My apologies for the long delay in getting this out. This is a sanitized version of my Server Staging Checklist for Windows 2000/2003 servers. I use this as a guide when staging new servers to prevent missing those little detail tweaks. The original document was developed as part of a comprehensive set of policies and procedures at my former company to promote standard server builds throughout my line of business. I used our corporate server groups document as a basis and modified and added to it to suit our environment. You may have different requirements in your organization, but hopefully it will serve as a foundation for you.

Let us know your thoughts and suggestions about the document through feedback here on the blog or email the show at Feedback [at] MindOfRoot.com.

Windows Server Staging Procedure

I caught this one recently on an episode of CyberSpeak (10/15 show)…..

There are a lot of “secure” file deletion applications out there, but these two look quick and simple and can be used on-the-fly from a thumb drive or automated in a script.

SDelete from Sysinternals/Microsoft

Cipher (included with Windows 2000 and above)

Assuming you do the right thing and migrate all of your confidential data to an encrypted TrueCrypt volume, what do you do with the old copies of the data? You can securely erase the data using these tools so that the only recoverable copy is in your encrypted volume.

Some systems use a data interchange folder to integrate two disparate systems. One system will drop an export file in the directory and the other system will import the file from the directory. I’ve seen POS systems integrate to credit card processing systems in this manner. With this tool, you can script a cron job to regularly securely delete the interchange files in the directory.

Just another layer of security to consider.

Recorded: September 4, 2007

Your Hosts: Keith Albright, Rich Niemeier, Ted Miller, and Steve Murawski

Show Length: 1:50:33
Ted returns this week for a regular format show. We discuss some recent news items; Microsoft shuts down AutoPatcher, SpamHaus gets a legal reprieve, and Sony introduces rootkit 2.0. Rich discusses the appropriateness of companies editing their Wikipedia articles and a look into the future of video on the Internet. Steve discusses employees Cyberslacking habits and the effect on companies. We end with our website picks and as usual, we hope you enjoy.

A reminder for Podcamp Philly. Keith will definitely be there on Saturday and possibly Sunday. Drop him a note at Keith [at] acoupleofadmins.com if you want to meet up for lunch.
Links mentioned in this show:

• Podcamp Philly
• Microsoft Takes Down Autopatcher
• Spamhaus off hook for $11 million judgement
• Storm Worm Add Millions To Botnets
• Sony Rootkit 2.0
• Corporate Wikipedia Editing
• The Future Of Internet Video
• I-Caught TV Show
• Foldersize Utility
• Email at Work
  • CIO Magazine
  • Dichotomy
  • Enterprise Networking Planet
  • Law.com

Other podcasts mentioned in this show:

Valid Syntax

See the full show notes here.

Website Picks:

Steve’s Pick: www.diigo.com

Keith’s Pick: www.digibarn.com

Rich’s Pick: www.livecdlist.com

Ted’s Pick (By Rich): www.flock.com

Listen Now:

Download Here

Recorded: August 7, 2007
Your Hosts: Keith Albright, Rich Niemeier, Ted Miller, and Otto Kopeczky
Show Length: 1:34:52

This marks the first of ‘Special Topics’ episodes. As we discussed in previous shows, we’ve removed the ‘Main Topic’ section of the show and put it out on it’s own as a round-table discussion. If this works, we are hoping to release a new episode each week alternating between the regular show format and these special topic round-tables.

As for this episode, we previously kicked around tidbits on preserving your digital data safely and securely and decided to do an in-depth discussion. We are joined by Otto Kopeczky, a friend of Ted’s, to add some new viewpoints on the matter. We cover the various types of medias, the myths and realities surrounding their longevity as an archival medium, and some best practices to help preserve your digital data.

Here is a brief outline:

Media Deterioration

• Best practices
• Different Types of media (CD, USB, HDD, etc)
• Life Expectancies for each type
• Media variations (eg. CD-R lasts longer than CD-RW)
• Factors: Humidity, temperature, sunlight exposure, pressure

Technical Obsolescence of media

• Not just physical media, data format as well
• JPG vs. BMP, MP3 vs. WMV, etc.
• Open vs. proprietary

Links mentioned in this show:

Please see the show notes for all links and reference materials. Too many to list.

See the full show notes here.

Download Here

I just got back from the Juniper Networks event; The Bourne Ultimatum was awesome.  If you like the series, then you will definitely like this one.  I listened to an interview with Matt Damon on the way to the event and he promised it had more action scenes than the previous two and he wasn’t kidding.

Oh yeah, and there was some talk about firewalls and network products somewhere in there as well.  Actually, the coolest thing was Juniper giving away three SSG5 firewall appliances with wireless.  Your talking about a $500 security appliance.  It was a nice change from the usual MP3/Digital Camera giveaway.  Unfortunately, I did not win one…..oh well, maybe next time.

Thanks to Allan Sumerfield at Juniper for the invite to the event.

Recorded: July 31, 2007
Your Hosts: Keith Albright, Rich Niemeier, and Ted Miller
Show Length: 1:29:40

This week we cover a variety of news and other topics; We have a brief discussion on technology vendor salespeople, Instant Messaging to interview job candidates, and a new fiber-optic cable. Ted informs us of the deadly threat lurking in our laser printers. As usual, we end with our website picks and we hope you enjoy.
NOTE: I think we finally nailed the sound quality. Let us know what you think.
Links mentioned in this show:

• Digital Pictures Backup Device
• Best Buy’s Geek Squad Tech Steals Porn
• Order food At Safeco Field from your Nintendo DS Lite
• Seven Ways Tech Vendors Blow The Sale
• Corning’s New Fiber
• E-Waste
• Using Instant Messaging In The Interview Process
• Cisco Adds CCENT Certification
• Secunia Personal Software Inspector
• Laser Printer Particle Health Risk

Other podcasts mentioned in this show:

Technorama

PaulDotCom Security Weekly

See the full show notes here.

Website Picks:

Keith’s Pick: Youlicit.com
Rich’s Pick: Free Church Music
Ted’s Pick: Etsy.com

Download Here

Recorded: July 17, 2007
Your Hosts: Keith Albright, Rich Niemeier, and Ted Miller
Show Length: 1:26:26

Rich and I welcome new participant Ted Miller to the show. We discuss the history of the computer virus, hardware vendor network management offerings, an Active Directory utility and a handy little wiki. As usual, we end with our website picks and we hope you enjoy.
NOTE: Apologies for the low background noise. We tested the new equipment extensively, but never had this problem in previous test recordings. Rich was also battling a poor hotel Internet connection, so Skype kept throwing us some curves.

Links mentioned in this show:

• Find Cheap Gas
• Size Matters T-Shirt
• Sprint Fires Customers
• Boeing 787 Virtual Tour
• Intel and OLPC Kiss and Make Up
• Silver Anniversary Of The Computer Virus
• Joy Of The Hack
• AD Explorer
• TiddlyWiki
• Network Management Tools

• Cisco Network Assistant
• 3Com Network Supervisor
• NetGear ProSafe NMS100
• HP ProCurve Manager
• Extreme Networks EPICenter
• D-Link D-View 5.1

Other podcasts mentioned in this show:

The PePe Show