Pinkie v2.15 is out!

After numerous delays due to time & resource constraints, I am glad to announce that Pinkie v2.15 is here.  You can get the new version at ipUpTime.net.

Here's a rundown of new features and enhancements in this version.

• Added IPv6 support for Ping, DNS, Traceroute, Subnet Calculator & PortScanner
• Added Bulk DNS lookup
• Added input validation for IPv4 & IPv6
• Added option to use Enter key as new line
• Added option to edit host list
• Added option to exclude primary hosts
• Added option to keep main window on top of other screens
• Added feedback option
• Added View menu
• Added delimiters (comma, semi-colon, space, pipe) for new hosts
• Added input validation for various input controls
• Added option to show last notification
• Added keyboard shortcuts
• Added Tell a Friend feature
• Added Comment feature
• Added link to report bug
• Added link to request feature
• Added application icons
• Fixed keyboard bugs for input fields (up, down, left, right, backspace, delete....)
• Fixed screen flickering on Ping tab
• Fixed bug in portscanner when using range of ports
• Fixed bug in pingsweep where resolving/responding host count doesn't reset
• Fixed column formatting when export for pingsweep
• Fixed split distance when restore to default size (F12)
• Fixed program still runs in the background if it is closed by user X it out
• Fixed IPv6 logging issues
• Fixed dropdown boxes
• Updated software registration/action process
• Updated system notification protocol & UI
• Updated application logo

There are still a lot of new features and enhancements I still haven't had time to implement yet. And it doesn't look like I'll have any spare time in the near future so I decided to cut the list and release v2.15.

Finally, an IPv6 calculator

In an effort to update Pinkie to support IPv6, I postponed my other projects to spend sometime on IPv6 and as the result, we have yet another IP Address Calculator.

When I finished integrating the IP calculator into the next release of Pinkie, I realized there wasn't one online that had the functionalities I wanted; I figured I wasn't the only one like that so I spend yet more time working to bring it online and now we have another IPv6 calculator.

This one is a little bit different than all the others in a sense that it supports both IPv4 & IPv6 on the same user interface (just because I hate having to go to different site for different types of IP address like I hate having the functionalities of Pinkie in multiple programs or windows for that matter). It also help you convert and identify different type of IPv6 addresses.

Hope you can use it!

Last but not least, I hope you support my sponsors.

Online IP Address Calculator

Fun with Procurve switches

What would you do if you have a bunch of Procurve switches and some free time?

Well, as I found out, you can have a little fun besides just learning and working.



This video was found through this blog: http://bhbodeezy.com/tag/locatorleds/

Earlier this week, I released a suite of Windows network troubleshooting utilities called Pinkie through a website named ipUptime.net.

Everything went well. The public seems to welcome it and as I monitor the statistics for the site as well as the download counts from other download sites, I realized that something is wrong with my site statistics; the numbers don't match up and my number came up short.

As I found out, if people download the Pinkie through the link on my site then the download count is incremented. But if they had download it from other sites, using the URL I had published then the download is not accounted for.

Changing the published URL for all other sites will be time consuming so I was looking for a better solution to the issue. Then I remember ASP.net 2.0 supports URL Mappings. So by using URL Mappings, within a minute or two, my problem is solved.

Here's the syntax for URL Mappings:

<urlmappings>
<add url="~/newurl.aspx" mappedurl="~/oldURL.aspx"></add>
</urlmappings>

Best use for URL Mappings are for shortening long, hard to remember URL to something short & easy to remember or in my case, correct a mistake and save time.

Simple Website

A friend of mine runs a small business in Houston, TX and needed to enhance the company's web image.

With the little free time I had, I was able to put together a simple, mostly static HTML site for her.

You can check it out here: eyecareforyouonline.com.

Blogging again!!!

It's been a long while since I posted a blog. Well, apparently, I had forgotten my password and was unable to recover it since the email account I registered with Google wasn't active. Therefore, I wasn't able to login to the site.

In a recent Networking project called Pinkie, I needed to activate the web hosting account again and finally able to reset the password to the blogger account.

So in the comming days, I'll start blogging again when I get some free time.

Virtual Private Networks Troubleshooting - Part I

I've seen quite a number of posts asking why VPN users are not able to access their network even though they have been successfully connected.

Let's try to troubleshoot what happens here. A very common VPN setup is to use 2 NICs and run Routing and Remote Access on one of them. The benefits of this would be that you can isolate VPN traffic and keeping it from overloading the NIC that handles the internal network traffic. One thing to note for is that the two NICs have to be assigned IPs from different networks or subnets. For example:

1st NIC (VPN): 192.168.1.2 /24
2nd NIC(internal network): 192.168.2.2 /24

(Don't worry if you don't understand the /24. It's called the slash notation for the subnet mask which is the equivalent of 255.255.255.0)

Through the initial RRAS setup, users will be able to connect to the VPN just fine and will be assigned an IP address of one of the networks. The problem arise when they try to connect to network resources on through the 2nd NIC (the other network). This is due to the fact that Windows doesn't know how to route the packets from the 192.168.1.0 network to 192.168.2.0 network.

You can tell Windows how to route traffic between the two NICs by configuring a static route with the "Route" command. Type "Route /?" at the Command Prompt for more information.

And as usual, I have a second way to accomplish the job by turning on Routing using RIP or OSPF and add the two NICs to it.

One thing that I see lacking from most Windows Administrators is the understanding of TCP/IP and network routing. I would recommend Windows Administrators to take CCNA anytime. Even though it might seem so remote from their daily tasks, one can walk away from a CCNA class with so much helpful information that makes their job much easier to do.

Switch Port Security

If you are working in a strict security environment then switch port security is a must. Configuring switch port security could become a tidious task. However, if you can control the environment when you setup the network, this little trick can help you save a lot of work.

Instead of configuring port security and manually enter MAC address for the port, you could plug all your hosts in then issue the following commands:

Switch(config)#int range f0/1-xx
Switch(config-if-range)#switchport port-security
Switch(config-if-range)#switchport port-security maximum 1
Switch(config-if)#switchport port-security violation restrict
Switch(config-if-range)#switchport port-security mac-address sticky
Switch(config-if-range)#end

The first command takes you to the interface range configuration mode; the next two turn on the port security and set a maximum number of mac addresses to 1. "Violation restrict" will not allow traffic for any host whose mac address is different than what the switch has learned for the port in question. After that, the "mac-address sticky" commands instruct the switch to learn the mac address dynamically and remembers it for the each port.