Depends on the application. I run a nightly backup of a few VM’s because realistically they dont change much. I have containers on the other hand that run critical (to me) systems like my photo backup and they are backed up twice a day.

o fucking please! My Pebble Steel is really showing its age.

Used UPS’s show up from time to time. I recently found a craigslist posting with 6 all of which were in decent shape needing some cleaning, and new batteries.

Batteries are the rub since they only last about 5 years so most used ones need new batteries. Good news is its not that hard to replace them as long as you take your time and pay attention.

Ubiquity is trash with fickle support based on the whims of what sells wide adoption. TP Link IMO is a decent value for the money if you want easy “prosumer” level networking gear. I have I have 3 TP Link APs as well as a 16 port 10g core switch and its great for my needs.

Mikrotik offers more features per $$ but its not as easy to use.

Im not sure Intel has any worthwhile CPU’s unless you are getting them used.

Currently E cores are mostly trash, and not all that “efficient” and letting a P Core turbo up and get the task completed uses less overall power.

Secondly Intel is lying about its heat output, and power use. Everything from 10th gen up is a power hog if you dont limit the performance to well below “stock” settings.

https://www.techspot.com/review/2612-intel-core-i5-13500/

This is a good match up between an i5-13500 vs R5 7600, which is the most interesting IMO. The R5 7600 seems to be about $15 less expensive for just the CPU and uses 3/4ths the power which will be a greater savings over time vs Intel. The AMD Motherboards also still seem to trend a bit lower in cost than Intel.

So overall its a good question. If you can get a use 13500 or one under $150 then its probably worth it, but at retail prices the 7600 will cost less to buy, and less to own while being similar in performance.

Create 3 VM’s and pass-through disks to each VM. Boom ceph cluster on a single computer.

ZFS/BRTFS might still be better, but if you really want Ceph this should work and provide expansion and redundancy at a block device level, though you wont have any hardware redundancy regarding power/nodes.

The only real advantage of RAID1 is that in some cases you get 2x the read performance. But doing snapshots where you get backups that include changes is more powerful than RAID or a volume copy.

The version I posted is connect x3 and the b variant which is the lower power version. It is still well supported in most Linux/BSD based operating systems. The connect x2 less so, plus it’s on an older more power hungry design.

IDK about using the wireless card. I have APs so I never tried. I will say an AP will have much better coverage than any Wi-Fi card.

No that card wont work, it will cook its self in an M720q.

What you want is a https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p3814320.m570.l1313&_nkw=MCX312B-XCCT&_sacat=0 MCX312B which runs much cooler and can comfortably fit in an M720q.

the default 65w PSU is fine with an i3/i5, but you can get a larger one if you want. I can try testing idle power though I am on a 110v/60hz system so it may not be exactly the same.

I have seen line speeds at nearly full bandwidth on mine in synthetic testing.

I ended up adding a M.2 A+E 2.5gb network card in place of the wifi card which gives me 4 network interfaces. stock intel 1gb, M.2 Realtec 2.5gb, and 2x Melanox 10gb SFP’s.

Last thing, DO NOT USE RJ45 SFPs. The draw way to much power and generate lots of heat. Use direct attach cables, or fiber to connect to switches/routers.

I dont see any issues!

/me hides his 16 4tb 12g SAS drives…

The primary reason I have to fiddle with things in linux is because I want to do things that really are not possible in windows. I still have to use Windows for work because I am tied to specific software and in these cases I have no other choice.

But I find I spend equal time fixing and supporting my windows machine as I do with linux. There are lots of valid complaints about linux and I have my own, the biggest is on Manjaro which I run for my daily it frequently has expired keys and updates just stop running correctly and the error messages are just bad.

I personally hit the tipping point with windows on windows 10. Initially I loved it, and it seemed like a good upgrade from windows 7 which I had previously been using. But then Microsoft started forcing anti user features. I decided that rather than have to spend time after EVERY FORCED update hunting down the settings and registry hacks that had been changed again to what I expressly wanted.

I personally see the value of Windows, but I would just disagree with it having a better experience. The experience is equally frustrating and the biggest thing holding people back is that they are used to the frustrations and dont think of them as being as significant as they are.

for what…? Stealing your data, sending telemetry about how your kids play minecraft, serving up Ad’s in your start menu, forcing updates that reset your configured preference, overriding group policies, abusive licensing, trying to shove bing and edge down your throat?

Don’t buy garage SD cards. I have cards that have been in use for years.

Not op but I have 3 tiny PCs and I run Linux on them. But then I don’t run windows at all because it honestly sucks.

That is hard :( I did a bit of work with an 1880’s Victorian but that was in the North East US so it was plaster and horsehair but hallow walls even on the outside.

Do you want to take some pictures and I can see if there is anything I can think of? Chances are if they plastered right on top of brick/stone than pulling off the baseboard like you did and running everything behind them may be your only option for hiding cables.

I would part it out you can get a newer version for about as much as a replacement board. Plus a new one will come with ram and storage.

https://www.patreon.com/discussonline/posts

https://opencollective.com/discussonline

You could do a 1 time donation to my instances admin to help him cover hosting costs!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DIABLO-1-in-x-10-in-x-12-in-SPEEDemon-Red-Granite-Carbide-Tipped-Hammer-Drill-Bit-DMARG1210/312593049

Yep, big fucking hammer drill and drill bit. Make sure you have some solid ear protection and kick everyone out of the house while you drill.

I will always disagree with the old work brackets. They cost 3x as much and never hold as well as just drilling an new work box into a stud. just cut off the wings/nails on the new work box so it fits in the drywall hole.

O man, this is one of my jamb’s!

1. Conduit: not required, you can run through walls with cable, but!!! Any time I open up a wall for any reason I run conduit. I chose to run metal so I can run power in the future. Running “smurf tube” or PVC is perfectly ok for networking. The big advantage of conduit is that you can leave a pull string and/or fish new cables easily until its full

2. YES!

• Sharpie before all other tools ALWAYS LABEL THE CABLE BEFORE YOU PULL IT. If you dont you will be testing later on with more expensive tools to figure out which cable is which. A Sharpie is cheep.
• Side cutters/cable cutters, or utility scissors (my recommendation) these are needed to cut cables, strip off jackets, and cut kevlar/thread or plastic core. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1718739-REG/jonard_tools_es_1964_electrician_s_scissors.html
• RJ45 Crimp tool, you can do pass through ends or not thats up to you, but get good ones they are worth the investment. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1043092-REG/eclipse_tools_902_354_network_tool_bundle.html
• Drywall Saw https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-6-in-Drywall-Saw-with-Plastic-Handle-725/100647777
• Fish tape or glass rods (I prefer fish tape) 25’ or 50’ are fine for home use.https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1718757-REG/jonard_tools_fts_50_steel_fish_tape.html
• Lightweight cordless drill, I like Milwaukee but there are plenty of options https://www.homedepot.com/p/M12-FUEL-12-Volt-Lithium-Ion-Brushless-Cordless-Hammer-Drill-and-Impact-Driver-Combo-Kit-w-2-Batteries-and-Bag-2-Tool-3497-22/320268525
• Heavy duty corded drill (hammer suggested) https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-7-8-Amp-Corded-1-2-in-Variable-Speed-Reversible-Hammer-Drill-DW511/100037000
• Paddle bits, get at least one long one so you can get through wall top-plates https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-High-Speed-Wood-Spade-Bit-Set-13-Piece-48-27-1520/305537862 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bosch-Daredevil-1-in-x-16-in-Spade-Bit-DLSB1013/203274545
• I also like wood boring bits https://www.lowes.com/pd/BLACK-DECKER-Marples-14-Piece-Woodboring-Drill-Bit/1003008984
• Pull string, every time you pull a drop, pull some string so you can run more lines in the future! https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardner-Bender-1-8-in-x-6500-ft-L-210-lbs-Strength-Poly-Pull-Value-Blow-Line-in-a-Bucket-PL132B/313821648

3. Use interior walls as much as you can. Very often you can find closet walls and interior walls that have almost no electrical in them and have no insulation which makes running cable very easy. I would avoid exterior walls as drilling into the top plate near the roof line is a tight space and running fish tape with insulation is a pain in the butt.

Example of a decent interior wall that should go from basement to attic even on a multi story house.

I like to use low cost bike hooks to keep my cables off the ceiling in the attic that way im not walking all over them they are very affordable but are not great for long pulls as they drag on the cable jacket. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Vinyl-Coated-Steel-Screw-In-Bicycle-Hook-25-lbs-21407/206585761 real J Hooks that are designed for cable are $$$ https://www.homedepot.com/p/ICC-3-4-in-J-Hook-ICC-ICCMSJHK22/204517525.

I ended up installing 2x 3" PVC conduits from my basement rack through a closet wall into the attic. From there I run cable through the bike hooks until I get to the wall I need to do the drop in, and then I drill a hole in the wall top plate and drop my cables down that wall.

I always try to drop my cables along side a vertical stud so I will cut into the wall BEFORE i run cable and do so directly adjacent to the stud. I dont install the box until the cable is run, but I use the cheap new construction boxes https://www.homedepot.com/p/Carlon-1-Gang-18-cu-in-Blue-PVC-New-Work-Electrical-Switch-and-Outlet-Box-B118A/202546986 and just cut the nails off rather than use more expensive “old work” boxes https://www.homedepot.com/p/Carlon-14-cu-in-PVC-Old-Work-Electrical-Outlet-Box-1-Gang-B114RB/100404027

Some drywall screws in the side of the box going into the stud are more than enough to secure it.

When cutting the box in I find the stud (use a magnet, never trust a stud-finder) measure to the middle of any existing boxes or outlets. I then measure that hight out about about 1" from where I expect to find the stud, and I cut in the direction of the stud with my drywall saw. Once I hit the stud I pull out the saw, and I align the box center to the cut, and the edge to the vertical stud. I trace the outline of the box using a pencil and then cut along that line. If you do it this way it should end up level, the same height as other outlets/boxes, and be permanently secured so it wont fall out like some of the cheap low voltage cutin’s that cable companies LOVE.