[PLUG] wifi ap group buy

[Eldo Varghese]

Hi folks
I need a couple of wifi ap units, saw that someone online was getting 
rid of a lot on servethehome [0]
Anyone want to get in on the options available?

ItemPrice(+shipping)
X440-48P $40 (+$15/ea)
WS-AP3825i (OpenWRT) $15 (+$10 flat for any number)
WS-AP3825i   $7.5 (+$10 flat for any number)
WS-AP3915i   $20 (+$10 flat for any number)

Anyone want to buy some with me (primarily to reduce per unit shipping 
cost)? I can bring it to the meeting after I receive the units.
What do yall think?

-Eldo

[0] 
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/fs-us-mn-extreme-networks-ws-ap3825i-openwrt-access-points-x440-48p-48-port-poe-switches-ws-ap3915i-wave-2-aps.44714/

Re: [PLUG] Web browser recommendations

[Eldo Varghese]

I dont think firefox is any less secure than the other big browsers. Can 
you talk more about why you recall that?
-Eldo

On 5/31/24 11:05 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 31 May 2024, Eldo Varghese wrote:
> 
>> My vote is ye olde firefox.
>> old reliable imho.
> 
> Eldo,
> 
> How secure is it? I recall that it wasn't back when I used it.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rich

Re: [PLUG] Web browser recommendations

[Eldo Varghese]

My vote is ye olde firefox.
old reliable imho.
-Eldo

On 5/31/24 7:02 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Fri, 31 May 2024, Michael Ewan wrote:
> 
>> The leading alternative is Opera, highly configurable and stable (but I
>> have not used it all day everyday for some time). I primarily use Brave
>> now.
> 
> Michael,
> 
> I used Opera a long time ago. I'll take a look at it now.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rich

Re: [PLUG] Password protected .xlsx; cannot save as .ods

[Eldo Varghese]

Hey
I had to break out the hexeditor and remove the protections, not sure if 
it worked.
Here is the ods file [0]
-Eldo
[0] https://filesupload.co/f49deea1aeea960c/WillHgAllocations.ods

On 5/4/24 10:03, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Sat, 4 May 2024, Eldo Varghese wrote:
> 
>> The only xlsx file I see on there is the 303dlist [0] which does not seem
>> to be password protected according to my LO sheets application. Anyway
>> here it is converted to ODS [1]
> 
> Eldo, Ted, etc:
> 
> My mistake. Go to this page
> <https://www.oregon.gov/deq/wq/tmdls/Pages/willhgtmdlac2018.aspx> and
> download the file: Technical Documents -> Oct. 7, 2019 DEQ allocation
> spreadsheet.
> 
> Thanks for pointing out my error,
> 
> Rich

Re: [PLUG] Password protected .xlsx; cannot save as .ods

[Eldo Varghese]

The only xlsx file I see on there is the 303dlist [0] which does not 
seem to be password protected according to my LO sheets application.
Anyway here it is converted to ODS [1]

-Eldo

[0] https://www.oregon.gov/deq/wq/Documents/wqa1820303dlistP.xlsx
[1] https://fastupload.io/5n09

On 5/4/24 09:36, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Sat, 4 May 2024, Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:
> 
>> Open it in excel and do a file save as an OpenDoc spreadsheet.  (*.ods)
> 
> Ted,
> 
> That's what I've tried to do.
> 
>> If this is a publicly accessible spreadsheet with no private data in it
>> just email me the URL and I'll send it back.
> 
> Okay.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Rich

Re: [PLUG] Linux Software for Data Center Monitoring

[Eldo Varghese]

Based on what you have mentioned in the other threads, I'd say go for 
something like Zabbix (originally suggested by MC).
This gets you:
1) monitoring with agent and snmp (along with alerting etc.)
- This gets you the power, temp and network monitoring
2) Inventory including for networks
- While Zabbix does have automated inventory, you will have to populate 
the rack charts.
3) Dashboards

I will absolutely dissuade folks from rolling your own, we've done 
something like this before just for integration into our other 
infrastructure.
-Eldo

On 3/1/24 21:36, Ben Koenig wrote:
> Hey all,
> 
> I have a somewhat strange (or maybe not so strange) question regarding 
> datacenter management at the hardware and software level. For some context: I 
> have recently found myself in charge of on-site maintenance for a datacenter 
> with 800+ servers. While the job itself is pretty simple as far as the RAID 
> arrays and general hardware configuration is concerned there has been some 
> drama regarding past technicians who weren't actually keeping track of 
> anything. So I have piles of parts that may or may not be good, servers that 
> are completely undocumented, and a grotesque mismatch of labeling schemes for 
> the various ethernet/fiber cables and server types.
> 
> Does anyone here who works with SMB scale datacenter environments have any 
> tips or industry standard strategies for wrangling this type of setup? Are 
> there any good FOSS software tools to help organize and monitor a mess like 
> this? We have a software team that keeps and eye on the applications, but 
> they do not appear to be monitoring things like power consumption, 
> temperature, or even tracking parts as they get re-used. Our server "map" is 
> literally just a Google Sheets document that was formatted to look like 
> server rows with IP addresses listed by physical location. And I'm pretty 
> sure everyone hates it. So I'm basically looking for tools to help me set up 
> the following infrastructure:
> 
> - server documentation. Type, hardware configuration, and parts compatibility
> - temp monitoring. Many of the servers are running CUDA applications on 
> Dual/Quad GPU systems. They get toasty.
> - power consumption monitoring. Our PDUs are able to report usage via a 
> network interface, but nobody ever bothered to set it up. Would be nice to 
> have a dashboard that shows when one of the servers freaks out and trips the 
> breaker.
> 
> Thoughts? Solutions? Apps? I'm just looking for ideas at the moment. 
> Everything is running (or so I'm told) but we currently have a bus number of 
> 1 which is obviously a recipe for disaster. I don't mind piecing together my 
> own set of scripts and utilities but if something already exists that does 
> the work for me, even better :)
> -Ben

Re: [PLUG] Replace ZiplyFiber VoIP router

[Eldo Varghese]

To jump in here about other services, I think a service like US MOBILE's 
home phone line [0] makes the most sense in this sort of situation. It's 
$10/month (if payed lump sump annually, $12.99/month otherwise). You do 
have to pay for their hardware though at about $90 one time fee [1]. 
IMHO having this as a redundant service (i.e not dependent on the same 
physical layer as the home internet) makes the most sense if one needs a 
phone line.
Having said this, the other possibility is to get a cell line (cheapest 
voice/text only line is ~$6/month from us mobile [2]) and put the sim in 
an old cell phone you have lying around. With this methodology there is 
a built in UPS as well, though you lose the multiple devices around the 
house feature.
-Eldo

[0] https://www.usmobile.com/home-phone
[1] https://www.usmobile.com/shop/product/home-phone-base/WHB-PCP-NE
[2] https://www.usmobile.com/get-started-bundles

On 2/29/24 15:47, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Thu, 29 Feb 2024, MC_Sequoia wrote:
> 
>> Color me confused. Firstly, you said you didn't need WiFi support and
>> secondly the TP-Link isn't a "fiber optic gateway."
> 
> That's what I learned after more research. The terminology is brand new to
> me. I found a completely different set of less expensive and more
> appropriate choices when I searched the web for 'fiber optic routers.'
> 
>> Why not just see if you can buy the Commscope Homevantage fiber gateway?
>> However, it seems to be marketed to Service Providers.
>> Maybe Zipley will sell it to you outright.
> 
> I'll ask them about selling it.
> 
> Thanks, again,
> 
> Rich

[PLUG] openwrt hardware and remote command/control on the cheap

[Eldo Varghese]

Hey yall
During the openwrt talk may folks spoke about what hardware they used 
and ofcourse Ted's great talk itself was about graphing data from the 
individual APs. I had a few thoughts about this that I want to share, if 
you will indulge me:

1) hardware: Folks mentioned only paying $15 for their AP/home routers 
and others were incredulous at this point. I wanted to show my method of 
finding such deals:
   a) First start at the table of hardware [0] to find a currently 
supported enterprise grade hardware that requires some sort of 
proprietary system for command and control, where most offices want to 
get rid of the hardware once they stop paying annual fees.
   b) Go through ebay or local craigslist/facebook 
marketplace/offerup/nextdoor etc. to find said cheap hardware
   example: Extreme Networks WS-AP3825i [1] is a great piece of hardware 
hobbled by a pos 'in the cloud' controller. If one searches through ebay 
for said hardware, it can be found for ~$20 [2]

2) Most of the openwrt AP remote control systems are bash/perl scripts 
put together by oldschool sysadmins. I highly recommend going with a 
prepackaged application. Right now the only game in town for openwrt 
remote control is OpenWisp [3]. It has very similar power features [4] 
as other proprietary controllers. Read the docs [5] for more info, or 
play around with the demo [6]. Obviously this is for remote controlling 
APs rather than standalone routers.

Let me know if yall have any questions
- Eldo

[0] https://openwrt.org/toh/start
[1] https://openwrt.org/toh/extreme_networks/ws-ap3825i
[2] https://www.ebay.com/itm/134770274307 or 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304819890679?epid=1426811999
[3] https://openwisp.org/
[4] https://openwisp.org/whatis.html
[5] https://openwisp.io/docs/index.html
[6] https://openwisp.org/demo.html