Weekly Snap: GDB for Debugging, ispCP for Web Server Admin, 1 New Job & 3 New Hardware

1 – 6 August started the month with blogging from across the office. First on new products from the hardware store, tips from the development and managed services teams and also a new job opening on the sales team.
Starting the week, Marcus shared a tip for web server management with isp Contol Panel Omega. A fork of the now inactive VHCS project, ispCP is an open source, multi server control and administration panel for internet service providers. He likes ispCP for its user interface and ability assign various roles to users such as ‘administrator’, ‘reseller’ and ‘user’ to apply refined user rights and principles. Installation is easy with the helpful official documentation and ispCP is available in a stable v1.0.7. However for a look at its new features Marcus recommends the v1.1.0 beta version or simply their online demos.
From the development team, Gunnar showed how to use GDB for debugging. As of v.7.0, GDB can “record” and replay program execution allowing the user to pinpoint problem areas in the source code. Handy indeed, but he cautioned that GDB significantly slows the program when “recording” and should be used for the shortest process portions possible.
Following on from Sales, Peter posted a position for a Junior Account Manager. The ideal candidate would have some experience in hosting, systems management, monitoring etc and enjoy dealing with customers. More on the position and application can be found on the jobs area of our website.
From our hardware shop, Martin announced the arrival of Kentix AlamManager, Multi Sensor LAN and the new Multi-Tech Multi Modem for SMS. The Kentis Alarm Manager Set consists of a base station and wireless multi sensor. The base station facilitates communication with the company network and sends SMS alerts through the in-built GSM modem. The sensor monitors temperature, humidity, dew point, fire/carbon monoxide and movement, communicating to the base station wirelessly via Zig Bee. For smaller environments, the Multi Sensor LAN is also available, offering a version that is integrated into the company network via a network cable (with PoE). As alway. Icinga/Nagios  plugins can be downloaded at www.netways.org
Finally, the last addition to the shop is the follower to the Multi-Tech Multi Modem MTCBA-G-EN-F4-ED-EU, known as the Multi-Tech Multi Modem MTCBA-G2-EN2-F4-ED-EU. From in-house tests, Martin noted that interceptty is no longer needed; instead communication can be set simply in the SMS server tool config.