Episode 82 - Idaho Shout Out
Posted by Podcast Team on 26 Nov 2007 9:23 pm. Filed under Podcasts.
Your Hosts: Matt, Bill, DJ, and Mike
* Apple Store Issues
- Dell Support Rocks
- Apple Server Update
- Spaces (Not Leopard)
- Proxy ARP Follow Up
- Podcast in a Box
- 7 Zip
- Linksys vs Cisco
- Vista vs XP
Running time: 50:53
Download Here
On November 27th, 2007 at 11:08 am
As much as I love the Apple products, Apple’s current state of products and services seems to be lacking greatly. While I have heard good stories of their services, I’m starting to hear more and more horror stories like the one that Mike mentioned. Even Tee Morris (author of Podcasting for Dummies and the Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword) had a bad Apple encounter when his Mac Pro went south and he needed a replacement (they mistakenly gave him a less-powerful model than what he paid for as a replacement). This was the Mac that he purchased for podcast use.
It’s sad that Apple’s growth in market share has caused their QA to slide dramatically. I was hoping to purchase a new MacBook Pro sometime next year, but with the problems that Mike and others have mentioned I’m seriously reconsidering this purchase. Shame since I’ve been a long-time Apple fan and user (despite my “GNU” preferences
). Maybe I’ll just get myself an UbuntuDell and call it a day. 
Regarding .rar files, while you could just use WinRAR to deal with these files, as Mike mentioned you eventually have to pay for it. While that’s not a problem, the nice thing about 7-Zip is that it’s GPL-licensed so there’s no worry about your functionality being reduced or being nagged to death to pay for the full version.
On November 27th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
I’ve recently purchased a few inexpensive switches, from the now discontinued 3Com 2250 (3C16476BS) to the NetGear ProSafe GS716T and I’ll tell you, even though I’ve yet to try a Cisco, go for it.
These two switches have Web management interfaces that seem to have been written by ignorant morons; if you are using IE to manage them, you might be successful in configuring them. Any other browser just gives you trouble.
In the case of the 2250, simply pulling up the login screen with Opera will lock up the management interface; a power cycle is the only thing that will let you back in. With Firefox, I got a popup recommending that I should change my resolution to 1024×768 (from 2560×1024). If you venture into the firmware area, you are told that the Internet will be disconnected, (yes, the Internet), in fact, the first step is to shutdown all ports except the one you are connected through; a power cycle is needed if you close your browser before you cancel the process.
Despite my high-hopes, the Netgear has browser dependencies too. Without IE, after logging in you are prompted to login again. (over and over) If you are using IE and have to configure a VLAN they work to make it hard for you. First create a new VLAN and set the port untagged in it. Then you have to change the PVID from the old to new VLAN, finally you have to go back and remove the port from the old VLAN. You can’t do it in any other order; it’s about 6 screens.
If the Cisco gives you a SSH console where you can enable and conf t, go for that; I think it will do what you want it to.
On November 28th, 2007 at 10:16 am
On the switch front- take a look at HP ProCurves. I have found them competitively priced and absolutely reliable. They have a “web managed” line which is an economical alternative to fully managed machines without giving up management functions.
A very significant advantage to ProCurves is that they come with lifetime (hardware and firmware) warranties. Just think how much better life would be never having to deal with Cisco service contracts again.
On November 28th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
You might want to look into the Dell branded switches as well.
On November 28th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Here is a Microsoft article on deploying the new Vista group policies in a mixed environment. Quite a lengthy read. See link:
http://tinyurl.com/2gmayt
On November 28th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Sorry. Try this URL:
http://tinyurl.com/yr6njp
On November 30th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
FYI:
Yahoo! Teachers has gone into beta. If you want to check it out, let me know.
http://teachers.yahoo.com/
http://beta.teachers.yahoo.com/
On December 6th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
Re: Proxy Arp. You explained that your Cisco device had proxy arp enabled by default and that’s why your Mac laptop was able to get onto the Internet even though it didn’t have a default gateway.
However, that didn’t answer the original question: why did the Mac get onto the Internet, but the windows machines didn’t? Does windows ignore proxy arp?
On June 5th, 2008 at 11:48 am
My experience with less expensive 3Com switches is not so good.
VLAN were once manageable in the GUI in the 3300 (very old model), but newer ones like the 3824 or 4200 series don’t have that anymore. Even length of password is limited in the 3824 (w/o telling you when choosing a too long one) while they seem to be longer or unlimited on the 4200 series. Inconsistent and sometimes awkward to use I think.
Saw weird effects when expanding a stack of 3 switch with a fourth one (some traffic getting through, other didn’t inside the same VLAN) and when finally working on the same night one of them died.
With Cisco one can expect using IOS which IMHO should aid in consistency and can get in handy when dealing with Cisco routers.
And Cisco switches also have advantages when using them for VoIP with Cisco devices. One can put the phones on one VLAN and the attached computer on another one using just one switch port.
I don’t have enough experience to tell how many inconsistencies are left in them, but for the VoIP part I am using and liking it.
My conclusiong from this regarding switches: I’d choose a Cisco switch if that is possible with the budget.