CablesAndKits

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.

Happy Friday! From all of us here at CablesAndKits, Happy New Year! Wishing you a wonderful 2023!

In This Issue: CK Giving Day 14 | Cisco 3750X Series 24 Port Switch | Advantages of Cloud Networking | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – CK Giving Day 14, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

We’ve invited each member of our team to advance our giving efforts and provide us with an organization they are passionate about to donate $500 to. Enjoy Aaron Jackson’s story below on the organization they selected.

I have chosen to give my CK donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I know this money will help our future. My niece passed from cancer so I know that it is key for the research to help protect our children.

If you’re interested in donating to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital you can do so here!

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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 ID’s, a network module slot, and a slot for an additional power supply.

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Learning Center Article – Advantages of Cloud Networking

You have heard plenty about the cloud over the years. It went from being a vague mystery to a modern expectation. Most apps these days include cloud support, and we all plan around cloud resources on a regular basis.

What you might not have heard is that cloud technology is expanding and providing new opportunities beyond accessing software and applications. There are things like cloud networking that provide a whole new way to approach digital communication.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Pelé, Brazilian soccer star and the only player to win the World Cup three times, dies at age 82.
• The Securities Commission of The Bahamas said it moved $3.5 billion from FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, into its own digital wallets. The watchdog said the funds are being held on a “temporary basis” until it is directed by the country’s Supreme Court to deliver them to customers and creditors, or to liquidators.
• A Chinese fighter jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. Air Force aircraft that was conducting routine operations over the contested South China Sea.
• The late Marvel Comics visionary Stan Lee will be the focus of an upcoming documentary. Disney+ announced on Dec. 28, on what would have been Lee’s 100th birthday, that an original documentary about him will arrive in 2023.

Happy Thursday! As we gear up for the New Year, what are you hoping to achieve? What are you thankful for that came out of 2022?

In This Issue: CK Giving Day 13 | Kendall Howard 8U SOHO Server Rack with Doors | Wired vs Wireless Networks: Which is better? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – CK Giving Day 13, The Cat House

We’ve invited each member of our team to advance our giving efforts and provide us with an organization they are passionate about to donate $500 to. Enjoy Jethro Caorong’s story below on the organization they selected.

I have chosen to give my CK donation to The Cat House. It’s a local non-profit animal shelter in my area that helps to rescue animals from cruelty or accidents.

If you’re interested in donating to The Cat House you can do so here!

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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”. With locking removable front and back doors, casters, adjustable rails (with universal mounting holes), mesh front and rear doors, and plenty of venting, the low-profile Compact Series SOHO Server Racks are perfect for those small, tight environments.

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Learning Center Article – Wired vs Wireless Networks: Which is better?

When it comes to designing your network, you have to make one basic decision before you get to anything else. Do you want wireless connectivity? The truth is that wired and wireless networks offer significant pros and cons when compared to each other. It’s important to have a good appreciation of those pros and cons before committing to your network design or plan.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Avatar: The Way Of Water has made $1bn at the global box office in just 14 days, becoming the fastest film to pass the milestone this year.
• Cities across Ukraine have been targeted by a wave of Russian missile strikes, in one of the largest bombardments since the war began. Read more here.
• Nearly 700 wild bats will be released in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday night after undergoing about one week of rehabilitation from exposure to frigid temperatures.
• Electric bikes are becoming increasingly popular around the world. In the U.S. e-bike sales are officially outpacing electric and hybrid cars.

Happy National Card Playing Day! It’s the perfect day to deal out a hand or two with friends and play your favorite card game! What’s your favorite card game to play?

In This Issue: CK Giving Day 12 | Dell Lithium-Ion Battery | Cat7 Ethernet: Beginning & End | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – CK Giving Day 12, The Cure CJD Campaign

We’ve invited each member of our team to advance our giving efforts and provide us with an organization they are passionate about to donate $500 to. Enjoy Avian’s story below on the organization they selected.

I have chosen to give my CK donation to “The Cure CJD Campaign”. This campaign supports the work of doctors at the MRC Prion Unit at UCL to develop a treatment/cure for CJD. It is close to my heart because my father has recently been diagnosed with CJD. It gives me a glimpse of hope.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare and fatal condition that rapidly destroys the brain and there is no known cure at the moment.

Thank you for this opportunity, CK family!

If you’re interested in donating to the Cure CJD Campaign you can do so here!

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Servers are the workhorse of your network. They store your data, act as a web server, house your entire email library, run your applications, and occasionally act as your print server. Sometimes, servers need to have a little backup. This is where a controller battery comes into play. The Dell Lithium-Ion Battery is a brand-new backup battery for specific Dell servers.

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Learning Center Article – Cat7 Ethernet: Beginning & End

Ethernet has been a staple in networking for decades. When copper cables can provide enough throughput, they tend to be much cheaper and easier to use than other connection types. Ethernet is the king of simplicity, and that’s a major part of why it is so popular.

Over the many years of Ethernet’s use, it has seen incremental improvements and upgrades. As internet access expanded in the 90s and 2000s, many home networks started off with Cat5 cabling. For faster networks, Cat6 was frequently chosen. Today, you will see that even in data centers Cat8 is a good choice. But, you won’t often see Cat7 cables anywhere. Why is that?

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Amazon Web Services has launched general availability for Amazon Omics, which helps researchers store and analyze omic data like sequences of DNA, RNA and proteins. More than a dozen customers and partners tested a beta version of the service and are already using Amazon Omics.
• WhatsApp will soon stop working on several iPhone and Samsung devices. Check out which ones here.
• There was no winner on Tuesday to Friday’s jackpot will reach an estimated $640 million with a cash option of $328.3 million. It is the sixth largest Mega Millions jackpot ever and the 13th largest in U.S. lottery history.
• Pope Francis has said that his predecessor Pope Benedict, the 95-year-old former pontiff who resigned from the post nine years ago, is “very sick” after a deterioration in his health on Wednesday. “I want to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict who sustains the Church in his silence. He is very sick,” Francis said during his general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.

Happy Tuesday! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas season and enjoyed spending time with friends and family. Wishing you a wonderful week back in the office this week – 2023 will be here soon!

In This Issue: CK Giving Day 11 | OM4 Multimode Duplex Fiber Patch Cable | What is the difference between OS2, OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, and OM5? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – CK Giving Day 11, FCA Habersham

We’ve invited each member of our team to advance our giving efforts and provide us with an organization they are passionate about to donate $500 to. Enjoy Chris McCoy’s story below on the organization they selected.

I have chosen to give to Fellowship of Christian Athletes in our local community. FCA is able to connect with youth in a way that they love, through sports. Their vision is to see the world transformed by Jesus Christ through the influence of coaches and athletes.”

If you’re interested in donating to Fellowship of Christin Athletes you can do so here!

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Product Spotlights & Updates

OM4 patch cables take all the benefits of OM3 fiber and increase the transmission bandwidth up to 40gbs, and in some cases 100gbs. OM4, like, OM3, is laser-optimized to give optimum performance and reliability. Unlike other old fiber types, OM4 has a higher attenuation that helps create lower losses over greater distances.

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Learning Center Article – What is the difference between OS2, OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, and OM5?

When it comes to fiber optic networks, there are a lot of options in how a network is designed. Ultimately, the demands of the network will determine which cable is best for any given job, but you need to have a clear understanding of the different fiber cables in order to make that decision. While the complete list of design differences could fill several books, you can understand the key variations in design in a few minutes. This quick guide will highlight the characteristics of OS2, OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, and OM5 fiber cables.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• China announced Monday that starting Jan. 8, 2023, travelers will no longer need to quarantine upon arrival on the mainland.
• Southwest Airlines canceled another 2,500 flights Tuesday and warned that mass disruptions will continue throughout the week
• Avatar: The Way of Water has currently brought in just over $250 million in the domestic box office and has just made over $855 million globally.
• Emergency crews in New York are scrambling to rescue marooned residents from what authorities called the “blizzard of the century,” a relentless storm that has left 27 dead in the state and taken at least 60 lives nationwide.