The global chip shortage: when tiny parts froze entire industries
How the chip shortage happened, why supply chains snapped, and the operational playbooksβdiagnosis, tasks, and fixesβto stop tiny parts from freezing you.
Docker Restart Policies: Stop Creating Infinite Crash Loops
Learn how Docker restart policies behave, how crash loops happen, and the exact commands to diagnose and fix unstable containers safely.
WireGuard DNS Not Working Through VPN: Correct DNS Setup on Linux and Windows
Fix WireGuard DNS failures on Linux and Windows with fast triage, correct resolvconf/systemd-resolved setups, and clean routing rules.
WordPress βmax_input_varsβ: Why Menus and Forms Break, and How to Fix It
When WordPress menus or big forms wonβt save, max_input_vars is often the culprit. Learn fast diagnosis, fixes, and safe production rollouts.
DNS: MTU Issues Can Break DNS β How to Prove It and Fix It
When DNS fails only sometimes, MTU and fragmentation are common culprits. Learn how to prove it with packet tests and fix it safely.
ZFS Incremental Send: Backups That Donβt Recopy Everything
Learn ZFS incremental send for fast, reliable backups: snapshots, replication streams, resume tokens, bottleneck diagnosis, and real ops pitfalls.
MySQL vs PostgreSQL backups in containers: how to avoid fake backups
Learn to detect and prevent fake MySQL/PostgreSQL container backups with restore tests, WAL/binlog checks, snapshots, and operational checklists.
ZFS for Media Files: Big Records, Big Compression, Big Wins
Tune ZFS for large media files with big record sizes, smart compression, and practical diagnostics. Get real commands, failure modes, and fixes.
Ubuntu 24.04: Memory ballooning surprises β set sane limits and stop swap storms (case #76)
Diagnose Ubuntu 24.04 memory ballooning, set hard limits, tune swap and PSI, and prevent swap storms in VMs and containers with commands.
Ubuntu 24.04 swapiness and vm.dirty settings: the small tunings that actually matter
Practical Ubuntu 24.04 guidance on vm.swappiness and vm.dirty tuning: diagnose memory/writeback pain, choose safe values, and verify results with commands.
Proxmox No-Subscription Repository: Configure Repos Without Breaking Upgrades
Configure Proxmox no-subscription repos safely: correct APT sources, avoid mixed suites, keep Ceph aligned, and upgrade cleanly with fast diagnostics.
Two Internet Links at the Office: VPN Failover on MikroTik Without Chaos
Build predictable VPN failover on MikroTik with two ISP links: sane routing, health checks, NAT, and diagnostics that prevent flaps and surprise outages.
ZFS Small Random Writes: Why Mirrors Often Beat Parity
A practical SRE guide to why ZFS mirrors usually win for small random writes, how parity vdevs get stuck, and how to diagnose and fix it fast.
ZFS Silent Corruption: What ZFS Detects That RAID Often Misses
ZFS catches silent data corruption with end-to-end checksums, self-healing scrubs, and smart redundancyβoften beyond what RAID detects in practice.
Workstation vs Gaming GPUs: What Youβre Actually Paying For
A practical breakdown of workstation vs gaming GPUs: drivers, VRAM, ECC, reliability, certifications, and how to diagnose real bottlenecks fast.
Proxmox βbridge port has no carrierβ: Fast Troubleshooting for Cable, Switch, and Driver Issues
Fix Proxmox βbridge port has no carrierβ fast: verify cable/SFP, switch port, NIC driver/firmware, VLANs, and bridge config with precise commands.
Fans Installed Backwards: When Airflow Goes the Wrong Way
Backwards-installed fans can quietly cook servers and storage. Learn fast diagnosis steps, commands, failure modes, and practices that prevent recurrences.
CSS for Markdown Content: Sane Defaults That Donβt Break Production
Practical CSS defaults for Markdown: readable headings, lists, tables, code, and blockquotesβwith diagnostics, checklists, and failure modes.
Why Synthetic Benchmarks Lie (and How to Catch Them)
Synthetic benchmarks often mislead by ignoring real workloads, caches, queues, and contention. Learn how to detect lies and validate storage performance safely.
WordPress Is Slow: Find the Bottleneck Step by Step (Server, Plugins, or Database)
A production-grade, step-by-step playbook to pinpoint WordPress slowness across CPU, disk, PHP-FPM, MySQL, and pluginsβwith commands and decisions.
Proxmox 2FA Lockout: How to Avoid It (and How to Recover Fast)
Avoid Proxmox 2FA lockouts with break-glass access, offline recovery codes, and tested runbooks. Recover safely via root/PAM and audit logs.
SMTP Throttling: Prove Itβs the Provider and Adapt Cleanly
A production-grade guide to diagnosing SMTP throttling, proving itβs upstream, and adapting queues, retries, and rate limits without losing mail or sleep.
WordPress βMax execution time exceededβ: why it happens and safe fixes
Fix WordPress max execution time exceeded safely. Learn root causes, fast diagnosis, commands to prove bottlenecks, and durable config changes.
ZFS zdb -C: Reading Pool Config Straight From Disk
Learn to use zdb -C to read ZFS pool config from disk, diagnose import failures, and recover safely with practical commands and decisions.
AVX: Instructions That Make Workloads Fasterβand CPUs Hotter
AVX can turbocharge throughput, then yank CPU clocks and cook your thermal budget. Learn how to detect, control, and safely deploy AVX in prod.
SPF Softfail vs Fail: Pick the Setting That Wonβt Backfire
Choose between SPF ~all and -all without breaking mail. Learn failure modes, receiver behavior, diagnostics, commands, and a safe rollout plan.
Proxmox storage βnot available on nodeβ: why it exists but you canβt use it
When Proxmox says storage exists but isnβt available on a node, itβs usually config scope, missing mounts, auth, or broken paths. Diagnose fast.
DMARC quarantine vs reject: when to switch and how to roll it out safely
A production-grade rollout guide for moving DMARC from none to quarantine to reject, with diagnostics, commands, failure modes, and safe cutovers.
WordPress βAllowed memory size exhaustedβ: fix it for good
Stop WordPress βAllowed memory size exhaustedβ errors by measuring real PHP memory, fixing plugins, tuning PHP-FPM, and setting safe limits.
WordPress 403 Forbidden: Diagnose and Fix Permissions, WAF Rules, and Blocking
Track down WordPress 403 errors fast: permissions, ownership, Nginx/Apache rules, WAF/CDN blocks, and security pluginsβplus commands and fixes.
Pure HTML/CSS Landing Page: Hero, Features, Pricing, FAQ (Docs-Style)
Build a fast docs-style landing page in pure HTML/CSS: hero, features, pricing, FAQ, and real SRE checklists for performance, uptime, and SEO.
Docker DNS Caching Lies: Flush the Right Cache (Inside vs Outside Containers)
Diagnose Docker DNS caching issues by flushing the correct cache: app, libc, nscd, systemd-resolved, Docker embedded DNS, or upstream resolvers.
MySQL vs PostgreSQL Replication Lag: Why It Happens and How to Reduce It
Replication lag hurts SLOs and trust. Learn why MySQL and PostgreSQL replicas fall behind, how to pinpoint bottlenecks, and fixes that stick.
Low-end GPUs: why they’ll matter again
Low-end GPUs are returning as the smartest way to scale inference, video, and edge workloads. Learn bottlenecks, sizing, and ops playbooks.
How to migrate from VMware ESXi to Proxmox VE (step-by-step): VMs, disks, VLANs, downtime
A production-grade ESXi to Proxmox VE migration guide: inventory, VLAN mapping, disk moves, downtime planning, conversion commands, and fast diagnosis.
Proxmox βcannot initialize CMAP serviceβ: Corosync/pmxcfs troubleshooting checklist
A production-grade checklist to fix Proxmox βcannot initialize CMAP serviceβ, covering corosync, pmxcfs, quorum, networking, and recovery steps.
MySQL vs PostgreSQL: the honest βwebsite DBβ pick (based on real bottlenecks)
Choose MySQL or PostgreSQL for a website using real bottlenecks: locking, indexing, replicas, bloat, backups, and incident-proof operations.
Proxmox VFIO βdevice is in useβ: detaching PCI devices from the host the right way
Practical Proxmox VFIO guide to fix βdevice is in useβ: identify holders, detach cleanly, bind to vfio-pci, and prevent host reclaim.
Glide vs Direct3D: the API war that decided gaming’s future
How Glide and Direct3D battled for 3D gaming: performance, drivers, tooling, and reliability lessons you can still use to debug graphics pipelines today.
Proxmox restore speed: tuning PBS, compression choices, and why restores are slow
Restore speed in Proxmox often lags behind backup speed. Learn how PBS chunks, compression, storage, network, and tuning impact restoresβand fix bottlenecks.
Docker: Clean up safely β reclaim space without deleting what you need
Reclaim Docker disk space safely with practical commands, fast diagnosis, and guardrails to avoid deleting images, volumes, or prod data you still need.
Toast Notifications UI with CSS: Stacking, Animations, Placement Variants
Build reliable toast notifications with CSS: solid stacking, placement variants, safe animations, z-index sanity, and a fast diagnosis playbook.
Active Directory over VPN: What Breaks First (DNS, Time, Ports) and How to Fix It
A production-first guide to running Active Directory over VPN: diagnose DNS, time drift, ports, and latency, then harden sites, routing, and policies.
MySQL vs MariaDB: slow query logβturn one hour of logs into a 2Γ speedup
Use MySQL or MariaDB slow query logs to find real bottlenecks fast. One hour of targeted analysis can produce a clean, repeatable 2Γ speedup.
MariaDB vs PostgreSQL Query Plans: Catch the Real Bottleneck, Not Symptoms
Learn to read MariaDB and PostgreSQL query plans like an SRE: find the real bottleneck, validate with metrics, and fix it safely in production.
MySQL vs MariaDB on NVMe: redo logs, flush policy, and IO capacity done right
Practical NVMe tuning for MySQL and MariaDB: redo logs, flush behavior, and IO capacity. Diagnose bottlenecks fast, avoid traps, ship safer latency.
Proxmox ZFS Degraded: Replace a Disk Without Collateral Damage
A production-safe, command-driven guide to replacing a failed ZFS disk on Proxmox: diagnose, swap, resilver, and avoid downtime or data loss.
Shellshock: when an environment variable became world news
A practical, ops-first deep dive into Shellshock: how Bash env vars turned into remote code execution, how to diagnose fast, and how to harden safely.
ZFS Sequential Reads: Tuning for Maximum Streaming Throughput
Practical ZFS tuning for peak sequential read throughput: recordsize, prefetch, ARC/L2ARC, vdev layout, compression, and fast bottleneck diagnosis.
MySQL vs MariaDB: WordPress 504sβwho collapses first under a traffic spike
When WordPress hits 504s under spikes, the database is often the choke. Compare MySQL vs MariaDB failure modes, triage fast, and fix safely.