Adsense Alternative?
KB ID 0001746 Way back in 2004 when PeteNetLive started, I didn’t even consider monetisation of the site, it was simply a place for me to store my personal scribblings about problems I’d faced in support. But as it grew and it had to move from a second hand PC under my desk, to a dedicated server, then a rented VPS. The cost began to raise. Back then there were a few ‘ad agencies’ but unless you were getting a...
FortiClient: Unlicensed VPN access is available until..
KB ID 0001745 Problem I got an email from a client I deployed SSL VPN for, (a couple of weeks ago), one of his users was seeing this; Unlicensed VPN access is available until {Date} {Time} Solution: Unlicensed VPN access is available until… At first I was confused, unlike other vendors SSL VPN is not a licensed requirement? As it turns out in my instructions, I’d written ‘Download the Forticliet” when I...
A Pub? In the Garden?
KB ID 0001744 Garden Pub During lockdown in 2020 I decided that seeing as I could not go to the pub, it would be a better idea to have one of my own. I’m not a builder, but being an ex Royal Engineer I’ve got enough know how to turn my hands to most things. (Disclaimer: If you’re going to do you own electrics, get it checked by an electrician!) Laminate and Skirting (update 19th Apr 2021 How Do I Get Internet to My...
FortiGate Certificates Missing?
KB ID 0001743 Problem Nice quick easy one today, while setting up SSL VPNs for a client I needed to import their Root CA certificate, and found the Fortigate Certificates Missing? Usually they are under System > Certificates. But the tab was simply not there? Solution: Fortigate Certificates Missing Fortunately it was simple to fix, it’s a ‘feature’ you simply need to ‘enable’. Go to System >...
FortiGate Port Forwarding
KB ID 0001742 Problem I was back on the tools again today setting up FortiGate Port Forwarding! This was for one of our partners that I have to do some remote work for, so I temporarily needed to get onto their servers. Normally I’d just SSL VPN in, (but that’s what I’m setting up!) So to get onto their servers I had to setup a port forward for RDP. WARNING: Port forwarding RDP from ALL / Any is a BAD IDEA...
Replacing Cisco Firewalls with Fortinet Firewalls
KB ID 0001741 Replacing Cisco If you’ve been following articles on the site you will know that the focus of the firewall related output is shifting from Cisco ASA / Cisco FirePOWER to Fortinet (FortiGate) firewalls. This article is so you can make an informed choice about what you want to replace your Cisco firewall with. Note: I’m starting with SOHO and Small Business sized firewalls, but I will extend this to...
VMware ESX – Sockets and Cores (Logical Processors)
KB ID 0001124 Problem While explaining to a client the difference between Sockets, Cores, Logical processors, I had to revisit this post today, so I updated it for vSphere7 Calculating Sockets and Cores Essentially; A: Processor Sockets: The Physical amount of CPUs on the motherboard. B: Cores Per Socket: For a dual core processor this would be 2, triple core=3, quad core = 4, hex core = 6, octa core=8, deca core=12, etc. C: Logical...
Azure Traffic Manager (DNS Failover)
KB ID 0001740 Problem Why Azure Traffic Manager? I had to price up a hardware load balancer (ADC) a couple of weeks ago for a client. I wont mention the vendor, (though I’m sure you can guess). Over 3 years it was going to cost (for a pair) about £100k, (so about 33k a year). That included the global DNS failover, this was so they, (the client) could fail over their services between multiple data centres. OK there are other ADC...
Free Exchange Certificate
KB ID 0001739 Problem A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about getting free certificates for IIS with ‘Let’s Encrypt’. Last week the renewal for my ‘test’ Exchange server’s certificate came though. So I thought “Why don’t I try and get a ‘Free Exchange Certificate’?” Free Exchange Certificate Before we start let’s take a moment to take a look at our existing...
Leave Domain: “A general network error occurred’
KB ID 0001738 Problem After a recent lab on the test bench, I ended up with a 2008 x32 standard server. It took me a while to get this setup and running, so I wanted to keep it (or turn it into a VMware template should I ever need another). But first I needed to ‘remove it’ from the domain it was in. However, when attempting to do so this happened; Computer Name /Domain Changes The following error occurred validating...