2.5 Admins is a podcast featuring two sysadmins called Allan Jude and Jim Salter, and a producer/editor who can just about configure a Samba share called Joe Ressington. Every two weeks we get together, talk about recent tech news, and answer some of your admin-related questions.
The podcast 2.5 Admins is created by The Late Night Linux Family. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
Chinese researchers are making progress with quantum computing but they haven’t broken modern RSA or AES encryption, Russian attackers compromised a business via a nearby building’s WiFi, a startup runs out of money and bricks a robot for kids, and hardening Linux systems.
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ZFS Storage Fault Management on Linux
News/discussion
No, Chinese quantum computers haven’t hacked military-grade encryption
The Nearest Neighbor Attack: How A Russian APT Weaponized Nearby Wi-Fi Networks for Covert Access
Startup will brick $800 emotional support robot for kids without refunds
The confusing reality of AI friends
Free consulting
We were asked about hardening Linux systems.
ServerMania
Get 15% Off dedicated servers – recurring for Life at servermania.com/25a with code 25ADMINS
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
The US government tells people to use encrypted messaging, mandated MFA in healthcare raises a scary geopolitical question, QNAP bungles a firmware update, and securing access to self hosted applications with mTLS.
Plugs
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Deploying pNFS file sharing with FreeBSD
News/discussion
FBI Warns iPhone And Android Users—Stop Sending Texts
US senators propose mandated MFA, encryption in healthcare
QNAP firmware update leaves NAS owners locked out of their boxes
Free consulting
We were asked about securing access to self hosted applications with mTLS.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
Intel’s CEO departs but replacing him won’t magically solve its serious problems, Zipcar wasn’t prepared for an outage and handled it really badly, moving to an email provider that supports DMARC, and picking a NAS distribution.
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ZFS Ask Me Anything – December 12th
Applying the ARC Algorithm to the ARC
News
Intel CEO takes his leave as ambition meets reality
Zipcar Outage Strands Customers in Random Places
Free consulting
We were asked about moving to an email provider that supports DMARC, and picking a NAS distribution.
ServerMania
Get 15% Off dedicated servers – recurring for Life at servermania.com/25a with code 25ADMINS
Equinix is shutting down its bare metal service, D-Link advises people to dump old vulnerable routers, Google makes changes to how it ranks some affiliate-driven “reviews”, and data caps seem to be sticking around. Plus mixing different brands and types of disks, using other partitions on a ZFS drive, and scaling a fleet of FreeBSD hosts with jails.
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Introducing OpenZFS Fast Dedup
News/discussion
Equinix to shutter bare metal IaaS service in 2026
D-Link says replace vulnerable routers or risk pwnage
Google cracks down on “Parasite SEO,” punishing established publishers
Cable companies and Trump’s FCC chair agree: Data caps are good for you
Free consulting
We were asked about mixing different brands and types of disks, using other partitions on a ZFS drive, and scaling a fleet of FreeBSD hosts with jails.
Cluster provisioning with Nomad and Pot on FreeBSD
ServerMania
Find this year’s Black Friday & Cyber Week deals at servermania.com/blackfriday
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
Windows server unexpectedly upgrades major versions, Microsoft reinvents the idea of a thin client, restricting a friend’s access to just their backups, and the importance of warranties when buying hardware.
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DKMS vs kmod: The Essential Guide for ZFS on Linux
News
Windows Server 2025 takes admins by surprise
No word from Microsoft on shock Windows Server 2025 installs
Windows Server 2025 known issues and notifications
Windows 11 update bug falsely warns of end of support, confusing users
Windows 365 Link—the first Cloud PC device
Free consulting
We were asked about restricting a friend’s access to just their backups, and the importance of warranties when buying hardware.
Jim and Allan discover modern charging tech and marvel at what’s possible in the USB-C era, more on IPv6 firewalls, using ZFS like Git, and running your own authoritative DNS server.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
How using a copy-on-write filesystem like ZFS can get systems back online within seconds after ransomeware encrypts all your data, and even warn you more quickly that it’s happening. Plus Jim and Allan’s advice on getting a job as a sysadmin.
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Klara: 5 Reasons Why Your ZFS Storage Benchmarks Are Wrong
Free consulting
We were asked about getting a job as a sysadmin.
It’s Halloween so Jim and Allan share horrific and spooky stories from their sysadmin careers. Plus picking a UPS for a homelab.
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Klara: NAS: Maintenance Best Practices
SSL certificates are likely going to last less time, the latest Windows 11 update leaves a huge chunk of data behind and doesn’t play nicely with some SSDs, picking a modern dhcp server on a homebrew router, and storing encrypted backups on a friend’s NAS with ZFS.
Plugs
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Klara Halloween Webinar: ZFS Horror Stories. Oct 31st 13:00 EDT, 17:00 UTC
News
Sysadmins slam Apple’s SSL/TLS cert lifespan cuts
Windows 11 24H2 hoards 8.63 GB of junk you can’t delete
WD releases new firmware to fix Windows 11 24H2 blue screens of death on some SSD
Not just Western Digital – Windows 24H2 BSODs Asus kit
Free consulting
We were asked about picking a modern dhcp server on a homebrew router, and storing encrypted backups on a friend’s NAS with ZFS.
The Ars guide to building a Linux router from scratch
Linux Router Part 1: Routing, NAT, and NFTables
The difference between monitoring and metrics analysis, the security pros and cons of cloud vs on-prem, why Jim and Allan don’t use Unraid, and cloud storage and email for a small company.
Feedback
Free consulting
We were asked about cloud storage and email for a small company.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
NIST has finally proposed some sensible password standards, why server CPUs with high core counts make sense in a lot of deployments, the .io TLD is probably sticking around, and the best options for a Linux-based router.
Plugs
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Klara Halloween Webinar: ZFS Horror Stories. Oct 31st 13:00 EDT, 17:00 UTC
ZBM 101: Introduction to ZFSBootMenu
News
NIST proposes barring some of the most nonsensical password rules
You’re right not to rush into running AMD, Intel’s new manycore monster CPUs
The Disappearance of an Internet Domain
Free consulting
We were asked about setting up a Linux-based router.
Why cold storage is never as good as keeping your data warm and regularly tested, how the American air traffic control system became so outdated, and isolating your devices from a roommate’s shenanigans.
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News/discussion
Music industry’s 1990s hard drives, like all HDDs, are dying
FAA air traffic control modernization efforts are a mess
Free consulting
We were asked about isolating your devices from a roommate’s shenanigans.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
A proposed solution to the WHOIS TLS verification problem gets a surprising amount of pushback. Plus isolating IoT devices, our thoughts on Ubiquiti gear, setting up WiFi in a new house, remote access with WireGuard, and our mini PC recommendations.
Plug
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News
Google calls for halting use of WHOIS for TLS domain verifications
Free consulting
We were asked about isolating IoT devices, our thoughts on Ubiquiti gear, setting up WiFi in a new house, remote access with WireGuard, and our mini PC recommendations.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
The Malaysian government’s misguided plan to control its citizens’ DNS, the wrong way to deploy underwater servers, a philosophical question about how long a person’s photos will exist, and how we manage our SSH keys.
Plug
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News/discussion
Malaysia’s plan to block overseas DNS dies after a day
Proposed underwater data center surprises regulators who hadn’t heard about it
Free consulting
We were asked about how we manage our SSH keys.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
A surprising way to exploit the WHOIS system, Microsoft will force old versions of Windows 11 to update, and the simple way to set up TP-Link Omada gear.
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News
Rogue WHOIS server gives researcher superpowers no one should ever have
Windows 11 users still living in the past face forced update, like it or not
Free consulting
We were asked about setting up TP-Link Omada gear.
Another example of the downsides of abstraction, whether AI can ever be truly “open source”, and the security benefits and drawbacks of different types of VPN.
Plug
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News/discussion
Hackers infect ISPs with malware that steals customers’ credentials
Debate over “open source AI” term brings new push to formalize definition
Free consulting
We were asked about whether VPNs are a security measure.
AMD will patch some old Ryzens against SinkClose now, but their benchmarking methods for newer CPUs didn’t live up to everyday reality. Plus Bcachefs devs annoy Linus Torvalds, the US government sues a college over compliance issues, and Jim disappoints a patron.
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News
AMD’s Ryzen 3000 CPUs to get SinkClose patch after all
AMD explains, promises partial fixes for Ryzen 9000 performance problems
Linus Torvalds Begins Expressing Regrets Merging Bcachefs
After cybersecurity lab wouldn’t use AV software, US accuses Georgia Tech of fraud
Free consulting
We were asked about monitoring your network for new device connections.
Insecure SSH implementations and a weak key that let a researcher control 200 MW of electrical capacity reignites the debate about versioned protocols vs pluggable protocols, follow-up on sharing files from your LAN with people on the Internet, and the pros and cons of encrypted backups.
Plug
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News/discussion
Researchers find insecure SSH implementations everywhere
512-bit RSA key in home energy system gives control of “virtual power plant”
Feedback
Free consulting
We were asked about the pros and cons of encrypted backups.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
Forcing Windows to undo updates and a separate IPv6 vulnerability, hardware bugs in AMD and Intel CPUs, and using Samba on Linux with Active Directory.
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News
Your victim’s Windows PC fully patched? Just force undo its updates and exploit away
Almost unfixable “Sinkclose” bug affects hundreds of millions of AMD chips
Intel’s crashing 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs: all the news and updates
Free Consulting
We were asked about using Samba on Linux with Active Directory.
map acl inherit = yes
acl_xattr:ignore system acls = yes
acl_xattr:default acl style = windows
Setting up a Share Using Windows ACLs
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Secure boot is compromised on hundreds of devices, Amazon’s desperate attempt to make money from Alexa, and how to decide which open source software on GitHub to trust.
Plug
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News/discussion
Secure Boot is completely broken on 200+ models from 5 big device makers
Amazon’s paid Alexa is coming to fill a $25 billion hole dug by Echo devices
Alexa had “no profit timeline,” cost Amazon $25 billion in 4 years
Free consulting
We were asked about how to decide which open source software on GitHub to trust.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
How and why the recent huge Windows outage was caused by a bad CrowdStrike update and how it could have been avoided, a hilariously dumb ESXi vulnerability, and using SAS drives with a PCIe card.
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News
A closer look at what caused the CrowdStrike Windows crashes
Ransomware gangs are loving this dumb but deadly ESXi flaw
Free Consulting
We were asked about using SAS drives with a PCIe card.
How a Bitcoin mine made life in a Texas town absolutely miserable, why paying for extended support for end of life Windows versions is just doubling down on technical debt, and the best way to manage router redundancy.
Plug
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News/discussion
Inside the ‘Nightmare’ Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town
Enterprises urged to think carefully about Windows 10 extended support options
Free Consulting
We were asked about managing router redundancy.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
A widely-used login system is still using MD5 which is bad news, miscreants took over some domains when they moved from Google to Squarespace, Linksys’ sloppy app isn’t a huge problem but is a bad sign, and why backing up an Android phone in one go is pretty much impossible without root.
Plug
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News
New Blast-RADIUS attack breaks 30-year-old protocol used in networks everywhere
Squarespace migration linked to DNS hijacking, claims report
Linksys Velop routers send Wi-Fi passwords in plaintext to US servers
Free Consulting
We were asked about backing up Android phones.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
We didn’t get to all of your questions for our Episode 200 free consulting special so here is another full episode of your questions and our answers. Our thoughts on a new UK smart devices law, backing up 30TB off-site, how to learn ZFS, SMB vs other ways to share files, and backing up secrets.
Smart devices: new law helps citizens to choose secure products
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
Why we didn’t mention pocket fluff when we talked about USB-C charging issues, Microsoft abandons its promising underwater data center experiment and didn’t monitor it’s SSL certs, why you should be careful which WordPress plugins and themes you install,an Australian ISP’s tech debt comes due, and remoting into desktop Linux.
Plug
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News
Microsoft ends Project Natick underwater data center experiment despite success
Microsoft declares its underwater data center test was a success
Backdoor slipped into multiple WordPress plugins in ongoing supply-chain attack
Coding error in forgotten API blamed for massive data breach
Microsoft hits snooze again on security certificate renewal
Free Consulting
We were asked about remoting into desktop Linux.
Vulnerabilities in Asus hardware make us think there should be some regulations about what can be sold as a router, a VPN feature that we hadn’t heard of is removed from Windows, and why we don’t believe that Microsoft will ever take security as seriously as they claim.
Plug
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News/discussion
High-severity vulnerabilities affect a wide range of Asus router models
Dear Asus router user: You’ve been pwned, thanks to easily exploited flaw
Microsoft to remove DirectAccess from Windows, recommends switching to Always On VPN
Microsoft fixes hack-me-via-Wi-Fi Windows security hole
Microsoft in damage-control mode, says it will prioritize security over AI
Pluralistic: Microsoft pinky swears that THIS TIME they’ll make security a priority
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
It’s our episode 200 free consulting special. Jim and Allan answer your questions about hard drive availability, USB-C robustness, ZFS performance on a VPS, cold storage with a 2.5″ form factor, how we gained our level of knowledge, disk enclosure issues, and monitoring Windows servers.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
How to prepare for your loved ones to have the access they need if the worst unexpectedly happens, Joe’s weird issues with wireless access points, and dealing with email accounts that shouldn’t exist.
Plug
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News/discussion
After you die, your Steam games will be stuck in legal limbo
EAP225 AC1350 wireless access point
Free Consulting
We were asked about dealing with email accounts that shouldn’t exist.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
1Password
Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every device. Support the show and check it out at 1password.com/25a
Microsoft is tightening up SMB security in Windows which might break access to your old NAS, a Cogent root-server mysteriously goes out of sync without them spotting it, and protecting hard drives from electromagnetic pulses.
Plug
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News
Installing Windows 11 24H2 might mean binning that old NAS
A root-server at the Internet’s core lost touch with its peers. We still don’t know why
Free Consulting
We were asked about protecting hard drives from electromagnetic pulses.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
Linux kernel developers were infected with malware for 2 years, another nail in the coffin of proper federated email as Exchange Server moves to a subscription model, followup on zfsbootmenu and IPv6, and learning unfamiliar topics.
Plug
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News/discussion
Linux maintainers were infected for 2 years by SSH-dwelling backdoor with huge reach
Exchange Server SE to debut just before 2019 support ends
Newbie struggling with zfsbootmenu
Free Consulting
We were asked about learning unfamiliar topics.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
Microsoft’s new Copilot+ feature will record everything you are doing on your computer for some reason, but it will only work on new Arm hardware for now. Plus Apple’s weird iOS bug that restored deleted files and photos, and sharing files over the Internet from a NAS on your LAN.
Plugs
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News
New Windows AI feature records everything you’ve done on your PC
Microsoft’s “Copilot+” AI PC requirements are embarrassing for Intel and AMD
Apple needs to explain that bug that resurfaced deleted photos
Free Consulting
We were asked about sharing files over the Internet from a NAS on your LAN.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Why Windows 10 might be gaining users at Windows 11’s expense, an old DHCP option is a potential risk for VPN users, we should probably say “renting” rather than “buying”domains, and avoiding tracking when using IPv6.
Plugs
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Jim was on Late Night Linux again
News
Has Windows 11 really lost marketshare to Windows 10?
Novel attack against virtually all VPN apps neuters their entire purpose
Free Consulting
We were asked about avoiding tracking when using IPv6.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
Kolide
Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/25a to learn more.
Mastodon’s link previews are causing downtime for web servers without properly configured caching, locking down DNS inside Windows networks, why using write-once backup media is a bad idea, and increasing the performance of a Microsoft SQL Server with SSDs and ZFS.
Plugs
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News
Mastodon delays firm fix to solve link preview DDoS
Microsoft plans to lock down Windows DNS like never before
Free Consulting
We were asked about write-once backup media, and increasing the performance of a Microsoft SQL Server with SSDs and ZFS.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
How a smart TV broke a Windows machine on the same network by pretending to be hundreds of different TVs, Jim’s alarming theory about AI malware, and encrypting offsite backups.
Plug
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News/discussion
Is your PC having trouble? Your smart TV might be to blame
Free Consulting
We were asked about encrypting offsite backups.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
Kolide
Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/25a to learn more.
ZFS on root is back in the Ubuntu installer but there’s a better way to do it, next-generation hard drives are proving to be reliable but prices are going up thanks to storage-hungry AI, why getting started with ZFS is really easy, and the best filesystem for a single SSD (take a guess).
Plugs
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How to upstream code to open source projects
News
Ubuntu 24.04 Supports Easy Installation Of OpenZFS Root File-System With Encryption
Seagate makes HDD price hikes, says AI caused demand spike
Free Consulting
We were asked about learning ZFS, and which filesystem to use for a single SSD.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
Why updating iPhones in their sealed boxes might have some downsides, Amazon’s “AI” turned out to just be people, LLMs hallucinating imaginary dependencies is potentially a security risk, Aruba backs up its government data to the Internet Archive, and disk queue schedulers in Linux.
Plug
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News/discussion
Here’s our first look at Apple’s in-the-box iPhone updating machine
Amazon Ditches ‘Just Walk Out’ Checkouts at Its Grocery Stores
AI bots hallucinate software packages and devs download them
Caribbean nation of Aruba backs itself up to Internet Archive
Free Consulting
We were asked about disk queue schedulers in Linux.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
A backdoor has been found in xz-utils, OpenZFS improves ZVOL performance on Linux, Twitter devs fail at regex, and adding SATA ports to a home NAS.
Plug
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Hybrid Cloud Show is a new show that’s part of the Late Night Linux Family!
News
backdoor in upstream xz/liblzma leading to ssh server compromise
OpenZFS Merges Support For Using Multiple Task Queues To Increase Performance for zvols
X fixes URL blunder that could enable social media phishing
Free Consulting
We were asked about adding SATA ports to a home NAS.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
Glassdoor seemingly doesn’t understand its raison d’etre, Telegram wants to cheap out on sending verification codes, law enforcement makes YouTube give them details of everyone who watched certain videos, and tuning a low end VPS to host a blog.
Plug
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News/discussion
Users ditch Glassdoor, stunned by site adding real names without consent
Telegram’s Peer-to-Peer Login system is a risky way to save $5 a month
Feds Ordered Google To Unmask Certain YouTube Users
Free Consulting
We were asked about tuning a low end VPS to host a blog.
Tailscale
Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build simple networks across complex infrastructure. Go to tailscale.com/25a and try Tailscale out for free for up to 100 devices and 3 users, with no credit card required.
Kolide
Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/25a to learn more.
The FreeBSD version of TrueNAS is going away, a major Apple antitrust case begins, encrypted LLM chat responses are relatively easy to read, and scaling a fleet of FreeBSD hosts with jails.
Plug
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News
TrueNAS CORE 13 is the end of the FreeBSD version
Apple’s antitrust fight begins
US DOJ’s blockbuster lawsuit against Apple is headline grabber but poses limited near-term impact
Hackers can read private AI-assistant chats even though they’re encrypted
Free Consulting
We were asked about scaling a fleet of FreeBSD hosts with jails.
Cluster provisioning with Nomad and Pot on FreeBSD
Prison officials took away inmate student laptops for no good reason, Warner Bros. ruined gamers’ experiences, Google’s terrible office WiFi, and managing gold images.
Plug
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News/discussion
An engineer bought a prison laptop on eBay. Then 1,200 incarcerated students lost their devices
Devs left with tough choices as Warner Bros. ends all Adult Swim Games downloads
Google’s self-designed office swallows Wi-Fi “like the Bermuda Triangle”
Free Consulting
We were asked about managing gold images.
Roku stops its users watching TV until they accept a new ToS, the line between journalism and computer fraud and abuse, and when using jumbo frames on a network makes sense.
Plug
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News
Roku disables players and TVs with attempt to coerce arbitration agreement
Over 15,000 hacked Roku accounts sold for 50¢ each to buy hardware
Op-ed: Charges against journalist Tim Burke are a hack job
Free Consulting
We were asked about using jumbo frames on a network.
Kolide
Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/25a to learn more.
The boss of Nvidia says kids don’t need to code because they can just use AI, companies sell their users’ data to train models, and why 2.5Gbps networking probably isn’t worth bothering with.
Plug
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News/discussion
Jensen Huang says kids shouldn’t learn to code — they should leave it up to AI
Google cut a deal with Reddit for AI training data
Tumblr and WordPress to Sell Users’ Data to Train AI Tools
Free Consulting
We were asked about adding 2.5Gbps gear to your network.
Kolide
Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/25a to learn more.
More cameras leak footage, Avast is fined for selling user data, a vending machine quietly scans students’ faces, using a small NVMe drive with ZFS, and taking snapshots of VMs.
Plug
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News
“So violated”: Wyze cameras leak footage to strangers for 2nd time in 5 months
Avast fined $16.5 million for ‘privacy’ software that actually sold users’ browsing data
Vending machine error reveals secret face image database of college students
Free Consulting
We were asked about using a small NVMe drive with ZFS, and taking snapshots of VMs.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Why it’s not a great idea to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, quantum computing hype has been replaced by AI, toothbrushes can’t be part of a botnet, Google has killed cached search results, and testing your backups.
Plugs
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News/discussion
Windows 11 24H2 goes from “unsupported” to “unbootable” on some older PCs
Investors threw 50% less money at quantum sector last year
Viral news story of botnet with 3 million toothbrushes was too good to be true
Google has killed cached results in search
Free Consulting
We were asked about testing your backups.
Kolide
Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/25a to learn more.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Nginx is forked, Broadcom/VMware kills ESXi, dedup is finally fixed in ZFS, using multiple network interfaces on a NAS, and more.
Plugs
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News
Broadcom-owned VMware kills the free version of ESXi virtualization software
OpenZFS Native Encryption Use Raises Data Corruption Concerns
Fast Dedup is a Valentines Gift to the OpenZFS and TrueNAS Communities
Free Consulting
We were asked about using multiple network interfaces on a NAS.
Kolide
Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/25a to learn more.
Trying to report a security issue lands a consultant in trouble, a new take on the drop shipping scam, setting up your first NAS – including the benefits of RAID, picking a distro, choosing the right disk size, and more.
Plug
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News/discussion
IT consultant in Germany fined for exposing shoddy security
Canadian Man Stuck in Triangle of E-Commerce Fraud
ICANN proposes creating .INTERNAL domain
Free Consulting
We were asked about setting up your first NAS – including the benefits of RAID, picking a distro, and choosing the right disk size.
Building Your Own FreeBSD-based NAS with ZFS
Part 2: Tuning Your FreeBSD Configuration for Your NAS
3.5″ internal drives sorted by price/TB
Microsoft’s rudimentary error that allowed an attacker access to its executives’ emails, Pixel phones have another serious storage bug, hidden malware payload found at Ars Technica, and when to upgrade your hardware for Windows 11.
Plugs
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News
In major gaffe, hacked Microsoft test account was assigned admin privileges
Pixel phones are broken again with critical storage permission bug
Ars Technica used in malware campaign with never-before-seen obfuscation
Free Consulting
We were asked about when to upgrade your hardware for Windows 11.
Y2K was a pretty serious problem and 2038 is coming soon, work on Arm servers is improving the experience on the desktop, and what to do with an old unsupported Synology NAS.
Plugs
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
OpenZFS Best Practices: Part 2: File Serving and SANs
News/discussion
The ‘nothing-happened’ Y2K bug – and how IT squashed it
What I learned from using a Raspberry Pi 5 as my main computer for two weeks
Free Consulting
We were asked about what to do with an old unsupported Synology NAS.
How can I use a PC to recover data when my Synology NAS malfunctions?
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hard drives are pretty much an enterprise product now, GitHub’s malware problem, and spreading services across different machines and VMs to keep downtime to a minimum.
Plugs
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
OpenZFS Storage Best Practices and Use Cases Part 1: Snapshots and Backups
News
Seagate unveils 30 TB+ Exos HAMR disk drives – Blocks and Files
Miscreants absolutely love using GitHub to sling malware
Flying Under the Radar: Abusing GitHub for Malicious Infrastructure
Free Consulting
We were asked about spreading services across different machines and VMs to keep downtime to a minimum.
Kolide
Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Visit kolide.com/25a to learn more.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Why the problems with open source licenses aren’t quite as easy to fix as some people think, the reasons you should never pay ransomware gangs, and running a Nagios distro on a Raspberry Pi.
Plug
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News/discussion
What comes after open source? Bruce Perens is working on it
A tale of 2 casino ransomware attacks: One paid out, one did not
The State of Ransomware in the U.S.: Report and Statistics 2023
Free Consulting
We were asked about running a Nagios distro on a Raspberry Pi.
Automox
Check out the brand new Autonomous IT podcast. Listen in as a variety of experts in the IT Operations space discuss the latest Patch Tuesday releases, mitigation tips, and custom automations to help with CVE remediations. Listen now on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.
What does “incognito mode” in Chrome actually mean and whether documenting browser standards in code is a good idea, the serious implications of a fun story about messing with a ChatGPT instance, and maximizing performance when using mixed disk types on ZFS mirrored vdevs.
Plug
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News
Google agrees to settle Chrome incognito mode class action lawsuit
I’d Buy That for a Dollar: Chevy Dealership’s AI Chatbot Goes Rogue
Free Consulting
We were asked about maximizing performance when using mixed disk types on ZFS mirrored vdevs.
Twitch pulls out of Korea thanks to the opposite of Net Neutrality, it’s not clear to what extent smart devices are listening to your conversations, more on water usage in data centers, and our thoughts on mandatory access controls.
Plug
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News
Twitch to shut down in Korea over ‘prohibitively expensive’ network fees
Marketer sparks panic with claims it uses smart devices to eavesdrop on people
Free Consulting
We were asked for our thoughts on mandatory access controls.
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
What you need to know about the recent SSH vulnerability, yet another privacy issue with cloud-connected security cameras, why it’s difficult to get to the bottom of an obscure ZFS encryption bug, and more.
Plug
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News
SSH protects the world’s most sensitive networks. It just got a lot weaker
UniFi devices broadcasted private video to other users’ accounts
Free Consulting
We were asked about the state of ZFS encryption, and Syncoid snapshots.
Google Drive client users lost months of files, a feature of UEFI that has left millions of computers potentially vulnerable to persistent malware, and why you probably shouldn’t buy cheap resold volume Windows licenses.
Plugs
Support us on patreon to get ad-free episodes that are sometimes a day or so early.
News/discussion
Google Drive users say Google lost their files; Google is investigating
How to restore files in Drive for desktop (v84.0.0.0-84.0.4.0)
Just about every Windows and Linux device vulnerable to new LogoFAIL firmware attack
Free Consulting
We were asked about using cheap resold volume Windows licenses.
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
Jim and Allan break down the details of the recent ZFS data corruption bug, and give their tips for managing a fleet of 40+ servers.
Plug
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News
Two new versions of OpenZFS fix long-hidden corruption bug
Free Consulting
We were asked about managing 40+ servers.
Automox
Save time, eliminate risk, and automate the patching, configuration, and control of all your Windows, macOS, and Linux endpoints with Automox.
Why a small island nation’s top level domain ended up with such a terrible reputation, an ssh vulnerability that’s not as scary as it sounds, whether software can be “finished”, and using powerline or WiFi for security cameras.
Plugs
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News
How a tiny Pacific Island became the global capital of cybercrime
Passive SSH server private key compromise is real … for some vulnerable gear
Feedback
The beauty of finished software
Free Consulting
We were asked about using powerline or WiFi for security cameras.
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
The Traceroute Podcast
Check out the new season of the Traceroute Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Visit the website.
Why and how Allan installed a set of new Power over Ethernet wireless access points, and our hardware recommendations for a media server and NAS in one.
Allan’s new WiFi setup
Free Consulting
We were asked for hardware recommendations for a media server and NAS in one.
HelloFresh
With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get free breakfast for life at hellofresh.com/25adminsfree with code 25adminsfree. (One breakfast item per box while subscription is active).
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
A Cloudflare outage shines a light on sloppy data center practices, and why you shouldn’t run a mail server at home. Plus followup on the Android multi-user bug, package managers on Windows, and Toshiba hard drives.
Plugs
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News/discussion
Cloudflare claims Flexential data center outage was behind service disruption – DCD
Post Mortem on Cloudflare Control Plane and Analytics Outage
Android 14’s storage disaster gets patched, but your data might be gone
Feedback
Toshiba Consumer Internal Hard Disk Drives
Free Consulting
We were asked about running a mail server at home.
“Run Your Own Mail Server” chapter 0
HelloFresh
With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get free breakfast for life at hellofresh.com/25adminsfree with code 25adminsfree. (One breakfast item per box while subscription is active).
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
Okta seems to not be taking its security seriously enough, crashing iPhones is far easier than it should be, Jim’s report from the Ubuntu Summit, and what to do when you find a company’s sensitive data on the Internet.
Plugs
Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes
News
No, Okta, senior management, not an errant employee, caused you to get hacked
Okta October breach affected 134 orgs, biz admits
Okta hit by another breach, this one stealing employee data from 3rd-party vendor
This tiny device is sending updated iPhones into a never-ending DoS loop
Jim went to the Ubuntu Summit
Free Consulting
We were asked about what to do when you find a company’s sensitive data on the Internet.
The Traceroute Podcast
Check out the new season of the Traceroute Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Visit the website.
Automox
Save time, eliminate risk, and automate the patching, configuration, and control of all your Windows, macOS, and Linux endpoints with Automox.
The large water consumption of AI and data centers in general, China’s big push towards IPv6, why we don’t talk about Toshiba hard drives very often, and the implications of poor Bluetooth security on an e-bike.
Plugs
News/discussion
The Secret Water Footprint of AI Technology
China requires all new Wi-Fi kit to run IPv6
Free Consulting
We were asked about the implications of poor Bluetooth security on an e-bike.
Monitor Traffic With Wireless Travel Time Sensors
Bluetooth Pedestrian and Vehicle Tracking
The Traceroute Podcast
Check out the new season of the Traceroute Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Visit the website.
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
What Google should do to prevent malware sites in their ads, why you might want to avoid using multiple profiles on Android devices, a speculative execution vulnerability in Apple Silicon, and the pros and cons of TP-Link Omada and Ubiquiti Unifi.
Plugs
News
Clever malvertising attack uses Punycode to look like KeePass’s official website
pixel 6 can’t access storage with multiple profiles after updating to android 14
Hackers can force iOS and macOS browsers to divulge passwords and much more
Free Consulting
We were asked about the pros and cons of TP-Link Omada and Ubiquiti Unifi.
The nuances of copyrighting AI-generated art, getting the best speeds with Samba, and building an SSD-only NAS.
News/discussion
Opinion: The Copyright Office is making a mistake on AI-generated art
Free Consulting
We were asked about building an SSD-only NAS.
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
Why enabling password autofill isn’t a great idea, Jim’s adventures in network repair, and setting up a home router/WiFi hotspot.
Feedback
Don’t use autofill on your password manager
Story Time
Free Consulting
We were asked about hardware for a home router/Wi-Fi hotspot.
HelloFresh
With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 50% off plus free shipping at hellofresh.com/5025admins using code 5025admins.
A network breach teaches us all a valuable lesson about threat models, Allan and Jim’s TV setups, and picking the right external storage solution.
Plugs
News/discussion
How Google Authenticator made one company’s network breach much, much worse
Amolith’s wiki page about passwords
Feedback
Free Consulting
We were asked about picking the right external storage solution.
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
Google and Apple do a bad job of disclosing a pretty serious vulnerability, why hard drives aren’t physically bigger, and setting up a distributed backup system with a group of friends.
Plugs
News
Submit your ideas or articles – OpenSource.net
Incomplete disclosures by Apple and Google create “huge blindspot” for 0-day hunters
Google quietly corrects previously submitted disclosure for critical webp 0-day
Free Consulting
We were asked about setting up a distributed backup system with a group of friends.
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
The future of archive storage using lasers and ceramics, self-hosting an Internet archive, more on Windows 11 Home, and setting up storage inside VMs.
Plugs
Jim and Allan host Klara’s latest Webinar: OpenZFS Data Replication
News/discussion
Cerabyte roadmaps ceramic nano-memory storage
Feedback
Free Consulting
We were asked about setting up storage inside VMs.
Unity causes a stink with its new pricing model, running out of disk space causes a very expensive problem, how one-off promotional domains can come back to bite you, and picking the hardware and software for a router.
News
Unity has changed its pricing model, and game developers are pissed off
Unity rushes to clarify price increase plan, as game developers fume
unity_to_godot_converter: An experimental converter from Unity to Godot game engines
Toyota outage caused by servers running out of storage
Lidl recalls Paw Patrol snacks after website on packaging displayed porn
Free Consulting
We were asked about picking the hardware and software for a router.
HelloFresh
With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 50% off plus 15% off the next 2 months at hellofresh.com/5025admins using code 5025admins.
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
The user experience on fresh installations of Windows and Edge is terrible and we get to the bottom of why. Unfortunately the reason isn’t exclusive to Microsoft’s offerings – it’s a pattern that we’ve seen from numerous companies, even Mozilla. Plus why it’s a bad idea to power your server on and off regularly.
Plugs
News/discussion
Windows 11 has made the “clean Windows install” an oxymoron
Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Windows 11 to get people to ditch Google
Free Consulting
We were asked about powering a home server on and off regularly.
Dropbox once again proves that there is no such thing as “unlimited” anything, Intel isn’t going to support WiFi 7 on Windows 10 (but it doesn’t really matter), managing ssh keys, setting up data storage for containers, and more on IPMI for Raspberry Pis.
Plugs
News
Dropbox limits ‘all the storage you need’ unlimited plan, blames abusive users
Intel doesn’t plan to support Wi-Fi 7 on Windows 10
Wi-Fi 7 is Coming: Here’s What You Need to Know
Feedback
Free Consulting
We were asked about managing ssh keys, and setting up data storage for containers.
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
CNET’s SEO attempts once again show that nothing lasts forever, why the reports of the death of the mechanical hard drive are greatly exaggerated, and home-made IPMI on the cheap.
News/discussion
The Internet is not forever after all: CNET deletes old articles to game Google
Coughlin: SSDs will not kill disk drives
Samsung Announces 256TB SSDs and Unveils Peta-Byte Scale PBSSDs
Why fully remote work is on the wane as Zoom drags employees back to the office and Bluejeans is shut down, the Sandisk SSDs that keep failing, and how and why you should use ECC RAM in your home server if you can.
Plugs
News
Zoom has “Zoom fatigue,” requires workers to return to the office
BlueJeans, Verizon’s Google Meet competitor you’ve never heard of, is shutting down
We just lost 3TB of data on a SanDisk Extreme SSD
SanDisk’s silence deafens as high-profile users say Extreme SSDs still broken
Free Consulting
We were asked about ECC RAM in a home server.
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
Allan and Jim reminisce about the early days of connecting to the Internet, and what inspired them to become sysadmins in the first place. Plus recovering old versions of files, and an exciting announcement about the show.
Plugs
2.5 Admins is now part of the Late Night Linux Family. Support us on Patreon
News/discussion
2.5 Admins in
The ‘90s Internet: When 20 hours online triggered an email from my ISP’s president
How To Start An ISP (like it’s 1993)
Free Consulting
We were asked about recovering old versions of files.
Linux Matters
Check out Linux Matters – a show in the Late Night Linux Family hosted by popey, Mark, and Wimpy about all the Linux matters that matter. They did a recent episode about backups (without using ZFS).
Why the increasing trend of charging for public IPv4 addresses won’t change much, Google trials restricting its employees’ Internet access, and operating systems uploading firmware to devices at boot.
Plugs
Klara 2023 Recommended Summer Reads – FreeBSD and Linux
News
New – AWS Public IPv4 Address Charge + Public IP Insights
AWS to charge customers for public IPv4 addresses from 2024
Google’s new security pilot program will ban employee Internet access
Free Consulting
We were asked about operating systems uploading firmware to devices at boot, rather than having it baked in.
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
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
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.
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
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
Setting up a self-hosted alternative, what counts as a “removable” battery, and backing up a Windows machine to ZFS.
News/discussion
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Reddit fails to see where its true value lies, Intel makes its consumer CPU lines confusing, and Microsoft’s “next generation” filesystem.
News
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.
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
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.
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
OpenZFS, Your Data and the Challenge of Ransomware
News
Hololens dev Twitter thread (archived version)
Some Curseforge accounts might be compromised/hacked, and are uploading malicious files
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
What Makes OpenZFS the Ideal Storage Solution for University Environments
News
Google Online Security Blog: So long passwords, thanks for all the phish
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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
FreeBSD vs Linux: Tracing and Troubleshooting
News
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
Yet another reason to disable voicemail, why so many recent Macs end up as scrap, and setting up a mail server.
Plugs
Auditing for Storage Performance
News
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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
Klara’s best articles from 2022
News/discussion
Eir says thousands of customer emails irretrievably deleted in error
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.
LastPass vaults are leaked, ChatGPT is coming to Bing, live migrations, and SSD vs spinning disk power usage.
Plugs
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.
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.
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
OpenZFS: Choosing between FreeBSD and Linux
News/discussion
Intel On Demand Driver Ready To Activate Your Licensed CPU Features With Linux 6.2
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
Virtualization Showdown: FreeBSD bhyve vs Linux KVM
Discussion
Thinking about taking your computer to the repair shop? Be very afraid
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
Why the Twitter infrastructure is creaking, Jim’s experiences of the Ubuntu Summit, changing VM resources without rebooting, and more.
News/discussion
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A drone-delivered exploit system, why companies destroy perfectly good hardware, and pulling backups from a Windows machine.
Plugs
iX and Klara – The Open Source Era is Upon Us
Your Comprehensive Guide to FreeBSD’s rc
News
Why Big Tech shreds millions of storage devices it could reuse
Free Consulting
We were asked about pulling backups from a Windows machine.
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.
SSDs are probably more reliable than spinning hard drives, how much RAM you actually need, Cloudflare alternatives, sudo password security, and more.
Plugs
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?
Feedback
A Practical Guide to (Correctly) Troubleshooting with Traceroute (pdf)
How to properly interpret a traceroute or mtr
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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
The modern OS desktop is a crime against humanity
Free Consulting
We were asked for advice about backups for beginners.
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.
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.
A big change is coming to Windows licensing for VMs, Google changes the rules around VPNs on Android, and solving a DoH problem.
Plugs
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Good and bad from Meta/Facebook, data centres in London are hogging all the power, separating databases from applications, picking a DB, and more.
With guest host Gary from Linux After Dark.
Plugs
News
It’s time to leave the leap second in the past
Meta thinks Facebook may need more “harmful health misinformation”
Electronics are built with death dates. Let’s not keep them a secret
Too Many Servers Could Mean No New Homes in Parts of the UK
Free Consulting
We were asked about separating databases from applications, and how to pick a DB in the first place.
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.
The consequences of accrued technical debt and how to avoid it, a serious security issue in Confluence, Proxmox’s poor ZFS config, and more.
With guest host Gary from Linux After Dark.
Plugs
News
Linux x86 32-bit Is Vulnerable To Retbleed But Don’t Expect It To Get Fixed
Debian skip-skip-cross-up-grade
Hardcoded password in Confluence app has been leaked on Twitter
Atlassian reveals critical flaws across its product line
Free Consulting
We were asked about ZFS snapshots, and Proxmox performance.
Jim’s Twitter thread about ZFS config in Proxmox
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.
Jim and Allan’s thoughts on GitHub Copilot, why you can’t take the bar exam on modern Intel hardware, and database VM snapshot consistency.
Plugs
Contributing to Open Source: Beyond Software Development
News/discussion
Why can’t Intel’s 12th-gen CPUs pass the bar exam? Blame the E-cores
Free Consulting
We were asked about database VM snapshot consistency.
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.
More on abandoned hardware, central auth, Internet Explorer, Antivirus, monitoring, speed testing, and more.
Plugs
Watch Jim and Allan’s webinar: Getting started with bhyve
Things mentioned:
Cisco Small Business RV Series Routers
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.
A PSA about cheap hard drives, a major Internet outage in Canada, Apple’s new Lockdown Mode, and hostnames and DNS.
Plugs
From 0 to Bhyve on FreeBSD 13.1
News
PSA: buyer beware on “WaterPanther” drives
Canadian ISP Rogers falls over for hours, takes out broadband, cable, cellphones
Rogers restores service for ‘vast majority’ of customers after massive outage
Rogers outage points to need for greater oversight of critical industry
After massive Rogers outage, Government of Canada to force telecoms to help each other in emergencies
Apple expands commitment to protect users from mercenary spyware
Why Lockdown mode from Apple is one of the coolest security ideas ever
Free Consulting
We were asked about hostnames and 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/25a and get started with $100 credit.
Picking the right switch, clustering Raspberry Pis, dynamic DNS, replacing a desktop PC, work-life balance, and more.
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.
The best ways to test your Internet speed, more on filesystem caching, monitoring servers at scale, and more.
Plugs
Webinar: Open-source Virtualization: Getting Started with Bhyve
Discussion
Feedback
Free Consulting
We were asked about monitoring servers at scale.
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.
Internet Explorer is dead, Cisco small business routers that need to be junked, antivirus on Linux servers, and you’ll never guess what Jim and Allan recommend for easily rolling back updates.
Plugs
Webinar: Open-source Virtualization: Getting Started with Bhyve
News
Internet Explorer 11 has retired and is officially out of support—what you need to know
If you’re using older, vulnerable Cisco small biz routers, throw them out
Free Consulting
We were asked about antivirus on Linux servers, and easily rolling back updates.
Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools for Linux best practices
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.
The finer points of allocating VM resources, Jim is annoyed with the browser situation on Ubuntu desktop, and when you should have passwords on your SSH keys.
Plugs
News/discussion
How are we improving Firefox snap performance? Part 1
Free Consulting
We were asked about passwords on SSH keys.
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.
Freeing up millions of IPv4 addresses, WSL 2 comes to Windows Server, why cert renewal should be automated, what to do with SMR drives, and more.
Plugs
News
Freeing up of hundreds of millions of IPv4 addresses proposed
Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 splashes down on Win Server 2022
Massive podcast outage caused by Spotify’s failure to renew security certificate
Free Consulting
We were asked about making use of SMR drives, and tuning ZFS
Kolide
Endpoint Security for Teams That Slack – Try for Free Today! https://l.kolide.co/3LpQbqk
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.
A Linux user tries out FreeBSD’s Bhyve hypervisor, choosing storage for a VMware ESXi server, and perfect use case for WireGuard.
Discussion
Jim has been testing Bhyve
Free Consulting
We were asked about connecting home and small business networks, and choosing storage for a VMware ESXi 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.
End-to-end encryption is under threat again, Broadcom is buying VMware, prison time for an angry DBA, and backing up your photos with encryption.
Plugs
Evaluating FreeBSD-CURRENT for Production Use
BSDCan 2022 – Online June 1-4th
News
“War upon end-to-end encryption”: EU wants Big Tech to scan private messages
Broadcom to buy VMware on Thursday for ‘$60 billion’
Angry IT admin wipes employer’s databases, gets 7 years in prison
Free Consulting
We were asked about backing up photos with encryption.
Stingle is a privacy-focused open source photo backup application
Google Photos is so 2020—welcome to the world of self-hosted photo management
Kolide
Endpoint Security for Teams That Slack – Try for Free Today! https://l.kolide.co/3LpQbqk
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.
More on Ubuntu mirrors and DNS, detecting advanced persistent threats, resilient backups, and open source Active Directory alternatives.
Plugs
Feedback
Damaged ZFS filesystems can be more or less unrepairable
Free Consulting
We were asked about open source Active Directory alternatives.
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.
Another attempt to replace passwords, trying to solve the problem of write-once storage, and the unusual ways we manage our invoices.
Plugs
EuroBSDCon CfP: September 15-18, 2022 in Vienna, Austria. Submit by May 25th
News
Apple, Google, and Microsoft want to kill the password with “Passkey” standard
How Apple, Google, and Microsoft will kill passwords and phishing in one stroke
Verbatim Launches Write-Once External SSD With 10-Year Warranty
Free Consulting
We were asked about open source invoice software.
Kolide
Endpoint Security for Teams That Slack – Try for Free Today! https://l.kolide.co/3LpQbqk
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.
How long optical disks last and why cold storage isn’t usually worth it, VM security, more thoughts on crypto nonsense, and more.
Plugs
Learning the Fundamentals of the FreeBSD Shell
Feedback
Twitter thread about optical media longevity
Free Consulting
We were asked about exporting VMs.
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.
Musk buys Twitter, Ubuntu’s ZFS on root snapshot tool is put on the back burner, and setting up your own apt mirror.
Plugs
Build your own NAS, Part 2: Tuning
News
Elon Musk strikes deal to buy Twitter for $44bn
Tweet from Rik Mills (Ubuntu & Kubuntu developer)
Launchpad bug to remove ZFS-on-root from Ubiquity installer
zsys removed from the 22.04 installer
Free Consulting
We were asked about running setting up your own apt mirror.
Kolide
Endpoint Security for Teams That Slack – Try for Free Today! https://l.kolide.co/3LpQbqk
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.
Yet another IoT company abandons its customers, ridiculous “hard drives”, Postrges with containers, and cloud storage that isn’t quite as good as it sounds. With guest host Alex Kretzschmar from the Self-Hosted podcast.
Plugs
Building Your Own FreeBSD-based NAS with ZFS
News
Insteon looks dead—just like its users’ smart homes
Feedback
Harder Drive: Hard drives we didn’t want or need
Free Consulting
We were asked about ZFS and multipath, and running Postgres with containers.
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.
The new features in OpenSSH, an embarrassing outage, the ugly side of Apple’s AirTags, and securing SSH keys when using Git. With guest host Dalton Durst from Linux After Dark.
Plugs
Improving Replication Security With OpenZFS Delegation
News
At last, Atlassian sees an end to its outage – in two weeks
Police Records Show Women Are Being Stalked With Apple AirTags Across the Country
Apple: What to do if you get an alert that an AirTag is with you
Free Consulting
We were asked about securing SSH keys when using Git.
Kolide
Endpoint Security for Teams That Slack – Try for Free Today! https://l.kolide.co/3LpQbqk
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.
CAPTCHAs in phishing attacks, Jim gets angry about Bitcoin propaganda in schools, and packet loss with UDP.
Plugs
Discussion
How CAPTCHA puzzles cloak phishing page URLs in emails
Jim gets mad about crypto propaganda in schools
Free Consulting
We were asked about packet loss with UDP.
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 $100 credit.
An open source dev goes rogue, a big single sign-on provider is compromised, self-hosting DNS, and more.
Plugs
Should I upgrade to OpenZFS 2.1?
News
BIG sabotage: Famous npm package deletes files to protest Ukraine war
The Fragile Open Source Ecosystem Isn’t Ready for ‘Protestware’
Okta Hack Exposes A Huge Hole In Tech Giant Security: Their Call Centers
Microsoft: Lapsus$ Used Employee Account to Steal Source Code
Lapsus$ found a spreadsheet of passwords as they breached Okta, documents show
Free Consulting
We were asked about switches, and self-hosting DNS.
Allan’s DNS Made easy affiliate link
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.
SSD reliability, a huge potential amplification DDoS attack, and learning how a mail server works.
Plugs
Webinar: Improving Recovery Objectives with OpenZFS
News
Backblaze report finds SSDs as reliable as HDDs
New method that amplifies DDoSes by 4 billion-fold. What could go wrong?
Free Consulting
We were asked how to learn the inner workings of 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.
Our concerns about Google’s latest acquisition, the technical implications of the sanctions on Russia, more on VPNs and filesystem replacements, and using Nagios with Sanoid.
Plugs
Controlling Resource Limits with RCTL in FreeBSD
News
Google makes second-largest acquisition ever: $5.4 billion for Mandiant
Internet backbone Cogent cuts Russia connectivity
Internet backbone provider Lumen quits Russia
Another Step Towards The Russian Splinternet
Russia faces IT crisis with just two months of data storage left
Cloudflare, Akamai defend decision to stay in Russia
Free Consulting
We were asked about using Nagios 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.
How not to solve some of the problems with filesystems, why backups are only part of defending your data, and Allan finally tells us the difference between FreeBSD and OpenBSD.
Plugs
Discussion
Backups ‘no longer effective’ for stopping ransomware attacks
Free Consulting
We were asked about the difference between FreeBSD and OpenBSD.
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.
Browser version numbers might break websites, Samsung’s bad crypto implementation, more on Mazda and Caddy, the FreeBSD init system, and keeping VMs in sync between the two physical hosts.
Plugs
UNIX Philosophy: The ideas that made UNIX
Improving Recovery Objectives with OpenZFS
News
Three major browsers are about to hit version 100. Will websites cope?
Samsung shipped ‘100m’ Android phones with flawed encryption
Free Consulting
We were asked about the FreeBSD init system, and VMs in sync between the two physical hosts.
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.
Maintaining data long-term, Chrome OS comes to generic PCs, and how to detect intrusions and malware on servers and networks.
Plugs
News/discussion
Most hard drives have a lifespan of three to five years. Have you checked yours lately?
Google is bringing Chrome OS to PCs and Macs
Free Consulting
We were asked about detecting intrusions or malware on servers and networks.
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.
Why Arm was never likely to be acquired by Nvidia, an expensive bug in Mazda cars, and how there isn’t always a technical solution to a policy problem.
Plugs
News
Arm’s $66bn sale to Nvidia collapses
Intel’s strategy for outflanking Arm takes shape with bet on RISC-V
Radio station snafu in Seattle bricks some Mazda infotainment systems
Free Consulting
We were asked about solving a policy problem with a technical solution.
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.
What the recent Spotify controversy means for open podcasting standards, why young people increasingly don’t understand the concept of a hierarchical filesystem, and our update practices.
Plugs
Discussion
Joe Rogan Podcast is staying on Spotify says boss
Students who grew up with search engines might change STEM education forever
Free Consulting
We were asked about our update practices.
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.
The pain of updating Windows, FreeBSD vs Linux, and getting started with ZFS.
Plugs
News/discussion
Microsoft: Windows needs at least 8 hours online to update reliably
Why we’re migrating (many of) our servers from Linux to FreeBSD
Counterpoint to “FreeBSD’s network stack is better”
Free Consulting
We were asked about getting started with ZFS.
What Makes a Good Time to Use OpenZFS Slog and When Should You Avoid It
Choosing the right ZFS pool layout
OpenZFS: All about the cache vdev or L2ARC
ZFS 101—Understanding ZFS storage and performance
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love RAIDZ
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.
Allan has a recent war story for us, Microsoft blocked email from Linode, maximizing performance in a large capacity storage server, and more.
Plugs
Cluster Provisioning with Nomad and Pot
Feedback
Register article about Microsoft blocking email from Linode
Allan’s recent war story
Free Consulting
We were asked about maximizing performance in a large capacity storage server.
ZFS RAIDZ stripe width, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love RAIDZ
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.
A potential new European recursive DNS, why VPNs aren’t the silver bullet some people think they are, and how we set up new systems from scratch.
Plugs
News/discussion
EU wants to build its own DNS infrastructure with built-in filtering capabilities
Free Consulting
We were asked about how we set up machines from scratch.
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.
A novel approach to an old scam, your feedback about web servers and ransomware, and maintaining old databases.
Plugs
Packet Scheduling with Dummynet and FreeBSD
News/Discussion
Feedback
Jim’s review of the Caddy web server
Free Consulting
We were asked about optimising and maintaining an old database.
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.
Microsoft suffers an embarrassment with Exchange, why it’s so hard to host your own email, and the easiest and safest way to manage your backups.
Plugs
BSDCan 2022: June 1-4th. CFP Closes Jan 19th
News/discussion
Microsoft releases emergency fix for Exchange year 2022 bug
Gloomy sysadmin take on running your own email infrastructure
Free Consulting
We were asked about using Syncoid for 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.
Why ransomware isn’t really an infosec problem, how some open source work Allan helped with saved a company millions of dollars, your feedback, and more.
Plugs
News/Discussion
Kronos hack will likely affect how employers issue paychecks and track hours
How We Saved Millions in SSD Costs by Upgrading Our Filesystem
Feedback
Free Consulting
We were asked about moving a QNAP NAS out of an office.
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.
It’s our holiday AMA episode. We answered your questions about hobbies, TV resolutions, living in the moment, and the biggest screw-ups we’ve witnessed.
Plugs
Panel: FreeBSD Arm64 Flexibility with Ampere
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.
A huge vulnerability in a Java logging library, ZFS on AWS disappoints, the fastest web servers for static sites, the importance of certs, and more.
Plugs
Using FreeBSD’s pkg audit to investigate known security issues
News/Discussion
Log4Shell: RCE 0-day exploit found in log4j 2, a popular Java logging package
The Internet’s biggest players are all affected by critical Log4Shell 0-day
Free Consulting
We were asked about web servers for static sites, VLANS and interfaces, and certifications.
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.
A mystery in the Tor network, whether blockchain has any real-world value, configuring passwords with Ansible, and burning in new disks. With guest host Gary Williams from Linux After Dark.
Plugs
Allan was on Late Night Linux Extra talking about FreeBSD.
News
It’s long past time for cost-benefit analysis on blockchain
A mysterious threat actor is running hundreds of malicious Tor relays
Free Consulting
We were asked about using configuring passwords with Ansible, and burning in new disks.
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.
An insight into the massive scale of Google’s infrastructure, Allan and Jim refuse to accept that crypto now means cryptocurrency (and confuse Latin and Greek), multi-factor auth and WireGuard, and testing network quality.
Plugs
News/Discussion
Google’s server life extension delivers $1.7bn revenue boost in nine months
Google to make its own custom server chips as well
Seagate demos hard disk drive with an NVMe interface
Cryptographers are not happy with how you’re using the word ‘crypto’
Free Consulting
We were asked about using WireGuard with multi-factor authentication, and testing network quality.
FreeBSD Network Troubleshooting: Understanding Network Performance
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.
Tesla owners locked out of their cars, a Linux side-channel attack that enables DNS cache poisoning, why Jim doesn’t use Proxmox, and accessing KVM hosts from Windows.
Plugs
Jim was on Late Night Linux twice, as well as Late Night Linux Extra.
News
Tesla drivers left unable to start their cars after outage
Server errors hit Tesla remote-control app
Linux has a serious security problem that once again enables DNS cache poisoning
Free Consulting
We were asked about why Jim doesn’t use Proxmox, and accessing KVM hosts from Windows.
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.
How some Swedish parents tried to take control of their kids’ education app, why you shouldn’t try to add magsafe to your phone, introducing the new shiny at work, Samba security, and more.
Plugs
FreeBSD Papers We Love: Jails and Cloneable Network Stacks
News/Discussion
These Parents Built a School App. Then the City Called the Cops
Free Consulting
We were asked about monitoring, how junior admins can introduce new workflows in the face of resistance, and Samba security.
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.
Why the metaverse sounds terrible, Alder Lake benchmarks, revoking SSH keys, remote management of Windows machines, and more.
Plugs
Looking towards the future: FreeBSD on RISC-V
News
Intel’s Alder Lake big.little CPU design, tested: It’s a barn burner
Free Consulting
We were asked about managing and revoking SSH keys, and remote management of Windows 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/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.
The Oculus Go is opened up, a potential addition to HTTPS, Intel’s new Alder Lake CPUs, testing ZFS backups, virtualising a firewall, and more.
Plugs
OpenZFS Developer Summit – Nov 8-9th Online
Advanced ZFS Snapshots – Holds and Clones
News/Discussion
John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset
HTTPS Attestable: Remote, secure, verified enclaves proposed
Intel Announces 12th Gen Core “Alder Lake” CPUs
Free Consulting
We were asked about testing ZFS backups, and virtualising a firewall.
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.
The stupid notch on the new Macs, why Windows 11 had performance issues with AMD CPUs, why hibernation isn’t really a thing, and more.
Plugs
OpenZFS Developer Summit – Nov 8-9th Online
Understanding top(1) on FreeBSD
News
AMD and Microsoft release fixes for Ryzen slowdowns in Windows 11
Apple’s MacBook Pro is a GPU-shaped warning to Nvidia and AMD
Free Consulting
We were asked about hibernation, and whether there’s a distro with a Linux kernel and a BSD userland.
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.
How not to steal and sell sensitive information, why ISPs shouldn’t try to sue Netflix, and the best way to set up wireless access points.
Plugs
Webinar: Enterprise Certificate Management on FreeBSD – October 28th @ 12:00 ET
FreeBSD Developer Workstation Setup
News/Discussion
FBI Arrests Navy Nuclear Engineer, Wife Accused of Selling Submarine Secrets
S.Korea broadband firm sues Netflix after traffic surge from ‘Squid Game’
Free Consulting
We were asked about setting up wireless access points to avoid lag-spikes.
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.
How Facebook’s services managed to go down for 6 hours, Windows Subsystem for Linux is now easier than ever to set up, and expanding a large capacity storage server.
Plugs
Webinar: Enterprise Certificate Management on FreeBSD – October 28th @ 12:00 ET
Manipulating a ZFS Pool from the Rescue System
News
Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus are down. Here’s what we know
Update about the October 4th outage
Animated graphic of Facebook BGP routes disappearing
The best part of Windows 11 is a revamped Windows Subsystem for Linux
A preview of WSL in the Microsoft Store is now available
Free Consulting
We were asked about expanding the storage in large capacity 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.
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.
Why RISC-V looks promising for the future, how the web switched to HTTPS by default, an interesting DoS method, and how mitigating ssh attacks has changed over the years.
Plugs
RISC-V: The New Architecture on the Block
News/Discussion
Weaponizing Middleboxes for TCP Reflected Amplification
Electronic Frontier Foundation will deprecate HTTPS Everywhere plugin
Free Consulting
We were asked about SSH tarpits.
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.
A pretty serious flaw with Autodiscover that leaks email credentials, why Btrfs sucks for more than one disk, and the best hardware for a low-powered NAS.
Plugs
EuroBSDCon 2021 videos are available
When to use a SLOG, and when not to
News
Microsoft Exchange Autodiscover bug leaks hundreds of thousands of domain credentials
Microsoft knew of Exchange Autodiscover flaw five years ago
Examining btrfs, Linux’s perpetually half-finished filesystem
Free Consulting
We were asked about the best hardware for a low-powered NAS.
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.
What exactly constitutes WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, your feedback about time-based YouTube blocking, Optane in servers, and what sysadmins actually do.
Plugs
Using the FreeBSD RACK TCP stack
News/Discussion
WhatsApp “end-to-end encrypted” messages aren’t that private after all
Free Consulting
We were asked about Optane in servers, and what sysadmins actually do.
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.
Yet another Azure vulnerability, Anonymous dumps a huge Epik leak, running a desktop in a VM, SSH keys on a Yubikey, and ZFS send to TrueNAS.
Plugs
Understanding ZFS Channel Programs
News
Security researchers at Wiz discover another major Azure vulnerability
Anonymous leaks gigabytes of data from alt-right web host Epik
Free Consulting
We were asked about ZFS sends to TrueNAS, running a dektop in a VM, and SSH keys with a Yubikey.
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.
A surprisingly cheap and easy way to connect 2 buildings wirelessly, your feedback about Samba, and the realities of parental Internet controls.
Plugs
Choosing the right ZFS pool layout
News/Discussion
Point-to-point Wi-Fi bridging between buildings—the cheap and easy way
Free Consulting
We were asked about restricting access to YouTube at certain times of day.
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.
SSD manufacturers quietly switching out components, 20TB non-SMR HDDs, the surprising side effects of killing the landline, ZFS snapshots when space is limited, and how Jim and Allan set up their systems and monitoring.
Plugs
News
Samsung seemingly caught swapping components in its 970 Evo Plus SSDs
Western Digital introduces new non-SMR 20TB HDDs with onboard NAND
Internet revamp for the humble landline
Free Consulting
We were asked about how Jim and Allan set up their systems and monitoring, and how to deal with ZFS snapshots when space is limited.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
News/Discussion
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.
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
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.
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
News
Leak uncovers global abuse of cyber-surveillance weapon
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.
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
News
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Synology and Btrfs, backing up low-end Linux laptops, vulnerability management, FreeBSD hypervisors, and more.
Plugs
Building Customized FreeBSD Images
Feedback
Things we mentioned:
I couldn’t break Synology SHR+btrfs (yet)
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.
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.
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
Feedback
Things we mentioned:
Discussion
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.
The importance of VPNs when using Wi-Fi, the complexities of chip node size, and whether appliance NAS devices make any sense.
Plugs
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.
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
Feedback
Cloud backups with Rclone and alternatives, MikroTik network gear, server security, and config management.
News
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.
GUI Linux apps on Windows, Linux kernel development is pen-tested, ZFS and Docker, and converting a Windows installation to a VM.
Plugs
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.
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
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.
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
Allan’s FreeBSD Journal Article
Dummynet: The Better Way to Build FreeBSD Networks
Plugs
Customizing FreeBSD Ports and Packages
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.
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.
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
News
Containerize all the things! Arm v9 takes security seriously
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
News
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Why Parler is unlikely to come back any time soon, free RHEL, and using a VPS to subvert VPN limits.
Plugs
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.
The merits of ECC RAM, why reproducible builds are a good idea, and where to buy used equipment.
Plugs
Webinar: Introducing OpenZFS 2.0
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.
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
News
GoDaddy Employees Were Told They Were Getting a Holiday Bonus. It Was Actually a Phishing Test
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.
Why Google services like Gmail went down recently, the potentially promising future for RISC-V, and using ZFS for home and root.
News
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.
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
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.
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.
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
Google Photos is the latest “Unlimited” plan to impose hard limits
GitHub’s source code was leaked on GitHub last night… sort of
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.
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
News
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.
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
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.
Intel almost catching up to AMD with Tiger Lake, the .uk fiasco, and why you shouldn’t be using dd.
Plugs
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
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.
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.
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.
Low power x86 vs Arm boards, hard disk failure rates, and the intricacies of ZFS snapshots.
Plugs
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.
Intel’s 7nm woes, hosts files, Mozilla’s VPN service, and automating ssh between remote hosts.
News
Heads roll at Intel after 7nm delay
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
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
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.
Why Apache is still relevant in 2020, and the differences between ZFS and Btrfs.
Plugs
Support the podcast on Patreon
Apache vs Nginx
Free Consulting
Several people including Emil have asked us to discuss the differences between ZFS and Btrfs. Jim recently wrote a ZFS 101 article.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.
Our thoughts on DNS-over-HTTPS, whether Arm is about to take over, HDD advice, and automatic updates and reboots.
Plugs
Help us keep the lights on by supporting us on Patreon.
Watch Allan’s Homelab panel recording for BSDCan 2020 on May 5th, 2pm EDT (18:00 UTC)
Check out Joe’s light-hearted podcast The New Show
Jim will be speaking at Open Source 101 At Home
News
Surreptitiously Swapping SMR into Hard Drive Lines Must Stop
Paul Vixie on DoH @ vBSDCon 2019
Paul Vixie: DNS Wars: Episode IV: A New Bypass @ EuroBSDCon 2019
Making macOS run well on ARM processors isn’t the hard part
Free Consulting
Frank wrote in to ask advice on which HDDs to buy, and Jake was curious about automatic updates and reboots.
In our first episode, Allan Jude, Jim Salter, and Joe Ressington discuss Amazon cutting affiliate rates, SMR hard drives, and setting up off-site backups on the cheap.
News
Amazon reportedly planning drastic cuts to affiliate commission rates
Buyer beware—that 2TB-6TB “NAS” drive you’ve been eyeing might be SMR
Seagate says Network Attached Storage and SMR don’t mix
Western Digital admits 2TB-6TB WD Red NAS drives use shingled magnetic recording
Seagate ‘submarines’ SMR into 3 Barracuda drives and a Desktop HDD
Toshiba desktop disk drives have shingles too
Western Digital implies WD Red NAS SMR drive users are responsible for overuse problems
Free Consulting
Joe has ~2TB of data that should be backed up off-site. Jim and Allan discuss the best ways to do that on a low budget.
Send your questions for Jim and Allan to show@ the show website domain: 2.5admins.com
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.
