After my massive update of the CommentSpam.org database last week, I accidentally posted a couple of entries without an IP address. That broke the Real-Time Blacklist CVF file. I added some logic to my CVF handler to check for DBNull before adding a node to the XML document. I should have done that earlier <smacks forehead> but it's working now.
I'm hoping to move to the next version of the specification in January, which will add some new validation logic. Namely, the individual address validator will also contain the number of entries in the database for that address. I'll also have a schema for validating the XML file.
Please let me know if there are any other problems.
Well, ok I'm not THAT happy ;). But I am really excited. I've
been working at a client's for the past three weeks rebuilding their
network. The viruses and spyware just got so bad that everything had to be
wiped, and we started from scratch. It consisted of:
- Complete redesign of the whole network topology
- Installed two Windows Server 2003 boxes
- Configure a new Active Directory domain & users
- Configure ISA Server 2004
- Configure desktops
It's been an experience... oh yeah. Plenty of late nights. The first run
consisted of me futzing with the network long enough to get everything
running... probably a bad idea but the only option given the fact that it's been
a while since I've been a network admin. ISA Server 2004 has a steep learning
curve, but once I went through a
few labs on TechNet, I got the hang of it.
One program that has been a complete Godsend has been ScriptLogic
Enterprise from ScriptLogic. As
many of you know, I'm extremely tough to please. Most software is just plain
horrible. But ScriptLogic Enterprise was a breeze to install, and extremely
intuitive. It passed my "Dumbass" test... meaning that if I can figure it out,
probably anyone can. In under 2 hours I had the system configured to install
shares and printers at each logon, and boot people off the shared computers
when they walk away, among other things. It's a really awesome system, and if
you do any kind of desktop management, it's is HIGHLY worth it.
But the reason I'm most happy is because I just got ISA 2004 (with McAfee
SecurityShield scanning for viruses with each web request, also highly
recommended) able to act as a highly-granular VPN server. Now I can do the rest
of my work from home, and the CPA over here can stop driving 40 miles a day
every 3 days to cut checks for the agents in the office. WOO HOO! Heh, I might
actually be able to get some sleep tonight!