Practical infrastructure guides for people who run systems
Backup, networking, monitoring and directory services, written from real consulting work rather than vendor brochures.
Topics
Networking Guide: Segmentation, Protocols, and Access
How an office network really holds together: the three-layer model, VLANs and broadcast domains, routing, port security and the protocols underneath it.
10 · Articles in this guide
Systems and Directory Guide: Identity, Servers, Backups
How a small Windows and Linux estate holds together: the directory that grants access, the servers underneath it, what to watch, and backups that restore.
9 · Articles in this guide
Latest articles
- Systems and Directory Guide: Identity, Servers, Backups
Active Directory DNS: Forwarders, Reverse Zones, Split-Brain
Configure Active Directory DNS on Windows Server: forwarders, reverse lookup zones, conditional forwarders, and the split-brain setup that broke our own site.
17 min read
- Systems and Directory Guide: Identity, Servers, Backups
Active Directory Guide: Architecture, DNS, Security
How Active Directory works in a real network: forests, OUs, FSMO roles, DNS, Group Policy, replication, security tiers, backup, and hybrid identity, in one map.
21 min read
- Systems and Directory Guide: Identity, Servers, Backups
How to Install Cacti on Ubuntu to Graph SNMP Traffic
Install Cacti on Ubuntu 24.04 with apt, add a switch over SNMP, and draw your first traffic graph, plus why there's no setup wizard and how to verify the graph.
14 min read
- Systems and Directory Guide: Identity, Servers, Backups
How to Join a Computer to an Active Directory Domain
Join Windows PCs and servers to Active Directory: DNS, time, and hostname prerequisites, Add-Computer, OU placement with redircmp, and the most common errors.
27 min read
- Systems and Directory Guide: Identity, Servers, Backups
How to Set Up a Syslog Server on Ubuntu with rsyslog
Build a central syslog server on Ubuntu 24.04 with rsyslog: open UDP 514, split logs per sender, connect a switch, plan disk and rotation, and add TLS on 6514.
14 min read
- Systems and Directory Guide: Identity, Servers, Backups
Install Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS)
Install Active Directory Certificate Services: Enterprise Root CA setup, the four irreversible decisions, AIA and CDP, backup, and end-to-end verification.
30 min read