Category Archives: Work

Synology DS1813+ Review

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My DS1813+ arrived yesterday via FedEx and I will soon be putting it through its paces. This article will be updated periodically. Until the next update, here are some preliminary links: DS1813+ Product Info Synology Network Attached Storage – DS1813+ Productshttp://www.synology.com/products/product.php?product_name=DS1813%2B&lang=usWith its superior performance, scalability, resilience, and comprehensive features, Synology® DS1813+ is the ideal storage solution for your growing SMB. The DS1813+ can help to simplify data… Synology DS1813+ & DS1513+ DiskStations Reviewed – Features, Performance, Conclusion – SmallNetBuilderhttp://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-reviews/32157-synology-ds1813-diskstation-reviewed?showall=&start=1DSM 4.2

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ZyXEL 35 default username and password

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The ZyXEL 35’s default LAN IP address for accessing the web based ZyWALL interface is: 192.168.1.1 and the default password is: 1234 (no username is necessary) Make sure you access it from the LAN side and not the WAN side Ethernet port 🙂 NOTE: to reset these values to default, power on the XyXEL 35 and press and hold the physical RESET button for 30 seconds. At that time you will see all four LAN ports flash ORANGE and you

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Sony RX100 Mk II extended user review

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Tested so far: NFC pairing with Google Nexus 7 FHD Wifi file transfer Wifi control To still be tested: Panorama iOS integration RAW quality Much more… General first impressions: Excellent speed and good handling. Very good image quality. Wifi features are a bit gimmicky but could be useful in certain situations. Specs from Sony: Product Specifications Recording Media Type : Memory Stick PRO Duo™/Pro-HG Duo™ media; SD, SDHC and SDXC memory card Color Space : sRGB standard (with sYCC gamut)

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Evaluating a RAM disk as a MySQL data store

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DDR3 Memory

I have a situation with a relatively small set of MySQL data (5GB) and a decently large set of available ECC DDR2 memory (32GB). Therefore, I am evaluating storing the entire MySQL data directory on a ramdisk. Along those lines, here are some initial resources: 12 RAM Disk Software Benchmarked for Fastest Read and Write Speed • Raymond.CChttp://www.raymond.cc/blog/12-ram-disk-software-benchmarked-for-fastest-read-and-write-speed/Memory or RAM is much faster speed than a traditional hard drive. If you require to run a software that is database intensive,

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Dell PowerEdge 1950 & 2950 CMOS/RAID battery

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The Dell PowerEdge 1950 3rd generation server uses a standard CR2032 battery for CMOS/BIOS purposes. If your server is showing an orange warning on the front panel about low battery, you can buy a replacement battery here for less than $5 USD: 3 Volts, 2032, 2 batteries (Lithium Button Cell) CR2032http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002DSVS8/This pair of three-volt lithium coin batteries is perfect for servers. 20mm diameter and 3.2mm height. Likewise, if the RAID controller’s battery is low you can find replacements starting at

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Dell PowerEdge 1950 III Drivers and Firmware Updates (2013)

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I recently set up two new Dell PowerEdge 1950 III servers. One for Weblogs.us (free blog hosting) and one for Branson’s Nantucket (a lakefront resort in Branson). Dell makes very nice servers but their support pages can be a bit confusing. Therefore, here are the latest updates/drivers for the PowerEdge 1950 III, as of July 2013: Latest Dell PERC 6/i Integrated Update, v.6.3.1-0003, A14http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/04/driverdetails?driverid=W83M2Fixes: 1. Fixes an issue where the Perc battery does not always charge up properly, causing Virtual Disks

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Download the latest version of ESXi for Dell

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Today I needed to download the latest Dell customized ISO of VMWare ESXi. It took me a moment to find the latest version, so here is a link to help you find it faster: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/driverdetails?driverid=RD5JN This is VMware ESXi 5.1 Update 1 and it was released on April 29th 2013. You can burn it to a CD or mount it via an IPMI/DRAC interface if you so desire. Also, you will need a USB thumbdrive to install ESXi to as you

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Determine if TRIM is supported and enabled on an SSD!

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Today I was installing a Samsung 840 Pro 512GB SSD in a new server. Everything went smoothly, but I wanted to make sure that TRIM was actually working. This turned out to be slightly trickier than one might imagine! 😉 First Samsung’s SSD Magician Tool was of no use. CrystalDiskInfo reported that my SSD supported TRIM (which I already knew) but really gave no indication that Windows 7 and the SSD were working in concert to accomplish TRIMming. Nothing really

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