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A small notebook for a system administrator

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Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#241

Post by beetwenty »

eddie_catflap wrote: post #167

I'm in the market for something like this for on call purposes. Something small/light enough to stow in a coat pocket but which has a physical keyboard and enough functionality for me to be able to triage most issues without having to resort to a laptop. I've been trying the Gemini which almost fits the bill but doesn't quite cut it - the keyboard is OK but not backlit (I didn't think about how often that comes in ha…

In another reply thread I mentioned that I'm using a $50 smartphone kit consisting of a smartphone stand(Nulaxy brand, but there are dozens of similar designs) and iClever folding Bluetooth keyboard for writing. I think this is roughly along the lines of what you might want. The keyboard fits snugly in a vest pocket(it comes in two versions - I'm using the larger version with full-size keys and backlight) and gives a decent - not amazing, but good enough that I don't care - typing experience. There are many folding Bluetooth keyboards on Amazon, but this one stood out from the pack.

Combined with the stand to raise my phone I have something a bit more ergonomic than most integrated-device experiences, definitely better than what I would get from a Gemini when a flat surface is available, and I can literally throw on my vest and go for a jog and then take out the kit at a coffeeshop and lose myself in writing without difficulty. You might also need more I/O or a full PC architecture, but this setup was like a "my search is over" moment for me.

Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#242

Post by diaz »

PascLeRasc wrote: post #189
criddell wrote: post #38

> Such notebook is suitable for posting photos on Instagram, but not for work. There's something about that statement that put me off the entire article. Maybe the author truly is 3l337, but it just comes off as condescending. Plus, who uses a notebook for Instagram? The author managed to be simultaneously derisive and clueless.

The designer made Tab the smallest key on the keyboard, but left two Windows keys, Caps Lock instead of control/super, a full Fn row instead of an numrow layer, Page Up/Down right next to the arrow keys, and designed the color-coding for someone who looks at the keyboard for each keypress instead of touch-typing. I'm not sure what they consider Real Work to be, but it's not text editing or writing. I'd recommend that…

Also I'd suggest you may be interested in reading the article properly because he clearly explains and has a reason for the color-coding and for it to be visual.

Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#243

Post by Arnt »

hinkley wrote: post #213
Arnt wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of us (I assume OP is one of them) think that since your screen won't be large anyway, there is little point to having a screen bigger than your preferred keyboard size. And since your battery won't be large enough to support compiling LLVM in reasonable time anyway, it's better to just get used to do CPU-heavy stuff by ssh-ing to a rackmount somewhere use the laptop for terminal-ish tasks.

But whose preferred keyboard size is this design? I think the old Fujitsu Lifebooks with the ~16:9 screen size and the nearly full sized keys is probably about the size you want on one of these things.

Not quite my cup of tea, but I've watched people reach for their Psion PDAs all the time, even when they had large keyboards within reach.

Evidently some people can become friends with some very small keyboards.

Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#244

Post by Arnt »

stephenr wrote: post #154
kingofhdds wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read the text? The goal is not a portable SSH client, but a sort of traveling admin's Swiss army knife device, hence relatively small size (but large enough to host a keyboard), and a lot of ports. Isn't it obvious that iPad cannot conform to the requirements?

Did you read the post I replied to? > And since your battery won't be large enough to support compiling LLVM in reasonable time anyway, it's better to just get used to do CPU-heavy stuff by ssh-ing to a rackmount somewhere use the laptop for terminal-ish tasks.

I wrote that. And the reason that I didn't go into connectivity/port issues is that they have almost nothing to do with battery lifetime. I saw no reason to digress into those topics.

Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#245

Post by eltoozero »

keepper wrote: post #186

This is SUCH a niche system, that I don't understand why carrying adapter is a bad thing. There are already laptops that kinda fit his keyboard/pointer/size requirements. - His "video subsystem" idea already has a solution for many years. KVM2USB. https://www.epiphan.com/products/kvm2usb-3-0/ - His "let me turn this into a boot device" also has a solution. Many virtual cd rom devices exist, for example https://www.am…

I-odd FTW, Pro-tip it emulates thumb drives too.

Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#246

Post by detaro »

detaro wrote: post #63
mihaifm wrote: post #18

Using the laptop monitor as a display for external sources (and the video input port) is a good idea, I'm not sure why nobody is implementing it these days. Are there any technical challenges to this, or is it a feature considered useless by all of the laptop producers?

Tiny market share. With USB3, at least you can have video capture dongles with reasonable resolution. I know for HDMI they're quite common, but I'd assume someone makes a VGA version too.

Searched a bit: USB3 VGA capture things are surprisingly expensive, but there's some cheap USB2 ones around. Presumably a sysadmin doesn't need high resolution, so those should work too.

Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#247

Post by lostmyoldone »

pell wrote: post #233
TeMPOraL wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To each their own, but personally I reacted positively to that sentence and immediately knew I want to read the whole article - because I knew the author feels the same way as I do: that computers are increasingly built for casual consumption, and are optimized to be toys, not tools.

I've used a 2012 MacBook Air 11,6" till 2018 for 3D development among other tasks. It's not a toy only usable for consumption. It's simply a good compromise when you care about mobility.

The author is probably working quite a bit in cramped network closets with unmanaged, or only partially managed networking gear. While these environments might be becoming less common, they will still exist for many years to come.

To work in these environments efficiently, an air is far from ideal. It's a good machine, but the amount of dongles you'd need to carry on a typical day would be rather intimidating, hooking it up and managing the rats nest of adapter cables would be tedious.

From this perspective, it's not unreasonable to call them toys. Simple things like having prominent rubber feet helps a lot with not having to worry the machine will slip and fall if the surface isn't perfectly flat and level.

With that said, I believe introducing an idea through calling other things toys without explaining why they are akin to toys in your line of work, is absolutely not the best way to present an idea.

Anyway, some features, like having the laptop be able to work as screen and keyboard for a headless machine would really be amazing in this line of work!

Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#248

Post by lostmyoldone »

varjag wrote: post #42

Doesn't have coaxial propellers option to double as a camera drone. A show stopper for me! Seriously, this is computer nerds' version of prepping, starting with a diss at clueless commoners and gradually piling up the levels of ridiculous.

Except for the diss - which I felt was quite unnecessary - I don't think that's fair. There are people out there that definitely would have use of something like this if it existed.

Feels a bit on the small size for me, but if you spend a fair amount of time in crampes networking/gear closets, I can see how it would be useful.

I have worked in environments where I've had to lug around screens, RS232, RS485, CAN bus adapters, SD card readers, you name it. Have had to scrounge up extension cables to get power because there are no jacks within 20m, and the list goes on.

Yes you can use adapters and dongles, yes you get by, it's your job to make things work. But in certain kind of environments a machine in this vein is something that actually would make work more efficient, and much more fun.

While these environments might be getting more rare nowadays, they are not extinct by a long shot.

Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#249

Post by lostmyoldone »

sbr464 wrote: post #151

I'm needing a clamp or solution to hold/lock usb-c cables into a macbook pro typically, or IBM X1. I was going to just 3d print something, but was hoping for something a bit more polished/form fitting. Having issues in the lab/shop with cables coming out during sensitive processes/data collection etc. Especially since a usb/ethernet dongle is heavier with multiple cables plugged in.

Yeah keeping cables in can be an issue, and I don't know of any polished solutions.

I have occasionally used high quality adhesive hook and loop tape to affix USB hubs and hard drives to the backside of my laptop screen to help avoid similar issues.

I taped a few strips of the soft loops on the lid which I replace when they get dirty, and then hooks on the accessories.

So while it won't lock the cable in the USB slot, maybe it could help to use an industrial hub with either lockable, or high-retention USB ports affixed to the computer, and then only have a very short and soft cable to the laptop USB-C port?

Sample lockable ports hub: https://buy.advantech-bb.com/USB-Communications/USB-Hubs/mod...

Re: A small notebook for a system administrator

#250

Post by eddie_catflap »

beetwenty wrote: post #241
eddie_catflap wrote: post #167

I'm in the market for something like this for on call purposes. Something small/light enough to stow in a coat pocket but which has a physical keyboard and enough functionality for me to be able to triage most issues without having to resort to a laptop. I've been trying the Gemini which almost fits the bill but doesn't quite cut it - the keyboard is OK but not backlit (I didn't think about how often that comes in ha…

In another reply thread I mentioned that I'm using a $50 smartphone kit consisting of a smartphone stand(Nulaxy brand, but there are dozens of similar designs) and iClever folding Bluetooth keyboard for writing. I think this is roughly along the lines of what you might want. The keyboard fits snugly in a vest pocket(it comes in two versions - I'm using the larger version with full-size keys and backlight) and gives a…

I’ll check that keyboard out! Many thanks.
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