CablesAndKits

Happy Monday & Happy May Day! Today is a traditional celebration of flowers and spring. We hope you have a great week!

In This Issue: Park Time & Family Cookouts | Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series | Polarity for MPO Cables | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Park Time & Family Cookouts

Happy Monday!

We had a pretty chill weekend and enjoyed some time outdoors. I think we’ve hit peak Spring weather in Georgia where the mosquitos are still dormant and the temperatures are hovering around the high 60s… usually this only last maybe what seems like a week haha, so it’s best to take advantage! After some house cleaning, we took our two daughters to a local park that had a small pond where they spotted dragonflies, turtles, tadpoles, and these small black-tailed fish swimming around. They enjoy looking for critters and throwing rocks in the pond. There’s also a small playground where they burned off some excess energy.

Later on, we went to my parent’s house for a cookout, enjoyed some delicious ribs, and got to catch up. Overall, it was a very simple, yet relaxing weekend. My daughter has 24 more days of school and she’s certainly counting them down! I’m looking forward to the summer as well as we have a nice trip planned that I’ll tell you all about soon! I hope you have a great week and a happy May 1st!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Cisco 2960-X series is another generation to 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 – 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:

• United Airlines’ plan to retrofit dozens of its older narrow-body planes is running behind schedule. The upgrades include seat-back screens, Bluetooth capabilities and other amenities. Supply chain strains have pushed back the timeline.  
• Attorneys general from 23 states, Washington D.C., and two U.S. territories have called on Medicare to cover Alzheimer’s treatments without restrictions. 
• Elon Musk expects SpaceX to spend about $2 billion on its Starship rocket development this year, as the company pushes to build on its first launch earlier this month. 
• Olipop is on track to sell more than $200 million of its prebiotic soda this year. Olipop’s rise coincides with declining soda consumption in the U.S. and rising interest in “gut health.”United Airlines’ plan to retrofit dozens of its older narrow-body planes is running behind schedule. The upgrades include seat-back screens, Bluetooth capabilities and other amenities. Supply chain strains have pushed back the timeline.

Happy Friday & Happy National Superhero Day! There are so many heroes in our lives whether fictional or not. Who’s your favorite superhero?

In This Issue: Honor Our Commitments | HP BL460c Generation 7 | Basics of MPO / MTP Fiber Cables| News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Honor Our Commitments

Happy Friday, folks! I will continue our series covering the CablesAndKits core values, and the next one is Honor Our Commitments. Our definition is: When we say we will do something, we will make every effort to follow through on those promises. This builds trust internally with our employees and externally with our customers, vendors, and partners.

I’m going to focus this on you, our customers. The TLDR is honoring our commitments to you and builds trust. Plus, it’s the right thing to do.

We know IT projects take a lot of work to complete. There are a lot of moving pieces, from getting the products on site to scheduling people to complete the job, testing, going live, and so on. While we can’t control all the pieces, the one thing we can control is getting the product to you.

Sometimes you have a tech onsite for a few days to complete a project. If the equipment or cabling arrives late, it can be expensive to send someone back to finish the job, not to mention the delays that occur because the server or network isn’t operational.

Getting products when YOU need them is critical. This is why we offer flexibility to get those products to you, from fast shipping options to Curbside Pickup. To help meet even tighter deadlines, we recently started offering same-day delivery in the Atlanta area. Need it fast…give us a call. 🏎️

I was told by a mentor 20 years ago that it takes about 10 ” atta boys” to make up for 1 “oh man.” This is even more true today, where there are more options to choose from. One late order erodes trust, which takes a long time to recover.

I’d love to hear your stories where someone moved a mountain to keep a commitment!

Have a great weekend!

Chris

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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 dedicated server 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 BL460c G7 is equipped with two small form factor (SFF) hot-plug drive bays, SD card slot, two (2) mezzanine I/O expansion slots, and twelve memory slots. The BL460c G7 blade sever has a maximum memory of 384GB of ram.

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Learning Center Article – Basics of MPO / MTP Fiber Cables

Fiber optic cables drive modern communication. They are the only viable means for arranging the ultra-high-speed systems that run the backbones of digital communication. Long-range internet connectivity is dominated by fiber optic cables. Perhaps more importantly, the massive data processing that goes on at data centers does the majority of the workload for internet communications and digital information handling.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Rival toymakers Hasbro and Mattel both released mixed earnings reports this week. After competing for licensing rights in the past, Hasbro and Mattel announced a multiyear licensing agreement on Monday. Both companies are gearing up for major movie launches tied to their intellectual property this summe. 
• Days before Japan’s Hakuto-R lunar lander apparently crashed into the moon’s surface (opens in new tab) on Tuesday (April 25), it snapped a truly gorgeous picture of our planet. View it here. 
• Air raid sirens echoed throughout Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv early Friday morning as Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles at it and other parts of the country.  
• Paramount Pictures’ president of domestic distribution spoke Thursday about focusing on the long-term health of the movie business. He called on the industry to explore new ticket pricing options as theater admissions decline and ticket prices continue to inflate.

Happy Thursday & Happy National Gummi Bear Day to the most memorable treat of childhood that’s timelessly fun. Did you know that the gummi bear is 100 years old?!

In This Issue: Moving Tips & Tricks | HPE Aruba 530 Series Indoor Access Point | Does Copper Cabling Still Have a Place in Data Centers? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Moving Tips & Tricks

Good Morning,

I am getting ready to start packing and move back home. I am excited about the trip back! When we moved here it was the beginning of December and very cold but when we move this time, we will experience the beauty that the warm weather brings! I think we will take our time and see the different sites on the way. We may even stop by a few places for pictures or take a different route than the one we took on the way here.

As someone who has recently gone through a move, I know firsthand how bittersweet it can be to leave behind a place you’ve grown attached to. In my case, I’ll definitely miss the beautiful views of the mountains and the sunsets from my old apartment. I am also pretty nervous about packing everything into my small Civic! But at the same time, I’m excited to be moving on to a new chapter in my life.

Do you have any moving tips or stories to share? I’d love to hear them!

Joi

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Aruba 530 Series of Indoor Access Points were designed to provide an optimized user experience offering a combined peak data rate of up to 2.97 Gbps. These APs maximize Wi-Fi efficiency to deliver both speed and reliability for users. The 530 series of campus access points are suitable for high-density mobile as well as IoT deployments.

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Learning Center Article – Does Copper Cabling Still Have a Place in Data Centers?

More than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are produced every day. That’s a mind-boggling number. Equally impressive is that roughly 90 percent of all data in the world was produced in the last two years. That second statistic will likely hold true even as years pass. That’s because the rate at which we create new data continues to accelerate. In the face of such overwhelming numbers, it often feels like the entire future of networking rests on the shoulders of fiber optics.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Meta suffered one of the biggest Facebook advertising glitches in over a decade. The glitch caused many companies to fund Facebook ad campaigns that were essentially ineffective. 
• Elon Musk tweeted that he’d met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other lawmakers about artificial intelligence regulation. 
• Bipartisan lawmakers introduced the Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing Act. If passed, the act would require a number of disclosures by primary and secondary market ticket sellers, including itemized fees for purchase.  
• Walt Disney Co. sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, alleging the governor has waged a “relentless campaign to weaponize government power” over the company.

Happy Wednesday and Happy Hump Day! We’ve once again made it to the middle of the week. We hope that your week is successful and continues to come with a full pot of coffee each morning!

In This Issue: Reading & Rabbits | CAT6 Ethernet Patch Cables | What is OM5 fiber and how is it different than OM4 & OM3? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Reading & Rabbits

Good morning and Happy Wednesday!

We’ve almost reached the end of another month (can you believe it?!), and I’m feeling a bit behind in my goal to read 25 books this year. I had planned to read at least two books every month, but have only read 3 so far this year. With that, it’s time to kick it into gear. This last book I read took me quite some time because I couldn’t get into it. I probably should have put it aside and picked up a new book, but once I was committed to it, I had to finish it. It’s been a busy couple of months, but I’m determined to catch up and make more time for reading in the coming months.

Despite falling behind on my reading goal, I’m enjoying the arrival of spring weather. The warmer temperatures and longer days have been so nice. I love seeing the trees and flowers blooming, and hearing the birds chirping in the morning and also rabbits! When we moved into our home last year, we got the chance to meet the previous owner and before we moved in he said “I hope you like rabbits.” We always wondered why he said this because we didn’t see a single one for months, but in this past month, we’ve seen tons! We have a hill behind our house that is probably where they have built a home. The challenge now is keeping them out of our garden beds and convincing our dogs that they are not the enemy!

Anyways, I hope you have a wonderful week!

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

We just saved you a ton of time and made managing your network cabling a whole lot easier! Introducing our EASYboot ethernet patch cables. These snagless Category 6 (Cat6) patch cords have skinnier cable boots to make it easier to connect and disconnect the cable, as well as to prevent the cable from catching when pulled through tight spaces. Built to last, our high-quality Ethernet cables are pure copper for maximum throughput and reliability.

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Learning Center Article – What is OM5 fiber and how is it different than OM4 & OM3?

Designing fiber optic networks was never easy, but over time, the challenges have shifted. There are more tools than ever to help you optimize every corner of your network. At the same time, increasing options make it more difficult to find satisfaction with the choices you make. That holds true with selecting your fiber cables.

OM5 is on the rise, and it brings with it a new niche combination of performance and cost-effectiveness. Is it right for your systems? A quick read will help you determine the answer.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Target has started to offer curbside returns at a quarter of its stores. 
• The FDA has granted accelerated approval for Biogen’s ALS drug that treats a rare form of the disease. 
• Boeing will increase output of 737 Max planes to 38 a month later this year, up from 31 a month.  
• The United States will deploy nuclear-armed submarines to South Korea for the first time in decades as part of a new agreement that will signal a commitment to defend Seoul against rising nuclear threats.

Happy Tuesday and Happy National Telephone Day! Did you know that there are 9.82 billion phones in the world?! And while many predicted that landlines would be obsolete by 202, there are still about 931 million landlines around the world.

In This Issue: Morning Routines | Cisco SFP-10G-SR SFP+ Transceiver Module | All about Cisco 4500-X Series Switches | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Morning Routines

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is off to a great start this week! I certainly woke up on the “right side of the bed” this morning (always nice to wake up in a good mood!). I’ve started trying to go for my daily run in the mornings and have found it to have so many benefits.

I really like starting my day early as it helps with productivity the rest of the day and it’s great to get morning sunlight and fresh air! It’s also not bad to know that my workout is done before I even sit down to work! It’s so hard to keep this routine in the winter, but I’m glad the weather is warming and I can get back to it!

Do you have any parts of your daily routine that you love or that make you feel more productive? I’d love to know!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Cisco SFP-10G-SR module gives you a wide variety of 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity options for your data center, enterprise wiring closet, and service provider transport applications. This module boasts a variety of features and benefits, including being the industry’s smallest form factor, which results in the greatest density per chassis. The SFP-10G-SR is hot-swappable and can be switched out with ease, making upgrades and maintenance easy.

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Learning Center Article – All about Cisco 4500-X Series Switches

When you’re looking for powerful switches to run a large network, you have to sift through a lot of options. The easiest way to do that is to learn about each popular series at a time.

To help you with that, below you will find a complete breakdown of Cisco 4500-X series switches. These switches have been around for a while, and they power a lot of large networks. Take a minute to see what they can do and when and where they might be the right option for you.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Chinese tech giant ByteDance is pushing another social media app in the U.S. — even as its flagship short video app TikTok faces a possible ban stateside. A combination of Pinterest and Instagram, Lemon8 has gained popularity quickly. It was the second most downloaded lifestyle app in the U.S. in the last 30 days. 
• Klarna made some sweeping changes to its app, including a TikTok-inspired discovery feed that recommends products to users. 
• Biden and Harris have officially announced their 2024 re-election campaign.  
• Bed Bath & Beyond declared bankruptcy but is hoping it can find a buyer willing to keep operations running in some fashion.

Happy Monday! We hope you have a wonderful weekend! If there is anything we can be praying for you about, please let us know!

In This Issue: Low Key Weekends & Herb Gardens | Kendall Howard 8U SOHO Server Rack with Doors | What is the difference between Cisco core switches and access switches? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Low Key Weekends & Herb Gardens

Happy Monday!

I can’t believe that this is the last full week of April! It seems like this month has flown by and we’ll be in Summer in no time. I certainly enjoy the Spring weather and hope it lasts. Over the weekend we spent a lot of time outdoors tending a small herb garden. The kids enjoy being outside, which is awesome, because sometimes it’s really difficult to get them off their devices. It’s good to disconnect and enjoy some fresh air!

We’ve planted sage, oregano, basil, parsley, dill, lemon balm, and rosemary. It seems like our sage and oregano do just fine and have been coming back on their own year after year, but we have a hard time with the other herbs, it might be the location and the amount of sunlight these plants are getting, we’re going to do some experimenting this year to find the optimal location.

I enjoy low-key weekends like this from time to time. I think everyone here needed a break from doing stuff, and it was nice to enjoy the weekend and spend time together. I hope you had a great and restful weekend and have a great last week of April!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Kendall Howard SOHO server racks are specially designed for the small business, home office or IT professional who wants better than just “good enough”. The low-profile Compact Series SOHO Server Racks are perfect with locking removable front and back doors, casters, adjustable rails (with universal mounting holes), mesh front and rear doors, and plenty of venting for those small, tight environments. Don’t have the space for a server room full of tall racks? This compact rack fits under your desk or acts as a desktop rack for your servers and essential rack-mountable items.

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Learning Center Article – What is the difference between Cisco core switches and access switches?

When you’re designing a large network, you’re going to need multiple different switches, and in many cases, those switches won’t serve the same role. As the demand on a network rises, you can’t just add more switches ad hoc.

Instead, you need to layer your switches correctly. For major networks, the traditional design is to have core switches, distribution switches, and access switches. Today, we’re going to focus particularly on core and access switches, discussing their primary differences and everything you need to know to figure out which kinds of switches should go where in a network.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Bed Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy protection and has asked the courts for permission to auction its assets. 
• Subway’s same-store sales climbed 12.1% in the first quarter, showing that its turnaround is taking hold. The sandwich chain is seeking to sell itself, and a deal could be done as early as late May. 
• Britain First now gets a gold checkmark on Twitter and is labeled as an “official organization. The gold checkmark, which costs $1,000 a month, is reserved for businesses and non-profit organizations.  
• Meta has reportedly canceled all of its Metaverse plans.