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  1. Building a 300TB NAS and the Hardware That Hated Me

    Part 1: Building a 300TB NAS and the Hardware That Hated Me

    It started with an exciting vision: to build a true "endgame" home server. The goal was to consolidate my sprawling setup into a single, powerful All-in-One server. I already had the chassis, a 45Drives HL15, and the storage—fifteen 20TB Seagate drives ready to go. Now, I just needed to pick the brains of the operation.

    After a bit of research, I landed on what felt like a killer combo for a TrueNAS SCALE build.

    The Final Parts List (after all my troubleshooting):

    • Case: 45Drives HL15
    • Motherboard: Supermicro …
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  2. Passing the Cisco DevNet Associate Exam

    🚀 How I Passed the Cisco DevNet Associate Exam: My Study Strategy and Takeaways

    Passing the Cisco Certified DevNet Associate exam (DevAsc) was a major milestone on my journey into network automation and programmability. I want to share my study process in hopes it can help others approaching this certification.

    🧠 My Study Approach: Structured Learning with Iterative Quizzing

    1. Starting with CBT Nuggets

    I began by diving into the CBT Nuggets course titled Cisco DevNet Associate (200-901 DEVASC). This course was comprehensive and provided a solid foundation on the key concepts of network automation and programmability. It covered topics like:

    • Cisco …
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  3. Querying Service Desk Call Metrics with Python

    Extracting Metrics from Cisco Unified Call Manager (CUCM)

    Background

    About a year and a half ago, I was asked to find a way to extract metrics from Cisco Unified Call Manager (CUCM) to support our Service Desk team. They needed basic insights: - How many calls were made to the service desk - Who answered the calls - How many calls went to voicemail

    Over time, additional requests came in, such as tracking evening-hour calls to determine if extra support was needed.

    Initial Challenges

    After some research, I found that CUCM didn’t provide an easy way to access this information through its …

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  4. Fixing Plex Docker Failures - Resolving Disk Space Issues and Optimizing Storage

    Introduction

    Managing disk space efficiently is crucial for maintaining a stable Plex Media Server, especially when running it as a Docker container on an Ubuntu Live Server VM. Recently, I encountered a critical issue where Plex failed to start and transcode media due to insufficient disk space. Additionally, system updates were blocked due to a full root partition. This post details the root cause analysis, troubleshooting steps, and resolution strategies, including mounting a secondary drive for Plex storage. By following these steps, you can prevent similar issues and optimize your Plex server’s performance.

    Issue Summary:

    Plex Media Server, running …

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  5. A Practical Approach to Finding 100GB QSFPs

    Automating 100GB QSFP Transceiver Inventory with PowerShell

    Understanding the quantity and distribution of 100GB QSFP transceivers in your data center can be essential for optimizing network performance. But how can you efficiently gather this information across multiple devices? Let me share with you a straightforward method I’ve developed using PowerShell, which you can adapt to suit your environment.

    Firstly, I typically start by SSH’ing into my devices to manually gather information. This initial exploration helps me identify patterns that can be automated later. One command I’ve found to be particularly useful is show interface transceiver, which lists …

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  6. Querying CUCM Database using SQL

    Exploring Cisco Unity Call Manager (CUCM) Database Access via Postman and SOAP/AXL API

    Delving into the intricacies of Cisco Unity Call Manager (CUCM) database access via Postman and SOAP/AXL API opens up a realm of possibilities. While this won’t serve as a step-by-step guide, consider it a tour through a few essential examples, primarily focusing on leveraging custom SQL queries within Postman requests.

    If SQL isn’t in your skill set, this isn’t the tutorial where you’ll find comprehensive lessons. I’m no SQL guru myself, having only dabbled in it sparingly. Below, I’ll …

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