2.5 Admins

How getting root might be easier for attackers than you think, what a new OS can teach us about open source development, and why you probably shouldn’t buy enterprise drives for your NAS.   Plugs EuroBSDCon 2021 is Online, September 17-19, 2021 Support us on patreon   News/Discussion Asking nicely for root command execution (and getting it) SerenityOS is a Unix-y love letter to the ’90s   Free Consulting We were asked about enterprise and NAS drives.       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.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Netflix blocking residential IPs, Intel’s upcoming discrete graphics cards, and the finer points of connecting disks to a RAID controller.   Plugs Achieving RPO/RTO Objectives with ZFS – Part 2 Jim was a guest on Linux Unplugged 418 discussing WireGuardNT Support us on patreon   News Netflix is adding residential IP addresses to its VPN blocklists Intel Introduces New High-Performance Graphics Brand: Intel Arc   Free Consulting We were asked about RAID controllers.     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.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Why a large sysadmin conference shut down and what it means, roaming between multiple wireless access points, sending ZFS snapshots to the cloud, best practice for tunnelling between home and the cloud, and a novel use for old hard disks.   Plugs Achieving RPO/RTO Objectives with ZFS – Part 1 Support us on patreon   News/Discussion LISA Community Message   Feedback We mentioned Spinning Rust Records who are on Twitter and Bandcamp.         Checkmk Checkmk is the best way to monitor your complex and hybrid IT infrastructure, bridging the gap between IT Ops and DevOps Teams. Go to checkmk.com/25admins and try out the open source or enterprise edition.   CBT Nuggets Training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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.  

Huge improvements for WireGuard on Windows, and a brief update on the Framework Laptop. Plus why RAID is not a backup, when to use bare metal vs VMs, choosing database types, and more.   Plugs Let’s Talk OpenZFS Snapshots Support us on patreon   News New WireGuardNT shatters throughput ceilings on Windows Framework’s lightweight modular laptop is a winner   Free Consulting We were asked about RAID and whether similar disks die at the same time, Samba speed differences, VMs vs bare metal, and databases.       Checkmk Checkmk is the best way to monitor your complex and hybrid IT infrastructure, bridging the gap between IT Ops and DevOps Teams. Go to checkmk.com/25admins and try out the open source or enterprise edition.   CBT Nuggets Training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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.  

Why the Pegasus spyware isn’t really anything new, a Windows vulnerability sends Jim and Allan down memory lane, what to do with old hard disks, your feedback, and more.   Plugs FreeBSD TCP performance system controls Support us on patreon   News Leak uncovers global abuse of cyber-surveillance weapon This World of Ours New Windows 10 vulnerability allows anyone to get admin privileges   Free Consulting We were asked about paying for password leak notifications, and what to do with old small hard disks.       Checkmk Checkmk is the best way to monitor your complex and hybrid IT infrastructure, bridging the gap between IT Ops and DevOps Teams. Go to checkmk.com/25admins and try out the open source or enterprise edition.   CBT Nuggets Training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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.  

Jim’s hands-on with the modular and upgradeable Framework laptop, the details of Muse Group’s latest controversy, and when backing up to a Pi in your friend’s basement sometimes makes sense.   Plugs Managing Boot Environments Support us on patreon   News Framework Laptop Audacity’s new owner is in another fight with the open source community   Free Consulting We were asked about off-site backups.       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.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.    

The current and future states of system performance across the whole stack, and backing up to tapes. Plus your feedback about clustered filesystems, a ZFS success story, and IPv6 devices.   News/Discussion Computing Performance: On the Horizon   Free Consulting We were asked about backing up to magnetic tape.       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.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Windows 11 has been announced but some key details are still unknown, why you shouldn’t connect consumer-grade network storage devices to the Internet, optimizing Windows guests on KVM hosts, and how to get started with Sanoid.   Plugs History of FreeBSD: Net/1 and Net/2: Path to Freedom Support us on patreon   News WD My Book NAS devices are being remotely wiped clean worldwide Western Digital My Book NAS Hackers exploited 0-day, not 2018 bug, to mass-wipe My Book Live devices Western Digital Users Face Another RCE Windows 11 is much more than a new theme slapped onto Windows 10   Free Consulting We were asked about optimizing Windows guests on KVM hosts, and how to get started with Sanoid.     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.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Potentially serious vulnerabilities in military systems, a new ZFS feature that’s mostly for home users, and IPv6 on your LAN.   Plugs FreeBSD Performance Observability Support us on patreon   News/Discussion Vulnerabilities in Weapons Systems ZFS fans, rejoice—RAIDz expansion will be a thing very soon   Free Consulting We were asked about identifying devices with IPv6 addresses on a local network.       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.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.    

Supply chain problems causing a rise in counterfeit chips, busting the myth about ZFS and RAM, gold VM images, and x86 routers.   Plugs Introduction to ZFS replication Support us on patreon   News Chip shortages lead to more counterfeit chips and devices   Free Consulting We were asked about how much RAM ZFS needs, gold VM images, and homebrew x86 routers.       CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

A potential order of magnitude increase in HDD sizes, Amazon Sidewalk, dying SSDs, planning new systems, ssh vs VPN logins, and more.   Plugs History of ZFS: Part 2: Exploding in Popularity Support us on patreon   News/Discussion Ultra-high-density hard drives made with graphene store ten times more data Amazon devices will soon automatically share your Internet with neighbors   Free Consulting We were asked about dying SSDs, push and pull backups with third-party hosting, ssh and VPN logins, and planning new systems.       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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.      

Fastly’s recent outage, how attackers probably breached the Colonial Pipeline’s network, crypto mining in anti-virus software, and setting up a box at your friend’s house to watch Netflix while abroad.   News Fastly broke the Internet for an hour The 503’s heard around the world Fastly Summary of June 8 outage Colonial Pipeline Chief Says Recovery From Ransomware Hack Not Complete Uncle Sam recovers 63.7 of 75 Bitcoins Colonial Pipeline paid to ransomware crew NortonLifeLock Unveils Norton Crypto   Free Consulting We were asked about encrypted off-site backups, and getting around geo-restrictions with a VPN.       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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Synology and Btrfs, backing up low-end Linux laptops, vulnerability management, FreeBSD hypervisors, and more.   Plugs Building Customized FreeBSD Images Support us on patreon   Feedback Things we mentioned: Barracuda I couldn’t break Synology SHR+btrfs (yet) Our subreddit   Free Consulting We were asked about AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting), backing up low-end Linux laptops, FreeBSD hypervisors, and vulnerability management.       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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

The complex tale of the recent IRC drama, Microsoft kills Windows 10X, and why we think a WordPress site was pwned.   News Microsoft puts Windows 10X variant on the back burner Freenode IRC staff resign en masse after takeover by Korea’s “crown prince”   Free Consulting We were asked why a WordPress site had been compromised.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Testing failing disks and why they don’t work over a certain altitude, and your feedback about ZFS snapshots, authentication, community discussion platforms, Docker and ZFS, and more.   Plugs Basics of ZFS Snapshot Management Klara articles RSS feed Support us on patreon   Feedback Things we mentioned: zrepl authelia r/25admins Using bind mounts docker-vackup   Discussion Poor Disk Performance Dell HDD Warranty void above 10,000 ft       CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

The importance of VPNs when using Wi-Fi, the complexities of chip node size, and whether appliance NAS devices make any sense.   Plugs Getting the most out of ARM64 Support us on patreon   News FragAttacks: Security flaws in all Wi-Fi devices IBM creates the world’s first 2 nm chip   Free Consulting We were asked about off-the-shelf network storage 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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Authorities trying to remove malware from people’s servers, turning your sysadmin hobby into a career, cloud backups, config management, and more.   Plugs Why you should consider the BSD license Support us on patreon   Feedback Cloud backups with Rclone and alternatives, MikroTik network gear, server security, and config management.   News Brit authorities could legally do an FBI and scrub malware from compromised boxen without your knowledge   Free Consulting We were asked about the best way to turn your sysadmin hobby into a career.         CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

GUI Linux apps on Windows, Linux kernel development is pen-tested, ZFS and Docker, and converting a Windows installation to a VM.   Plugs FreeBSD IOStat EuroBSDCon 2021 CfP Support us on patreon   News Graphical Linux apps are coming to Windows Subsystem for Linux Linux kernel team rejects University of Minnesota researchers’ apology “Full disclosure” from the University of Minnesota   Free Consulting We were asked about using ZFS with Docker, and visualizing a physical Windows installation.     CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

We answer a bunch of your questions about server hardening, managing ZFS snapshots, Docusign, SSL certs in air-gapped networks, and automating updates.   Plugs EuroBSDCon 2021 Call for Papers Support us on patreon     CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

We answer a bunch of your questions about firewalls, best practices for backups, learning ZFS, QoS, SSH key management, backing up Google Drive, and more.   Links to things mentioned Unix Haters Handbook Allan’s FreeBSD Journal Article Dummynet: The Better Way to Build FreeBSD Networks Jim’s ZFS 101 Allan’s book   Plugs Customizing FreeBSD Ports and Packages All Things Open Support us on patreon     CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Thousands of students learn about backups the hard way, why securing all of DNS isn’t practical, and how to protect Internet-facing services running at home.   News Victoria University of Wellington accidentally nukes files on all desktop PCs Root Server Operators’ Statement on DNS Encryption [pdf]   Free Consulting We were asked about the best way to secure Internet-facing services running at home.   CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Our first look at the next generation of Arm, alarming claims about a recent Ubiquiti breach, and setting up a FreeBSD file server.   Plugs Customizing the FreeBSD Kernel Check out Joe’s albums Support us on patreon   News Containerize all the things! Arm v9 takes security seriously ARM Morello Whistleblower: Ubiquiti Breach “Catastrophic”   Free consulting We were asked about setting up a first FreeBSD file server.     CBT Nuggets This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

How we’ll get to 100TB hard disks by the end of the decade, the potential dangers of flipped bits in network traffic, how to organize multiple copies of your backups, and managing dynamic DNS.   Plugs Understanding Network Performance Support us on patreon   News Seagate: 100TB HDDs Due in 2030, Multi-Actuator Drives to Become Common Toshiba’s disk drive: WTF is the flux control effect? Bitflips when PCs try to reach windows.com: What could possibly go wrong?   Free consulting We were asked about how to ensure data integrity on multiple backups, and managing dynamic DNS.       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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

The OVH data center fire and related tales, drama with WireGuard in FreeBSD, why you should plug your flash drives in regularly, and more.   News OVH data centre destroyed by fire in Strasbourg OVH outlines recovery plan as French data centres smoulder OVH founder says UPS fixed up day before blaze is early suspect as source of data centre destruction Hard lessons learned from the OVH datacenter blaze In-kernel WireGuard is on its way to FreeBSD and the pfSense router Painful Lessons Learned in Security and Community FreeBSD kernel-mode WireGuard moves forward out-of-tree   Feedback Mitigating bitrot with checksums, and why flash isn’t any good as cold storage.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   Lernard This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Why it’s so hard to build a PC these days, finding help for ZFS issues, getting started with a homebrew router, and more.   Plugs The history of ARM and FreeBSD Support us on patreon   Discussion We talk about why it’s so hard to find PC parts and peripherals at the moment. Jim wrote an article about buying a gaming PC.   Free consulting We were asked about how to get help with ZFS issues, encrypting the root partition on ZFS, and how to get started with a homebrew 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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Why hard disks will be around for ever, bad news for VR, slowdown from disk I/O, and when clustering isn’t necessarily the best solution.   Plugs Register for Open Source 101 OpenZFS: dRAID is coming Support us on patreon   News Seagate: Why SSDs will not kill disk drives Google Cardboard is no longer for sale   Free consulting We were asked about I/O wait on Linux, and clustering Linux machines.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Where we draw the line when supporting friends and family, monitoring SSL certs, ZFS on single drives, Chromium finally cleans up its act, and more in this feedback-filled episode.   Feedback Chromium finally fixes its DNS issue, a Samba AD server called Zentyal, firewalls, Unraid and SnapRAID, xCloud, and Nagios plugins.   Free consulting We were asked about ZFS on single drives, and how best to support enthusiastic amateur friends. Jim mentioned Sanoid.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Bad news for LastPass users, why Nvidia probably won’t buy Arm, what happens to our servers if we disappear, and using the cloud to avoid bottlenecks.   Plugs FreeBSD Jails – The beginning of Containers Support us on patreon   News Changes to LastPass Free Nvidia wants to buy CPU designer Arm—Qualcomm is not happy about it   Free Consulting We were asked about bus factor mitigation, and caching data from a home 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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   Lernard This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Stadia and game streaming, Bitcoin and Linux quirks in your feedback, and building a home server for more than just storage.   Plugs Simple and Secure VPN in FreeBSD – Introducing WireGuard Support us on patreon   News/discussion Focusing on Stadia’s future as a platform, and winding down SG&E   Feedback Follow-up on Bitcoin, and historical quirks of Linux.   Free Consulting We were asked about the best way to build a genral-purpose home 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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Reddit trolls Wall Street, bad news for Parler’s new host, why you should learn iptables, and backing up S3-compatible buckets.   Plugs History of FreeBSD Part 4: BSD and TCP/IP Support us on patreon   News Understanding /r/wallstreetbets DDoS-Guard To Forfeit Internet Space Occupied by Parler   Free Consulting We were asked about firewall managers and backing up S3-compatible buckets.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

The Bitcoin price is booming again so we take the chance to laugh at Allan for selling too early, then we discuss some of your emails including Arm/x86 combos, switching to Ubuntu, and the importance of using a UPS.   Discussion The world’s cryptocurrency is now worth more than $1 trillion   Feedback Reproducibility, Arm and x86 in one machine, managing Ubuntu servers as a Red Hat user, and attracting more devs to FreeBSD.   Free Consulting We were asked about redundant, and uninterruptible power supplies.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   Lernard This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Why Parler is unlikely to come back any time soon, free RHEL, and using a VPS to subvert VPN limits.   Plugs Exploring Swap on FreeBSD Support us on patreon   News Amazon cuts off Parler’s Web hosting following Apple, Google bans CentOS is gone—but RHEL is now free for up to 16 production servers   Free Consulting We were asked about using a VPS to avoid limits on the number of devices connected to a VPN.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   Datadog This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.    

The merits of ECC RAM, why reproducible builds are a good idea, and where to buy used equipment.   Plugs Webinar: Introducing OpenZFS 2.0 Support us on patreon   News/Discussion Linus Torvalds rails at Intel for ‘killing’ the ECC industry Why don’t PCs use error correcting RAM? “Because Intel,” says Linus You don’t need reproducible builds   Free consulting We were asked about the best places to buy used equipment.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   Datadog This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

A cruel but necessary phishing test, ancient standards in brand new legislation, using Windows when it makes sense, and commissioning and decommissioning servers.   Plugs Webinar: Introducing OpenZFS 2.0 Klara: Routing and Firewalling VLANS with FreeBSD Support us on patreon   News GoDaddy Employees Were Told They Were Getting a Holiday Bonus. It Was Actually a Phishing Test Brexit trade deal advises governments to use Netscape Communicator and SHA-1. Why? It’s all in the DNA   Free consulting We were asked about Active Directory solutions, and the server commissioning and decommissioning process.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   Datadog This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.   TrueNAS from iXsystems This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.    

Why Google services like Gmail went down recently, the potentially promising future for RISC-V, and using ZFS for home and root.   News Google Mail outage Google incident report New RISC-V CPU claims record breaking performance per watt Seagate working on RISC-V SoCs   Free consulting We were asked about using ZFS for root and home partitions.     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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   Lernard This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Potentially improving DNS privacy, the big new ZFS release, and the best way to automate Linux installations.   Plugs Webinar – Best Practices For Optimizing ZFS – Part 1 Support us on patreon   News Improving DNS Privacy with Oblivious DoH in 1.1.1.1 OpenZFS 2.0 release unifies Linux, BSD and adds tons of new features   Free consulting We were asked about the best way to automate Linux installations.       TrueNAS from iXsystems This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.     See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

How Intel and AMD have fought it out over the years, Apple changes the industry with their M1 SoC, and we repeat the mantra that RAID is not a backup.   Plugs Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.   News A history of Intel vs. AMD desktop performance, with CPU charts galore Hands-on with the Apple M1—a seriously fast x86 competitor Intel’s Disruption is Now Complete   Free consulting A question about drive failures is answered with a basic lesson in backups. We mentioned this article.   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/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.   Datadog This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Google proves that “unlimited” anything doesn’t exist, GitHub shenanigans, Apple’s new Arm computers, and which distro to start with as a sysadmin.   Plugs Allan’s ZFS Webinar – Nov 18th, signup soon Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.   News Arm Macs announced Google Photos is the latest “Unlimited” plan to impose hard limits GitHub’s source code was leaked on GitHub last night… sort of Allan trolls Greg K-H   Free consulting We were asked whether someone starting out as a sysadmin should master Debian or CentOS.     Datadog This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.   TrueNAS from iXsystems This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

We wade through Cloudfare’s marketing fluff, forced WordPress plugin updates, a bunch of your questions, and the shocking revelation that FreeBSD actually has graphics drivers.   Plugs History of FreeBSD, Part 2   News Introducing Cloudflare One Introducing Cloudflare Browser Isolation beta WordPress deploys forced security update for dangerous bug in popular plugin   Free consulting We answered a big batch of questions about managing bandwidth quotas, tape backups, preventing users from rebooting, and DKMS issues. We mentioned Firehol, ntopng, and Bacula.     Datadog This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.   Lernard This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.   See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

How not to store test results, AMD firmly on top of the desktop space, what moving to remote work means for corporate networks, and deduplication of disorganized data.   Plugs Allan’s summary of the OpenZFS Devsummit 2020 All Things Open Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.   News Why using Microsoft’s tool caused Covid-19 results to be lost AMD’s new Zen 3 Ryzen desktop CPUs arrive November 5 Yesterday’s corporate network design isn’t working for working from home   Free consulting Joe asked for advice on deduplicating some old disorganized data.     Datadog This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.   TrueNAS from iXsystems This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Intel almost catching up to AMD with Tiger Lake, the .uk fiasco, and why you shouldn’t be using dd.   Plugs OpenZFS Developer Summit All Things Open 2020 Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.   News Hands-on with Intel’s i7-1185G7 Tiger Lake prototype laptop Intel’s run at the GPU market begins with Tiger Lake onboard graphics What the hell is going on with .uk? .uk registry operator Nominet responds to renewed criticism – by silencing its critics .uk overlord Nominet tells everyone not to worry about ‘distorted’ vote allocations in its board elections   Free consulting We were asked about block size while using dd. Jim mentioned his blog post about iostat.   Datadog This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.     See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Cyber insurance for ransomware, more confusing WD specs, the truth behind the return of the Gateway brand, and managing config files.   News Ransomware accounted for 41% of all cyber insurance claims in H1 2020 Western Digital is trying to redefine the word “RPM” We found out who makes Walmart’s new Gateway laptops, and it’s bad news   Free consulting We were asked about managing config files when updating.     TrueNAS from iXsystems This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.   Datadog This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

How Internet standards are decided, what a new one means for the Web, a surprising “feature” of Chrome, and the best ways to monitor your systems.   News WebBundles Harmful to Content Blocking, Security Tools, and the Open Web RFC8890: The Internet is for End Users A Chrome feature is creating enormous load on global root DNS servers   Free consulting We were asked about monitoring backups and systems in general.       See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Low power x86 vs Arm boards, hard disk failure rates, and the intricacies of ZFS snapshots.   Plugs OpenZFS Developer Summit Support the podcast on Patreon   News Seeed Studio’s Odyssey is a mini-PC for big projects and small wallets Backblaze Hard Drive Stats Q2 2020   Free consulting We were asked about ZFS on root, snapshots, and Jim’s project called Sanoid.     TrueNAS from iXsystems This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.     See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Intel’s 7nm woes, hosts files, Mozilla’s VPN service, and automating ssh between remote hosts.   News Heads roll at Intel after 7nm delay Intel’s 7nm is busted, chips delayed, may have to use rival foundries to get GPUs out for US govt exascale super AMD is now following Moore’s Law: More chips, more money, more pressure on Intel, more competition in the x86 space AMD Says Zen 3 Consumer CPUs Will Launch This Year Windows 10: HOSTS file blocking telemetry is now flagged as a risk We test Mozilla’s new Wireguard-based $5/mo VPN service   Free consulting We were asked about automating ssh between remote hosts. Allan mentioned SSH Mastery.     See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

New types of hard disks, recovering data from dying drives, AMD makes Jim reach for the calculator, and what to do with obscure software that you need.   Plugs FreeBSD Fridays: A Series of 101 Classes Joe’s podcast consulting   News Western Digital releases new 18TB, 20TB EAMR drives Tales From The Sysadmin: Impending Hard Drive Doom AMD Ryzen 4000 desktop CPUs will be here in Q3 2020   Free consulting We were asked how to deal with updates for software that isn’t in repos and needs to be compiled.     See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Initial Arm Mac benchmarks are out and they aren’t terrible, getting the best transfer speeds over USB, and rolling our own home routers.   Plugs FreeBSD Bug Squash Support the podcast on Patreon   News First benchmarks surface for Apple’s ARM-based Developer Transition Kit UASP makes Raspberry Pi 4 disk IO 50% faster   Free Consulting We were asked about our home network setups.   See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Jim bought the worst laptop in the world, a quick update on SMR drives, learning the basics of ZFS, and updating air-gapped servers.   Plug Support the podcast on Patreon   News We bought Walmart’s $140 laptop so you wouldn’t have to Lawsuit vs. Western Digital wants to end any use of SMR in NAS drives Western Digital adds “Red Plus” branding for non-SMR hard drives   Free Consulting We were asked about the best ways to start with ZFS, and Shlomi asked about updating air-gapped Ubuntu machines with various VMs.         See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

When the world will move to IPv6, WD SMR drives put to the test, raw vs qcow2 on ZFS, and erasing SSDs.   Plug Support the podcast on Patreon   News It could be ‘five to ten years’ before the world finally drags itself away from IPv4 We put Western Digital’s dreaded SMR Red drive to the test   Free consulting Michael asked for advice about whether to use raw or qcow2 on ZFS, and Joe had a question about giving SSDs away.           See our contact page for ways to get in touch.  

Zoom’s new encryption, podcasts in walled gardens, and servers as pets vs cattle.   Plug Support the podcast on Patreon   News Zoom to require users to upgrade to 5.0 after May 30th Zoom bought Keybase in early May Joe Rogan will move his podcast to Spotify   Free consulting Eduardo asked us to dive a little deeper into how to move from being an admin who treats their servers like pets to being an admin who treats their servers like cattle.     See our contact page for ways to get in touch.