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.NET and Security |
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Developments
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By TM Central on
9/18/2007 8:29 AM
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Microsofts .NET Framework is so good for so many things, but its a big "gotcha" for security! .NET is big on security and everything not executed on the local drive is subject to its rules. Network (and internet) executables are what they are trying to protect against - and for good reason; with Microsoft's perceived track record on flaws and security, the more potential malware you can stop at the perimeter (i.e., its execution), the less you have to worry about it exploiting a flaw or running unbeknownst to the end user.
However, the .NET Security Configuration tool is not easiest to work with. First the documentation is TERRIBLE - look for blogs and deeper MSDN articles (http://blogs.msdn.com/shawnfa/archive/2004/12/30/344554.aspx, http://blogs.msdn.com/shawnfa/archive/2005/07/27/443975.aspx, and http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/4z8tf9wx(VS.80).aspx are a few) for the real scoop and real-world scenarios. Also, each network area is broken up in it almost exactly like ...
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Numeric Datatypes |
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Developments
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By TM Central on
9/18/2007 7:15 AM
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It is a common fallacy that computers "think" in numbers - they do not. Many others believe they process binary - 1s or 0s - and this would be correct. But have you ever stopped to think how then they "convert" those numbers to binary to story and process mathematics? While this is a huge subject and one more suited for a Computer Science class than a blog, we got on this subject in depth when modifying a client's source code. You see, the previous programmer was using several numeric types interchangeably and when the exact same inputted numbers were compared they did not "match", and since this was a financial application it was more than a bit critical that they balance! Long story short, many of the various numeric datatypes look at and apply different memory reservations and processing to the same number - the most common of these is how each one handles fractions (i.e., non-whole numbers) since they must be ultimately represented to the processor as a binary. For any ...
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FTP and .NET |
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Developments
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By TM Central on
9/7/2007 2:03 PM
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With all of the abstraction in .NET and with all of the other "higher-level"" protocols such as SMTP present, it is a little amazing there is no support for FTP natively. Instead you need to access the Wininet api directly as with the following code:
Public Class FTP
EntryPoint:="InternetCloseHandle")> _
Public Shared Function CloseConnection(ByVal _
HINet As Integer) As Integer
End Function
EntryPoint:="InternetOpenA")> _
Public Shared Function Open(ByVal _
sAgent As String, ByVal lAccessType _
As Integer, ByVal sProxyName As String, _
ByVal sProxyBypass As String, _
ByVal lFlags As Integer) As Integer
End Function
EntryPoint:="InternetConnectA ...
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Differences from SQL 2000 to 2005 |
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Developments
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By TM Central on
8/31/2007 8:29 AM
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Since we work on ALL flavors of MS SQL from 6.5 on up, the question is always out there - "why upgrade to a newer version?" Note that although we are a Microsoft Partner, we prefer to take a look at their products from an Programming/End-User perspective. SQL Server Central just popped out an nice simple article on the main reasons to upgrade (http://www.sqlservercentral.com/columnists/sjones/2988.asp) for an existing installation. Note that there are MANY more improvements that are NOT listed in the article, but these are many of the main reasons for an upgrade (vs. an entirely new DB/front-end that can take advantage of the newer functionality without necessitating a whole re-write).
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Virtual PC or Extra-Special KVM Switch |
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Developments
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By TM Central on
8/28/2007 2:10 PM
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Yes, we're on virtualization constantly (as that is what is currently driving newer/lower costs), and this new idea looks like it has potential: a silver box with USB and keyboard, video, and mouse (hence KVM for those who haven't heard the term before) and a NIC (network interface card). Its called a Pano and the thing only draws 5 watts and is SUPPOSED to be every bit a virtual machine. Pricing is not disclosed (supposed savings of 70% TCO over 3 years for a total savings of $3200 which would work out to a total of $40.00 per month per PC if the math works...), and of course you need a server to host the Pano Server on. Its in Alpha now and supposed to be available by September... http://www.panologic.com/
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MS SQL - BIG DBs |
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Developments
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By TM Central on
8/28/2007 1:43 PM
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Ok, lets face it - most databases in the world are of a size that who cares how they are designed or how a backup strategy is implemented as long as they have ACID, referential integrity, and some basic data-typing for basic validation of entries, and a routine complete backup (yes, I know, lots of other reasons, but stay tuned, because this is not a theoretical disucssion on databases). With a 2 MB (or even a 20 GB) database, most structure changes can take effect almost immediately and do not tax any harddrive that has been manufatured in the past 4+ years. But what about the 250 GB database?!?! Its huge, it fills most disks (though again this is changing), and changes take hours/days to propogate. Here's some tricks we learned for dealing with the monster DB's (please note that the links may expire, but the practices and "buzzwords" should be around to be googled for a good long time):
& ...
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Ghost OS the latest in Web 2.0 / Virtual Computing |
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Developments
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By TM Central on
8/28/2007 11:32 AM
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With the trends towards virtual computing and AJAX/fully-interactive sites rapidly accelerating, one company has married the 2: Ghost, Inc. Located at http://g.ho.st/, the product has an "online OS" that is supposed to leave nothing (aside from the history of their website url) on the local machine. Pricing is free (to 2 GB we think), and a very quick test-run on the Alpha version showed its potential (as well as quite a few bugs). Since its still Alpha, NOT the thing you want to depend on, but enticing to watch for the future.
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We're back online! |
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Developments
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By TM Central on
8/28/2007 11:26 AM
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Yes, forgive the month-long delay (our clients' needs come first!), but our website is backonline. We're in the midst of redesigning the TMCentral website to provide more content and information; one of these major changes is here... right here - a tech blog. This is where we will update new products we've heard about, looked at, tested, or used. Every day there are many, many highly intelligent people creating LOADS of products that do a particular function for less money (often free in the case of most open-source) and/or more efficiency than ever. This blog will update you on what we find that fits!
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