In This Issue: Cisco Nexus 3000 Series 48 Port SFP+ Switch | Tips for Maintaing Your Server | News to Start Your Day
Happy Monday and Happy Book Lovers Day! Today is the perfect day to grab a book and get lost in the pages. What are you currently reading? We’d love to hear some of your favorite book recommendations!
The CK Daily – Reminder to Not Sweat the Small Stuff
Gooooood Morning CK Fam!
Another wonderful day and week to be alive and get started on the right foot.
A great devotional on Saturday I had to share from Joyce Meyer. Dreading the little things (the commute to work, laundry, dishes, running an errand, etc) and how the dread steals from our joy.
I don’t know about you, but there sure have seemed like a lot more energy vampires out there in the news, social media, and so on the last few years. I am not willing to sacrifice any more joy than I have already.
Be present. Do what needs to be done and maybe spice it up with a nostalgic music album you love or a podcast.
Hope you enjoy this message and this week!
Corey
Hot Topic of the Day
KFC is opening a themed hotel in London for 11 Days! The House of Harland will be open for 11 nights beginning August 18th! You can book a one-night stay for $154 and enjoy a private movie theater with a “Press for Chicken” button and an arcade machine!
Guests will be picked up from their travel in a Black Cadillac and have their own “Chick-In Clerk” to ensure they enjoy their stay. The hotel will be decorated with lots of chicken and all of the proceeds will go to the KFC Foundation.
The real question is, would you take up this offer of a one-night stay in the House of Harland? Head on over to our CK Facebook page to let us know your thoughts!
Product Spotlights & Updates
Happy Monday CK Family! We hope that you had a great weekend! To keep the excitement of the weekend going, we’re kicking off the week highlighting the Cisco Nexus 3000 Series 48 Port SFP+ Switch, N3KC3064PQ10GX-R.
The Cisco Nexus 3000 series switches operate in the layer 2 and 3 switching realm. The 3064 is an in-line rate Gigabit Ethernet top-of-rack switch. In a normal environment, a top-of-rack switch will be the switch that will support modular deployment of data center racks. The ToR approach minimizes the length of cables required for each server since all of the servers are connected to the switch in the same rack. Most times, copper cables will be used to connect within the rack and the fiber cables will be used to connect each top of the rack switch. This setup enables expandability for future growth.
The Cisco Nexus 3064 has a switching line rate of 1.2 terabits per second (Tbps) along with 950 million packets per second within its 1RU design. The 3064 is designed to handle low latency and will deliver higher performance in high-frequency trading (HFT) environments. The N3K-C3064PQ-10GX operates on the Cisco NX-OS along with end-to-end Nexus fabric. This switch is designed for big data customers that need a top-of-rack switch that has local switching and connects with upstream Nexus switches.
This week, enjoy 20% off this switch!
Tips for Maintaining Your Server – CK Learning Center
Servers are powerful in every sense of the word, in fact, they can hum for 24 hours a day, seven days a week without having any issues. However, their efficiency can be reduced drastically or even cut short completely if they are deprived of proper maintenance. You can avert server failure or a major disaster by simply having a regular check-up on them. Hiring a server management solution is the easiest and worry-free way to go. However, if you choose to do it yourself, here are a few maintenance tips to follow:
Ensure the backups are in good working order
One of the best things you can do is to maintain server backups. There are several options for backing up your server. You can utilize a local backup (internal or external hard drives, magnetic tape drives, etc) or you can utilize a remote backup (offsite). There are pros and cons to each, however maintaining an offsite backup is oftentimes a higher security option because being in a separate location is a protection against natural disasters. Prior to making any changes, ensure that the backups are working. Check to see that the backup location is right. Run some test recoveries just to be double sure.
Check how the disk is used
When you start to use up too much space on your disks, it can quickly begin to affect performance and can even prevent critical backups from running. It is important to monitor disk usage and to take proactive steps to help free up disk space. Space saving ideas include deleting old mails, logs, and unused software versions. If you have more than 90% disk usage, get additional storage or reduce usage. A 100% server usage will cause it to stop responding, cause corruption of data tables and result in lost data.
Regular Update of OS
Linux systems often release updates and staying on track with them can be a challenge. It is, therefore, critical to use patch management tools as well as have monitoring that alerts you of a system update. You may miss on vital security updates if you choose to do manual or no updates at all. If automatic updates are not possible, then it would be best for you to create scheduled updates. Failing to update regularly could leave you exposed to hackers, malware, and potential loss of important data.
Clean your server regularly
Some people make the mistake of thinking that simply because their servers are in a closed cabinet they don’t get dirty. Nevertheless, even servers in proper environments can inhale dust and dirt. This may adversely affect their performance and reliability after some time.
Today’s powerful CPUs and GPUs require properly functioning fans to enhance air circulation. When the fans get exposed to dust and dirt for long, they may fail to function as expected. However, you should be careful when cleaning the fans not to cause any damage.
Check For Errors in the Hardware
Review the logs for detection hardware problems. Network failures, disk read errors, and overheating notices may be early signs of possible hardware failure. Look into these and more so, if the system has had a history of not working within the expected range.
Change Password
It may seem like a small thing, but it is critical that you change your password at least twice a year, especially if passwords have been given out previously for maintenance purposes. Remember that passwords should be long and complex and should contain a combinations of letters, numbers, and special characters if possible.
Test UPS Batteries
UPS’s have experienced tremendous improvements recently. However, that does not mean that they don’t lose capacity with time. Test your UPS’s at least annually to establish how long they will sustain a server. This may help you to identify the best time to replace them, especially when you find that their runtime has reduced drastically.
Check Security of the Systems
Use remote editing tools to review the security, auditing the server security, check on the OS updates, configuration of the system, and other possible risks. This should ideally be done monthly, however if that is not possible it should at least be done quarterly.
Update Control Panel
If you are using a server or hosting control panel, it needs to be updated. This may also require the software controlled by the panel to be updated as well
RAID Alarms Monitoring
RAID should be used in all production servers and hence, the RAID status should be monitored. A single disk failure can end up in a total system failure. This can cause the need for a simple drive replacement to result in a disaster recovery scenario that takes several hours to restore.
Server Utilization Check-Ups
Check the utilization of the network, RAM, CPU, and disk. If you are about to reach the limits, consider getting additional resources or even migrating to another server.
Today’s News to Start Your Day:
- Frontier Airlines will require employees to get vaccinated or regularly take Covid tests. Workers will have until October 1st to show proof that they received a Covid-19 vaccine, or regularly test negative.
- The first batch of Sephora shops within Kohl’s stores debuted on Friday. Both brands are hoping to woo new customers with the partnership, which was announced nine months ago. The goal is to have 400 locations open this year, and at least 850 up-and-running by 2023.
- The final medals are being awarded in the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, wrapping two weeks of competition overshadowed by Covid-19. Team USA had a total of 626 athletes compete, winning 39 gold medals, 41 silver, and 33 bronze for a grand total of 113 medals in 28 different sports.
- Air pollution in the U.S. and Europe improved over the last decade thanks to stricter regulations, but more frequent and intense wildfires are having a big impact on air quality. Mobile apps like IQAir’s AirVisual, Air Care, Breezometer, and others run by government agencies are helping people track air pollution.
- It has been nearly three years since Instagram, the video and photo-sharing social networking service, introduced the in-app form for users to request a verified badge for their account. Recently they updated the self-submission form to request a verified badge. Now it’s allowing users to attach more information to their verification request substantiating their notability.
