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2.5 Admins – The Late Night Linux Family — Technology
2.5 Admins – The Late Night Linux Family

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.

Latest Episodes:

2.5 Admins 219: Spooky Stories Oct 31, 2024
It’s Halloween so Jim and Allan share horrific and spooky stories from their sysadmin careers. Plus picking a UPS for a homelab.

Plugs

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

Klara: NAS: Maintenance Best Practices

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 218: TLS TTL Oct 24, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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

As Microsoft rolls out its Windows 11 24H2 update, owners of certain Western Digital SSDs have been greeted with constant Blue Screens of Death

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 217: Drive Scavenging Oct 17, 2024
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

Netdata

Nagios

ZFS and Unraid

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 216: Pa55w0rd% Oct 10, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

OpenWrt on TP-Link devices

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 215: Still no VLANs Oct 03, 2024
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.

Plug

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 214: No VLANs Sep 26, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 213: Photo Philosophy Sep 19, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 212: WHODIS Sep 12, 2024
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.

Plug

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 211: Open Sourceless Sep 05, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 210: Ryzen Up Aug 29, 2024
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.

Plug

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 209: Faulty Defaults Aug 22, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

News/discussion

Researchers find insecure SSH implementations everywhere

512-bit RSA key in home energy system gives control of “virtual power plant”

Feedback

Syncthing

Resilio

Send

OnionShare

Warp

Immich

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 208: All CPUs suck Aug 15, 2024
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.

Plug

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

News

Your victim’s Windows PC fully patched? Just force undo its updates and exploit away

CVE-2024-38063 – Security Update Guide – Microsoft – Windows TCP/IP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Almost unfixable “Sinkclose” bug affects hundreds of millions of AMD chips

SMM LOCK BYPASS

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 207: Insecure Boot Aug 08, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

News/discussion

Secure Boot is completely broken on 200+ models from 5 big device makers

old and related

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 206: CrowdStruck Aug 01, 2024
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.

Plug

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

News

A closer look at what caused the CrowdStrike Windows crashes

Ransomware gangs are loving this dumb but deadly ESXi flaw

Jake Williams on Twitter

Free Consulting

We were asked about using SAS drives with a PCIe card.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 205: Dogs Hate BTC Jul 25, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 204: Maybe Don’t 5 Jul 18, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 203: Yet more free consulting Jul 11, 2024
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

FreeBSD Mastery: ZFS

FreeBSD Mastery: Advanced ZFS

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 202: Microsoft’s Underwater Again Jul 04, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

News

Microsoft ends Project Natick underwater data center experiment despite success

Microsoft declares its underwater data center test was a success

Shouting in the Datacenter

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.

NoMachine

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 201: CVEs everywhere Jun 27, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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

CVE-2024-30078

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 200: Even more free consulting Jun 20, 2024
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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 199: Rest In Parity Jun 13, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 198: SMB Pulse Jun 06, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 197: Exchange Money May 30, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 196: Won’tel May 23, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

Allan was on Linux Dev Time

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 195: Execute Option 121 May 16, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 194: Thundering Mastodon May 09, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

Jim was on Late Night Linux

News

Mastodon delays firm fix to solve link preview DDoS

Mastodon Is DDoSing Me

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 193: TV DoS May 02, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 192: ZFS Week Apr 25, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

How to upstream code to open source projects

News

Ubuntu 24.04 Supports Easy Installation Of OpenZFS Root File-System With Encryption

After years of testing, Seagate claims its heat-assisted HAMR drives are as reliable as traditional PMR storage

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 191: Mechanical Turk Apr 18, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 190: twitterz Apr 11, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 189: Too Much Glass Apr 04, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 188: Farewell to Core Mar 28, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

News

TrueNAS CORE 13 is the end of the FreeBSD version

zVault

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 187: MDK Mar 21, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 186: Jim Defends the CFAA Mar 14, 2024
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

Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 185: 2.5 Gigabits Mar 07, 2024
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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 184: Avast, mateys Feb 29, 2024
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

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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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 183: Unbootable Quantum Toothbrushes Feb 22, 2024
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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 182: All the Small Things Feb 15, 2024
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

announcing freenginx.org

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 181: Triangle Fraud Feb 08, 2024
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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 180: Email 777 Feb 01, 2024
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

BSDCan 2024 – Call for papers

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 179: Y2K NotOK Jan 25, 2024
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.

Xpenology

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 178: LOTS of Storage Jan 18, 2024
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

Hard disk drives are next in line to become mostly enterprise hardware — as Nvidia (and AMD) could be planning to focus on AI, leaving consumers as second-class citizens

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 177: Don’t Pay the Dane Jan 11, 2024
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.

NEMS Linux

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 176: Sudo Cognito Jan 04, 2024
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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 175: Guess Who’s Listening Dec 28, 2023
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

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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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 174: Guess Who’s Watching Dec 21, 2023
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

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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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 173: Ghost Files Dec 14, 2023
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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 172: HOLEy ZFS Dec 07, 2023
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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 171: RSA PSA Nov 30, 2023
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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 170: Uninterruptible WiFi Nov 23, 2023
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

Access points

Controller

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 169: SDCoF Nov 16, 2023
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

winget

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 168: Do The Right Thing Nov 09, 2023
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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 167: Delayed Flush Nov 02, 2023
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

Support us on patreon

Unlocking Infrastructure Sovereignty: Harnessing the Power of Open Source Solutions for Business Flexibility and Cost-Effectiveness

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

DeepBlue Sensor

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 166: 20 Second Cheque Oct 26, 2023
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 165: Big AI Oct 19, 2023
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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 164: Filthy Internet Oct 12, 2023
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

Adventures in network repair

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 163: Two Factors One SPOF Oct 05, 2023
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

Support us on patreon

News/discussion

How Google Authenticator made one company’s network breach much, much worse

Amolith’s wiki page about passwords

Feedback

Allan’s TV remote control

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 162: Irresponsible Disclosure Sep 28, 2023
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

Support us on patreon

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 161: 5PiB Coffee Mug Sep 21, 2023
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

Support us on patreon

Jim and Allan host Klara’s latest Webinar: OpenZFS Data Replication

News/discussion

Cerabyte roadmaps ceramic nano-memory storage

Feedback

Archivy

ArchiveBox

Free Consulting

We were asked about setting up storage inside VMs.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 160: Diss Unity Sep 14, 2023
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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 159: Dirty Install Sep 07, 2023
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 158: It Doesn’t Go to 10 Aug 31, 2023
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

Support us on patreon

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

Turing Pi

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 157: Lincoln’s HDD Aug 24, 2023
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.

Plugs

Support us on Patreon

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

Free Consulting

We were asked about setting up IPMI for cheap Arm boards.

PiKVM

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 156: SanDisk Extreme Fail Aug 17, 2023
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

Support us on Patreon

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 155: Dialup Memories Aug 10, 2023
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).

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 154: 8.8.8.8.8.8 Aug 03, 2023
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

Support us on patreon

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

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 153: Robots.nope Jul 27, 2023
Updating the robots.txt standard for the AI era, the US government implements an IoT certification and labeling system, and the issues with fully encrypting a server.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

3 Advantages to Running FreeBSD as Your Server Operating System

News/discussion

Google suggests updating the robots.txt standard

Robots.txt is not the answer: Proposing a new meta tag for LLM/AI

ChatGPT Browse with Bing temporarily disabled

The Biden administration is tackling smart devices with a new cybersecurity label

Free Consulting

We were asked about fully encrypting a server.

The Klara article that Allan mentioned

Factor

Factor’s fresh, never frozen, meals are ready in just 2 minutes, so all you have to do is heat them up and enjoy. Go to factormeals.com/25a50 and use code 25a50 to get 50% off.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 152: AirTags Use CR2032 Batteries Jul 20, 2023
Intel is giving up on NUCs and Asus is taking over the line, millions of classified US military emails are going to a Russian ally thanks to a common typo, and monitoring SSDs.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Linux and FreeBSD Firewalls – Part 2

News

Intel is quitting on its adorable, powerful, and upgradable mini NUC computers

Intel and ASUS Agree to Term Sheet to Take Intel NUC Systems Product Line Forward

‘Millions’ of sensitive US military emails were reportedly sent to Mali due to a typo

Free Consulting

We were asked about monitoring SSDs.

Kolide

Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Watch the demo today to see how it works at kolide.com/25a

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 151: Practical ZFS Jul 13, 2023
Setting up a self-hosted alternative, what counts as a “removable” battery, and backing up a Windows machine to ZFS.

News/discussion

Practical ZFS

Making sense of the EU’s fight for user-replaceable smartphone batteries

(Jim was wrong about AirTags and their batteries. He’ll correct the record next time. No need to email us.)

Free Consulting

We were asked about backing up a Windows machine to ZFS.

HelloFresh

With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 50% off and free shipping at hellofresh.com/25admins50 using the promo code 25a50.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 150: Red Hate Jul 06, 2023
Red Hat wants to limit redistribution of RHEL source code. We discuss their history with CentOS and the likely knock-on effects of taking direct aim at its customers’ GPL rights. Plus browsers doing port scans, and OpenWrt vs OPNsense.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Practical ZFS

News

Red Hat’s new source code policy and the intense pushback, explained

Brave aims to curb practice of websites that port scan visitors

Free Consulting

We were asked about OpenWrt vs OPNsense.

Kolide

Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it can’t access your apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Watch the demo today to see how it works at kolide.com/25a

Factor

Factor’s fresh, never frozen, meals are ready in just 2 minutes, so all you have to do is heat them up and enjoy. Go to factormeals.com/25a50 and use code 25a50 to get 50% off.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 149: Three Year Warning Jun 29, 2023
WD disks “warning” that they have been running for 3 years, a modern replacement for IMAP that no one seems to be using, the potential issues that arise when PC games require an SSD to run, alternatives to VMware, and verifying your backups.

News/discussion

“Clearly predatory”: Western Digital sparks panic, anger for age-shaming HDDs

JMAP

PC games are starting to require SSDs

Free Consulting

We were asked about alternatives to VMware, and verifying your backups.

The Traceroute Podcast

Catch up with the new season of the Traceroute Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out the website.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 148: API Ultra 7 Pro for Workstations Jun 22, 2023
Reddit fails to see where its true value lies, Intel makes its consumer CPU lines confusing, and Microsoft’s “next generation” filesystem.

News

What Reddit Got Wrong

Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

Intel has new labels for its next major CPU architecture

Free Consulting

We were asked about Microsoft’s “next generation” filesystem ReFS.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 147: EPYC Fail Jun 15, 2023
Sloppy practises by Gigabyte reveal one of the problems with UEFI, why Slack refuses to implement end to end encryption, a familiar bug ruins people’s uptime, and XFS vs ext4.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

FreeBSD or Linux – A Choice Without OS Wars

News/discussion

Millions of Gigabyte Motherboards Were Sold With a Firmware Backdoor

Millions of Gigabyte PC motherboards backdoored? What’s the actual score?

90+ orgs tell Slack to stop slacking when it comes to full encryption

AMD’s EPYC Rome Chips Crash After 1,044 Days of Uptime

Free Consulting

We were asked about using XFS vs ext4.

HelloFresh

With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 16 free meals plus free shipping at hellofresh.com/25admins16 using the promo code 25admins16.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 146: VisionForge Jun 08, 2023
We are unimpressed by Apple’s new headset, a particularly bountiful watering hole attack, misdirection from the AI industry, and connecting hard disks via a PCIe card.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

OpenZFS, Your Data and the Challenge of Ransomware

News

Apple Vision Pro

Hololens dev Twitter thread (archived version)

Some Curseforge accounts might be compromised/hacked, and are uploading malicious files

Statement on AI Risk

WordPress has a new AI tool that will write blog posts for you

Air Force denies running simulation where AI drone “killed” its operator

Free Consulting

We were asked about connecting hard disks via a PCIe card.

Axiom

Axiom unlocks observability at any scale. Go to axiom.co/25a, create an account, and start your 14-day free trial. You can do better than legacy logging, with Axiom.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 145: Bad Standards Jun 01, 2023
An unfixable bug shines a light on a fundamental issue with Windows, why M.2 is a terrible connector for SSDs, the pros and cons of 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi, and the state of ZFS encryption.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

OpenZFS For HPC Clusters

News/discussion

Windows 11 is so broken that even Microsoft can’t fix it

You know M.2 SSDs suck, right?

Why 2.4GHz Wi-Fi is both the savior and the scourge of the smart home

Free Consulting

We were asked about the state of ZFS encryption.

Factor

Factor’s fresh, never frozen, meals are ready in just 2 minutes, so all you have to do is heat them up and enjoy. Go to factormeals.com/25a50 and use code 25a50 to get 50% off your first box.

The Traceroute Podcast

Listen and subscribe to the new season of the Traceroute Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out the website.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 144: AMRadio.zip May 25, 2023
Google’s new TLDs are silly but not as dangerous as some people think, whether we should cling on to AM radio, Microsoft scans password-protected zip files, and how to assess open source software for its trustworthiness.

Plug

Support us on patreon

News

Google pushes .zip and .mov domains onto the Internet, and the Internet pushes back

Google’s .zip and .mov domains aren’t the end of the world

Congress wants AM radio in all new cars—trade groups say that’s a mistake

Ford decides it won’t kill AM radio after all

Microsoft is scanning the inside of password-protected zip files for malware

Free Consulting

We were asked about how to assess open source software for its trustworthiness.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 143: Even Stars Die May 18, 2023
Adobe’s vague threats show why open source is often the pragmatic choice, Russians craft a poor man’s ransomware with WinRAR, Chrome drops the padlock icon, Amazon pulls a Google, and using a keyfile with a password manager.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Understanding ZFS vdev Types

News/discussion

Adobe Tells Users They Can Get Sued for Using Old Versions of Photoshop

Russian hackers use WinRAR to wipe Ukraine state agency’s data

Google Chrome to get rid of padlock icon

Our decision to wind down Amazon Halo

Free Consulting

We were asked about using a keyfile with a password manager.

Axiom

Axiom unlocks observability at any scale. Go to axiom.co/25a, create an account, and start your 14-day free trial. You can do better than legacy logging, with Axiom.

HelloFresh

With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 16 free meals plus free shipping at hellofresh.com/25admins16 using the promo code 25admins16.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 142: Intel Key Party May 12, 2023
Google’s attempt to replace passwords with keys, why Jim thinks IBM is dragging Red Hat in the wrong direction, Intel’s rudimentary error that breaks a security feature, and protecting your files from other users on your system.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

What Makes OpenZFS the Ideal Storage Solution for University Environments

News

Google Online Security Blog: So long passwords, thanks for all the phish

opensource.com

Intel BootGuard key leaked

Free Consulting

We were asked about protecting your files from other users on your system.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 141: Sysadmin Hunt May 04, 2023
What the challenge of building a web browser from scratch tells us about the state of the modern web, why some people are frying their AMD CPUs, more on basic password managers and regularly powercyling network gear, moving from Mercurial to Git, running old applications on modern Ubuntu, and more.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Leveraging OpenZFS to Build Your Own Storage Appliance

News/discussion

How we’re building a browser when it’s supposed to be impossible

New BIOS updates attempt to keep Ryzen 7000X3D processors from frying themselves

Feedback

Pass

Free Consulting

We were asked about moving from Mercurial to Git, and running old applications on modern Ubuntu.

Factor

Factor’s fresh, never frozen, meals are ready in just 2 minutes, so all you have to do is heat them up and enjoy. Go to factormeals.com/25a40 and use code 25a40 to get 40% off your first box.

The Traceroute Podcast

Listen and subscribe to the new season of the Traceroute Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out the website.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 140: /dev/nullvad Apr 27, 2023
How not to practice responsible disclosure, Mulvad proves that its claims stand up, whether to be worried about public phone chargers, an “anti-ransomware” SSD, and monitoring ZFS with Zabbix.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Comparing Modern Open-Source Storage Solutions: OpenZFS vs. The Rest

News

Vague warning about an Amazon compromise

Mullvad VPN was subject to a search warrant. Customer data not compromised

Be Skeptical of FBI Warnings About Phone Chargers

Let’s take a closer look at these claims of anti-ransomware SSDs

Free Consulting

We were asked about monitoring ZFS with Zabbix.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 139: Just Abandon Twitter Apr 20, 2023
The new and up and coming tech that we’re excited about including RISC-V, hard drive innovation, Arm servers, and the Fediverse. Plus whether FreeBSD’s license has held it back, and generating SSL certificates on a router.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 138: Drive Failure Apr 13, 2023
Google Drive’s arbitrary file limit, SMR disks probably die sooner, Western Digital’s My Cloud outage locks some people out of their data, why we don’t talk much about Veeam, and running containers as root.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Managing Disk Arrays on FreeBSD and TrueNAS

News

Google Drive quietly introduced (then pulled) a file creation limit for all users

HDD average life span misses 3-year mark in study of 2,007 defective drives

Users fume after My Cloud network breach locks them out of their data

Free Consulting

We were asked about running containers as root.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 137: Schrodinger’s Backup Apr 06, 2023
Yet another reason not to plug random USB drives into your laptop, how Reddit learned about the importance of testing your backups, and we brainstorm a sysadmin’s version of a minimal password manager.

News/discussion

Journalist plugs in unknown USB drive mailed to him—it exploded in his face

You Broke Reddit: The Pi-Day Outage

Free Consulting

We were asked about rolling your own password manager.

HelloFresh

With HelloFresh, you get farm-fresh, pre-portioned ingredients and seasonal recipes delivered right to your doorstep. Get 50% off at hellofresh.com/25admins50 using the promo code 25admins50

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 136: Red Scare Mar 30, 2023
Why the RESTRICT Act is about much more than banning Tik Tok, what recent Tesla hacks tell us about the way the security research community is changing, and what server manufacturers we recommend.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

News

TikTok ban hearing: all the news on the US’s crackdown on the video platform

The ‘Insanely Broad’ RESTRICT Act Could Ban Much More Than Just TikTok

Tesla Model 3 Hacked in Less Than 2 Minutes at Pwn2Own Contest

Free Consulting

We were asked about what server manufacturers we recommend.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 135: Moonshots Mar 23, 2023
Why the death of Reader 10 years ago might come back to haunt Google, Samsung’s AI moon photos raise a philosophical question, Jim’s frustrations with Ubuntu, and connecting a POS system.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

FreeBSD History: Understanding the origins of DTrace

News/discussion

Requiem for Google Reader, gone but not forgotten

Samsung’s Moon photos are fake — but so is a lot of mobile photography

How Samsung Galaxy Cameras Combine Super Resolution Technologies With AI Technology to Produce High-Quality Images of the Moon

Free Consulting

We were asked about connecting a POS system.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 134: 2guys1tesla Mar 16, 2023
Our take on the collapse of Siicon Valley Bank, an odd case of 2 Teslas with the same key, filesystems in VMs, and self-hosted password managers.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

FreeBSD vs Linux: Tracing and Troubleshooting

News

Silicon Valley Bank collapses

Common equity capital chart

Man accidentally drove away in someone else’s tesla using the car’s app

Free Consulting

We were asked about filesystems in VMs, and self-hosted password managers.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 133: ElasticWallet Mar 09, 2023
Saving millions of dollars by exiting the cloud, GoDaddy is compromised by a sophisticated attacker, why you really shouldn’t use a smart plug to powercycle your router, running SMB and NFS shares on the same host, why private keys should stay private, and using old hardware as a backup server.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Klara Webinar: Deploying a Successful Performance Audit

News/discussion

We stand to save $7m over five years from our cloud exit

GoDaddy says a multi-year breach hijacked customer websites and accounts

You Should[n’t] Be Using a Smart Plug to Restart Your Router

Free Consulting

We were asked about running SMB and NFS shares on the same host, why private keys should stay private, and using old hardware as a backup server.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 132: 1.5FA Mar 02, 2023
Twitter are going to charge for bad 2 factor authentication, new alarming details about the recent LastPass breach, and setting up a DNS server in the cloud.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Klara: ZFS Optimization Success Stories

News

An update on two-factor authentication using SMS on Twitter

LastPass says employee’s home computer was hacked and corporate vault taken

Free Consulting

We were asked about setting up a DNS server in the cloud.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 131: At Least Try Feb 23, 2023
Google is getting paid to advertise malware sites, Comcast’s false map data, more on private TLDs, why we don’t use Btrfs, and getting notifications for your monitoring.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Klara Sysadmin Series: How to catch a bitcoin miner

News/discussion

Until further notice, think twice before using Google to download software

Comcast gave false map data to FCC—and didn’t admit it until Ars got involved

Free Consulting

We were asked about getting notifications for your monitoring.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more at kolide.com/25a

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 130: HotBot Topic Feb 16, 2023
Microsoft and Google seem to think that chatbots are the future of search, the problem of filtering spam, and organising data with backups in mind.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Klara Live Webinar, Feb 23rd: Deploying a Successful Performance Audit

News

Bing is having bizarre emotional breakdowns and there’s a subreddit with examples

Alphabet stock price drops after Google Bard launch blunder

Microsoft classifies own emails as junk

Free Consulting

We were asked about organising data with backups in mind.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 129: 2.5aDMiNs.cOm Feb 09, 2023
A “smart” lighting system goes wrong, mitigating a DNS attack, an unsatisfying update about Eufy cameras, why Jim and Allan won’t be active on Mastodon any time soon, and how we set up servers in a few minutes.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Klara Live Webinar, Feb 23rd: Deploying a Successful Performance Audit

News/discussion

US school runs lights 24/7/365: The smart lights have been broken since 2021

This is why your DNS queries now have random capitalization

Anker finally comes clean about its Eufy security cameras

Free Consulting

We were asked about how we set up servers in a few minutes.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3Xfbsct

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 128: Some Value Feb 02, 2023
Yet another reason to disable voicemail, why so many recent Macs end up as scrap, and setting up a mail server.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Auditing for Storage Performance

News

WhatsApp accounts takeover

Perfectly Good MacBooks From 2020 Are Being Sold for Scrap Because of Activation Lock

Free Consulting

We were asked about setting up a mail server.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 127: Public Why-Fi Jan 26, 2023
Why you should still use a VPN with public WiFi, who the new Xeons are aimed at, follow-up on trying to be your own bank, and separating legacy WiFi devices from modern ones.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

OpenZFS: Data Security vs Integrity

News/discussion

Why Public Wi-Fi is a Lot Safer Than You Think

Years late and 36 cores short of AMD, who are Intel’s 4th-gen Xeons even for?

Free Consulting

We were asked about separating legacy WiFi devices from modern ones.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Kolide

Kolide can help you nail third party audits and internal compliance goals with endpoint security for your entire fleet. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3Xfbsct

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 126: Copy on Flight Jan 19, 2023
A recent outage that grounded thousands of planes, correcting ZFS misreporting, the problem of fake SSDs on Amazon, and IP schemes vs internal DNS.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

FreeBSD vs Linux: Package Management

News

FAA outage that grounded flights blamed on old tech and damaged database file

The Future of ZFS on Ubuntu Desktop is Not Looking Good

ZFSBootMenu

Why the Heck Is Amazon Selling These Fake 16 Terabyte Portable SSD Drives?

Free Consulting

We were asked about IP schemes.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 125: Into Thin Eir Jan 12, 2023
Two recent examples of backups not being properly tested, why the term “edge” is meaningless, we try not to laugh at the Bitcoin dev who lost all his magic beans, and directory services for mixed environments.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Klara’s best articles from 2022

News/discussion

Eir says thousands of customer emails irretrievably deleted in error

Eir users offered free lifetime subscriptions after up to 20 years of emails deleted in error – The Irish Times

EA says it can’t recover 60% of players’ corrupted Madden franchise save files

It’s time to retire ‘edge’ from our IT vocabulary

Bitcoin Core developer loses all his BTC

Free Consulting

We were asked about directory services for mixed environments.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

up to 20 devices.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 124: LastMigration Jan 05, 2023
LastPass vaults are leaked, ChatGPT is coming to Bing, live migrations, and SSD vs spinning disk power usage.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Klara is looking for sysadmins with ZFS experience, join Allan’s team

News

LastPass – Notice of Recent Security Incident

The LastPass disclosure of leaked password vaults is being torn apart by security experts

Microsoft to challenge Google by integrating ChatGPT with Bing search

Free Consulting

We were asked about live migrations, and SSD vs spinning disk power usage.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 123: 4 Dec 29, 2022
It’s the last episode of the year so we look back at a couple of 2022 trends: the explosion of AI/ML, and big social media changes. Plus a quick-fire ZFS FAQ.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 122: PayAsYouPay Dec 22, 2022
Buying and renting features in Intel hardware that you’ve already bought, killer robots, a huge nuclear fusion breakthrough, and the pros and cons of parallel rsync jobs.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

OpenZFS: Choosing between FreeBSD and Linux

News/discussion

Intel On Demand Driver Ready To Activate Your Licensed CPU Features With Linux 6.2

Intel On Demand

VICTORY! San Francisco Bans Killer Robots…For Now

Nuclear fusion power research passes milestone with ‘fusion ignition’

Free Consulting

We were asked about running parallel rsync jobs

Fpsync

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 121: 2PHA Dec 15, 2022
Saving money by changing the CPU frequency governor on servers, Making unphishable 2FA phishable, phishing with Google Docs, monitoring at scale, and using ZFS with a single disk.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

FreeBSD vs Linux – Networking

Discussion

Can You Save Money By Changing the CPU Frequency Governor on Your Servers?

Making unphishable 2FA phishable

Phishing links with Google Docs

Free Consulting

We were asked about monitoring at scale, and using ZFS with a single disk.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 120: Certified Malware Dec 08, 2022
Security cameras that aren’t quite as secure as they claim, why it’s difficult to trust software “from Samsung”, getting started with offsite backups, and ZFS on root on Ubuntu.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

the Role of Operating Systems in IoT

News

Anker’s Eufy lied to us about the security of its security cameras

Samsung’s Android app-signing key has leaked, is being used to sign malware

Free Consulting

We were asked about getting started with offsite backups, and ZFS on root on Ubuntu.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 119: Six Month Scrub Dec 01, 2022
The risks of taking your laptop to a repair shop, why DNS has become concentrated to just a few providers, and powering down drives periodically.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Virtualization Showdown: FreeBSD bhyve vs Linux KVM

Discussion

Thinking about taking your computer to the repair shop? Be very afraid

DNS concentration

Free Consulting

We were asked about periodically shutting down a server.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 118: Chaos Emerald Wealth Nov 24, 2022
Why the Twitter infrastructure is creaking, Jim’s experiences of the Ubuntu Summit, changing VM resources without rebooting, and more.

News/discussion

Why Twitter will fail shortly

Twitter mayhem, staff cuts have advertisers bailing on the platform

Jim tells us about his experiences at the Ubuntu Summit

Free Consulting

We were asked about WireGuard on OPNsense, and changing VM resources without rebooting.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 117: Local Burner Nov 17, 2022
Microsoft’s half-baked Arm machine, why it’s a bad idea to go to the World Cup in Qatar, using WireGuard to punch through double NAT, and the best filesystem for removable storage. With guest host Alex Kretzschmar from Self-Hosted.

News/discussion

Microsoft’s new $599 Mac Mini-like PC is designed to improve Windows on Arm

How many major upgrade cycles with your main work machine do you expect to go through before you transition to an Arm machine?

Everyone going to the World Cup must have this app – experts are now sounding the alarm

Qatar Spyware – Schneier on Security

Free Consulting

We were asked about WireGuard and double NAT, and the best filesystem for removable storage.

NetBird

nebula

headscale

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 116: Worst Billionaire Nov 10, 2022
Android’s controversial VPN settings, the deepfake audio arms race, the Metaverse is even worse than we thought, and why you shouldn’t use external cables for server storage. With guest host Alex Kretzschmar from Self-Hosted.

News

Android leaks connectivity check traffic

Meta’s New Headset Will Track Your Eyes for Targeted Ads

Deepfake audio has a tell – researchers use fluid dynamics to spot artificial imposter voices

Free Consulting

We were asked about usuing Thunderbolt storage with a server, and how PINs relate to encryption.

ODROID-H3

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 115: Key Party Nov 03, 2022
Password spray attacks, the value of certifications vs actual experience, and the best VPN strategy.

News/discussion

Use Authentication Policies to Fight Password Spray Attacks

Free Consulting

We were asked about certifications, and VPN strategy.

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 114: RAID WTF Oct 27, 2022
An impressive AI pretends to be Linux, Jim gets angry about a RAIDZ calculator, and using a laptop as a server.

News/discussion

We interviewed Linux OS through an AI bot to discover its secrets

Free Consulting

We were asked about using a laptop as a server.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 113: Eggs and Baskets Oct 20, 2022
Traditional vs modern backup methods, hiding malware inside innocent-looking files, and power loss protection in SSDs.

News/discussion

Steganography alert: Backdoor spyware stashed in Microsoft logo

Free Consulting

We were asked about power loss protection in SSDs

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 112: Reuse > Recycle Oct 13, 2022
A drone-delivered exploit system, why companies destroy perfectly good hardware, and pulling backups from a Windows machine.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

iX and Klara – The Open Source Era is Upon Us

Your Comprehensive Guide to FreeBSD’s rc

News

Drone attack Twitter thread

Why Big Tech shreds millions of storage devices it could reuse

Free Consulting

We were asked about pulling backups from a Windows machine.

cwRsync

Acrosync

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 111: The Freezer Trick Oct 06, 2022
SSDs are probably more reliable than spinning hard drives, how much RAM you actually need, Cloudflare alternatives, sudo password security, and more.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

the History of Package Management on FreeBSD

News/discussion

The SSD Edition: 2022 Drive Stats Mid-year Review

How Much RAM Do You Need in 2022?

Exploring Swap on FreeBSD

Feedback

Fastly

Gcore

Jetpack

A Practical Guide to (Correctly) Troubleshooting with Traceroute (pdf)

Paris Traceroute

How to properly interpret a traceroute or mtr

TRex

Free Consulting

We were asked about sudo password security.

BorgBase

Manage all your Borg backup repositories in one place via web interface or API. Use promo code 25A to get 30% off your first year at BorgBase.com

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 110: Border Gateway Currency Sep 29, 2022
How a BGP hijack facilitated the theft of $235k worth of crypto, why we aren’t too excited about Cloudflare’s new CAPTCHA, and how to configure ZFS on Proxmox.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

Deploying FreeBSD on Oracle Cloud

Allan and Wendell chat about ZFS data recovery

News

How 3 hours of inaction from Amazon cost cryptocurrency holders $235,000

Announcing Turnstile, a user-friendly, privacy-preserving alternative to CAPTCHA

Free Consulting

We were asked about ZFS on Proxmox.

Klara Article: Jim on tuning ZFS recordsize

Jim’s Proxmox bug

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 109: Selling Technical Debt Sep 22, 2022
Why solving network congestion issues is so difficult, our thoughts on DNS privacy, an unwise use case for 32-bit Linux, and PoE injectors vs switches.

Discussion

The Math Proves It—Network Congestion Is Inevitable

Free Consulting

We were asked about Power over Ethernet injectors vs PoE switches.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 108: dQw4w9WgXcQ Sep 15, 2022
Why modern interfaces suck, the reasons we don’t recommend Cloudflare, and backups for beginners.

With guest host Gary from Linux Downtime (and Pidgin).

News/discussion

Blocking Kiwifarms

The modern OS desktop is a crime against humanity

Rick Astley has done more to prevent folks clicking on unknown links than all cyber security training combined

Free Consulting

We were asked for advice about backups for beginners.

IDrive

rsnapshot

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 107: s/smart//g Sep 08, 2022
Why the W3C is struggling to move to HTTPS by default and follow-up on Certbot, monitoring, and Silverlight. Plus buying enterprise switches.

News/discussion

W3C’s planned transition to HTTPS stymied by legacy laggards

Free Consulting

We were asked what switches we recommend for enterprise.

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 106: Wrap Your Deenis Sep 01, 2022
A big change is coming to Windows licensing for VMs, Google changes the rules around VPNs on Android, and solving a DoH problem.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

EuroBSDCon Sept 15-18 Vienna, Austria – Allan will be speaking about making ZFS scale for NVMe

News

Microsoft adds virtual core licensing to Windows Server

Microsoft EU cloud revisions just so happen to exclude Google, Amazon

Google Play rule change disallows ad-blocking VPN apps

Free Consulting

We were asked about solving a DNS over HTTPS problem.

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 105: Old Men Yell at Cloud Aug 25, 2022
The pros and cons of using email aliases, an Internet hero scratches his own itch, Jim and Allan yell at the cloud, and choosing a firewall distro.

News/discussion

The Security Pros and Cons of Using Email Aliases

Man who built ISP instead of paying Comcast $50K expands to hundreds of homes

Feedback

A few people wanted Allan and Jim to answer the same question that was discussed on Linux After Dark 23:

In a world of cloud and serverless, is there any point in most people learning the command line?

Free Consulting

We were asked about firewall distros.

Configure CARP

Tailscale

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. Go to tailscale.com and try it for free on up to 20 devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 104: Bathtub Map Aug 18, 2022
Amazon is acquiring lots of home floor plans, Google will let politicians spam its Gmail users, burning in new drives, and ZFS scrub best practises.

Plugs

Support us on patreon

EuroBSDCon Sept 15-18 Vienna, Austria – Allan will be speaking about making ZFS scale for NVMe

News

Amazon to acquire Roomba robot vacuum maker iRobot for $1.7 billion

Gmail is now officially allowed to spam-proof politicians’ emails

Free Consulting

We were asked about commissioning new drives, and ZFS scrubs.

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 103: AAD the SQL Aug 11, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 102: Admins After Dark Aug 04, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 101: Atomic Database Jul 28, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

News/discussion

GitHub Copilot

Linux Downtime – Episode 51

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 100: 💯 Jul 21, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

Things mentioned:

End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcement for the Cisco Small Business RV Series Routers (selected models)

Cisco Small Business RV Series Routers

FreeIPA

Sophos

Icinga

InfluxDB

Graphite

Grafana

VictoriaMetrics

Bufferbloat Test by Waveform

A review of Monitor-IO

Kolide

Kolide is a fleet visibility solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that can help you securely scale your business. Learn more here: https://l.kolide.co/3HB8xUv

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 99: 00000000 Jul 14, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 98: Lemonade Jul 07, 2022
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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 97: Gotta Go Fast Jun 30, 2022
The best ways to test your Internet speed, more on filesystem caching, monitoring servers at scale, and more.

Plugs

ZFS Developer job description

Webinar: Open-source Virtualization: Getting Started with Bhyve

Support us on patreon

Discussion

Public iPerf3 servers

DSLReports

MTR

fast.com

Feedback

OpenZFS on Windows

Free Consulting

We were asked about monitoring servers at scale.

Nagios

Zabbix

LibreNMS

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 96: Skunky Routers Jun 23, 2022
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

ZFS Developer job description

Webinar: Open-source Virtualization: Getting Started with Bhyve

Support us on patreon

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.

Sophos Anti-Virus for Linux

Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools for Linux best practices

VMware Carbon Black Endpoint

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 95: Opened in 45 Seconds Jun 16, 2022
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

ZFS Developer job description

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 94: Free IPv4s, Click Here! Jun 09, 2022
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

ZFS Developer job description

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 93: Bhyve Mind Jun 02, 2022
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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 92: End to End to End May 26, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 91: The Deenis May 19, 2022
More on Ubuntu mirrors and DNS, detecting advanced persistent threats, resilient backups, and open source Active Directory alternatives.

Plugs

bhyve: the BSD hypervisor

Support us on patreon

Feedback

ubuntu/pool/main/b/bash

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 90: 2 Admins May 12, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 89: Warm Storage May 05, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

Feedback

Twitter thread about optical media longevity

Qubes OS

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 88: Great Scott Apr 28, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 87: Unplanned Obsolescence Apr 21, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

News

Insteon looks dead—just like its users’ smart homes

Feedback

Harder Drive: Hard drives we didn’t want or need

Jottacloud

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 86: Reluctant Sysadmin Apr 14, 2022
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

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News

OpenSSH 9.0 released

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

AirGuard – AirTag protection

Tom Scott video

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.

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2.5 Admins 85: Textbook Scam Apr 07, 2022
CAPTCHAs in phishing attacks, Jim gets angry about Bitcoin propaganda in schools, and packet loss with UDP.

Plugs

Tuning OpenZFS Record size

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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.

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2.5 Admins 84: Open Source Sabotage Mar 31, 2022
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?

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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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 83: Solid State Bathtubs Mar 24, 2022
SSD reliability, a huge potential amplification DDoS attack, and learning how a mail server works.

Plugs

Webinar: Improving Recovery Objectives with OpenZFS

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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.

Postfix, Virtual Domain Setup

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 82: Oil, Gold, and Firstborn Mar 17, 2022
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

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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.

Reddit thread

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.

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2.5 Admins 81: Don’t Pay Mar 10, 2022
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

NFS Sharing with ZFS

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Discussion

Backups ‘no longer effective’ for stopping ransomware attacks

Where Did I Put That File?

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 80: 100 Emoji Mar 03, 2022
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

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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.

The FreeBSD Boot Process

reboot -r on untrusted 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.

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2.5 Admins 79: Flex your disks Feb 24, 2022
Maintaining data long-term, Chrome OS comes to generic PCs, and how to detect intrusions and malware on servers and networks.

Plugs

The FreeBSD Boot Process

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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.

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2.5 Admins 78: MAZDA~1.BMP Feb 18, 2022
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

Unix: On the path to BSD

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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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 77: The Joe Ressington Experience Feb 10, 2022
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

Modern inetd on FreeBSD

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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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 76: Horses for Courses Feb 03, 2022
The pain of updating Windows, FreeBSD vs Linux, and getting started with ZFS.

Plugs

FreeBSD Periodic Scripts

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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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 75: Burning Fiber Jan 27, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

Feedback

Register article about Microsoft blocking email from Linode

Allan’s recent war story

Photos

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 74: Virtual Pointless Network Jan 20, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

The Birth of Unix

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.

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2.5 Admins 73: QR Choad Jan 13, 2022
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

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News/Discussion

Pay to park scam

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 72: Email Cartel Jan 06, 2022
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 71: Recover Calmly Dec 30, 2021
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

OpenZFS: Native Encryption

Support us on patreon

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

SpinRite

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 70: Xmas AMA Dec 23, 2021
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

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Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 69: Nice Dec 16, 2021
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

Support us on patreon

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

Canada Revenue Agency and other government departments take some services offline due to security vulnerability

Amazon FSx for OpenZFS

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 68: Shuckchain Dec 09, 2021
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.

BSDCan 2022 – Call for papers

Support us on patreon

News

It’s long past time for cost-benefit analysis on blockchain

Funny tweet

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 67: Haitch Dec 02, 2021
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

Demystifying OpenZFS 2.0

Support us on patreon

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.

netburn

FreeBSD Network Troubleshooting: Understanding Network Performance

RIPE Atlas

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 66: Lack of Entropy Nov 26, 2021
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.

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 65: Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten Nov 18, 2021
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Categories: podcast

2.5 Admins 64: Augmented Dystopia Nov 11, 2021
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

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News

Welcome to Meta

Intel’s Alder Lake big.little CPU design, tested: It’s a barn burner

OpenZFS Developer Summit

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Categories: podcast

2.5 Admins 63: Unlocking the Future Nov 04, 2021
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 62: Top Notch Oct 28, 2021
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 61: Alice and Bob Oct 21, 2021
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 60: Butter Fingers Oct 14, 2021
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

All Things Open

Manipulating a ZFS Pool from the Rescue System

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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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 59: Megaphone in the Middle Oct 07, 2021
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

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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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 58: Autocompromised Sep 30, 2021
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 57: Spherical Chickens Sep 23, 2021
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

Support us on patreon

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 56: OMIGOD root Sep 16, 2021
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

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News

Security researchers at Wiz discover another major Azure vulnerability

Timeline

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 55: WiFi in the Woods Sep 09, 2021
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

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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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 54: Bait and Switch Sep 02, 2021
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

History of ZFS: Part 3

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News

After quietly switching to slower NAND in an NVMe SSD, Western Digital promises to be a bit louder next time

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.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 53: Unexpected Root Aug 26, 2021
How getting root might be easier for attackers than you think, what a new OS can teach us about open source development, and why you probably shouldn’t buy enterprise drives for your NAS.

Plugs

EuroBSDCon 2021 is Online, September 17-19, 2021

Support us on patreon

News/Discussion

Asking nicely for root command execution (and getting it)

SerenityOS is a Unix-y love letter to the ’90s

Free Consulting

We were asked about enterprise and NAS drives.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 52: Notflix Aug 19, 2021
Netflix blocking residential IPs, Intel’s upcoming discrete graphics cards, and the finer points of connecting disks to a RAID controller.

Plugs

Achieving RPO/RTO Objectives with ZFS – Part 2

Jim was a guest on Linux Unplugged 418 discussing WireGuardNT

Support us on patreon

News

Netflix is adding residential IP addresses to its VPN blocklists

Intel Introduces New High-Performance Graphics Brand: Intel Arc

Free Consulting

We were asked about RAID controllers.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 51: Goodbye LISA Aug 12, 2021
Why a large sysadmin conference shut down and what it means, roaming between multiple wireless access points, sending ZFS snapshots to the cloud, best practice for tunnelling between home and the cloud, and a novel use for old hard disks.

Plugs

Achieving RPO/RTO Objectives with ZFS – Part 1

Support us on patreon

News/Discussion

LISA Community Message

Feedback

We mentioned Spinning Rust Records who are on Twitter and Bandcamp.

Checkmk

Checkmk is the best way to monitor your complex and hybrid IT infrastructure, bridging the gap between IT Ops and DevOps Teams. Go to checkmk.com/25admins and try out the open source or enterprise edition.

CBT Nuggets

Training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 50: Optimal Airtime Aug 05, 2021
Huge improvements for WireGuard on Windows, and a brief update on the Framework Laptop. Plus why RAID is not a backup, when to use bare metal vs VMs, choosing database types, and more.

Plugs

Let’s Talk OpenZFS Snapshots

Support us on patreon

News

New WireGuardNT shatters throughput ceilings on Windows

Framework’s lightweight modular laptop is a winner

Free Consulting

We were asked about RAID and whether similar disks die at the same time, Samba speed differences, VMs vs bare metal, and databases.

Checkmk

Checkmk is the best way to monitor your complex and hybrid IT infrastructure, bridging the gap between IT Ops and DevOps Teams. Go to checkmk.com/25admins and try out the open source or enterprise edition.

CBT Nuggets

Training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 49: Cuddle the Pegasus Jul 29, 2021
Why the Pegasus spyware isn’t really anything new, a Windows vulnerability sends Jim and Allan down memory lane, what to do with old hard disks, your feedback, and more.

Plugs

FreeBSD TCP performance system controls

Support us on patreon

News

Leak uncovers global abuse of cyber-surveillance weapon

This World of Ours

New Windows 10 vulnerability allows anyone to get admin privileges

Free Consulting

We were asked about paying for password leak notifications, and what to do with old small hard disks.

Checkmk

Checkmk is the best way to monitor your complex and hybrid IT infrastructure, bridging the gap between IT Ops and DevOps Teams. Go to checkmk.com/25admins and try out the open source or enterprise edition.

CBT Nuggets

Training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 48: PR Problem Jul 22, 2021
Jim’s hands-on with the modular and upgradeable Framework laptop, the details of Muse Group’s latest controversy, and when backing up to a Pi in your friend’s basement sometimes makes sense.

Plugs

Managing Boot Environments

Support us on patreon

News

Framework Laptop

Audacity’s new owner is in another fight with the open source community

Free Consulting

We were asked about off-site backups.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 47: ZFS Rules, LTO Drools Jul 15, 2021
The current and future states of system performance across the whole stack, and backing up to tapes. Plus your feedback about clustered filesystems, a ZFS success story, and IPv6 devices.

News/Discussion

Computing Performance: On the Horizon

Free Consulting

We were asked about backing up to magnetic tape.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 46: Not Actively Supported Jul 08, 2021
Windows 11 has been announced but some key details are still unknown, why you shouldn’t connect consumer-grade network storage devices to the Internet, optimizing Windows guests on KVM hosts, and how to get started with Sanoid.

Plugs

History of FreeBSD: Net/1 and Net/2: Path to Freedom

Support us on patreon

News

WD My Book NAS devices are being remotely wiped clean worldwide Western Digital My Book NAS

Hackers exploited 0-day, not 2018 bug, to mass-wipe My Book Live devices

Western Digital Users Face Another RCE

Windows 11 is much more than a new theme slapped onto Windows 10

Free Consulting

We were asked about optimizing Windows guests on KVM hosts, and how to get started with Sanoid.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 45: Weapons grade insecurity Jul 01, 2021
Potentially serious vulnerabilities in military systems, a new ZFS feature that’s mostly for home users, and IPv6 on your LAN.

Plugs

FreeBSD Performance Observability

Support us on patreon

News/Discussion

Vulnerabilities in Weapons Systems

ZFS fans, rejoice—RAIDz expansion will be a thing very soon

Free Consulting

We were asked about identifying devices with IPv6 addresses on a local network.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/25a and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 44: ZF yes! Jun 24, 2021
Supply chain problems causing a rise in counterfeit chips, busting the myth about ZFS and RAM, gold VM images, and x86 routers.

Plugs

Introduction to ZFS replication

Support us on patreon

News

Chip shortages lead to more counterfeit chips and devices

Free Consulting

We were asked about how much RAM ZFS needs, gold VM images, and homebrew x86 routers.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 43: Find my bandwidth Jun 17, 2021
A potential order of magnitude increase in HDD sizes, Amazon Sidewalk, dying SSDs, planning new systems, ssh vs VPN logins, and more.

Plugs

History of ZFS: Part 2: Exploding in Popularity

Support us on patreon

News/Discussion

Ultra-high-density hard drives made with graphene store ten times more data

Amazon devices will soon automatically share your Internet with neighbors

Free Consulting

We were asked about dying SSDs, push and pull backups with third-party hosting, ssh and VPN logins, and planning new systems.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 42: Guru Medication Jun 10, 2021
Fastly’s recent outage, how attackers probably breached the Colonial Pipeline’s network, crypto mining in anti-virus software, and setting up a box at your friend’s house to watch Netflix while abroad.

News

Fastly broke the Internet for an hour

The 503’s heard around the world

Fastly Summary of June 8 outage

Colonial Pipeline Chief Says Recovery From Ransomware Hack Not Complete

Uncle Sam recovers 63.7 of 75 Bitcoins Colonial Pipeline paid to ransomware crew

NortonLifeLock Unveils Norton Crypto

Free Consulting

We were asked about encrypted off-site backups, and getting around geo-restrictions with a VPN.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 41: Swiss cheese security Jun 03, 2021
Synology and Btrfs, backing up low-end Linux laptops, vulnerability management, FreeBSD hypervisors, and more.

Plugs

Building Customized FreeBSD Images

Support us on patreon

Feedback

Things we mentioned:

Barracuda

I couldn’t break Synology SHR+btrfs (yet)

Our subreddit

Free Consulting

We were asked about AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting), backing up low-end Linux laptops, FreeBSD hypervisors, and vulnerability management.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 40: Crown Prince of Freenode May 27, 2021
The complex tale of the recent IRC drama, Microsoft kills Windows 10X, and why we think a WordPress site was pwned.

News

Microsoft puts Windows 10X variant on the back burner

Freenode IRC staff resign en masse after takeover by Korea’s “crown prince”

Free Consulting

We were asked why a WordPress site had been compromised.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 39: Cacophony of starts May 20, 2021
Testing failing disks and why they don’t work over a certain altitude, and your feedback about ZFS snapshots, authentication, community discussion platforms, Docker and ZFS, and more.

Plugs

Basics of ZFS Snapshot Management

Klara articles RSS feed

Support us on patreon

Feedback

Things we mentioned:

zrepl

authelia

r/25admins

Using bind mounts

docker-vackup

Discussion

Poor Disk Performance

Dell HDD Warranty void above 10,000 ft

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 38: Wires FTW May 13, 2021
The importance of VPNs when using Wi-Fi, the complexities of chip node size, and whether appliance NAS devices make any sense.

Plugs

Getting the most out of ARM64

Support us on patreon

News

FragAttacks: Security flaws in all Wi-Fi devices

IBM creates the world’s first 2 nm chip

Free Consulting

We were asked about off-the-shelf network storage devices.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 37: Exchanging shells May 06, 2021
Authorities trying to remove malware from people’s servers, turning your sysadmin hobby into a career, cloud backups, config management, and more.

Plugs

Why you should consider the BSD license

Support us on patreon

Feedback

Cloud backups with Rclone and alternatives, MikroTik network gear, server security, and config management.

News

Brit authorities could legally do an FBI and scrub malware from compromised boxen without your knowledge

Free Consulting

We were asked about the best way to turn your sysadmin hobby into a career.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 36: Minnesota shower Apr 29, 2021
GUI Linux apps on Windows, Linux kernel development is pen-tested, ZFS and Docker, and converting a Windows installation to a VM.

Plugs

FreeBSD IOStat

EuroBSDCon 2021 CfP

Support us on patreon

News

Graphical Linux apps are coming to Windows Subsystem for Linux

Linux kernel team rejects University of Minnesota researchers’ apology

“Full disclosure” from the University of Minnesota

Free Consulting

We were asked about using ZFS with Docker, and visualizing a physical Windows installation.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 35: More free consulting Apr 22, 2021
We answer a bunch of your questions about server hardening, managing ZFS snapshots, Docusign, SSL certs in air-gapped networks, and automating updates.

Plugs

EuroBSDCon 2021 Call for Papers

Support us on patreon

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 34: Free consulting Apr 15, 2021
We answer a bunch of your questions about firewalls, best practices for backups, learning ZFS, QoS, SSH key management, backing up Google Drive, and more.

Links to things mentioned

Unix Haters Handbook

Allan’s FreeBSD Journal Article

Dummynet: The Better Way to Build FreeBSD Networks

Jim’s ZFS 101

Allan’s book

Plugs

Customizing FreeBSD Ports and Packages

All Things Open

Support us on patreon

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 33: Delete C: Apr 08, 2021
Thousands of students learn about backups the hard way, why securing all of DNS isn’t practical, and how to protect Internet-facing services running at home.

News

Victoria University of Wellington accidentally nukes files on all desktop PCs

Root Server Operators’ Statement on DNS Encryption [pdf]

Free Consulting

We were asked about the best way to secure Internet-facing services running at home.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 32: Unifail Apr 01, 2021
Our first look at the next generation of Arm, alarming claims about a recent Ubiquiti breach, and setting up a FreeBSD file server.

Plugs

Customizing the FreeBSD Kernel

Check out Joe’s albums

Support us on patreon

News

Containerize all the things! Arm v9 takes security seriously

ARM Morello

Whistleblower: Ubiquiti Breach “Catastrophic”

Free consulting

We were asked about setting up a first FreeBSD file server.

CBT Nuggets

This episode is sponsored by CBT Nuggets – training for IT professionals or anyone looking to build IT skills. Go to cbtnuggets.com/25admins and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 31: HD bit flips Mar 25, 2021
How we’ll get to 100TB hard disks by the end of the decade, the potential dangers of flipped bits in network traffic, how to organize multiple copies of your backups, and managing dynamic DNS.

Plugs

Understanding Network Performance

Support us on patreon

News

Seagate: 100TB HDDs Due in 2030, Multi-Actuator Drives to Become Common

Toshiba’s disk drive: WTF is the flux control effect?

Bitflips when PCs try to reach windows.com: What could possibly go wrong?

Free consulting

We were asked about how to ensure data integrity on multiple backups, and managing dynamic DNS.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 30: Hot storage Mar 18, 2021
The OVH data center fire and related tales, drama with WireGuard in FreeBSD, why you should plug your flash drives in regularly, and more.

News

OVH data centre destroyed by fire in Strasbourg

OVH outlines recovery plan as French data centres smoulder

OVH founder says UPS fixed up day before blaze is early suspect as source of data centre destruction

Hard lessons learned from the OVH datacenter blaze

In-kernel WireGuard is on its way to FreeBSD and the pfSense router

Painful Lessons Learned in Security and Community

FreeBSD kernel-mode WireGuard moves forward out-of-tree

Feedback

Mitigating bitrot with checksums, and why flash isn’t any good as cold storage.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

Lernard

This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 29: Supply pain Mar 11, 2021
Why it’s so hard to build a PC these days, finding help for ZFS issues, getting started with a homebrew router, and more.

Plugs

The history of ARM and FreeBSD

Support us on patreon

Discussion

We talk about why it’s so hard to find PC parts and peripherals at the moment. Jim wrote an article about buying a gaming PC.

Free consulting

We were asked about how to get help with ZFS issues, encrypting the root partition on ZFS, and how to get started with a homebrew router.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 28: Cluster fsck Mar 04, 2021
Why hard disks will be around for ever, bad news for VR, slowdown from disk I/O, and when clustering isn’t necessarily the best solution.

Plugs

Register for Open Source 101

OpenZFS: dRAID is coming

Support us on patreon

News

Seagate: Why SSDs will not kill disk drives

Google Cardboard is no longer for sale

Free consulting

We were asked about I/O wait on Linux, and clustering Linux machines.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 27: Learning to say no Feb 25, 2021
Where we draw the line when supporting friends and family, monitoring SSL certs, ZFS on single drives, Chromium finally cleans up its act, and more in this feedback-filled episode.

Feedback

Chromium finally fixes its DNS issue, a Samba AD server called Zentyal, firewalls, Unraid and SnapRAID, xCloud, and Nagios plugins.

Free consulting

We were asked about ZFS on single drives, and how best to support enthusiastic amateur friends. Jim mentioned Sanoid.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 26: RISCy acquisition Feb 18, 2021
Bad news for LastPass users, why Nvidia probably won’t buy Arm, what happens to our servers if we disappear, and using the cloud to avoid bottlenecks.

Plugs

FreeBSD Jails – The beginning of Containers

Support us on patreon

News

Changes to LastPass Free

Nvidia wants to buy CPU designer Arm—Qualcomm is not happy about it

Free Consulting

We were asked about bus factor mitigation, and caching data from a home server in the cloud.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

Lernard

This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 25: Fiat gaming Feb 11, 2021
Stadia and game streaming, Bitcoin and Linux quirks in your feedback, and building a home server for more than just storage.

Plugs

Simple and Secure VPN in FreeBSD – Introducing WireGuard

Support us on patreon

News/discussion

Focusing on Stadia’s future as a platform, and winding down SG&E

Feedback

Follow-up on Bitcoin, and historical quirks of Linux.

Free Consulting

We were asked about the best way to build a genral-purpose home server.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 24: Stonk amplification Feb 04, 2021
Reddit trolls Wall Street, bad news for Parler’s new host, why you should learn iptables, and backing up S3-compatible buckets.

Plugs

History of FreeBSD Part 4: BSD and TCP/IP

Support us on patreon

News

Understanding /r/wallstreetbets

DDoS-Guard To Forfeit Internet Space Occupied by Parler

Free Consulting

We were asked about firewall managers and backing up S3-compatible buckets.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 23: Bitcoin hundredaire Jan 28, 2021
The Bitcoin price is booming again so we take the chance to laugh at Allan for selling too early, then we discuss some of your emails including Arm/x86 combos, switching to Ubuntu, and the importance of using a UPS.

Discussion

The world’s cryptocurrency is now worth more than $1 trillion

Feedback

Reproducibility, Arm and x86 in one machine, managing Ubuntu servers as a Red Hat user, and attracting more devs to FreeBSD.

Free Consulting

We were asked about redundant, and uninterruptible power supplies.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

Lernard

This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 22: Unexpected migrations Jan 21, 2021
Why Parler is unlikely to come back any time soon, free RHEL, and using a VPS to subvert VPN limits.

Plugs

Exploring Swap on FreeBSD

Support us on patreon

News

Amazon cuts off Parler’s Web hosting following Apple, Google bans

CentOS is gone—but RHEL is now free for up to 16 production servers

Free Consulting

We were asked about using a VPS to avoid limits on the number of devices connected to a VPN.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

Datadog

This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 21: Reproducible errors Jan 14, 2021
The merits of ECC RAM, why reproducible builds are a good idea, and where to buy used equipment.

Plugs

Webinar: Introducing OpenZFS 2.0

Support us on patreon

News/Discussion

Linus Torvalds rails at Intel for ‘killing’ the ECC industry

Why don’t PCs use error correcting RAM? “Because Intel,” says Linus

You don’t need reproducible builds

Free consulting

We were asked about the best places to buy used equipment.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

Datadog

This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 20: Free money, claim it now! Jan 07, 2021
A cruel but necessary phishing test, ancient standards in brand new legislation, using Windows when it makes sense, and commissioning and decommissioning servers.

Plugs

Webinar: Introducing OpenZFS 2.0

Klara: Routing and Firewalling VLANS with FreeBSD

Support us on patreon

News

GoDaddy Employees Were Told They Were Getting a Holiday Bonus. It Was Actually a Phishing Test

Brexit trade deal advises governments to use Netscape Communicator and SHA-1. Why? It’s all in the DNA

Free consulting

We were asked about Active Directory solutions, and the server commissioning and decommissioning process.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

Datadog

This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.

TrueNAS from iXsystems

This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 19: nOauth? No gmail! Dec 24, 2020
Why Google services like Gmail went down recently, the potentially promising future for RISC-V, and using ZFS for home and root.

News

Google Mail outage

Google incident report

New RISC-V CPU claims record breaking performance per watt

Seagate working on RISC-V SoCs

Free consulting

We were asked about using ZFS for root and home partitions.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

Lernard

This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 18: False sense of privacy Dec 10, 2020
Potentially improving DNS privacy, the big new ZFS release, and the best way to automate Linux installations.

Plugs

Webinar – Best Practices For Optimizing ZFS – Part 1

Support us on patreon

News

Improving DNS Privacy with Oblivious DoH in 1.1.1.1

OpenZFS 2.0 release unifies Linux, BSD and adds tons of new features

Free consulting

We were asked about the best way to automate Linux installations.

TrueNAS from iXsystems

This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 17: CPU change Nov 26, 2020
How Intel and AMD have fought it out over the years, Apple changes the industry with their M1 SoC, and we repeat the mantra that RAID is not a backup.

Plugs

Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.

News

A history of Intel vs. AMD desktop performance, with CPU charts galore

Hands-on with the Apple M1—a seriously fast x86 competitor

Intel’s Disruption is Now Complete

Free consulting

A question about drive failures is answered with a basic lesson in backups.

We mentioned this article.

Linode

Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.

Datadog

This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 16: TANSTAAFL Nov 12, 2020
Google proves that “unlimited” anything doesn’t exist, GitHub shenanigans, Apple’s new Arm computers, and which distro to start with as a sysadmin.

Plugs

Allan’s ZFS Webinar – Nov 18th, signup soon

Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.

News

Arm Macs announced

Google Photos is the latest “Unlimited” plan to impose hard limits

GitHub’s source code was leaked on GitHub last night… sort of

Allan trolls Greg K-H

Free consulting

We were asked whether someone starting out as a sysadmin should master Debian or CentOS.

Datadog

This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.

TrueNAS from iXsystems

This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 15: Fixed it for ya Oct 29, 2020
We wade through Cloudfare’s marketing fluff, forced WordPress plugin updates, a bunch of your questions, and the shocking revelation that FreeBSD actually has graphics drivers.

Plugs

History of FreeBSD, Part 2

News

Introducing Cloudflare One

Introducing Cloudflare Browser Isolation beta

WordPress deploys forced security update for dangerous bug in popular plugin

Free consulting

We answered a big batch of questions about managing bandwidth quotas, tape backups, preventing users from rebooting, and DKMS issues.

We mentioned Firehol, ntopng, and Bacula.

Datadog

This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.

Lernard

This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 14: Not a database Oct 15, 2020
How not to store test results, AMD firmly on top of the desktop space, what moving to remote work means for corporate networks, and deduplication of disorganized data.

Plugs

Allan’s summary of the OpenZFS Devsummit 2020

All Things Open

Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.

News

Why using Microsoft’s tool caused Covid-19 results to be lost

AMD’s new Zen 3 Ryzen desktop CPUs arrive November 5

Yesterday’s corporate network design isn’t working for working from home

Free consulting

Joe asked for advice on deduplicating some old disorganized data.

Datadog

This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.

TrueNAS from iXsystems

This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 13: bs=1mebibyte Oct 01, 2020
Intel almost catching up to AMD with Tiger Lake, the .uk fiasco, and why you shouldn’t be using dd.

Plugs

OpenZFS Developer Summit

All Things Open 2020

Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.

News

Hands-on with Intel’s i7-1185G7 Tiger Lake prototype laptop

Intel’s run at the GPU market begins with Tiger Lake onboard graphics

What the hell is going on with .uk?

.uk registry operator Nominet responds to renewed criticism – by silencing its critics

.uk overlord Nominet tells everyone not to worry about ‘distorted’ vote allocations in its board elections

Free consulting

We were asked about block size while using dd. Jim mentioned his blog post about iostat.

Datadog

This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 12: 5400 cyber RPMs Sep 17, 2020
Cyber insurance for ransomware, more confusing WD specs, the truth behind the return of the Gateway brand, and managing config files.

News

Ransomware accounted for 41% of all cyber insurance claims in H1 2020

Western Digital is trying to redefine the word “RPM”

We found out who makes Walmart’s new Gateway laptops, and it’s bad news

Free consulting

We were asked about managing config files when updating.

TrueNAS from iXsystems

This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.

Datadog

This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 11: Monitoring the Internet Sep 03, 2020
How Internet standards are decided, what a new one means for the Web, a surprising “feature” of Chrome, and the best ways to monitor your systems.

News

WebBundles Harmful to Content Blocking, Security Tools, and the Open Web

RFC8890: The Internet is for End Users

A Chrome feature is creating enormous load on global root DNS servers

Free consulting

We were asked about monitoring backups and systems in general.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 10: Mini-PCs and HDDs Aug 20, 2020
Low power x86 vs Arm boards, hard disk failure rates, and the intricacies of ZFS snapshots.

Plugs

OpenZFS Developer Summit

Support the podcast on Patreon

News

Seeed Studio’s Odyssey is a mini-PC for big projects and small wallets

Backblaze Hard Drive Stats Q2 2020

Free consulting

We were asked about ZFS on root, snapshots, and Jim’s project called Sanoid.

TrueNAS from iXsystems

This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 09: Horrible hosts Aug 06, 2020
Intel’s 7nm woes, hosts files, Mozilla’s VPN service, and automating ssh between remote hosts.

News

Heads roll at Intel after 7nm delay

Intel’s 7nm is busted, chips delayed, may have to use rival foundries to get GPUs out for US govt exascale super

AMD is now following Moore’s Law: More chips, more money, more pressure on Intel, more competition in the x86 space

AMD Says Zen 3 Consumer CPUs Will Launch This Year

Windows 10: HOSTS file blocking telemetry is now flagged as a risk

We test Mozilla’s new Wireguard-based $5/mo VPN service

Free consulting

We were asked about automating ssh between remote hosts. Allan mentioned SSH Mastery.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 08: Energy assisted drive recovery Jul 23, 2020
New types of hard disks, recovering data from dying drives, AMD makes Jim reach for the calculator, and what to do with obscure software that you need.

Plugs

FreeBSD Fridays: A Series of 101 Classes

Joe’s podcast consulting

News

Western Digital releases new 18TB, 20TB EAMR drives

Tales From The Sysadmin: Impending Hard Drive Doom

AMD Ryzen 4000 desktop CPUs will be here in Q3 2020

Free consulting

We were asked how to deal with updates for software that isn’t in repos and needs to be compiled.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 07: Fail dumpster fire Jul 09, 2020
Initial Arm Mac benchmarks are out and they aren’t terrible, getting the best transfer speeds over USB, and rolling our own home routers.

Plugs

FreeBSD Bug Squash

Support the podcast on Patreon

News

First benchmarks surface for Apple’s ARM-based Developer Transition Kit

UASP makes Raspberry Pi 4 disk IO 50% faster

Free Consulting

We were asked about our home network setups.

See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

2.5 Admins 06: BFYTW Jun 25, 2020
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.

2.5 Admins 05: IPv6 when? Jun 11, 2020
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.

2.5 Admins 04: Zooming from pets to cattle May 28, 2020
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.

2.5 Admins 03: Apache’s Btr than you think May 14, 2020
Why Apache is still relevant in 2020, and the differences between ZFS and Btrfs.

Plugs

Allan’s BSDCan Homelab panel

Allan on setns.live

Support the podcast on Patreon

Apache vs Nginx

Apache 101

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.

2.5 Admins 02: Updating to Arm May 01, 2020
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

Canada’s .ca overlord rolls out free privacy-protecting DNS-over-HTTPS service for folks in Great White North

Paul Vixie on DoH @ vBSDCon 2019

Paul Vixie: DNS Wars: Episode IV: A New Bypass @ EuroBSDCon 2019

The rumor that just won’t die: Apple to keep Intel at Arm’s length in 2021 with launch of ‘A14-powered laptops’

Making macOS run well on ARM processors isn’t the hard part

What is ARM Morello

ARM backs the CHERI project

Free Consulting

Frank wrote in to ask advice on which HDDs to buy, and Jake was curious about automatic updates and reboots.

2.5 Admins 01: ZFS love-fest Apr 24, 2020
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

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