A. P. Lawrence - the grandaddy of personal unix systems administration dojos.

Linux Forums - a great linux community forum with fellow ninjas ready to lend a hand.

Ubuntu Forums - the official ubuntu community forum.

/ News /

slashdot.org - you're not a ninja if you don't /.

JustLinux - forums and news dedicated to linux from internet.com.

Linux Magazine - yep! linux has its own 'zine, and it's been around a long time, too!

Okay, so thrifty ninjas don't run Windows, but hey, even thrifty ninjas have dads and grandmas who walk the Microsoft path and turn to them for help with setup and maintenance.

Sensei has searched high and low for great free backup software for Windows. What does "great" mean?  "Great" means that a) it works well, b) it works fast, c) it is highly configurable and flexible, d) it can be scheduled, and e) it sends Grandma and Sensei a report about whether the backup was successful or failed.

The best solution found?

SyncBack Freeware from 2BrightSparks, hands down.

SyncBack is a rsync workalike with an easy for a ninja to use gui adminstration interface.  SyncBack has a plethora of options, sends automated emails with HTML backup reports attached, and can be scheduled through the Windows "Scheduled Tasks" tool.  Like rsync, SyncBack can intelligently detect which files have been changed since the last time they were backed up, and refresh the backup target space with only those files, making backup much much faster.

Combine with a file storage service like Dropbox for deep deliciousness.

Computer Geeks - new, overstock, and high quality refurbished parts that costs less yen. Computer Geeks is Sensei's go-to source for cheap rack mount servers and liquidated workstations to convert into network niche linux boxes (squid proxy servers, firewalls, web / email / dns / dhcp /print servers, etc.).

 

Cyberguys - this is one of our favorite places.  cyberguys carries skads of unusual tools and parts that you were always looking for, but could never find.  they bill themselves as "Your Source for Hard-to-Find Computer Parts and Accessories".  Yeah, exactly.

Pacific Geek - another good source for cheap new, overstock and refurbished gear

/ Gear /

DD-WRT - this is actually software... a swiss army knife replacement firmware for myriad off the shelf routers.  Sensei's favorite combination is DD-WRT + a low price Buffalo brand router

FreeBSD - the most popular of the BSD's

NetBSD - it'll run on your toaster.  We're not kidding.

OpenBSD - pathologically secure.

/ Linux /

Debian - our favorite flavor of linux for the data closet and networking niches

Ubuntu - our favorite flavor of linux for ordinary users and workstations

X10 Hosting - great free webhosting, plus paid high end webhosting and virtual private servers.

Google Apps - "gmail" email, calendaring, instant messaging and voip, document hosting, etc. etc. etc. for up to 50 users totally free.  Integrate with a free X10 web hosting account, and you've got a totally free high end internet presence.

Dropbox - this is the dojo of file hosting: backup, sync, share, upload, download, PC, Mac, Windows, OS X, Linux, iPhone, Andriod, browser based.  Dropbox is amazing... and free for 2gb of space right out of the box; up to 10gb free available through referrals and other methods.

/ VOIP /

Sip2Sip - great and featurefull free SIP based voice over ip ("VOIP") voice and chat accounts.  Combine with other services to create a totally free phone line.

IPKall - free phone numbers from Washington State for binding to a SIP account.  Cool Stuff.

Google Voice - free local phone numbers and calling - both inbound and outbound.  Combine with other services to create complete free local phone line.