Some Notes on the Machines

Here is a useful guide to HPE RAID model numbers:

medium.com/@ITsolutions/selecting-the-best-hpe-smart-array-controller-for-your-server-da10b7424c8c

There have been a number of attempts at this. Here’s the one I use:

xbrowsersync.org

Desktop and mobile. Sometimes the beta versions, later than the releases, can be helpful:

github.com/xbrowsersync/app/releases

In this space, we used to recommend CloudFlare’s, 1.1.1.1/1.0.0.1. However, a GeoIP lookup shows 1.1.1.1 is Australia, and we found that using the nines (9.9.9.9/149.112.112.112) gave much better routes for large Axcient backup data transfers. So we’re now suggesting either nines or ISP DNS for maximum results. More when we have more.

Cox
Primary 68.1.16.107
East Coast 68.1.16.108
West Cost 68.111.106.68

AT&T
68.94.156.1
68.94.157.1

Something new. quad9.net is doing this, and it appears both very fast and very worthwhile. Same feature space as 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8, adding bad-actor blacklisting in both IPv6 and IPv4 in its default. This is the first real IPv6-enabled security service of which I am aware, I have been watching and waiting for this for quite a while.

Uses primary 9.9.9.9, secondary 149.112.112.112.

There are other features too.

UltraDefrag still comes in its free open source version:

sourceforge.net/projects/ultradefrag/

as well as a newer, more developed paid version:

ultradefrag.net

I’m hoping to do better in the future, but for now:

https://www.pdq.com/blog/setting-up-dfs-in-your-environment/

To make a bootable USB stick for the HPE SPP (Service Pack for Proliant), which includes all firmware and drivers, one must use:

the HPE USB Key Utility for Windows

and it has to be a 16G or 32G USB stick. Larger won’t boot. Rufus and Ventoy also fail as of 2022-02-18.

One can do a basic test of TCP using Putty. UDP is another matter, one must have a server process and a sender. I found the simple sender and server written in Powershell here:

cloudbrothers.info/en/test-udp-connection-powershell/

to be excellent. In addition, if you want to know the identity of the process listening on a port, run this:

Get-Process -Id (Get-NetUDPEndpoint -LocalPort YourPortNumberHere).OwningProcess

I was shocked recently, when software for excellent photo management was needed. A whole lot of newer options involving web servers, cloud hosts, etc., but very little simple and powerful, and some standards of yore are gone. However. One is not:

XnView MP

XnView has been around for decades, XnView MP is their new thorough revision. I tested a pile of these things, and XnView MP is by far the best, features and speed and design friendly for both new user and the technical.

Here are the others I tested:

• Irfanview (has features, much less friendly)
• nomacs (lacking features)
• digiKam (too slow, crashy)
• jpegview (lacking features)
• FastStone Image Viewer (lacking batch resize)
• ImageGlass Spider (lacking features)
• ACDSee Photo Studio (expensive, overkill, bloatware)
• Various Adobe products (expensive and overkill, or free and lacking features)

If you have better, please do let me know!