- Blind-sysadmins - lists.hodgsonfamily.org

Virtualisation - will it make our lives easier/more difficult?
by Andrew Hodgson 26 Feb '08

26 Feb '08

Hi, I am just wondering what people think about virtualisation, specifically in an IT company using products like VmWare, Virtual PC, and presumably some of the technology coming up in 2008? I have had a couple of experiences: I have been using Linux virtualisation for ages, both running kernels inside a host operating system - the machine that runs this list is running in this way, and for a small length of time, using the Zen virtualisation system in RedHat for a test project I am working on at work. The Zen I have had more problems with, both on a technical level, and also the fact that it is harder to get at what is happening in the virtual system - if I don't have SSH access to the machine, I have to resort to a virtual serial connection. However, I have had less success with Microsoft Windows - using both VmWare and Virtual PC, I have had issues installing the Jaws intercept drivers, and when I am running in a Virtual PC session, it seems to somehow disrupt the Jaws session on the host OS, so that Jaws doesn't speak correctly until I reboot. I think this may be something to do with video drivers, or the way I am using the virtual system, as I go into full screen mode on occasions. I am hoping to try out ESX server this year, which is VmWare's flagship product, to see if it has any advantages over the others. Have any of you had any experiences, both good and bad using this technology? Thanks. Andrew.

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A+ Self-Studying
by Barry Toner 26 Feb '08

26 Feb '08

Hi all, I've subscribed with my home address, barry(a)barry-toner.co.uk and my work address, b.toner(a)liberty-it.co.uk Lucky as I woke up this morning with a awful cold/chest infection and wanted to pop in and say hi. I'm a Sys Engineer for Liberty Information Technology over here in Belfast. I've wanted to take certs for the past 3 years or so but never really got motivated to do them. Something perhaps to do with lazy lecturers in Uni and their demotivating powers, J Has anyone on here gotten this cert? My works going to book and pay for my exam and also bought me my self-study book. For anyone interested CompTIA's A+ Complete Study Guide comes in pdf with the printed book and is completely usable, (I was delighted to find yesterday). The Pocket PC version of the Flash Cards that also come on the CD read fine as their in flash embedded in html. This is reading with JFW8 and Win Eyes 6.1. I think it's going to be tough going to self-study but I'm in a good and extremely technical team so can get my hands on most hardware that th ebook will have diagrams off. I also figure I'll try and make up points on areas I've an idea I'll be shaky on. I've also got CBT Nuggets A+ 2006 videos to help me along. If you haven't checked them out CBT Nuggets are wonderful! Whither it's for study for a cert or just pure geekyness. Check them out at, http://www.cbtnuggets.com So has anyone taken this who's totally blind and self-studyed? Barry.

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c c n a quallifacations
by stuart young 25 Feb '08

25 Feb '08

Hello its stuart i have found an accessable version of the c c n a and the c c n p cources which you can take online there is a guy called ian murray who setup the cources, i will give you his e-mail address, so you can e-mail him with any questions you have about the courses. i.murray(a)exchange.curtin.edu.au here is also a link to the webb site. http://bauhaus.ece.curtin.edu.au/~cisco/index.html hope this helps. -- Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network. Visit www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.

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64-bit server operating systems?
by Andrew Hodgson 25 Feb '08

25 Feb '08

Hi guys, Now we are getting to see more and more support for 64-bit operating systems, and the fact that nearly all new hardware sold now is 64-bit, I am wondering if anyone knows whether the main screen reader manufacturers are going to start providing 64-bit versions? I ask this specifically due to the fact that Windows Server 2008 will predominately be 64-bit, from what I have read in the press, we have Exchange 2007 out now which is "64-bit only for production environments", and would like to know that when I am forced to upgrade the servers, that I can still run the access technology on them? I have been using RedHat on 64-bit hardware for a couple of years now, and other than a couple of issues due to having both X86_64 and I386 packages on the same system causing issues when upgrading, it has gone fairly well. In contrast, we tried our first Windows Server 2003 X64 box a couple of months ago. This was just a management box running backup jobs, but it broke after a couple of days with stop errors which prevented the OS from booting. Further investigations with Dell highlighted there was a problem with the fact we were using network bonding/teaming, and we were using a Broadcom NIC card, which was provided obviously with the system. We then played a bat and ball game with Dell, as they said it was an issue with the Broadcom driver etc. In the end, we managed to get in and disable the relevant adapter, and the issue went away, but it wasn't entirely a good start for our Windows 64-bit adventures J. Anyone else had any experiences they wish to share, or comments? Andrew.

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send me mails!!
by sunil jose 25 Feb '08

25 Feb '08

HI, PLZ SEND ME MAILS -- with Best Regards, Sunil jose

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qualifications
by stuart young 24 Feb '08

24 Feb '08

hi my name is stuart young and i am totaly blind what qualifications do you need to become a systems administrator? also i have bin reading the archives and i notest, that there was a post on remote desktop and how it was quite anoiing to use . there is a company called serotek who sell a product called remote access manager, which might be useful when manageing servers. http://www.serotek.com/enterprise.html hope this helps. -- Email services provided by the System Access Mobile Network. Visit www.serotek.com to learn more about accessibility anywhere.

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Rdp from a blindness perspective
by Vincent van Itallie 20 Feb '08

20 Feb '08

Hello all, Could someone give me some tips on how to deal with microsoft remote desktop? Do you use it at your job? And how many servers do you administrate? I am asking this because of the following: I am a blind support technisian at one of Hollands bigger universitys, a small company asked me to join there administrator team, to serve there customers. A lot of my new tasks will be to monitor and administrate servers remoteley. Deploying patches creating accounts etc. My question is: Could you tell me something about the way you acomplish your work via remote desktop. Does screenreader supplyers offer competetive license schemes for blinks who need a lot of diffirent servers to access? How did you set up your licensing of your favorite screenreader for remote desktop? Which screenreader do you use for rdp? Do you know how accessible microsoft operations manager is? I hope to hear from you, because I need to make a desission of my career switch soon. All the best from the Netherlands, Vincent van Itallie.

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