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2.5 Admins

2.5 Admins

303 episodes — Page 4 of 7

2.5 Admins 153: Robots.nope

Updating the robots.txt standard for the AI era, the US government implements an IoT certification and labeling system, and the issues with fully encrypting a server.   Plugs Support us on patreon 3 Advantages to Running FreeBSD as Your Server Operating System   News/discussion Google suggests updating the robots.txt standard Robots.txt is not the answer: Proposing a new meta tag for LLM/AI ChatGPT Browse with Bing temporarily disabled The Biden administration is tackling smart devices with a new cybersecurity label   Free Consulting We were asked about fully encrypting a server. The Klara article that Allan mentioned           Factor Factor’s fresh, never frozen, meals are ready in just 2 minutes, so all you have to do is heat them up and enjoy. Go to factormeals.com/25a50 and use code 25a50 to get 50% off.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jul 27, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 152: AirTags Use CR2032 Batteries

Intel is giving up on NUCs and Asus is taking over the line, millions of classified US military emails are going to a Russian ally thanks to a common typo, and monitoring SSDs.   Plugs Support us on patreon Linux and FreeBSD Firewalls – Part 2   News Intel is quitting on its adorable, powerful, and upgradable mini NUC computers Intel and ASUS Agree to Term Sheet to Take Intel NUC Systems Product Line Forward ‘Millions’ of sensitive US military emails were reportedly sent to Mali due to a typo   Free Consulting We were asked about monitoring SSDs.         Kolide Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Watch the demo today to see how it works at kolide.com/25a           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jul 20, 202329 min

2.5 Admins 151: Practical ZFS

Setting up a self-hosted alternative, what counts as a “removable” battery, and backing up a Windows machine to ZFS.   News/discussion Practical ZFS Making sense of the EU’s fight for user-replaceable smartphone batteries (Jim was wrong about AirTags and their batteries. He’ll correct the record next time. No need to email us.)   Free Consulting We were asked about backing up a Windows machine to ZFS.         HelloFresh With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 50% off and free shipping at hellofresh.com/25admins50 using the promo code 25a50.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jul 13, 202330 min

2.5 Admins 150: Red Hate

Red Hat wants to limit redistribution of RHEL source code. We discuss their history with CentOS and the likely knock-on effects of taking direct aim at its customers’ GPL rights. Plus browsers doing port scans, and OpenWrt vs OPNsense.   Plugs Support us on patreon Practical ZFS   News Red Hat’s new source code policy and the intense pushback, explained Brave aims to curb practice of websites that port scan visitors   Free Consulting We were asked about OpenWrt vs OPNsense.       Kolide Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Watch the demo today to see how it works at kolide.com/25a   Factor Factor’s fresh, never frozen, meals are ready in just 2 minutes, so all you have to do is heat them up and enjoy. Go to factormeals.com/25a50 and use code 25a50 to get 50% off.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.    

Jul 6, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 149: Three Year Warning

WD disks “warning” that they have been running for 3 years, a modern replacement for IMAP that no one seems to be using, the potential issues that arise when PC games require an SSD to run, alternatives to VMware, and verifying your backups.   News/discussion “Clearly predatory”: Western Digital sparks panic, anger for age-shaming HDDs JMAP PC games are starting to require SSDs   Free Consulting We were asked about alternatives to VMware, and verifying your backups.           The Traceroute Podcast Catch up with the new season of the Traceroute Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out the website.   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jun 29, 202334 min

2.5 Admins 148: API Ultra 7 Pro for Workstations

Reddit fails to see where its true value lies, Intel makes its consumer CPU lines confusing, and Microsoft’s “next generation” filesystem.   News What Reddit Got Wrong Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’ Intel has new labels for its next major CPU architecture   Free Consulting We were asked about Microsoft’s “next generation” filesystem ReFS.         Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jun 22, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 147: EPYC Fail

Sloppy practises by Gigabyte reveal one of the problems with UEFI, why Slack refuses to implement end to end encryption, a familiar bug ruins people’s uptime, and XFS vs ext4.   Plugs Support us on patreon FreeBSD or Linux – A Choice Without OS Wars   News/discussion Millions of Gigabyte Motherboards Were Sold With a Firmware Backdoor Millions of Gigabyte PC motherboards backdoored? What’s the actual score? 90+ orgs tell Slack to stop slacking when it comes to full encryption AMD’s EPYC Rome Chips Crash After 1,044 Days of Uptime   Free Consulting We were asked about using XFS vs ext4.         HelloFresh With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 16 free meals plus free shipping at hellofresh.com/25admins16 using the promo code 25admins16.   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jun 15, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 146: VisionForge

We are unimpressed by Apple’s new headset, a particularly bountiful watering hole attack, misdirection from the AI industry, and connecting hard disks via a PCIe card.   Plugs Support us on patreon OpenZFS, Your Data and the Challenge of Ransomware   News Apple Vision Pro Hololens dev Twitter thread (archived version) Some Curseforge accounts might be compromised/hacked, and are uploading malicious files Statement on AI Risk WordPress has a new AI tool that will write blog posts for you Air Force denies running simulation where AI drone “killed” its operator     Free Consulting We were asked about connecting hard disks via a PCIe card.         Axiom Axiom unlocks observability at any scale. Go to axiom.co/25a, create an account, and start your 14-day free trial. You can do better than legacy logging, with Axiom.   Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jun 8, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 145: Bad Standards

An unfixable bug shines a light on a fundamental issue with Windows, why M.2 is a terrible connector for SSDs, the pros and cons of 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi, and the state of ZFS encryption.   Plugs Support us on patreon OpenZFS For HPC Clusters   News/discussion Windows 11 is so broken that even Microsoft can’t fix it You know M.2 SSDs suck, right? Why 2.4GHz Wi-Fi is both the savior and the scourge of the smart home   Free Consulting We were asked about the state of ZFS encryption.         Factor Factor’s fresh, never frozen, meals are ready in just 2 minutes, so all you have to do is heat them up and enjoy. Go to factormeals.com/25a50 and use code 25a50 to get 50% off your first box.   The Traceroute Podcast Listen and subscribe to the new season of the Traceroute Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out the website.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jun 1, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 144: AMRadio.zip

Google’s new TLDs are silly but not as dangerous as some people think, whether we should cling on to AM radio, Microsoft scans password-protected zip files, and how to assess open source software for its trustworthiness.   Plug Support us on patreon   News Google pushes .zip and .mov domains onto the Internet, and the Internet pushes back Google’s .zip and .mov domains aren’t the end of the world Congress wants AM radio in all new cars—trade groups say that’s a mistake Ford decides it won’t kill AM radio after all Microsoft is scanning the inside of password-protected zip files for malware   Free Consulting We were asked about how to assess open source software for its trustworthiness.           Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

May 25, 202333 min

2.5 Admins 143: Even Stars Die

Adobe’s vague threats show why open source is often the pragmatic choice, Russians craft a poor man’s ransomware with WinRAR, Chrome drops the padlock icon, Amazon pulls a Google, and using a keyfile with a password manager.   Plugs Support us on patreon Understanding ZFS vdev Types   News/discussion Adobe Tells Users They Can Get Sued for Using Old Versions of Photoshop Russian hackers use WinRAR to wipe Ukraine state agency’s data Google Chrome to get rid of padlock icon Our decision to wind down Amazon Halo   Free Consulting We were asked about using a keyfile with a password manager.         Axiom Axiom unlocks observability at any scale. Go to axiom.co/25a, create an account, and start your 14-day free trial. You can do better than legacy logging, with Axiom.   HelloFresh With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 16 free meals plus free shipping at hellofresh.com/25admins16 using the promo code 25admins16.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

May 18, 202331 min

2.5 Admins 142: Intel Key Party

Google’s attempt to replace passwords with keys, why Jim thinks IBM is dragging Red Hat in the wrong direction, Intel’s rudimentary error that breaks a security feature, and protecting your files from other users on your system.   Plugs Support us on patreon What Makes OpenZFS the Ideal Storage Solution for University Environments   News Google Online Security Blog: So long passwords, thanks for all the phish opensource.com Intel BootGuard key leaked   Free Consulting We were asked about protecting your files from other users on your system.         Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

May 12, 202333 min

2.5 Admins 141: Sysadmin Hunt

What the challenge of building a web browser from scratch tells us about the state of the modern web, why some people are frying their AMD CPUs, more on basic password managers and regularly powercyling network gear, moving from Mercurial to Git, running old applications on modern Ubuntu, and more.   Plugs Support us on patreon Leveraging OpenZFS to Build Your Own Storage Appliance   News/discussion How we’re building a browser when it’s supposed to be impossible New BIOS updates attempt to keep Ryzen 7000X3D processors from frying themselves   Feedback Pass   Free Consulting We were asked about moving from Mercurial to Git, and running old applications on modern Ubuntu.         Factor Factor’s fresh, never frozen, meals are ready in just 2 minutes, so all you have to do is heat them up and enjoy. Go to factormeals.com/25a40 and use code 25a40 to get 40% off your first box.   The Traceroute Podcast Listen and subscribe to the new season of the Traceroute Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out the website.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

May 4, 202333 min

2.5 Admins 140: /dev/nullvad

How not to practice responsible disclosure, Mulvad proves that its claims stand up, whether to be worried about public phone chargers, an “anti-ransomware” SSD, and monitoring ZFS with Zabbix.   Plugs Support us on patreon Comparing Modern Open-Source Storage Solutions: OpenZFS vs. The Rest   News Vague warning about an Amazon compromise Mullvad VPN was subject to a search warrant. Customer data not compromised Be Skeptical of FBI Warnings About Phone Chargers Let’s take a closer look at these claims of anti-ransomware SSDs   Free Consulting We were asked about monitoring ZFS with Zabbix.         Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Apr 27, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 139: Just Abandon Twitter

The new and up and coming tech that we’re excited about including RISC-V, hard drive innovation, Arm servers, and the Fediverse. Plus whether FreeBSD’s license has held it back, and generating SSL certificates on a router.           Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Apr 20, 202330 min

2.5 Admins 138: Drive Failure

Google Drive’s arbitrary file limit, SMR disks probably die sooner, Western Digital’s My Cloud outage locks some people out of their data, why we don’t talk much about Veeam, and running containers as root.   Plugs Support us on patreon Managing Disk Arrays on FreeBSD and TrueNAS   News Google Drive quietly introduced (then pulled) a file creation limit for all users HDD average life span misses 3-year mark in study of 2,007 defective drives Users fume after My Cloud network breach locks them out of their data   Free Consulting We were asked about running containers as root.           Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Apr 13, 202335 min

2.5 Admins 137: Schrodinger’s Backup

Yet another reason not to plug random USB drives into your laptop, how Reddit learned about the importance of testing your backups, and we brainstorm a sysadmin’s version of a minimal password manager.   News/discussion Journalist plugs in unknown USB drive mailed to him—it exploded in his face You Broke Reddit: The Pi-Day Outage   Free Consulting We were asked about rolling your own password manager.         HelloFresh With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 50% off at hellofresh.com/25admins50 using the promo code 25admins50   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Apr 6, 202331 min

2.5 Admins 136: Red Scare

Why the RESTRICT Act is about much more than banning Tik Tok, what recent Tesla hacks tell us about the way the security research community is changing, and what server manufacturers we recommend.   Plugs Support us on patreon   News TikTok ban hearing: all the news on the US’s crackdown on the video platform The ‘Insanely Broad’ RESTRICT Act Could Ban Much More Than Just TikTok Tesla Model 3 Hacked in Less Than 2 Minutes at Pwn2Own Contest   Free Consulting We were asked about what server manufacturers we recommend.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Mar 30, 202331 min

2.5 Admins 135: Moonshots

Why the death of Reader 10 years ago might come back to haunt Google, Samsung’s AI moon photos raise a philosophical question, Jim’s frustrations with Ubuntu, and connecting a POS system.   Plugs Support us on patreon FreeBSD History: Understanding the origins of DTrace   News/discussion Requiem for Google Reader, gone but not forgotten Samsung’s Moon photos are fake — but so is a lot of mobile photography How Samsung Galaxy Cameras Combine Super Resolution Technologies With AI Technology to Produce High-Quality Images of the Moon   Free Consulting We were asked about connecting a POS system.           Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Mar 23, 202333 min

2.5 Admins 134: 2guys1tesla

Our take on the collapse of Siicon Valley Bank, an odd case of 2 Teslas with the same key, filesystems in VMs, and self-hosted password managers.   Plugs Support us on patreon FreeBSD vs Linux: Tracing and Troubleshooting   News Silicon Valley Bank collapses Common equity capital chart Man accidentally drove away in someone else’s tesla using the car’s app   Free Consulting We were asked about filesystems in VMs, and self-hosted password managers.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Mar 16, 202333 min

2.5 Admins 133: ElasticWallet

Saving millions of dollars by exiting the cloud, GoDaddy is compromised by a sophisticated attacker, why you really shouldn’t use a smart plug to powercycle your router, running SMB and NFS shares on the same host, why private keys should stay private, and using old hardware as a backup server.   Plugs Support us on patreon Klara Webinar: Deploying a Successful Performance Audit   News/discussion We stand to save $7m over five years from our cloud exit GoDaddy says a multi-year breach hijacked customer websites and accounts You Should[n’t] Be Using a Smart Plug to Restart Your Router   Free Consulting We were asked about running SMB and NFS shares on the same host, why private keys should stay private, and using old hardware as a backup server.           Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Mar 9, 202333 min

2.5 Admins 132: 1.5FA

Twitter are going to charge for bad 2 factor authentication, new alarming details about the recent LastPass breach, and setting up a DNS server in the cloud.   Plugs Support us on patreon Klara: ZFS Optimization Success Stories   News An update on two-factor authentication using SMS on Twitter LastPass says employee’s home computer was hacked and corporate vault taken   Free Consulting We were asked about setting up a DNS server in the cloud.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Mar 2, 202330 min

2.5 Admins 131: At Least Try

Google is getting paid to advertise malware sites, Comcast’s false map data, more on private TLDs, why we don’t use Btrfs, and getting notifications for your monitoring.   Plugs Support us on patreon Klara Sysadmin Series: How to catch a bitcoin miner   News/discussion Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software Comcast gave false map data to FCC—and didn’t admit it until Ars got involved   Free Consulting We were asked about getting notifications for your monitoring.           Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Feb 23, 202335 min

2.5 Admins 130: HotBot Topic

Microsoft and Google seem to think that chatbots are the future of search, the problem of filtering spam, and organising data with backups in mind.   Plugs Support us on patreon Klara Live Webinar, Feb 23rd: Deploying a Successful Performance Audit   News Bing is having bizarre emotional breakdowns and there’s a subreddit with examples Alphabet stock price drops after Google Bard launch blunder Microsoft classifies own emails as junk   Free Consulting We were asked about organising data with backups in mind.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.             See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Feb 16, 202331 min

2.5 Admins 129: 2.5aDMiNs.cOm

A “smart” lighting system goes wrong, mitigating a DNS attack, an unsatisfying update about Eufy cameras, why Jim and Allan won’t be active on Mastodon any time soon, and how we set up servers in a few minutes.   Plugs Support us on patreon Klara Live Webinar, Feb 23rd: Deploying a Successful Performance Audit   News/discussion US school runs lights 24/7/365: The smart lights have been broken since 2021 This is why your DNS queries now have random capitalization Anker finally comes clean about its Eufy security cameras   Free Consulting We were asked about how we set up servers in a few minutes.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3Xfbsct           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Feb 9, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 128: Some Value

Yet another reason to disable voicemail, why so many recent Macs end up as scrap, and setting up a mail server.   Plugs Support us on patreon Auditing for Storage Performance   News WhatsApp accounts takeover Perfectly Good MacBooks From 2020 Are Being Sold for Scrap Because of Activation Lock   Free Consulting We were asked about setting up a mail server.       Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.             See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Feb 2, 202329 min

2.5 Admins 127: Public Why-Fi

Why you should still use a VPN with public WiFi, who the new Xeons are aimed at, follow-up on trying to be your own bank, and separating legacy WiFi devices from modern ones.   Plugs Support us on patreon OpenZFS: Data Security vs Integrity   News/discussion Why Public Wi-Fi is a Lot Safer Than You Think Years late and 36 cores short of AMD, who are Intel’s 4th-gen Xeons even for?   Free Consulting We were asked about separating legacy WiFi devices from modern ones.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Kolide Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3Xfbsct           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jan 26, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 126: Copy on Flight

A recent outage that grounded thousands of planes, correcting ZFS misreporting, the problem of fake SSDs on Amazon, and IP schemes vs internal DNS.   Plugs Support us on patreon FreeBSD vs Linux: Package Management   News FAA outage that grounded flights blamed on old tech and damaged database file The Future of ZFS on Ubuntu Desktop is Not Looking Good ZFSBootMenu Why the Heck Is Amazon Selling These Fake 16 Terabyte Portable SSD Drives?   Free Consulting We were asked about IP schemes.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.             See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jan 19, 202333 min

2.5 Admins 125: Into Thin Eir

Two recent examples of backups not being properly tested, why the term “edge” is meaningless, we try not to laugh at the Bitcoin dev who lost all his magic beans, and directory services for mixed environments.   Plugs Support us on patreon Klara’s best articles from 2022   News/discussion Eir says thousands of customer emails irretrievably deleted in error Eir users offered free lifetime subscriptions after up to 20 years of emails deleted in error – The Irish Times EA says it can’t recover 60% of players’ corrupted Madden franchise save files It’s time to retire ‘edge’ from our IT vocabulary Bitcoin Core developer loses all his BTC   Free Consulting We were asked about directory services for mixed environments.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.   Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv   Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices. up to 20 devices.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jan 12, 202332 min

2.5 Admins 124: LastMigration

LastPass vaults are leaked, ChatGPT is coming to Bing, live migrations, and SSD vs spinning disk power usage.   Plugs Support us on patreon Klara is looking for sysadmins with ZFS experience, join Allan’s team   News LastPass – Notice of Recent Security Incident The LastPass disclosure of leaked password vaults is being torn apart by security experts Microsoft to challenge Google by integrating ChatGPT with Bing search   Free Consulting We were asked about live migrations, and SSD vs spinning disk power usage.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.             See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jan 5, 202330 min

2.5 Admins 123: 4

It’s the last episode of the year so we look back at a couple of 2022 trends: the explosion of AI/ML, and big social media changes. Plus a quick-fire ZFS FAQ.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.             See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Dec 29, 202230 min

2.5 Admins 122: PayAsYouPay

Buying and renting features in Intel hardware that you’ve already bought, killer robots, a huge nuclear fusion breakthrough, and the pros and cons of parallel rsync jobs.   Plugs Support us on patreon OpenZFS: Choosing between FreeBSD and Linux   News/discussion Intel On Demand Driver Ready To Activate Your Licensed CPU Features With Linux 6.2 Intel On Demand VICTORY! San Francisco Bans Killer Robots…For Now Nuclear fusion power research passes milestone with ‘fusion ignition’   Free Consulting We were asked about running parallel rsync jobs Fpsync       Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.             See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Dec 22, 202228 min

2.5 Admins 121: 2PHA

Saving money by changing the CPU frequency governor on servers, Making unphishable 2FA phishable, phishing with Google Docs, monitoring at scale, and using ZFS with a single disk.   Plugs Support us on patreon FreeBSD vs Linux – Networking   Discussion Can You Save Money By Changing the CPU Frequency Governor on Your Servers? Making unphishable 2FA phishable Phishing links with Google Docs   Free Consulting We were asked about monitoring at scale, and using ZFS with a single disk.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.     Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Dec 15, 202232 min

2.5 Admins 120: Certified Malware

Security cameras that aren’t quite as secure as they claim, why it’s difficult to trust software “from Samsung”, getting started with offsite backups, and ZFS on root on Ubuntu.   Plugs Support us on patreon the Role of Operating Systems in IoT   News Anker’s Eufy lied to us about the security of its security cameras Samsung’s Android app-signing key has leaked, is being used to sign malware   Free Consulting We were asked about getting started with offsite backups, and ZFS on root on Ubuntu.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.     Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Dec 8, 202231 min

2.5 Admins 119: Six Month Scrub

The risks of taking your laptop to a repair shop, why DNS has become concentrated to just a few providers, and powering down drives periodically.   Plugs Support us on patreon Virtualization Showdown: FreeBSD bhyve vs Linux KVM   Discussion Thinking about taking your computer to the repair shop? Be very afraid DNS concentration   Free Consulting We were asked about periodically shutting down a server.         Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.     Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.    

Dec 1, 202229 min

2.5 Admins 118: Chaos Emerald Wealth

Why the Twitter infrastructure is creaking, Jim’s experiences of the Ubuntu Summit, changing VM resources without rebooting, and more.   News/discussion Why Twitter will fail shortly Twitter mayhem, staff cuts have advertisers bailing on the platform Jim tells us about his experiences at the Ubuntu Summit   Free Consulting We were asked about WireGuard on OPNsense, and changing VM resources without rebooting.       Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Nov 24, 202230 min

2.5 Admins 117: Local Burner

Microsoft’s half-baked Arm machine, why it’s a bad idea to go to the World Cup in Qatar, using WireGuard to punch through double NAT, and the best filesystem for removable storage. With guest host Alex Kretzschmar from Self-Hosted.   News/discussion Microsoft’s new $599 Mac Mini-like PC is designed to improve Windows on Arm How many major upgrade cycles with your main work machine do you expect to go through before you transition to an Arm machine? Everyone going to the World Cup must have this app – experts are now sounding the alarm Qatar Spyware – Schneier on Security   Free Consulting We were asked about WireGuard and double NAT, and the best filesystem for removable storage. NetBird nebula headscale         Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Nov 17, 202231 min

2.5 Admins 116: Worst Billionaire

Android’s controversial VPN settings, the deepfake audio arms race, the Metaverse is even worse than we thought, and why you shouldn’t use external cables for server storage. With guest host Alex Kretzschmar from Self-Hosted.   News Android leaks connectivity check traffic Meta’s New Headset Will Track Your Eyes for Targeted Ads Deepfake audio has a tell – researchers use fluid dynamics to spot artificial imposter voices   Free Consulting We were asked about usuing Thunderbolt storage with a server, and how PINs relate to encryption. ODROID-H3       Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.    

Nov 10, 202229 min

2.5 Admins 115: Key Party

Password spray attacks, the value of certifications vs actual experience, and the best VPN strategy.   News/discussion Use Authentication Policies to Fight Password Spray Attacks   Free Consulting We were asked about certifications, and VPN strategy.       Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.    

Nov 3, 202233 min

2.5 Admins 114: RAID WTF

An impressive AI pretends to be Linux, Jim gets angry about a RAIDZ calculator, and using a laptop as a server.   News/discussion We interviewed Linux OS through an AI bot to discover its secrets   Free Consulting We were asked about using a laptop as a server.         Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Oct 27, 202229 min

2.5 Admins 113: Eggs and Baskets

Traditional vs modern backup methods, hiding malware inside innocent-looking files, and power loss protection in SSDs.   News/discussion Steganography alert: Backdoor spyware stashed in Microsoft logo   Free Consulting We were asked about power loss protection in SSDs       Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Oct 20, 202232 min

2.5 Admins 112: Reuse > Recycle

A drone-delivered exploit system, why companies destroy perfectly good hardware, and pulling backups from a Windows machine.   Plugs Support us on patreon iX and Klara – The Open Source Era is Upon Us Your Comprehensive Guide to FreeBSD’s rc   News Drone attack Twitter thread Why Big Tech shreds millions of storage devices it could reuse   Free Consulting We were asked about pulling backups from a Windows machine. cwRsync Acrosync       Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Oct 13, 202229 min

2.5 Admins 111: The Freezer Trick

SSDs are probably more reliable than spinning hard drives, how much RAM you actually need, Cloudflare alternatives, sudo password security, and more.   Plugs Support us on patreon the History of Package Management on FreeBSD   News/discussion The SSD Edition: 2022 Drive Stats Mid-year Review How Much RAM Do You Need in 2022? Exploring Swap on FreeBSD   Feedback Fastly Gcore Jetpack A Practical Guide to (Correctly) Troubleshooting with Traceroute (pdf) Paris Traceroute How to properly interpret a traceroute or mtr TRex   Free Consulting We were asked about sudo password security.       BorgBase Manage all your Borg backup repositories in one place via web interface or API. Use promo code 25A to get 30% off your first year at BorgBase.com   Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Oct 6, 202232 min

2.5 Admins 110: Border Gateway Currency

How a BGP hijack facilitated the theft of $235k worth of crypto, why we aren’t too excited about Cloudflare’s new CAPTCHA, and how to configure ZFS on Proxmox.   Plugs Support us on patreon Deploying FreeBSD on Oracle Cloud Allan and Wendell chat about ZFS data recovery   News How 3 hours of inaction from Amazon cost cryptocurrency holders $235,000 Announcing Turnstile, a user-friendly, privacy-preserving alternative to CAPTCHA   Free Consulting We were asked about ZFS on Proxmox. Klara Article: Jim on tuning ZFS recordsize Jim’s Proxmox bug       Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Sep 29, 202231 min

2.5 Admins 109: Selling Technical Debt

Why solving network congestion issues is so difficult, our thoughts on DNS privacy, an unwise use case for 32-bit Linux, and PoE injectors vs switches.   Discussion The Math Proves It—Network Congestion Is Inevitable   Free Consulting We were asked about Power over Ethernet injectors vs PoE switches.         Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Sep 22, 202232 min

2.5 Admins 108: dQw4w9WgXcQ

Why modern interfaces suck, the reasons we don’t recommend Cloudflare, and backups for beginners. With guest host Gary from Linux Downtime (and Pidgin).   News/discussion Blocking Kiwifarms The modern OS desktop is a crime against humanity Rick Astley has done more to prevent folks clicking on unknown links than all cyber security training combined   Free Consulting We were asked for advice about backups for beginners. IDrive rsnapshot       Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Sep 15, 202232 min

2.5 Admins 107: s/smart//g

Why the W3C is struggling to move to HTTPS by default and follow-up on Certbot, monitoring, and Silverlight. Plus buying enterprise switches.   News/discussion W3C’s planned transition to HTTPS stymied by legacy laggards   Free Consulting We were asked what switches we recommend for enterprise.         Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Sep 8, 202230 min

2.5 Admins 106: Wrap Your Deenis

A big change is coming to Windows licensing for VMs, Google changes the rules around VPNs on Android, and solving a DoH problem.   Plugs Support us on patreon EuroBSDCon Sept 15-18 Vienna, Austria – Allan will be speaking about making ZFS scale for NVMe   News Microsoft adds virtual core licensing to Windows Server Microsoft EU cloud revisions just so happen to exclude Google, Amazon Google Play rule change disallows ad-blocking VPN apps   Free Consulting We were asked about solving a DNS over HTTPS problem.           Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Sep 1, 202231 min

2.5 Admins 105: Old Men Yell at Cloud

The pros and cons of using email aliases, an Internet hero scratches his own itch, Jim and Allan yell at the cloud, and choosing a firewall distro.   News/discussion The Security Pros and Cons of Using Email Aliases Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes   Feedback A few people wanted Allan and Jim to answer the same question that was discussed on Linux After Dark 23: In a world of cloud and serverless, is there any point in most people learning the command line?   Free Consulting We were asked about firewall distros. Configure CARP         Tailscale Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Aug 25, 202230 min

2.5 Admins 104: Bathtub Map

Amazon is acquiring lots of home floor plans, Google will let politicians spam its Gmail users, burning in new drives, and ZFS scrub best practises.   Plugs Support us on patreon EuroBSDCon Sept 15-18 Vienna, Austria – Allan will be speaking about making ZFS scale for NVMe   News Amazon to acquire Roomba robot vacuum maker iRobot for $1.7 billion Gmail is now officially allowed to spam-proof politicians’ emails   Free Consulting We were asked about commissioning new drives, and ZFS scrubs.           Kolide Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv   Linode Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Aug 18, 202229 min