CablesAndKits Blog

Today is Inbox Zero Day! We all need some help getting our inboxes down to a manageable level but have you ever gotten your email inbox down to zero? Today is a good day to do so…just delete everything and start over. Haha!

In This Issue: Zombies…spiders…and skeletons | Cat6 Easyboot Ethernet | Basics of GPU Servers | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Zombies…spiders…and skeletons

Happy Thursday!

One thing I have learned now that I have been in my new neighborhood for over a year and gone through a full cycle of holidays is that my neighbors go wild with decorations. I wouldn’t say it is at a competitive level…yet…but it seems like each holiday gets bigger and bigger. Halloween seems to be no exception. I imagine most of the Amazon deliveries over the past few weeks have been Halloween decorations showing up at people’s homes. It is a bit crazy with what some people have done, and I don’t think they are done yet. Everything from 12 foot tall werewolves and skeletons, to giant spider webs, to skeletons and zombies coming out of the ground in every yard, we have it all in here. It is kinda hilarious some of the creativity that they have come up with around here. I was just going to set a pumpkin out on the front porch and be done with it but they weren’t having that. After being bullied (I am totally joking of course) by no less than 4 of my neighbors, I finally broke down and decided to put some decorations out. They really wanted to the whole street to be an “experience” for the kids and people who come through. (I think we had about 300+ kids come through the neighborhood last year.) Now, I am thinking I need to put out more…geesh…they have gotten to me and sucked me in. Haha!

Do you, your neighbors, or whole neighborhood go wild decorating for Halloween?? If so, what’s the main theme or your favorite decoration? I need more ideas! Haha!

Have a great rest of your week and weekend!

Jason

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Our Cat6 Easyboot Ethernet cables make it simple for you to manage your Ethernet cabling with a tabbed boot which makes it easy to connect or disconnect the cable in hard to reach, tight, high-density situations, unlike the older style Half-moon boot cables…so no more hurting your thumbs or having to cut the tabs off the Half-moon boots.

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Learning Center Article – Basics of GPU Servers

Servers are essential in the modern world. They do the heavy lifting that allows all of us to enjoy the many perks of a digitally connected life. Whether browsing the internet, using a favorite app, or even talking on the phone, servers are playing critical roles at every juncture. With so much depending on servers, it’s not surprising to see that they continually experience serious innovation. Today’s servers can run laps around those used even five years ago, and there are a few key reasons for that.

One of those reasons is the use of GPUs. GPU servers are becoming more common, and they offer a lot to any enterprise that might put them to use.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• More than 30 people, primarily children, were killed Thursday when a gunman opened fire in a childcare center in northeastern Thailand, authorities said. It was the deadliest rampage in the nation’s history.
• Twelve North Korean warplanes flew in formation near the South Korean border in a simulation of an air-to-ground attack Thursday, prompting Seoul to scramble 30 fighter jets of its own. The South Korean military says it detected eight fighter jets and four bombers in the North Korean formation. South Korea’s flight of 30 warplanes did not engage the sortie, however, and only guarded the country’s airspace. The flight is only the latest aggression to come from Kim Jong Un’s regime, which has launched numerous ballistic missiles in recent weeks.
• Amazon said Thursday it will add 150,000 workers for the holiday shopping rush. The hiring ramp comes ahead of Amazon’s “Prime Early Access Sale” next week.
• A SpaceX rocket soared into orbit from Florida on Wednesday carrying the next long-term International Space Station crew, with a Russian cosmonaut, two Americans and a Japanese astronaut flying together in a demonstration of U.S.-Russian teamwork in space despite Ukraine war tensions. The mission is notable for the inclusion of Anna Kikina, 38, the lone female cosmonaut on active duty with Roscosmos, making the first spaceflight of a Russian launched from U.S. soil in two decades.

Happy World Teachers’ Day! Today honors teachers making vital contributions to the education and development of our future leaders. Be sure to thank a teacher who made a difference in your life!

In This Issue: Road Trip Tips & Tricks | Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series 48 Port IP PoE Switching Module | How to future-proof your network with Cisco 8800 series phones | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Road Trip Tips & Tricks

Happy Wednesday!

It’s been a very busy month in our household. We’ve traveled back-to-back weekends and now are on a week-long adventure in Ohio. I think the biggest struggle of being on the road is food. I’m a fairly picky eater and struggle with finding quick places that I can grab something to eat that I’ll actually enjoy. I usually try and pack a cooler to take on the road, especially for bigger road trips.

Do you have any tips and tricks for road trips? Especially when trying to find good food, that doesn’t make you groggy when traveling!

Hope you have a great week!

Ashley

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Inline Power 10/100BaseT Ethernet switching module enables the Catalyst 6500/6000 family to be the first platform of the industry that can support new Fast Ethernet features necessary for campus network convergence. You can use this module to supply inline power for Cisco IP Phones and Cisco Wireless Access Points supplied with Fast Ethernet.

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Learning Center Article – How to future-proof your network with Cisco 8800 series phones

Technology is constantly evolving and advancing, and the world of VoIP phones is no exception. Voice-over-IP technology has come a long way since it was first introduced in the 1990s, and many businesses, small and large, are adopting IP phones as replacements for old analog technologies.

If you are in the market for a VoIP phone, it’s critical that you maximize your investment by choosing equipment that will meet the needs of today as well as those of tomorrow. The Cisco IP Phone 8800 Series is Cisco’s next-generation advanced VoIP phone series and is an excellent option for anyone looking to future-proof their network.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Geico has made sizable staff cuts in its marketing department, and put its massive media account in review.
• Ford will end production of its $500,000 GT supercar later this year with a special edition model paying tribute to the vehicle’s racing heritage.
• The highest mortgage rates in more than 20 years coincided with one of the deadliest hurricanes on record in the United States, both contributing to a steep drop in mortgage demand. Total mortgage application volume fell 14.2% last week compared with the previous week.
• The PlayStation 5 finally has a native Disney Plus app. Disney has announced that a new version of the Disney Plus app is out now around the world for PS5, and it’s designed for the PS5.

Happy National Taco Day! Today recognizes the savory tortilla stuffed with fillings. And what better day for this to fall on than a Tuesday! Happy Taco Tuesday!

In This Issue: Race Day Adventures! | Cisco 2960S 48 Port Gigabit 370W PoE+ Switch | Understanding OLT, ONU, ONT, and ODN | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Race Day Adventures!

Good Morning & Happy Tuesday! Hope everyone is having a great start to the week! I’m still riding an emotional high from an absolutely incredible weekend! Not sure if I have mentioned this little “fun fact” before, but I’m a huge Nascar fan and grew up literally not wanting to leave the tv for even a second if a race was on. I still love the sport and was absolutely thrilled when we were offered VIP tickets to the Talladega race on Sunday (shout out to my awesome co-worker and her son who works in Nascar and made this happen!)

I got to take my little brother and we had the absolute BEST time! We were able to take a tram into the infield of the track where we got to experience all that Talladega has to offer. We got to walk through the garages where the teams work on the cars, the haulers where the teams hang out, and even got to spend some time on pit road! We got to walk right up to the cars and get an up-close view of them. During the race, we were hanging out behind the wall on pit road and at one point we were invited to climb up on a pit box for a while to watch the race which was just an unbelievable experience!

There was so much to take in and it made for the best day ever. Everyone was incredibly kind and we just couldn’t have asked for a better time! I love that Nascar allows fans to get so close to the action. Can’t think of any other sport where fans have such wide-open access to the stars and get somewhat of a glimpse “behind the scenes”. It really is super cool and super unique! We are so thankful for the awesome experience!

Rebecca

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches with LAN Base provide the performance and availability that today’s small businesses demand, as well as the intelligence to support business applications and security services. Switches are a key component of your network foundation and can improve the availability of critical applications while protecting business information. The Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches are specifically designed for growing businesses that need to accommodate expanding services, optimize network bandwidth, and to assure the fast and reliable delivery of applications and services.

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Learning Center Article – Understanding OLT, ONU, ONT, and ODN

As the industry for fiber optical networking continues to grow, one corner of the market is pushing innovation and development, and understanding this could help you with your own network designs.

This area is known as fiber to the home (FTTH), and it’s now a major aspect of broadband internet service.

In order to provide fiber connections all the way to endpoints in homes, the fiber optical connections have to split from one point to many endpoints efficiently. One of the preferred ways to do this is with passive optical networks (PONs).

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Bobby Wagner delivered one of the biggest hits on a person who got onto the field. The Rams linebacker flattened the protester who ran on the field with a device emitting pink smoke late in the second quarter of Los Angeles’ game against the San Francisco 49ers.
• A charmed pair of guests will have the chance to stay in the cottage of the Sanderson sisters from Hocus Pocus. The building – complete with a cauldron, spell book and black-flame candle – has been recreated in the woods of Danvers, Mass. It’s just a few miles from Salem, where the movie takes place, and where townsfolk accused more than 200 people of practicing witchcraft in 1692 and 1693.
• A Colorado man survived a bear attack in the backyard of his home when he fired at the animal and scared it away after it threw him to the ground.
• European lawmakers on Tuesday approved a new law that would require electronic devices to use a common charger. The European Parliament approved the rule which, if passed, will mean all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in the European Union must be equipped with a USB Type-C charging port by the end of 2024.

Happy Monday! We’re kicking off this Monday realizing that we forgot to add the link from the Axios Miami article on Friday 🤦🏼‍♀️ you can find that link here. Cheers to a more keen eye this week!

In This Issue: Support Hurricane Ian Recovery | Cisco Catalyst 2960S Series FlexStack Module | Basics of Port Mirroring Configuration | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Hello October!!

Happy Monday and hello October!

Only 28 more days until Halloween, which for me is a great excuse to eat lots of candy, enjoy pumpkin treats, and watch scary movies. It’s starting to feel more like Fall here in Georgia and I’m definitely enjoying the cool weather free from mosquitos. If there is one creature I dearly desire to be removed from existence, the mosquito tops the list, with ticks being a close second.

We spent a lot of time outdoors around the house this weekend doing some yard work and washing cars. It felt great to get some Fall cleaning in – I know that’s usually done in Spring, but I think there’s a place to spruce things up in the Fall as well – really anytime when it’s not blazingly hot and humid or frigid and freezing. It’s also easier to coax the kids outside and away from their devices.

On another note, I’m still reeling from reading and seeing the amount of destruction that Hurricane Ian caused, I can’t imagine what those families are going through right now. If there’s anyone specific that we can pray for please let us know!

I hope you have a great week and a great Monday!

Cris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The NIM-2FXO from Cisco is a 2 port interface module equipped with 2 FXO network interfaces for better connectivity and convenient usage where it matters. It’s compatible with Cisco’s 4331 and 4351-X ISRs and is equipped with 2 analog ports.

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Learning Center Article – Choosing the Right Network Card

When you think about networking, there’s a lot of focus on switches, panels, racks, cables, and the backbone infrastructure that makes it all work.

It’s easy to forget about devices that enable individual networking components to function. One such case is a network interface card (NIC). They allow your computerized devices to connect to the network, so they’re absolutely essential. Many devices have NICs built into them, which is why they are easy to overlook. But, there are times when you need to purchase NICs. When that happens, this guide will help you choose the right option.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw said Sunday that he has been treated for two forms of cancer in the past year. Bradshaw said on “Fox NFL Sunday” that he was diagnosed with bladder cancer late last year and was treated, including surgery, at Yale University Medical Center. Bradshaw reported, “As of today, I am bladder cancer free.”
• Ukrainian forces achieved their biggest breakthrough in the south of the country since the war began, bursting through the front and advancing rapidly along the Dnipro River on Monday, threatening supply lines for thousands of Russian troops.
• NASA just successfully completed its first practice run of a technique that might just save the world from an asteroid impact. The mission began on Nov. 24, 2021, when the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) probe lifted off from Vandenburg Air Force Base onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. On Sept. 26, 2022, DART reached the end of its journey when it smashed into an asteroid called Dimorphos, which orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos, at a speed of 14,000 miles per hour. The very last image returned from DART before impact was of Dimorphos’ rubble-strewn landscape.
• It’s long been widely believed that dogs can detect extreme emotions by smell. Now scientists at Queen’s University Belfast in the U.K. have proven that a dog’s nose knows. Acute stress changes the compounds found in human sweat and breath, research has shown. In a recent experiment, four dogs were presented with sweat and breath samples collected from human volunteers — before and after the people engaged in a difficult math exercise. The canine participants were able to detect with a greater than 90 percent accuracy which samples came from before and which came from after the 36 human volunteers had spent three minutes trying to count backward, aloud, from 9,000 in units of 17

Happy Friday! This week has been tough as we’ve seen hurricane Ian continue to cause massive destruction. Our hearts are heavy as we pray for everyone who’s been impacted.

In This Issue: Support Hurricane Ian Recovery | Cisco Catalyst 2960S Series FlexStack Module | Basics of Port Mirroring Configuration | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – Support Hurricane Ian Recovery

Happy Friday, folks! I’ll keep this post short. There are millions of people that Hurricane Ian has displaced. My encouragement today is to get involved someway in the recovery efforts!

This article from Axios Miami provides some options to support recovery efforts.

If you’re already involved, thank you!

Chris

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Product Spotlights & Updates

Cisco FlexStack Module provides a true stacking solution with all Catalyst 2960S Series switches in a FlexStack stack acting as a single switching unit when the module is installed in all switches. FlexStack provides a unified data plane, and single configuration for a group of stacked Cisco Catalyst 2960-S switches. A single FlexStack connection between two members is a full duplex 10Gbps connection.

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Learning Center Article – Basics of Port Mirroring Configuration

When you have an important network, it’s a common practice to use some form of network monitoring. This can help you keep an eye on things for better security and network performance.

How do you implement monitoring techniques into a network?

One of the most straightforward methods is to use port mirroring.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• SpaceX and billionaire astronaut Jared Isaacman are teaming up with NASA to study whether a private mission could extend the life of the famed Hubble telescope. NASA signed an agreement with Elon Musk’s company to study the possibility of using a SpaceX spacecraft to dock with the telescope and change its orbit in an effort to further its lifetime.
• The Biden administration scaled back eligibility for its student loan forgiveness plan Thursday, the same day six Republican-led states sued President Joe Biden in an effort to block his student loan forgiveness plan from taking effect.
• A Russian strike against the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least 25 people and injured 28 others.
• A revived Hurricane Ian set its sights on South Carolina’s coast Friday and the historic city of Charleston, with forecasters predicting a storm surge and floods after the megastorm caused catastrophic damage in Florida and left people trapped in their homes. With all of South Carolina’s coast under a hurricane warning, a steady stream of vehicles left Charleston on Thursday, many likely heeding officials’ warnings to seek higher ground. Storefronts were sandbagged to ward off high water levels in an area prone to inundation.

Whether you’re grabbing yours to go or lingering over grabbing a second cup – coffee lovers, this day is for you! Coffee has a long history of satisfying the taste buds (and caffeine addition) of many. What’s your favorite way to enjoy a cup of coffee?

In This Issue: 2022 Top Halloween Candy | Cisco Catalyst 3560-CX Series 8 Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch | Benefits of Redundancy & Cold Spares | News to Start Your Day

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The CK Daily – 2022 Top Halloween Candy

Happy Thursday!

I have a tasty topic for all of us today. It seems like every year the stores start bringing out Halloween candy (well, all candy and decorations for holidays) earlier and earlier. You can walk through any store, starting at the end of August, and not see Halloween decorations and candy everywhere. I personally don’t mind this since some of the candy is only available a few times a year. I am a HUGE candy corn (that probably just made a few of you cringe…haha!), Nerds, and SweeTarts fan, but I won’t say no to just about any of it. The pumpkin-shaped white chocolate Reese’s cups are another favorite of mine. Put those in the freezer, let them get nice and cold, and they are good to go!

Based on some analysis by Byte.com (a national network of dentists) using a combination of Google searches and surveys, they determined what the top Halloween candy for each state is for 2022. (Yeah…not overly scientific, but still fun to look at.) Georgia got Nerds. I can def respect that! Of course, CK’s favorite candy is M&M’s. Haha!

So, do you agree with your state? What’s your personal favorite Halloween candy? Not that we are running around trick-or-treating as adults (I guess we could.), but we do get to buy it and raid our kids’ candy stashes that they get each year.

I hope all of you have an awesome rest of the week and weekend…and go buy some of your favorite Halloween candy and enjoy it!

Jason

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Product Spotlights & Updates

The WS-C3560CX-8PC-S is part of the Cisco Catalyst Compact Switch family built to expand Ethernet infrastructure outside of your network closet. Virtually silent (Fanless) switches are capable of being mounted on the wall, under desks, in tight spaces, or pretty much anywhere they are needed. Unlike hubs or unmanaged switches, the 3560CX series switches provide advanced security features and advanced networking features for flexibility and scalability.

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Learning Center Article – Benefits of Redundancy & Cold Spares

Downtime is the true enemy of every network. Downtime is frustrating, destructive, and worst of all, costly. Businesses can rapidly lose money with even small amounts of network downtime, so everyone wants ways to avoid it.

There really is one answer: redundancy.

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Today’s News to Start Your Day:

• Ian, which was downgraded Thursday to a tropical storm as it heads for open water in the Atlantic, battered southwest Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph at landfall Wednesday. Lee County, FL was hit hardest. More than 2.5 million families are without power as of this morning.
• Coolio, the ’90s rapper who lit up the music charts with hits like “Gangsta’s Paradise” and “Fantastic Voyage,” has died, his friend and manager Jarez Posey, told CNN. He was 59. Posey said Coolio died Wednesday afternoon. Details on the circumstances were not immediately available.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday will formally annex four regions of Ukraine. The move follows referendums in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine that have been condemned as sham votes. Leaders in Ukraine and Western powers are worried Putin could use threats against these regions as a pretext for using nuclear weapons. Elsewhere, NATO said it believes leaks on the Nord Stream pipeline, which funnels gas from Russia to Europe, happened because of “deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage.”
• New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge belted his 61st home run of the season in Toronto on Wednesday night, tying the American League record set by fellow pinstripe great Roger Maris. Judge’s latest long ball came against Blue Jays pitcher Tim Mayza in the seventh inning at Rogers Centre, breaking a 3-3 tie and leading New York to an 8-3 victory.