Argh! It’s national talk like a pirate day! When you’re in the drive-thru today, ask if they have change for gold bullion, test out your best pirate impersonation, and if you get a new project from your boss today be sure to respond with “aye, aye, capt’n”.
In This Issue: Preparing for Winter | Cisco 2-Port T1/E1 Multiflex Interface Card – 25% off! | The Difference Between Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6a | News to Start Your Day
The CK Daily – Preparing for Winter
Happy Monday!
I enjoyed some great fall-like weather this weekend and spent time outside and tidying our duck coop/shed. Now is the time I start getting ready for winter (even though it’s months away). We’ve owned ducks and a goose for a number of years now and they are quite entertaining, but a bit high maintenance.
Sometimes at night, we’ll find an eastern kingsnake in their enclosure with a couple of eggs (unbroken) in their stomach. The snakes are pretty much harmless to the ducks, but they do freak the ducks out quite a bit. The snakes are so docile after eating the eggs that I can handle them quite easily and just relocate them. I enjoy having the kingsnakes around because they handle the rodent population and are known to prey on venomous snakes such as copperheads.
As we are getting closer to winter, we’re starting to get our winter preps ready. And over the weekend I was thinking about the concept of cold spares. Have you heard of this before? Essentially you take a duplicate piece of networking equipment that’s exactly identical to the one in production (in use) and have it on a shelf, preconfigured, set up, and ready to go if the equipment in use fails. Refurb products can sometimes be so cost-effective, that purchasing a cold spare might be a great insurance policy for your network for those mission-critical pieces of equipment. It reminds me of the old prepper saying two is one and one is none. Do you have cold spares in your networking closet? What are your backup plans if a mission-critical switch or router fails? I hope you have a great week!
Cris
Product Spotlights & Updates
The Cisco 2-port T1/E1 multiflex interface card provides voice and data access to the PSTN domain through TDM ports. This card provides basic structured service for T1 or E1 networks and unstructured service for fractional E1 networks. This flexible, multiservice solution supports multiple data, voice, and integrated data applications, facilitating the migration from data only or channelized data and voice to packet voice solutions.
Learning Center Article – The Difference Between Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6a
New technology, advances in automation, and overflowing opportunities are unlocked every day. For businesses, research teams, and tech projects around the world, there is a constant balance between getting the right amount of power versus spending an exact tech budget wisely.
Cabling and other infrastructure choices are in a precarious position, with many low IT budgets or simply cheap options tempting the cost-conscious planner. At the same time, the newest and faster technology is always a temptation, but can you be sure that your project will use the investment to the highest potential before it fails or becomes obsolete?
Today’s News to Start Your Day:
- The US space agency’s Perseverance rover is close to completing its first set of objectives on Mars. The Nasa robot has collected a diverse set of rock samples that it will soon deposit on the surface, awaiting carriage to Earth by later missions.
- Typhoon Nanmadol slammed onto the shore of southern Japan on Sunday and caused massive infrastructure disruptions, including power outages and forcing thousands of people to evacuate.
- The official mourning period for Queen Elizabeth II, the U.K.’s longest-reigning monarch, culminated Monday morning with her state funeral in London’s ancient Westminster Abbey. The guest list for the service included around 500 foreign dignitaries, including President Biden and about 100 other heads of state.
- With fall bird migration currently reaching peak numbers, live migration maps on the website BirdCast provide a real-time look as billions of birds wing their way south across the U.S. en route to their winter homes in the tropics.