Ask Noah Show Ask Noah Show 476
Jan 21, 2026
This week, the hosts tackle the AI-driven hardware shortage affecting RAM and GPUs, predicting price spikes lasting until 2027. They explore managing ZFS via web interfaces like Cockpit and introduce WebZFS for streamlined server management. The discussion shifts to valuable tools like Calibre for eBooks and the excitement of karaoke with light-sync projects. They also dive into automation techniques for certificate management using LDAP and Ansible. Finally, they highlight the promising new ESP32-E22 with Wi-Fi 6E capabilities.
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Balance PoE Load With A Spoke Switch
- Offload PoE devices to a separate managed switch to free core switch ports and power capacity.
- Use a trunk to the core and avoid daisy-chaining to limit switch hops and single points of failure.
Topology Beats Mere Hop Counting
- Many switch-hop concerns are about points of failure, not latency, so topology matters more than hop count.
- A hub-and-spoke design keeps hops to one and reduces chained failure risk compared with long daisy chains.
Automate Home PKI With ACME And LDAP
- Use StepCA or a local ACME server to issue certificates for self-hosted apps and automate via ACME clients.
- For user certificates, consider storing PKI artifacts in LDAP and automating issuance with registrar APIs or Ansible when DNS-01 is needed.