SumGuy's Ramblings
The art of wasting time.
Docker, self-hosting, AI/LLM, Linux, and DevOps — explained by someone who learned the hard way. No fluff, no enterprise jargon, just practical stuff that actually works on real hardware.
Recent Posts
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RAID-Z and dRAID: ZFS Parity Explained
RAID-Z isn't just RAID 5 with a new name. Variable stripe widths, no write hole, and dRAID's distributed spares change the rebuild math entirely.
13 min read -
Assume Your App Gets Popped
How to expose a possibly-vulnerable app to the public internet and survive it: rootless containers, a file-integrity tripwire, and zero inbound SSH on the box.
14 min read -
Mealie vs Tandoor vs Grocy Kitchen Stack
Mealie is the polished recipe app. Tandoor is the kitchen-ops powerhouse. Grocy tracks your entire house. Here's how to pick a self-hosted kitchen stack.
10 min read -
Postgres EXPLAIN ANALYZE Without Crying
Learn to read Postgres EXPLAIN ANALYZE output without losing your mind. Costs, row estimates, buffer hit stats, and the index and query fixes that matter most.
12 min read -
RAID 50/60: Nested Parity Done Right
RAID 5 and 6 don't scale gracefully past 8 drives. RAID 50 and RAID 60 stripe across multiple parity sub-arrays so rebuilds only stress one group. Here's when nesting actually pays off.
13 min read -
Linkding vs Hoarder vs Wallabag in 2026
Linkding is minimal bookmarks. Hoarder is AI-tagged content store. Wallabag is read-it-later. Here's how to pick the right self-hosted bookmark tool.
9 min read -
pgAdmin vs Adminer vs CloudBeaver: Web UIs
pgAdmin, Adminer, or CloudBeaver — three web UIs for your databases, zero overlap in who should use them. Pick the wrong one and you'll hate your life.
11 min read -
Borgmatic: Borg Backup, Done Right
BorgBackup is great. Borgmatic makes you actually run it: config-driven schedules, hooks, healthchecks, and a backup system that pages you when it breaks.
11 min read -
Owncast vs PeerTube vs nginx-rtmp
Owncast is the Twitch-alike. PeerTube is federated VOD. nginx-rtmp is roll-your-own RTMP. Here's how to pick a self-hosted streaming platform.
10 min read -
PostgreSQL on ZFS: Tuning, Snapshots, Pitfalls
Run PostgreSQL 18 on ZFS for atomic snapshots, lz4 compression, and silent corruption detection. Tuning guide, backup automation scripts, and the real pitfalls.
11 min read -
Kasm Workspaces: Browser Desktops
Kasm Workspaces streams disposable Linux desktops and apps to your browser. Threat model, real homelab uses, and how it compares to Guacamole.
11 min read -
Navidrome vs Airsonic vs gonic
Three self-hosted music servers, all Subsonic-compatible. Navidrome is polished, Airsonic feature-heavy, gonic minimal. Here's how to pick yours.
12 min read
