Android apps #2: Catch notes

For note taking I like keeping things simple such add just using a text editor, but there are occasions when it's useful to keep a photo (such as when you're at the datacenter and need to remember which nics you've just plugged in the back of a server) and text only just won't cut it.

That's where Evernote and my favourite Catch notes come in. They also have the added bonus of syncing with the cloud so it's easy to get the content when you're back at your desk again.

I prefer catch mainly because it can be moved to sd card (which breaks widgets) and it has a small lightweight widget for quick notes.

Well designed, easy to use and rather useful.

Posted via email from Pio's work related musings

Android apps #1

The first in probably infrequent series with the best free apps for Android phones. I've pretty much got "an app for that" and all of them free.

So kicking everything off is Jota, a text editor. Advert free, it does everything you want from a text editor in windows, let alone on a mobile phone.

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Macrium Reflect FREE Edition

via macrium.com

The first in an intermittent series of posts for my top free PC tools concerns Macrium Reflect.

It's a great imaging tool (similar to Ghost) that can even do bare metal restores via a linux or WinPE boot disk (depending on hardware compatibility fo course).

The best news is they offer a freeware version, so there's no reason not to get it...

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Error: "The resource vswif0 is in use" when changing service console IP

When you try to change a service console IP from DHCP to Fixed, you'll get this error.

A simple workaround is to add a second service console with a new IP and delete the original.

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Checking DFS replication status

On windows 2003 R2 and Windwos 2008, Distributed File System replication is handles by the new DFSR service.

You can check the status of replciation using the DFSRDIAG command, but if you're on a windows 2008 server, be careful to run this as Administrator otherwise you'll get an error "[ERROR] Access is denied when connecting to WMI services".

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Netstat tips and tricks for Windows Server admins

What process is running on the open port: Tracking down which process identifier (PID) has a port open is quite easy when netstat is run with the -a -n -o combination of parameters

via blogs.techrepublic.com.com

A useful article explaining the netstat command parameters, especially the example I'm always looking for which shows the process name.

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Serial ports created during a P2V process & why you should delete them asap

A quick tip for machines that have just been P2V'd with vConverter: 

Make sure you remove the TTY / serial devices which are automatically created. 

These are class as mapped host devices but unlike a mapped host cd drive, they cannot be disconnected without powering off the new VM.

As a result you can't vMotion the new VM and hence it stops DRS from being able to migrate the VM and also you can't put the host into maintenance mode (such as during a host update patch process)

Posted via email from Pio's work related musings