Mar - 24th

Proxmox VE 7.4 released

Posted at 5:48 pm | Filed Under blog

Proxmox is an open-source bare metal virtualization system I use in my homelab. Proxmox supports clustering, high availability and backup using industry standard tools running on relatively mod-free Debian Linux, qemu and kvm. It supports any hardware supported by Debian, which makes use in a lab environment practical – after running VMWare’s vSphere and Nutanix […]

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Nov - 23rd

Proxmox VE 7.3 released

Posted at 4:12 pm | Filed Under blog

Proxmox is an open-source bare metal virtualization system I use in my homelab – based on Debian and qemu, it supports a wide variety of hardware. Proxmox VE version 7.3 has been released and the upgrade from 7.2 went without a hitch using apt. I’m looking into it now, there’s support for ZFS dRaid pools, […]

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Nov - 17th

Proxmox First Steps

Posted at 4:08 pm | Filed Under blog

TechnoTim has a great homelab how-to channel on YouTube. This video shows all the steps he’d do when creating a Proxmox server for the first time. Setting update sources, reconfiguring storage, setting up networking and VLANs, updating ISOs, preparing for clustering, and more – all the things I wish I knew after my Proxmox server […]

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Aug - 28th

Cheap Home Office Fix – HDMI audio with multiple PCs

Posted at 5:43 pm | Filed Under blog

Many people are working from home exclusively or a couple of days a week as part of a hybrid work environment. With a few tweaks, a home office can do double-duty nicely. My home office has evolved recently, as I’ve written about previously. I have a desktop PC with a 34″ ultrawide monitor and work […]

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May - 25th

Proxmox helper scripts

Posted at 6:05 pm | Filed Under blog

I use Proxmox as the basis for my homelab. Proxmox is an open source bare-metal hypervisor with support for a wide array of hardware (if Linux runs on it, it’ll probably run Proxmox…) Proxmox offers many enterprise-level features, like clustering, backup, advanced networking, certificate management, application support and support for ZFS, NFS and CIFS shares. […]

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May - 18th

Bring Your Own Device

Posted at 4:54 pm | Filed Under blog

Work/life separation is important to me, but being able to effectively manage responsibility in a fast-pace environment is a key to success. A key to that success is being able to be reached quickly and easily when I’m working. Over the years, the means to be reached has changed significantly. At first, there was the […]

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May - 2nd

Logitech Zone wireless headsets

Posted at 4:32 pm | Filed Under blog

In an earlier post, I talked about how I built an effective home/work office by using Logitech’s MX Keys keyboard and MX Master mouse with 2 unifying receivers. I put one receiver in my home PC, one in my work laptop, and connect both systems into one monitor. Switching between home and work environments is […]

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Mar - 29th

The Worst Part of Working From Home Is Now Haunting Reopened Offices

Posted at 6:05 pm | Filed Under blog

slate.com has an excellent article entitled The Worst Part of Working From Home Is Now Haunting Reopened Offices that’s worth a read. I’m concerned with “return to office” rhetoric that sounds too much like trying to go back to the way things were before the pandemic. The pandemic didn’t change the way we do things […]

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Mar - 6th

Goodbye, Remote Desktop!

Posted at 1:32 am | Filed Under blog

I’ve discussed my office updates In a previous post. I bought a Logitech MX Keys keyboard and Logitech MX Master 3 mouse, and am happy with the results. The keyboard feel provides just enough feedback without noise. The mouse has more buttons than I know what to do with; being able to horizontal scroll in […]

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Feb - 24th

Remote execution exploit for DSM 7.0 and 6.2 reported by Synology

Posted at 1:57 am | Filed Under blog

I’m a Synology NAS user, as are a lot of people running their home labs. There’s been a reported remote execution exploit announced by Synology. While a lot of people resonate with the idea of replacing cloud-based services with a system that they own, opening the system up to the internet is inherently risky. it […]

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Feb - 21st

Lockbit Ransomware targets VMWare ESXi hosts

Posted at 3:36 pm | Filed Under blog

An article on duo.com describes a ransomware vector of great concern – exploit a vulnerability in an ESXi host, encrypt the data storage for dozens, possibly hundreds of hosts simultaneously. The LockBit ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) group has over the past year targeted various organizations globally, including ones in Chile, Italy and the UK. Researchers with Trend Micro in […]

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Feb - 21st

Installing OpenWRT and Wireguard VPN

Posted at 7:36 am | Filed Under blog

Most home routers sold today are running Linux under the hood with a proprietary web GUI intended for home users. There’s been a movement over the past several years to create a more featureful environment for these routers by creating third-party firmware. I installed OpenWRT on a Linksys WRT1900ACS router acting as my internet gateway. […]

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Feb - 20th

State of the Home Office, 2022

Posted at 6:48 am | Filed Under blog

I upgraded my workspace for 2022. I used to have a dual monitor setup with a 23″ 16:9 monitor and a 19″ 4:3 monitor. This worked adequately for several years, but the mixed geometry made moving windows from one screen to another difficult. I replaced two monitors with a single LG 34″ ultrawide flat screen […]

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Jan - 21st

Kasm – Docker containers in your browser!

Posted at 2:18 am | Filed Under blog

I just discovered Kasm, an amazing little tool that lets you run Docker containers on a remote server in a client browser. From their web site: Streaming containerized apps and desktops to end-users. The Workspaces platform provides enterprise-class orchestration, data loss prevention, and web streaming technology to enable the delivery of containerized workloads to your […]

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Jan - 18th

Why I went back to using a 2012 ThinkPad

Posted at 10:17 pm | Filed Under blog

I’ve sworn by IBM and Lenovo Thinkpads for their reliability, build quality – and my users loved them. My daily-use laptop is a 12 year-old Thinkpad T410. While it’s heavier than a modern ultrabook, it’s got a traditional keyboard remimiscent of older desktop keyboards, and both a trackpoint and trackpad. With a simple set of […]

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Nov - 27th

Staying Productive

Posted at 8:43 pm | Filed Under blog

We’re living in interesting times, with those who are lucky able to perform some semblance of their work responsibilities from home. Working from home presents its own challenges, many of which I faced when working as a freelance consultant earlier in my career. I thought I’d summarize some of the things I’d learned here: 1. […]

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Sep - 14th

Back to Outlook

Posted at 6:06 am | Filed Under blog

One the benefits of working for a company with a volume license agreement with Microsoft is Microsoft’s Home Use Program. My current employer is a rather large Microsoft 365 customer, and Microsoft offers a generous package – $69.99/year for up to 5 users with Microsoft 365 apps and 6 TB of OneDrive cloud storage. It’s […]

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Apr - 26th

In the beginning, there was Bare Metal

Posted at 11:10 am | Filed Under blog

As a technology consultant, I need a network environment to evaluate, test and deploy a myriad of applications. In the Beginning, there was Bare Metal. I ran a stable of obsolete desktop PCs in a garage lab, each running an operating system I was working on. That meant running enterprise applications on marginal hardware and […]

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Apr - 5th

Outlook and Getting Things Done

Posted at 8:38 pm | Filed Under blog

Why Outlook? The key to an effective task management system is having a system that’s easy to use and available wherever and whenever you need it. Microsoft 365 and Outlook are used by many companies for communication and collaboration. and with a little tweaking, can replace separate project and task management apps and be available […]

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Nov - 27th

Amazfit Bip – First Impressions

Posted at 8:44 pm | Filed Under blog

Professionally, I work with teams supporting technology in fast-moving organizations. Personally, I’m focused on productivity and organization, regardless of platform. Over the years, I’ve used paper journals, Palm Pilots, standalone desktop programs and collaboration tools for group organization. The tool is just a tool, it’s the habits and disciplines that ensure productivity. I’ve resisted wearing […]

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