A word on browsers, GPOs

I'll give this the kiss of death and state that this should be a brief entry. Veterans will remember the days when Netscape was the browser of choice. AOL bought it for over $4B years ago! Then Internet Explorer made an appearance, was bundled with the operating system and lawsuits began. At some point, Mozilla Firefox became an open-source alternative and that's really where my search for browsers ended. I use Firefox and/or IE and they've served my purpose.

These days, there are other products on the market like Chrome and Opera. In fact, I've had one or two people tell me that one of those browsers is faster than IE or Firefox. That had me curious... not curious enough to download them and try them out myself (as of yet), but curious enough to search around for reviews. Sure enough, there's a good LifeHacker article that gives details on browser tests they performed. I'm sure there are other reviews out there as well.

Quick question, though - as an IT administrator in an enterprise, what do you need out of a browser? Here's my quick list:

* Functional (e.g. doesn't fail, renders pages properly, etc)
* Fast
* As best as possible, prevents malware/spyware from being downloaded
* Can be managed at an enterprise level

The last point is the one I'll mention. If you're interested in deploying something besides IE in an enterprise environment, you need to be searching for certain phrases. You'll likely need an MSI file, which is a Windows Installer file or Microsoft Installer file. This is basically an entire install package grouped into a single file. Admins can use MSI files in combination with Group Policy in a Microsoft environment to remotely install a product. Insuch an environment, you'll also want an ADM template or administrative template. These are used by the Group Policy editor to help you manage registry settings for a particular product.

I'm not advocating that you switch browser, but I wanted to use this as a chance to remind you that some of these popular open-source products have these features. Chrome has an MSI file available. A company named FrontMotion has customized a version of Firefox to be managed with Active Directory and Group Policy.

Just be aware of the terms to use and processes you'll want to implement if you ever consider deploying popular products in an enterprise environment. Browsers may be a dull topic, but it could be a relevant one if there's a product out there that will improve the user experience and/or cause less of a headache for you and your staff.

Things Seem Slow... Back to Basics on Troubleshooting

With school out for a brief time, I've talked to several districts about various projects and have found more than one that has had concerns about network speed and throughput. Any 'tech at heart' loves this type of challenge, though getting to the bottom of the issue(s) can be a frustrating process. Perhaps for my own benefit as much as anyone else's, I am typing random thoughts and suggestions in the event that you're working through problems of a similar nature.

Get a baseline - On some of our networks, this is a challenge. For now, let's just assume that "the Internet is slow" is the gist of your issue. You need to have a feel for what the normal browsing experience should be in your environment. You need to know the bandwidth capacity of your outgoing circuit(s). You need to be aware of the network routes and devices that are traversed as Internet traffic leaves the workstation and makes its way to the Internet. Are you wireless or wired? Are you passing through gigabit ports, slower wired ports, N-series wireless versus B/G or B? Do you pass through Internet filtering solution(s)? All of this needs to be determined and you can take a few samples of Internet browsing from the problem stations or stations in a similar configuration.

Know your 'best case scenario' - When I'm helping a district with thhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifis issue, it's nice to be able to set a station to bypass any Internet filter and to connect via wire to a point as close to your Internet connection as possible. If you can take quite a few hops and devices out of the loop, you can then determine if the speed issue is related to the devices you manage or if you have a larger problem with your provider.

Pick a few reliable sites/tools and stick with them - Often, I'll browse to a news site as a test since several images, ads and banners need to load. I also use sites like Speedtest.net to get an actual bandwidth readout. Note, though, that the figures you see here can vary based on several factors, including other traffic on your own network, delays or capacity issues on the testing site's end, etc. That said, if you run a test several times from the same facility, it may give you a general idea of what throughput can be expected.

Make sure you know what you're troubleshooting - I'm writing this from the perspective of Internet access being slow. Sometimes, the user may be reporting slow Internet from their workstation that has problems like malware, limited hardware capacity or poor connectivity. Veterans of the industry can tell you that it could be any number of other problems when someone simply says that 'things are slow'. It could be one particular program that they use. They could be clicking the wrong icon. If you're chasing your tail, have the user show you their problem or perhaps at least get a screen capture of an error message. Basic stuff, I know, but how many times have technicians rushed to the super-technical layer of troubleshooting only to find that a patch cable was removed?

Know your own environment as best you can - This is a challenge if you're working with limited staff as many school district tech departments often are. Suppose that your speed issue is definitely related to your Internet filter. Do you have a support relationship with the vendor? Is there someone you can leanhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif on for suggestions or other support? Do you have a firm grasp of how the users authenticate and are processed by this device? Is there an alternate configuration that might increase speed? (I mention this because many of these devices have different installation methods that can offer better throughput, better security or other enhanced capabilities.)

Can you look at the traffic - I'll end this post on a topic that isn't basic at all, but it can be an option. A network protocol analyzer like Wireshark can be used (with appropriate port mirroring) to capture traffic on a portion of your network. I'm not an advanced user of this type of tool, but the capabilities are getting better and you may simply need to confirm if traffic is ever leaving the network or if it's entering the network in a timely fashion. Without being an expert, seeing timestamps on network packets might help you determine where a delay could be.

The ramblings will continue at a later time... take care!
[image:Library of Congress]