4 Channel CCTV Security Camera System Under $300.00
Security Systems August 4th, 2010
The economy being what it is, I find myself looking for more and more ways to generate revenue and make my consulting business as recession-proof as possible. Of the most lucrative, surveillance systems rank in the top 10. If you’re willing to deal with a hot, miserable, dirty environment, there’s a reasonable amount of coin to be made in this trade, providing you’ve got the technical chops and an article like this one to get you headed in the right direction. Let’s get going.
It needed a good cleaning anyway…
Empty Closet
Even if a burglar makes off with my recorder, they’re still hit, because all events are recorded off-site. Thus, location efforts were focused on obtaining the position that had access to the resources I needed: Space, AC power and close proximity to at least one choice monitoring spot. A no-brainer really. Thirty minutes later, I had a closet well on it’s way to becoming the hub of my new operations center.
It might not look like much, but just outside the left wall at the bottom resides a standard 2-gang AC power outlet; near the top a choice position for a dome camera to monitor an important room. Just outside the right wall near the top; the eve right outside my front door. Just as with real estate, location is everything. This closet was absolutely perfect for my application: Two very choice monitoring locations, AC power and ample space to keep things cool. As installation spots go, it really doesn’t get much better than this. Truthfully, if you can get just two of the three going for you, you should give the spot serious consideration.
If you can get past this next part, you’re home free!
While the closet is nice and empty, the next order of business will be the mounting and routing of things needed to make the clockwork tick. Namely, the Power Distribution Unit (PDU) and Siamese Cables that bring the signals back to the recorder for processing. If you want audio, you’ll also want to think about the types of cabling you need to make that happen as well. The Siamese cable provides Video and power only.
It’s called Siamese cable because it’s really two cables in one. Generally either RG-59 (my preference) or the heavier but less lossy RG-6 equivalent with an 18 Gauge pair piggy-back to provide power for the camera. Naturally, you’re going to need ends to terminate the cable. This is where we jump off into somewhat of a heated debate. I prefer push-on BNC connectors, while purists will insist on the crimp-type. There are lots of compelling arguments, but in the end, it comes down to this: We’re dealing with video, not RF signals, so all conventional theory goes out the window. Push-on connectors are fast, easy and will last the life of the camera without issue.
CCTV Power Distribution Unit (PDU)
The arguments are almost as heated with PDU’s, but you can us logic to narrow down your choices: Some of your cable runs are going to be long. Some as long as 100 feet or so. Long runs mean high losses, so that 500 ma draw may really be as high as 800. The solution becomes clearer. You need a high output PSU, but wait, not all cameras require 12 VDC. Some are 24VDC, so now you know. The best choice is a dual voltage, high output supply. Preferrably with individually fused and regulated outputs. Your might give up to 40% more for such a supply, but in the end you’ll be glad you did. Especially if you end up using long run, outdoor cameras in your mix. Rule of thumb: Don’t skimp on the power supply.
Noodles Tuscany
Recipies July 24th, 2010
If it’s a recipe from scratch you’re looking for, you’ve come to the wrong place. I work with computers for a living; fast-n-easy is an absolute essential ingredient for me. That said, let’s get started:
1 19 oz can Progresso Chicken Tuscany Soup (Yes, the brand matters)
1 Kroger Brand Chicken Bouilloncube (Walmart is cheaper, but doesn’t taste as good)
3 Tbsp Kikkoman Soy Sauce (Did I mention that the brand really does matter?)
Large hand-full of dried Kluski Noodles
Bring the first 3 ingredients to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the noodles and decrease the heat to low. Stir constantly until a simmer is reached (bubbles just below the surface) then turn off the heat and cover for about an hour. (I told you fast-n-easy was a requirement for me…).
The amount of soy sauce you use here can make all the difference. If you like salty foods, use more, if you hate salt, don’t use it at all. For the noodles you can use about anything, but I like the thick Kluski noodles best, they tend to absorb just about all the liquid, and that makes for a really tasty dish in my opinion.
Properly finshed, there should be nearly no liquid left in the pan. If there is, you either didn’t use enough noodles, or you didn’t let them sit long enough. If needed, bring the pan back to a simmer, cover and let sit a while longer. Next time, use more noodles.
Enjoy!
To call it refurbised would be incomplete
News and Announcements July 17th, 2010
With most system builders, refurbished means they’ve run the factory supplied system resore utility and that’s pretty much it. Not so at HostingXchange, that’s not even the beginning.
First off, we check the eBay completed listings to make sure the machine is worth restoring. You need a system that can handle day to day business on the web and we won’t waste our time, or yours, on anything less. Rest easy, our systems are worth our asking price and more. Do the research and see for yourself, you’ll be glad you did.
Next, we check out all the hardware. The last thing we want is for you to receive a product with a noisy power supply or dead CMOS battery. We test everything, stem to stearn, and make sure it’s right and worthy of our 4 hour long resoration process. Suspect, damaged, or missing parts are replaced and we’ll give you full details of anything less in our listings. You have our word.
We clean everything. Inside and out. If it can’t be cleaned such that we’d use it in our own homes, we don’t sell it. Period.
Now we’re ready to run the system restore utility. 20 or thirty minutes later, it’s done.
Next, we install the latest service packs. In the case of Windows XP, that would be Service Pack 3, followed by about 75 additional updates. No more than an hour and an half or so.
Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Intel igfxtray.exe, hkcmde.exe, igfxpers.exe
Uncategorized July 14th, 2010
After reinstalling a failed Windows Vista Business machine the other day, a series of annoying dialogs started popping up at start-up asking me if I wanted to run igfxtray.exe, hkcmde.exe, and igfxpers.exe. After a bit of research, I found that these programs are installed with the latest Intel Video Drivers for our Jetway I31GM4-L motherboards. (Same drivers are used in our Shuttle machines as well.) Intel has mistakenly installed these programs in the X86 programs folder without the necessary means of making them trusted by the operating system
Solution:
Since Windows provides a means of managing video, the Intel programs are not necessary and can be safely disabled. Just click start, search for and execute msconfig, click on the Start-up Tab and untick the check-box next to each program. Disabling the start-up of the programs has additional benefit as there are several widely known malware programs that use these program names as disguise.
Windows Vista Window 7 Dropping Network Connections
Uncategorized May 15th, 2010
Introduction
Turns out, this usually isn’t a problem with Visa or Windows 7 at all, but rather with the power saving functions of certain networking chipsets. These chipsets save power by turning themselves off during periods of inactivity, which in turn wreaks havok with any program that requires a persistent connection, most notably custom database applications like those written in Visual Foxpro and standard accounting applications like Peachtree.
Symptoms
The symptoms of this problem include instances of the “Windows has stopped working” dialog box accompanied by Network Locations showing up in the control panel with a red X through them. Double clicking on the Network Location will turn in green again and restore the connection as if nothing happened.
Solution
The solution is usually pretty simple, but can be a bit tricky due to the language translation involved. What you need to do is disable the power saving functions of the chipset and at first glance, it might appear the function is already disabled. Be sure to look closely as here’s an example of what you might run into:
Auto Disable PCIe (Power Saving) = Disabled
To me, this meant the power saving features were already disabled. To the gentlemen that wrote the wording for this setting, it meant just the opposite. Once we changed the setting to Enabled on all our workstations, the problem went away and we haven’t encountered it since.
Enable the Administrator account in Windows 7 and Vista
Uncategorized April 23rd, 2010
net user administrator /active:yes
This function is included in the 2010 SR-1 release.
Windows Vista Mapped Drives Disconnecting
Uncategorized April 23rd, 2010
net config server /autodisconnect:-1
CPanel SSH Public Key Authenication Configuration
CPanel and WHM, Linux Server Administration December 17th, 2009
For best security, ssh should be moved to a non-standard port, and password authentication should be bypasswd in favor of public key authentication. It’s not at all hard to do and it makes me wonder why a lot of admins are reluctant to do so. Hopefully, once you finish reading this article, password authentication on your network will become a thing of the past and we’ll all be one step closer to a safer, more reliable internet as a whole. Let’s get started.
Begin by editing /etc/ssh/sshd_config. Find the following section and remove the preceeding hash marks so it looks exactly like the following text:
PubkeyAuthentication yes
AuthorizedKeysFile .ssh/authorized_keys2
Next, you’ll need to create the secure storage location you specified in your configuration:
cd /root
mkdir .ssh
chmod 700 .ssh
cd .ssh
nano authorized_keys2
Tags: Internet protocols, public key, Secure Shell, Ssh-agent
Xymon Server on an OpenVZ Container
OpenVZ, Xymon Network Monitor December 17th, 2009
This article will detail the steps required to set up a Xymon (formerly known as Hobbit) network monitoring server on a Fedora Core OpenVZ container. At first, I tried this on CentOS 5, but didn’t have much luck getting rrdtool installed. If anyone knows a work-around for this, I’d really like to hear from you as I use CentOS as the basis for just about everything else I do. See?
- Start by preparing a container with Fedora Core. I used the following template for my foundation:
- The next thing you should do is get a firewall up and running. You can get details on how do do this at the following URL:
- Now you need to set up all of Xymon’s prerequisites as well as those of the server itself. Please be sure to install the packages in the order presented or you may not get a complete installation:
- Xymon needs a standard, non-privledged user to keep your system safe and secure. This user should not belong to any other groups on the system and you should make a note of it as you’ll need it later on during the installation process:
- Now you’re ready to download, unpack and install Xymon. Be sure to fully read and understand the Xymon Server Installation Guide before getting started as there’s a lot of good information in there to make your installation go as quick and painless as possible:
- Before you can start Xymon, you’ll need to make a few simple changes to your web server configuration. Assuming you’re using a default installation for both Apache and Xymon, you can make those changes as follows:
vzctl create [id] --ostemplate [template_name] --config [config_name]
vzctl set [id] --onboot yes --save
vzctl set [id] --hostname [hostname] --save
vzctl set [id] --ipadd [ip_address] --save
vzctl set [id] --nameserver [ip_address]
vzctl set [id] --userpasswd root:[password]
vzctl start [id]
vzctl enter [id]
yum install nano
yum install make
yum install gcc
yum install compat-libstdc++-33
yum install compat-libstdc++-296
yum install ncftp
yum install links
yum install lynx
yum install libpng
yum install openssl
yum install openldap
yum install pcre-devel
yum install rrdtool-devel
yum install httpd
yum install cpan
yum update
cpan Bundle::CPAN
user add [user_name]
passwd [user_name]
cd/usr/local/src
wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/hobbitmon/files/hobbitserver/4.3.0-beta2/xymon-4.3.0-beta2.tar.gz/download
tar xvfz xymon-4.3.0-beta2.tar.gz
cd xymon-4.3.0-beta2
./configure
make
make install
cd /var/www
mv html html.orig
ln -s /home/[xymon_user]/server/www html
cd ~[xymon_user]
chmod 711 .
This procedure was written for a minimally installed server for best security. If you’re using something more elaborate (suexec, selinux, etc), then you’ll need to modify the server settings to suit your environment. I plan to implement suexec and other security enhancements in the future and I’ll update this article as appropriate when that happens.
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