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:: Articles :: Industry :: Linux in TradeSignals.com

2 June 1999

Before I joined TradeSignals.com in June 1998 the company was well on its way to becoming a purely Windows shop. All the computers in the building (shared with 2 other companies) ran either Win9x or WinNT and there was no mention of Unix anywhere.
I've been described jokingly as a Linux virus by others in the company. Once anyone in the office saw my cool looking desktop and what I could do with a few lines of script they wanted to try it! People tend to look at Windows in a different light when they see Linux working well.

During that summer I helped convince my boss that Unix, and specifically Linux, was the way to go for further development of our website. I also convinced him to let me use Linux on my desktop machine, something I really needed if I was to be more productive.

At the time, we were using an NT server and ISDN line owned by a sister company, Solas Data, for our email addresses and Internet connectivity. A new version of our site went live during the summer and I could concentrate on getting our LAN into shape.
We needed several machines:
An NT box to run a program called Goldmine to handle email correspondence with customers and partners, and NT would handle network logins.
A Linux box to act as a mirror of our webserver (which would be in Dublin, 160 miles away)

At this time I applied for 16 IP addresses to cope with any further future expansion but we were refused and were allocated 8 addresses instead. Thankfully, I was aware of the IP masquerading facilities of Linux and convinced my boss that it was a viable way of getting all our machines on the Internet.
Originally, the NT machine was going to handle email services for the company but there would be trouble if the NT machine was behind a masqueraded gateway/firewall. At the time I didn't know Sendmail very well but after a weekend in Galway at Intersocs '98(1) and a brilliant presentation(2) by Kenn Humborg I saw it was simplicity itself to configure Sendmail! Once I figured that out I started on a Perl script(3) to configure Sendmail which has proved very popular. After I figured out how to get Samba and Sendmail working our website mirror machine became a mail machine, smb/nfs file server that allows us to alter website files easily and directly, DNS server, squid proxy for web browsing, as well as a database server mirroring the data held in Dublin. The machine had 32MB RAM originally, but I upgraded to 64MB mainly for Squid. The mail machine has now been happily working for 101 days.

Our NT machine is used to host Goldmine, (I figured out I could host Goldmine off the mail machine too - all it requires is a file server) and as backup storage for the LAN. It's a 128MB machine so it's quite stable, only crashing very occasionally.

We now have a spare Linux box on which further development is done, mainly pretty intensive cgi stuff which the 64MB mail machine might have a few troubles with and certainly doesn't have the hard drive capacity for.

Just recently I was at home recovering from an operation in hospital. Sometimes a problem popped up that needed immediate attention. When that happened, I was able to connect to our mail machine and do maintenance and write/debug scripts. I was even able to then connect onto our machine in Dublin and correct a few bugs in some house-keeping programmes there.
All through a simple telnet connection over a 56k modem connection.

Has Linux helped us work better?

Yes

Yes, because the Win95 clients can access the web server through Samba and by using PHP, scripts can be written in notepad and saved on the webserver to be tested straight away. Yes, I'm amazed at what a 64MB Linux box can do. It's been very stable, and I don't remember the last time it crashed.
Yes, the support given by the ILUG(4) mailing list has been invaluable and I try and give back as much as I get from them. It's true what they say about support from the Internet and mailing lists. It's great and it works!
Yes, our servers don't have monitors, I can just telnet into any of them and do any administration required. If my own desktop machine freezes for some reason (Netscape is the usual fault.) I can go to any of the Win95 boxes and telnet to it and "killall X" and start my desktop again. Real simple, real good.
Yes, the power of telnet enables me to configure and fix problems in Dublin from my desktop as if the remote machine were in the same room.
Yes, the group permissions in Unix allowed me to give access to only certain people to the web server files. This is possible in NT as well, but in Unix permissions are a lot more visible to the user.
(do an "ls -l" Vs "Right-Click and select properties")
Yes, using Linux as my desktop OS gives me access to virtual desktops, The GIMP, Netscape as well as the powerful text manipulation tools and stability of Unix. I find it handy to have a few telnet sessions open to other machines on the LAN in case remote admin is required. I could do the same on Win95 but it really isn't as nice.
Yes, using the command line offered by Linux I had to be sensible in how we organized the website. Giving sub-directories in different sections the same filenames made it very easy to navigate with filename completion.
Yes, it allows the company to become familiar with Unix concepts required if we move to larger "Enterprise Class" Unix systems such as AIX or Solaris.
Yes, Linux is free. I was hired because I knew the web and systems stuff. I was there already as part of the expansion of the company. OS costs was a part of the decision process to go for Linux. We're using RH5.2 on a development machine in-house that I installed off a PCPLUS cover CD.

No, it took some time to figure out how Sendmail, Samba, BIND and various utils such as procmail were configured. Now I know how, I understand not just the basic facilities of the services offered but also got some insight into some of the neat things they can do. I've taken advantage of this knowledge several times and it's something I won't forget. (yes/no kind of answer really!)
No, the power that remote administration gives to the user through telnet can cause huge problems if the user isn't very careful. I'm speaking from experience here..
No, Exchange would have been a lot easier to setup I suspect than Sendmail. Certainly, file sharing would be. This is in the days before SWAT(5) for Samba.
No, NT recovers very well from crashes whereas Linux really needs more work in this area.

NT vs Linux.
We have a very small LAN at Tradesignals.com, and even when we used the facilities of our sister company their NT machine was stable practically all the time. It was running Exchange server as well as acting as a file server for 10 users. Since Tradesignals.com separated from them, MS DNS server was setup on it and it still runs fairly happily on an old 64MB machine. I still prefer Linux but sometimes when I read Slashdot(6) I wonder if people who post there have worked in a real life office yet.
Our local Linux servers never did crash without a good reason,(can't remember the last time) but NT did a few weeks ago and displayed a blank screen for no apparent reason. Everyone was off for the day and only one or two in at the time.
Our webserver in Dublin did crash once, on Good Friday. We had to get tech support to reboot the machine. Besides that one crash we've had next to no problems with it.

About Tradesignals.com
Trade Signals Corporation Ltd was founded in 1997. The company's mission is to bring cutting edge systematic trading systems and analysis to professional and private futures investors using the Internet as a cost efficient delivery mechanism.

Its unrivalled online trading systems and charting software provide traders with a level of analysis previously only available to fund managers and full time professional traders. The company also provides futures charting services for many US brokerage houses.
www.tradesignals.com

About the Author
Donncha O Caoimh is a graduate of the Cork Institute of Technology.
He runs DemoNix, a site about the Linux demoscene as well as lots of utilities and programs for download.
He can be reached at donncha@NOSPAMlinux.ie. Just remove the word NOSPAM from the address.

Featured Links.
(1) http://www.linux.ie/intersocs98/
(2) http://www.linux.ie/intersocs98/talks/UsingLinuxAsAGateway/ (warning: lots of graphics!)
(3) http://members.xoom.com/xeer/ and look for mention of Install-Sendmail
(4) http://www.linux.ie
(5) http://anu.samba.org/cgi-bin/swat/
(6) http://slashdot.org

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