Monthly Archives

October 2012

ProfitBricks VPS Review – Speed Test vs. Linode

By | Sample Work | No Comments

The new IaaS (Infastructure as a Service) provider ProfitBricks is currently running it’s operations out of Las Vegas, Nevada and Berlin, Germany. Two Datacenters with incredible performance. Below are some real world tests to show you how they stack up against the competition.
In the Left Corner we have ProfitBricks running 2 core with 8GB of Ram.
In the Right Corner we have our control, Linode. This is a 4096 Machine (4GB Ram) with a 4 Core processor config.

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Install ioncube Loader Nginx php-FPM

By | Sample Work | No Comments

Install ioncube Loader Nginx php-FPM

For x64:

[raw] wget http://downloads2.ioncube.com/loader_downloads/ioncube_loaders_lin_x86-64.tar.gz
tar xfvz ioncube_loaders_lin_x86-64.tar.gz
[/raw]

For x86:

[raw] wget http://downloads2.ioncube.com/loader_downloads/ioncube_loaders_lin_x86.tar.gz
tar xfvz ioncube_loaders_lin_x86.tar.gz
[/raw]

Proceed as follows:

[raw] cp ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_5.3.so /usr/lib/php5/20090626/ioncube.so
[/raw]

Now edit to match:
[raw] nano /etc/php5/conf.d/ioncube.ini
[/raw]

Mountain Lion + Kakewalk + GA-UD3P-EP45 + ATI Radeon HD4870x2

By | Hackintosh | 3 Comments

I am succesfully running Mountain Lion 10.8.2 on a GA-UD3p-EP45 with a Radeon HD4870x2 with full QE/CI support.  I have attempted to summarize all the information needed to make a successful install with complete graphics and driver support.  Here is my brief guide, please leave any questions in the comments:

1.  Reset BIOS to Optimized Defaults (Sorry, it has to be!)
2.  Download Kakewalk 4.5
3.  Follow these instructions to setup Kakewalk and boot Mountain Lion
4.  Download the ep45-UD3p Post Install.zip.  >> Make sure this ends up on your USB Key!

You will not have Sound, Ethernet, or PS/2 support out of the box.  Also – if the system won’t boot on the first try – restart and let it try again.  (AppleRTC patch is not yet patched).

Once you get to your desktop >>

1.  Open Kext Utility, it will Repair permission automatically at first, let it run —

2.  Open the QE_CI Exotic Patch folder.

3.  When Kext Utility is finished repairing permissions drag and drop (one at a time) ATIRadeonX2000.kext and ATI4800Controller.kext into the Kext utility.  It will repair permissions each time it processes a Kext file!

4.  Reboot

You should now have full graphics.

1.  Run MultiBeast

Check:

  • EasyBeast
  • Audio>RalktekALC8xx>WithoutDSDT>>ALC885/889a
  • Disk >> Jmicron36x and TRIM if you have SSD
  • Misc >> PS/2 to enable oldschool mouse/keyboard
  • Network >> Realtek Gigabit Ethernet 2.0.6
  • System>>AppleRTC Patch
  • Bootloader >> Chimera — if you need it
  • Boot Options >> PCI Root ID Fix

2.  Reboot!

For MobileMe access and Facetime Support

1.  Use Chameleon Wizard

2.  Click SMBios tab

3.  Click Edit

4.  Under week of Manufacture click Random and under Unique Number click Random again

5.  Hit Save

6.  Reboot

 

 

Kakewalk on UD3P Mountain Lion

By | Hackintosh | No Comments

Installation guide

Make sure to read through the guide before installation.

Here are the Kakewalk instructions, with my comments!
Prerequisites:

– USB Stick, at least 5GB
– A working Mac/Hackintosh
– Compatible hardware, like a Gigabyte GA-UD3P-EP45

Step 1 – Creating a Mac OS X USB stick

1. Download Mac OS X from the Mac App Store.

2. Start the Kakewalk application supplied with the zip archive you downloaded from here.

–Be sure that you do not have your DMG mounted!  This will block the install.

3. Next, click Install to USB

4. Select your motherboard

5. Click Browse and locate the Lion application (this can also be a DMG image file)

6. Make sure you select the correct disk for installation.

7. Click the Install button when you’re done.
This will install Lion onto your USB stick. It’s a lengthy install process and will take about 20-30 minutes.

*************************************************************************
Click here to Download the : ep45-UD3p Post Install.zip package.
Click here to goto the UD3P Guide.

*************************************************************************

Be sure to place this on your USB drive after Kakewalk finishes installing.

Step 2 – Setting up BIOS

1. Insert the USB stick in the PC you wish to install to.

2. Enter BIOS and go to Advanced Features

–You should probably reset your BIOS to Optimized Defaults.

Overlocking will not work with the installer.

3. Change the Hard Disk Boot Priority to your USB stick as primary (Number 1)

and set the harddrive you’re going to install to as secondary (Number 2)
eg. 1. USB-HDD0: SanDisk 16GB
2. SCSI-0: WD 500GB

4. Go back (ESC), go to Integrated peripherals

5. IMPORTANT: Set “SATA RAID/AHCI Mode” to “AHCI”

6. Go back (ESC), go to Power Management

7. Set the ACPI Suspend Type to S3(STR)

8. Set HPET Mode to 64-bit mode

9. Save and Exit, by pressing F10

Step 3 – Installing Mac OS X

Your system should now be booting from your thumb stick. The bootloader will greet you, and after 5 seconds it will start the Mac OS X installer.

–If your USB device isn’t booting, just hit F12 when booting to select your boot device.

1. Once the Mac OS X installer is up and running click Utilities and then Disk Utility

2. In the left hand pane select the harddrive you wish to install to

3. Click Partition then select 1 Partition then click Options and check GUID PartitionTable hit OK

4. Finally enter a name for your partition (eg. Mac) and Apply (Leave the formatdrop-down to its default value)

5. When partitioning and formatting is done, quit Disk Utility.

6. Now go on with the installation and select your partition (eg. Mac) and install.

7. When the installer has finished restart your computer.

Step 4 – Running Kakewalk

Boot from your thumb stick. Make sure to select the harddrive you just installed Mac OS X to and hit enter.

1. Once your installation is up and running open Finder.

2. Navigate to your thumb stick.

3. Start Kakewalk.

4. Select Install Kakewalk

5. Select your motherboard

6. Select the harddrive you just installed Mac OS X to.

7. When the installer has finished restart your computer.

8. Remove your USB stick and boot from your Mac OS X harddrive!

 

Perfect Server in 5 minutes – Virtualmin + Nginx + ProfitBricks

By | Featured, Sample Work | No Comments

In this quick tutorial, I will show you how to setup a perfect VPS system with infinitely expandable storage and capacity from the new hosting provider ProfitBricks.

Background: VPS speed is somewhat of a commodity these days, and is not only increasingly hard to come by – but hard to customize. I was in search of a new VPS host that would allow me to customize all three dimensions of a host – memory, cpu, and storage. Amazon has created an incredibly complex system for what should be a stupid simple task. Most providers, Linode included do not allow you to scale resources independently, but rather makes you choose – fast, good, and cheap. Luckily – ProfitBricks is here to solve the problem. I can create as many disks as I would like, as many servers and CPU’s, and choose exactly how much RAM. Now add in the fact that ProfitBricks performance is currently topping EngineYard, Amazon, and Linode — it’s time to give it a try!

Compounding the problem my cPanel license is up for renewal, and I am rather dissatisfied with the experience. The admin panel feels old and clunky with too many configuration options for very little gain. I spent multiple times recompiling Apache tinkering with php options rather than focusing on the work at hand. Control Panels should make life easier, not harder. Virtualmin was always on my short list and I have tried earlier versions – however the lack of Nginx support was the Achilles heel for me. As of today, they have solved this problem and Virtualmin natively support Nginx! Bravo.

Once Virtualmin is installed you can use the GUI to create, format, and mount additional storage drives created in the ProfitBricks data center designer interface. This makes handling all this new capacity, like multi-terabyte additional storage a breeze to handle.

To begin, create and account with ProfitBricks and use the Datacenter Designer to create an internet connection, server, and storage. The free demo brick will do just fine. Once you have logged in as root begin the routine:

1. Set your hostname
[raw]echo “jupiter” >; /etc/hostname
hostname -F /etc/hostname[/raw]

2. Update host file
[raw]127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
12.34.56.78 jupiter.example.com jupiter[/raw]

3. Set timezone
[raw]dpkg-reconfigure tzdata[/raw]

4. (Optional) Add Additional Repo’s : DotDeb will keep you using the most up-to-date LEMP stack
[raw]echo ‘deb http://packages.dotdeb.org stable all’ >;>; /etc/apt/sources.list.d/DotDeb.list
echo ‘deb-src http://packages.dotdeb.org stable all’ >;>; /etc/apt/sources.list.d/DotDeb.list
wget http://www.dotdeb.org/dotdeb.gpg cat dotdeb.gpg | sudo apt-key add –
rm dotdeb.gpg[/raw]

5. Update and Upgrade
[raw]apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade[/raw]

4. Reboot
[raw]reboot[/raw]

5. Download Virtualmin
[raw]wget http://software.virtualmin.com/gpl/scripts/install.sh[/raw]

Make the script executable:
[raw]chmod u+x install.sh[/raw]

Run the install script:
[raw]/bin/sh install.sh[/raw]

When it’s finished, all you need to do is open a browser and go to port 10000 on the server:

https://yourdomain.com:10000

Walk through the install process, configuring options as required. Remember to turn off BIND in System Settings – >; Features and Plugins

Time to install NGINX:

Shutdown and disable Apache
[raw]/etc/init.d/apache2 stop ; update-rc.d apache2 remove[/raw] Install Nginx:
[raw]apt-get install nginx[/raw] Start Nginx:
[raw]/etc/init.d/nginx start[/raw] Install Virtualmin Nginx Plugin:
[raw]apt-get install webmin-virtualmin-nginx webmin-virtualmin-nginx-ssl[/raw]

Before you continue, fix the broken SSL implementation:

Fix Broken SSL Argument:

[raw]nano /usr/share/webmin/virtualmin-nginx-ssl/virtual_feature.pl[/raw]

Change line 152 to >> [raw]&virtual_server::find_matching_certificate($d);[/raw]

Now-

Login to virtualmin as root (https://ipaddress:10000)

1.  Go to System Settings ->; Features and Plugins
2.  Un-check the “Apache website” , “SSL website” and “DAV Login”, “Mailman”, “Protected web directories”, “AWstats reporting” and “Subversion repositories” features.
Check the “Nginx website”, then click “Save”.

Due to a small bug you cannot select “Nginx Website” and “Nginx SSL Website” at the same time. So go back and select “Nginx SSL Website” after enabling “Nginx Website”.

Go to the System Information page and click Refresh system information in the top right.

Verify that running appears next to Nginx in the Status section.

It’s also a good idea to click on System Settings ->; Re-Check Configuration after everything is done to ensure it’s work properly

Now you can add Nginx sites using the Create Virtual Server link as you would with Apache. The only thing different is “Enable Nginx” needs to be checked in the features section.

BONUS FEATURE:

Here are some of the best utilities for your server!

Don’t forget to install these great addons!

[raw]apt-get install bmon htop aria2[/raw]

bmon – monitor your bandwidth on each adapter

htop – enhanced Top

aria2c – download magnet files or multi-threaded gets

Only in France – 200Mb/s Internet

By | Asides | No Comments

France has recently brought the EuroDOCSIS 3.0 standard to a new level. Squeezing just over 200mb out of a standard coaxial cable line is quite a feat. Although currently available in the Capital city, this ridiculous speed is slowly being rolled out to the rest of the country. Created to compete directly with Fiber and the offerings from France Telecom. The operator Numericable makes it easy to upgrade and for 39€ a month, you too can be downloading files at 25mb per second. I am still in shock and awe of this speed and price. While those in San Francisco wait and wonder why we are neglected by a bandwidth shortage, those here in Paris are living the good life on a serious speed kick.

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