

2.5 Admins
The Late Night Linux Family
2.5 Admins is a podcast featuring two sysadmins called Allan Jude and Jim Salter, and a producer/editor who can just about configure a Samba share called Joe Ressington. Every week we get together, talk about recent tech news, and answer some of your admin-related questions.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jan 21, 2021 • 31min
2.5 Admins 22: Unexpected migrations
Why Parler is unlikely to come back any time soon, free RHEL, and using a VPS to subvert VPN limits.
Plugs
Exploring Swap on FreeBSD
Support us on patreon
News
Amazon cuts off Parler’s Web hosting following Apple, Google bans
CentOS is gone—but RHEL is now free for up to 16 production servers
Free Consulting
We were asked about using a VPS to avoid limits on the number of devices connected to a VPN.
Linode
Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.
Datadog
This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Jan 14, 2021 • 30min
2.5 Admins 21: Reproducible errors
The merits of ECC RAM, why reproducible builds are a good idea, and where to buy used equipment.
Plugs
Webinar: Introducing OpenZFS 2.0
Support us on patreon
News/Discussion
Linus Torvalds rails at Intel for ‘killing’ the ECC industry
Why don’t PCs use error correcting RAM? “Because Intel,” says Linus
You don’t need reproducible builds
Free consulting
We were asked about the best places to buy used equipment.
Linode
Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.
Datadog
This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Jan 7, 2021 • 32min
2.5 Admins 20: Free money, claim it now!
A cruel but necessary phishing test, ancient standards in brand new legislation, using Windows when it makes sense, and commissioning and decommissioning servers.
Plugs
Webinar: Introducing OpenZFS 2.0
Klara: Routing and Firewalling VLANS with FreeBSD
Support us on patreon
News
GoDaddy Employees Were Told They Were Getting a Holiday Bonus. It Was Actually a Phishing Test
Brexit trade deal advises governments to use Netscape Communicator and SHA-1. Why? It’s all in the DNA
Free consulting
We were asked about Active Directory solutions, and the server commissioning and decommissioning process.
Linode
Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.
Datadog
This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.
TrueNAS from iXsystems
This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Dec 24, 2020 • 30min
2.5 Admins 19: nOauth? No gmail!
Why Google services like Gmail went down recently, the potentially promising future for RISC-V, and using ZFS for home and root.
News
Google Mail outage
Google incident report
New RISC-V CPU claims record breaking performance per watt
Seagate working on RISC-V SoCs
Free consulting
We were asked about using ZFS for root and home partitions.
Linode
Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.
Lernard
This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Dec 10, 2020 • 30min
2.5 Admins 18: False sense of privacy
Potentially improving DNS privacy, the big new ZFS release, and the best way to automate Linux installations.
Plugs
Webinar – Best Practices For Optimizing ZFS – Part 1
Support us on patreon
News
Improving DNS Privacy with Oblivious DoH in 1.1.1.1
OpenZFS 2.0 release unifies Linux, BSD and adds tons of new features
Free consulting
We were asked about the best way to automate Linux installations.
TrueNAS from iXsystems
This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.
Linode
Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Nov 26, 2020 • 35min
2.5 Admins 17: CPU change
How Intel and AMD have fought it out over the years, Apple changes the industry with their M1 SoC, and we repeat the mantra that RAID is not a backup.
Plugs
Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.
News
A history of Intel vs. AMD desktop performance, with CPU charts galore
Hands-on with the Apple M1—a seriously fast x86 competitor
Intel’s Disruption is Now Complete
Free consulting
A question about drive failures is answered with a basic lesson in backups.
We mentioned this article.
Linode
Simplify your cloud infrastructure with Linode’s Linux virtual machines and develop, deploy, and scale your modern applications faster and more easily. Go to linode.com/twoandahalf and get started with $100 credit.
Datadog
This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Nov 12, 2020 • 33min
2.5 Admins 16: TANSTAAFL
Google proves that “unlimited” anything doesn’t exist, GitHub shenanigans, Apple’s new Arm computers, and which distro to start with as a sysadmin.
Plugs
Allan’s ZFS Webinar – Nov 18th, signup soon
Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.
News
Arm Macs announced
Google Photos is the latest “Unlimited” plan to impose hard limits
GitHub’s source code was leaked on GitHub last night… sort of
Allan trolls Greg K-H
Free consulting
We were asked whether someone starting out as a sysadmin should master Debian or CentOS.
Datadog
This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.
TrueNAS from iXsystems
This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Oct 29, 2020 • 30min
2.5 Admins 15: Fixed it for ya
We wade through Cloudfare’s marketing fluff, forced WordPress plugin updates, a bunch of your questions, and the shocking revelation that FreeBSD actually has graphics drivers.
Plugs
History of FreeBSD, Part 2
News
Introducing Cloudflare One
Introducing Cloudflare Browser Isolation beta
WordPress deploys forced security update for dangerous bug in popular plugin
Free consulting
We answered a big batch of questions about managing bandwidth quotas, tape backups, preventing users from rebooting, and DKMS issues.
We mentioned Firehol, ntopng, and Bacula.
Datadog
This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.
Lernard
This episode is sponsored by Lernard. Sign up at automation.link and upgrade with the code admins to get 50% off a years’ subscription to a new devops training site called Lernard.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Oct 15, 2020 • 35min
2.5 Admins 14: Not a database
How not to store test results, AMD firmly on top of the desktop space, what moving to remote work means for corporate networks, and deduplication of disorganized data.
Plugs
Allan’s summary of the OpenZFS Devsummit 2020
All Things Open
Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.
News
Why using Microsoft’s tool caused Covid-19 results to be lost
AMD’s new Zen 3 Ryzen desktop CPUs arrive November 5
Yesterday’s corporate network design isn’t working for working from home
Free consulting
Joe asked for advice on deduplicating some old disorganized data.
Datadog
This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.
TrueNAS from iXsystems
This episode is sponsored by TrueNAS from iXsystems, the number one Open Storage OS. See how TrueNAS can support your next storage project, whether it’s just a few terabytes, all the way up to multiple petabytes.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.

Oct 1, 2020 • 29min
2.5 Admins 13: bs=1mebibyte
Intel almost catching up to AMD with Tiger Lake, the .uk fiasco, and why you shouldn’t be using dd.
Plugs
OpenZFS Developer Summit
All Things Open 2020
Support us on patreon. If enough people do, we will go weekly.
News
Hands-on with Intel’s i7-1185G7 Tiger Lake prototype laptop
Intel’s run at the GPU market begins with Tiger Lake onboard graphics
What the hell is going on with .uk?
.uk registry operator Nominet responds to renewed criticism – by silencing its critics
.uk overlord Nominet tells everyone not to worry about ‘distorted’ vote allocations in its board elections
Free consulting
We were asked about block size while using dd. Jim mentioned his blog post about iostat.
Datadog
This episode is sponsored by Datadog – the unified monitoring and analytics platform for comprehensive visibility into cloud, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. Start your Datadog trial today by visiting datadog.com/25admins, create one dashboard, and you’ll get a free Datadog t-shirt.
See our contact page for ways to get in touch.


