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MeetingTopics.2004-05-24
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Location: CrawshawSchool%%% Time: __early Winter start time of 7pm__ !!!Summary 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. Thanks a lot Shay! The meeting was followed by a quick question and answer session. !!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. VLANs are used extensively which helps immensely in quickly locating suspicious behaviour/disabling ports. Most machines are on an internal private address range. 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
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