* Dr. Internet columnist Steve Blass recommends data recovery tool Diskwarrior * Help Desk columnist Ron Nutter offers advice on network admin issues
* What data-recovery tools are needed?
By Steve Blass
Q: We have a RAID partition that will not mount on our Mac OS X server after the last system restart. Disk Utility says the volume has invalid links and needs to be repaired, but the built-in system tools cannot fix it. What data-recovery tools can we use to recover the files on the partition?
A: The first thing I would recommend trying is Alsoft’s DiskWarrior, which often can recover damaged files, folders and volumes completely. DiskWarrior works by recreating a copy of the damaged directory information to repair the damaged volume in place.
To read Steve’s response in its entirety, please click here.
* A pair of DHCP problems to fix
By Ron Nutter
Q: I have two problems with the network I am administering:
1) I have 35 users connecting on a LAN via a CISCO PIX501 firewall that runs DHCP. It has a limited 10-user license, of which I have yet to upgrade to a 50-user license. One of the key staff (my boss) connects to the Internet successfully 25% of the time, but 75% unsuccessfully. He can perform all other tasks on the network but not connect to the Internet (he uses Microsoft Internet Explorer ver. 6.0 with SP2). As for other users on the network they connect fine – why?
2) I have four Linksys WRT55AG Dual-Band Wireless A+G Broadband Routers on the network that use the PIX501 as a gateway. But from time to time they also produce DHCP. That confuses the other computers and they pick the wireless router address as their default gateway instead of the PIX. This also happens with the computers connected to the wired LAN. What can I do to resolve this?
A: On the first question, since you have the key for the upgrade, get it installed ASAP. The PIX501 gets a little quirky when you are running more users through it than what it is licensed for. Installing the key will take just a matter of seconds and a quick restart of the firewall. I would also suggest installing the last pdm and bin files for the 501. Several updates have been released for the 501 since you installed it and are well worth the time it would take to install. Your PIX is only as affective as the latest firmware that is running on it. Install the new license key first, restart the PIX and check to see if the problem is gone. Assuming it is, proceed with the firmware upgrade. If you haven’t done a firmware upgrade before on the 501. the readme file that come with the files has good step-by-step instructions.
To read Ron’s response in its entirety, please click here.
