RAID on a Single Server: Hardware vs Software Reality
What RAID really protects on a single node, why hardware RAID is mostly a platform-level rental, and when mdadm software RAID is worth it on a VPS.
Hardware & Performance6 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
Caddy for Automatic HTTPS Reverse Proxying
Caddy gives you manual-free HTTPS plus reverse proxying: one Caddyfile directive per app, automatic certificate renewal, and sane defaults for your VPS.
Proxies6 min read
postgresql.conf: Memory, Connections, First Edits
Change shared_buffers, effective_cache_size, max_connections, and work_mem first so PostgreSQL 16 uses RAM instead of guessing at factory defaults.
Databases9 min read
SQLite File Placement: Permissions and Avoiding /tmp
Put SQLite on a dedicated data directory with tight permissions, never in /tmp or a git checkout, so reboots and deploys cannot wipe it by accident.
Databases8 min read
TTL, Propagation, and Why DNS Changes Are Not Instant
Understand TTL, resolver caches, and glue so a DNS edit is not instant, and learn how to change records without hours of surprise downtime later.
DNS & TLS7 min read
Reverse-Proxy Node.js Behind nginx on Ubuntu
Put nginx in front of a Node.js app bound to 127.0.0.1, terminate TLS at the proxy, and keep the Node runtime off the public internet entirely.
App Deployment7 min read
Composer in Production Without Dev Dependencies
Install PHP packages for production with Composer --no-dev, a dumped autoloader, and a deploy user so PHPUnit and debugbars never reach the live VPS.
App Deployment8 min read
SPF Records That Do Not Over-Permit Senders
A wide SPF record is as bad as none. Publish only the IPs and includes you actually send from, stay under ten DNS lookups, and end with -all.
Email8 min read
SSH Certificates Instead of Copying Public Keys
Stop appending pubkeys to authorized_keys on every VPS. Run a small SSH CA, issue short-lived user certs, and revoke access without visiting each host.
Linux Administration9 min read
Stream LLM Tokens Through nginx Without Buffering
Turn off nginx proxy buffering and gzip for Server-Sent Events so tokens from a remote model API reach the browser as they generate live on Ubuntu.
AI Infrastructure8 min read
Deploying a Vite App Behind Caddy: Automatic HTTPS in Five Minutes
Point one DNS record at your VPS, write a five-line Caddyfile, and Caddy obtains and renews TLS certificates for your Vite app automatically.
App Deployment5 min read
Running Docker Compose in Production Behind a Reverse Proxy
Take a docker-compose.yml from the laptop to a hardened production host with TLS, restart policies, and rate limiting behind Caddy or Nginx.
Containers & Orchestration8 min read