Session vs Token Auth for Your Web API Endpoints
Compare server-side sessions with stateless tokens across scalability, revocation, and security to choose your web API authentication model today.
API & Automation7 min read
NetBay journal
Guides for operators
Practical guides for Linux, containers, CI/CD, self-hosting, and running VPS infrastructure from Netbay Engineering.
599 articles · 24 topics
AllLinuxLinux AdministrationWindowsLinux SecurityLinux NetworkingContainersContainers & OrchestrationKubernetesCI/CDGitHubSelf-HostingBackups & DataDatabasesApp DeploymentDNS & TLSObservabilityEmailAI AgentsAI InfrastructureAPI & AutomationProxiesCloud ArchitectureHardware & PerformanceDevOps Practices
Auto-Renewal Failures: What Breaks When Certbot Stops
Set certbot auto-renewal that actually reloads nginx, then learn the ports, timers, and disk failures that silently leave you with an expired cert.
DNS & TLS8 min read
Self-Host vs SES, Mailgun, Postmark by Volume
Pick the sending path by daily volume, bounce work, and whether users must read the message. Direct VPS SMTP only wins at tiny, well-authenticated mail.
Email8 min read
Local and Remote SSH Port Forwards Explained
Keep -L, -R, and -D straight: local pulls a remote port home, remote publishes a lab port, SOCKS is a dynamic proxy you can still draw on paper.
Linux Administration8 min read
Windows Update Reboot Policy for Production VPS
Control Windows Update and reboot policy on a production VPS so patch Tuesday does not take IIS or your live .NET service down in business hours.
Windows8 min read
WAL and PITR: When a pg_dump Is Not Enough
Turn on WAL archiving, take a base backup, and restore to a chosen timestamp so a bad write does not cost you a full day of PostgreSQL data.
Databases9 min read
Charsets, Collations, and utf8mb4 from Day One
Set utf8mb4 and a modern collation at create time so emoji, Hindi text, and joins do not become a painful migration project later on a live VPS.
Databases8 min read
Redis Pub/Sub: When to Use It and When Not
Use Redis pub/sub for live fan-out on one host, and skip it when you need persistence, retries, or consumer groups that Streams already provide.
Databases8 min read
logrotate: Keep VPS Logs From Filling the Disk
Configure logrotate so leftover text logs cannot fill a VPS root disk, with size caps, copytruncate versus create, and a dry-run habit before you need it.
Observability8 min read
Celery or a Simple Queue When Python Needs Two Processes
Know when a second process is required for Celery or a simple Redis queue so web requests stay fast while emails and reports run in the background.
App Deployment8 min read
Idempotent VPS Provisioning from a REST API
Wrap Netbay purchase calls in client-side idempotency so retries, CI jobs, and incident runbooks never double-buy a VPS when a request is replayed.
Cloud Architecture8 min read
HTTPS, Security Headers, and Hiding PHP Version
Terminate TLS on nginx, send strict security headers, and hide PHP and nginx versions so scanners see a boring VPS instead of a versioned attack surface.
App Deployment8 min read