Archives for January 2023

Happy Monday! We hope everyone had a safe and relaxing weekend. Happy MLK Day! How are you observing today?

In This Issue: Friendship & Love | Cisco 2960-X Series 48 Port 740W PoE+ Switch | Managed vs Unmanaged Switches: Which do you need? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Friendship & Love

Happy Monday and Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

The cold weather forced us indoors this weekend, so we decided to go to the mall nearby which has a large indoor playground area. I noticed something for the first time while observing my kids play with other kids. Children aren’t constrained by social rules or anxiety (for the most part) when it comes to playing together and creating a friendship. My 2-year-old who’s turning 3 soon, instantly made a friend with another girl her age, just by proximity.

I was watching closely and saw it happen nearly instantly.

Two total strangers became friends after playing next to each other on a slide for less than a minute. My older daughter seems to do the same thing by asking a few simple questions “what’s your name? Do you want to play together?”. There’s no fear of rejection or hesitation, no prejudice or pride, it happens smoothly and naturally. One second two strangers are playing next to each other, the next second they seem like they’ve been friends for their entire lives.

The whole experience reminded me of the passage in the Bible where Jesus says “…Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” – Matthew 18:3 ESV.

I’ll be reflecting on that little moment in the mall for some time and also be reflecting on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. One of my favorite MLK Jr. quotes is “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that”. The world definitely needs more love.

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Cisco has always done an amazing job catering to small and medium businesses. The Cisco 2960-X series is another generation of the already popular 2960 series that will enable the typical small to medium business to function at an enterprise level without the enterprise budget. The 2960-X series switches offer a fixed configuration of Ethernet switches that are not only Gigabit but also stackable. The 2960-X was specifically designed for easy deployment and operational efficiency. These switches are also energy cautious and have a large range of IOS software features.

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Learning Center Article – Managed vs Unmanaged Switches: Which do you need?

Switches are one of the core pieces of almost any major network. They manage traffic routing for Ethernet-connected devices. As such, they provide stable, fast means of communication for any device across the network.

If you run a business network, you’ll need some kind of switch, and when you look into it, you’ll find that there are two competing types of switches: managed and unmanaged. Here’s a quick breakdown of each type of switch to help you in that regard.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Hasbro postponed its update of its Dungeons & Dragons licensing terms after thousands of players pushed back on proposed changes, rallying around an #OpenDND petition.
• Shoppers can now purchase deeply discounted secondhand luxury clothing from Rent the Runway through Amazon.
• NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made its first confirmation of an exoplanet. An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star outside our solar system. The American space agency says the exoplanet is almost exactly the same size as Earth.
• Italy’s most-wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested in Sicily after 30 years on the run.

Happy Friday! We’ve officially made it to the end of the week. We’re wishing you a weekend full of adventure – stay safe!

In This Issue: CK Stickers! | Cisco DB9 Female to RJ45 Female Console Adapter | Aruba Switches vs Cisco Switches | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – CK Stickers!

Happy Friday & Happy National Sticker Day! If you’ve been around for a while, it’s likely you’ve gotten a few different stickers from us in your orders over the years. Where do you put them? Which one has been your favorite? Any new designs you want to see?

We’d love to see the ones you have! Send us a photo of where you put your stickers!

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Working in IT, you know how important it is to have flexible solutions to everyday problems. That includes using modular adapters as a cost-effective solution for completing complex connections. This Cisco adapter is a straight-through DB9 Female to RJ45 Female, perfect for connecting desktop terminals back to a central patch panel. This includes equipment like printers, POS terminals, modems and other kinds of serial equipment. You never know when hooking up one of these devices might require an adaptor.

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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:

• Russia has taken control of the Ukrainian salt-mine town Soledar after a months-long battle. The victory would allow Russian troops to cut off Ukrainian supply routes in the nearby larger city of Bakhmut.
• The man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students moved on Thursday to delay a preliminary hearing in the case, postponing until June a decision on whether there is sufficient evidence to hold him for trial on the charges.
• At least seven people were killed Thursday as severe storms swept across the South, where ferocious winds sent residents running for cover, blew roofs off homes, and knocked out power to thousands. Recovery efforts will continue Friday after the storms damaged power lines, severed tree limbs and sent debris flying into streets in Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky, where at least 35 preliminary tornado reports were recorded.
• The Biden Administration released details this week on its plan to overhaul the current income-driven repayment plan known as Revised Pay As You Earn plan (REPAYE) for federal student loan borrowers.

Happy Thursday & Happy Curried Chicken Day! It’s the perfect day to fill your dish with a variety of flavorful spices and enjoy! Do you have a curried chicken recipe that you love? Share it with us!

In This Issue: What does your “new” look like? | Keystone Surface Mount Box | What Are the Differences Between a Switch and a Bridge? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – What does your “new” look like?

Happy New Year! We are back!

Hope you enjoyed reading about all of the different non-profits that are important to us and that we support around the CK office over the last few weeks.

Well, it is a brand new year and this always gets me thinking about the word “New.” (duh…haha!) Never fails, every year, that word becomes more real to me at this time of year, and I imagine a lot of us – New year, new opportunities, new adventures, new starts, new plans, etc. No matter what last year was like, no matter what went on, this is a brand new year to start fresh. Whether you make new year’s resolutions or just want a line in the sand to look forward instead of behind, now’s the time. I love it! It is always invigorating and refreshing. I am already looking forward to things I want to do around the house this year, vacations I want to take, places I want to go, and things I want to do personally.

Over and over the past few weeks, I have felt in my mind and heart this phrase for 2023, “Take a chance and go for it!” Not sure what all that means yet but it is exciting. I mean, hey, it’s a new year with new possibilities!

What exciting, “new” plans do you have for 2023?

Have an awesome rest of the week and weekend!

Jason

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Give your network a makeover. These attractive boxes will perfectly blend into your home or office decor and can hold a multitude of jacks. Unloaded 1-Position Keystone Surface Mount Box, the easiest way to install a network outlet, is perfect for office cubicles or installations where the cable is run along a baseboard. Protects and hides your network connections, mounts with 2-sided tape or screws unloaded single-position keystone mount box.

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Learning Center Article – What Are the Differences Between a Switch and a Bridge?

Putting together a single, small network is relatively easy. Things really get complicated when you need to join multiple networks together. That’s where concepts like bridging come into play, and understanding the specific technology options available for this aspect of network design is essential to success.

To that end, you’ll find a simplified breakdown of bridges and switches below. It will help you see how devices can be leveraged to join networks and the trade-offs attached to those devices.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• More than 10,000 flights were delayed on Wednesday after the FAA’s ground stop. The agency traced the problem to a damaged data file. The FAA and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle said they plan to investigate.
• Walmart wants to sell more of its own technology and services to other retailers. To do so, they have struck a deal with Salesforce to attempt to get in front of more potential customers.
• Climeworks says it has successfully taken carbon dioxide out of the air and put it in the ground where it will turn into rock.
• Bitcoin has climbed $18,000 for the first time since Dec. 14, increasing in value by about 5% in the last 24 hours.

Happy Wednesday! We’ve made it to the middle of the week! Hopefully, your week is going well and you’ve accomplished several tasks on your to-do list for the week. Cheers to wrapping up the week with everything checked off and being at inbox zero.

In This Issue: Rest, Read & Retreat | OM5 Fiber Optic Cable | Layer 2 vs Layer 3 Switches: Which is best for your network? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Rest, Read & Retreat

Good morning CK Family!

Happy New Year! What an eventful year it’s been already. I took another lap around the sun and celebrated another birthday, have spent a ton of time with family, and am starting to get back into the swing of the day-to-day.

I’m not much of a new year’s resolutions gal, but this year I spent a good amount of time reflecting on 2022. To be honest, it was one of the hardest years for my family in quite some time. We experienced some of the most difficult loss, shifted the way we lived to care for those we love, and so much more. But when I stopped to reflect on what that all looked like, I am grateful for the growth and sense of closeness that our family has developed because of these experiences.

Going into 2023, three words came to mind: Rest, Read & Retreat. I guess you can say those are my resolutions, but they are the three things I’m going to focus on this year.

I want to learn to truly rest. It’s going to be another big year and learning the true meaning of what it means to actively rest feels so important to my overall health.

I want to read. I love reading but last year, the busyness of everything around me pulled me away from it and I didn’t accomplish the goal I had set for the year.

I want to enjoy spiritual retreats. I’m not sure what this will look like in the year quite yet, but my goal here is to find time to focus on my soul and spirit. To find time to be with the Lord and just experience his presence. As I said above, last year was tough. When you experience loss in certain ways or go through things that you truly feel you can’t handle – doubt takes over. Doubt that you are capable, doubt that God really does have your back, doubt that you were made to be here in the moment for this. It’s tough and it takes time to truly heal. So I hope to be able to deepen my spirit and relationship with the Lord in intentional ways this year.

In the end, whether you’re a resolutions person or not or just have words that keep surfacing I hope your goal(s) of 2023 is just to be a better you. Glad to be back! Have a great week!

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

OM5 fiber cables, the first approved as WBMMF (Wide Band Multimode Fiber), have been created to specifically handle high-speed data center applications using two fibers to transmit from 40GBs up to 100GBs. With the emergence of SWDM (Shortwave Wavelength Division Multiplexing) applications in data centers, OM5 fiber cables provide optimal support and performance at higher speeds. Even with the high speed, OM5 fiber cables are backward compatible with existing OM4 applications and networks.

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Learning Center Article – Layer 2 vs Layer 3 Switches: Which is best for your network?

When it comes to network switches, you have a lot of options. Finding the perfect switch for every occasion can be a monstrous task. Sometimes, the easiest way to find a good choice is to take a step back and learn more about the primary differences that exist between switches.

One major difference that you will see is the OSI connection layer. Most of the switches you will see will be labeled as either Layer 2 or Layer 3. When you take a deeper look at the key aspects of each layer, you can make an informed decision that ensures you have the right equipment for the job at hand.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Thousands of U.S. flights were delayed Wednesday morning after the Federal Aviation Administration suffered an outage of the system that sends messages to pilots. As of now, it is not showing that there were any signs of it being a cyber attack. 
• Bed Bath & Beyond has begun its latest round of layoffs, as it fights to stay in business. The home goods retailer told employees that it is eliminating the chief transformation officer role on the same day it reported disappointing fiscal third-quarter results.
• Disney is making a number of modifications to its reservation and ticketing system, as well as its annual pass membership perks, at its domestic theme parks. At Disneyland Resort, park hopper ticket buyers will be able to change parks at 11 a.m. At Walt Disney World Resort, annual passholders can enter the parks at 2 p.m., with some restrictions, without a reservation.
• Tesla has registered with the state of Texas to expand its electric vehicle factory in Austin this year.

Happy Tuesday! As the holiday season fades away, our minds turn to our next opportunity for a vacation. While that may seem far off, today is National Shop for Travel Day so it’s the perfect day to start planning and shopping for flights and hotels.

In This Issue: Brighter Days Ahead & A National Title | Cisco 6500 8-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module | Polarity for MPO Cables | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Brighter Days Ahead & A National Title

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. I’d like to say mine was amazing, but in truth it was an extremely challenging ending to the year. I’m thankful to be moving on from 2022 and am hoping for brighter days ahead in 2023.

One bright spot for this year occurred last night with Georgia winning a 2nd straight national title. It wasn’t much of a game, but it was still fun to watch them achieve such an incredible goal. Go Dawgs!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

With a lifetime warranty, remarkable prices, and hassle-free return policy, you can network confidently, conveniently, and affordably stay on top of your intensive networking demands with the Cisco 6500 8-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module, WS-X6708-10G-3C. Connect up to eight networking devices with 10 Gbps capacity per port, boosting your network speed and capacity for superior and reliable performance.

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Learning Center Article – Polarity for MPO Cables

High-end fiber optics are important to modern networking, but they’re a lot more complicated than some of their older counterparts. If you need the power of fiber, you might be looking into MPO systems. They can hit some of the highest speeds on the market today, but utilizing them requires knowledge. One key piece of knowledge that can help with MPO systems is polarity. Without this knowledge, you won’t get a connection across any of your lines.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• The United Nations has reported that Earth’s protective ozone layer is healing at a pace that will fully mend the hole over Antarctica in about 43 years.
• Changes are imminent for users running legacy versions of Windows operating systems on their machines. As Microsoft has been warning, the company is yanking support for Windows 7 Extended Security Update (ESU) and Windows 8 and 8.1 on Tuesday, January 10, which means users of those OSes will need to shift to Windows 10 or 11 to continue getting technical assistance and software updates.
• Amazon is expanding its Buy with Prime program that lets retailers add the company’s payment and fulfillment services to their own site. Buy with Prime users will also be able to display reviews from Amazon customers on their products.
• Pickup trucks again led America’s top-selling vehicles last year, but Tesla broke into the top 10 for the first time as a Covid-era shakeup among other popular models continues. Data and analytics firm Motor Intelligence reports the electric Tesla Model Y crossover was the sixth bestselling vehicle in the country in 2022, beating out the GMC Sierra pickup, Honda CR-V crossover, and other longstanding top sellers.

Happy Monday and Happy National Clean off Your Desk Day! Today is the perfect opportunity to begin the new year with a clean and organized workspace. Happy cleaning!

In This Issue: New Habits for 2023 | Cisco 8861 Five line Color Display IP Phone | Best Practices for Cable Management in Data Centers | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – New Habits for 2023

Happy Monday!

I hope you are having a happy 2023! Still feels weird that we’re well into the 2020s. It was awesome to read about all of the organizations that CK was able to support over the Christmas break.

I took a good amount of time off to spend time with family and visited Pigeon Forge over the break and I was able to plan out some habits for 2023. I realized over the years that resolutions weren’t for me. I usually ended up falling way short of any type of resolution. Instead, I’m opting for attempting to do 4 or 5 things consistently over the year and see where that ends up. I have a habit tracker app on my phone to keep things organized that will allow me to view my progress over time.

While it would be wonderful that I accomplish every habit every day, I’m targeting a 70% success rate on hitting those habits. I know life will happen and I’ll have to postpone a habit, but the idea is not to abandon the habit completely like all of those poor abandoned resolutions that I’ve had in the past. I’ve been reading a book recommendation from our president, Chris McCoy, called “Atomic Habits” by James Clear – and it has helped me with organizing and executing these habits. Wish me luck!

I hope that 2023 brings you success and prosperity! Do you make new years resolutions? Or yearly goals? Would love to hear from you!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

This Cisco CP-8861-K9 desk phone is an excellent choice when looking for a phone to help you increase productivity through an engaging user experience. This phone features crystal clear wideband audio performance and comes with 5 programmable lines, Bluetooth, Cisco Intelligent Proximity, an integral Gigabit switch, and the ability to add Key Expansion Modules. Not only is the 8861 highly functional, but it comes in a sleek ergonomic design and is highly reliable and secure.

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Learning Center Article – Best Practices for Cable Management in Data Centers

Every network administrator in the world has a horror story about cable management. In data centers, those horror stories grow into genuine nightmares. If enough people work on a system for a long enough period of time, the cables will eventually turn into some type of Ethernet vine monster. Only strict adherence to cable management practices can prevent this disaster. The following best practices assume you already know some of the basics. Instead, they’re aimed to help you avoid subtler missteps that occur frequently in modern data centers.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Teachers worried about students turning in essays written by a popular artificial intelligence chatbot now have a new tool of their own. Edward Tian, a 22-year-old senior at Princeton University, has built an app to detect whether text is written by ChatGPT, the viral chatbot that’s sparked fears over its potential for unethical uses in academia.
• Airlines are raising the bar for travel perks, like lounge access and elite status. During the Covid pandemic, airlines allowed sidelined travelers to extend frequent flyer status. Carriers are also rethinking cabin configurations to fit more business-class or premium economy seats.
• McDonald’s is planning job cuts and a reorganization as the company refocuses its priorities to accelerate restaurant expansion. The company will be deprioritizing and halting certain initiatives.
• Pickup trucks again led America’s top-selling vehicles last year, but Tesla broke into the top 10 for the first time as a Covid-era shakeup among other popular models continues. Data and analytics firm Motor Intelligence reports the electric Tesla Model Y crossover was the sixth bestselling vehicle in the country in 2022, beating out the GMC Sierra pickup, Honda CR-V crossover, and other longstanding top sellers.