2.5 Admins

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 sy...

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 Support us on patreon   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 as...

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 Support us on patreon   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 o...

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 Support us on patreon   News After quietly switching to slower NAND in an NVMe SSD, Western Digital promises to be a bit louder next time S...

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...

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-Performa...

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 Spin...

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...

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 privil...

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 we...

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 Li...

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 We...

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 address...

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 N...

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   Fre...

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...

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...

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 L...

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...

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.       Lino...

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...

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 M...

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 fo...

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...

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 s...