Differences between version 3 and predecessor to the previous major change of MeetingTopics.2004-05-24.
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| Newer page: | version 3 | Last edited on Tuesday, May 25, 2004 8:05:04 pm | by JohnMcPherson | Revert |
| Older page: | version 2 | Last edited on Thursday, May 20, 2004 11:39:32 am | by JohnMcPherson | Revert |
@@ -1,7 +1,47 @@
Location: CrawshawSchool%%%
Time: __early Winter start time of 7pm__
-Shay !McAuley from the Hamilton City Council is scheduled to give
a presentation on the use of Linux within the City Council.
+Shay !McAuley from the Hamilton City Council gave
a presentation on the use of Linux within the City Council, followed by a question-and-answer session
.
+
+!!!Summary
+This was a very interesting meeting, giving us a lot of insight into what looks like a tightly run networks operation for the city council.
+Thanks a lot Shay!
+
+!!Hardware Platforms
+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.
+Linux running on the [Compaq] servers gives more bang for much less buck
+than the solaris platform and support it replaced.
+
+!!Linux use
+Combination of reasons given for linux use:
+;Cheaper costs: redhat enterprise licenses costs were comparable to windows, but no extra/hidden costs were involved, making the "[TCO]" less.
+;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)
+;Patch management: Microsoft patch for "Blaster" adversely affected [Citrix] servers. Microsoft patches now require extended testing on identically configured machines before being deployed.
+;Service separation/transparency: management like the fact that with linux, you can see exactly what is (or isn't) running on a particular machine.
+
+
+!!Network
+The city council has a large wide area network, comprising many sites:
+* central
+* 5 libraries (+ flagstaff in the future) (catalogs/issuing databases, as well as own networks)
+* zoo (about to move off dialup?)
+* cricket ground and waikato stadium
+* parks/gardens operations
+* water treatment plant
+* refuse services
+* Founders Theatre
+* Museum
+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.
+
+Lots of [VLAN]s. Helps immensely in quickly locating suspicious behaviour/disabling ports. Most machines are on an internal private range --- city council is returning 508 addresses of out a 512 [IP] address allocation from [APNIC].
+
+
+Future Plans:
+*More backend stuff migrated to linux.
+*More stuff online for ratepayers/residents... possibilities include payment of rates, fines, dog licensing fees...
+*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
+*VoIP for all desktop users, office staff
+*More investigation of LinuxOnTheDesktop
----
see also OldMeetingTopics
