Vegas Poker

I know this is not the usual topic of posts on my blog, but as a longtime poker player who recently had a chance to play some Vegas poker, I found that my pre-trip research just didn't turn up the info I needed.  So for the good of the internet, here you go: "Vegas Poker Etiquette for a First Timer."

-  take your time folding: it's better to be a slow folder than to fold out of turn. And the guy on your right might be covering his cards, making it more difficult to see if he's folded. 

-  after you lose, leave. It's against the rules to hang around the table for too long if you're not playing.  The exception is that you can stay outside the playing area, which is typically cordoned off.

-  don't influence the actions of other players (tell them to call, to fold). It's against the rules. 

-  bring extra $$.  A $100 tournament might have a $25 fee on top. 

-  if you don't say "raise," it's normally assumed you're calling and need change. This is situational tho: if the bet is $600 and you put down $5500, especially in multiple chips, that's a pretty clear raise. 

-  put your high value chips in front.  This is a rule. 

- you can only play the $ that's on the table before a hand starts. So you can put a $100 bill out there and play it instead of chips, but you can't pull out your wallet mid hand and bet up those pocket aces. 

- there's usually a monitor someplace visible telling you the blinds, ante, round, time until the blinds are raised, and number of players left if it's a tournament.

- be friendly. If you're a nice guy and you make a faux pas, they'll go easy on you and tell you what you did wrong. If you're a jerk...

- don't string bet. If you dont know what that is, go look it up immediately.  

-  don't ever tell anyone your cards (or anything about your cards) until the hand is over. 

Honeynet

Now THIS is cool!   http://map.honeynet.org/

Ports

Quick hits on ports because it keeps being brought up:

• There are no 4 port 10GbE cards.
• Only onboard ports can be changed from initiator to target or visa versa.
• WWPN's are hard coded into the cards and onboard INITIATOR ports.
• You can change WWPN's on target ports.

BJJ!

I went to sleep last night after BJJ, and today is my first day as a blue belt.  I was graduated yesterday!  2 herniated disks, a torn MCL, 2 cases of MRSA, a million hyperextended joints and 5 years after I first stepped into a dojo, I am a blue belt.  It feels pretty fantastic!

Non Disruptive 1-Chassis-to-2-Chassis Transition

Can you non-disruptively transition a clustered single chassis system into two chassis?  We included a 7.3.6=> 8.1.1 upgrade to try to take advantage of cf takeover –n, which is used when there is a version mismatch to force a takeover when the other controller halts. 

Here’s a timeline of what we tried (on a 3240 in the lab) along with the results:

1.  Upgrade B

a.  Update B to 8.1.1, fail over to A

b.  Move B to new chassis and connect interconnect cable

c.  Set B's boolean to false

d.  Cf giveback -f

2.  Upgrade A

a.  Update A to 8.1.1

b.  Cf takeover -n failed because the interconnect was determined to be down, so B couldn't see A halting*1

c.  A is halted at this point

d.  Cf takeover –f failed, because of the version mismatch*2

e.  Cf forcetakeover succeeded

f.  Set A's boolean  to false

g.  Cf giveback failed because the interconnect was determined to be down. *3

h.  Cf giveback -f succeeded.

3.  All appears stable, interconnect is up.

Notes:

*1 “Partner is not UP, NDU Takeover Terminated”

*2 “cf: takeover cannot be performed because of reason (interconnect error)”

*3 “cf monitor all” attached

What we found out:

There is a Boolean env variable that tells each controller whether it’s sharing the chassis with another controller, which is called a “CC” configuration (true = yes, CC config).  The cool thing about this variable is that ONTAP will automatically set it to the correct value in two cases:

• 1.       Any time the system is in CC configuration, ONTAP will set the correct value itself (true).
• 2.       Any time the system is in CI configuration (i.e. an IOXM is present), ONTAP will set the correct value itself (false).
• 3.       For all other configurations, ONTAP will not change the value.

Conclusion: The upgrade/cf takeover -n didn't contribute.  There is still  a viable path for a non-disruptive plan, but it requires a precisely timed halt and cf forcetakeover, which isn’t without risk.  Action plan below:

Part 1:

• Fail over to A
• Move B to new chassis and connect interconnect
• Set B's boolean to false
• cf giveback -f

Part 2:

• Halt A, cf forcetakeover as soon as A drops to LOADER prompt
• Set A's boolean to false
• Boot A. Interconnect should be up when node reaches 'Waiting for giveback'
• cf giveback –f
• cf should be enabled

Note:  There is also a Boolean env variable that fools the controller into thinking it is in “CI” configuration.  It’s an effective override, wasn't useful here.

Electric Car

With gas going up, I took a look at the Tesla S model, entry level:

$49,999 (after $7500 credit(
40kWh
125 mile range (optimum)
Recharge: 2 hours

Let's say a 5% interest rate, 8 year payment plan, that's a $633/month payment.  $7596/year.

I pay $1920/year car payment + $3200/year in gas.  $5100/year total for my car that "recharges" (with gas) in 3 minutes.  And my car is slower, older, less cool looking, etc.

But I have to add electricity cost.  A 4 cylinder efficient BMW was 3x more expensive to drive than the Tesla, i think my 6 cylinder Sonata is probably 4x.  

So the numbers are: $5100 vs $8396.  That's 70% more expensive, without the wild cards. 

A couple other important things: cost to repair is going to be much more expensive for the Tesla, and how long the $20k battery lasts is a total wild card right now, delivering diminished range and efficiency over time (probably 30-40% less after 5 years, which means a range of only 87 miles).  And as hard as I drive, I'll likely see a lower range sooner.

I like that the car is heavy for snow and accidents, but with 125 mile range I'd never make it to Michigan again.  And my insurance would go up in the Tesla.

But if gas hits $7gal, the numbers change dramatically...all of a sudden, the two options are on par.  Maybe in a couple years!  Sorry, Tesla.


http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/tesla-model-s-offers-a-lesson-in-electric-vehicle-economics/
http://seekingalpha.com/article/844561-model-s-makes-inroads-for-tesla

NCIE

Things to study:

ISCSI commands

dm-mp Linux supports dm_mp multipathing type.
HBAnywhere =  Emulex
SANsurfer=  Qlogic HBA
SnapDrive  = HTTP, HTTPS, RPC
Beneficial uses of VLANs: 1) To isolate iSCSI traffic from LAN/WAN traffic. 2) To isolate management traffic from other IP traffic.
zones should be single initiator
A direct connect topology allows for guaranteed maximum network performance for iSCSI.
iSCSI access lists: control which network interfaces on a storage system that aninitiator can access, and limit the number of network interfaces advertised to a host by the storage system.
Power on order: 1) Network Switches. 2) Disk Shelves. 3) Any Tape Backup Devices. 4) NetApp Controller Heads.
Disable ALUA on igroups connecting using the NetApp DSM.

Brocade Switches

Web Tools : Tool to manage Brocade Switches.

cfgshow : CLI command to display all defined zone information.
configshow : CLI command use to verify configuration.

fabricshow : CLI command to display which Brocade switches are connected into a fabric.

supportshow : CLI command to collect detailed diagnostic information from a Brocade FC switch.
switchshow : CLI command to view current nodes connected to the switch

Cisco Switches

Cisco Fabric Manager : Native GUI switch tool for managing Cisco MDS-Series switches and directors.

show zoneset : CLI command to view all defined zone configuration information.

show zoneset active : CLI command to display currently active zoneset.

show version : CLI command to collect information about the firmware version.

NetApp deduplication (ASIS) is enabled on the volume level.

NetApp Host Utilities Kits perform the following functions: 1) They provide properly set disk and HBA timeout values. 2) They identify and set path priorities for NetApp LUNs.

A LUN can be mapped to an ALUA-enabled igroup and a non-ALUA-enabled igroup.

On ESX 4.0 : Path Selection Policy (PSP) for an MSCS LUN should be set to: MRU (Most recently used).

http://cosonok.blogspot.com/2012/02/netapp-ns0-502-study-notes-part-34-san.html