Categories
Data Center

Bundle or no bundle data center cables

Fluke networks has fired another volley in the “zip ties vs. velcro” for cables front.  While this article does not address velcro vs Zip ties directly, it does bring up some points about using zip ties.

https://www.flukenetworks.com/blog/cabling-chronicles/beauty-isn-t-skin-deep

Categories
Cambium Wireless WISP

ePMP Beta 3.5.5-RC 8 released

ePMP Beta Release 3.5.5-RC8 is now available for the ePMP and Elevate.  The software downloaded at our Software Download Site, ePMP Beta:  https://support.cambiumnetworks.com/files/epmp/beta

New Features


Force 190 FCC region support (including DFS functionality)

Improvements


Multiple improvements to IPv6 operation with cnMaestro and DHCPv6

Fixed Defects

[Elevate] NBE-M5-16 produces errors on Ethernet interface
RX Pause counter increases on Mikrotik routers with ePMP devices connected
PMAC details not updated in cnMaestro when changing associated AP
Error Drop Packet erroneously reporting packet drops
NTP server IP assignment cannot be changed after JSON configuration file import

Categories
Wireless WISP

The addition of RF elements horns to a PTP550 link

In a previous series of articles we talked about a new Cambium 550 link and the noise challenges we had.  You can start your reading in Part one and Part two.

Due to the frequency challenges, we decided to upgrade the dishes to RF Elements Ultra Horns.

If you recall our spectrum looked like this before.

After the horns. While not a night and day difference you will notice several improvements across the band.  Less red and yellow on the scan and sharper drop-offs. We saw the most improvement in the 5160 area and the 5720 ranges.  And this is with the horns pointed right at the source of most of the 5GHZ noise.   Not much you can do if you are pointed right at the noise.

What did this mean for the link? It meant we were able to find a 200 meg increase because we were able to obtain better modulation on the link.

So while we were not able to filter out all of the noise we wanted, we were able to increase our MCS rates on a very noisy link to increase bandwidth and increase the reliability of the link.  Before the horns, the MCS rates would be in a constant state of flux dealing with noise.

Categories
Uncategorized

Some Christmas downtime reading

A geek’s Christmas downtime reading

Categories
Uncategorized

Skullerz first looks

I recently was able to get a pair of Skullerz Loki glasses from toweroneinc. You can pick up your own pair at https://toweroneinc.com/collections/clothing/products/skullerz-loki-safety-glasses-goggles

So why are these cool? First of all they are a google style. A good friend of mine Michael Pelsor figures out a few years ago if you keep your eyeballs warm in the winter your whole body thinks it’s warmer than it really is. These glasses fit around your eyes like a ski google, without the bulk.

Secondly, these glasses have a headband you can swap out the temple pieces with a stretchable headband so they stay on your head.

Categories
Uncategorized

Subscribing to this blog via e-mail

You can easily subscribe to receive notifications via e-mail by entering your e-mail address in the box at the right.

 

Categories
Uncategorized

Fear in IT

I have always been a firm believer in re-evaluating yourself on a regular basis. Take a look at yourself, your behaviors, and your quirks. By doing this, you can uncover weaknesses you. Read to work on, but also build on your strengths.

Case in point. I am in the process of rolling out wiki software for many clients. This software deployment will be a cookie cutter rollout, with customizations for each client after the initial implementation. I am behind on this for one big reason. Fear. Now, this is not Michael Meyers standing over your bed fear. It’s a fear of choosing the wrong platform. I have evaluated several wiki packages and talked to several people deploying each of them. Like most things, they have strengths and weaknesses. The fear breeds indecision. Is there something out there which I haven’t found that is better? Is there a better way or a way I haven’t thought of to accomplish what I am trying? The answer to all of these is probably yes.

How do you not fall into the trap of indecision? Couple of things you can do.

1. Before anything like this sit-down and write out the problem you are trying to solve. In my case with the wikis, I needed something to keep track of not only documentation but the odds and ends notes.

2. Write down what would help solve the issue. In my case an online repository of information.

3. Create a list of ways to solve this problem. This step may involve research. What are the software packages out there to address my issue? Are we utilizing anything today which could resolve this issue?

3. Once you have done some research formulate the must needed features in your solution.  From there prioritize them.

4. Many people start to break down during this stage.  Whether it is getting overwhelmed from the sheer amount of choices or thinking every feature is needed.  The decision process begins to grind to a halt rather quickly. How do you overcome this? First, be realistic, how many of the features do you really need to accomplish your goal? Out of the features left, what does it take to implement them? How many times have you deployed a software tool and are only utilizing a fraction of the tools available? This happens quite a bit.

5.Set a hard time to make a decision.  Tell yourself you have ten business days to research and come up with the solution.  Once you have made the decision, have a rollout plan in place.  This plan should include a timeline of start and finish.  This way you don’t start to second guess yourself and drag your feet even more.

This method is not a foolproof way, but it will get you to implement more things than you are now.

Categories
BGP Networking

BGP Monitoring RFC 7854

https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7854

   This document defines the BGP Monitoring Protocol (BMP), which can be
   used to monitor BGP sessions.  BMP is intended to provide a
   convenient interface for obtaining route views.  Prior to the
   introduction of BMP, screen scraping was the most commonly used
   approach to obtaining such views.  The design goals are to keep BMP
   simple, useful, easily implemented, and minimally service affecting.
   BMP is not suitable for use as a routing protocol.
Categories
Cambium

cnMaestro and cnPilot screenshot