Back in September, I was contracted to help port an ASP.NET application that was designed to run on Windows/IIS to CentOS/Apache. CentOS is a Linux distribution based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server. I must admit that before the beginning of the contract, I knew little about CentOS or running Mono on that distribution.

The project migration went well thanks to Mono 2.4, and MonoDevelop running on Windows. We managed to achieve the goals that were originally stated in the statement of work for that engagement. So immersed I became on all things CentOS, that I ended choosing it for the overhaul I had planned on all of MFConsulting's computer network.

This overhaul entailed the retirement of four physical computers (www.mfconsulting.com, mail.mfconsulting.com, ftp.mfconsulting.com and the internal Primary Domain Controller – a SLES server that uses Samba 3.x) and substituted them with five virtual machines running on a single multi-core AMD Phenom II server running VMware ESXi 4.0. The results have amazed us all at MFConsulting. We have a better performing network, a reduced carbon foot print and the matching power and cooling bill.

The total price tag, counting software and hardware, came just under $1,000.

While the virtualization project was in full swing, my precious Monica came down with a perforated appendix. With all the prayers and the support of friends and family (Tita, Mami, Pedro Figueroa, and all of the Temple Christian School third grade) Maria, Monica and I made it through the toughest week since we lost Paquito back in March of 2005.

Two days after Monica was released from Cooks Children's Hospital, I went to perform my US Air Force Reserve Annual Tour at our new training facility at Mineral Wells, Texas. We had one of the largest Security Forces classes that we have trained ever. The class participants had a fantastic attitude and were highly motivated. May the graduates go on to their respective deployment sites in Iraq and Afghanistan to uphold the law and help bring back all of our compatriots safe and sound.

There was a recent article that came out on the Citizen Airman magazine that mistakenly states that I worked at IBM and that Paquito's job in the Army was sniper. To correct that, know that I previously worked at Microsoft not IBM and Paquito was a 13F or Fire Support Specialist.