Blogging@Wharton

Green IT Audio Conference with Lorie Wigle, November 13

2009-11-06T19:22:38Z

Join your intrepid Green IT Committee for an audio conference with Lorie Wigle on November 13th. Lorie is the General Manager of the Eco-Technology Program Office at the Intel Corporation and is the president of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI). She will be sharing information about the CSCI and there will be ample time for Q&A.

Friday, November 13
12:30 - 1:30 pm
JMHH F65
Open to all interested parties at Penn.

The DISMal Science of Custom Boot Images

2009-11-04T18:56:59Z

One of the last major steps to restore Windows Deployment Services to production was to create a custom boot image. I was determined to bypass issues we experienced with the default boot.wim image where users reported show-stopping "Network Path Not Found" errors toward the end of the capture procedure, which resulted from a lack of supported NIC drivers in the WinPE image. I made a policy decision to include all custom drivers in one set of setup and capture images so that users exclusively see those two options at the boot menu.

Missing Tool FAIL

The world has changed since I first deployed WDS... First of all, I'm running the official RTM version of Windows 7 on my desktop, and secondly Windows 2008 R2 was released. Collectively, this is known as "the new efficiency." So, to get started I installed the Windows 7 version of the Windows Automated Installation Kit on my desktop. Next, I brought down the boot.wim file from the Sources folder on the Windows 2008 R2 install media. I went through and carefully documented the prep steps for adding custom drivers, and things were going smoothly until:

peimg /inf=c:\temp\drivers\*inf /image=C:\temp\mount

...after which I received the puzzling error:

'peimg' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

I scoured the file system for peimg.exe only to find that it was no longer there. Some research yielded the fact that, as of WinPE 3 and the Windows 7 WAIK, image-servicing functions are the now the domain of DISM: Deployment Image Servicing and Management.

Supported Architecture FAIL

That is OK with me because I'm all for doing things the new way, especially if it is newly efficient in some nebulous indeterminate fashion. So, I studied the new syntax and eccentricities of DISM, and carefully documented it for my users. The procedure is fairly similar to that of ImageX:

dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:C:\temp\customboot.wim - Retrieve the index number or name of the image that you wish to modify.
dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\temp\customboot.wim /index:2 /MountDir:C:\temp\mount - Mount the image in a directory called C:\temp\mount.
dism /image:c:\temp\mount /add-driver /driver:c:\temp\drivers /recurse - Add all .inf driver files contained in subfolders of c:\temp\drivers.
dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\temp\mount /Commit - Unmount the image, committing changes.

This was successful and I added the setup image to WDS and tested. To my dismay, I learned that, since Windows 2008 R2 is only supported on the x64 architecture, its boot.wim image is likewise x64 only, and I was unable to boot my x86 client from it.

Backward Compatibility FAIL

I persisted in my mission and obtained the boot.wim file from the Windows 2008 SP2 x86 install media. This time, when adding the drivers with DISM, I was greeted with a different error message:

Error: 50
DISM does not support servicing a Windows Vista RTM or earlier operating system
If the operating system is supported check that SSShim.DLL is present.
The DISM log file can be found at C:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log

Windows 2008, along with Vista SP1 and above, are documented as supported by DISM. The SSShim.dll file was definitely present, and was actively being referenced in the dism.log file. The relevant error in dism.log seemed to be the line:

DISM.EXE: Failed to get target image version. HRESULT=0x80070002

I tried using the boot.wim from the Windows 2008 non-SP2 x86 install disk and received the same error. I researched extensively on the web and only turned up one post which had one "me too" response. After a lot of work spinning my wheels, it was time to haul in the big guns and put in a case with MS Premier Support.

After confirming that I was using the correct syntax, the tech received some information from the engineers regarding limitations of DISM on Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 pre-R2 images:
�    Only offline scenarios are supported. (OK)
�    The Windows image that you are updating must be Vista SP1 or Server 2008. (OK)
�    DISM must be run from a full operating system or from Windows PE. (OK)
�    Only Package Manager features are available � the new functionality in DISM, such as adding and removing drivers without an answer file, or enumerating packages and drivers, will not translate to package manager syntax. (FAIL)

Answer File FAIL

The phrase "adding and removing drivers without an answer file" in the tech's response was intriguing to me because it implied that the operation may be possible using an answer file. I dug in and researched what this would entail.

Like the Sysprep unattend xml answer file, it is created using Windows System Image Manager from the WAIK. After you have pointed the file to the locations of your drivers and generated the file, you mount the image and run the command:

dism /Image:C:\temp\mount /Apply-Unattend:C:\temp\unattend.xml

Sadly, after another significant time investment, this operation resulted in the same error 50.

Conclusion

In summary, I discovered that unless the Windows 7 WAIK is changed in a future update, it will be necessary to continue to run the Vista SP1 WAIK in parallel in order to add custom NIC drivers to x86 boot images using peimg. I was told by Microsoft that other customers have noticed this problem, and that my feedback would be forwarded to the product team for consideration in a future release.

That being said, this situation has made me consider the need to create and maintain separate x64 platform boot images and client OS system images in Windows Deployment Services. For three years, since Core2Duo hit the market and became standard, x64 has been available to the desktop user and it is really no longer in an "experimental" stage. Most of the common software packages and drivers which were slow to support x64 are now compliant (though, you should do a reality check of your specific users' software needs before deploying.) If the direction of Windows 2008 R2 can be interpreted as an early indicator of the future of the desktop OS market, we as IT professionals should be prepared -- and prepare our users -- for the inevitable.

Purpose

2009-11-04T16:20:54Z

The theme of my life over the past few weeks has been purpose/meaning! I've been consumed with finding purpose/meaning in everything - and not on purpose either (ha ha)!! I've attended quarterly meetings where we ponder and discuss the purpose of Wharton Computing as an organization and how we contribute to Wharton as a whole. I've attended scenario planning meetings where we brainstorm the future purpose of the Learning Lab. I've been trying to figure out the higher purpose of technology in higher education for some time now. On a daily basis, I try to find meaning and purpose in my life and experiences all the while knowing that maybe some things lack purpose and happen as completely chaotic/random events. But as the main lesson from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness constantly reminds me, some people need their illusions to feel safe and sane. As for me? I cling to the illusion of purpose. It makes me feel useful and helps me make sense of a complex world and we humans just love to make sense of things!!

"You're not going to find the meaning of life hidden under a rock written by someone else. You'll only find it by giving meaning to life from inside yourself." (Dr. Robert Firestone). Purpose provides direction and direction provides goals towards which the present moment can be used efficiently to strive towards. Yet purpose is so hard to define and sometimes the act of defining purpose puts boundaries on an idea that might be better served as boundless. I think of things like myself, and technology in higher education, and even the Learning Lab as entities with great potential yet we're not quite sure of the purpose yet and maybe we're somewhat afraid to define that purpose because we're afraid to limit something or even worse, we're afraid to choose the wrong purpose. How does one solve this problem?

Again I find myself answering this question like a Psychologist or even like a Spiritual adviser or something - I'm sorry, it's who I am - this is why I blog instead of give motivational speeches. In a blog at any point the reader can choose to walk away - not that this doesn't happen in live speeches but I think someone might be a little bit more hesitant to leave in face to face interactions.

I think to truly think of purpose there are certain things we must cultivate in the process - self awareness, acceptance of fear, a realization of potential, and maybe the ability to see how your purpose may fit into a larger purpose that is bigger than you. This whole "purpose" tirade was topped off by my mom's email to me which included a link to the following blog: Great Health in Tough Times: The Power of Purpose. Read it from the bottom up. If you're more of the evidence based/empirical/scientific type - read it with a grain of salt and an open mind. On that note, I'm gonna go contemplate some purpose!

Quick Friday Link on Cognitive Load

2009-10-30T18:21:45Z

I really think we'll be seeing a lot more about cognitive load in learning research and design: New evidence that bullet-points don't work (thanks Becky!).

The brain is fascinating!!! Crazy to think about how many limited resources it manages - like our attention span, our self-control, our energy for coping with stress. We are creatures with limits. I don't think society always adequately teaches us to respect those limits and we feel like failures when we find ourselves collapsing under stress or cheating on our diets or not being able to pay attention in class. What makes us feel inadequate? Is it culture?

We drink red bulls, take cold medicine, take antidepressants, take supplements to help us focus so that we can be super human. Don't get me wrong I owe a great deal of thanks to some of those things I mentioned, yet I can't help but feel that something needs to change. Something about the way our society is structured?

Or is it simply a personal choice? Living by example can be one of the most power forms of leadership. If I accept my limits and my humanity graciously - If I stop the internal tragedy of the commons that plays out inside of me on a daily basis - will I encourage other people to do the same?

I wouldn't even know how to begin to do that!! But as I keep hearing - awareness is the first step. I'm becoming aware of my physical limitations while at the same time embracing the idea that most of my limited resources are fully capable of being replenished. I just have to figure out what recharges my batteries.

On Time and Perception

2009-10-29T16:44:28Z

I've been stuck on the notion that time is a big factor for faculty at universities. How to balance activities, class time, and research all the while searching for interesting new ways to change the curriculum? I wanted to read more about it so I Googled "Faculty Time Management" and came across two websites - Time Management: A Key Faculty Survival Skill and Assessment for People Who Don't have Enough Time to Do Assessment. I'm confident that technology will be able to help with the time management issue but ironically I don't have the time to think about that today.

But I must say, that I think how much time we THINK we have in a day really has to do with our perception and it never ceases to fascinate me how different out perception can be from reality. Yet as humans, we have the unique ability to differentiate our own perception from a perception that might better reflect truth/reality. Thanks to B Flad for sharing this article on perception: Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes.

More thoughts to come on Time Management.

The Zen of the Windows 2008 Domain

2009-10-29T15:16:32Z

The month of October brought an exponential increase of Window 2008 knowledge to our group. We began the month with a Chalk Talk presentation on Windows 2008 which fortunately was framed in the context of R2. The presentation contained a wealth of information, and I can only selectively recap some main points here.

We received some useful operational tips, one of which was to leave the Server Manager, which automatically launches, open. This gives access to nearly all major administrative features without having to individually click past the UAC for each. Also, the Server Manager is now the new location for the control to disable IE Enhanced Security if needed.

We spent a lot of time considering Read-only Domain Controllers, and their possible application at Wharton San Francisco. I received an answer to a question I had about delegating "light admin functions" to a site admin. I learned that this role actually has full admin rights on the RODC box, but no access to Active Directory (slide 39.) We discussed a possible pitfall of RODC's which would be that if the WAN was down, users would be unable to log in to workstations.

One of the benefits of Windows 2008 domains is the migration of SYSVOL replication to DFSR, which is faster, more efficient, and more secure. However, the migration is not automatic and requires a complex process which was covered in-depth by the presentation (slide 74.) These will be necessary steps to undertake during the domain upgrade.

We looked at Group Policy Preferences (slide 63) which had some possible benefits for the Labs group, and which we hope to introduce to the distributed reps. The concept is that the extensions allow admins to create settings for applications which are not normally policy-aware. We were advised to leverage the "update" option which would check to see whether the setting was active, and set it if not.

One of the heavily-touted features of R2 that appeals to us is the AD Recycle Bin (p. 91.) We learned about some of the eccentricities of this feature. As it exists currently, it relies solely on PowerShell to enable it, and perform recoveries. As such, it bears no resemblance to the graphical Windows Recycle Bin that we're all familiar with. Top-level objects need to be restored first, after which sub-objects may be individually restored. (p. 94.) There is a command to purge deleted items permanently (p. 95.) Even with its limitations, it is still superior to a restore from tape of an OU, which presents many headaches!

Managed Service Accounts (p. 96) is another feature that could solve problems for us. We were referred to the Step-by-Step Guide for more in-depth information. It is another feature that is invoked from the command-line. One of the limitations is that the same account cannot be used on multiple computers.

***

On October 13, we took action and performed the schema upgrade. Before beginning, we confirmed that GROUCHO held both the schema master and infrastructure master roles by running:

netdom query fsmo

We found that the R2 install media includes a 32-bit version of adprep to support existing 32-bit DC's. We began the upgrade with the command:

adprep32.exe /forestprep

We ran the next command, which must be run on the infrastructure master,

adprep32.exe /domainprep /gpprep

and received an error:

Group policy upgrade failed.

[Status/Consequence]

Adprep cannot extend your existing schema

After a call to MS Support, Joe learned that it resulted from permissions on a Group Policy Object that had been changed, causing the upgrade to fail. Changing the permissions back allowed us to successfully complete the upgrade.

To prepare for the possibility of RODC's in our environment, we also ran the RODC prep step:

adprep32.exe /rodcprep

The next step was to attempt to add one of the new 2008 domain controllers to our 2003 domain. We had documented the procedure previously and it was going smoothly... until we reached the "Operating System Compatibility" window of the wizard. The message warns that by default Windows NT 4 encryption algorithms are no longer supported which could affect legacy clients and UNIX-like systems that still rely on these algorithms. This is documented in KB 942564.

Rather than introduce the new domain controller into our environment with the possibility of these problems, we instead created a dev domain for testing. There is a GPO setting that could be enabled to change the default behavior to accommodate NT 4-style encryption, but we decided to test our UNIX and Mac clients first without this setting to see if they are affected. The main functions we need to verify are domain-joins, authentication to file shares, and LDAP queries from Perl and Sendmail.

***

In our most recent meeting, we discussed that Joe would take on testing domain-joining UNIX machines, Jamie would test domain-join and file-sharing access on Macs running Leopard and Snow Leoopard, and Matt would test ColdFusion authentication and Outlook Live PCNS functionality.

Mike spoke about some of the client-side advantages of the upgrade that could be offered to the reps. He began researching offline domain join, which saves a reboot during the naming process of machines and could possibly work around a bug affecting sysprep and domain joins. Other departments who deploy labs could also benefit.

One of the preparation steps will be to re-examine delegated permissions and determine if 2008 has any new offerings for the process. We plan on auditing the permissions of the security group which is applied to the "admin" OU's in order to standardize permissions across OU's. We discussed how it was not possible to "un-delegate" permissions, and that such permissions needed to be individually removed once granted.

Finally, users and administration are curious about why we are upgrading and what the benefits will be. The reasons are evident in the research data we are collecting about the capabilities of Windows 2008, but it will take some extra effort to distill this amount of information into the most essential and compelling points to provide a cogent answer.

Quick Thoughts about Innovation

2009-10-27T14:39:34Z

I thought maybe it was just a buzz word but I think it's one of those things that we'll constantly strive for - like global peace or peace of mind. I think innovation is just a fancy word for change anyway - creative change. And change will always keep happening.

Did you know there are different types of innovation? I came across this website and liked the way they laid out the different types. I think thinking of innovation as happening in these various sectors will help any business that wants to redefine itself.

Here are some tips that creative businesses use to foster innovation amongst their employees. Thanks to Mary for sharing this with me!! Innovation: How the Creative Stay Creative.

Sims, Visuals, and the Surprising Power of CONNECTIONS

2009-10-22T14:35:48Z

People have been sharing information like crazy lately and I've been a ready and willing listener.

More Wharton Professors are speaking out about games for learning and the possibility of making finance fun.
People are unlocking the power of visuals paired with text by using Graphic Recording to make meetings more productive and engaging. (See ImageThink)
And scientists are revealing the ways that our social networks shape our lives (See the book Connected)
Meanwhile educators in the classroom are redesigning curricula and incorporating more collaboration into class projects.
The last three bullet points were discovered at the VizThink Philly meeting I attended last night. Check them out!!

These are all very positive developments! It seems like there's a trend towards collaboration, fun, and art!

I was personally blown away by the discoveries in the book Connected. It has always seemed intuitive to me that through helping others we somehow help ourselves and by watching games like TUNA and OPEQ here at Wharton I have witnessed firsthand that consistently acting in your own interest is a great way to destroy a world/equilibrium. By optimizing the conditions of a world, you actually optimize your own "profits." Connected seems to take this idea one step further. Take this example - Your friend is battling depression. Your friend's emotional turmoil will eventually seep into your own life even in some small way. You might think it's in your best interest to abandon that friend, but in the long run it's actually in your own best interest to try to help that friend rise out of the depression.

It's kind of hopeful yet at the same time it instills on us a sense of responsibility to our fellow human beings that I think sometimes we'd rather not think about. At the same time, it made me think about "living by example" and that if you really work on optimizing your own life you'll be doing everyone around you a great service.

Love yourself and the rest will follow....

Free money!

2009-10-21T14:08:45Z

Well, nothing's free, of course.

But here's a chance to get funding for a Penn greening project:

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/article.php?id=1731

A Whole New Mind-Inspired Event: Creating and Collaborating across Universities

2009-10-20T15:34:47Z

In his book A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink writes, "What's in greatest demand today isn't analysis but synthesis -- seeing the big picture, crossing boundaries, and being able to combine disparate pieces into an arresting new whole." But perhaps one of the more perplexing issues facing all members of the current university community involves finding an adequate way to collaborate with the disparate university pieces to form an arresting new whole. How do we collaborate both across departments and across institutions?

Various members of the Penn Community (with a large showing from the Graduate School of Education) met to try to answer this question in a rather unorthodox setting. We met in Incubation Station #1 at the Weiss Tech House. It's a 180 square foot room equipped with all of the necessary tools for a real brainstorming session including wall-to-wall whiteboards. We met with the mindset of having a REAL brainstorming session which Dan Pink describes as adhering to the following guidelines:

1. Go for Quantity. Good ideas emerge from lots of ideas. Set a numerical goal.

2. Encourage Wild Ideas. Extremism is a virtue. The right idea often flows from what initially seems outlandish.

3. Be visual. Pictures unlock creativity.

4. Defer Judgment. There's no such thing as a bad idea, so banish the naysayers. Think creatively first and critically later.

5. One Conversation at a Time. Listen, be polite, and build on others' suggestions.

In order to get to know one another and to encourage creativity, we started off with an ice breaker where everyone had a minute and a half to draw a visual depiction of themselves on the whiteboard. Interestingly there were a lot of smiley faces on the board with various objects surrounding them - leading me to believe that at the very least, we were a happy group of people. Some others drew abstract images that represented more personal facets of their lives. All in all, it was a good opening exercise.

What is Collaboration?

After the ice breaker, we decided to define what exactly we meant by collaboration. We started off with the dictionary definition, "to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor" and then proceeded with some of our own definitions and thoughts on the word:

-two heads are better than one

-emphasis on process - how will collaboration happen?

-products grow out of the process (ie. If I do X and you do Y we might create Z)

-what do we mean by together - negotiation? teamwork?

-not always an intellectual endeavor

-working towards a common goal

-willingness to cooperate (how do you foster the willingness?)

-what's the difference between cooperation vs. collaboration vs. competition? Cooperation sounds more forced than collaboration. Competition can be positive when it fosters collaboration but it can also be negative.

-taking ownership over the project; buy in and investment of the group

Why Collaborate? What are the Benefits?

Next, we tackled the question - why would we want to collaborate as opposed to working alone?

-efficiency

-more connections and applications of discoveries

-gateway to each others' worlds

-minds function at quicker rate together

-more effective and integrated solutions

-improve interpersonal skills and build community

-breaking down prejudices or biases

-self awareness - things about yourself are reflected back to you by others

-more sense of ownership: responsibility to group; social quality check

How Do We Collaborate Already?

We took a break from the whiteboards for a while and talked about ways that we already collaborate at work, at home, in the classroom, and in various other domains of our lives. The answers ranged from cooking to study groups to carpooling with other parents to take kids to nursery school.

How Can We Collaborate More Across Campus and Across Universities?

For this final question we set an idea destination number of 50 and enthusiastically reached our limit plus some extras. We didn't hold back and we embraced each idea with an open mind knowing the potential that each thought held for making the university a more collaborative environment. We tried to address the issue that universities are often "silo-ed" or that each department and school tends to act as a separate entity as opposed to part of a larger whole. The ideas range from crazy and silly to serious with the potential to be implemented.

1. Eliminate the school name in email addresses so that we all come from Penn.

2. Shut down the university operations for 2 hours ever 2 weeks for collaboration.

3. Rotating showcase of different departments.

4. Self awareness training (if you know yourself you'll be better able to collaborate)

5. Requirements to walk to other departments/offices

6. Library walk/crawl (kind of like a bar crawl to the different libraries on campus - could have wine and cheese!)

7. Security access to other departments/buildings.

8. Mingling events

9. More intramural sports

10. Projects that require interdisciplinary research

11. University wide scavenger hunts (with prizes!)

12. Big issue web list

13. Book/crafts clubs

14. Master schedule of EVERYTHING going on across the university

15. Take all signs off buildings so people are forced to ask one another where they are.

16. Sharing of common resources

17. More informal meetings

18. Do away with agendas (on occasion)

19. Free/unadvertised events (like an ice cream social!)

20. Encourage people to talk to strangers across the university

21. Campus-wide ice breaker questions

22. Free lunch extended

23. Teach time management so that we have more time for collaboration

24. Bring friends to events

25. Incentivise student interaction

26. Business cards with random facts/information about yourself (more than just your title)

27. Contest for collection of business cards (like pokemon - gotta catch em all!)

28. Collectivise goals (Why are we here? What is Penn's mission and how are we each contributing to that mission?)

29. Special credits for collaborating

30. Hold events outside of business hours

31. Class credit for collaboration

32. Defining collaboration events.

33. Budget allocation for collaboration.

34. Weekend events for international students.

35. Day care for events so that more people can participate.

36. Grants for faculty collaboration

37. Establish a department of collaboration.

38. Integrate student housing

39. Meetings for multiple schools to breed ideas

40. Craigslist style list for collaboration. (ie. someone could post their idea and ask for help and others could respond who were interested in the same topic)

41. Second life style collaboration

42. Universal tags

43. Failure resumes of fellow employees

44. Werenotperfect.com (to share imperfections)

45. School style gang colors - to get to know people from different schools.

46. Costume Party

47. Cross school art activities

48. Rebuildable buildings activity - to get to know the campus

49. Across Penn Socials/ Library Social (library socials already take place!)

50. Locust Walk Block Party

51. Experimental College

52. Repository for funny responses

Can you think of more ways to collaborate????

Is the iPhone the Next Windows or the Next Mac?

2009-10-18T15:54:26Z

The announcements at Adobe's MAX 2009 conference earlier this month have reignited the conversation about Flash on the iPhone -- whether it will ever happen and, if not, why not.

At the conference, Adobe announced plans to bring Flash 10 to all the major mobile platforms -- except the iPhone. In order to have some story regarding Flash and the iPhone, Adobe also announced that a forthcoming version of Flash Professional will allow developers to create iPhone applications. As many commentators have pointed out, however, these programs will compile to native iPhone apps in order to run on the device. Adobe still has no solution for enabling the iPhone to render Flash content delivered over the web.

In an article on InsideRIA titled "Could Adobe Potentially Harm the iPhone AppStore" Scott Barnes outlines the hurdles Adobe faces in attempting to get Flash on Apple's iPhone, and points out that "[To] Apple [the] iPhone is the same as Windows is to Microsoft."

As odd as it may seem to compare Apple's vaunted iPhone with Microsoft's oft-pilloried operating system, the point is that the iPhone (along with iTunes and Apple's App Store) is at the center of Apple's product integration strategy. It is the thin end of the wedge Apple plans to use to expand into new markets and to move its customers onto a broader collection of Apple products. As Barnes states, "All gravity orbits around the iPhone now for Apple."

At a press event at Adobe's MAX conference, Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch offered a very different metaphor for the iPhone. Lynch compared the current competition in the mobile space to that of the early days of the personal computer, stating that the "[companies] that are playing well with others will get the largest market share." Although he didn't mention any firms by name, the implication is that the iPhone will follow the trajectory of Apple's Macintosh computer to become a product that, while beloved by many, occupies a relatively small market niche.

To some extent, this is another example of Adobe's public confrontation of Apple regarding their refusal to help to implement Flash on the iPhone (see "Adobe's New 'In Your Face' Attitude"). But it is also a statement of Adobe's philosophy for success. By partnering with multiple companies, Adobe hopes to establish a cross-platform solution for application development, much as they have done with PostScript, PDF, and Flash on the PC. In the mobile space, Adobe believes that by supporting products like Flash and Adobe's AIR, mobile devices can spawn a rich ecosystem for both developers and consumers.

The IBM/Intel/Microsoft architecture did, indeed, succeed in large part because of the ecosystem it fostered. The relatively open hardware and software platform attracted the largest contingent of developers, which provided the largest selection of software, which appealed to a widest swath of customers, which attracted more developers. And, thus, this virtuous cycle fueled its own growth.

In the mobile space, however, it is the iPhone that is benefiting from this beneficial feedback loop. Although Apple's device does not hold the greatest market share of smartphones globally -- that honor goes to Nokia's Symbian operating, followed by RIM's BlackBerry -- Apple does have the largest selection of software. According to a recent tally by the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, there are 85,000 applications for the iPhone while there are only 10,000 for Google's Android, 3,000 for the newer models of the RIM BlackBerry, only "a few hundred modern apps" for Windows Mobile, and even fewer for the Palm Pre.

Apple has managed to become the "Windows of mobile" without offering an open architecture, and has fostered the largest ecosystem of developers while retaining tight vertical integration of its products.

Apple has cleverly straddled the fence between an open and a closed strategy by providing a smattering of cross-platform support while assuring the best experience on Apple's own products. Sure, you can install iTunes on a PC -- but it's smoother experience on a Mac. And it only syncs with Apple's iPod and iPhone devices.

To date, this hybrid "slightly open but vertically integrated" strategy has worked well for Apple. Will it continue to do so? Adobe's Lynch thinks not, believing a more open (or, at least, cross-vendor) approach will eventually succeed. What do you think? Have we reached a tipping point that assures Apple's continued success, or are we are still in the early stages of the evolution of smartphone platforms? Is the iPhone destined to become the next Windows or the next Mac?

Getting Started with DPM

2009-10-15T18:59:34Z

I am working on bringing Microsoft Data Protection Manager (DPM) on board to handle some of Core Systems' disk to disk backup needs for the file server. Later, we would have the option to leverage some of its powerful application-aware abilities for MS products such as SharePoint, Exchange, SQL server, and Hyper-V.

DPM uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy technology to provide continuous data protection using point-in-time snapshots. The data is only copied once, after which changes are moved at the block level to volumes on the DPM server according to a schedule and a recovery point is created. This makes disk to disk recoveries fast and efficient and uses less storage.

For long term retention, the product has drivers to directly interface with tape backup machinery, and customers also use existing 3rd party disk-to-tape backup solutions. In our case, we are interested specifically in tape solely for disaster recovery purposes in the event of a catastrophic SAN failure. Also, it is important to schedule 3rd party tape backups at a time when data is not being copied to the DPM server. The dynamic partitioning scheme utilized by DPM could run into problems if it is trying to write to the volume while an agent is backing up.

DPM uses agents, which are pushed out from DPM Agent Coordinator to target those clients which will be backed up. The process of deploying and updating the clients is native to DPM and a separate application such as SCCM is not required, but can be used optionally. Notably, the client must be restarted after an agent update, so we'd need to install and then plan the reboot during scheduled maintenance.

I learned that DPM runs well virtualized (on VMware or Hyper-V) as long is it is allocated the true minimum hardware specifications as if it were a physical box.Since DPM is I/O hungry, parititioning 1 spindle into four drives is the type of shortcut that will lead to performance problems. For DPM 2007, 2TB maximum size for SAN LUN's is recommended.

Windows PowerShell is central to the product and all functions available in the GUI can be scripted with PowerShell, as well as some tasks that can be performed exclusively through scripting.

A couple of more facts about DPM that will require additional research:

Requires an Active Directory Schema Extension.
Can be managed with System Center Operations Manager.
A feature called System Recovery Tool (SRT) is included which is used for bare-metal restores.

It is a complex product, and this a very general introduction to some of its main functionality. I have documented the resources provided by our TAM on my Links to DPM Documentation and Resources page, which I plan on updated regularly. Also, I will post more in-depth articles about specific features and my experiences with the product, as well as details about our deployment planning over time.

Wow, That is a growing Baby!

2009-10-14T20:06:33Z

So, we have been in our new Data Center for just over 1 calendar year and wanted publish some of the growth numbers we have seen.

Start: Oct. '08

Total Rack space in "U" : 672
Allocated "U" : 285
UPS A (KVA) : 20
UPS B (KVA) : 21

Current: Oct. '09

Total Rack space in "U" : 672
Allocated "U" : 522
UPS A (KVA) : 26
UPS B (KVA) : 28

So we have grown in used physical space by 237 U or 35% growth. Our power consumption has grown also, but not at the same pace, which makes sense with newer equipment that is more energy efficient.

Data Center Amber Notices 10/14/2009

2009-10-14T19:55:11Z

Hello all, its been awhile since I have posted the Amber's that were found by Core-Systems in the Data Centers. For those that don't know, ambers are the warning lights that exist on hardware to tell us when something is broke, or not working properly.

Vance 212

Google2

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact core-systems@wharton.upenn.edu.

Adobe's New 'In Your Face' Attitude

2009-10-12T10:15:02Z

The keynote addresses at Adobe Systems' MAX developer's conference this past week in Los Angeles contained the usual spate of product intros and partner announcements, including Adobe's plans to bring the Flash Player to most of the major smartphone platforms -- RIM, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Google's Android, and Palm's webOS. Apple's iPhone was, of course, conspicuously absent from the list of mobile partners.

Most of this wasn't news. As we reported at the time, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen announced that Adobe had successfully ported Flash Player 10 to four of these mobile platforms in an Adobe Systems earnings call back in June. The addition of RIM is the only real news in the announcement.

What is new, however, is Adobe's public stance regarding Apple and the iPhone. Frustrated by its inability to deliver Flash to the iPhone, Adobe has apparently decided to stop being coy and lay the problem squarely on Apple's doorstep in a very public way.

Evidence of Adobe's more aggressive attitude was apparent throughout the conference.

In Monday's keynote Adobe debuted a video titled "MythHackers," a parody of the MythBusters television show with Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch and Creative Solutions senior vice president Johnny Loiacono in the roles of the intrepid myth busters.

Lynch and Loiacono read a letter from "Steve from Cupertino" who says he has heard that "it's not possible to run Flash on the iPhone." The myth hackers exclaim, "There's got to be an app for that!" and set out to "hack" the myth.

At the end of the clip, Adobe reveals what was perhaps the keynote's biggest surprise: an upcoming version of Flash Professional will allow developers to use Flash and ActionScript to build native iPhone applications.

In the video, the myth hackers triumphantly declare the myth about Flash on the iPhone "hacked." But it's not. Adobe didn't announce that Flash will run on the iPhone. The applications created using Flash Pro are native iPhone apps, not SWF files interpreted by the Flash runtime. While this may be a boon to Flash developers who want to code iPhone applications, it doesn't resolve the issue of enabling the iPhone to access Flash web content.

To a large extent the announcement was a political move to do something -- anything -- to have a story about Flash on the iPhone (even if it doesn't actually involve Flash on the iPhone).

Adobe's tweaking of Apple didn't stop there. Adobe recently changed the message iPhone users receive when they go to Adobe's web page to install Flash. The text states:

Flash Player not available for your device

Apple restricts use of technologies required by products like Flash Player. Until Apple eliminates these restrictions, Adobe cannot provide Flash Player for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

That's certainly unambiguous.

This "in your face" attitude wouldn't be surprising coming from most technology companies. An aggressive stance vis-�-vis competitors is common among high tech companies from Oracle and SalesForce.com to Microsoft, Google, and, yes, Apple as well.

But this type of direct challenge is a change of tone for Adobe. While the company competes with companies both big and small, it typically strives to fly under the radar of its major competitors and to make friends with everyone else. As then CEO Bruce Chizen explained to Knowledge@Wharton back in 2004 regarding the company's relationship with its biggest competitor, Microsoft, "We get to partner with all of Microsoft's enemies, because we're a great alternative, and we don't really compete head-on with any of their big competitors."

Adobe's new tone regarding Apple -- a partner of the company throughout many of its early years -- underscores how critical the issue is for the company. In a conversation with the press during the MAX conference, CTO Kevin Lynch was asked about Flash on the iPhone yet again and stated "Flash needs to get there to remain relevant on the web."

The key question about Adobe's new tact is: Will it work? Does this approach make it more or less likely we'll see Flash on the iPhone anytime soon?

One can appreciate Adobe's desire to clarify to its customers and developers what it sees as the source of the problem. Its bolder statements on the matter will help to achieve that goal.

But it will also raise the ire of Apple and Steve Jobs. The word on the street is that Jobs holds a grudge for a long time. In this regard, Adobe's approach may make a bad situation worse. The fact that the company has taken these steps -- despite their political cost -- indicates the depth of its frustration over this issue.

Ultimately, Adobe's strongest tactic is its mobile partnerships with everyone except Apple. Once the full version of Flash is available for RIM, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android, and Palm's webOS, it will leave Apple as the singular outlier. For Adobe and its partners, implementation is the best revenge.

Screenshot of iPhone message courtesy of Tim Heuer. Used with permission.