ZFS SLOG Sizing: How Much You Really Need (Not βBigger Is Betterβ)
Size ZFS SLOG by workload, latency, and TXG behaviorβnot gut feel. Learn what to measure, what to buy, and how to avoid common sync-write traps.
Docker: I/O wait from hell β throttle the one container killing your host
Learn to identify the Docker container causing extreme I/O wait, pinpoint disk bottlenecks, and throttle it safely with cgroups, blkio, and QoS.
Docker: Limit Log Spam at the Source β App Logging Patterns That Save Disks
Practical app-side logging patterns to stop Docker log spam, reduce disk churn, keep incidents readable, and avoid runaway stdout logs in production.
ZFS iostat Basics: Turning Numbers Into a Bottleneck
Learn ZFS iostat the SRE way: read vdev stats, spot latency bottlenecks, and choose fixes with practical commands and fast triage playbooks.
ZFS zdb Introduction: The Tool You Fear Until You Need It
A practical, production-minded guide to zdb: how to inspect ZFS pools, datasets, and blocks safely, diagnose failures fast, and avoid common traps.
Melting Connectors: When a βStandardβ Becomes a Scandal
A field guide to melting high-power connectors: why βstandardβ isnβt safety, how to diagnose heat fast, and what fixes actually hold in production.
FSR explained: how AMD made upscaling mainstream
A practical, ops-minded guide to AMD FSR: how spatial and temporal upscaling work, how to benchmark correctly, and what breaks in real pipelines.
USB: the βit should just workβ port that still doesnβt
USB looks universal until it meets power limits, flaky cables, odd controllers, and drivers. Diagnose failures fast and keep production sane.
Import an ESXi VM into Proxmox: Windows/Linux, VirtIO Drivers, NIC Mapping, Boot Fixes
Move ESXi VMs to Proxmox safely: export/convert disks, pick VirtIO drivers, map NICs, and fix boot failures for Windows and Linux.
Docker on SELinux/AppArmor Hosts: The Permission Errors Nobody Explains
A practical SRE guide to Docker permission errors caused by SELinux/AppArmor: fast diagnosis, real commands, fixes, and common failure modes.
SPF Record Formatting: Quoting and Spaces That Quietly Break Email
Learn how SPF record quoting and whitespace errors break email authentication, how to diagnose failures fast, and the exact fixes to ship safely.
ZFS key management: The Part Everyone Forgets Until Disaster Day
A production-grade guide to ZFS encryption key management: practical commands, failure stories, recovery playbooks, and the habits that prevent disaster.
Ubuntu 24.04: SSH worked yesterday, now βPermission deniedβ β fix the 5 most common causes
SSH worked yesterday but now says Permission denied on Ubuntu 24.04? Diagnose keys, sshd config, accounts, permissions, and auth policy fast.
Ubuntu 24.04 updates broke kernel modules: rebuild initramfs correctly (case #28)
When Ubuntu 24.04 updates break kernel modules, the fix is usually a correct initramfs rebuild. Diagnose fast, rebuild safely, and verify boot.
Debian/Ubuntu Disk Latency Spikes: Prove Itβs Storage, Not the App (Tools + Fixes)
A rigorous Debian/Ubuntu playbook to prove disk latency spikes are storage, not the appβusing iostat, blktrace, perf, and fixes that stick.
Ubuntu 24.04: PHP-FPM keeps crashing β the log line you must find (and the fixes)
Track PHP-FPM crashes on Ubuntu 24.04 by finding the decisive log line, then apply proven fixes for OOM, segfaults, pools, limits, and systemd.
DNS over HTTPS and DNS over TLS: privacy without breaking corporate networks
Deploy DoH/DoT safely in enterprises: keep DNS privacy gains while preserving split-horizon, logging, controls, and reliable incident response.
WordPress Thumbnail Issues: Regenerate Thumbnails Without Taking the Site Down
Fix broken WordPress thumbnails safely: diagnose bottlenecks, regenerate at scale with WP-CLI, and avoid downtime with sane batching and cache tactics.
A Non-Embarrassing 404 Page: Helpful Links, Search, Lightweight Humor
Build a 404 page that actually helps: useful links, fast search, sane logging, caching, and tiny humorβwithout tanking SEO or reliability.
ZFS ARC sizing: When Too Much Cache Slows Down Everything Else
A practical, production-focused guide to ZFS ARC sizing: why oversized cache hurts, how to diagnose pressure, and the exact commands to fix it safely.
WordPress hacked: a step-by-step incident response that doesn’t make it worse
A production-grade incident response for hacked WordPress: contain, preserve evidence, eradicate, restore, and hardenβwithout destroying data.
Debian 13: Nginx suddenly returns 403/404 β permissions vs config, how to tell instantly
When Nginx flips to 403/404 on Debian 13, you need fast triage. Learn to distinguish permissions, SELinux/AppArmor, and config issues in minutes.
Docker + UFW: Why your ports are open anyway β lock it down correctly
Docker can bypass UFW by inserting iptables rules, leaving published ports exposed. Learn how to audit, diagnose, and lock it down safely.
IKEv2/IPsec: When Itβs a Better Choice Than WireGuard or OpenVPN
Choose IKEv2/IPsec when you need native clients, enterprise policy, roaming stability, and compliance-grade controlβwithout the VPN snowflake tax.
Ubuntu 24.04: VPN breaks DNS β fix resolvers and routes in the correct order (case #52)
Fix Ubuntu 24.04 VPN DNS failures by checking routing first, then resolvers and split DNS, and finally systemd-resolved caching and firewall rules.
Supply-chain attacks: when hackers target your vendor instead of you
Learn how supply-chain attacks happen, how to detect blast radius fast, and the exact hardening tasks to reduce vendor compromise risk in prod.
Ubuntu 24.04 βIllegal instructionβ: CPU flags vs binaries β fix deployments cleanly (case #56)
Stop Ubuntu 24.04 βIllegal instructionβ crashes by matching CPU flags to binaries, auditing build targets, and deploying sane fallbacks and tests.
WordPress Gutenberg Editor Wonβt Load: A Practical Debug Checklist
Debug a stuck WordPress Gutenberg editor fast: isolate plugin conflicts, REST/API failures, caching, CSP, PHP errors, storage, and JS issues with commands.
Unsigned drivers: when security broke perfectly fine hardware
Unsigned driver blocks can brick storage paths, NICs, and GPUs overnight. Learn why it happens, how to diagnose fast, and how to avoid it.
MariaDB vs SQLite Locking: How to Avoid βBusyβ Errors
Practical SRE guidance on SQLite busy errors vs MariaDB locks: diagnose contention fast, tune timeouts, and pick the right engine safely.
MariaDB vs MySQL: the one checklist that finds bottlenecks faster than tuning knobs
A production-first checklist to pinpoint MariaDB vs MySQL bottlenecks fastβCPU, IO, locks, replication, buffersβbefore you touch risky tuning knobs.
Xeon history: how server chips set the rules for everyone
A practical, ops-first history of Intel Xeon: how server CPU choices shaped reliability, virtualization, storage, and performanceβand how to debug them fast.
Postfix Queue Stuck: The Safe Cleanup Workflow (No Data Loss)
A production-safe workflow to diagnose and clear a stuck Postfix queue without losing mail: find the bottleneck, fix root cause, replay safely.
WordPress Update Failed: Fix Permissions, Disk Space, and Ownership the Right Way
Fix WordPress update failures by diagnosing permissions, disk space, and ownership. Includes fast checks, commands, and safe long-term hardening steps.
Containers vs VMs: which CPU profile wins for what
A practical CPU-focused guide to choosing containers vs VMs: latency, throughput, noisy neighbors, pinning, NUMA, quotas, and debugging in production.
Docker + TLS: Letβs Encrypt inside/outside containers β pick the safe pattern
A practical guide to running Letβs Encrypt with Docker: safest patterns, renewals, volumes, failure modes, diagnostics, and hard-won ops lessons.
WordPress 404 on Posts: Fix Permalinks Without Breaking SEO
Fix WordPress post 404s by diagnosing rewrite rules, permalinks, and redirects. Restore URLs safely, preserve SEO signals, and verify at scale.
MySQL vs MongoDB: the βNoSQL because trendyβ mistake that kills VPS performance
Choosing MongoDB on a small VPS can turn simple reads into disk thrash and OOM kills. Learn how to diagnose bottlenecks and pick MySQL or MongoDB safely.
RAM timings without pain: MHz vs CL and what to buy
Understand RAM speed vs latency in plain terms, pick the right kit, and troubleshoot real bottlenecks with commands, not folklore or hype.
GPU efficiency: why βbetterβ doesnβt always mean βbiggerβ
Bigger GPUs can underperform when workloads, memory, I/O, and scheduling donβt align. Learn fast diagnosis, fixes, commands, and real failures.
ZFS Capacity Planning: Designing for Growth Without Rebuilding
Plan ZFS capacity for real growth: vdev strategy, RAIDZ tradeoffs, expansion paths, and operational checks that prevent costly rebuilds and outages.
Docker AppArmor and seccomp: the minimum hardening that matters
Practical minimum Docker hardening with AppArmor and seccomp: what to enable, how to verify, fast diagnosis, mistakes, and real incident stories.
ZFS Special Small Blocks: How to Turbocharge Small-File Workloads
Learn how ZFS special small blocks and special vdevs accelerate metadata and tiny files, with sizing, commands, pitfalls, and ops playbooks.
Docker Multi-Host Without Kubernetes: Real Options and Hard Limits
Run Docker across multiple hosts without Kubernetes using Swarm, Nomad, systemd, and service discoveryβplus storage, networking, failure modes, and ops drills.
ZFS hot-swap strategy: How to Replace Disks Without Panic
A production-grade ZFS hot-swap strategy: identify the right disk, replace safely, monitor resilver, avoid pitfalls, and keep performance stable.
MySQL vs Aurora MySQL: βmanagedβ doesnβt mean βfasterββwhat changes for real
A field guide to MySQL vs Aurora MySQL: what actually changes in performance, storage, replicas, failover, and debugging when βmanagedβ hits production.
Red Ring of Death: the Xbox 360 heat disaster that cost billions
How the Xbox 360βs Red Ring of Death happened: thermal design, solder fatigue, supply chain pressure, and the reliability lessons SREs can use today.
ZFS pools: Why βPartitions Thinkingβ Makes Your Design Bad
Stop designing ZFS like itβs 1999. Learn how partition-centric thinking breaks pools, performance, and recoveryβand what to do instead in production.
ZFS DDT Sizing: Predicting RAM Needs Before Enabling Dedup
A practical guide to estimate ZFS DDT RAM needs before enabling dedup: measure block counts, workload churn, special vdev impact, and failure modes.
386: the moment the PC started acting like a server
How the 386 turned PCs into server-like machines: protected mode, virtual memory, multitasking, and the ops lessons still shaping SRE work today.