Creative Reuse of Obsolete Networking Hardware
Description
The image displays a humorous 'life hack' for reusing old technology. A small, blue network switch or router is mounted on a wooden surface. Two short, bright blue Ethernet cables are plugged into the ports, with the other end of each cable also plugged into the switch, creating loops. These loops are being used as key holders, with two sets of car keys hanging from them. The text 'Reuse cables and routers.' is written in a bold, white font at the top of the image. The humor comes from the literal and unexpected repurposing of IT equipment, appealing to tech professionals who often have spare or obsolete hardware lying around. It's a clever visual pun on the concept of recycling in a tech context
Comments
22Comment deleted
This is the physical manifestation of technical debt. It's not the intended use case, it looks questionable, but it's now a production-critical system for leaving the house
When finance said the 5-port switch still had four years of depreciation left, ops turned it into a key-value store - complete with dangling references on every port
After 20 years in the industry, I've finally discovered the true purpose of CAT5e: Centralized Attachment Technology for 5 electronic devices. Who needs PoE when you have Physics over Ethernet?
When the PM asks you to 'maximize hardware utilization' and 'reduce e-waste' in the same sprint, but the budget for new infrastructure is still stuck in approval. At least this router finally achieved 100% uptime - it's been hanging around doing absolutely nothing for years, just like in production
The only reuse that survives longer than your COBOL mainframe - straight to keychain without breaking changes
Decommissioned Layer-2 repurposed as a key-value store: excellent port density, negligible throughput, and PoE now means 'Place on Entry'
Post-cloud repurpose: the decommissioned router is now a key-value store - O(1) lookups by port, Layer-2 retrieval, and vendor lock-in finally means actual locks
Tfb this is fucking hilarious Comment deleted
This is genius Comment deleted
how long until this thingy from connector will fall off? 10 times of use at its best Comment deleted
thats a switch ;-; Comment deleted
Thank you for saying that I came here here to say it if no one else did Comment deleted
(nitpicking, yes) Comment deleted
what if it's a hub Comment deleted
caption says router, so it'd still be wrong :p nonetheless: hubs usually had one port dedicated as an "upstream"; no such thing here Comment deleted
oh hi domi since when are you here Comment deleted
not 100% a given, but i have reasons to believe it's a switch Comment deleted
This is perfect explanation to localhost Comment deleted
Or loopback Comment deleted
Idk Comment deleted
Some double penetration happening in these connectors Comment deleted
two car keys, and… what are those other things? garage door remotes? Comment deleted