This article will be updated over the next few weeks with comments added about which items worked well and which didn't work out so well, along with some photos. See also last year's Travel Tech for my 10 days of driving around Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic for Veeam Vanguard Summit in…
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Residential Energy Consumption Survey 2015 "Space heating and water heating account for nearly two thirds of U.S. home energy use" I've written many articles about various ways I've been trying to reduce my family's electric bills and carbon…
Backstory For several years, I've been on a quest to get an iPhone case that I can use when attending conferences and events, something I do pretty often in my role as an IT Professional, and as a blogger. When out and about all day away from power, I usually carry around a battery pack in my right…
This article was written during the few moments I was in various hotel rooms. Enjoying my time with my wife and with fellow bloggers from across the globe were the priority. You can jump right down to the tech and/or the photos. Backstory How VVols landed me in Germany Ever since I was 11, I wanted…
What is DNS? THE GLUE THAT HOLDS THE INTERNET TOGETHER The Domain Name System (or DNS) converts human readable domain names (like: www.google.com) into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (like: 173.194.39.78). Computers can only communicate using series of numbers, so DNS was developed as a sort of…
Cloudflare's announcement: Announcing 1.1.1.1: the fastest, privacy-first consumer DNS service ... Seriously, April 1? The only question that remained was when to launch the new service? This is the first consumer product Cloudflare has ever launched, so we wanted to reach a wider audience. At…
"How DNS Works" published at "Quad9 DNS" on Nov 15, 2017. There's a new DNS on this planet's interwebs, see the big announcement made yesterday over at IBM: IBM, Packet Clearing House and Global Cyber Alliance Collaborate to Protect Businesses and Consumers from Internet Threats New Quad9 DNS…
Main Dashboard looks pretty cool, click the image to zoom in and have a look around. My 10GbE network has fallen to 1GbE and can't get up I was working with Netgear ProSUPPORT Services for Business Users on an issue I was having with one of my 2 Xeon D SuperServers this past summer. Specifically,…
ASUS ZenScreen MB16AC 15.6-Inch Full HD IPS Monitor is available on Amazon, B&H, and Newegg. This is not a paid promotion. This monitor was purchased bought online and used regularly for 6 weeks prior to publishing this article. When I took on a new job earlier this year, I knew full well that…
Backstory Last year, I wrote: I do hope TechSmith goes forward with plans to develop a truly 64 bit version of Studio Finally, it's here, Camtasia video editing, in 64 bits! OKEMOS, Mich. – October 12, 2016 - TechSmith Releases New Version of Camtasia: A Powerful Platform for Making…
The ASUS XG-U2008 switch is available at Amazon, B&H, and Newegg, see also specifications. These are affiliate links, see disclosure below every article for details. Video unboxing in 4K, and testing under VMware ESXi 6.0U2, here. That purple Netgear XS708T is about as wide as the 2 Xeon D…
The eero 3 Pack is available at Amazon, Best Buy, or eero for ~$500 USD. The Luma 3 pack is available at Amazon, Best Buy, or Luma for ~$400 USD. Backstory It's been 3 years since my family moved up to 802.11ac with the careful decision to go with the Linksys EA6900 AC1900 Dual-Band Wi-Fi router.…
Ever wonder if there's an affordable power strip that you could add to your home network that would give you insight into the power usage of up to 8 devices, and allow remote power on/off operations? If you're willing to tolerate a bit of initial setup pain that requires a back-level Java and a…
What do you look for when you're trying to build a 3 node test/demo cluster, with each Xeon D system blessed with two copper 10GbE ports each? Product Page - XS708T – ProSAFE® 10 Gigabit Smart Managed Switch, Model / Version: XS708T How about a relatively quiet switch that doesn't burn…
How does a 24 port metal-bodied compact switch from Cisco sound? Quiet! Yes, no fans, always a good thing for home labs. Cisco Its compact size also makes this a nice choice for more user group demonstrations, to be announced soon. Unmanaged, efficient (as you'll see in the video), and silent. Just…
It's been a bit of a rough week for IoT. On a recent Home Gadget Geeks podcast, I was lamenting the fact that home WiFi routers don't yet have a way to isolate all your cloud connected IoT gear off onto their own subnet, since such consumer tech tends to eventually succumb to various firmware…
It looks like you have JavaScript disabled. Click here to view the video above.[audio removed] I'm wearing socks on a carpet. FLIR ONE is sensitive enough to easily see my footprints. FLIR has been known for decades in the thermal imaging industry. I remember going to a fire station with my son's…
I recently rebuilt everything in my home lab, based on the Supermicro SuperServer SYS-5028D-TN4T. My workstation, my datacenter, it's my everything, all in one, saving cost and power. Fully backed up of course, including offsite sync of the most crucial data. I've found it super handy and useful to…
I recently saw Scott Davis, CTO of Infio, speaking at the Virtualization Group - Boston. It was held right at VMware's location in Cambridge, MA, right near Boston. It's the same place Scott used to work actually. He did an amazing job bringing the audience through a brief history of computer…
Recently, I decided it'd valuable to me and my readers to know exactly how much the electricity costs to run my all-in-one efficient SuperServer Workstation, given it will be left running 24x7. My trusty CyberPower 1000PFCLCD UPS keeps my office running through frequent power blips, and handles…
Updates to this article below. Order The ecobee3 with homekit is available at Apple Store, Amazon, Best Buy, ecobee shop, Home Depot, and Lowe's. Review If you have multiple members of your household that are home at various times of the day, then you likely have some familiarity with inevitable…
TinkerTry - Sensible datacenter
technology in the IT Pro's home. My opinions here, not my employer's.
Paul Braren, VCP #2681 in 2005, vExpert 2014-2019, Veeam Vanguard 2015-2019.
Patreon | SuperServer Order Page
Detailed Intel Xeon D and NUC specs at TinkerTry.com/compare
Easily update VMware ESXi at TinkerTry.com/easy-update-to-latest-esxi
