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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Homebridge vs Home Assistant Hub Showdown
Homebridge bridges devices into Apple Home. Home Assistant is the full local automation platform. Here's which one to pick — or why you'd run both.
9 min read -
PoE Injectors and Switches for the Home Lab
Cut rack cable clutter with Power over Ethernet. A no-nonsense guide to PoE standards, switch power budgets, and cleanly powering your home lab gear rack.
12 min read -
RTK vs snip vs lean-ctx: Token Killers
RTK, snip, and lean-ctx filter your AI coding agent's output before it burns context tokens. I run RTK daily — here's the one I'd actually switch to.
12 min read -
TIG: Telegraf + InfluxDB + Grafana
When Prometheus is overkill: a push-based metrics stack for IoT, smart home, and homelab data. Telegraf, InfluxDB, and Grafana, working together end-to-end.
12 min read -
OctoPrint vs Mainsail vs Fluidd 3D Print
OctoPrint is the Marlin classic. Mainsail and Fluidd front Klipper. Here's how to pick the right 3D printer web UI for your hardware.
11 min read -
TrueNAS vs OpenMediaVault vs Unraid
Three popular NAS operating systems compared: TrueNAS Scale's ZFS, OMV's flexibility, and Unraid's mixed-disk magic. Which is right for your home lab?
14 min read -
USB-C Power Delivery for Mini PCs
USB-C Power Delivery can cleanly power your entire mini-PC homelab. Here is what PD versions, cable wattage ratings, and UPS compatibility actually matter.
13 min read -
ESPHome: DIY IoT Without Cloud
ESP32 boards + ESPHome's YAML firmware = your own cloud-free smart sensors and switches. Sensors, OTA updates, and Home Assistant integration in 30 minutes.
14 min read -
10GbE NIC Cheat Sheet: Mellanox, Intel, Chelsio
Used 10GbE NICs for your homelab in 2026: which Mellanox, Intel, or Chelsio card to buy, which ones to skip entirely, and exactly why the X540 runs hot.
11 min read -
Bazzite vs Nobara vs CachyOS Gaming
Three Linux gaming distros, three approaches. Immutable Bazzite, tweaked Nobara, performance-tuned CachyOS. Here's which one to pick for gaming Linux.
13 min read -
Zigbee2MQTT vs ZHA
Two paths to running Zigbee in Home Assistant — Zigbee2MQTT for power-user flexibility, ZHA for plug-and-play. Coordinator hardware, range, and the migration myth.
12 min read -
DIY Patch Panel and Rack Cabling for Sanity
Stop living with spaghetti rack cables. A practical guide to DIY patch panels, structured rack cabling, and a cable layout that will not haunt you at 2 AM.
12 min read
