posted Oct 11, 2019, 3:32 AM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated Nov 3, 2019, 2:56 AM
]
I recently re-ran a series of benchmarks on my collection of Raspberry Pi's to see what I had to work with for upcoming projects. CPU, I/O, network and browser benchmarks below were completed on RPI Zero, V1 Model B, V2 Model B, V3 Model B, V3 Model B+ and V4 Model B. Results/comparisons may be useful to others.
Config and Tools
Simple test - booted/ran a series of benchmarks on all RaspberryPis using the same SD card and power supply. Card was loaded with the latest version of Raspbian plus a couple of common profiling and benchmarking tools. Setup notes:
Hardware
Software
- O/S: Raspbian 10 (buster) via NOOBS 3.2.1, Dated: 2019-09-30.
Installed Hardinfo (v0.6=alpha) profiling & CPU benchmark tool from repository ("sudo apt-get install hardinfo")
- Project page @ https://github.com/lpereira/hardinfo.
Doc/usage via "hardinfo --help"
- Installed sysbench (v0.4.12) benchmark tool from RPI repository ("sudo apt-get install sysbench")
Project page @ https://github.com/akopytov/sysbench,
Doc/usage via "sysbench --help"sysbench
- Installed iperf (v2.0.13) network speed tester from RPI resository. Homepage @ https://iperf.fr/
- Hardinfo, sysbench and iperf ran via script in terminal window on GUI desktop (script attached below)
- Browser tests completed using default browser (chromium) via BrowserBench.org (graphics, java script, etc)
Hardinfo
Profile Summary
|
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.1 |
RaspberryPi 3,
Model B+ Rev 1.3 |
RaspberryPi 3,
Model B Rev 1.2 |
RaspberryPi 2,
Model B Rev 1.1 |
Raspberry Pi 1, Model B Rev 2 |
RaspberryPi
Zero W Rev 1.1 |
| Processor |
Broadcom BCM2711,
Quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.5GHz |
Broadcom BCM2837B0, Quad-core Cortex-A53 (ARMv8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.4GHz |
Broadcom BCM2837, Quad-core 64bit CPU
@ 1.2GHz |
Broadcom BCM2836,
Quad-core ARM Cortex-A7
@ 900MHz |
Broadcom BCM2835,
Single-core ARM1176JZF-S
@ 700MHz |
Broadcom BCM2835,
Single-core
ARMv7-A
@ 1GHz |
| Memory |
3999MB
(364MB used) |
948MB
(185MB used) |
948MB
(154MB used) |
949MB
(187MB used) |
443MB
(153MB used) |
443MB
(158MB used) |
| O/S |
Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) |
Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) |
Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) |
Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) |
Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) |
Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) |
CPU Benchmarks
Sequential I/O Benchmarks
Sequential Writes w/ file create
"sysbench --test=fileio --file-test-mode=seqwr --validate run"
Sequential Reads
"sysbench --test=fileio --file-test-mode=seqrd --validate run"
Random I/O Benchmarks
Random Writes
"sysbench --test=fileio --file-test-mode=rndwr --validate run"
Random Reads
"sysbench --test=fileio --file-test-mode=rndrd --validate run"
Threads
"sysbench --num-threads=4 --test=threads --validate run"
Ethernet only - no WiFi testing
Notes
That's it for now
---------------
*Kickback Alert! T. Pedersen Ventures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
|
posted Oct 10, 2018, 3:54 AM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated Jan 1, 2022, 4:42 AM
]
I recently stumbled upon a fix for a longstanding Raspberry PI annoyance - getting the monitor into powersave mode after a period of idle time. Here's a quick tweak that seems to work fine on native HDMI and VGA (via adapter*) monitors. Hopefully helpful to others.
I've played with Linux Power Management commands, utilities, screen savers and such in attempts to get Pi's to turn off (standby) monitors when idle. I recently hit upon a Raspberry Pi config option that seems to do the trick - not really sure when/where it appeared, but it does switch off the HDMI when Display Power Management (DPMS) is triggered, as opposed to simply blanking the screen. Works on Raspbian Stretch, have not tested previous versions. Dec 2021 FINAL Update - I STILL Use this! Procedure below has been moved to tech.tpedersen.net/raspberry-pi/pi-in-the-sky/putting-raspberry-pi-monitor-to-sleep-dpms so I don't lose it when Google shuts down this site! Jun 2020 Update - In spite of Buster Update noted below ... I STILL manually adjust /boot/config.txt & /boot/cmdline.txt to get HDMI to standby. Tested again today using 2020-05-27-raspios-buster-lite-armhf. Yeeesh! Feb 2020 Update - Looks like it's included in latest Buster Update. Screen Blanking under Advanced Options of Raspi-Config. Nov 2019 Notes - RPI 4 is fixed (or darn close). The Open Issue shows progress - Seems to work for me. May not be in latest release, but coming soon! Also - noticed that boot.txt and cmdline.txt were overwritten when I upgraded an RPI from stretch to buster ... had to redo blanking Sept 2019 Note - hdmi_blanking doesn't appear to be implemented on RPI 4 yet. Details here. ------
Oct 2018 (Original Post)
The fix involves editing a couple of key configuration files - as always remember to make a backup copies before
type-o'ing in these files! Use sudo to edit files in boot partition *and* be careful!
- Edit /boot/config.txt (RPi's main System Config File)
Add the following line to force HDMI output to switched off when DPMS is triggered. This config option was not explicitly defined in my Raspbian (Stretch) config.txt - apparently defaults to 0/off.
- Make sure Screen Savers are installed/configured to take advantage of hdmi_blanking.
For Console Mode (no Desktop UI) set console blanking ...
Check current setting of consoleblank kernel parameter, it sets the inactivity time.
$ cat /sys/module/kernel/parameters/consoleblank
0
Edit (sudo) /boot/cmdline.txt to set time in seconds or zero (0) to disable screen blanking in console mode
Carefully add the string "consoleblank=<numsec>" to /boot/cmdline.txt - MUST be a single line text file like this:
$ cat /boot/cmdline.txt
dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 consoleblank=300 root=/dev/mmcblk0p7 rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline fsck.repair=yes rootwait
For Desktop GUI set Display Power Management (DPMS) via screensaver or power manager applications - you may need to install these.
Screensaver:
sudo apt-get install xscreensaver
Power Manager:
sudo apt-get install xfce4-power-manager
See RPI Screensaver doc @ https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/screensaver.md for complete details.
- Reboot and check your work!
As they say in IT - Works for me! Hope it works for others too.
Couple of random notes:
---------------
* T. Pedersen Ventures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC
Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide
a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking
to amazon.com.
|
posted Mar 9, 2018, 4:50 AM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated Sep 12, 2018, 3:55 AM
]
Finally organizing my notes to share network tactics and practices used to throw a fence around smart devices in our home. These smart things are becoming unavoidable, yet most lack mature security and privacy controls. Here's a recap of my initial assessment, network adjustments and a few resources - hopefully useful to others.
Motivation
Monitoring network connections on our home network revealed some interesting chatter between smart devices and their internet end-points - domestic and international. Much of the wayward traffic appeared to be associated with device overhead (NTP Pooling, etc), but there were also a fair number of connections and conversations that seemed a tad creepy.
The lack of apparent security strategies by smart device manufacturers is also disconcerting. Most of the smart devices in our home have been around for a number of years yet lack evidence of established security practices or controls (SSAE16, ISO 27001, etc). Furthermore, IoT security & privacy standards really haven't matured in the past 2-3 years - device manufactures seem to be learning as they go.
Based on my comfort level with devices in our home, I settled on a "Containment" strategy that keeps our smart device world separate from our existing home network (personal computers, phones/tablets, shared peripherals ...). The Containment subnet also accommodates a couple of unavoidable constraints, like the ISP-supplied gateway/router that is required for our TV set-top boxes. I also decided to steer clear of smart devices that could be a physical security or safety issue for the time being - avoiding smart door locks, garage door openers, pacemakers and such.
Network Adjustments
Our home network tweaks involved adding an isolated personal network behind a better firewall/router and recasting the original network as a combination guest WiFi and IoT Containment area.
Network objectives/characteristics
- Protected Personal network
- Set behind a new/capable Firewall/Router
- Separate/dedicated IP subnet - LAN & WiFi Network
- Portable - network is plug-n-play if we decide to change ISPs
- Firewall rules prohibit traffic initiated on IoT Containment subnet
- Can be shutdown when we are away w/o affecting the 'smart' home
- Isolate Smart Devices
- Behind original ISP-Supplied internet gateway
- Smart devices connected to separate/dedicated IP subnet
- When possible, IoT devices are wired to network (ethernet)
- If wireless-only device:
- Connected to dedicated Containment WiFi network (Separate SSID)
Only authorized wireless connections permitted on Containment network
- DHCP Reservations & MAC filtering required
- Smart(er) Switch added
- Port-Mirroring for network monitors, probes & IDS
- VLAN Features
New network looks something like this:
Hardware
Software
References
Inspiration (plenty)
That's it ... The network will likely continue to evolve as our smart world evolves and matures. Not exactly a step-by-step, but hopefully useful. Feel free to Drop me a line if you have thoughts or questions.
---------------
* T. Pedersen Ventures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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posted Nov 28, 2017, 7:34 AM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated May 8, 2019, 5:02 AM
]
An updated collection of business planning Google Docs & templates. Current collection includes Google Doc versions of MS Office templates from US Small Business Administration, SCORE.org, Business.gov.au and a number of interesting business planning resource sites. Hopefully useful to others, Comments/suggestions always welcome, Revision history and conversion notes/experience can be found HERE.
You will need a google account to access/use the docs, sheets and templates on this page. Login with your gmail or G Suite credentials.
Most of the gdoc templates on this page are 'View Only' - to use: please create a copy (Menu -> File -> Make a copy ...) and save to your own google drive. Please DO NOT 'Request Access' to the templates.
My original collection (circa 2011) from www.sba.gov and Businessmodelgeneration.com ( useful book, btw).
Entries from old/defunct Google Drive Public Template Gallery (Click "Use Template" in upper right)
From SCORE.org Business Planning & Financial Statements Template Gallery (there are many more)
From Business.gov.au - Australian Government's Department of Industry, Innovation & Science. Great Info here!
Others/Odds-n-Ends
That's it for now ... hope it helps
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posted Oct 15, 2017, 5:10 AM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated Oct 11, 2019, 8:12 AM
]
posted May 9, 2017, 6:33 AM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated May 3, 2021, 7:53 AM
]
I cobbled together a Raspberry Pi to stand-in as an Apple HomeKit and AirPlay/Print server as an experiment. The little gizmo allows us to control smart devices, print on household printer and play music on our stereo from iPhones & iPads. The HomePi has been working like a champ, so I decided to retrace my steps and share the recipe - hopefully useful to others.
Background/Overview
Many of the techno problems around our home tend to revolve around integrating older equipment with modern devices or attempting to deal with the deluge of new 'smart' devices, each with its own App or interface. Our 'vintage' stereo and network printer are prime examples of the old world - simply not iPhone/iPad compatible in terms of streaming music or printing. On the other end of the spectrum, we seem to be constantly fumbling with a variety of apps provided with our newfangled smart home (lights, switches, appliances, etc). I originally dropped the Raspberry PI onto our network to fill the Air gap by emulating Apple AirPlay and AirPrint services and recently added HomeKit services so Siri could begin helping out around the house . A cheap, easy and fun little project - no programming but RPI/Linux knowledge will come in handy. Probably a couple of hours to get things installed and running.
Hardware
Our original AirPi was built on a Raspberry Pi 1 Model B, which worked great for Play/Print services for a couple of years - totally amazed by reliability and performance, it even handled print jobs while playing streamed music without missing a beat. The latest HomePi is based on a RPI 3 Model B which seems to be just as reliable and handle the additional HomeKit activity. The contraption is connected to our WiFi network and wired to an aux port on our stereo via headphone (3.5mm) to RCA Y-Cable.
Here's the list of hardware components involved. There is flexibility here, but the following works for me:
Software
The software used for the original AirPi was somewhat version specific due to the combination of hardware and software required to pull the thing together using Raspbian Weezy, Shairport open source project and some sound/alsa struggles attempting to get my cheap-o USB sound card up and running. The HomePi rebuild went VERY smoothly under Jessie, but noted original software versions below - just in case. Seems to work fine under Stretch too.
- Latest Raspbian via NOOBS - NOOBS v2.4 (approx 1.5g download) and Raspbian Jessie
- Requires formatted SD card. I use gparted to create/format single FAT32 partition for NOOBS
- AirPlay services via Shairport-Sync v3.0.2
- AirPrint - CUPS print services v1.75 to handle print from iPhone/iPad
- HomeKit - Home Automation using Homebridge project v0.4.19
Installation
Following is a sing-a-long with stopping
points along the way for systems that won't require all services. Not
exactly a HowTo, more of the personal log used to build/rebuild
this rascal. It does Include links to installation guides and a number of HowTo articles that I
found useful during the project. Hopefully helpful to others.
Raspberry Pi OS Prep
- Follow Raspberry Pi Setup Guide for initial setup - Approx 15 Minutes, not including download time
- Couple of notes/potential gotcha's:
- Remember to set Language and Keyboard at bottom of NOOBS initial screen (I always forget)
- Raspbian only - no need to install other OSs for this project
- Some post installation cleanup from my checklist and log
AirPrint (CUPS)
AirPlay (Shairport-sync)
- USB Sound Card setup (also dependent on Jessie):
Use aplay to get list of playback hardware - see below output, USB card highlighted //
aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 0: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA]
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
Subdevice #7: subdevice #7
card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 1: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI]
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Device [USB Audio Device], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
- Modify /home/pi/.asoundrc, setting card # to USB Audio Device. File appears to be auto generated/created if you start in the GUI, I had to create it myself from CLI ... it looks like this
$cat .asoundrc
pcm.!default {
type hw
card 1
}
ctl.!default {
type hw
card 1
}
- copy .asoundrc to /etc/asound.conf to get thing to work at boot/service
sudo cp /home/pi/.asoundrc /etc/asound.conf
- Make sure Serice is up and OK. After reboot too
sudo systemctl start shairport-sync
sudo systemctl status shairport-sync
- I preset volumes to minimize fiddling with device volume using
alsamixer
- Set Mic to zero
- Set Capture to zero
- Set Speaker to redline (93 on mine)
- HomeBridge homepage @ https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge.
Install can take some time, count on an hour with minimal plugin playtime!
- One preliminary - check for plugins for your smart devices before you go through install - just to make sure you'll be able to control your device. Go to https://www.npmjs.com and search for "homebridge-<your dev>". For example https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-wemo or https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-philipshue
- RPI Homebridge Install from https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge/wiki/Running-HomeBridge-on-a-Raspberry-Pi :
- Plugins installation. Steps are dependent on the smart device. Plugins are also installed using npm, will have their own readme/instructions including a snippet to add to your config.json file. Get plugins by searching for "homebridge-" on https://www.npmjs.com. Expect some trial/error and fiddling to get plugins working
- Testing: Once Plugins are installed, Fire up Homebridge and test. I test in a terminal window for a day or two to keep an eye on message chatter
- To start Homebridge when RPI boots, create a systemd service from https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge/wiki/Running-HomeBridge-on-a-Raspberry-Pi#running-homebridge-on-bootup-systemd
- Create /etc/default/homebridge file using example from https://gist.github.com/johannrichard/0ad0de1feb6adb9eb61a/#file-homebridge
cat /etc/default/homebridge
# Defaults / Configuration options for homebridge
# The following settings tells homebridge where to find the config.json file
# and where to persist the data (i.e. pairing and others)
HOMEBRIDGE_OPTS=-U /var/lib/homebridge
# If you uncomment the following line, homebridge will log more
# You can display this via systemd's journalctl: journalctl -f -u homebridge
# DEBUG=*
- Create /etc/systemd/system/homebridge.service file using example from https://gist.github.com/johannrichard/0ad0de1feb6adb9eb61a/#file-homebridge-service
- Check homebridge location - response should be usr/bin or usr/local/bin
$ which homebridge
/usr/bin/homebridge
- Edit /etc/systemd/system/homebridge.service - set ExecStart to homebridge location (e.g. usr/bin/)
$ cat /etc/systemd/system/homebridge.service
[Unit]
Description=Node.js HomeKit Server
After=syslog.target network-online.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=homebridge
EnvironmentFile=/etc/default/homebridge
# Adapt this to your specific setup (could be /usr/bin/homebridge)
# See comments below for more information
ExecStart=/usr/bin/homebridge $HOMEBRIDGE_OPTS
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
KillMode=process
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
- Set execute permissions for service
sudo chmod +x /etc/systemd/system/homebridge.service
- Add Homebridge system account, user and group created, no home directory (-M)
sudo useradd -M --system homebridge
- Create system dir and copy config.json file for new homebridge service - set ownership and write
sudo mkdir /var/lib/homebridge
sudo chmod +w /var/lib/homebridge
sudo chown -R homebridge:homebridge /var/lib/homebridge
sudo cp /home/pi/.homebridge/config.json /var/lib/homebridge/.
- Enable/Run/Check the service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable homebridge
sudo systemctl start homebridge
sudo systemctl status homebridge
- Check /var/log/daemon.log if anything goes bump.
tac /var/log/daemon.log | less
- Reboot to get the witches out and test service startup
sudo shutdown now -r
- Set up phone via https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204893
- Debugging: Troubleshooting Guide @ https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge/wiki/Basic-Trouble-Shooting
- Running in terminal window is very helpful
- See Also: Common Issues section in the README
- Apple Home info @ https://www.apple.com/ios/home/
Revision History
That's it for now - works for me! Quite amazed by these little PIs. I'll post some utilization stats at some point in the future. Drop me a line if you see something or have need or comment. Hope it helps
---------------
* T. Pedersen Ventures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. |
|
posted Jan 30, 2017, 8:55 AM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated Apr 13, 2018, 5:53 AM
]
Reviewing privacy settings and personal information collected/maintained online was a great way to celebrate Data Privacy Day. Totally amazing to see how much personal information is collected and spread around the Interweb to provide our personalized experiences. Here are notes and links from privacy checkups at a few popular websites - hopefully useful to others.
Google Safety Center - designed to help manage the security and privacy of personal data. Take out - Create/Download archive of personal information Notes: Review of personal information will take some time! They maintain a LOT of personal data!
FacebookPrivacy Basics - "Learn how to customize your privacy settings so you can confidently share your moments." Data Policy - Quite a site (and sight!) - Comprehensive discussion of FB personal data collection & use Notes: Review took a long time and seemed inconclusive. Lots of data, confusing/conflicting procedures. Creepy!
** If you don't have a FB account, check "This doesn't answer my question" for further instructions
Yahoo (Oath)Notes: In June 2017 Verizon rolled Yahoo under Oath.com umbrella (others include AOL, Techcrunch, Tumblr ...) I took a quick run thru links above after Oath, but still pretty hard (impossible) to determine extent of personal information retained. No huge improvement in controls
MicrosoftPrivacy Statement - Appears to be comprehensive, covering all Microsoft products/services Notes: There is now download option for activity history, but no obvious access to ALL data maintained by MS If you are a Windows 10 user remember to work your way through Settings/Privacy for more MS review
Twitter*Privacy Policy - Reasonably straight forward* BUT you have to opt-out, NO Privacy by default Account Settings -> Apps - Amazed by number of authorized apps, revoked access to many Account Settings -> Your Twitter Data - Snapshot of Account information, A LOT here, dig down Notes: Pretty easy to review personal information and update privacy settings.
LinkedinNotes: Pretty intrusive. Lots of options, surprised by some of the collected information
------------- * June 2017 Twitter Update - New Privacy Policy and Personalization and Data Settings
|
posted Apr 4, 2016, 8:13 AM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated Apr 4, 2016, 8:16 AM
]
A quick note to share the tweaks I used to upgrade a VirtualBox Windows 7 VM to Windows 10 after many attempts to get around update error C1900101-20017. Simply thought I'd share my experiences in case others are struggling with the same frustrating issue.
In a Nutshell
For the past few months I've periodically attempted to upgrade a simple VirtualBox Win7 VM to Win10. It is a very minimal system used exclusively for testing, but ended up being amazingly difficult to update - always failing at initial Win10 reboot (frozen animated win10 logo) with: "Error(s) found: C1900101-20017 Windows Update encountered an unknown error".
Config Details
- VirtualBox v5.0.2 r102196 (running under Linux Mint 17)
- 32-bit Win7 Ultimate Upgraded to Win10 Pro (simple test machine, 1.5g mem, single CPU, 60g VDI)
- No significant apps installed - Windows Defender AV + 1 or 2 utility programs - VERY vanilla
Final Tweaks
In the end, I THINK the following VM System settings got past the error:
- System/Motherboard tab: Checked "Enable I/O APIC"
- System/Acceleration tab: Paravirtualization Interface changed to "Default" (I previously had "Legacy" set)
Screenshots of final/working System tabs in case I tweaked something else - click to enlarge:
| System Motherboard Settings
|
|
System Processor Settings
|
|
System Acceleration Settings
|
Just a quick entry here because this error drove me nuts for quite a while - I hope it helps. |
posted Oct 15, 2015, 2:58 PM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated Sep 7, 2017, 4:56 AM
]
Part 1 of a series [hopefully] of notes relating to managing traffic on modern home networks, a project inspired by the Internet of Things (IoT) and a growing number of Smart Devices in our home. Many of these devices converse on our internal network, others communicate with Cloud services - few offer details of their net-chatter. Simply curious to see Who's talking to Who while learning a few network management tools and techniques.
Motivation/Objective
The number of devices on our home network has grown significantly in the past year or so as we continue to add network connected lights, switches, appliances and other smart devices to our world. This Internet of Things (IoT) tends to blend private and public networks as smart devices are dropped inside of our firewalls - right next to the PCs and storage we chose to protect from the 'outside world'. Furthermore, we have little/no control of smart device communications and may even be asked to open ports/connections with external (public internet) services to facilitate their interactions with the cloud.
This initial article is focused on home network reconfiguration and tweaks performed to simplify network traffic analysis and security as our pile of smart device grows. Hardware and software tools listed here will initially be used to add traffic monitoring capabilities but are also expected to play role establishing a network architecture that will safely [securely] accommodate many more future smart devices.
Background
Many home networks are now cobbled together behind equipment provided by Internet Service Providers (ISP), generally your cable television or phone company. Internet 'Gateways' supplied by ISP's are typically consumer-grade Switch/Routers that simply provide internet connectivity for wired and wireless devices. It is a little tricky to monitor traffic on these switched networks because packets are specifically forwarded only to sending and receiving ports. Furthermore, consumer-grade switches rarely provide network management or monitoring features that would allow us to 'tap-in' to peek at network traffic or isolate traffic to prevent untrusted smart devices from intermingling with devices on our private LAN.
Commercial networks and data centers routinely deploy Managed Switches as part of their network design. This class of switch provides a variety of configurable features to control/monitor traffic and tune network performance. Managed switch features of particular interest for this project include port mirroring and network virtualization (VLAN).
Port Mirroring is a feature that allows you to configure a redirect or 'Mirror' port to facilitate network monitoring. Traffic analyzers connected to these ports will see all packets sent/received on the mirrored port. Virtual LAN capabilities allow you to configure logical sub-networks to improve performance or security by separating untrusted devices/traffic from existing devices on our home network.
Hardware
I searched for economical network hardware that would satisfy my initial IoT network requirements and settled on the following (I'm sure there are MANY other alternatives):
Network Analyzer: My trusty old Acer Aspire One netbook, running Kali Linux (see below). Kali contains several hundred tools aimed at various information security tasks including loads of traffic analysis tools. Kali also runs great on the AAO.
Software
My initial list of network analysis tools include the following (likely to change as I learn):
Wireshark is a very popular network protocol analyzer (sniffer). It lets you see what's happening on your network at the packet or conversation level and is widely used and well documented. Wireshark is preinstalled on Kali Linux, but can also be downloaded here.
ntop is an OpenSource network traffic probe that shows the network usage, similar to what the popular top Unix command does. Users navigate/interface via web browser to monitor realtime network conversations and traffic. My now be included with Kali, but also downloadable here.
EtherApe is an OpenSource graphical network monitor for Unix modeled after etherman. It displays network activity graphically. Hosts and links change in size with traffic. Color coded protocols display. Doesn't appear to be included with Kali - but looks interesting. Download via this page
That's it for now - hope it is useful to others. Will try to document/post more as I learn
---------------
* T. Pedersen Ventures is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
|
posted Aug 20, 2015, 5:41 AM by Tom Pedersen
[
updated Aug 20, 2015, 5:53 AM
]
Here's a quick Garmin eTrex 10 techno adjustment that seems to reduce aimless wandering when elementary students tackle GPS activities like Hide-N-Seek. In a nutshell: Add current location (GPS coordinates) to the eTrex 10 compass display to provide realtime tracking of longitude/latitude changes.
The following setup procedures adjusts eTrex 10 Compass Display Screen.
Setup - Approx 40 Seconds/Unit to set this up
Select "Profile Change" then select "Recreational" Select "Compass" then press Menu button (on left) Highlight/Select "Change Dashboard" then select "Large Data Field" From Compass display (again) press Menu button Highlight/Select "Change Data Fields" then select top field on screen Scroll thru Fields (alphabetically) to find/select "Location (lat/lon)" Hit Back button to return to compass display
Usage - Students navigate using compass display.
Select “Where To?” then select “coordinates” Enter coordinates of desired destination using Thumbstick
- remember to hit DONE Hit Back button (Upper right) until main screen appears Select “Compass” - you should see pointer on Compass and current Location Wander until Location on Compass = Target Destination!
Some handy Garmin eTrex 10 links That's it - hope it helps |
|
*
Smart Switch: 
