BSIT220 - Week 5 Posting - Whois and Traceroute

The "whois" command is a vital tool in the toolkit of Linux administrators. It allows us to gather information about domain names, IP addresses, and autonomous system numbers on the internet. By querying public Whois databases, "whois" provides details about domain registrants, registration dates, contact information, and domain name servers. This command is particularly useful for troubleshooting network issues, investigating domain ownership, and assessing security concerns. It plays a significant role in enhancing transparency and accountability in the digital realm, making it an essential tool for Linux admins.

The "traceroute" command is a basic network diagnostic tool in the toolkit of Linux administrators. It's used to trace the route that data packets take from your computer to a destination host on the network, helping identify bottlenecks and latency issues. Traceroute works by sending a series of packets with incrementally increasing time-to-live (TTL) values, and as they traverse routers and switches on the internet, these devices respond to the packets, revealing their presence and round-trip times. The result is a detailed list of the devices (called "hops") between your computer and the destination, along with the time taken to traverse each hop. This information is invaluable for pinpointing network problems, optimizing routes, and ensuring efficient data transmission across the network and the internet. The "traceroute" command is an indispensable tool to Linux admins when it comes to diagnosing and troubleshooting network connectivity and performance issues.

BSIT200 - Week 5 Posting - Windows 10 vs 11

I've been hearing a lot lately about Microsoft Windows 10 versus Microsoft Windows 11. Windows 10 will reach end of support on October 14, 2025. The current version, 22H2, will be the final version of Windows 10, and all editions will remain in support with monthly security update releases through that date. So should be upgrade now, wait until the bitter end, or just give up and install Linux?

Well, the upgrade to Windows 11 is free, but only Windows 10 PCs that are running the most current version of Windows 10 and meet the minimum hardware specifications will be able to upgrade. Hopefully, your motherboard already has a TPM 2.0 chip on it. Otherwise the Windows 11 upgrade will reject your hardware. This means either you're buying a new motherboard for your desktop, or buying a new laptop. At this point, it seems like an American tradition, since it seems like every new version of Windows ends up requiring a hardware upgrade of some kind.


Should we even consider installing Linux on a Laptop? Actually, yes. These days Linux does quite well on a laptop. My favorite distribution for this is Linux Mint, which is based on (and compatible with) Ubuntu Linux. More and more hardware manufactures are making their laptops compatible with Linux, and some laptops can now be purchased with Linux pre-installed! If you don't use your laptop for playing all the latest games, you can get mostly free open-source software to do just about everything else a Windows Laptop can do.

BSIT 200 Week 4 Posting: Repairing a PC power supply

Repairing a PC power supply can be a cost-effective solution for tech-savvy individuals with electronics expertise and the right tools, but it also entails significant risks. While it offers the potential for cost savings and the opportunity to gain valuable troubleshooting skills, it can also void warranties, pose safety hazards due to high voltage components such as capacitors, and result in time-consuming, expensive, and complex repairs. For those without prior experience in electronics, seeking professional assistance or opting for a replacement power supply unit is generally a safer and more reliable choice to ensure the continued and safe operation of their computer systems.

 

Repairing your own PC power supply can
be dangerous and is best left to professionals.

BSIT220 Week 4 Posting: Choosing the Right Spot for Your Wiring Room

The wiring room's location is crucial for a smooth-running network. Here's why it matters and a quick guide on where to put it:

Why Location Matters:

1. Accessibility: Easy access means quicker maintenance and upgrades.

2. Shorter Cables: A central spot reduces cable length, saving costs and boosting speed.

3. Efficiency: Proximity to high-demand areas minimizes network congestion.

4. Security: A physically secure location prevents unauthorized access.

5. Climate Control: Ensuring controlled temperature and humidity promotes equipment longevity.

Selecting the Ideal Location:

1. Analyze Layout: Identify central zones with high network demands.

2. Accessibility: Prioritize easy access for maintenance.

3. Security: Choose secure spaces, possibly with access control. Lock your door!
   

4. Climate Suitability: Assess the room's potential for climate control.

5. Plan for Growth: Leave room for expansion in both space and power.

6. Seek Expert Advice: Consult IT professionals for tailored guidance.

In short, your wiring room's placement matters for efficient and reliable networking. Consider accessibility, security, efficiency, and future needs to make the right choice. When in doubt, contract it out!

BSIT200: Week 3 Posting - An Article about Solid State Drives

This weeks article is from the ARS Technica website and is titled "Solid-state revolution: in-depth on how SSDs really work" (Lee Hutchinson - Jun 4, 2012). In it, Mr Hutchinson discusses Solid State Drive (SSD) technology and how it can make a computer subjectively faster by replacing tradition "spinning platter" disk drives. 

SSDs are basically a storage device that replaces spinning metal disk/platters commonly found in traditional hard drive mechanisms with non-volatile NAND flash memory, which allows SSDs to function at much higher speeds by reducing the latency time of read/write operations. NAND flash memory is the same technology found in cell phones and USB "Thumb" drives. The author provides a very detailed description of exactly what NAND memory is and how it functions. 

Interestingly, SSDs have one big shortcoming: they can only be used for a finite number of writes. Over time, the process used by SSDs to free up previously used space for new write operations slowly degrades the functionality of the SSD, slowing down the write times, until eventually it enters into a read-only condition where data can no longer be written to the disk. Manufacturers use controllers to attempt to manage the degradation and prolong the writable life of the SSD as much as possible. 

The author then progresses through various methods used by SSD manufactures to prolong the usable life of SSDs, before moving on to Write Amplification, which refers to the logical amount of data written to the SSD versus the actual amount of data written to the SSD, and wear leveling, which refers to how write operations are spread across all of the flash cells in order to keep their use evenly distributed across all of them. 

Finally the author goes into the popularity of SSDs, specially in data center operations where high I/O applications benefit from the low latency of read/write operations to/from SSD drives, as opposed to other well established technologies such as Fiber Channel attached drives and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives. SSDs tend to be more expensive per megabyte, but prove to be exponentially better because of their speed. 

Personally, I have an old Apple MacBook Pro (from 2012) that originally came with a SATA drive installed. Replacing that drive with a SSD effectively gave the laptop a new lease on life and since MacOS was able to read/write to/from it's operating system drive a lot faster, everyday operations became effectively faster, and made the old MacBook usable. 

 

Lee Hutchinson    -  Jun 4, 2012 3:30 pm UTC. (2012). Retrieved from https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/06/inside-the-ssd-revolution-how-solid-state-disks-really-work/

Linux on a Commodore 64

Someone has booted Linux on a stock Commodore64 from 1982. The Comodore's Brain was a MOS6510 clocked at 1MHz, and it had 64 Kilobytes of RAM. Linux took 39 hours to boot.

Read more here:  https://boingboing.net/2023/09/15/linux-on-a-commodore-64.html

 

BSIT220: Week 3 Posting

There's various types of home networking equipment out there, and some of it has been in people's homes for longer than it should. Some of my friends still have Ethernet Hubs! The most popular speed for home switches seems to be Gigabit Ethernet. The term "Gigabit" refers to the speed at which information is transmitted from the source to the destination. There is also Fast Ethernet, which transmits at 100Mbps (megabits per second) and just plain Ethernet which transmits at 10Mbps. When connecting your laptop or desktop computer to your home router, care must be taken to correctly match Ethernet speeds among your equipment to prevent bottlenecks. Bottlenecks are what happens when part of the data path between your computer and the home router is slower than the rest of the path. This reduces the overall speed of the connection, as your connection will only be as fast as the slowest link. 

For example, let's say your Internet Service Provider (ISP) has sold you a link that is rated for 1Gbps bi-directional. This means that your home router can send and receive information to/from the internet at a maximum speed of 1 gigabit per second. You purchase a Gigabit Ethernet network card for your desktop computer, so your desktop can also communicate at 1Gbps speed. However, your friend gifts you a spare Fast Ethernet switch that he no longer needs, and you connect it in between your home router and your desktop. Now your Desktop will communicate with that switch at 100Mbps (the fastest speed the switch can handle), and the switch will communicate with the home router at 100Mbps (again the fastest speed the switch can handle. So although your desktop and home router are capable of communicating at a faster speed, your overall connection speed will be 100Mbps, and you will be paying for a capability that you are not using. This condition is often referred to as a "network bottleneck". To fix this issue, we can simply replace the Fast Ethernet switch with a Gigabit Ethernet switch, or we can connect the desktop directly to the home router, creating a network layout (referred to as a "topology") where all connected devices communicate at the same speed and maximize their use of the available connection speed. 

BSIT200: Week 2 Posting - Do the graphical elements introduced in Windows operating systems help or harm productivity?

It can be argued that the Windows Graphical User interface is responsible for making computers accessible to, and usable by, most non-technical people by hiding the complexities of the underlying operating system with a pleasant intuitive interface. You don't have to know what model of CPU you have or how much RAM is installed in order to send Mom an email, or search google for a recipe. On the other hand, by hiding complexity behind an easy to use interface, Microsoft has also removed any need for the average end user to understand how computers work, or what they are capable of doing, much to the consternation of many Technical Support Personnel. In my personal experience using computers, as well as in the experience of my customers over the years, productivity does seem to be impacted by the quality and usability of the GUI. Both Microsoft and Apple employ User Interface (UI) Designers just to ensure that the look, feel, and end user experience of their products keeps the users using their products, which opens the companies to future sales of add-ons, applications and services.    

BSIT220: Week 2 Posting - Are too many standards organizations attempting to regulate the networking field?

 I do not believe there are too many standards organizations since they tend to cover different technology areas, and when they do overlap, they sometimes provide competing ideas and opinions a forum for public discourse. I think it would be a very bad idea to allow governmental or larger international bodies to regulate standards as I believe this would stifle growth and innovation. The current organizations seem to be able to self-regulate and when competing standards arise, free and open competition ensure that the most popular product wins.

BSIT200: Week 1 Posting - Introduction

Greetings all! I'm Pete and I'm a 57 year old Systems Engineer who specializes in Linux systems and AWS Cloud solutions. I've been working in IT for about 40 years and have had many interactions with the networking department. As a Sysadmin, I do understand quite a bit about networking as it applies to the IT infrastructure and the servers that I administer. I've never configured a Cisco Router, but I also have never been to that class! 

I'm looking forward to this experience, although at the moment I'm still trying to figure out the basics, such as how to be a student, how to write a paper with citations in it, and how to use the website. No panic yet, but I'm getting close. Wish me luck!

BSIT220: Week 1 Posting - Introduction

 Week 1 Posting - Introduction

Greetings all! I'm Pete and I'm a 57 year old Systems Engineer who specializes in Linux systems and AWS Cloud solutions. I've been working in IT for about 40 years and have had many interactions with the networking department. As a Sysadmin, I do understand quite a bit about networking as it applies to the IT infrastructure and the servers that I administer. I've never configured a Cisco Router, but I also have never been to that class!

I'm looking forward to this experience, although at the moment I'm still trying to figure out the basics, such as how to be a student, how to write a paper with citations in it, and how to use the website. No panic yet, but I'm getting close. Wish me luck!