The Comms Room

I've been to about 44 of the states and there's lovely bits in all of them, even nebraska!, but then there's shithole bits too - it's a big place don't forget

Matt Simmons

4:43 PM

haha

Bart Silverstrim

@Chopper3: like...jersey?

Matt Simmons

The nicest thing about Ohio is the lack of population density. Sure, you get great things like mass transit, but NJ hasn't appreciably upgraded its road infrastructure in 60 years

Chopper3

I LOVE NJ, still an NJD season ticket holder don't forget

Matt Simmons

Which meant that I lived 6 miles from work and got there in 45 minutes

pfo

@Chopper3 shitholes like LA :P ?

Chopper3

4:45 PM

there's some pretty parts of NJ, south particularly, that said there's still keansburg

Bart Silverstrim

This is interesting for people working in education. syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/…

SmallClanger

@Chopper3 In San Francisco, the lovely/shithole is often only a block apart, too.

Chopper3

@pfo LA itself is a toilet yes but you only have to go 30 miles or so away and you get some very nice countryside

Bart Silverstrim

@chopper3 you're a british ass who tried to get me clubbed to death in Boston.

Chopper3

@BartSilverstrim this is true

pfo

4:46 PM

@MattSimmons do still do your "small infrastructure admin" thingy?

Bart Silverstrim

Indeed. I still owe you a beer if you're ever in my neck of the woods.

pfo

@Chopper3 I don't "get" california - freak show tbh. but the nature side of things is awesome.

Chopper3

@SmallClanger I could happily live on the east coast but the real estate prices are just silly in the areas I'd want to be

pfo

like SF though

Chopper3

@pfo Heading up to nappa and just seeing fricking EAGLES everywhere just has to be seen

pfo

4:47 PM

@Chopper3 you wanna live in the hamptons, ofc it's f'ing expensive :P

Chopper3

@pfo :we'd been to martha's vineyard on holiday lots of times - that's lovely but the hamptons are silly

Dan

Whoop - 50Mb!

pfo

I'm going to spend my next holiday in tokio and other places in japan.

Chopper3

@Dan what are you going to use it to steal first? the new maccabees is good

Dan

@Chopper3 I'm hurt by that accusation. I'll be using my 50Mb to download nothing but Linux ISO's

pfo

4:50 PM

@Dan off the usenet I guess ;) ?

Dan

@pfo All hail Giganews

pfo

I ordered 100Mbps at home

gonna get it in february

can't wait

Matt Simmons

pfo: Well, just depends. But almost certainly yes? ;-)

Kyle Brandt

Going to have to report @Dan

To the usenet police

pfo

@KyleBrandt all hail SOPA?! :P

Kyle Brandt

4:54 PM

No, he forgot the number one rule of usenet

pfo

@KyleBrandt there is no usenet? ;)

Basil

So who wants to buy my vote in the moderator election?

Dan

@KyleBrandt Good point, it is falling nicely under the radar.

Mehe, just done a test download. I looked and it had stopped "Dang - it's broken already". Oh, no, it's UnRaring

Basil

Bidding starts at two cats. You'd have to watch them once or twice a year when I go on vacation.

pfo

@MattSimmons can you make use of all the publicity and your blog and that stuff? I mean in terms of jobs etc. ?

Matt Simmons

4:58 PM

To do what?

pauska

@Chopper3: I'm starting to realize why this chair is expensive.. It feels like I've been sitting in it for 20 minutes (when it's actually been 9 hours)

Matt Simmons

Oh, to /get/ a job

I'm...not really trying, honestly.

I'm just about out of my burned-out phase

but I'm not ready to jump back in just to do it yet

I applied to a job for the first time in a long, long time a few weeks ago

but mostly because the company was amazing, and I'd like the work

Basil

I applied for a lot of jobs when I was unemployed, mostly so I could feed my kids.

Matt Simmons

I understand. I'm in a very fortunate time in my life right now.

32 and no kids, we moved to Ohio and my wife makes enough that I don't need a full time job to break even.

pauska

@MattSimmons I didn't know that mate, sorry to hear. Hope you're getting better!

Matt Simmons

5:01 PM

Thanks, I am. It's been an interesting journey :)

Dan

Oh what the heck is this superhub admin page

Matt Simmons

I'm much healthier than I was working where I did

pfo

@MattSimmons did you blog too much :P ?

pauska

@Dan There is no such thing as a super hub. No matter what.

Dan

@pauska Mehe

Basil

5:02 PM

well I'm not complaining by any means. Life comes with ups and downs, and if it weren't for losing my last job, I'd have never found this one, which is probably the best one I've ever had. I honestly wake up every morning looking forward to getting into the office.

pfo

@MattSimmons I used to read your blog back then, out of curiosity. You are the only "famous" sysadmin on the planet. Maybe Limoncelli is the other one.

Matt Simmons

pfo: Nope. Was on call for 6 years.

pfo: Thanks. I really just blog for all of the women, cars, and money ;-)

Dan

Oh phew, there's an advanced settings page. Time to tweak

pauska

@pfo Scott Lowe is also pretty known, if you're into vmware stuffz

pfo

@MattSimmons Yeah - feel you, it's the reason why I'm in IT ;)

Matt Simmons

5:03 PM

hahaha

pfo

@pauska but he is not "sysadmin" guy.

pauska

@pfo thats true

Matt Simmons

Scott is a great guy, though :)

pfo

i imagine

Matt Simmons

Somewhere, there's a great picture of Scott D. Lowe signing Scott Lowe's book at VMware's Boston HQ

pauska

5:04 PM

I tried blogging once, but there is just too much "YOU NEED TO FIX TIS NAOW!!!" landing on my desk every day

I can't remember what I did the previous day etc

Matt Simmons

pauska: Yeah, that's the hardest thing to do.

pfo

What i really miss in the blogosphere is good honest product evaluations of enterprise gear

pauska

Would be easier if I could blog at some kind of sysadmin site where others contribute

Matt Simmons

pfo: SO MANY of the great bloggers went to work for the vendors

pauska

(that someone actually reads)

pfo

5:05 PM

@MattSimmons yeah

pauska

@pfo scott lowe's site was like that, then he got eaten by EMC

now it's just vxlan this vxlan that

pfo

@pauska I remember well

pauska

EMC/cisco/vmware to be accurate

Matt Simmons

It sucks, because we need those subject matter experts more now than ever

Do you guys follow the Tech Field Day stuff?

pfo

yep

pauska

5:06 PM

@MattSimmons yeah, but who is going to pay the bill? sysadmins doesn't click on ads

pfo

@MattSimmons but most of the time i let my clients buy shiney new gear to play with :P

Matt Simmons

pauska: Which bill is that?

pauska

@MattSimmons the roof above you, the bread at the kitchen etc

Chopper3

@pauska Oh so they actually loaned you one?

pauska

@Chopper3 ye

Chopper3

5:07 PM

ah cool, how much was the Mirra?

Matt Simmons

Well, yeah. You need to have money to do that first. Everything in its order of importance, right?

Maslow's Hierarchy and all

pfo

@Chopper3 the chair?

Basil

@MattSimmons If I ever stop writing for AOL, I'll start blogging about storage again

Matt Simmons

Where do you write now?

Chopper3

yeah - they should be way cheaper than an embody but honestly they're just as good

Basil

5:08 PM

joystiq

pauska

@Chopper3 about 20% cheaper with the same ergo options

pfo

@Chopper3 I'm a big fan of the classic Aeron

Matt Simmons

cool! Link?

Basil

wow.joystiq.com/bloggers/basil-berntsen

Chopper3

@pauska in the uk they're about 40% cheaper than the embody - one reason I went for it

Matt Simmons

5:09 PM

Awesome, thanks!

pauska

@pfo we considered the aeron aswell, but they dropped the price on the embody so that aeron actually gets more expensive if you add all the ergonomic options

Basil

:)

pfo

@Chopper3 nothing screams "IT" more than an Aeron :P

pauska

@Chopper3 40%!.. hrm

Basil

It's a labor of love. Also, wow players click on ads, so I get a small free-lancing income

pfo

5:10 PM

@pauska did you check with steelcase?

SmallClanger

@pauska @Chopper3 Show me the chair...

pauska

@pfo I'm in Norway

Aaron

man, what did I miss over the weekend

any more open revolts?

pauska

@SmallClanger hermanmiller.com/Products/Seating

Chopper3

@SmallClanger not at home right now soz, sat in clien't shitty chair

Basil

5:11 PM

@pauska My grandparents were Norwegian...

pfo

@pauska so you don't have any office furniture outlet for steelcase in oslo?

SmallClanger

Vaguely looking for something to spend my bonus on. and unless I can find someone to reupholster my knackered but loved Kab driver's chair, then I might have to stump for a new one.

pauska

@pfo "Not found (error to origin)" when I try to select norway at their site

@pfo: nm, it popped up now.. sweden is closest

SmallClanger

Ooh, that embody chair looks lovely. Bit too spendy for me though.

pfo

I'm in Austria and why we do have official steel case here there are a lot of office furniture shops that also seel steel case and other brands

Chopper3

5:13 PM

@pauska £575 each in the UK for a black one, that's about 5,300NOK - wellworking.co.uk/store/fastaeron/…

pauska

@Chopper3 + norwegian customs/VAT which is 25%

Chopper3

@SmallClanger take a look at that link

pauska

+ shipping

Dan

A gay friend of mine has just posted a picture of him in a bath with 3 girls

pfo

the advantage of the Aeron is that you can still get a shitload of Aerons from bankrupt US IT companies on ebay :P

Dan

5:14 PM

I appear to be living the wrong life

Chopper3

@pauska Can't you just carve something out of a tree or whalebone, that's what you guys do? :)

pfo

@Chopper3 heh

pauska

@Dan I have a friend (who's straight) who always hangs out at gay bars and picks up the women there.. works every time

pfo

@pauska i call that an urban legend! :P

Dan

@pauska Wish I'd have thought of that when I was single

pauska

5:15 PM

@Chopper3 oh aren't we funny today. Wearing funny pants by any chance?

@pfo It's true! And I won't explain why I know it! :P

Chopper3

just the usual leather ones :)

SmallClanger

@Chopper3 That's more like it. You've sat on one and can recommend?

pauska

@Chopper3 ...................

Chopper3

@SmallClanger I have one, a coloured one but it's the same chair - simply one of the best things I've ever bought

pfo

@Chopper3 what's the real difference between the Aeron and the Mirra - is the Mirra just a cheaper Aeron without all the options?

voretaq7

5:17 PM

pauska

@pfo no, the mirra doesnt have fabrics in the back

Chopper3

@pfo not really, more about function than form - the aeron's a classic, the mirra is cheaper but it's very strong, they warrant it for 12 years of 24hr/day use in fact

pfo

@pauska I really do like the fabric during summer

wow you can get a coat hanger for the aeron

need that now!

voretaq7

5:33 PM

@pfo Not best quote starred out of context, but amusing.

ewwhite

Looking for @chopper3

Chopper3

hiya

@pfo and for the mirra

ewwhite

I'm being quizzed on my blade proposal.

Chopper3

go on then

84104

@ewwhite You have a vampire problem?

ewwhite

5:37 PM

they're asking to skip the 455883-B21 SFP+ from the blade to the 4900M

and wondering if they can use twinax SFP+

Chopper3

Twinax??? do they mean copper 10GbE?

if so then yes, you can do that

pfo

why would anyone not want to use 10GE SR?

@ewwhite you want to use CX4 instead?

voretaq7

@ewwhite ... they make AS/400 blades now? :)

ewwhite

no.. they're talkking about SFP+ cables

pfo

there is no such thing

pauska

5:39 PM

I don't think SFP+ is normal on the 4900M for host connectivity

pfo

CX4 cables are much more expensive

pauska

Isnt that switch oriented at 10GBASE-T?

pfo

think 200+ dollars for 5m

ewwhite

@chopper3 - You mentioned that 455883-B21 is needed for the 10GbE virtual connect.

Chopper3

@ewwhite it's the same thing really, AP784A is the 3m one

@ewwhite that's for SR fibre 10GbE, you can do it over very short lengths of copper but I'm no fan

pfo

5:40 PM

@Chopper3 the CX4 copper cables suck

ewwhite

so I can get by without optics... I've had issues with using SFP cables in some deployments. compatibility and such

Chopper3

@voretaq7 I thought that too

pfo

especially if you need to wire a full 42U rack each with 2 ports and want to go to the adjacent ToR switch.

ewwhite

@chopper3 so I'd like to just do fiber... but I need an official word on this

pfo

@ewwhite what is a SFP cable?

Chopper3

5:41 PM

@ewwhite if you're happy then go ahead, I get the luxury of fibre so I use it but by all means use copper

pauska

CX4 is probably a bitch in a high density rack, but not when you're using blade interconnects IMHO

pfo

@ewwhite 10GE SR is the way to go

pauska

@pfo thats not true, stop preaching nonsense :P

Chopper3

@ewwhite official word is you can go fibre or copper just fine

pauska

yes, if you're doing OLTP for a stock exchange

but not everyone needs the fastest car on the planet

Chopper3

5:42 PM

@pauska this isn't CX4

pauska

@Chopper3 I know, I was replying to pfo

Chopper3

ah soz

pauska

but again - isn't the 4900M targeted at 10GBASE-T?

pfo

@pauska nope

it's a "modular" switch

ewwhite

@chopper3 is there anything specific about this cable, or is it generic? (same question for the SFP optics)

@chopper3 confused only because this is virtual connect

pauska

5:43 PM

oh.

Chopper3

they're HP specific, you'd need to use them as they do have inline SFP electronics in them

pauska

guys, stop..

SFP is the form factor

Chopper3

@pauska generally they use X2's so you can use any SFP/SFP+ interface

pauska

cables != SFP

ewwhite

@chopper3 so if I had an arista cable, no good?

pauska

5:44 PM

@Chopper3 yar

pfo

the cable is called either OM2/OM3/OM4

Chopper3

@ewwhite it'd moan from the HP side sorry

@pfo for fibre yes

pauska

I don't think the vendor of the fibre cable is going to matter..

ewwhite

I just need to know. I'm new at this firm, and they are not used to HP or any brand name hardware

pfo

@pauska may not be true for DAC cables

pauska

5:45 PM

but I'd do like chopper says and make sure you use the correct SFP's in each end (hp in the interconnect, cisco at the switch)

pfo

HP NICs reject non HP DAC sometimes

Chopper3

@ewwhite you need to use the HP part sorry

pauska

@pfo I'm talking about the fiber cable, not copper/fibre cables with SFP's molded on :P

ewwhite

I'm trying to explain to them.

Chopper3

understand

ewwhite

5:47 PM

They don't believe me.

pauska

I dont get it, what kind of cable are we talking about here? The page you linked to earlier is just a SFP module

Chopper3

@ewwhite ok, well let them try

pfo

laterz

ewwhite

Yeah, frustrating.. all of this equipment, and the deal breaks down on THIS?

Chopper3

@pauska it's this link; h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13127_div/… Options

Aaron

5:50 PM

single mode fiber for life

pauska

What's the problem? They want to use non-HP SFP+ modules?

ewwhite

Yes :(

pauska

at the switch or the VC?

ewwhite

at the VC

pauska

uhm

do they give you any reason why?

ewwhite

5:53 PM

ignorance.

Chopper3

read them the blue 'note' bit from the bottom of that link I just posted

pauska

NOTE: In addition to the supported HP and non-HP Copper Twinax and Active Copper SFP+ cables above, Virtual Connect provides "allowed" connections using third party cables that meet the following criteria: connector=copper pigtail; transceiver code=active cable or passive cable; speed equal or less than 10Gb; length between 1m and 7m, inclusive.

All "allowed" DACs are connected and logged. Prior to requesting support from HP, a DAC from the supported list above must be used to verify a cable issue is not involved.

Chopper3

ah!

pauska

so there you go.. encounter any problems, and you'll have to re-patch to HP cables before getting support

emphasis on allowed versus supported

I'd not take that chance..

@Chopper3: One thing that you might teach me here, what is the X2 interface? SFP, SFP+ and..?

ewwhite

thank you, guys

Aaron

5:56 PM

what is the X2 interface?

it's a module that goes into the card that has the actual optics on it

Xenpak, X2, XFP are all 10GE interface optics of differing actual sizes/plugs/etc

Xenpak was the first pluggable one, then they made X2 which are smaller, then XFP which are smallest

AdrianK

Perhaps y'all can riddle me this one. Is it not a fairly safe assumption when someone refers to "surfing" the "internet", they're referring to web browsing?

Aaron

Compare with GBIC and SFP for gig-e rates

@AdrianK, that's what I would think

pauska

@AdrianK indeed

Chopper3

@pauska what aeron said, it's a mostly-cisco-specific physical format that can either be a transceiver or act as a holder for other transceivers

Aaron

Small form-factor pluggable transceiver

The small form-factor pluggable (SFP) or Mini-GBIC is a compact, hot-pluggable transceiver used for both telecommunication and data communications applications. It interfaces a network device mother board (for a switch, router, media converter or similar device) to a fiber optic or copper networking cable. It is a popular industry format jointly developed and supported by many network component vendors. SFP transceivers are designed to support SONET, Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and other communications standards. Types SFP transceivers are available with a variety of transmitter an...

AdrianK

5:59 PM

@Aaron Me too. Some twit on SU is grousing that I didn't read the post well enough. Doesn't help matters that the OP happens to mis-use the colloquialism the same way the twit did.

Chopper3

@AdrianK yes, and they should eb shot for using mid-90's terminology that was only created to show who the idiots in the room were

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