CablesAndKits Blog

Happy Monday! We hope you had an incredible weekend and were able to enjoy time outside with friends and family. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

In This Issue: Team Time! | HPE Aruba 2530 Series Switch | How to Calculate Power Consumption for your Server Room | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Team Time!

Happy Monday!

There’s a saying that my mother-in-law (a Georgia native) always says when she spots blackberries blooming along the roadside. Essentially it goes – when the blackberries are in bloom, freezing temperatures are over, so it’s time to start the garden. Well, the blackberries are indeed in bloom and it does seem to be getting warmer.

We got to enjoy some of this nice weather on Friday at Coolray Field watching our local Gwinnett Stripers (the Braves-affiliated minor league team). If you happened to notice, we cut off our late shipping on Friday so that our team members that wanted to, could come to the game. CablesAndKits went all out and booked a couple of suites, and it was fun times!

I actually didn’t end up watching most of the game as I spent a bunch of time talking to folks; our families were there, and kids were running around as well. I didn’t really appreciate these types of social events until they were gone. It’s funny how we take little things like that for granted. I’m an introvert by nature, so these social events in small doses are quite nice. For those who work remotely, do your companies have outings and in-person events? Even getting together for a lunch makes a world of difference. Have a great week!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Aruba 2530 Series of switches was designed to offer cost-effective, reliable, and secure access layer connectivity for a wide range of uses from enterprise, to branch offices and small to mid-sized businesses. These easy-to-deploy switches feature an energy-efficient design that lowers power consumption for greater energy savings.

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Learning Center Article – How to Calculate Power Consumption for your Server Room

When it comes to maintaining a server room, there are many balls to juggle. You have to constantly expand the capacity and throughput of the server systems. Demands only ever rise. At the same time, the space inside the room seems to perpetually shrink. Then, the ambient temperature rises, and you draw more and more power.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Japanese gaming giant Sega announced it has made a $776 million offer for the maker of Angry Birds puzzle game. 
• Volkswagen has unveiled a new large electric sedan that they say will have well over 300 miles of range in its top-level trim. 
• Elon Musk’s SpaceX is attempting to launch its towering Starship rocket to space for the first time today from a private facility in Texas along the Gulf Coast.
• Aspacecraft quietly speeding its way through the Solar System has caught its first glimpses of the asteroids it was sent to investigate from a distance of hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

Happy Friday & Happy National Gardening Day! It’s the perfect way to kick off the weekend – pick up a shovel, plant your seeds, and kick off a beautiful year of homegrown bounty!

In This Issue: Core Values | Cisco Meraki MX100 Security Appliance | What Are the Differences Between a Switch and a Bridge? | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Core Values

Happy Friday, folks! What are Core Values? And how do they impact us?

I’ll start with a brief definition. Core values serve as guiding principles for words, actions, and strategies. They underlie all activities, including how an organization’s team members interact with each other, customers, partners, and vendors.

Here is a Harvard Business Review article that goes more in-depth on core values.

Here is our list of core values:

Do The Right Thing
Honor Our Commitments
Build Processes That Don’t Fail
Make It About Relationship
Be A Model

Over the next few weeks, I will discuss the core values of CablesAndKits and how these positively impact you! Do you personally or does your company have a set of core values? I’d love to hear about them!

Have a great weekend!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Cisco Meraki MX family of devices are multifunctional security & SD-WAN etnerprise appliances that feature a wide range of capabilities to address a wide variety of use cases – from an all-in-one device. . Organizations of all sizes and across all industries rely on the MX to deliver secure connectivity to hub locations or multi-cloud environments, as well as application quality of experience (QoE), through advanced analytics with machine learning.

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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:

• Walmart is selling Bonobos to brand management firm WHP Global and Express for $75 million, the second time its sold a direct to consumer brand this year. 
• The Washington Commanders are nearing a sale to an ownership group led by Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils Owner Josh Harris at around $6 billion. 
• General Motors will continue to test the price ceiling of its highly profitable full-size pickup trucks as it spends billions to transition to all-electric vehicles. The latest model revealed is the Chevrolet Silverado HD 2500 ZR2, a new off-road model for one of GM’s most expensive pickup trucks.
• Twitter will now allow users the option to buy and sell stocks and other assets from eToro.

Happy Thursday & Happy National Scrabble Day! Did you know that Scrabble is sold in 121 countries with 29 different language versions available? Are you a Scrabble fan?

In This Issue: A Weekend of Good Food & Good Friends | Yealink IP Desk Phone | Advantages and Disadvantages of VOIP | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – A Weekend of Good Food & Good Friends

Good Morning! Happy Thursday!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. I had a pretty eventful weekend, and though it was lots of fun, I already committed to staying in the house this weekend. I enjoyed my time with friends but I always find it nice to take a break from the day-to-day and just relax.

We went to an adult arcade. The arcade is very nostalgic. it has so many different games ranging from Pacman to Mario Kart. I wouldn’t call myself a gamer. I used to play games but now, I really enjoy watching other people play compared to playing games myself. The next day I cooked all day long for a friend’s birthday. We had an Easter spread! It was a great time!

Although we had a great time, I know that this weekend I will be snuggled up in bed with a good book trying to catch up on the rest I missed out on last week… I can’t wait!

Have an amazing Thursday!

Joi

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Equipped with an adjustable and flexible 7-inch multi-point touch screen for much more comfortable viewing according to the needs, this Yealink SIP-T57W is perfect for all busy business professionals. The Yealink SIP-T57W boasts built-in Bluetooth 4.2 and the built-in dual band 2.4G/5G Wi-Fi, the SIP-T57W IP Phone ensures you to keep up with the modern wireless technology.

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Learning Center Article – Advantages and Disadvantages of VOIP

Everyone has a phone, but fewer and fewer people have landlines. Even as that trend continues, there are cases where a landline makes a lot of sense, and you want to have a stable, reliable phone for specific calls.

When that is the case, you actually have two options for your phone. You can get a traditional landline that runs through the old infrastructure, or you can run your phone through the internet, utilizing something known as VOIP.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Historic rain in South Florida causes severe flooding, the closing of schools, and also Fort Lauderdale’s airport. Read more here. 
• Leaked US documents have revealed that disagreements in Russia’s security apparatus led to the defense ministry being accused of undercounting casualties of the war in Ukraine. 
• The Duke of Sussex will be present at the King’s coronation, but his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, will not be attending.
• Apple supplier Cirrus Logic’s shares fell about 12% early afternoon Wednesday after a report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro won’t use Cirrus’ haptic touch technology as heavily as initially expected.

Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway through the week. We hope that your coffee pots are full as you head into the day and that you are looking forward to a great weekend ahead!

In This Issue: A Successful Week in Disney! | 4 Post Rack Mount Adjustable Rails | All about Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series Switches | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – A Successful Week in Disney!

Good morning CK Family!

What a week it has been! Catching up from a week off can be a struggle, but I’m hanging in there.

I’m happy to report that the full week at Disney was a blast! We wrapped up the week with a day at Magic Kingdom and a second day at Epcot – both very magical! If anyone has ever been to Magic Kingdom, you’re likely aware of the sword in the stone that you can attempt to pull out. My brother thought he’d give it a shot thinking he’d have no luck with that sword successfully coming out of the rock however, he went up to the rock, pulled it out, and out came the sword!! I think his facial reaction was my favorite part because he didn’t actually think it would come out and when it did, everyone around was cheering him on!

On our second day in Epcot, we spent time going through all of the countries eating and drinking different drinks! We also never realized how many rides and shows are all throughout the countries.

Overall, the trip was a blast! We rode all the rides, enjoyed all the magic, and enjoyed all Mickey Mouse ice creams we could have ever dreamed of having.

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Our CablesAndKits mount should be in the toolbox of every network admin and installer. No more looking for those hard-to-find rails or rack ears to mount your server, UPS, switch, firewall, or other devices. These fully adjustable, universal rails offer the simplicity and versatility to get the devices you need to be mounted in the rack, quickly and safely.

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Learning Center Article – All about Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series Switches

When you need to run an enterprise network, you need enterprise equipment. Cisco is an industry leader in this space for a reason, but even within the Cisco ecosystem, you have a lot of choices.

If you aren’t building a data center, but you still need a lot of users and a lot of bandwidth, the Catalyst 9200 series might be a perfect fit.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• GM Ventures is leading a $50 million funding round for Texas startup EnergyX. EnergyX has developed technology that can extract lithium from brine much more efficiently than current methods.
• YouTube’s baseline “Sunday Ticket” package will cost $349 for YouTube TV subscribers or $449 for non-subscribers.
• Google TV is getting 800 free streaming channels from partners like Tubi, Plex and Haystack News.
• Raspberry Pi has received fresh investment from Sony’s semiconductor unit, in a deal that will let users and developers make visual sensory applications using its AI chips.

Happy Tuesday & Happy National Pet Day! It’s the perfect day to snuggle up and love on your sweet pet(s). Might even be the perfect day to throw in an extra treat throughout the day!

In This Issue: A Long Weekend & Time at the Masters | CAT5e Ethernet Patch Cable | 5 Tips to Stretch Your IT Budget | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – A Long Weekend & Time at the Masters

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend and spent some time reflecting on the reason we celebrate!

It was a busy long weekend for me as I took Thursday and Friday off work to head to Augusta with a friend! We spent Thursday checking out some trails down in the area. Who knew they have an incredible trail system with over 150 miles of trails!? Many of them get a lot of use from mountain bikers, but they were truly beautiful with lots of views of Clarks Hill Lake!

On Friday we were fortunate to be able to attend the Masters and it truly was a tradition unlike any other! We got there super early so that we’d have plenty of time to soak it in! It was all so impressive! We couldn’t get over how beautiful the grounds were, how kind the workers were, and how delicious the food was! We made sure to get our photo taken at Founders Circle and of course, we hit up the gift shop which was quite the experience! We spent a good bit of time hanging out at hole 1 and got to see lots of golfers come through. I couldn’t believe how close we were to them! It was such a fun day and I’m so thankful for the experience!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Our Snagless CAT5e Ethernet cables are made with the highest quality copper wire construction to support networking Gigabit Ethernet speeds (up to 1000 Mbps) over short distances. This makes these patch cables perfect for general use, and are the most popular network cable for home or office networking.

Our new EASYboot, Ferrari-style patch cables have all the same benefits of the standard half-moon boot cables, but make it easier to connect and disconnect your ethernet cables. CablesAndKits’ ethernet cables are individually bagged and labeled in clean, clear packaging, which makes them easy to store and the length and type is easily identifiable.

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Learning Center Article – 5 Tips to Stretch Your IT Budget

One of the great challenges facing every IT department and provider in the business is the limited budget. IT experts can spend all of your money in a flash. There is always something newer, faster, and better to pursue. But, IT investments don’t come with guaranteed returns.

You have to make a budget that you can reasonably afford, and then you have to stretch that budget as far as possible to optimize your spending. It’s not always easy, but fortunately, there are a few tricks that can help in this department.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Following her stellar college career, Aliyah Boston was picked first by the Indiana Fever in the 2023 WNBA Draft.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill is piloting a new restaurant design to help the company reach its sustainability goals. Next year, more than 100 of the burrito chain’s new locations will use all-electric equipment and some additional elements from the new design.
• Walmart announced Thursday it plans to add electric vehicle charging stations to thousands of U.S. stores by 2030.
• The FBI is warning consumers about “juice jacking,” where bad actors use public chargers to infect phones and devices with malware. The law enforcement agency says consumers should avoid using public chargers at malls and airports, and stick to their own USB cables and charging plugs.

Happy Monday! Today we celebrate our best friends and worst enemies all in one – it’s National Siblings Day! Leave it to our siblings to be our biggest competition, strongest encouragement, and consistent reminder of all of the embarrassing moments in our lives.

In This Issue: A Grogu “Easter Egg” | Dell PowerEdge T620 | Benefits of Cisco 9300 Switches | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – A Grogu “Easter Egg”

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a great weekend and a great Easter! Last week I got to spend some time out of the office and into the great outdoors! (That sounded like a car commercial or something…) but I did have a relaxing time camping with my family on the shores of Lake Lanier. This is the second year we’ve gone camping during Spring break and it seems like it’s going to be somewhat of a tradition. The kids enjoyed spending time outside and named our campfire Grogu (after the adorable baby Yoda character from the Mandalorian). My oldest would spend hours finding sticks to “feed” Grogu and the little one enjoyed playing near the water. Overall we had a great time, it got a little hot the last couple of days of camping, but we found some refuge under some trees near the lake. I’m glad to be back at work, recharged, and ready to go! I hope you all have a great week!

Fun little “Easter Egg” if you will… if you type in Grogu into a google search – Baby Yoda will appear in the lower right-hand corner of the page and you can click on him to see something happen :D.

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Gain next-generation speed and versatility with the Dell™ PowerEdge™ T620 tower, fully equipped with high performance and availability with built-in room for growth. With its Intel® Xeon® E5-2600 processors, outstanding virtualization and database performance are assured. Finish your most demanding applications efficiently fast. The T620 has the capability of handling large workloads and key applications.

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Learning Center Article – Benefits of Cisco 9300 Switches

When you’re designing a major enterprise network, you need the best tools available. For that, you will often turn to Cisco. The brand has dominated this space for decades for a reason, and when you want the very best that Cisco has to offer, you might turn to the Catalyst 9300.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Walmart plans to add electric vehicle charging stations to thousands of U.S. stores by 2030.
• Tesla will open a new Megafactory in Shanghai, China, that is capable of producing 10,000 Megapacks a year. Megapacks are very large batteries that store energy, help stabilize the power grid and prevent outages.
• Eight people remained missing after the building they lived in exploded and collapsed early Sunday near the port of Marseille, France. 
• Apple Mac shipments fell 40.5% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same time the prior year.