Meeting Notes - Oct 20, 2004

By: Mikio Moriyasu - Revised: 2006-10-05 devin


What's New by Mike Yocom

New Apple Software
Security Update 2004-09-16 (Mac OS X 10.2.8 with iChat 1.0, Mac OS X 10.2.8 with iChat 2.0, and Mac OS X 10.3.5 with iChat 2.1) — Delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This security update patches the listed versions of iChat to fix CAN-2004-0873. For more details on the vulnerability, see Apple Security Updates knowledge base article.

Java 1.4.2 Update 2 — Provides improved behavior for applets in Safari, and increased stability for desktop Java applications.

Power Mac G5 Uniprocessor Firmware Update 5.1.5f2 — This update improves general system reliability and restores sleep functionality. This fixes some issues caused by last month's Power Mac G5 Uniprocessor Firmware Update 5.1.5f1. This update only applies to single-processor Power Mac G5s.

Logic Pro 7 is for music creation and audio productivity. The full version is available for $999, and to upgrade from previous versions of Logic is $299. Logic Express 7 is a mid-range music creation and audio productivity application that fills the space between GarageBand and Logic Pro. The full version is $299, and the upgrade is $99.

Security Update 2004-09-30 (Mac OS X 10.3.5 Client & Server) — Delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update contains updates to AFP Server to address CAN-2004-0921 and CAN-2004-0922, to CUPS to address CAN-2004-0558 and CAN-2004-0923, Netinfo Manager to address CAN-2004-0924, postfix to address CAN-2004-0925, QuickTime to address CAN-2004-0926, and Server Admin to address CAN-2004-0927. For more details on the vulnerabilities, see Apple Security Updates knowledge base article.

Apple Remote Desktop 2.1 (Admin and Client) — Delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability. Recommended for all users of Apple Remote Desktop.

Software Notes
MacLinkPlus Deluxe v15.000 is a file translation utility. This upgrade adds support for the latest versions of: Microsoft Office, WordPerfect, and Stuffit, as well as number of other enhancements.

Stuffit 9.0 is a file compression utility that supports a wide range of compression formats. Stuffit Expander 9.0 is free, while the other versions (Deluxe, Standard, and Express) are all for sale.

VirtualPC 7 is an emulator for Intel-compatible computers. This new version adds support for G5 Macs, amongst other improvements.

SoftRAID 3.1 adds bootable volumes to the software RAID package.

Microsoft Office 2004 SP1 addresses several stability issues with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Entourage, and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications for Office 2004. Security updates have also been released for Microsoft Office v.x (10.1.6) (Mac OS X) and Microsoft Office 2001 (9.0.5) (Mac OS 8.1—9.x).

Hardware News
iBook G4
  • 12.1″ 1.2 GHz, 30GB hard drive, Combo; $999
  • 14.1″ 1.33 GHz, 60GB hard drive, Combo; $1299
  • 14.1″ 1.33 GHz, 60GB hard drive, SuperDrive; $1499
All models include: Airport Extreme, 256MB DDR SDRAM (expandable to 1.25GB), two USB 2.0, FireWire 400, VGA video out, S-video and composite video out support, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 with 32MB of VRAM and AGP 4X.

Fourth Power Mac G5 Configuration
  • Single 1.8 GHz G5
  • 600 MHz front-side bus (3:1)
  • 80GB SATA hard drive
  • 256MB 400 MHz DDR SDRAM (4GB max.)
  • NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 ULtra with 64MB VRAM
  • 8x SuperDrive
  • $1 499 ($1 350 Education)
A fourth Power Mac G5 has been added, lowering the low-end of the Power Mac G5 line to $1 499. The new system is a single-processor system with a 3:1 CPU to front-side bus ratio — the other Power Mac G5s have a 2:1 ratio, the iMac G5 also has a 3:1 ratio — and a 4GB RAM limit.

Xserve RAID
  • 1TB RAID 0, four 250GB ATA/100 ADMs; $5 999
  • 2.8TB RAID 0, seven 400GB ATA/100 ADMs; $8499
  • 5.6TB RAID 0, fourteen 400GB ATA/100 ADMs; $12999
All configurations include: 8MB cache per Apple Drive Module, dual independent RAID controllers with 512MB cache per controller, and optional dual-channel 2GB Apple Fibre Channel PCI-X card ($499).

Freescale Semiconductor, recently spun off from Motorola, has announced a series of Dual-core PowerPC processors, that could potentially be used in future PowerBooks until a PowerBook G5 can be released.

Mac OS X / Issues
There are reports of a number of iMac G5 issues, including excessive fan noise, incompatible system discs, clicking power supplies, and intermittent problems ejecting optical media.

Power Mac G5 Uniprocessor Firmware Update 5.1.5f1 and 1.6 GHz models — a few problems with this firmware update were reported, prompting the release of the 5.1.5f2 version mentioned in the New Apple Software section. They include instability and inability to put machines to sleep.

John Welch has a good blog entry "On why the Mac's small population is not a defense against an attack." It's a good analysis of a real-world virus that exploited a hole that only existed on 12 000 machines, but it was able to infect all 12 000 in only forty-five minutes. It helps underline why Mac administrators still need to be mindful of security, even if there hasn't been a successful Mac OS X virus yet.

MacFixIt reports that Mac OS X with fast user switching enabled displays strange behavior upon wake up. The specific set of preferences that consistently trigger the problem are: login window displayed as list of users, fast user switching on, and requiring log-in to wake from sleep or screen saver. Log in with one user, and put the machine to sleep. Then, wake the machine up and log in with a different user. After twenty-one seconds the machine goes to sleep again, regardless of activity. Workarounds include:
  • Activate screen saver before putting the computer to sleep
  • Switch to the login window before putting the computer to sleep
  • Log in as the person that put the computer to sleep, then switch users
General News
An article on CNet says that Marc Andreessen, formerly of Netscape Communications, feels that the browser wars may be back on, as Firefox and Safari are gaining popularity at the expense of Internet Explorer.

Although products aren't expected for five to ten years, a new optical disk technology could allow 5.25″ optical disks to store up to 1 TB of data.

Mike's entire presentation including a complete list of new Apple and third-party software since September, new Apple hardware releases, Apple retail news, and other Apple related topics can be found in the "Mac Managers Meetings - Previous Notes " section at: http://www.macos.utah.edu or select from the options listed below:

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Shirt Pocket SuperDuper! Overview by Dan Hutten

SuperDuper is a flexible disk copying utility that goes well beyond mere duplication. Its unique "Safety Clone" feature lets you install potentially risky drivers or system updates without fear of creating an unbootable or unworkable system. It can make a straight copy, or "clone" - useful when you want to move all your data from one machine to another, or to do a simple backup.

Super Duper was picked up by Fine Arts when they moved away from Carbon Copy Cloner. It's main features include:
  • Creating bootable copies
  • Creating ASR compliment images
  • A "Safety Clone" Option
  • "Customizable" operation using proprietary scripts
It has five main "Options":

Backup - All Files: This creates a complete bootable backup of the selected volume.
  • It is good for quick and dirty migrations and for complete backups.
  • Fine Arts uses this feature primarily to copy one machine to another after correcting the permissions.
  • It has make migrations much faster than before.
Backup - User Files: Fine Arts has not used this option very much.
  • It is design to back up specific files in the Home directories of the various accounts on the system.
  • When used, it will take multiple users, the Library, and Applications Support folders during the migration.
Creating Disk Image: Pretty reliable but it does fail on occasion and always seemed to do so when Fine Arts needed it most.
  • It is a time consuming option. According to the Shirt Pocket, what Apple gave them is slow and does not offer much feedback. They will be improving it later versions.
  • It will create images either as a block or file by file.
  • It has four compression settings, None, Low, Medium, and High. Compression settings are not that intuitive. The restore process is much faster if you compress the image but you need time to create image.
  • It offers great flexibility and is generally reliable easy to use. Can use any script to make an image.
Safety clone shared users and apps: Think copy everything except users and apps (Think copy everything EXCEPT users and applications - users and applications are shared with symlink)
  • Shirt Pocket software says this is the better choice.
  • Apple Apps (iDVD, iSync, etc) are copied to destination so updates are isolated on test volume.
  • It copies over the apple apps but aliases everything else.
Safety clone shared user (Think copy everything EXCEPT users (users are shared with a symlink)
  • Shirt Pocket says that this is the easier of the two.
  • Makes more sense if your purpose is to test 3rd party apps.
  • Takes more space as all apps are copied
Licensing: If you pay for it, you activate all of the various options. The free version is limited to just backup and ASR image creation

Summary
  • It is easier to use than ASR command line.
  • More versatile than Apple Disk Utility.
  • Some apps authorizations are broken - it depends on the degree of system lockdown.
  • User prefs could still cause problems?
  • Use cautions when moving to different hardware - make your images from the latest greatest hardware as the images should be backward compatible.
  • Trial version is free. $19.95 unlocks advanced features.
  • Frequent updates free support.
For additional information, please visit Shirt Pocket Software's website at http://www.shirt-pocket.com

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Apple Workgroup Cluster for BioInformatics by Dan Sinema

Built around Xserve G5, the Apple Workgroup Cluster for Bioinformatics combines all the hardware, software, infrastructure and support you need in a turnkey solution for one bundled price. This all-inclusive, high-performance computing cluster is designed to allow any bench scientist to configure, operate and maintain the system with no specialized IT knowledge.

The focus is to provide life sciences with a computational solution that could support the rapidly growing field of genome research. The idea behind it is to provide easy, do-it-yourself setup. It features:
  • An all inclusive turnkey solution
  • The blazing speed of the G5
  • Powerful UNIX platform
  • Comes with more than 200 preconfigured bio-apps
  • All at an affordable, all inclusive price
  • This is all contained in a power & space efficient enclosure that runs very quiet
  • It is not designed to be locked up in an IT closet or server room but rather under a professor's desk
Background
Benefits of Clustered Computing in the Life Sciences
  • Accelerates data processing
  • Maintains pace with the rapid growth of genome and protein databases (Genomic data growth is currently outpacing Moore's Law of computational improvements - the data is growing faster than computer processor speeds can keep up)
  • Provides faster turnaround time on computations
Barriers to Clustering
  • Complex installation and management
  • Difficult to choose appropriate hardware
  • Complex software presents technical barriers
  • Management resource requirements are high
  • Fragile - it is not something that many would want to mess with without adequate support
Barriers Within IT Organization
  • Funding or logistical barriers to getting & managing the hardware
  • Lack of human resources to manage the additional infrastructure - most of the people who would be using the hardware are professors not IT guys
Cost
  • Not just hardware but also operating and maintenance costs
Apple's Solution
  • 2 to 16 computing nodes
  • Designed to be managed by professor(s) with no specialized IT training but it can be managed by IT professionals
  • Immense computing horsepower
  • Low administrative overhead
  • Easy setup
  • Quiet and cool operation for placement anywhere
  • Private network topology
All Inclusive Solution
  • Mac OS X server (The head node has unlimited number of licenses. the computing nodes are 10 user licenses.)
  • Hardware, rack, and servers are all included including lifetime AppleCare support once it is up and running
  • Software is BioTeam's iNquiry, a suite of 200 pre-configured bioinformatics applications - BioTeam support is included.
  • Includes Blast, Hammer, and Emboss
  • Optimized for G5
  • Accessible via an open source, extensible web portal
  • Software update programs available
Under The Hood
  • Xserve dual G5 (The G5 processor with the velocity engine is a big plus in research and is most desired by researchers.)
  • One head node comprised of a full Xserve with CD-ROM (Researchers want the processors not the optical drive or even a large HD - they want computing power,
  • The rest of the nodes are cluster nodes
  • Server architecture features dual paths to processor independent of the frontside bus.
  • Serial ATA drives
  • Quiet and cool operation makes for a compact, easily stowable size (The largest benefit aside from processing power is the power efficiency of this setup. Not as much power and cooling is required when compared to similar solutions based on the Opteron and Itanium processors.)
XtremeMac Xrack Pro
  • Noise canceling built-in to keep things quiet (The result is a 75% reduction in overall noise making the cluster as loud as a single desktop).
  • Compact, low profile design
  • Easy access to servers via locking front, rear, and side panels.
  • Removable casters
  • APC UPS for voltage drop protection
  • Asante gigabit ethernet switch
iNquiry
  • Provides the primary applications
  • Provides cluster management software
  • Provides support
  • Quick do-it-yourself setup
  • All web based so researchers don't have to go and learn new command line utilities even though it can be run from the command line (What you find, however, is the researchers don't want to do it spend time to learn it).
Web Based tool access
  • Extensible, modifiable, and intuitive
  • If you've written a custom app, you can import into the web interface.
  • Users can get results via web, they don't have to run to and from the computer.
  • Administrator can build user databases to manage access. Useful to find out who is student, faculty, or staff and see whose hogging computational time.
For additional information, please visit Apple's website at http://www.apple.com

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MacDocs by Russ Fellows

MacDocs is a locally owned and operated Mac Reseller and Service Provider that has been in operation since the late 1980s. They are the oldest Apple reseller service provider in Utah not counting university bookstores. Originally incorporated as Soft Tech Solutions, Inc. the company changed its name to better represent its main focus, service.

The area where MacDocs can best serve the University community is with "break and fix" solutions. They've already helped those campus individuals who have found them independently and they feel they are at their best when working in this capacity.

MacDocs is the Direct Dispatch Provider for the state including parts of Wyoming. This means that most repairs such as those involving laptops are done here unless there are specific issues that require the laptop shipped back to Apple.

They have six certified Apple Techs on staff. This is better than most of the university bookstores and other commercial operations. This means that they can handle a greater volume of repairs, get parts in a shorter period of time, and generally get other things that may be more difficult to get if there is a need.

They do offer consulting services through their Apple Trained Technical Coordinator that is on staff at about $60/hour. They do offer basic home support for minor issues and questions over the phone (10 to 15 minute Q & A). Onsite services are $90/hour (this is less than CompUSA rate).

They offer the full line of Apple products but do not compete with the university bookstores for some hardware/software items. They keep about 50-100 software titles in stock (Good selection of Mac games). Basic peripherals are kept in stock but it is dependent on demand so iPods are readily available, for example. They have other basic hardware such as internal/external hard drives, and RAM
For additional information about MacDocs, please visit their website at http://www.macdocs.com

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Other News

SCL News
O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference
  • Richard Glaser discussed "Mac OS X File System Maintenance with Radmind" as part of the conference's System Administration Sessions.
  • James Reynolds discussed"Distributive Computing with Xgrid" also part of the conference's System Administration Sessions.
  • They will discuss what they learned at O'Reilly at next months' Mac Managers Meeting.
Upcoming Events
MacEnterprise (formerly MacOSXLabs) Webcast (October)
  • Topic: Wireless Security
  • Presenters: Tommy Hann, Apple Computer
    Terry Simons, University of Utah
  • Date: October 26, 2004
  • Click here for viewing instructions
SC2004
  • Location: Pittsburg, PA
  • Dates: November 6-12, 2004
  • Registration Information
  • Technical Program
MacExpo 2004 (London)
  • Location: Business Design Centre, Islington, London, UK
  • Dates: November 18—20, 2004
  • Registration Information
  • Sessions
MacEnterprise (formerly MacOSXLabs) Webcast (November)
  • Topic: Apple Remote Desktop 2 In-Depth
  • Presenters: Nader Nafissi, Apple Computer
    Mike Bombich, Apple Computer
    Tony Graham, Apple Computer
    Steve Hayman, Apple Computer
  • Date: November 16, 2004
  • Click here for viewing instructions
If there is a topic you would like to see discussed at a future Mac Managers Meeting, please let us know here.