Joseph Sturtevant's questions

I manage multiple websites that currently have the following DNS configuration:

example.com      - A Record - Production Server IP
test.example.com - A Record - Test Server IP
www.example.com  - CNAME    - example.com
beta.example.com - CNAME    - test.example.com
dev.example.com  - CNAME    - test.example.com

Is this an appropriate use of CNAME records? I've looked online and have not found a clear answer. Some people claim that CNAME records are bad (they are not, however, clear on why this is) and propose the following setup:

example.com      - A Record - Production Server IP
test.example.com - A Record - Test Server IP
www.example.com  - A Record - Production Server IP
beta.example.com - A Record - Test Server IP
dev.example.com  - A Record - Test Server IP

Which one of these is the better approach (and why)?

Note: The subdomains do not require their own MX records, so that is not an issue here.

I manage a small network with a Cisco ASA 5505 and a shared DSL connection. I would like to be able monitor the bandwidth usage of the various users/devices on my network (by IP address). Can I do that using the ASA? Has anyone got this working? What is the best way to do this?

Some Ideas I Have Seen Online:

• SNMP with a tool like Cacti
  Does this give per IP usage with an ASA or just overall usage?
• Netflow with a tool like ntop
  Couldn't get this to work. It seems that the Netflows sent by ASA are not exactly standard. Ntop receives them, but doesn't seem to know what do with them.

The Windows 2003 AD Domain I manage has several Windows XP clients and one Windows 7 RC1 client. Recently, the Windows 7 client has started refusing to access network shares unless the FQDN of the host is provided. Interestingly, DNS resolution using only the hostname works fine. Does anyone know what could be causing this or how to resolve it?

Works Fine

ping hostname

\\hostname.mydomain.internal\MyShare

Doesn't Work

\\hostname
Error: Error code 0x80070035 - The network path was not found.

\\hostname\MyShare
Error: Error code 0x80004005 - Unspecified error

UPDATE

This issue resolved itself about a day after I posted this question. Perhaps it was a time synchronization issue as Moose suggested. Thank you all for your help. If I am ever able to reproduce this problem, I will revisit this question and explore these solutions further.

I currently have my Cisco ASA 5505 firewall configured to forward port 80 from the outside interface to a host on my dmz interface. I also need to allow clients on my inside interface to access the host in the dmz by entering the public ip / dns record in their browsers. I was able to do that by following the instructions here, resulting in the following configuration:

static (dmz,outside) tcp interface www 192.168.1.5 www netmask 255.255.255.255 
static (dmz,inside) tcp 74.125.45.100 www 192.168.1.5 www netmask 255.255.255.255 

(Where 74.125.45.100 is my public IP and 192.168.1.5 is the IP of the dmz host)

This works great except for the fact that my network has a dynamic public IP and this configuration will therefore break as soon as my public IP changes. Is there a way to do what I want with a dynamic ip?

Note: Adding an internal DNS record won't solve my problem since I have multiple dmz hosts mapped to different ports on the public IP.

What are some good systems for running a lightweight Linux server. Typical uses:

• Apache Web Server (light access)
• SCP/SSH Server (remote file access / tunnel)
• SVN Server

Important factors:

• Cheap ($300 or less)
• Small
• Energy Efficient

I have been looking at the Fit-PC as a possible platform for this type of server. Is this the best way to go? Is there another option I should consider?

One of the networks I administrate uses Windows Server 2003 File Shares to provide network storage for users. To prevent against accidental deletion, I use Shadow Copies to create snapshots twice a day. This method is only effective, however, for files which were on the share during the last snapshot. When users accidentally deleted files recently placed on the share, I have no recourse except to remote desktop into the server and attempt retrieval with an undelete utility (this is only effective if the file has not been overwritten).

Is there a feature like the Windows Recycle Bin for Windows Server 2003 File Shares? What is the best way to protect my users against accidental file deletion in this scenario?

Possible Duplicate:
Can you help me with my software licensing question?

I have a Cisco ASA 5505 firewall which I purchased as part of a ASA5505-BUN-K9 bundle. I now wish to expand the number of internal hosts supported from 10 to unlimited and add support for more than 3 VLANS. I assume I can do the former with a ASA5505-SW-10-UL= license and the latter with a ASA5505-SEC-PL= license. Are these licenses compatible? Does the ASA5505-SEC-PL= license already included unlimited user accounts? Is there a better / more cost effective way to do this?