AMD Opteron: How Servers Opened the VIP Door for AMD
How AMD Opteron won server rooms with x86-64, integrated memory controllers, and sane scalingβplus practical ops checks to diagnose real bottlenecks fast.
MariaDB vs RDS MariaDB: Who Gets Fewer Weird Compatibility Surprises?
A production-minded comparison of self-managed MariaDB vs AWS RDS MariaDB, focusing on compatibility gotchas, plugins, SQL quirks, upgrades, and diagnostics.
MySQL vs MariaDB on a 2GB RAM VPS: Tuning Profiles That Donβt Crash
Practical MySQL vs MariaDB tuning for 2GB VPS: memory budgets, safe configs, diagnosis commands, failure modes, and checklists to avoid OOM crashes.
Ubuntu 24.04 Kernel Parameter Tuning: the 5 sysctls that matter (and the 10 that donβt) (case #42)
Practical Ubuntu 24.04 sysctl tuning: the five kernel parameters worth touching, ten that rarely help, and a fast playbook to diagnose bottlenecks.
Email Domain Warm-up: A Practical Plan to Avoid Instant Spam Flags
A battle-tested domain warm-up plan: authenticate, ramp traffic safely, monitor deliverability, and fix spam flags fast with SRE-grade checks.
Docs Callouts That Donβt Betray You: CSS Variables, Dark Mode, and Operational Discipline
Build reliable NOTE/TIP/WARN/DANGER callouts using CSS variables and dark mode, with testing, debugging commands, and failure-proof theming tactics.
PostgreSQL vs OpenSearch: the hybrid search setup that actually works
A practical SRE guide to PostgreSQL vs OpenSearch hybrid search: architecture, failure modes, commands, and checklists to ship fast and stay reliable.
Docker βToo Many Requestsβ When Pulling Images: Fix Registry Throttling Like You Mean It
Diagnose and fix Docker image pull throttling: identify rate limits, reduce pull storms, add caching mirrors, and make CI and clusters reliable.
ZFS on Root: Installing So Rollbacks Actually Work
Install ZFS-on-root the right way so boot environments and rollbacks actually boot. Concrete commands, failure modes, and production-grade checks.
HBM on CPUs: When Memory Moves Into the Package
HBM on CPUs is reshaping latency, bandwidth, and SRE playbooks. Learn what changes, how to diagnose bottlenecks, and avoid costly mistakes.
DNSSEC Fails Randomly: Debugging Validation Errors Without Panic
A pragmatic, command-driven guide to chase βrandomβ DNSSEC failures: validate chains, isolate resolvers, read logs, fix clocks, MTU, and DS errors.
Proxmox Clustering and HA: How It Works, What Breaks, and How to Design It Properly
A practical guide to Proxmox clustering and HA: quorum, corosync, storage, fencing, failure modes, diagnostics, and designs that survive real outages.
Bendgate: when βthinβ turned into a warranty nightmare
Bendgate wasnβt just a phone story: itβs a reliability lesson in thin design, manufacturing variance, and monitoring signals before warranties explode.
Hub-and-spoke WireGuard VPN for 3 offices with role-based access
Build a hub-and-spoke WireGuard VPN for three offices with role-based access control, reliable routing, monitoring, and fast diagnosis steps.
Tag chips and filter bars: overflow handling, wrap, scroll, selected states
How to design tag chips and filter bars that donβt break: overflow rules, wrapping vs scrolling, selected states, and production-grade debugging.
DMARC Reports: How to Read Them and Catch Spoofing Early
Learn to read DMARC aggregate and forensic reports, spot spoofing fast, fix SPF/DKIM alignment, and build a practical workflow to reduce risk.
Email β421 too many connectionsβ: tune concurrency without delaying mail
Fix SMTP 421 too many connections without slowing delivery: diagnose bottlenecks, tune Postfix concurrency, protect servers, and keep queues healthy.
AMD and Ray Tracing: Why Catching Up Was the Smart Play
AMDβs ray tracing βcatch-upβ wasnβt weaknessβit was survival engineering. Learn the tradeoffs, bottlenecks, and ops-grade ways to measure RT.
Debian 13: nftables rules βdonβt workβ β load order and conflicts, fixed for good
Fix Debian 13 nftables rules that βdonβt workβ by auditing load order, systemd units, and conflicts with iptables, firewalld, and Docker.
Mining Editions: the Best and Worst Ideas the Industry Shipped
Mining editions turned storage into a short-lived commodity: louder fans, hotter drives, fragile warranties. Hereβs what worked, what failed, and how to diagnose them.
ZFS compression lz4: When Itβs βFreeβ and When It Isnβt
A production-grade guide to ZFS lz4 compression: when itβs effectively free, when it hurts, and how to diagnose CPU, ARC, and I/O tradeoffs fast.
Debian 13: PostgreSQL connection storms β pooler vs tuning: what actually works (case #37)
Stop PostgreSQL connection storms on Debian 13 with a fast diagnosis playbook, pooler vs tuning tradeoffs, and tested commands that guide real fixes.
Proxmox LXC Wonβt Start: Reading cgroups and AppArmor Errors Like a SRE
A production-grade guide to diagnose Proxmox LXC start failures: cgroups v1/v2, AppArmor denials, log interpretation, and decisive fixes.
DNS Changes Not Visible: Which Caches to Flush (and Which Not to Touch)
A practical SRE guide to DNS propagation: identify which cache is lying, flush only what matters, and avoid outages caused by knee-jerk restarts.
Micro UI Components for Tech Posts: kbd, Badges, Tags, Inline Code, and Copy Buttons
A production-minded guide to kbd, badges, tags, inline code, and copy buttons: accessibility, failure modes, telemetry, and sane defaults.
EULAs Nobody Reads: The Contract Everyone Signs Anyway
EULAs shape outages, audits, and exit plans. Learn what breaks in production, how to verify terms, and the operational checks that keep you safe.
ZFS NFS: The Tunables That Make It Feel Like Local Disk
A production-first guide to ZFS+NFS performance: the tunables, failure modes, and fast diagnosis steps that make network storage feel local.
Scroll progress bar for articles: CSS-first, minimal JS that wonβt page-fault your UX
Build an article scroll progress bar using CSS-first patterns with minimal JS, with real SRE-style diagnostics for jank, CLS, and edge cases.
Email: TTL during migration β the simple trick that prevents downtime
Lower DNS TTL before an email migration to cut propagation delays, avoid split delivery, and switch MX safely with a measurable rollback plan.
Antivirus That Breaks PCs: The Irony That Keeps Repeating
Why antivirus keeps breaking PCs: real failure modes, fast diagnosis playbook, and pragmatic controls to prevent security tools from taking systems down.
WireGuard Hub-and-Spoke for 3 Offices Through a Central Gateway
Build a reliable WireGuard hub-and-spoke to connect three offices via one gateway: routing, NAT, MTU, observability, and fast diagnosis in production.
MySQL vs PostgreSQL: βIt Suddenly Got Slowββa 15-Minute Diagnosis Plan for Both
A production-grade 15-minute checklist to diagnose sudden MySQL or PostgreSQL slowness: CPU, I/O, locks, queries, storage, and safe next actions.
Proxmox Stuck Tasks: How to Clean Up Hung Jobs and Processes Safely
A production-grade playbook for diagnosing and clearing Proxmox stuck tasks without data loss: storage locks, hung backups, ZFS stalls, and safe recovery.
Debian 13 Swapfile Pitfalls: Create It Right (Permissions, fstab, Priority)
Avoid Debian 13 swapfile outages: correct permissions, fallocate vs dd, fstab options, priorities, hibernation, and fast diagnosis commands.
Proxmox βLogin Failedβ When the Web UI Loads: Top Causes and Fixes
Web UI loads but Proxmox says βlogin failedβ? Diagnose auth realms, time drift, PAM, pveproxy/ticket issues, cluster quirks, and fixes fast.
ZFS SLOG power-loss protection: The Feature Your SSD Must Have
A practical deep dive into ZFS SLOG devices, why power-loss protection matters, how to test it, and how to diagnose sync write bottlenecks fast.
Ubuntu 24.04: UFW locked you out β recover SSH access safely from console
Recover SSH after UFW blocks you on Ubuntu 24.04. Use console-only steps to audit rules, restore access safely, and prevent repeat lockouts.
NTP Across Offices: the Small Thing That Breaks AD, VPN, and Certificates
Time drift across offices quietly breaks AD logons, VPN auth, and TLS certs. Learn fast diagnosis, correct NTP design, and practical commands.
P-states and C-states: what your CPU does when it’s idle
Learn how CPU P-states and C-states really behave in production: latency, power, governors, BIOS traps, and commands to diagnose idle-time issues.
CPU Cache (L1/L2/L3) in Plain English: Why Memory Wins
Learn why CPU caches matter, how memory latency dominates performance, and how to diagnose real bottlenecks with practical Linux commands.
MySQL vs PostgreSQL: JSON workloadsβfast shortcut or long-term pain
A production-minded comparison of MySQL and PostgreSQL for JSON: indexing, query plans, replication, and failure modesβso you donβt regret it later.
ZFS SMB: Fixing βWindows Copy Is Slowβ for Real
Make Windows SMB copies fast on ZFS by pinpointing the bottleneck: sync writes, recordsize, SMB tuning, ARC, fragmentation, and network limits.
Docker: Backups You Never Tested β How to Run a Restore Drill Properly
A practical restore-drill guide for Docker: inventory state, verify backups, rehearse recovery, catch permission traps, and prove RTO/RPO before outages.
ZFS ECC vs non-ECC: Risk Math for Real Deployments
A practical risk model for running ZFS on ECC or non-ECC RAM: failure modes, diagnostics, commands, and how to choose for real systems.
3D Stacking and the Chiplet Future: Where CPUs Are Headed
A practical, ops-minded guide to 3D stacking and chiplets: performance, thermals, packaging, failure modes, and how to diagnose bottlenecks fast.
Proxmox βcannot allocate memoryβ: ballooning, overcommit, and how to tune it
Diagnose and fix Proxmox βcannot allocate memoryβ fast: understand ballooning, overcommit, swap, ZFS ARC, and tune hosts and VMs safely.
PostgreSQL vs SQLite on a VPS: the quickest no-regret choice
Choose PostgreSQL or SQLite on a VPS fast, without regrets. Practical commands, failure modes, and a clear decision path for real production workloads.
Pentium 4 / NetBurst: the loudest mistake of the GHz era
A production-minded autopsy of Pentium 4 NetBurst: why GHz lost to latency, how it broke real workloads, and how to diagnose similar traps today.
SMB Shares Over VPN Without Drops: Fixing βNetwork Path Not Foundβ for Real
Learn why SMB over VPN drops and how to stop βnetwork path not foundβ with practical checks, MTU/MSS tuning, SMB timeouts, and real ops playbooks.
Itanium: how βthe future of serversβ became a punchline
A production-minded autopsy of Itanium: why EPIC betting failed, where ops got burned, and how to migrate, audit, and de-risk legacy estates.