Michael Ford

With firewall rules finally on the box, I went back to the guest VLAN I’d set out to build. I isolated it cleanly from every other subnet, tested it, and shipped it. Then I realized guests could still walk right up to the router’s own admin page. The same blind spot from last time, pointed inward.

I sat down to do a routine bit of network segmentation and instead found my router had been sitting on a public IP with SSH and its admin GUI open to the internet, no firewall rules at all. A lesson in the difference between ‘working’ and ‘secure.’

BIOS tuning bought my SFF build 20 degrees, but a cooler swap bought it 25 more with no power limits at all. The unlikely hero: an off-center mount that overhangs the RAM in exactly the right way.

A reader asked how my low-profile cooler handles heat in the Fractal Ridge. My Grafana data showed the CPU peaking at 93°C, just shy of Tjmax. Two free BIOS changes dropped sustained temps by about 20°C.

Amazon force-migrated my Echos to Alexa+, leaving always-on microphones in multiple rooms of my house. So I replaced them with a Tronbyt LED matrix clock that renders on my own server and answers to no one.

Valve’s Steam Machine starts at $1,050, isn’t upgradeable, and still isn’t shipping. I built a more capable SteamOS couch gaming PC in a Fractal Ridge and stopped waiting.

The problem with streaming in 2025 When Netflix launched its “Watch Now” streaming feature in 2007, it revolutionized how people consumed television and film. For one monthly fee, you could watch your favorite shows and movies. Netflix Watch Now required no contracts or physical media, and there were no limitations on where, how, or how often you watched. It was simple and affordable. Fast forward to 2025, and streaming has become increasingly frustrating. On one hand, the competition amongst platforms has created better content with higher quality writing. However, it has also introduced several major drawbacks: ...

Advantages of Hosting My Own Network Services Trusting my network security and services to my Internet Service Provider (ISP) offers convenience through their Domain Name System (DNS) services and simplified network management. Additionally, third-party Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers like ExpressVPN offer critical traffic encryption, especially when using public networks such as those in coffee shops and airports. However, relying on my ISP and a third-party VPN provider raises concerns: ...

Introduction and Motivations In 2021, I was incredibly excited to move into a networked home with hardwired network drops that offered a couple of advantages. First, I can provide better content delivery to TVs, gaming consoles, and computers with hardwired connections. Second, I can provide blackout-proof power to wireless access points by using Power over Ethernet. Selfishly, I also used the move as a catalyst to “Cosplay as a Sysadmin,” as Jeff Geerling puts it. After some research, purchases, and several hours of setup, I’ve been able to implement some practical, quality-of-life-improving solutions that I use on a daily basis, including home automation, content streaming, and network administration. I’ll be publishing a number of blog posts that go into detail about how I designed my home network, what I’ve learned, and the challenges I faced along the way. I hope you continue reading to follow along. ...

Introduction With the increased adoption of Kubernetes, I spent the past year getting certified by the Linux Foundation as a Certified Kubernetes Application Developer and Certified Kubernetes Administrator. One of the biggest obstacles on this journey was obtaining a cost-effective, test-like sandbox in which to learn and make mistakes. To solve this issue, I automated a process to create my sandbox Kubernetes cluster, and this post is a step by step guide for you to create your own. ...