Jan 4, 2021IT Security and Data BackupsEarly one recent morning my Linux workstation failed to boot. And just like that, all my work plans for the day ground to an immediate halt. This was the Linux workstation that was host to thirty years-worth of data: The original working drafts of all my books. The master versions…Backup5 min read
Published in HackerNoon.com·Apr 17, 2019Administrating Nextcloud as a SnapAs I’ve described in both my Linux in Action book and Linux in Motion course, Nextcloud is a powerful way to build a file sharing and collaboration service using only open source software running on your own secure infrastructure. …Nextcloud5 min read
Published in HackerNoon.com·Apr 15, 2019Managing Ubuntu Snaps: the stuff no one tells youCanonical’s Snaps are definitely the real deal. The secure and portable Linux package management system is more than a geeky tool for showing off your tech creds. Just consider the growing list of companies that have already bought in and are providing their desktop software through snaps, including Blender, Slack…Snap6 min read
Published in HackerNoon.com·Dec 10, 2018Will Cisco Be the Next Roadkill for AWS?I’m not keeping very close track, but it feels like months since Amazon Web Services (AWS) most recently turned a major tech industry upside down. …AWS3 min read
Published in HackerNoon.com·Oct 15, 2018Administrating AWS resources productively using the AWS CLIThis article is adapted from my new Pluralsight course: Automating AWS Operations with the AWS CLI. I’ll bet you’ve already got some stuff running on AWS and you made it happen using the browser console. But I’ll also bet that you already suspect that clicking your way through layers and…AWS6 min read
Aug 28, 2018Another way to Learn Linux AdministrationThis article is adapted from the introduction to my newly published Linux in Action. Besides the book, you can work through Linux in Motion — a hybrid course made up of more than two hours of video and around 40% of the text of Linux in Action. Looking to learn…Linux5 min read
Published in We’ve moved to freeCodeCamp.org/news·Jun 12, 2018How you can use OpenVPN to safely access private AWS resourcesThis article was adapted from part of my new Pluralsight course, “Connecting On-prem Resources to your AWS Infrastructure.” Do you sometimes need to connect to resources you’ve got running on Amazon Web Services? Accessing your public EC2 instances using SSH and encrypting your S3 data is, for all intents and…AWS10 min read
Published in HackerNoon.com·Mar 27, 2018Cleaning up after Spectre and Meltdown: figuring out how badly they slowed down your serversThis article is based on my Linux Performance Monitoring and Tuning course on Pluralsight which, by coincidence, was released just before news of Spectre and Meltdown broke. By now the critical stage of the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities is largely over. …Linux8 min read
Published in We’ve moved to freeCodeCamp.org/news·Mar 12, 2018An in-depth introduction to Docker on AWSContainer virtualization — most visibly represented by Docker — is a server paradigm that will likely drive enterprise computing for years to come. The Cloud is the most obvious and logical platform for container deployment. Amazon Web Services largely dominates the cloud computing world. Add it up. If you’re interested in…Docker19 min read
Published in We’ve moved to freeCodeCamp.org/news·Mar 9, 2018How to create a virtual IT workspaceThis article is based on a chapter from my free online book, Solving for Technology: how to quickly learn valuable new skills in a madly changing technology world. …Linux17 min read
