• Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  Mac Security,  Mass Deployment

    Troubleshooting Mac OS X Kernels w/ dmesg

    June 13, 2012

    The first thing that loads in OS X is the kernel. The kernel is how users interface with hardware and sets the stage for interaction by probing for each driver that needs to be loaded and tracking what is found. The presence of everything about the system is tracked when the kernel loads as well as pertinent boot parameters. Even if you’re booting in verbose mode, most of this probably happens too fast to notice. You might be able to pause it, but you’re still trying to react to things too quickly in many cases. That’s where the dmesg command comes into play, which lets you review and control the…

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  • Mac OS X,  Mac OS X Server,  MobileMe

    Sync'ing iTunes Libraries

    December 20, 2010

    I recently spent a few days trimming down the amount of space consumed by my home folder. In so doing I discovered a number of things I could be doing better with regards to utilization of my drive space. So I decided to offload most of my media (photos, movies, etc) off my laptop and onto my Mac Mini server. I also decided that one thing I’d like to live on both is iTunes. Note: Before you do anything in this article you should verify you have a good back up. Also, both machines will end up needing to be Authorized for your iTunes account. There are a lot of…

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  • Network Infrastructure

    NAS, Clouds & Backup

    October 27, 2009

    NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices are a popular alternative to providing centralized file services to smaller environments. This includes devices such as the Seagate BlackArmor, the DroboShare NAS and the Netgear ReadyNAS Pro. These are inexpensive as compared to an actual server, they require less management and they often come with some pretty compelling features. But one of the primary reasons to buy a NAS can end up being a potential pain point as well: they require less management than a server because they can’t do as much as a server can. For example, the option to replicate between two of them. Most have NAS to NAS replication built in. However, that…

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