UDDI is an acronymn for Universal Description, Discovery and Integration. It is a specification used for publishing and locating information about services.

In Windows Server 2008 it can be used within a domain (intranet), or between companies sharing data (extranet or Internet).

From the Microsoft Website:

“Microsoft UDDI Services provides developers and IT administrators with the following benefits:
• A scalable solution for organizing, discovering, reusing, and managing Web services and other programmable resources
• A standards-based infrastructure that is compliant with Version 2 of the UDDI application programming interface (API) specifications
• Categorization schemes for describing providers and their Web services that you can customize to meet the needs of your organization
• Integration with various development tools
• User-friendly administration with the UDDI Services snap-in”

What this means is if you wanted to build a client application, and then want other applications to use information from that application (without having to re-invent the wheel so to say), it would be possible with UDDI. It opens up a whole new opportunity for sharing and utilizing ideas, projects, or resources that have already been developed. These deliverable resources can be used for furthering other developments that may need to use only pieces of the original project (or resource) to further itself.

It would seem that after the public UDDI nodes were closed in January 2006, UDDI seemed to find a home in private corporate implementation. This is especially so when implemented in projects where multiple heterogeneous applications request resources that only the UDDI can provide. UDDI client applications can request certain data that the UDDI can provide regardless of the Operating System that the client application resides on.

The following is a brief summary of the offerings of UDDI in Windows Server 2008:
Windows Server 2008 Standard provides ONLY a Stand-alone installation
WIndows Server 2008 Enterprise and Datacetner both provide Distrubted Installation.
NOTE: Distributed Installation can provide fault tolerance throughout the enterprise.

It will be exciting to see what the future holds for UDDI implementations with small business seemingly moving away from separate applications for billing/accounting/etc, to an ERP/EDI platform. This may lead to UDDI implementations where the technology can be leveraged to quickly provide information during the transitioning of smaller applications to larger applications, and/or sharing of data between different applications sprinkled throughout the company, and possibly throughout the Internet to clientele as well as to vendor partners.

Sites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Description_Discovery_and_Integration
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UDDI
http://uddi.xml.org/

Xsan 2 will use the hostname to connect to a client, normally this is set correctly but due to some caching issues I had to manually set this via ARD the other day. Enjoy the quick code:

If would you like to contact me with comments or inaccuracies about this article, feel free

There are certain aspects of Mac OS X Server that it just isn’t that great at. One of them is acting as a router. It’s just a fact that an appliance by SonicWALL, Cisco, Watchguard and sometimes LinkSys will run circles around the speed and feature set of Mac OS X Server. So with that in mind, let’s look at how you would go about configuring a basic port forward on OS X Server if you decided not to listen to us on this point…

You can use the /etc/nat/natd.plist. The key you’ll want to edit is the redirect_port, one per port or a range of all in one key… Basically the array would look something like this assuming you were trying to forward afp traffic to 192.168.0.2 from a WAN IP of 4.2.2.2:

redirect_port

You could also use the route command or ipfw depending on exactly what you’re trying to do with this thing. Route is going to be useful if you’re trying to respond to network traffic over a different interface than the default interface.

As many will already be aware, there’s no NetInfo in Leopard. So where are those pesky account settings stored? Well, local user account settings are now stored in plist files. The plist files are stored in the /var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/users directory for users or /var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/groups folder for groups. Password hashes are stored in the /var/db/shadow/hash folder. Inside each plist file for user accounts you can augment (or create) attributes required in order to perform certain actions. So, for example, if you want to change the location of your home folder you can open the users plist file and search for the home key and edit it’s contents.

Communication is the transfer or collaboration of thoughts, ideas and plans between individuals. It is essential in the organizational success of most businesses to have various easy to use methods of communication. Today’s communication varies from chatting to video teleconferencing. Combining these forms of communication into a simple easy to use interface or tool can drastically increase the flow of collaboration and communication of staff members.

Microsoft’s Unified Communication Server and Office Communicator comprise a suite of programs and services that allow businesses to integrate most communication platforms into one centralized management console. Unified Communications takes the functionality of outlook and exchange and combines email with VOIP service, voicemail, chatting, faxing and video teleconferencing. Along with the integration of all these services, Unified Communications comes with one tool to rule them all.

Office Communicator gives anyone with a laptop or Windows Mobile Smart phone the ability to switch methods of communication on the fly, without having to worry about loss of communication. This simple tool will give you ability to take your office anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. It also has the ability to attach additional phone numbers to your main office number. Chatting, faxing, emailing, calling and video teleconferencing have never been so easy.

Unified Communications and Office Communicator provide a new method of centralized communication that when implemented in your company will greatly enhance the flow of communication between the staff at your business.

Screen Sharing is a great enhancement to Leopard. The ability to control other Macs isn’t only available through third party applications any more. However, many administrators who are used to using Apple Remote Desktop will want some of the features they have become accustomed to, such as curtain mode, full screen, get clipboard, etc. So to obtain these features, the following command (all on one line) will unlock many of the buttons that have been disabled in Screen Sharing:
defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing \
'NSToolbar Configuration ControlToolbar' -dict-add 'TB Item Identifiers' \
'(Scale,Control,Share,Curtain,Capture,FullScreen,GetClipboard,SendClipboard,Quality)'

Screen Sharing is a new feature in Leopard that allows you to control machines that appear in your side bar. However, you can actually open Screen Sharing and use it in a similar manner as how you use an application like Chicken of the VNC (although not with an identical feature set). The way you go about this is to create a shortcut to the Screen Sharing application bundle from the /System/Library/CoreServices/Screen Sharing.app file somewhere else, such as the Applications folder, or maybe just put it in your dock. Then you can run the following command:
defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing ShowBonjourBrowser_Debug 1

You will now be able to open Screen Sharing on its own as well as continue using it from the side bar.

If you want to enable the auto-population of buddy lists for users of your iChat server, use the following command:
serveradmin settings jabber:enableAutoBuddy = no

If you have a lot of users and this causes performance issues, consider disabling this feature again by using the following command:
serveradmin settings jabber:enableAutoBuddy = yes

In Leopard the Top Menu Bar is fairly transparent and will overlay on top of the background image. For those who want to disable it the following command will do so:
write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables' -dict 'CI_NO_BACKGROUND_IMAGE' 1

We have seen some reports that this command didn’t work for users; therefore it is important to point out that when you’re using the command you need to unload and load the launch daemon.  Or just reboot.  If you later start to miss this menu bar then you can undo this change by using the following command:

defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables' -dict 'CI_NO_BACKGROUND_IMAGE' 0

There’s an open source conference of sorts coming up in LA on November 3rd. It’s called BarCamp. Check it out at: http://barcampla.org/

We start by gathering together in one space and going around the room to introduce ourselves with three tags to describe what we’re passionate about (or want to talk about). There will also be some announcements. After this, people who intend to lead a session will add their session info to an empty schedule grid (may be moved around early on). If you see a session you’re interested in, go to it.

After a couple of sessions, you will have a significant amount of downtime for lunch. Feel free to wander around and socialize while or after you eat. More announcements will be made, and any newly proposed sessions will be announced.

After the sessions are finished, please stick around to clean up. It’s generally as simple as throwing trash away and taking down signs, but all the help is appreciated.

If you brought wireless equipment or power strips, find a coordinator and ask where they’re most needed. Please set your wireless router to a unique SSID (e.g.- barcamp_xxx), to avoid networking conflicts (nasty with a dozen routers in the same room named the same thing). Also, if you can, please lower the radio output of your router. There’ll be plenty of WiFi cloud to go around without everyone blasting out at full power.

While loosely structured, there are rules at BarCamp. All attendees are encouraged to present or facilitate a session. Everyone is also asked to share information and experiences of the event, both live and after the fact, via public web channels including (but not limited to) blogging, photo sharing, social bookmarking, wiki-ing, and IRC. This open encouragement to share everything about the event is in deliberate contrast to the “off the record by default” and “no recordings” rules at many private invite-only participant driven conferences.

Fun stuff. November 4th, check it out.

A new CMS means a new widget to view the new CMS. Check out this dashboard widget to stay updated on the latest 318 TechJournal posts!!!
318-tech-journalwdgt.zip

This must be done from a Windows computer (NOT Mac RDC client). CoRD has an option for “taking over console session”.

On the PC, go to Start -> Run -> type “mstsc /console /v IP or name of server”

This will kick out the console user but you can then get access to the server.

Thanks to Eli for pointing this out!

Most screen savers just waste power. Might as well just put your computer to sleep. But if you want to use a screen saver and you want to do something good for humanity then check out one of these:
fightaidsathome.scripps.edu – Join more than 300,000 other computing nodes and dedicate your computing power to finding new AIDS treatments
climateprediction.net – Improve climate prediction models with the University of Oxford
mersenne.org – Help George Woltman be the first to find a 10 million-digit prime
einstein.phys.uwm.edu – Test Einstein’s theory of gravitational waves

The release of Final Cut Server (along with Final Cut Studio 2) mark a huge step forward for Apple in the media production market. Final Cut Sever is going to revolutionize the way that the entire post production process is handled.

From Apple’s Website:
“Meet Final Cut Server, Apple’s powerful new media asset management and workflow automation software. Final Cut Server takes the headache out of managing large collections of media files, then extends to tracking job status, managing reviews and approvals, and automating complex sequences of tasks – all with Apple’s legendary ease of use, and all in a single product designed to work seamlessly with Final Cut Studio.”

Content Catalog w/ Search Functions:
Final Cut Server creates a catalog of media files and the information that goes along with them. Think iPhoto for professional video. You will be able to assign specific values to media files via metadata tags. You will then be able to use this information to find your media later via a layered keyword search.

There are several ways to bring files into Final Cut Server. You can physically add the files to the browser, or you can configure “watched folders” that automatically update the catalog whenever they are updated. Apple states that Final Cut Server will support more than 100 different filetypes. Reference media (thumbnails and proxies) are automatically created when files are added to the catalog. There is also an option for configuring versioning of files so that a history of the file is maintained should you need to return to an older version. This is particularly powerful in environments where several people are collaborating, as some aspects can get accidentally changed or overwritten without properly using file versioning.

Content “Containers”:
This feature of Final Cut Studio allows you to create “containers” or “Productions”. A Production is basically a place to gather assets for a particular project. The great thing about this, however, is that the Production container references the original files instead of copying the original files. The advantage of this is that you can re-use media for different cuts or projects without increasing the amount of storage space required.

Metadata:
Final Cut Server includes a powerful metadata system. It allows you to customize the information that is stored with the file. For instance, you can create custom stages for the project tracking area that apply to your workflow.

Access Control:
Included with Final Cut Server is an access control module. While it has not been stated as to whether this will tie into Open Directory, the access system allows the administrator to control access to media through users/groups and even allows you to control access through different points of the production.

Workflow Management:
Final Cut Server’s workflow is completely customizable, even on the per-project basis. The program looks for specific events and user inputs to make it’s next move. Here’s an example that could be configured: when a project status is changed to “Ready to Publish and Close”, Final Cut Server responds by exporting the final timeline to several different formats (DVD, web, streaming, iPod). Once it has done this, the program could be configured to automatically archive the files for that project and move them to an alternate storage location. The ability to customize this process for each specific project and/or client is going to boost productivity immensely.

Remove Review/Approval:
From Apple’s Final Cut Server Fact Sheet: “Final Cut Server lets you automate review and approval processes so that internal or external clients can view, annotate, and approve content from anywhere. You can configure Final Cut Server to notify reviewers by email when a project is ready for evaluation.

Reviewers can add timecode-based clip annotations to low-resolution proxies so that a Final Cut Pro editor can see the comments displayed shot by shot. You can add or modify rough cuts right in Final Cut Server to show the editor what you have in mind. Because the proxy file sizes are not large, it’s possible to review Final Cut Pro projects in the Final Cut Server browser even over a low-bandwidth connection.”

Many media projects require input from all over the country (and even the world), therefore Final Cut Server’s remote review and approval feature is going to make things so much easier. No need to worry about compressing and uploading the file to an FTP site when you can now simply have Final Cut Server automatically encode the file and host it for you.

Cross-Platform Solution:
Since many of 318′s clients are mixed Windows/Mac environments, Apple’s decision to make Final Cut Server cross-platform will be very helpful for our clients. The server software runs on OS X, while the client can run on both Windows and Mac computers. This means that a Windows-based client can view rough cuts as they are completed using the Final Cut Server client software, or a producer on a Windows-based laptop can still view footage and approve cuts.

Integrated Cuts-only Editor:
This is truly an interesting feature. Apple chose to build a cuts-only editor into Final Cut Server. This means that users can throw together quick cuts to test out ideas or select shots without even leaving the program. This functionality is fantastic for that occasional disconnect between editors and producers, allowing the producer to take control in the easy-to-use interface and actually show the editor what he is talking about instead of simply describing it.

Final Cut Studio:
This is an obvious feature, but Final Cut Server ties directly into Final Cut Studio. Creating a Final Cut Pro project within a Final Cut Server environment means that your assets will be managed by the server, and you will simply have to “check out” your project when you want to make changes. When you go back and “check in” your changes are uploaded, along with any other media that was locally cached. This is an awesome solution for both high-speed fibre networks as well as the traveling editor, as you can edit directly with the Final Cut Server or locally cache your project and then upload the changes when done, all with a few simple clicks.

Compressor:
Final Cut Server also utilizes Compressor 3 for its rendering and transcoding jobs. As previously stated, specific export settings can be saved in the workflow, so that when a project hits the finalization point, Final Cut Server will handle the exporting and transcoding work for you. Apple also touched on the formats available for Compressor 4: “Add the Episode Pro plug-in from Telestream to encode to VC-1, WMV, GXF, and FLV formats as well as High Profile H.264 and a number of third-party proprietary broadcast server formats.”

318 Recommends:
We here at 318 are very excited about the advancements in both productivity and creativity that this product will bring to our clients. Final Cut Server is going to revolutionize the industry, and 318 is going to be there for you in both setup and support for this product as well as finding new and exiting ways to innovate your business.

Sources:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio and the Final Cut Server Fact Sheet available at this site.