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LAN Over. New LAN on the horizon

Aquifination was a sucess.
now for a run down

Network

Hardware

The switches ran perfectly all day. Couldnt ask for better.

Software

Windows 2003 worked fine for DHCP, DNS and we think WINS.
But network browsing was seriously broken. To resolve it
we pointed wins at the default route to my laptop (running
samba) which fixed things after a reboot.

Not having a default route was our first thought, but adding
it didnt seem to resolve things.

WINS was running on the 2003 server but something was seriously
wrong. Windows reported error 53 when using 'net view' (rather
than unhelpfull NN. After changing the wins setting, and renewing
DHCP got network neighborhood going, but a full reboot was required
to get it working fully. I would think that it was something to do
with windows registering with the wins server at boot and not
reregistering when the wins server changed.

it could also be a browser election problem.

we tried fiddling with the node type but without much luck.

i think in the future well have a linux machine dish out
ips and do wins, dns etc. as discussed with talis an old laptop
would be quite ideal. it would fit nicely in the rack/cabinet
would easily be stored along with the rack/cabinet (and switches
when they will live in there). it would also be resisitant to power
outages not needing an UPS. i guess we could also easily plug
it into the console port of managed switches to collect stats
etc. with a wireless card it could also become a WAP.
we could therefore turn off network management on the switches,
encrypt wireless and then admin the switches through WAP.
overly complex perhaps, but more secure from h4x00ring.

lots of ideas. but a nice laptop running linux for dhcp
and dns etc. would be nice and small and wouldnt need an UPS

Power

No problems at all. probably not a bad idea to tape up the
double adaptors etc. perhaps we can drill some small holes
in the plugs and double adapters and run cable ties through.

Location

great!, would easily fit 60.

Attendance

not as good as i would have liked but we covered costs and
made $15. altough one person escaped without paying. probably
my fault for being flexible with later turneruperers. just like
oh yeah just pay before you go. we might recover it though

Other

next event should be good, we had good feedback and i think some
momentum was started.

wolfman and talis provided great servers. lack of numbers seemed
prevent games like ut2k4 from really going off.

More Talk From Me

Also wana drop an apology over the incorrect time on ausgamers. didnt inconvenience anyone too greatly i hope.

You can check out pics from the lan here. i took these on Barra's kodak digital and unloaded them via wolfmans card reader (running in linux).

Go sign up for LAN 101.

Next LAN well definately have to tighten up on power (as in not plugging in 'foreign' power gear). More rubbish bins as well as house training. Payment will be more strictly enforced before entry.

Anyway was a good day. Hope everyone enjoyed it!