2.5 Admins is a podcast featuring two sysadmins called Allan Jude and Jim Salter, and a producer/editor who can just about configure a Samba share called Joe Ressington. Every two weeks we get together, talk about recent tech news, and answer some of your admin-related questions.
2.5 Admins 177: Don’t Pay the Dane
Why the problems with open source licenses aren’t quite as easy to fix as some people think, the reasons you should never pay ransomware gangs, and running a Nagios distro on a Raspberry Pi. Plug Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes News/discussion What comes after […]
2.5 Admins 176: Sudo Cognito
What does “incognito mode” in Chrome actually mean and whether documenting browser standards in code is a good idea, the serious implications of a fun story about messing with a ChatGPT instance, and maximizing performance when using mixed disk types on ZFS mirrored vdevs. Plug Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS […]
2.5 Admins 175: Guess Who’s Listening
Twitch pulls out of Korea thanks to the opposite of Net Neutrality, it’s not clear to what extent smart devices are listening to your conversations, more on water usage in data centers, and our thoughts on mandatory access controls. Plug Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes […]
2.5 Admins 174: Guess Who’s Watching
What you need to know about the recent SSH vulnerability, yet another privacy issue with cloud-connected security cameras, why it’s difficult to get to the bottom of an obscure ZFS encryption bug, and more. Plug Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes News SSH protects the […]
2.5 Admins 173: Ghost Files
Google Drive client users lost months of files, a feature of UEFI that has left millions of computers potentially vulnerable to persistent malware, and why you probably shouldn’t buy cheap resold volume Windows licenses. Plugs Support us on patreon to get ad-free episodes that are sometimes a day or so early. News/discussion Google […]
2.5 Admins 172: HOLEy ZFS
Jim and Allan break down the details of the recent ZFS data corruption bug, and give their tips for managing a fleet of 40+ servers. Plug Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes News Two new versions of OpenZFS fix long-hidden corruption bug Free Consulting […]
2.5 Admins 171: RSA PSA
Why a small island nation’s top level domain ended up with such a terrible reputation, an ssh vulnerability that’s not as scary as it sounds, whether software can be “finished”, and using powerline or WiFi for security cameras. Plugs Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes […]
2.5 Admins 170: Uninterruptible WiFi
Why and how Allan installed a set of new Power over Ethernet wireless access points, and our hardware recommendations for a media server and NAS in one. Allan’s new WiFi setup Access points Controller Free Consulting We were asked for hardware recommendations for a media server and NAS in one. […]
2.5 Admins 169: SDCoF
A Cloudflare outage shines a light on sloppy data center practices, and why you shouldn’t run a mail server at home. Plus followup on the Android multi-user bug, package managers on Windows, and Toshiba hard drives. Plugs Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes News/discussion Cloudflare […]
2.5 Admins 168: Do The Right Thing
Okta seems to not be taking its security seriously enough, crashing iPhones is far easier than it should be, Jim’s report from the Ubuntu Summit, and what to do when you find a company’s sensitive data on the Internet. Plugs Support us on patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes […]
2.5 Admins 167: Delayed Flush
The large water consumption of AI and data centers in general, China’s big push towards IPv6, why we don’t talk about Toshiba hard drives very often, and the implications of poor Bluetooth security on an e-bike. Plugs Support us on patreon Unlocking Infrastructure Sovereignty: Harnessing the Power of Open Source Solutions for Business Flexibility […]
2.5 Admins 166: 20 Second Cheque
What Google should do to prevent malware sites in their ads, why you might want to avoid using multiple profiles on Android devices, a speculative execution vulnerability in Apple Silicon, and the pros and cons of TP-Link Omada and Ubiquity Unify. Plugs Support us on patreon News Clever malvertising attack uses Punycode to […]
2.5 Admins 165: Big AI
The nuances of copyrighting AI-generated art, getting the best speeds with Samba, and building an SSD-only NAS. News/discussion Opinion: The Copyright Office is making a mistake on AI-generated art Free Consulting We were asked about building an SSD-only NAS. Kolide Kolide ensures that if a device isn’t secure, it […]
2.5 Admins 164: Filthy Internet
Why enabling password autofill isn’t a great idea, Jim’s adventures in network repair, and setting up a home router/WiFi hotspot. Feedback Don’t use autofill on your password manager Story Time Adventures in network repair Free Consulting We were asked about hardware for a home router/Wi-Fi hotspot. HelloFresh With […]
2.5 Admins 163: Two Factors One SPOF
A network breach teaches us all a valuable lesson about threat models, Allan and Jim’s TV setups, and picking the right external storage solution. Plugs Support us on patreon News/discussion How Google Authenticator made one company’s network breach much, much worse Feedback Allan’s TV remote control Free Consulting We were asked […]