UCS: How to set up LDAP Replication

The central element of every identity management system is usually a directory service, a repository that stores and manages information like user profiles and access privileges, and network resources. Univention Corporate Server (UCS) uses OpenLDAP for this task.
If the directory service is down, many other services are no longer available. In this article we are going to show you how to plan a fail-safe environment for your UCS domain with LDAP replication, i.e., storing an exact copy of the data on multiple servers – this improves the reliability as well as the performance.

Data Ethics & Digital Selfdefense

Using a fake identity to trick Facebook, getting paid for jogging and how to book one and the same hotel room cheaper via VPN – in their keynote speech „Data Ethics & Digital Selfdefense“ at this year‘s Univention Summit, author Pernille Tranberg and journalist Steffan Heuer showed how big our digital footprint actually is and what information we (un-)consciously publish about ourselves on the internet.

Digital Opportunities in Education Simply Too Good to Waste

Tafel mit Aufschrift "What's Next"

What is the current situation?

Compared with other developed countries, Germany’s pupils, teachers, and curricula are lagging far behind in terms of digital education and media skills. The German Minister for Education, Johanna Wanka, has identified two principal reasons for this, which will now be addressed in the new DigitalPakt#D strategy. One the one hand she sees a lack of pedagogic concepts and strategies, and on the other an underdeveloped IT infrastructure. I can agree wholeheartedly with this assessment for many sectors.

Protection Against Ransomware – a Subjective Overview

antivirus. Binary code, technology background

The threat posed by ransomware such as Locky and other malware has been a hot topic on and off in the media for months now. In a number of cases, including some rather more prominent ones, hackers have managed and continue to manage to infect their victims’ files with malware, which encrypts them to the point where they can no longer be used – the files are only made available again once a “ransom” has been paid. The more accesses the user in question has, the higher the damage: if possible, files on servers in the network are also “captured”.

A great deal has already been written on the topic. At this point, I would like – albeit very subjectively – to introduce a couple of approaches for how to protect yourself against such attacks.

How Cloud Service Providers Can Offer Integrated Applications with Real Value for Enterprises

Open-Cloud-Alliance

In this post, I want to help answering the question how cloud and managed service providers can help end user organizations to move faster and more decisively into the cloud. This is of major relevance for the growth of all CSPs and MSPs and a requirement for every provider who wants to be able to compete against the large players like Amazon and Microsoft.

Why bother?

The first question of cause is: Do organizations want to move into the cloud at all? Especially with their internal applications like collaboration software or ERP systems? And as a consequence: Is there an opportunity for service providers at all?

The White House Shows How Open Source Works

Open Source Initiative LogoChoosing Open Source gets you more – a whole lot more. That is especially true for the state, which gains flexibility, independence, added security, and, above all, better synergies within and between different state organizations by actively giving preference to and promoting the use of Open Source software. This avoids double expenditure and counters the risk of incompatibilities; Open Source effectively renders the state more efficient.

What Does it Imply for Support if a Vendor Moves from On-premise to Cloud-based Products?

As many software companies move their products to cloud-based offerings, the question comes up: where is the difference between supporting cloud-based products and supporting on-premise products? Talking to customers and partners over the last couple of months I’ve made some notices which I want to share with you.