Unfamiliar or bizarre terms that you run across might be in the newsletter glossary (-- if not, suggest that we add it.)
DSL Specials
New areas: We continue to have more and more Verizon numnbers
in NH qualify for DSL/V, including lines served by remote terminal
equipment (digital loop carriers: DLCs and SLCs). If your line has
failed to qualify in the past, do keep trying. And check your phone
bills: if you got a new notice on your Verizon phone bill stating that
you now qualify for DSL service, that applies to DSL/V as well. You
can indeed choose to get high speed Internet connectivity and
receive the bandwidth, technical support, email, web and other
services from MV.
New packages: We have several new special promotions for new DSL/V customers.
Microsoft's Free Security Update CD
(This is an item that we added to last month's newsletter some time
after it was released. Since it was probably missed by many readers,
we're also including it this time.)
Microsoft is making available a CD, which they will send to you for free, containing security updates for various versions of its Windows operating system. Quoting from their website:
The Windows Security Update CD will be shipped to you free of charge. This CD includes Microsoft critical updates released through October 2003 and information to help you protect your PC. In addition, you will also receive a free antivirus and firewall trial software CD. This CD is only available for Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows 98, and Windows 98 Second Edition (SE).Find the offer at http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp .
(You must have cookies and javascript enabled in your browser to make use of that URL.)
Note that as with any vendor's software, we make no representations about this disk. We mention it as something you may find useful, but do decide whether you want to make use of it (or anything on it). Note also that it only contains updates issued through October 2003, and you should still investigate patches released after that date (and continue to apply patches as they become available).
Servers status
We mentioned last month that we'd started work on upgrading and replacing
some servers here at MV; here's some information about the progress
and the continuing plans.
General: One plan was to replace a couple of the utility servers that do work behind the scenes here, providing such things as DNS, DHCP, accounting, authentication, storage, and so forth. This has been partially completed: one server has been completely replaced, and another is on its way.
Shell server: The replacement of the UNIX shell server is the longest-term project, but it's progressing well. The new shell server is indeed up and running, and we're working on adding the little bits of extra software on it one by one. Those of you who are UNIX shell customers: you should be prepared to move to the new server at some point in the near future; not before the end of May, but probably not long after that either. And you can watch and "touch" the new system to get a feel for the new environment. All shell system users have an account on the new system, which is called osmium.mv.net . Since we are moving from a BSD/OS to a FreeBSD platform, we'd urge you to at least check it out to avoid any last-minute surprises. Follow this news link for information on accessing the new system.
secondary DNS servers: (Warning: of arcane technical interest only.) One of the things we have been working on is developing some new secondary DNS servers. (DNS is the Domain Name System, which is used for looking up site names such as, for example, www.mv.com, and other services on the Internet). Every domain name is served by one or more authoritative DNS servers, typically one primary server and one or more secondary servers. Information is sourced by these servers and distributed to other requesting servers around the Internet as required. It is good practice to have the primary and secondary DNS servers located in different places, both physically and via different Internet paths. MV has used secondary DNS servers in several places around the world, operated by an organization called ISP/C. However, only remnants of that organization exist, and its secondary DNS service is unlikely to be here this time next year. We have been working on replacing the secondary servers that we use with systems that we own and control (in distributed locations). Two of these servers have been built and deployed and we will be reregistering domains to use them (and, potentially, creating a third server as well). This is another fairly long term project that is well underway.
News server: Still pending.
Interesting Link(s)
This is our sometimes section where we mention one or more sites
that we find interesting to one or more of us. Items here do
not necessarily have anything to do with MV (and often do not), nor
do they necessarily have anything to do with our business or anything
else we do. (It should go without saying that we make no
representation about anything contained on those web sites.)
Your feedback?
Do you have feedback on this newsletter (or past or future newsletters)?
If so, please either:
Edit History
20040415: posted