Author: sotech
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ZFS on Ubuntu error: Failed to load ZFS module stack
If you see the above error in a fresh installation of ZFS on Ubuntu one cause may be that the package build-essentials wasn’t installed prior to installing the ubuntu-zfs package; run: sudo apt-get purge ubuntu-zfs then check for the remaining packages with the following: dpkg –list | grep zfs …and…
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Testing new power supply: Corsair VS450
We got a new unit in-house that we’re trialling – the new Corsair VS450 entry-level PSU. Featuring 450W of output, a single 12V rail, two PCI-E connectors and a 3-year warranty it provides an interesting option for builds with a single midrange graphics card. We’ll post back if we find anything interesting in our…
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Right-angled SATA cables
Having trouble with routing SATA cables in a tight space? Don’t forget that you can get SATA cables with connectors at a variety of angles, including 90 degrees to the side: This can make routing cables quite a bit easier – sometimes allowing you to avoid pressing the cable in at an…
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ESXi: Accessing datastores via web browser
This is one that a lot of people don’t seem to be aware of – did you know you could access your ESXi server’s datastores via a browser? It’s a convenient way of grabbing copies of ISOs or patches stored on your server for burning or use elsewhere. It’s set up automatically with ESXi…
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Ubuntu: Clear terminal screen
Sometimes you may wish to clear the terminal window, whether it be to hide what you’ve just done, clear some irrelevant/distracting output or any other reason. The best command to do this is simple: reset This completely clears the output shown in your terminal window but doesn’t log you out. If you…
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Network Troubleshooting: Wireless N connecting at 54Mb/s
This one came up today with a customer who was extending her Wireless N home wifi network with a wireless access point. The access point was reporting a Wireless N connection at a speed of 54Mb/s rather than 150 or 300Mb/s, and transfer speeds for anything connected to the access point were only 2-3MB/s…
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Intel i5-3470 vs i5-3570
The above two CPUs are often shortlisted for entry/midrange gaming builds that aren’t overclocked; so how do they compare? Both are quad-core CPUs without hyperthreading, so they offer 4 cores and 4 threads. The i5-3470 is clocked at 3.2GHz while the i5-3570 is 200MHz faster at 3.4GHz, and both CPUs feature Intel’s…
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Palit GTX 650 Ti – A visual overview and mini review
One of the best gaming cards for those on a budget at the moment is the GTX 650Ti, and one of the most cost-effective models is the Palit version. Clocked at 928MHz with a memory clock of 2700MHz, it supports up to 2560×1600 resolution (or 2048×1536 over VGA). As you can see it’s…
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Asus Pike 2008 SAS card
We have finally got one of these cards in-house for testing; We’re particularly interested in how it compares to cards like the M1015 in IT mode as an inexpensive way of adding 8 SAS/SATA ports to a storage server. Expect a post soon reporting on what we find! You can buy the Asus…