38 | *Use of [SMS] gateway for providing information to/from council staff in areas such as dog control (finding out registered address), security (aid in responding to alarms), engineering services, etc |
| 39 | *[VoIP] for all desktop users, office staff | ||
| 3 | JohnMcPherson | 40 | *More investigation of LinuxOnTheDesktop |
| 2 | JohnMcPherson | 41 | |
| 42 | ---- | ||
| 43 | see also OldMeetingTopics |
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