Today, most enterprise systems are complex, requiring several systems to implement services, thereby creating several system interfaces. A basic monitoring requirement is to check if the system stack is broken. i.e. whether system interfaces are broken. Although almost all software products have some sort of "health monitor" to test connectivity with an interfacing system, it can be handy to have a standard utility to test all interfaces. Well, there is the wonderful "netcat" utility which can easily meet this requirement. Unfortunately, netcat is not standard on all UNIX systems (e.g. Solaris) and you may have constraints (e.g. company policy) which prevent you from installing netcat.

sconn is a simple korn shell script which helps you monitor socket connectivity for system interfaces. It’s basically a wrapper around a perl script which tests the connectivity. A simple script in perl alone would have sufficed, but as I’m not familiar with perl, I used the korn shell to meet my requirements. More people will be familiar with shell scripting than with perl and so if others have similar requirements, sconn could be used as-is or tweaked.

How sconn works:

Screenshots:

(1) Configuration

(2) Execution

(3) Output

Recommendations:

• Execute sconn regularly as a cron job for continual monitoring.
• Feed sconn data and/or statusnow files to a dashboard or graphing program.

Version 1: Last updated – 22:56 GMT, 24th November 2009

NOTE:

(1) sconn has been scanned and is safe to download.

(2) sconn has been tested. If you wish to use sconn, I recommend you also test it before deploying it on a Production system.

(3) Your rating of this post/software will be greatly appreciated. Also, feel free to leave comments.

Shmon is a bash script (which uses a teeny weeny bit of perl) that monitors a Solaris (versions 8,9 and 10) host. When executed as a cron job, Shmon provides basic, but vital monitoring of key system parameters.

How Shmon works:

Version 1: Last updated – 6:44 PM GMT, 2nd December 2009

NOTE:

(1) Shmon is a basic bespoke software developed to meet my specific requirements.

(2) Shmon has been scanned and is safe to download.

(3) Shmon has been tested. If you wish to use Shmon, I recommend you also test it before deploying it on a Production system.

(4) Your rating of this post/software will be greatly appreciated. Also, feel free to leave comments.

Last week, France beat the Republic of Ireland to make it to the FIFA world cup in South Africa next year, consequently preventing the Irish from qualifying. However, France’s victory was highly controversial given that their winning goal was made possible by Thierry Henry’s hands. Henry prevented the ball from going past the goal line with his hand and then kicked the ball to Gallas who scored. Watch the video below.

After the match, everybody and his dog had something to say about the controversy and so here I am doing my bit. Well, Henry said he’s honest, he’s never cheated and admitted it was handball and even went to the extent of saying that a rematch would be the fairest solution.

However, Henry’s integrity has been blotched and everybody won’t buy into his views after the match. Henry said the handball was instinctive and not deliberate. Ok, well, I’ll buy that.

However, if Henry is as honest and innocent as he claims, why did he celebrate after that goal, fully aware that the Irish players were protesting against his handball? Why did he not go to the referee then and there and admit it was a handball, thereby allowing the referee to make the correct decision?

Henry’s admission of handball and his consequent comments to pacify the Irish were too little too late. He knew it was a handball when the goal was scored. So, why admit it only after the match? It means he simply wanted to deceive the referee. Henry is one of the greatest footballers around today and he knows he has more than a million fans and so he should be even more careful with such incidents. All fans (like me) who respected Thierry Henry both as a footballer and an individual will feel a bit let down by his dishonesty. Henry must be going through tough times as he will be contemplating on losing an opportunity for cementing his name as a sporting legend as now it will be convenient for people to associate Henry with the handball and brand him “cheat”. Well, although Henry’s handball has disappointed me, I will surely never forget the amazing football he’s given us.

Yesterday, the Shiv Sainiks attacked the offices of the news channel IBN Lokmat in retaliation to the channel’s remarks against the Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. This is yet another attack by the far-right Shiv Sena after several attacks on the media over the years, for any remark passed against the party. As per the Shiv Sena goons, freedom of speech has its limits! Bal Thackeray even blasted Tendulkar last week for his comments that he was first Indian and then Maharashtrian. The Sena parties have caused enough problems and they must be stopped!

Typically, far-right political parties represent facism – an ugly scar on a multicultural, democratic, civilized country and how much impact a country allows its facist parties to have, gives an indication of how democratic, civilized and developed that country and its people are. Given the recent furore out here in the UK over the appearance of the BNP leader Nick Griffin on the popular BBC Question Time programme, I couldn’t help but compare the far-right political parties in India (Shiv Sena, MNS) and the UK(BNP).

Where were these bloody “sons of the soil” Sena blokes when terrorists held seige to Bombay on 26/11? They didn’t have the cojones to even show their faces in public. And commandos from outside Maharashtra played a key role in wiping out the terrorists.

The corruption and vote-bank politics in India have allowed the far-right Sena parties to take law into their hands and commit various atrocities.

Ironically, the very “divide-and-rule” policy that enabled the British to rule India is now followed by the far-right Sena parties in Independent India. What’s that “Unity in Diversity” I studied about, when I was a kid?

If India cannot tackle these fundamental issues and protect the democratic rights of its citizens, then you can flush all talk about India becoming a developed nation, let alone a super-power, down the drain.

I have experienced the frustration of wanting to switch channels on my TV using my remote only to see nothing happening, because I ignored the many “Low Battery” warnings for my remote control. I’m sure quite a lot of people, especially those couch potatoes out there, would have gone through a similar experience.

Well, two Japanese companies, NEC Electronics and Soundpower have created a prototype remote control which does not need batteries! The power required for its use is generated from the pressing its buttons. So, just using the remote control generates the power required for its operation! Brilliant innovation!