Leap Second Adjustment on June 30th @ 23:59:60 UTC

June 10, 2015
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General
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This is an FYI. There has been some internet/email noise going around regarding the next leap second adjustment which is scheduled for June 30^th, 2015 at 23:59:60 UTC. It may cause issues on NTP synchronized devices and operating systems. Several vendors have released KB articles regarding leap second impact on their software.

A leap second is a one-second adjustment that is occasionally applied to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in order to keep its time of day close to the mean solar time, or UT1. Without such a correction, time reckoned by Earth’s rotation drifts away from atomic time because of irregularities in the Earth’s rate of rotation. The last leap second happened on June 30, 2012. A number of organizations reported problems caused by flawed software following the June 30, 2012, leap second.

More information about Leap Second: http://www.cisco.com/web/about/doing_business/leap-second.html

VMware

Certain versions of VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.0 and 5.1 are wknon to be impacted by leap second.
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2115818

Cisco Nexus 1000v

VSM module of Cisco Nexus 1000v is known to be impacted by leap second.
https://tools.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCus80369

Cisco Nexus 5000/5500

Cisco Nexus 5010, 5020 and 5500 switches running NX-OS 5.0, 5.1 or 5.2 are known to be impacted by leap second. Nexus 5010 and 5020 switches are commonly used as NetApp cluster interconnect switches and these devices are most likely to be running affected NX-OS version!
https://tools.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCub38654

EMC Avamar

Gen4 and Gen4S models of EMC Avamar are impacted by leap second. EMC has not released publicly available bulleting on the issue but fix will be provided to Avamar customers by EMC support by 30th of June.
Fix is described in Novell KB https://www.novell.com/support/kb/doc.php?id=7016150

EMC VPLEX

EMC VPLEX is impacted by leap second, fix is available and will be implemented by EMC support prior 30th of June.
https://community.emc.com/message/887102

NetApp DataONTAP

NetApp DataONTAP is not impacted by leap second.
https://kb.netapp.com/support/index?page=content&id=3011978&locale=en_US

Tintri VMstore

Tintri VMstore storage appliances are not impacted by leap second. There is no public bulletin regarding this issue but this has been confirmed with Tintri Support.

This is only a partial list. Please check with vendors to confirm if your system is affected.

If your system(s) could be affected by this it’s time to start planning ahead for June 30^th.

Home Lab Upgrades, Network Standardization

May 2, 2015
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Home Lab
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A quick update here for May 2015:

Yesterday I upgraded from a 24 Port NetGear GS724Tv3 Switch to a 48 Port Netgear GS748Tv3 switch. Along with the switch upgrade I completely re-cabled everything with new CAT6 cables. They are now color coded based on function for my new network design. I really like the idea of knowing what might be plugged into the other end just based on visual inspection, despite having all cables labeled at each end.

I’ve added a new LED lighting system to the rack. I normally use one fixed color at a time but for the video I had it cycling through for demonstration, otherwise it’s a bit too much like having a night club in the house. Replaced many power cables with shorter length cables 1ft / 3ft to reduce excess cable mess. Not everything needs to have a 6ft power cable!

Took me about 3 hours all said and done. My home lab needed a good cleaning anyway so it was a good opportunity to fix some things. The recent addition of NAS3 left me in a scramble for ports. Previously I had it temporarily running on a single link, yet it was my main VM storage. It is now setup properly in a LACP port channel.

Video above shows a quick tour of the changes.

Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC!

April 14, 2015
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Gaming
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The much awaited and many delayed release of Grand Theft Auto on PC is FINALLY here! I must emphasize the frustration in the delays by Rockstar, but with that said they it appears they have had an extremely successful launch on the PC platform. It was well worth the wait.

Playing GTA5 at 60 fps is really the way it was meant to be played. I have played GTA5 on PS3 and can honestly say it is terrible in comparison. The game play experience on PS3 is sluggish in performance, even laggy at times, and locked at 30 fps @ 720p. If you can even sustain 30 fps that is.

The visual quality of the game at 60fps @ 1080p (an supports 4K) on PC is a miles ahead even on the new-gen consoles. You no longer need to cut back on the graphic quality settings of the game because of console hardware limitations and restrictions. You are free to enjoy all the game has to offer only limited on the hardware of your PC.

GTA5 for PC also supports custom music. Simply add music you want to hear in the game to your “%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA V\User Music\” folder. You could use a Windows shortcut it you prefer and it supports WAV, MP3, WMA, M4A formats.

WHSuite – Alpha/Beta Group

June 5, 2014
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Software Web Hosting
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Today the WHSuite development team announced that the Alpha/Beta groups is now in full swing. They are releasing Alpha v1 to all testers next week and the focus for the first Alpha build will be bug fixes and stability. The testing will go out to a select few for “alpha” phase testing. I have been accepted into the official tester team for WHSuite and will provide more details and reviews as things progress.

Approximately 25 people have been selected for the Alpha testing, and as they move to beta releases they anticipate they will accept at least another 50 more testers. The people who actively contribute will also receive an owned license with 12 months of support. Woot!

I personally have used WHMCS and ClientExec extensively, including beta testing for both products. All platforms have their strengths and weaknesses, but having WHSuite join the market is good news. When it comes to web hosting billing platforms there are only a handful of worthy names; WHMCS, ClientExec, Blesta, and HostBill. I am excited to see what this team is able to come up with. If they play their cards right I can see many web hosts choosing to make the switch – if the circumstances are right for their business requirements.

For those interested in being part of the alpha/beta test, you can register your interest via this form.

Are you a web host? What billing platform do you use and why? Let me know in the comments section below!

Star Citizen – Arena Commander Alpha!

June 5, 2014
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Gaming
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As you may have guessed I am a bit of a gamer in my spare time too. I’ve been a veteran backer of the upcoming space sim Star Citizen for quite some time now and very anxiously awaiting the release. Recently however we got our first taste of the game through the Arena Commander module.

This basically a very pre-alpha version of the game and it is clear that it is still very buggy – but that’s kind of to be expected. I set my standards low but for a pre-alpha release I think the team at Cloud Imperion games is doing an amazing job so far and they have my mouth watering for more playable content. I played this non-stop for a couple of hours trying to master my flying and dog fighting skills. I certainly found it easier using a 360 controller connected to my PC vs using the keyboard but that’s really up to you.

If you want to checkout the gameplay I would recommend taking a peek at some of the streams on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/Star%20Citizen

Are you a gamer? Let me know what you like to play in the comments below!

VMUG “Green Out” T-Shirt Design Contest

June 5, 2014
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VMware
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Today VMUG has announced a new contest to design the new look of the VMUG T-Shirt. If you are the artistic type I would suggest that you give this a go. I am excited to see what people can come up with. They are asking for VMUG members to submit a design or phrase that demonstrates the value of VMUG to you as a member and a VMware customer. Not many other details were provided.

Eligibility: Must be a VMUG member

Deadline: Must submit your entry to [email protected] by 5:00 pm Thursday, June 19th CST
Note: The shirt will include a front graphic only and will be printed in one color. You can download the VMUG logo here.

Copy of the email:
(Click to Enlarge)