#Network Patch Panel

[daily-public-domain]

Day 144: Feeling Wired

link

–This image is part of the public domain, meaning you can do anything you want with it ! (you could even sell it as a shirt, poster or whatever)–

[streetlizard]

i should really go to bed it's already 1am and i have work tomorrow

[unisol-communications123]

12 Port Rack Mount Patch Panel

SPECIFICATIONS:

Material : CRCA Mild Steel/Aluminum

Dimensions : 44*430*320 mm (H*W*D)

Process : Seven tank process/Zinc flake coating

Color : RAL 7035/Black

Spool : FR Grade PVC

Cable grommet : FR Grade Nylon

Splice Holder : FR Grade ABC

Splice Holder Dimension : 220*110*10 mm (L*W*D)

Cable Glands : Nylon with nitrile butadiene rubber, max cable diameter of 5mm to 14mm.

Fiber components standard : Telecordia GR 326

Insertion Loss : less <.3dB (Multimode), < .2dB (Singlemode)

Plug/Unplug durability : 1000 times

[shiftertech]

Predatory - Part 1

Linking

The cramped training room you find yourself crawling around in is filled with hot and heavy air. You sniffle at its mildly murky stench and plug in another cable into a power socket in the floor.

Two bulky chairs—of the eight in the room, outfitted with restraining straps and bolted to the ground—are sprouting cables behind and around their metal frames. Secured above each is a dome of a helmet covered in caution stickers and scuffs on their plastic shell.

You peek around from behind the chair you’re currently patching numerous interface cables into, and see a lithe arm draped over the side of it, fingers tapping rhythmically against worn, discolored pleather. Kira is bored out of her mind, but you know she could care less about getting down on her knees with you to help out. She can wait.

Two more cables slot into the chair, a control interface and a link cable to hook up to the room’s net. It’s isolated from the rest of the base network given its abandoned state, which is good. Best not to make it obvious to the night officers that you both are violating curfew on top of trespassing in a shuttered simulation room.

You’re trying to get a good glimpse at the labels on the patch panel to decide where to slot the biometrics monitor, but find yourself jolted out of focus by an incessant tapping above your shoulder blade. When you turn, you see Kira draped over the arm rest sideways with her head tilted to the floor. Her tight brown curls sag towards the dusty tile, framing her pouty face cutely.

“How much longer,” she whines petulantly. “Any longer and we’re not even going to be breaking curfew!”

An eye roll is all you can spare her while you jab metal into the right port. Lights flicker green across your diagnostic panel and you know it’s ready to go. With a tap, you’re taken to the range setup panel and begin selecting options, not bothering to look up as you respond, “Could have been up and running fifteen minutes ago if you helped me fetch all the gear for these rigs.”

She rolls in place on the arm rest, now propped up by her elbows. “Yeah, but I don’t remember shit about what you need to get these relics hooked up.” her eyes screw shut, likely imagining herself digging through the store room. “I’d probably hand you all the wrong stuff and get both our brains fried!”

You don’t bother trying to debunk her with a diatribe on the safety mechanisms of all modern linking devices. Instead you finally look up at her, your own eyes meeting her striking amber. Wasting no time, you get in close to her, placing a firm hand on her shoulder. She lets out a surprised squeak as you push her off the arm rest, falling into the sparsely cushioned link chair with a clumsy thump.

“What’re you-”

You don’t give her the chance to speak up, climbing on top of her lap in the chair, and tilting the tablet in your other hand to face her. Her breath stills against your face and her eyes dart back and forth between the tablet and you.

“I’m being nice enough to give you options,” you state slowly, voice taking on a much more serious cadence.

Before her eyes are three boxes to select from, each containing a wire-frame image of a frame overlaid with its specifications; two walkers and a quadruped. None of them taller than six meters and all with a light weapons compliment.

Her eyes catch on something and she stutters out, “These loadouts… they'll barely dent anything with heavy armor. You’d have to get a lucky shot on vital points…”

You lean in closer, breath tickling her neck, and whisper, “That’s the point. You’d be not much more than a fast-footed pest to squash.”

That drags a visceral shiver out of her. You can feel her breath hasten, warming you through your clothes, the realization hitting her as to just what kind of game you intended to play.

Your voice is rough when you impatiently say, “Choose, or I’ll choose for you.”

After a moments hesitation, she snatches the tablet from your hands and tilts the screen out of your vision. “You don’t get to know,” she pauses, mulling over her options before clarifying, “What I pick. You need to find me if you want to know.”

And now she’s smirking at you, a mischief in her eyes as she selects a frame outside your vision. You find yourself grinning right back.

You of course have all the more reason to smile as you forcefully shove her back into the chair and hold her there. The spinal interface column immediately humming to life as it calibrates with Kira. Her muscles twitch against your hands as the rig probes her neural responses. She squeezes her eyes shut. The older rigs are well known to not be so gentle with this process.

“Doing okay?” Your question lingers in the air for a few seconds before you get a curt nod.

“Oh, this is nothing, babe,” she seethes through her teeth, trying and failing to convincingly grin.

The tablet wedged in the corner where she dropped it lights up with status indications, showing a good calibration. You brush the simulation’s start button with your knuckle and turn your attention back to her.

It’s an overwhelming bout of fondness that compels you to lean forward and press your lips to her forehead. Her dark skin leaves a lingering salty taste upon your lips from the sweat coating it. You reach for the link helmet above her and pull it down, but before it can settle into place and initiate a complete link, you say one last thing.

“You have one minute. Run.”

A sharp beep emanates from behind the rig and her body goes limp in the chair, link having fully established. You make quick work to loop its straps over her arms and legs, making sure she doesn’t worm her way out of the chair while connected into it. To say it isn’t a fun shock for the brain to be pulled out improperly is an understatement.

You give an extra tug on the straps just to be sure, you know she tends to squirm a lot while in the sim.

Your chair, to the right of hers, patiently awaits an operator. You’ve already bothered configuring it and selecting the exact type of frame you wanted to pilot. It’s ready to go, so you strap yourself in and then lean back into the interface column to begin calibration.

Interlocks hook onto hard-points embedded alongside your spine and pull you firmly into the rig. Probing metal comes into contact with receiving metal and it doesn’t miss a beat once it catches a stable signal.

You spasm in the restraints, a sharp probing sensation running up and down your spine creating plenty reason to flinch and jerk around. It maps you, through your nerves, understanding just what signals make you tick. You can tell when it finds the grouping of signals that command your hand, an involuntary straining of the muscles visible through your skin, and followed by a rapid twitching of each of the fingers.

It takes twenty seconds for it to cycle through its calibration and let the thousands of pin-prick electric shocks subside. With a weighty exhale, you flex your aching body out and press a button on the side of the hand rest. The helmet pivots downwards and over top your head, obscuring half your vision into darkness.

A whirring noise surrounds you as various components spin up to speed and engage. With every peaking of its high pitched whine, your vision loses focus more and more. A pressure builds within your skull until you finally drop out of full consciousness.

Your body goes limp in the rig.

Lines of text dance across your not-so-conscious vision.

You find them amusing to observe, meaningless words flowing down from top to bottom, looping back to the top once again to continue catching your attention.

You’re loopy, softly floating in this otherwise dark space, with no sensation other then the notion of vision. Your brain tries to latch on to concepts of bodily physicality but keeps missing; limbs, torso, and head not found. Perhaps you’re just a set of eyes, only there to look, but you find yourself not even able to blink and shut out the glowing font. There is no feedback from anything except for what you observe.

In the background of your mind, something clicks. Something trained deep into your psyche, designed to recognize this altered state. Your mind lazily rolls out of its careless, clueless posture into a more familiar kind of partial consciousness.

You just linked. You’re in the process of acclimation. There is such thing as a you to explicitly comprehend.

Sensation still evades you, but you understand why now. The text sitting idly in the dead center of your vision confirms it.

Link Established.

Acknowledge acclimation?

You do.

Your world expands in an instant.

The sharp tug of batteries being bridged to your main and auxiliary power buses pulls you into full awareness. Vague notions of systems mapping themselves all across your senses, reporting back statuses.

The green lights flickering across your vision aren’t even necessary, you would know if there was a fault. You would feel it like a sickness within you. And right now? You feel very healthy.

You can feel the healthy thrum of a reactor in its startup process. You can feel its warmth via a plethora of temperature probes. You can feel the pressure increase throughout your coolant plumbing, entering your core cold and returning hot. You can feel the way it begins feeding into your batteries and providing a constant source across your circuits. Circuits which cross your frame.

Your distinctly metal, inhuman frame.

Ah, sweet sensation. There it is.

With a rush of sensor data flooding through your systems in real-time, you begin to understand what you are. The first word that comes to mind is big. You intimately understand what the pull of gravity feels like upon fleshy limbs, what resistances to expect. Your finely tuned actuators and hydraulics tell you just how different of a class this body is.

You inhabit the chassis of a “Rex” frame. A concept design which was never actually produced, but still had been accurately modeled for sim training. It was inspired by a variety of prehistoric predator animals from Earth, providing a robust and heavy base to weaponize prolifically, as well as host an incredibly powerful sensor suite necessary for battlefield command and control functions.

Five massive limbs are within your control, attached robustly to an even larger frame. You feel how two of them, the rear pair, are planted firmly into the ground, while another pair hang with deadly potential, held close to your mechanical underside. Behind you sways a heavy tail that balances the entire frame. You’re effortlessly commanding its actuation as if it you'd always had one. The not-so-small twitch which rides down it to the tip echoes your satisfaction.

You’ve had enough of just feeling though. You need to know yourself completely, so you open your external sensor suite as if opening unadjusted eyes to a bright sunrise. Overwhelming light pours in across a wide spectrum, the visible merely just a fraction of it.

Radar returns overlaid atop vibrant infrared, with highlights of a sonic picture seen in wispy bursts flaring in time with the echoes of a distant siren flooding a scattered city street. A bird chirps as it flies, and streaks a trail of sound across your sensor picture.

It’s overwhelming in a most familiar and brilliant way. An unaccustomed operator would find themselves staggering back from the sensitivity of it all, a collapsing heap of metal. You simply dial in the filters, thresholds and sensitivities, letting your dozens of eyes calibrate to the world, your senses optimizing to find one thing: Kira.

She wont make it easy, you know. She’s devilishly good at this game of hide and seek. She wouldn’t be on your team if she wasn’t.

You’ve definitely given her slightly more than a minute to get her bearings. If she hasn’t already used that to her advantage, you’d be surprised. You need to get moving.

The whole of your frame shudders as you command the hydraulic muscles of your right leg into action. Your several thousand pound leg, resting upon splayed metal talons, rises off the ground with the lovely creaks and hisses following a cold start. Gashes in crumbling asphalt form at the tips of your bladed talons, where they drag limply from their actuators. Your tail compensates with a fluid flick to the left as the whole weight of your body shifts onto just one leg.

You float it forward by a few meters, joints hanging in anticipation of a crash, and for the briefest of moments you feel almost graceful, the military-grade promise of violence that you are.

You step down upon the husk of a vehicle, and the pavement, and anything else that happened to be in the way, and your talons splay out atop the rubble they produced. The rush of power which comes with feeling the shaking ground where you stand from just one meager step of your body... it’s exhilarating.

Your vents actuate open to purge some heat with a huff, sighing with satisfaction through the medium of steam curling around your thick plating. If it were possible with your hydraulically actuated jaws, perhaps you’d be grinning. You fucking love this.

Your analogous eyes and ears and nerves are open wide in blooming perception.

Somewhere out there is a girl.

A girl, taking the form of a several ton machine created for violence, prowling and evading you in this dense urban jungle.

You can only imagine just how fantastic the feeling will be of her trapped within your clamped maw, her struggle fading into weak resignation as you joyfully kill her.

You waste no more time reveling. Safeties are released. Ammunition is chambered, linked, calibrated and armed. Four automated drones percussively launch from bays on the back of your neck, ascending to altitude and sending surveillance feeds as they go on their way. A dozen other mechanisms click into place in rapid succession.

You raise your thickly plated head and a motor buried within spins up to speed sounding a deep, resonating horn. The imposing noise travels for many miles. You let your mechanical roar fade after you’re sure she’s heard it.

Her time’s up.

[yesterdays-xkcd]

We need a special holiday to honor the countless kind souls with unsecured networks named 'linksys'.

Moving [Explained]

Transcript

[Caption above the panel:] There are few forces more powerful than geeks desperately trying to get internet in a new apartment.

[Cueball is pointing an empty can out the open window. It is placed on a moving box, and lots of small parts are lying on the floor in the otherwise empty room. Megan stands behind him with a laptop in one hand.] Cueball: Okay, the pringles cantenna has let us patch into the WiFi network across the road. Megan: And they have internet? Cueball: No, but I think the cable van will hook up their house first.

[canonicallysoulmates]

J2 Main Panel DC Con 2023

We're gonna jump right into questions:

How long have they been friends?

Jared answers that we all have our beliefs on why we're here, and what here is- this isn't the first lifetime they've been friends. That's so lovely 🥹🥰

He says technically, objectively this time around it was January-February 2005. Jensen says that's when they first met, and that when they met there was certainly a pretty fast connection between them- Jared interrupts to say he was pretty and Jensen was fast...then Jensen says he's gotten faster with age. I'm not gonna make a comment.

Jensen continues by saying that the day they met was the day they were auditioning for the roles in front of the studio and the network, and usually, there are a few different actors for the same role but when he walked into the building it was just Jared in there, and when they were called in they were called in together so they only read with each other and they were doing the scene where Dean tries to convince Sam to go on the road with him, and Jensen says immediately he was like 'oh this guy knows how to play, I can play ball with this guy' that there was a sensibility Jared had with his delivery and he was reacting to everything he was saying and it felt really natural.

They're asked to walk out and give everyone in the room a few minutes to talk it over, so they waited until they were told to go back in that they were going to be given some notes, when they walked back in the room everyone stood up and clapped and told them congratulations. So they left knowing they were about to work together and exchanged phone numbers. A day or two later Jared was inviting Jensen over to his place to play ping pong, it was then and there their friendship was born.

Jared tells two more stories. He lived in the LA Valley area and there are a lot of adult videos filmed in the area, and he lived next to an ex-porn actor and so Jensen came over, and they're two 20yr old guys, they're both in relationships but during the night they're playing ping pong and they have a keg, and all these actresses are coming in and out and Jensen was like 'where do you live dude?'.

Then, he's never told this story publically and he wonders if Jensen remembers it, but one of his makeup artists on Gilmore Girls had been talking about eye patches because he gets a little squinty if he doesn't sleep or has allergies- his eyes are really reactive. So, when he and Jensen met for the first time during the auditions, he thinks it was after the 1st or 2nd read, he asked him how he got his eyes so big because he thought Jensen knew a trick to make them look bigger. And Jensen was so confused.

Jensen doesn't remember that but he remembers Jared was squinty when he was younger, he was so brooding.

He also says he was worried Jared was going to tell another story involving a Chrissy from Oregon who was a neighbor that came over and was very nice, and they had a very interesting conversation. x

Next, question comes from Philemon Chambers, for those who don't know he played Augustus in Walker Independence, he wants to know who won ping pong?

Jared answers that in ping pong they were pretty split, pretty 50/50. And that he's probably still sore from playing ping pong with Jensen 20yrs ago.

Jensen says it was a bad idea when they took the ping pong table over to set because whenever they had a break, like lighting breaks which a lighting set up can be 20 to 45mins, they'd go next stage to play ping pong but the longer the break the sweatier they'd get so they'd come back to set and it would cause a delay cause the makeup department would have to cool them down. Until one day the ping pong table just dissapeared.

He says that's how the producers and directors would govern them they'd just take shit away for example the Impala had like a police spotlight at one point but got taken away because they'd blind the camera operator, and they also lost a horn during a certain point of the show because every time one of the camera operators leaned across the hood they'd honk it.

Jared says they wouldn't ask them to stop doing something they'd just take it away. Someone mentions the radio, Jensen says that's right the radio used to work it doesn't. x

What advice do they have for someone embarking on their 20s?

Jensen says in your 20's you still have so far to go in the best way so don't get hung up on stuff that will seem trivial 10yrs from now. Don't waste your time, there's a book called Don't Sweat the Small Stuff he recommends find it, read it, use it. But also even if you just take that title of don't sweat the small stuff because we do inevitably as people it's what we do, we focus on things that bring us to places emotionally that have no purpose that kinda stuff is just gonna be gone. He would say 20s is the perfect time to explore, have fun, live your life, dream big, and don't sweat the small stuff.

Jared agrees and adds don't sign long-term contracts, don't operate heavy machinery, don't drive but seriously your 20s are not the latter part of your life they're the beginning of your life. And he will add as well explore your first 20 years, explore how you got to where you are, the earlier you look into what's made you you, and what works and doesn't the better it'll be he started late, he started when he was like 35 and he's been working back trying to figure out what happened when he was 0-20 that formed who he is these days. Be curious, be kind, be compassionate. x

Looking back what's their favorite funny story in the time that they've known each other?

Jared says there are so many but this one popped up in his head, and it's the story of how when the twins were going to be born Jensen left his passport in Austin by mistake. In case anyone doesn't know the story the quick version of it is that D was set to give birth to the twins, and Jensen is usually very responsible but something told Jared to ask him to go touch his passport just to make sure he had it (because they were in Van filming and needed to get back to the States for the birth) and Jensen thought Jared was playing a prank on him but he checked anyways and it was not in his bag. He asks Jared about it he doesn't know where it is he wasn't messing with him, turns out Jensen left it by mistake in a jacket pocket in Austin. They got in contact with a law enforcement friend they have who contacted TSA or something and explained the situation so they were able to fly out of Canada and Jensen was able to be there for the twins' birth.

Jensen says this is an 18yr friendship they've had going, for the majority of it they've spent more time with each other than any other human being on the planet, so there are a lot of stories it's hard to pick one. He'll say what he misses about them working together so often was the times in between set-ups and shots when they would go and just spend time in the trailer. In most shows, they yell cut and actors go to their respective spaces but they didn't do that he would go to Jared's trailer sit on his couch, watch tv, and just hang out, and it was weird that they'd do that cause they never get tired of each other which he thinks speaks volumes when you spend that much time together and he thinks it's why they're still here today. 😍

When was a time that they had a hard decision to make? Something they weren't sure about but it ended up paying off.

Jared thinks he and Jensen have a similar story that could be an answer. Probably the most integral and scariest decision he ever made was to quit college and drive out to LA to try and be an actor. To go back to the 20yr question they had been asked earlier, he was 17 at the time when he did this, but the same rule goes and that's try on all the hats that you can, give it a shot, you're still learning who you are. He's 41, a husband, a father, a friend and he's still learning who he is and why he is who he is. In your 20s before you have a spouse, or kids, or a mortgage, or whatever it's a great time to go give it a shot, you rather try and learn that it's not for you than never try.

Jensen asks Jared if he had a backup plan. He did, it was to go back to college. He had some hours logged in already due to AP courses.

Jensen echoes what Jared said, one of the many things they have in common is that their origin story is very similar. He was set to go to college, courses were set, had a dorm room and roommate assigned, and then last minute just a few weeks before he had to report on campus, he said he was going to Hollywood and giving acting a shot. His dad gave him 6 months, they were incredibly supportive but his dad told him to give it a semester, and if he realized it wasn't for him to come back and start school in the second semester. He drove off and never came back, he started working right away and just kept working and kept working and it's like Jared said it's those little decisions that can have a big effect but don't put so much weight on every decision thinking it's gonna have a big effect, he's had a ton of decisions in his life that have had little or no effect at all.

There's another decision, he was on a soap opera for a number of years, he did 3 years and they wanted to extend his contract to do 3 more. As a 20yr old at the time he found it amazing, he did a good enough job they wanted to reward him with a bigger contract and the pay was going to triple- it was a dream come true type of thing and he had a bunch of congrats and people on set telling him it looked like he was gonna be there a couple more years but one amazing actress pulled him aside and told him no, that he wasn't he needed to go. And not in the way of wanting him gone but in the way of there are other things for him out there and he needed to go explore more and so against all odds he did, and that's a decision that has paid off. x

Do they have any shows or movies they re-watch or books they re-read that are really cherished? And why do they mean something to them?

Jared has some feel-good shows, he tries not to re-read books he just feels like there are so many he would love to read but he has re-read Into the Air by Jon Krakauer. And when he finds himself rewatching shows it's from his childhood like he'll put on Garfield or Simpsons. Someone in the crowd yells out Ninja Turtles and he says Ninja Turtles for sure. Jensen asks him which turtle he is and Jared replies he's probably Michelangelo but his favorite is Donatello. He thinks it's because he could always find a stick and hit people with it; his parents wouldn't let him have nunchucks, or the sai, or swords but he could always find a stick and pretend he was Donatello. And he had a purple outfit which was pretty cool; someone in the crowd mentions Leonardo and Jared says he was also pretty cool at which point Jensen says he thought Donatello's color was blue but Jared corrects him and tells him that no Leonardo is blue, Raphael is red, and Michaelangelo is orange. So when he does re-watch things it's from his childhood.

Jensen says this is unintentional, the show is just always on but his 10yr old daughter has found Friends, and he had forgotten how really entertaining that show is he literally doesn't know what station it is on but it's always on so anytime they're in the kitchen, she'll come in, put it on and sit down, and he'll be doing stuff while it's on and he'll just hear "pivot!" and start laughing. That's another thing, he had forgotten how many iconic sayings came from that show. It's a powerhouse of a show, but as far as a genre-type show he's kinda like Jared once he watches it going back and rewatching it he feels like he's missing out on the opportunity of seeing something new. He does have films that he keeps on his ipad whenever he's traveling or something that are downloaded, and there's one particular movie that he doesn't watch from beginning to end he usually just fast-forwards through to watch certain scenes of No Country For Old Men cause he thinks it's a masterclass in film making.

Jared comments he's like that with Inglorious Bastards, and Jensen replies yeah, that anything Tarantino like Hateful Eight he's been watching scenes of it, and it could be a stage play. But he gets the wanting to go back and kind of revisit those things cause it does give you those nostalgic emotions but also you know new experiences like he's sharing this with his daughter so that's kind of a fun new experience.

Jared says he's questioning his earlier statement about wanting to read new things cause if you watch the same show or movie or even the same book at different points in your life what you pick up will be different so maybe he'll start binging SPN. He will say without a word of a lie he could watch 15.20 reaction videos for an hour and cry every time, he thinks he's watched every single one. But he'd be interested to go and revisit the show. x

The next fan asks about a fuck it list. It's like a bucket list except that instead of waiting you're going to say fuck it and do it now, if you can, and their reactions are hilarious seriously y'all have to go watch this moment. But what would their current fuck it list item be?

Jared asks who or what? And then goes "okay, so just here and now" and moves towards Jensen with his tongue out 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

Jensen moves away before Jared can get to him and goes "I told you I'm faster with old age". These men are unhinged. Unhinged I tell you!

Getting back on track, Jared is stumped on an answer, he doesn't know then he asks the fan if they have kids cause he thinks it changes once you have kids and says for him he would love to travel. The fan asks if with his kids and the silence speaks a thousand words, then after he pauses he says that no, they can travel as well somewhere they're welcome to do so but that just in case his wife sees this on youtube he says that he wants to travel with the kids and his wife cause he loves them so very much. Believe it.

Jensen says no, that he doesn't have either a fuck it list or a bucket list he has responsibilities. He can't just go play, he has a house to feed and lights to keep on. He's gonna be honest he has been asked bucket list before he had not been asked fuck it list but he honestly doesn't have either and he means that he's still at the age where he has responsibilities, he has things that he thinks he needs to do, he has things that he needs to get done, and things he wants to get done in order to facilitate certain things in his life. Some of those bring him joy and some of those are just responsibilities that he needs to take care of because he's an adult. x

Final question, any updates on the Impala's?

Both of their respective cars were sent to a body shop just out of Houston, between Houston and Austin, a very reputable place that Clif found for them, and they're getting all the work done that they wanted to get done but Jensen's took longer cause it needed to be used for The Winchester. And so he told them he had to pull Baby out of the shop and it went to NOLA, filmed for a while then finally got back in the shop a few months ago. Jensen thinks it's supposed to be ready this month. He'll go pick her up and then go cruise the back roads of America, and he tells Jared he'll go pick him up and Jared says he'll be there. Jensen says they haven't done it yet but they do joke about just driving around town at some point, they may have to like put some go pros or something on the side.

Jared says his only goal with the Impala is to somehow or another get Mark Sheppard into the trunk. He will say that there's this thing called live water it's supposed to be like ph balanced water. (It's unprocessed water. Or even simpler terms it's water from the river, or a spring, or a lake except river water isn't profitable but if you call it live water it is!) Anyways, he has a subscription for it, cause of course he does, and it's like 5 a month or 5 a week. The point is every third Friday they get a delivery. You leave the empty ones on your driveway and they take them and put the new ones, and the guy who delivered last time was seemingly a fan of SPN, and the garage door was open with the Impala in there and the pic of Sam on a horse from French Mistake is right next to it leaning up against a wall and Jared was walking the dogs, and the guy who delivers looked at Jared kind of confused, looked into the garage saw the Impala and the picture shook his head, said 'dude' and walked away. x

As the panel comes to an end Jensen mentions that he had gotten asked when he and Rob Benedict came up with the last question song, he doesn't know and Rob doesn't either but Richard Speight says that he does know why it started in the first place. It was so he and Rob would stop getting booed when they walked on stage to announce the end of the panel.

Before the boys walk off stage Jared says he feels inspired and motivated to say something: Be kind, be silly, be goofy, be yourself, and share snacks. 💛

J2 Main Panel DC Con

[pearls-and-vignettes]

Spaceway 70 - Anna

The makeshift cell has a steel table and chair—like in old detective films. He reconfigured the room lock with a passkey only he knows, though he doesn't know how to turn off its failsafe.

With a shudder in the station, the lights turn off for a moment, and a different set of colder lights take their place, dimly. I walk through the now-unlocked door and into the hallway outside. A wall panel confirms my fears.

[Alert: Hull breach in multiple sectors | Primary power offline | Check workteam communications for further instructions]

He's scared. Worse than that, he's scared and paranoid. Pablo has the fear from another life of destruction and bloodshed in him. Maybe it's warranted—I couldn't say. Only he knows his past.

Out in the next sector I finally see someone. Two new guys, lazing on some hallway chairs.

"Anna!" One of them says brightly.

"Good evenin'," I float back.

"Quite hot in here?"

"Aye," I say tersely "A waste reactor's nearby. Makes heat. Ventilation won't be turned on 'till someone turns it on."

"Then who will?" The other man says, daftly.

"We don't waste power on climate control when there's a big hole in the ship."

Another pause, the two men look at each other. It's possible they have thoughts going through their heads, though that's difficult to confirm.

"Aren't you two supposed to be working this emergency?"

"Haven't got an assignment yet," One of them replies whilst the other is still taken aback by my question, almost falling off his chair. A moment, then he too regains his composure.

"Keep your pagers out, lads," I bark, wanting to laugh. I puff my chest and walk with intent, into the next room.

I enter my quarters to the right; a modest room, yet a little more spacious than most. To my left, a workbench with some parts scattered around a broken network module, and my PDA.

[Hello, Anna]

[32.061]

[[%% DIRECT COM %%]]

[Notice - There seems to be a system outage; operating in P2P mode | Ten unopened messages - Priority: Low - Three unopened messages - Priority: Medium - Five unopened messages - Priority: High]

I punch in my code.

[=-= Carol F. =-=]

[CUR.32.050 > L | You got your PDA on you?]

[CUR.32.053 > M | Of course he took it. Meet me at central processing when you can -- they hit deep and I need welding done. All the fabricators are out patching the hull.]

[CUR.32.057 > H | A big chunk of power routing is out. I paged John for a fabricator or two but he says he's tied up. Please be here ASAP!]

[=-= Pablo C. =-=]

[CUR.32.049 > H | ==TO GROUPS: W.G. LEADERS, SPECIALISTS, ADMIN== | Attention -- we have been attacked -- this is a matter I will handle personally -- communicate emergency plans with your workgroups.]

[=-= Jonathan L. =-=]

[CUR.32.055 > H | I know you're busy. We need to patch an LS manifold. I have a fabricator to spare. Just ping me when you're free.]

[CUR.32.057 > M | On top of that, all the cable to kitchens is out. I have a few workers patching it up but we need you for some tight wiring.]

No rest for me. I grab my toolbag from the foot of my bed and run to a utility closet in the hallway. The reserve welding cart creaks from disuse as I roll it toward me, yet it still seems to work just the same. I dust off some goggles and shove them in a pocket as I make for Carol.

Eventually, I arrive at central processing, winded from running with so much stuff. Carol is buried deep in her assistant, probably typing out one communication after another.

"God, this thing is so slow!"

"I'm here..?"

"Yes. Hi, Anna," she finishes another message before she finally looks up, "Let's fix this thing so I'm not stuck on peer to peer."

She moves to the wall, which holds an impressive array of cooling pipes and circuits. Indicator lights flash off and on erratically whilst a monitor spits out warning after warning. At the far end, away from the corner where she started, there is a series of busted conduits supposed to hold thick cable against a hastily repaired wall.

"Here, where the cables go into this contactor array."

She pries the panel off the array's enclosure and exposes a beautiful mess of small, printed traces and goliath cables interfacing with one another. The leftmost portion of this box has severed wire and shattered boards.

"I isolated this module from the rest of the processor. And there's no voltage through the cables." She hands me a drawing and walks to an electrical cart. "Just replace the broken components. It doesn't have to be pretty." The cart, being twice the size of mine, is filled with wires of all gauges, components of all kinds, a work surface with a solderer, and has board printing capabilities. "All the files you might need are on that printer."

"Got it," I reply.

She looks back to her PDA and her eyes betray her exasperation, briefly. "I'll be back in a few to turn it on and debug," she shouts whilst having one foot already out the door. I grab a screwdriver and begin to pull away at the broken components. When they don't budge, I pull out the angle grinder. Rinse and repeat.

At least I have a simple life...

[super-ion]

Valiant

(Original post, Chapter 1)

Chapter 2

"Ellie!"

I blink awake. It's dark, the lighting hasn't switched over to morning mode yet and the sky is still black through the warehouse skylights. In fact, the only light is the gentle blue-white from Val's core. The indicator lights from the diagnostic equipment I have set up are completely dark.

I feel a spike of panic. A black out could mean any number of things, from benign to literal end of the world.

"What's going on?" I ask, fighting my grogginess. "What time is it?"

"I have lost external network connection. My internal clock indicates that it is 2:36:74," she says. Her voice is tinny and distant, likely the embedded speaker that I've managed to patch up.

"Ellie, I am sorry," she says. Her tone is distressed and contrite. She continues in a rush, "local wildlife nested amidst the network antenna and I attempted to relocate the nest. However in the process, I have accidently shorted the main high power bus with my drone peripheral."

Ah. That explains that. She probably tripped the main breaker. It's a terrible design and I've been meaning to add some resiliency, but that keeps getting out prioritized.

"Ellie, I am sorry," she repeats. "I have committed a mistake and I have inconvenienced you."

What?

Oh…

She's having the equivalent of a panic attack. She is a hyper intelligent AI core designed for fleet coordination and battle modeling, where failure to follow orders and standard operating procedure costs lives. This comes with a lot of built in anxiety. I understand that modern starships are less prone to such things, but when she was commissioned, the goal was to produce many warships very quickly. They were ultimately meant to be disposable, which led to some programming shortcuts.

"Hey," I say softly. "Are you okay? That's all I care about right now."

I roll out of my hammock and press my body against the surface of her core so that she can feel the plasmic discharge induced by my contact.

"I am well," she replies, her voice still small and panicked. "My core is isolated from main power. I can provide full diagnostics if you desire."

"No, that's okay. I'm glad you're alright. Should we see what we can do to take care of this?"

"Yes, please…"

She pauses.

"I do not like being disconnected. I… do not like the dark."

My heart breaks a little. Eighty-seven years, that's how long she was alone before I found her. An AI like hers can enter low power mode, but that is still an unfathomably long time. Units like her were never meant to be alone.

I reluctantly disengage from her core.

"I have to go outside," I tell her. She knows this, but I'm hoping it helps to talk through the process. "I'm going to get the headset working, so I'll be able to stay in contact, okay?"

"Thank you"

I pat the surface of her core gently before checking the rf transmitter I rigged up at her access port. It's short range, but it runs on her internal power. We used it a lot before I got her connected to internal and external networks, pretty much for this exact purpose, so I could talk to her without being right next to the core.

Connection looks good. I slip on the ear piece.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you Ellie," she replies.

Her voice through the earpiece is warm and smooth, even under the panic. It's her chosen choice and… well, it makes me feel… okay, I'll just say it, it's a very sexy voice. The speaker mounted on the access panel doesn't really convey the full timbre of it. Needless to say, I was blown away the first time I heard it in high fidelity.

I think I might be in love with her.

There's a lot to unpack there, but there's no point in denying that the feelings exist.

I throw on a sweater and a spare pair of boots and make my way up the scaffolding that leads to roof access. About halfway there, I pause for a moment to catch my breath. I chance a look down and my breath is stolen from me.

This room, this entire building, is a warehouse built for a machine of war to be abandoned and forgotten.

It's a squat for a scavenger trying to eke out an existence on the fringes.

"You're beautiful," I whisper.

It is a cathedral. It is a temple built for a goddess and her priestess.

Here in the dark, lit only by the radiation of her core, the space seems infinite.

Her core flickers in response, but she doesn't say anything. She might be embarrassed. She might never have heard those words before and doesn't know how to respond. She doesn't need to. I don't know if she feels the same about me. I'm not even sure if I should want her to. I would hate for her to feel obligated to return my affection solely by the fact that I am the only one who cares enough to repair her. I started this project because I couldn't bear the thought of her suffering alone in darkness, any romantic feelings I have are incidental... mostly.

I continue my scent and finally arrive at the roof access. The door opens with a squeal and I step into the frigid night.

"Oh!" I gasp.

"Ellie?" Val asks in my ear after a moment, worry creeping into her voice. "Are you well?"

"Oh, sorry…" I reply. "It's the stars. The high altitude haze from that dust storm last week has finally cleared. It's… spectacular."

There's a pause.

"Would you describe them for me?" she asks plaintively.

"Uh, sure… but I'm not sure if I can do it justice. Well, there's the glow from the industrial district, but it's not too bad tonight. We've got the arc of the Milky Way pretty much directly overhead. And there's like the fuzzy haze of the planetary disk. Looks like one of the ice giants too. And… well, stars. Thousands of them, just crystal clear."

I locate the main antenna and, sure enough, the drone is tangled up with the main power lines. It looks like there might have been some thin insulation that arced. The spidery drone itself might be salvageable. It is clutching an unfortunately empty nest in its manipulators, whatever wildlife must have fled when she disturbed it. The drone's head is tilted curiously back in a way that I don't think it's fully explainable by arcing.

"Wait, were you out here stargazing?

"The ocular system on the drone peripheral lacks the resolution and focal length to resolve individual stars."

It's not an answer and she sounds very vaguely guilty.

"It's alright if you were," I tell her as I bend down to examine the power conduits. "And I can see if I can get you a better camera system up here. Maybe something telescopic."

"I would not want to inconvenience you," she replies.

"Val, you're allowed to want things," I sigh.

She's quiet for a long moment while I move the drone and begin repairs on the power conduit.

"I miss the stars," she says finally. "There are many things I wish to forget about my past. Being alone amidst the stars was one of my few comforts."

I consider this. It's the most she's ever told me about her past. I've seen the diagnostic logs of her positronic activity indicating distress. Her equivalent of nightmares.

"You know any good stories about them?" I ask.

"I do not understand the nature of your query."

"I don't know," I say with a shrug. "I guess I'm just curious if you have any favorites or if you have any interesting facts in your database.

I'm not really sure how I expect her to respond. I just want to get her talking and not dwell on being trapped in the dark or feeling guilty about causing it.

"There is a star," she begins tentatively, "which according to local charts and my estimate of local time, should be located at azimuth 146.7, elevation 25.4. It is the brightest star in the southern sky, do you see it?"

I'm honestly surprised by this, and it takes me a minute to orient myself and find it.

"Yeah, the bright blue one?"

"Yes!" she replies, and as she speaks she gets more animated - her tone brightens and her cadence picks up. "Epsilon Orionis, Hipparcos 26311, also known as Alnilam. It is the central star of the asterism as viewed from Earth known as Orion's belt. It is among the brightest stars visible from this region of space. During first wave colonization, it was erroneously back translated to Al-Nilam, the Sapphire. Local neo-folkloric tradition associates it with either a maiden or queen…"

She continues on like that, and I find myself absolutely fascinated as I work. The detail is very encyclopedic, but there are aspects of it that she can't possibly have obtained from just a star chart. I quickly come to the realization that she must have sought out details about the folklore and mythology on her own.

This was a hobby of hers. There's no question in my mind now that I have to obtain a better system to facilitate her stargazing.

I finish the patch job on the conduit and heft the drone over my shoulder while she continues. I only interrupt her when I arrive back at the high power breaker.

The night lighting comes back up and she practically sighs with relief as she reconnects with the external network. I wearily drag myself back to my hammock.

"Ellie, I'm sorry to have woken you and taken up so much of your time," she says.

I sigh and press my hand to the surface of her core.

"It's okay, really," I tell her. "I'm here for you."

"Thank you for listening to me," she says, bringing a smile to my face.

"Goodnight, Val."

"Goodnight, Ellie."

I almost say "I love you". I want to.

[fibermarts]

Are you searching a best 12 Fiber Pigtail

A 12-fiber pigtail refers to a fiber optic cable terminated on one end with a connector, typically used for splicing or connecting to other fiber optic cables or devices. In the case of a 12-fiber pigtail, it means that there are 12 individual optical fibers within the cable, each terminated with its connector.

Here are some key points about 12-fiber pigtails:

Number of Fibers: As the name suggests, a 12 fiber pigtail contains 12 individual optical fibers within a single cable assembly. These fibers are typically color-coded for identification purposes.

Connector Type: The connector termination at the end of the pigtail can vary depending on the application and compatibility requirements. Common connector types include LC, SC, ST, and MTP/MPO connectors.

Applications: 12 fiber pigtails are commonly used in data centers, telecommunications networks, and other fiber optic installations where high-density fiber connections are required. They are often used for splicing to distribution or breakout cables, connecting to patch panels, or interfacing with active network equipment.

Splicing: In many cases, the individual fibers within a 12 fiber pigtail are spliced to corresponding fibers in other cables or devices using fusion splicing or mechanical splicing techniques. This allows for the creation of permanent connections between fibers without the need for connectors.

Color Coding: Each fiber within the pigtail may be color-coded to facilitate identification and ensure proper alignment during splicing or connection. Common color codes include blue, orange, green, brown, gray, white, red, black, yellow, violet, rose, and aqua.

Jacketing and Protection: The fibers within the pigtail are typically enclosed in a protective jacket to provide mechanical protection and prevent damage to the individual fibers. The jacket may be made of materials such as PVC, LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen), or plenum-rated materials for use in different environmental conditions.

Overall, 12 fiber pigtails provide a convenient and efficient solution for establishing multiple fiber connections in various fiber optic applications, offering high-density connectivity and reliable performance in optical networks.

Next: Buy Quality 12 LC Cable for Seamless Connectivity

[fivenightsatfreddysfanfiction]

If you ever wonder how I go about patching the timeline, here's a rough idea of how my thought process works in written form:

Based on HW2 trailer, energy well panel can be seen in SL facility elevator so assume SL to be point of introduction for Mimic

SL split in 2 instances in Parlourverse: SL past non-game sets up intro of Afton to assume overarching antagonist role thru Lucian, SL game-ver follows Meera as Eggs Benedict

Cassie mentions dad had wrench, wrench matches panel, panel appears in Ruin and HW2’s SL

Float Cassie Dad from Meera-era SL to pre-employee purge SB, re-visit when HW2 releases

Mimic source?

Mimic AI contains data of all animatronics, mimicked Afton(?), learning by watching or assimilating (Elder Afton Remnant was destroyed by FuriRosa in PizzaSim location, Elizabeth salvaged the larger fragments of Emelia but needs to find data sources to recreate Elder Afton’s memories and consciousness somehow (creates motive to want Mimic developed and learning from Afton data))

when was the most amount of data gathered to feed Mimic for Parlourverse? UCN

UCN arc location: underground SL facility, multiple entry points based on FNAF4/SL map overlay

Meera’s original entry via Rental facility was destroyed, so UCN entry point must be someplace else (pizzeria? No, pizzeria appears to be same as the PizzaSim location, requires Henry intervention) Afton house? (could work, may have been abandoned by this point)

how did Router get in then? Track his movements from Fazbear Frights to SL facility, he escaped dispelling in FNAF4 arc and went looking for Lucian’s last location for revenge (cross-reference original timeline) (Emelia getting out created a tunnel that let Router in)

Elizabeth had all animatronics built from data stored in mainframe, same info was given to games division for HW and SD (she kept going back to the UCN location to salvage what she could of the animatronics, the ones made by Elder Afton would have data about him that she needs)

Mimic AI potentially emerged as a result of fusing all that data into a ‘parent’ node for programming behaviors in the games for the animatronics (mixed into all the parts scanned in were the original Afton made animatronics, allowing Mimic AI to assimilate data about Elder Afton)

servers holding it are locked with energy well panels while Elizabeth attempts to have it trained to focus on mimicking Elder Afton and ‘restore’ him

(where is master file? He escaped the facility during UCN arc with Elizabeth to be installed into Pizzaplex as the governing AI; a copy of him went into the games division server but was consumed by Mimic over time so Mimic now can mimic Lucian Master File (this is important because it’s a flawed mimic as MF removed things from himself that Digi retains))

So where is Mimic AI right now?

A.I. is housed in servers at game studio branch, producing coding for the SD animatronics. The game coding was scrubbed after Alex gained access to the source code and cut the network connection between it and the Mimic so he could quarantine it in-game and destroy the code.

Where is the Mimic animatronic? Trace back events to locate most probable period it could have been constructed and where, then path forward to determine where it ended up.

---------

That's as far as I got as my brain got distracted so now I have to sit and reel it back in and think about the mechanical part of the Mimic.

[suntelecomcn]

A Simple Guide to Understanding Network Cabinet

A network cabinet plays an essential role in the data center. It is used for organizing routers, patch panels, switches, networking equipment, and accessories. Network cabinet helps improve cable management, physical security, ease of installation, etc. This article provides a simple guide to understanding network cabinets.

What is Network Cabinet?

A network cabinet is a piece of equipment used to combine installation panels, plug-ins, sub-boxes, electronic components, devices, and mechanical parts and components to form an integral installation box. It provides the perfect environment for housing and protecting network infrastructure components. It is particularly suited to the back office and commercial building infrastructure applications.

Types of Network Cabinet

Wall- Mounted Network Cabinet

A wall-mounted network cabinet is used for all rack-mounted equipment conforming to ANSI/EIA standards. It has a solid and reliable modular steel alloy frame structure for a maximum static load capacity of up to 60 KG, movable aluminum magnesium alloy equipment mounting pillars that can fit different depth equipment, multi-place with cabling passageways for various cabling requirements, and high adaptability(optional wall-mounted or ground-mounted fixing to ease meeting the installation).

 Widened Steel Alloy Network Cabinet

Widened steel alloy network cabinet is used for all rack-mounted equipment conforming to ANSI/ EIA standards. It has a solid modular alloy steel frame, a maximum static load capacity of up to 800 KG, widened cabinet structure design, is equipped with vertical cable ducts to orderly lay a large volume of cables, and movable aluminum magnesium alloy equipment mounting pillars for different depth equipment.

Outdoor Network Cabinet

An outdoor network cabinet is used for connections between cabling elements. It has heat insulation, water-proof and dust-proof performance, good corrosion resistance, and 19-inch equipment mounted.

Applications

A network cabinet is used in the copper network, FTTH access networks, telecommunication networks, CATV networks, local area networks, data centers, etc.

Things to Look Out for When Choosing a Network Cabinet 

Access: Different equipment has different access points. Therefore, your network cabinet should provide several access points for the various devices. Make sure you understand the equipment you need to store in your rank and their usage in and out. You can only determine that you require a cabinet rank that can open on the side, back, or front.

Weight: The network cabinet should not be too bulky that you cannot lift it when setting it up or in case you need to move it. However, it should be the perfect weight to hold all your equipment without collapsing due to the weight of the equipment.

 Dimensions:  It is wise to choose a rack with physical characteristics that are appropriate for you. Consider the room's square footage and the size of the equipment that will be housed inside the cabinet.

Available space: When setting it up or relocating it, the network cabinet shouldn't be so heavy that you can't lift it. It should, however, be the ideal weight to support all of your equipment without collapsing under its weight of it.

Conclusion

When you are designing a data center, deciding which network cabinet to deploy should be put in the first place. The right one that meets your installation demand can help you improve power protection, cooling, cable management, and physical security.

Sun Telecom specializes in providing one-stop total fiber optic solutions for all fiber optic application industries worldwide. We are devoted to not only meeting the need of customers but; also providing our customers with basic and in-depth knowledge about fiber optic products and solutions through articles. Contact us if you have any needs.

[unisol-communications123]

Indoor Wall Mount Racks

SPECIFICATIONS

Mounting : Wall Mountable Material : Galvanized Steel Protection Class : IP56 (with fan) & IP66 (without fan) Construction : Welded Front Door : Lockable GI Door Plain or Lockable Toughened Glass GI Door Standard Finish : Powder Coating Side Panel : Integrated with top and bottom covers Standard Color : Light Grey / Dark Grey Top and Bottom Panel : Vented with fan and cable entry provision

[todaynetworkingsolutions]

How Proper Data Network Wiring Boosts Office Productivity

In today’s fast-paced digital environment, a reliable and efficient data network is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. Whether setting up a new office or upgrading your existing infrastructure, data network wiring is critical in ensuring smooth communication, data transfer, and daily operations.

This post explains how proper data network wiring enhances productivity in office settings and why every business should care.

What Is Data Network Wiring?

Data network wiring refers to the structured cabling systems used to connect computers, servers, printers, and other devices within a local area network (LAN). It includes Ethernet cables (Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a), patch panels, switches, and wall jacks—all working together to ensure reliable data transmission.

A well-organized wiring infrastructure provides the physical foundation for high-speed internet, secure internal networks, VoIP systems, and more. Businesses in offices across North Andover are increasingly upgrading their infrastructure to meet modern networking demands.

Why Proper Wiring Matters More Than You Think

Consistent and Reliable Connectivity

One of the biggest productivity killers in offices is inconsistent internet connectivity. Poorly installed or outdated data network wiring can result in frequent dropouts, slow data transfer, and lag during video calls or cloud access.

With proper wiring, your office gains stable and fast connections, ensuring teams can work without frustrating interruptions.

Faster Data Transfer for Modern Workflows

From cloud-based apps to extensive file sharing, modern workplaces demand high-speed data communication. Up-to-date data network wiring—such as Cat6 or higher—supports gigabit speeds and low latency, translating into quicker downloads, smoother communication, and more efficient workflows.

Enhanced Collaboration

Seamless connectivity is vital whether your team is collaborating over Zoom, Slack, or Microsoft Teams. Properly installed data network wiring ensures every department can collaborate in real-time without delays or buffering, fostering better teamwork and faster decision-making.

Long-Term Cost Savings

Though wireless solutions seem effortless initially, they often suffer from interference, signal degradation, and security risks. Investing in a structured data network wiring system provides better performance with fewer maintenance issues, saving money in the long run.

Additionally, wired systems are scalable. As your office grows, adding more connections or upgrading equipment becomes easier and more affordable with a solid wired infrastructure in place. This has been particularly true for expanding businesses in North Andover, where tech-driven operations are rising.

Improved Security and Reduced Downtime

Increased Network Security

Wired networks are inherently more secure than wireless ones. Proper data network wiring limits unauthorized access and helps IT teams monitor and control the network with precision.

Reduced Downtime

Loose cables, tangled wires, or DIY setups often lead to technical failures. Structured cabling looks cleaner and minimizes the chance of human error or accidental disconnections, reducing downtime and keeping employees focused on their tasks.

Professional Installation Is Key

While handling wiring internally is tempting, proper data network wiring requires professional planning and execution. Certified network installers:

Assess your current and future data needs

Choose the correct type of cables.

Organize wiring neatly for easy troubleshooting.

Ensure compliance with industry standards

This expertise ensures that your wiring supports your office’s needs today—and scales with you tomorrow. If you're based in North Andover, consider consulting local professionals who understand the region's infrastructure and connectivity demands.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What type of cable is best for office data network wiring?

A: Cat6 or Cat6a is recommended for most offices due to high speed and low interference.

Q2: How much does data network wiring cost for a small office?

A: Costs vary based on size and complexity but typically range from $500 to $5,000.

Q3: Can I install data network wiring myself?

A: It’s possible, but professional installation ensures safety, efficiency, and long-term reliability.

Q4: How do I know if my office needs new wiring?

A: Frequent network issues, slow speeds, and an outdated setup are key indicators you need an upgrade.

Q6: How long does a professional installation take?

A: Installation typically takes 1 to 3 days for small to medium offices, depending on the scope.

[baymr11]

5 Critical Mistakes That Cause Network Downtime in Data Centers

Network downtime in data centers isn't just an inconvenience—it's a business catastrophe that can cost companies millions of dollars per hour. According to recent industry studies, the average cost of data center downtime has reached $9,000 per minute, making prevention not just a technical priority but a critical business imperative.

After analyzing hundreds of data center failures over the past decade, we've identified five recurring mistakes that consistently lead to network outages. Understanding these common pitfalls can help your organization implement better system downtime prevention strategies and maintain the reliability your business depends on.

Mistake #1: Inadequate Cable Management and Infrastructure Planning

The foundation of any reliable data center network lies in its physical infrastructure, yet cable management remains one of the most overlooked aspects of data center design. Poor cable organization doesn't just look unprofessional—it creates a cascade of problems that inevitably lead to network failures.

When fiber optic patch cords are haphazardly routed through racks without proper planning, technicians face several challenges. First, identifying specific connections becomes nearly impossible during emergency situations when every second counts. Second, the risk of accidental disconnection increases dramatically when cables are tangled or improperly secured.

More critically, inadequate cable management creates airflow restrictions that can lead to overheating. When network infrastructure components operate outside their optimal temperature ranges, failure rates increase exponentially. We've seen cases where simple cable reorganization reduced equipment failure rates by over 40%.

The solution involves implementing structured cabling systems with proper patch panel solutions that provide clear labeling, organized routing, and easy access for maintenance. Professional-grade patch panels not only improve organization but also provide better signal integrity and easier troubleshooting capabilities.

Mistake #2: Using Substandard Network Components

In an effort to reduce initial costs, many organizations make the critical error of choosing cheap, low-quality network components. This penny-wise, pound-foolish approach almost always results in higher long-term costs due to increased failure rates and more frequent replacements.

Substandard fiber optic cables and connectors are particularly problematic because they're often the last components suspected when network issues arise. Poor-quality cables may work initially but degrade over time due to inferior materials, inadequate shielding, or manufacturing defects. When these components fail, they rarely fail completely—instead, they create intermittent issues that are difficult to diagnose and can plague networks for months.

Quality fiber optic patch cords and adapters use premium materials and undergo rigorous testing to ensure consistent performance over their entire lifespan. While the initial investment may be higher, the reduced maintenance costs, lower failure rates, and improved reliability more than justify the expense.

Consider this real-world example: A financial services company saved $50,000 on network components during their initial build-out by choosing cheaper alternatives. Within eighteen months, they had spent over $200,000 on emergency repairs, replacement components, and lost productivity due to network instability. They eventually replaced their entire infrastructure with enterprise-grade components.

Mistake #3: Insufficient Redundancy and Single Points of Failure

One of the most dangerous assumptions in data center design is that individual components will always function as expected. Networks without proper redundancy are essentially gambling with business continuity, and the house always wins eventually.

Single points of failure can exist at multiple levels of network infrastructure. At the physical layer, having only one path for critical data flows means any component failure results in complete service disruption. At the equipment level, relying on single switches, routers, or even power sources creates unnecessary vulnerability.

Effective redundancy planning requires identifying every potential failure point and implementing backup systems. This includes redundant fiber optic cable paths, backup power systems, and duplicate network equipment. However, redundancy isn't just about having backup components—it's about ensuring those backups can seamlessly take over when needed.

Many organizations make the mistake of implementing redundancy systems but never properly testing them. Regular failover testing is essential to ensure backup systems work correctly when they're actually needed. We recommend monthly testing of all redundancy systems and immediate investigation of any failover delays or issues.

Mistake #4: Inadequate Environmental Monitoring and Control

Data center environments are more fragile than many realize. Temperature fluctuations, humidity changes, and power anomalies can all contribute to network equipment failures. Yet many organizations implement insufficient environmental monitoring, leaving their networks vulnerable to preventable outages.

Temperature control is particularly critical for fiber optic infrastructure. Extreme heat can cause cable jackets to degrade, while rapid temperature changes can create expansion and contraction that stresses connections. Humidity problems can lead to corrosion in metal components and affect the performance of sensitive electronic equipment.

Comprehensive environmental monitoring should include temperature sensors throughout the facility, humidity monitoring, power quality assessment, and air quality measurements. Modern monitoring systems can predict potential problems before they cause failures, allowing for proactive maintenance rather than reactive repairs.

Additionally, proper ventilation design ensures that heat generated by network infrastructure components is effectively removed. Strategic placement of equipment and careful attention to airflow patterns can prevent hot spots that accelerate component degradation.

Mistake #5: Poor Change Management and Documentation

Perhaps the most insidious cause of data center network downtime is poor change management. Well-intentioned modifications, updates, and expansions can have unintended consequences when proper procedures aren't followed.

Undocumented changes are particularly problematic because they create confusion during troubleshooting. When network issues arise, technicians need accurate information about current configurations, recent changes, and equipment specifications. Without proper documentation, diagnosis time increases dramatically, extending outage duration.

Effective change management requires formal procedures for any network modifications, comprehensive documentation of all changes, and thorough testing before implementation. Every change should be traceable, reversible, and fully documented before it's approved.

Furthermore, regular audits of network documentation help ensure accuracy and identify discrepancies before they cause problems. We recommend quarterly reviews of network diagrams, equipment inventories, and configuration documentation.

Building a More Reliable Future

Preventing data center network downtime requires a comprehensive approach that addresses physical infrastructure, component quality, redundancy planning, environmental controls, and operational procedures. While implementing these improvements requires initial investment, the cost of prevention is always lower than the cost of recovery.

Organizations that prioritize network reliability through proper planning, quality components, and rigorous procedures consistently experience fewer outages and lower total cost of ownership. In today's digital economy, network reliability isn't just a technical requirement—it's a competitive advantage that directly impacts business success.

By avoiding these five critical mistakes and implementing robust network reliability best practices, your organization can significantly reduce the risk of costly network downtime and maintain the reliable connectivity that modern business demands.

[techlookup]

Ethernet Splitter vs Switch: Choosing the Right Solution for Your Network

In today's connected world, your network setup plays a critical role in everything from productivity to entertainment. If you've ever faced the challenge of connecting multiple devices with limited Ethernet ports, you're not alone. The two most common solutions are Ethernet splitters and Ethernet switches. While they may sound similar, they function very differently. In this guide, we'll explore what they are, how they work, and when to use each one.

What is an Ethernet Splitter?

An Ethernet splitter is a small, passive device that allows two devices to share a single Ethernet cable. It splits the cable into two paths, letting you connect two devices to one port. Splitters are inexpensive and easy to install, but they come with limitations.

How Ethernet Splitters Work

Ethernet cables like Cat5e and Cat6 have eight internal wires. In a 10/100 Mbps connection, only four of those wires are used, leaving four unused. Splitters utilize these unused wires to transmit a second signal. However, a pair of splitters is required—one near the router and one near the endpoint.

Pros of Ethernet Splitters

Affordable and simple to use

No power required

Reduces cable clutter

Cons of Ethernet Splitters

Only supports two devices

Maximum speed of 100 Mbps

Not compatible with Gigabit Ethernet

What is an Ethernet Switch?

An Ethernet switch is an intelligent networking device that connects multiple devices in a network and manages data traffic efficiently. It provides dedicated bandwidth to each connected device, unlike splitters that divide one stream.

How Ethernet Switches Work

Switches use packet-switching technology to send data only to the specific device it's intended for. They maintain a MAC address table to route data accurately. Switches operate in full-duplex mode, enabling simultaneous sending and receiving.

Pros of Ethernet Switches

Supports multiple devices (from 4 to 48+ ports)

Full Gigabit speeds or higher

Manages traffic efficiently

Easily expandable

Cons of Ethernet Switches

Requires power

More expensive than splitters

Occupies more space

Comparing Ethernet Splitters and Switches

Use Cases for Splitters and Switches

When to Use an Ethernet Splitter

Connecting two low-bandwidth devices

Temporary or budget setups

Reducing cables in small areas

When to Use an Ethernet Switch

Home offices and entertainment centers

Gaming and streaming setups

Small business networks

PoE device connectivity (e.g., IP cameras, VoIP phones)

Ethernet Splitter vs Switch vs Other Networking Tools

Ethernet Splitter vs Hub

Hubs broadcast data to all ports, causing congestion

Splitters are passive but limited in speed

Neither compares to a modern switch in efficiency

Ethernet Switch vs Patch Panel

Switch: Routes data between devices

Patch Panel: Organizes cable connections

Often used together for structured cabling

Real-World Applications

In a home setting, a splitter might work for connecting a desktop and printer in a guest room. However, for more robust setups—like connecting a smart TV, gaming console, and streaming device—an Ethernet switch is essential.

In offices, switches are invaluable. They ensure fast, uninterrupted connections for multiple users, especially in setups involving VoIP calls, cloud software, or large data transfers.

Final Thoughts

Choosing between an Ethernet splitter and switch depends on your network demands. Splitters offer a quick fix for basic needs but fall short on speed and scalability. Switches, while slightly more costly, provide future-proof reliability and performance.

If you're planning to upgrade your network, start with a quality Ethernet switch and pair it with reliable Cat6 or Cat6a cables from NewYork Cables. The right tools today can prevent connectivity headaches tomorrow.