Microsoft Windows and Linux are the most common operating systems, and you really don’t have a choice as to adding these to your lab. But the question begs to be asked: Should other, less popular operating systems be included? In my opinion, the answer is yes, if you have the time to devote to learning about them. The reason is simple: each operating system you learn broadens your skill set. Now, please don’t misunderstand me and think that I am suggesting you go out and become a Novell expert. The point is that having basic skills in diverse operating systems can only help you.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the following operating systems:
Mac OS X ReactOS Windows PE
Mac OS X
The Macintosh has always been considered innovative, ever since its intro-duction in 1984, but by the late 1990s it was due for an update. This update occurred by means of Mac OS X. Mac OS X is based on much of the technology that Apple acquired via its acquisition of NeXT Software. The OS that had been developed by NeXT Software became the basis for OS X. OS X is a Unix/FreeBSD-based operating system designed to meet current and future computing needs. As of the time of this book’s publication, OS X is currently at version 10.5. With release of 10.4.4, the operating system changed from sup-porting only PowerPC-based Macs to include Intel-based computers. Before you get too excited about running MX OS X on your own Intel computer, Apple has stated that Mac OS X will not run on Intel-based personal computers aside from their own. With this in mind, OS X would require additional hardware.
You will have to weigh the benefits and costs of investing in this technology.
When considering adding the Mac OS, take a look at the corporate environ-ment in which you work. Some industries use Macs more than others. Schools, advertising agencies, or other industries that must perform graphics, video, and audio editing typically favor Macs. Some security professionals prefer Macs over PCs, and a growing number of end users are buying Macs, which somewhat parallels the growing popularity of the iPod.
ReactOS
Next, there is ReactOS. This unique OS is a free, open source operating system designed to work like Microsoft Windows XP. The goal of the developers of ReactOS is to achieve complete compatibility with programs and drivers developed for Windows devices. This compatibility is to be achieved by using a similar architecture and providing an interface that is similar to Microsoft Windows. According to the developers, one of the reasons they pursued this project is the simple fact that some users will never make the move to Linux while an open source OS that mimics Microsoft Windows has the potential to have broad appeal. Although this might have you excited to download the OS fromwww.reactos.org/en/download.html, it is important to note that ReactOS is still in alpha development, which means that it is not considered complete and is not recommended for everyday use. It is expected to move into the beta phase by 2008.
ALPHA AND BETA SOFTWARE
The term beta is thought to have originated at IBM during the 1960s. Alpha tests are the first round of tests performed by the programmers and quality engineers to get a look at how applications will function. Beta testing comes next. Beta testing is widely used throughout the software industry. This second round of product development has evolved to include testing that is performed internally and externally by prospective users.
While the software is potentially unstable, it is much more user-friendly than in its alpha stage, and gives the programmers, quality engineers, and users a good look at how the end product will act and perform. After collecting feedback from these initial users, the application is typically run through another round of improvements before it is released in its final form.
Windows PE
Finally, let’s take a look at another variant, derived from Windows Pre-execu-tion Environment, or Windows PE. Windows PE is a CD-based bootable GUI Windows environment designed for Windows deployment and installation.
It has lots of interesting uses, but it is bound by Microsoft licensing, which is its main drawback. Parties outside of Microsoft have worked to harness the potential of such an environment.
A big potential use for Windows PE is performing some basic incident response work on a Windows system. If you are unsure whether a system has malware, spyware, or a virus, booting from a Windows PE CD could be very useful. Some examples of other uses for a Windows PE disc include using it as an alternative to MS-DOS as an OS by booting from a CD or USB flash drive, creating and formatting disk partitions, or accessing network shares.
The primary third-party developer has been BartPE. BartPE stands for Bart’s Preinstallation Environment. This development tool was developed by Bart Lagerweij and is available atwww.nu2.nu/pebuilder. Bart also runs the www.bootdisk.comweb site. The PE Builder utility available at the previously mentioned site can be used to generate a CD-based bootable version of Windows. However, it requires you to have a licensed copy of Windows XP or Windows 2003, which it extracts the required files from. Once the code is compiled, the user will have a bootable Windows CD-ROM or DVD that can run antivirus tools, spyware-detection tools, recovery tools, command-line tools, security tools, and so forth. This makes Windows PE a useful tool for detecting and removing malware from Windows systems.
Although BartPE might not be a suitable replacement for the operating sys-tems discussed previously, it can be used for troubleshooting and diagnostics.
Let’s look at the steps to build your own BartPE:
1. You first need to download PE Builder fromwww.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
#download. Version 3.1.10 is the most current as of the writing of this book.
2. Once it is installed on you local computer, launch the PE Builder Setup Wizard,pebuilder.exe. The wizard will create a collection of files and folders in thec:\pebuilder3.1.10folder, along with associated short-cuts in the Start menu.
3. When the wizard finishes, you are prompted to accept the licensing agreement.
4. PE Builder now asks for the location of the Windows installation files.
Remember: you must have a licensed copy of Windows XP or 2003 to complete the build process. In most cases, this means that you have placed the original install CD in the computer’s CD-ROM drive.
5. Now, select Burn to CD/DVD.
6. Click the Build button and agree to the Microsoft Windows XP product agreement. The build process will now commence, and in a few minutes, your BartPE disk will be completed.
7. Close any open applications and reboot from the CD-ROM to verify your BartPE disc is functional.
Now that you have seen some options for operating systems, let’s look at how we can optimize our existing hardware to run the required servers on the least amount of hardware. That is the object of virtualization.
Virtualization
Virtualization is the process of emulating hardware inside a virtual machine.
This process of hardware emulation duplicates the physical architecture needed for the program or process to function. Virtualization can include the following:
Application virtual machines— Software that is written for applica-tion virtual machines (VMs) allows the developer to create one version of the application so that it can be run on any virtual machine and not have to be rewritten for every different computer hardware platform.
Mainframe VMs— This technology allows any number of users to share computer resources and prevents concurrent users from inter-fering with each other. For example, the IBM System/390 falls into this category.
Parallel VMs— The concept here is to allow one computing environ-ment to be running on many different physical machines. Parallel VMs allow the user to break complex tasks into small chunks that are pro-cessed independently. Projects such as those run bywww.distributed .netandwww.seti.orgtake advantage of this type of technology.
OS VMs— This category of virtual system creates an environment in which a guest operating system can function. This is made possible by the ability of the software to virtualize the computer hardware and needed services. VMware falls into this category of virtualization.
VIRTUALIZATION FOR FUN
Although we all need to get our work done, it’s also import to take some time out to relax. Virtualization can even help with this because a number of products can virtualize old arcade games. This is known as arcade emulation and has been around for quite some time. If you are like me and remember some of the old arcade classics, you can use emulation, which allows the user to emulate a standalone arcade console, and play the arcade classics on your
(continued)
VIRTUALIZATION FOR FUN (continued)
own computer. Sites such as MAME, www.mame.net, can provide the software needed to run thousands of classic arcade games. Just remember: you will eventually need to get back to work!
Products such as VMware, Virtual PC, Bochs, OpenVZ, and XenSource can all be used to run virtual systems. Basically, a virtual system has the ability to virtualize all the hardware resources that an OS would normally need.
This includes CPU, RAM, hard disk, network controller, and other resources.
As long as the user has adequate disk space, RAM, and processing power, multiple VMs can be operating at the same time. Each can share and manage hardware resources without interfering with other VMs.