Archives for November 2022

Happy Wednesday and Happy Computer Security Day! As computers become faster and more advanced it’s key that we protect our computers and the resources, tools, and information on them. How do you protect your computer?

In This Issue: Games and Holiday Fun! | Cisco 3750X Series 24 Port Switch | Data Center Server Rack Sizing Guide | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Games and Holiday Fun!

Good morning!

Happy Wednesday! I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been working my way out of my inbox for some time now – and feel like I’m finally caught up from being away for a few days. My goal is to go after inbox zero this week, as Chris has shared and I’m going to try and do that through Craig’s recommendations.

Over the holidays I took a little extra time off and feel so grateful I was able to do that. It was such a wonderful time to be able to do some of the things I’ve been putting off for a while and also just to spend undivided time with family.

Now, I must know – what was everyone’s favorite part of Thanksgiving this year? I enjoyed playing new games with family and also really enjoyed the stuffing that my husband’s grandmother made. It was some of the best stuffing I’ve ever had and normally I’m not a big stuffing fan!

Anywho, what a sweet season of time we are in where we get to gather with friends and family in hopes to spread holiday cheer. Who’s ready for Christmas?

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

This Cisco Catalyst 3750X series layer 3 switch comes with (24) 10/100/1000 PoE+ ports, a 435 Watt POE Budget, 64 MB of Flash, and 256 MB of RAM. This switch is stackable and has dual redundant fans, 4,000 VLAN IDs, a network module slot, and a slot for an additional power supply.

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Learning Center Article – Data Center Server Rack Sizing Guide

Data centers run on server stacks, and they are usually stored in server racks. So, if you need a lot of processing power and/or data storage, then you’ll need to understand rack sizes in order to strategize.

Unfortunately, server racks are not measured according to specific official dimensions. Fortunately, they are standardized, and you can read those standards when you understand the measuring unit utilized across the industry.

This quick guide will explain how racks are measured and what you need to know in order to pick the correct server rack for your operation.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Airbnb is partnering with several major landlords and management companies to list designated apartment buildings where renters are allowed to offer short-term sublets on the site. The company said that a new page on its website will list so-called Airbnb-friendly buildings, which will give tenants the option to host their apartments just as homeowners can.
• Delivery service DoorDash is laying off 1,250 corporate workers as part of a continued cost-cutting effort, driven by tapering growth and overhiring.
• Tesla is still the top-selling electric vehicle brand in the U.S., but its dominance is eroding as more affordable models proliferate. S&P Global Mobility reports Tesla’s market share of new registered electric vehicles in the U.S. stood at 65% through the third quarter, down from 71% last year.
• State Farm is no longer the largest car insurer in the United States. It has been overtaken by Progressive Corporation, which took a 14% market share in 2021, compared to State Farm’s 13.9%.

Now that the deals have started to settle, we must know…what was your best Black Friday or Cyber Monday deal that you snagged?

In This Issue: Traditions at Meemaw’s Continue | TP-Link Gigabit Fiber Converter | What is Switch Stacking & Why is it Important? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Traditions at Meemaw’s Continue

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my family would be getting together for Thanksgiving dinner at my Meemaw’s house. Back during the height of the pandemic, we stopped doing family get-togethers at her house due to her age putting her in a high-risk group, and I think many of us subconsciously thought we’d spent our last holiday with her hosting. We were all a bit surprised when (at 86 years old) she said she wanted to host Thanksgiving this year, but it was certainly welcomed news as that was a family tradition we thought we had ”lost” so to speak.

It turned out to be a wonderful time at her house and I know she was so happy to have a home filled with family! Sadly, there were quite a few folks absent this year (ironically) due to being sick. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that she may want to host Christmas and hopefully we’ll all get another chance to be together under her roof!

How did you spend your Thanksgiving? I’d love to know!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

This gadget might be small, but it sure is mighty! The MC220L SFP to 1000Base-T media converter is used to interconnect 1000Base-T to 1000Base-SX/LX/LH single mode or multimode fiber cable within an existing network.

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Learning Center Article – What is Switch Stacking & Why is it Important?

There are countless ways to design a network and meet the criteria it needs to follow. Not all of these methods will be as efficient or affordable as others. That’s why network administrators are constantly learning new concepts.

Switch stacking is commonly used in high-end networking, but many small and medium businesses are missing out on the technique. Taking a minute to learn more about it could reveal a better way to run your network that saves time and money while improving network functionality.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• NATO allies reaffirmed their commitment to Ukraine on Tuesday saying that the war-torn nation will one day become a member of the world’s largest security alliance, and promising more help — from winter aid to artillery — to help Ukraine’s beleaguered armed forces to fight off Russia.
• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a long-running dispute over how to enforce the nation’s immigration laws. President Biden’s administration wants to set guidelines for whom immigration authorities can target for arrest and deportation.
• What’s almost as great as Cyber Monday? Extended Cyber Monday! That’s right; there’s still a lot of life in Amazon’s Cyber Monday sale.
• NASA’s Orion spacecraft reached the farthest outbound point in its journey from Earth on Monday, a distance of more than 430,000 km from humanity’s home world. This is nearly double the distance between Earth and the Moon and is farther than the Apollo capsule traveled during NASA’s lunar missions in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Happy Monday! We hope you’ve overcome the food coma from all the feasting with friends and family. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead and a big day of snagging some Cyber Monday deals!

In This Issue: Time is Flying! | Cisco Aironet 1040/1140/1250 Series Power Injector | Aruba Switches vs Cisco Switches | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Time is Flying!

Happy Monday!

Thanksgiving was a bit of a blur, but definitely enjoyable. I somehow caught a cold or really bad allergies and was mostly downing Dayquil and cough drops the entirety of the week, but I did get a chance to spend time with family (albeit at a distance) and enjoyed some really great Thanksgiving foods. Even though I was a bit under the weather, I am very thankful for the time and the relaxing week. Just a few more days until December and then before we even know it, 2023. Time’s definitely flying! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and that you’ll hit the ground running this week!

Thanks,

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Power Injectors are a great budget-friendly solution to power up and connect access points that are run off of non-PoE switches with an ethernet cable. Power Injectors also remove the cumbersome and sometimes cost-prohibitive task of installing electrical outlets to power up access points. The AIR-PWRINJ4 converts 100 to 240 volts AC into 56 volts DC that can then be injected into a Cat 5 ethernet cable to power an access point.

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Learning Center Article – Aruba Switches vs Cisco Switches

When it comes to network switches, the variety of options can be overwhelming. There’s a specific switch for every niche networking role, and there are a dozen different brands making that one class of switch.

Out of all of those options, two leading brands are preferred in many professional networks: Aruba and Cisco. They are industry giants and leaders in many respects. When comparing them directly, it’s clear that you are getting different sets of benefits depending on which you choose.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Consumers spent a record $9.12 billion online shopping during Black Friday this year, according to Adobe. Overall online sales for Black Friday were up 2.3% year-over-year.
• Frontier said it stopped offering customer service by phone last weekend. The airline said customers can reach out by text or social media channels and WhatsApp. The shift aims to lower labor costs and increase the number of customers it can help at once.
• Rare protests broke out across China over the weekend as groups of people vented their frustration over the zero-Covid policy. The unrest came as infections surged, prompting more local Covid controls, while a central government policy change earlier this month had raised hopes of a gradual easing.
• This year’s Thanksgiving box office was both feast and famine for Walt Disney. While “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” added $64 million to its domestic tally during the five-day time frame, Disney’s latest animated feature “Strange World” failed to lure in moviegoers, generating just $18.6 million between Wednesday and Sunday

Good morning all! We want to take some time to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for each and every one of you and wish you a wonderful holiday season. We look forward to coming back refreshed and ready to reflect on the season of thankfulness next week!

In This Issue: Moments of Reflection | MPO Cable, 12-Strand, OM4 | Why the ML350G8 Server Series is perfect of today’s business | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Moments of Reflection

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! We’ve officially made it to the week of Thanksgiving! It’s hard to believe we’re already here, but I’m excited for a couple of days off and a chance to spend time with family!

Thinking back on this year, I really do have so much to be thankful for. This has definitely been a year of growth for me, and one that brought lots of really awesome, unique experiences and opportunities. I love that Thanksgiving is a time for us to intentionally reflect on all that we have to be thankful for. Intentional gratitude is something I want to work on getting better at because the reality is that I’m blessed WAY beyond measure.

Thankful to have an amazing family, the best friends, an incredible job, my health, and so much more! Hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving and gets to spend some time with those they love reflecting on the blessings we get to enjoy!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Our MPO Essentials line of fiber cables features high-quality, precision-built connectors that ensure secure connections for stable transmission with minimal optical loss. This female-to-female cable features 12 strands of laser-optimized cable that allows you to drastically increase your network bandwidth. Additionally, this cable is made with a durable, Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) jacket. As with all of our products, these cables come with a Lifetime Advanced Replacement Warranty meaning that you can purchase them risk-free knowing your satisfaction is guaranteed!

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Learning Center Article – Why the ML350G8 Server Series is perfect of today’s business

Smaller organizations are looking for reliable, easy-to-manage in-house server capacity without the real estate and utility costs that server rooms require. They want high-end equipment that runs powerful virtualization, data analysis, and web server workloads. They need ERP, CRM, and other key enterprise tools. The HP ProLiant ML350p Gen 8 server series works hard to meet these needs and takes few, if any, breaks.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Advanced Micro Devices made history this year when it surpassed Intel by market cap for the first time ever. Intel has long held the lead in the market for computer processors, but AMD’s ascent results from the company branching out into entirely new sectors. In one of the biggest semiconductor acquisitions in history, AMD purchased adaptive chip company Xilinx in February for $49 billion. Now, AMD chips are in two Tesla models, NASA’s Mars Perseverance land rover, 5G cell towers, and the world’s fastest supercomputer.
• Fanatics and Nike have signed a deal for manufacturing and distribution of merchandise for the Yomiuri Giants, Japan’s most successful and popular baseball team, the first non-U.S. sports club to use the Fanatics-Nike model.
• Paramount Global said Monday it scrapped its $2.2 billion deal to sell book publisher Simon & Schuster to rival Penguin Random House.
• Best Buy has officially surpassed Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly earnings, as inflation-dented demand for pricey consumer electronics came in better than feared.

As we gear up for Thanksgiving Day, it’s only proper to celebrate National Stuffing Day! Who makes the best stuffing in your family?

In This Issue: Many Things to be Thankful For | Dell PowerEdge M620 | Basics of GPU Servers | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Many Things to be Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving Week and Happy Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend. This weekend was pretty busy for us. My wife volunteered at a fall festival at our church’s booth to help sell some crafts and I took the kiddos around for a scavenger hunt. Although it was a bit chilly, the event was fun. Later that evening we went to see the Nutcracker performed by the Gainesville Ballet at Brenau University. I’m not a big fan of driving downtown (mostly because traffic just makes me ill), so when I saw the opportunity to see the Nutcracker locally I jumped at the chance. The kids loved it, the little one was dancing and spinning around and may have accidentally hit the person in front of us in the head, and my oldest daughter was transfixed the entire performance and made friends with a grandmother who knew the lead of the performance. I would definitely recommend finding a local ballet production of the Nutcracker to take your kids. If you’re in north Georgia the Gainesville ballet is amazing.

This week I have a lot to be thankful for. It’s been a great year and I appreciate the opportunity to share my week with you. Thank you for all the kind replies and comments. We’ll be watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade as is a tradition in our house for Thanksgiving and heading out to enjoy some turkey and all the deliciousness with the family. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and spend time together with loved ones!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Blade servers are specifically designed to pack a lot of power in a small space. Blade servers can be used as a dedicated servers or added to a virtual environment. The user is able to condense their server footprint and easily manage multiple servers from one point. Since they are smaller in nature, they have a better overall power consumption. The Dell M620 offers scalability along with an energy-efficient server that will give you a low cost of ownership over its lifetime.

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Learning Center Article – Basics of GPU Servers

Servers are essential in the modern world. They do the heavy lifting that allows all of us to enjoy the many perks of a digitally connected life. Whether browsing the internet, using a favorite app, or even talking on the phone, servers are playing critical roles at every juncture.

With so much depending on servers, it’s not surprising to see that they continually experience serious innovation. Today’s servers can run laps around those used even five years ago, and there are a few key reasons for that.

One of those reasons is the use of GPUs. GPU servers are becoming more common, and they offer a lot to any enterprise that might put them to use.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day

• NASA’s Orion spacecraft made its closest approach to the moon on Monday morning during day five of the Artemis 1 mission. The uncrewed capsule flew about 81 miles above the lunar surface.
• The resale business is booming, thanks, in part, to consumers increasingly interested in sustainability and securing hard-to-find luxury items. Matthew Kaness, CEO of the recently launched GoodwillFinds.com , said shoppers are coming to the site for designer handbags, vintage sneakers, art and collectibles.
• Taylor Swift swept the 2022 American Music Awards, extending the record as the most-awarded artist in AMA history.
• A 5.6-magnitude earthquake killed more than 50 people and injured hundreds in Indonesia’s West Java province on Monday, with rescuers trying to reach survivors trapped under the rubble amid a series of aftershocks as night fell.

On this day in 1928, Mickey Mouse was “born.” The story begins in 1927, when Walt Disney first sketched a floppy-eared bunny while under contract with Universal Studios and the rest is history! Happy Birthday, Mickey Mouse!

In This Issue: Inbox Zero Update | Meraki Access Point | Fast Ethernet Switches vs Gigabit Switches | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Inbox Zero Update

Happy Friday, folks! I wrote last week about my goal of getting to Inbox Zero. I also asked for feedback on how you prefer to manage your inbox!

One of our readers, Craig (who also happens to be the CEO of CablesAndKits), replied and gave me his process for managing email.

His list of actions goes like this:

• DELETE
• DELEGATE
• DO
• DEFER (these go into a folder called Deferred)

Craig says he tries not to look at an email without doing one of the D’s. That is the most effective for him!

I started using some of these management processes this week, which has helped me manage my inbox more effectively! Thank you, Craig, for the tips!

Since this is my last post before Thanksgiving, I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Meraki MR74 is a four-radio, cloud-managed 2×2 MIMO 802.11ac Wave 2 access point The MR74 provides a maximum of 1.3 Gbps* aggregate frame rate with concurrent 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios. A dedicated third radio provides real-time WIDS/WIPS with automated RF optimization, and a fourth integrated radio delivers Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) scanning and Beaconing.

The MR74 access point is an ideal cloud-managed solution for general-purpose, next-generation deployments in harsh outdoor locations and industrial indoor conditions.

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Learning Center Article – Fast Ethernet Switches vs Gigabit Switches

When it comes to networking, you have a lot of choices. Most devices are connected wirelessly when they can be, but there are still plenty of occasions where it makes sense to run Ethernet cables.

This could be related to security concerns, network reliability, or connection speeds.

Regardless, you have some level of freedom in how you design Ethernet networks, and a lot of it boils down to the switches you select. In general, you can choose between fast Ethernet and Gigabit switches. Which is right for you? Let’s really explore the potential answers to that question.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Ticketmaster tickets for Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour will no longer be put on sale for the general public Friday.
• A​ major lake-effect snowstorm will dump feet of snow in parts of the Great Lakes snowbelts into this weekend that could bring travel to a standstill in parts of New York state, including the Buffalo metro area.
• A thunderous roar could be heard for miles around NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) here early Wednesday morning (Nov. 16) as the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launched an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on the Artemis 1 mission to the moon.
• A rare red-footed booby was spotted at the Santa Cruz Wharf. The tropical bird rarely migrated this far, leaving many in awe that it is here on the Central Coast.