fixing http://www.computersight.com/tags/fixing New posts about fixing Location and Placement http://www.computersight.com/Communication-&-Networks/Security/Location-and-Placement.122752 When it comes to physical location and placement that old saying “location, location, it's all about the location” is perhaps more poignant now than ever before particularly when it comes to physical security. “Out of sight, out of mind” is another adage that bears particular weight in regards to physical security.

How the physical location and placement of your assets relates to their physical security and well-being is where we will take up the story now.

Physical Location and Placement

The first factor that we need to consider is the element known as the “general public”. It is here that we need to review the first two rules of location and placement.

  1. The first rule of location and placement tells us to whenever and wherever possible locate devices and infrastructure where the public cannot gain free access to them
  2. The second rule of location and placement states that if infrastructure and core components must pass through a publicly accessible location then keep them out of sight

Wireless Access Points (WAP) Location and Placement

The location and placement of Wireless Access Points (WAP) is a case where this rule needs heeding. Many a good WAP has mysteriously gone walk-about and never seen again.

If you have no other choice but to place a WAP in a publically accessible location there are a number of tricks that you can employ to help ensure that the WAP stays put. If the WAP is not readily visible then it is likely that the temptation to “borrow” it will not present itself to the majority of the public.

Physical Security, Location and Placement

One way of increasing the physical security of devices in insecure locations is through careful and cunning placement. Ways of doing this include the placement of the WAP inside a camouflaged container that is porous to radio frequency signals in the Wireless Access Point's (WAP) frequency range.

I have seen numerous “pot plant containers” used in this way. False speaker fronts also work very well. I have also seen numerous instances of fake security cameras used to camouflage the location and precise placement of wireless access points. Bit of a double-edged sword that one. A false camera to make the public think they are being video taped and a hiding place for the WAP.

The majority of materials used in the construction of suspended ceilings are also porous to the frequency ranges used by the average WAP. Place the WAP with a directional or bidirectional antennae in the ceiling, as the radio signals will pass through the ceiling materials unhindered. This definitely counts as a more secure location.

Using a WAP with a directional antenna ensures that only those signals transmitted and received from below are within the range of your WAP. This doubles as a good energy saving tactic that also reduces signal leakage and so helps reduce your wireless network's exposure and liability to “freeloaders” and hackers alike.

An additional benefit of locating a WAP in the ceiling is that if it is placed in the center of the ceiling then for rooms whose walls do not exceed the radius of the wireless access point's (WAP) primary (highest bandwidth) zone can all be covered by just the one WAP.

Physical Security, Location and Placement Documentation

Documenting the location and placement of all peripherals such as a Wireless Access Point (WAP) is essential. Do not forget to name them correctly. For example, you could name the WAP CR1CW1, which might stand for Coffee Room 1 Ceiling Wireless access point 1. For more about naming see the following article: Building Your Own Naming Convention

Location and Placement - Weighing the Fiscal Benefits

Another point to consider here is the overall benefit gained by hiding the WAP from view. This may cause you to need to install additional Wireless Access Points (WAP), if required in order to achieve the desired coverage and Quality of Service (QoS).

The other alternative is to end up replacing missing WAPs on a regular basis as and when they go missing.

The trick is to balance these two strategies from a fiscal point of view and adopt the option that achieves the majority of the goals that the deployment was implemented to provide. Never forget the reasons that you undertook the original expenditure.

If the implementation was justified and worthy then these goals will still hold true for quite some time after the implementation phase is complete. Factors such as Quality of Service (QoS) that were so important in the original planning, design and implementation stages still carry great weight now. If not then you must seriously reconsider why you even bothered.

Secure Fixing, Location and Placement

Once the location and placement of the Wireless Access Points (WAP) is under control it is time to ensure that their points of attachment are firm and secure. This is essential not just from the going AWOL perspective but from the preferred placement and antenna direction perspective to ensure the WAP delivers its services as planned and without undue signal leakage.

The location and placement of many other key network infrastructure components need viewing in this light as well. Cabling and workgroup access switches being two of the more prominent components in the category of easily removed or otherwise interfered with devices.

Secure fixing is often the only option for the workgroup switch but the cabling is easier to locate behind walls, in conduit and in wiring closets to protect it from untoward events. With that, we will conclude our discussion of the physical security aspects of devices and infrastructure that have a location and placement that is inherently insecure (public Places).

We can now begin to look at the location and placement of core networking and communications devices and core infrastructure and devices. This is where the story continues in the next article “Core Components”. Until then enjoy!

]]> Sun, 11 May 2008 07:05:35 PST Computer Repair Business: Troubleshooting Made Easier http://www.computersight.com/Hardware/Computer-Repair-Business-Troubleshooting-Made-Easier.39830 When working in the computer repair business many simple tasks may become major ones if they are not approached in a concise and organized manner. In general, the computer related problems that one may be hired to fix are usually very apparent from the start. The easiest way to approach a computer with an unknown problem is to gather as much information about the system and how it was in its working state. For example, were the sound, video, Internet, USB devices etc. working before you were called in? Was the computer shutting down by itself or was the screen going black for no apparent reason? Was the customer getting various error messages in Windows while operating the system (if they were hopefully they wrote the message down) and was it running extremely slow? Will the computer not turn on at all giving no hint of what may be the underlying problem? Once these questions are answered a repair person is more equipped to narrow down the problems with the P.C. Always go from the most major to the most minor in a process of elimination to get to the root cause of the problem.

This being said, you must be equipped to take on the task by having the spare parts (parts that you know are in working condition) and be knowledgeable enough to stay calm and solve the problem in the quickest, most efficient way possible. In my repair case I always have a spare power supply, a hard drive, sticks of ram, a multi-meter to check for power (or lack thereof) operating system disks, boot disks, various virus scan programs (some virus specific) a mouse and a set of keyboards. Here is the order that I usually attempt to correct the problem, and repair the computer as efficiently as I can:

  • Check the power setup. Is everything plugged in? Is the switch on the back of the computer turned to the on position for the power supply? Then we use my power bar just in case that is were the problem lies. After a power check and plug change (as I said we must carry around these extra pieces of equipment) we proceed to opening the case.
  • Do we observe a dust filled case that needs air-blowing clean? If so (knowing that dust is one of the worst enemies to computer components), we blow it clean with the canned air that we always have on hand
  • We attempt to power the computer on and observe the movement of the various fans (especially the CPU fan). If there is no movement either the fan is unplugged or we have a bad power supply. If there is movement, we can rule out the power supply as the root cause and proceed to checking the various power connections and ribbon connections. Is the CD rom, the hard drive, the floppy all connected the right way to the motherboard? Are all of the power plugs to them all the way in? Are all the cards (sound, Video, Ethernet, SCSI) pushed firmly down into the board as not to cause power outs?
  • Inspect each card under a flashlight if it may be the root cause. As I have mentioned, as a repairperson it is your job to have spare cards with you to replace or test a PCI slot with a card that you know is working.
  • After all of these physical observations I then move on to software applications checking the registry, virus scans, boot sectors, etc. A multitude of software is a must to the computer technician and I can usually deduce the problem (usually virus related, ad ware, operating system or otherwise) once I am running software on the system
  • I usually use my test hard drive to make sure that I am not testing for a problem that cannot be fixed if the hard drive is already badly damaged. .

Thus through the process of elimination I succeed in fixing the computer system and the customer knows that they have gotten their money's worth. If we look at the computer as a sick person we realize that we wouldn't just check their reflexes and then diagnose the problem. Your troubleshooting must be exhaustive and thorough. The computer technician relies heavily on word of mouth for work so doing a semi-thorough job hurts us in the end.

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