Cron / Crontab – disable e-mail notifications

There are 2 ways to prevent cron to send out e-mail notifications after jobs are run:

1. Ensure there are no output from the script(s) being run by sending the output to /dev/null
   Simply append one of the following directives to the end of your script.

   >/dev/null 2>&1.

   OR

   &> /dev/null

   Your crontab would now look something like:

   0 1 5 10 * /path/to/script.sh >/dev/null 2>&1

   OR

   0 1 5 10 * /path/to/script.sh &> /dev/null

(more…)

‘vi’ quick command references

I’m a die hard vi user and still prefer using vi to edit plaintext files. There were some discussion on twitter on vi awhile back and I thought I’d share my own command cheat sheet for vi in edit mode. This is not quite a full tutorial but makes for a useful reference.

Editing Text…

i Insert before cursor
I Insert before line
a Append after cursor
A Append after line
o Open a new line after current line
O Open a new line before current line (more…)

Technology as a service

Cloud computing concept is transforming the IT industry and shaping the IT service delivery into a pay-as-you-grow model. Here’s a whitepaper from Cisco on Cisco-powered “network clouds”. Thought I’d share some keypoints / highlights…

Abstraction of physical hardware (virtualization) & the ability to share common resources among users (multi-tenancy) are at the heart of cloud computing. It is with virtualization & multi-tenancy that various utility-based approach can be realized and built onto one another:

(more…)

VMWorld 2009 recap: Cisco UCS, WAAS.. and more

With over 12,000 attendees, VMWorld 2009 was definitely impressive. It was great to be there as part of the Cisco data center team and see Cisco continue to make progress into the server & virtualization space. A few exciting technology showcases & announcements that were exciting to me:

VMWorld Data Center chose Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) to virtualize and reduced an environment of 37,728 physical servers using 2,483 racks and 25,329 KW of power to 776 physical servers in 28 racks using 528 KW of power. (more…)

VMWorld 2009 TweepUp @ The Chieftains on Saturday 8/29 @ 5:30p

I’m organizing a TweetUp for the folks coming to VMWorld 2009. It’ll take place at The Chieftain Irish Pub on the corner of 5th Street and Howard (across from InterContinental Hotel). So come out and hang out with your #VMWorld tweeps and enjoy great draft beer & pub food. (more…)

The count down to VMWorld 09

The etherspace has been busy with highlights, tips, and expectations of VMWorld 09 taking place at the Moscone center in SF starting August 31. I’d like to chime in and highlight technology areas that I’ll be focusing on while I’m there next week.

Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS)

Cisco’s entry into the server computing realm by providing a platform that unifies network, compute, storage access, and virtualization resources. A “wall of UCS” at VMWorld will showcase 16 racks containing 64 chassis, 512 blades, 4096 cores, & 24 TB of memory. (more…)

Twelve .htaccess tips for apache

Came across the Definitive Guide to htaccess Technique posting that nicely summarized the following useful .htaccess tips for webpages being served up by apache:

1. Create a custom error page.
2. Prevent directory browsing.
3. Set the default page of each directory.
4. Set up a 301 redirect.
5. Compress file output with GZIP. (more…)

idea blog, 24 august 2009

Earlier this week I read on NY Times about the GPS run craze sweeping through the running community and wondered if there’s an iPhone app that tracked your GPS coordinates and “drew” them for you to upload to sites like gpsdrawing.com. (more…)