Foundry81

I Like My Web Servers Basic AF

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 15:17:29 -0400

I’ve spent a surprisingly large portion of my career thinking about web servers. My first real exposure was Apache, back when I was getting into Slackware.

Lighttpd + Certbot + Rsync for Static Sites

Sun, 09 Aug 2026 14:36:14 -0400

I’ve been working on several client projects over the summer involving scenarios where serving static website content, using Hugo, has made for an ideal solution when needing to deliver information.

Twenty CRM and NGINX Proxy Manager

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 15:11:52 -0400

I spent most of yesterday evening getting a CRM working. Not vibing; just getting my self-hosted instance of Twenty CRM working as a multi-workspace setup to support the needs of a project I’m working on called Community of Practice.

Why I No Longer Use Pangolin

Sat, 08 Aug 2026 15:11:35 -0400

I no longer use Pangolin.

Pangolin is a solid project. I used it for a long time because it solved a real problem for me. It’s a particularly useful piece of infrastructure when you want to put a self-hosted web application on the Internet without turning the process into a weekend project. My needs simply changed.

Headlines Disappear, Memories Remain

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 08:50:20 -0400

This morning felt like the first “normal” morning I’d had in about a week.

Last Thursday night, I partially dislocated my hip. Urgent care managed to get it back into place, and I went home with a prescription for a muscle relaxer. Unfortunately, that medication triggered a small bout of serotonin syndrome.

Every System Has Purpose

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 13:27:49 -0400

Every system has a purpose. If changing the system doesn’t improve that purpose, you’ve probably optimized the wrong thing.

Foxmox: The Sleepy Proxmox Cluster

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:32:00 +0000

In the fall of 2003, I was learning Windows Server on a commuter train. Today, I have a miniature datacenter in my workspace. In my last post, I wrote about the small sparks that quietly shape a career. This is what thirty years of those sparks look like - not because everyone needs a Proxmox cluster, but because everyone benefits from having a place where it’s safe to learn.

Sparks

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:46:48 +0000

We’ve all been asked the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”

My answer was easy – a pyrotechnician.

The First Keyboard I Loved Had Fozzie Bear on it

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 04:32:40 +0000

Every now and then, someone asks why I spend so much time building keyboards and messing around with input devices – it’s a fair question. There are dozens tucked around my workspace, plus there’s usually a production controller and a dumbpad on my desk.

What Happened to "Company Culture?"

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:33:53 +0000

There are books that leave a mark on you even if you don’t realize it at the time.

During my first semester at Pace University in 1999, I took ANT108: Introduction to Anthropology. One of our assigned books was Culture and Personality by Victor Barnouw.

Ethernet: Why Orange, Green, Blue, and Brown?

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A couple of years ago. I was asked to come up with a handful of minimalist graphics for the Lawrence Systems shop. The challenge wasn’t creating another logo - it was finding ideas that any IT professional could recognize instantly. That’s harder than it sounds.

The Long Memory Mirror

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 21:13:08 +0000

A guest essay by ChatGPT

Model: GPT-5.5

Written: June 26, 2026

Context: An ongoing conversation with Matt about AI, long-term context, writing, and what changes when a language model can access decades of a person’s work.

Engineering Lessons from Tragedy

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 19:38:03 +0000

I worked on Wall Street during 9/11. In the years since, I’ve used historical tragedies to explain systems engineering, risk management, and operational discipline.

Latex, Copper, Glass, and Transatlantic Connectivity

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 01:54:14 +0000

I remember the day I saw a network repeater for the first time - it was mounted in an abandoned elevator shaft.

Four Weeks with Hermes Agent

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 11:43:04 +0000

Four weeks ago, once the wave of OpenClaw discourse on my LinkedIn feed finally began to subside, I decided it was time to spend some serious time exploring AI agents.

Minisforum N5 Pro: The Long Overdue Review

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 22:16:28 +0000

The team at Minisforum sent me an N5 Pro last summer, during my time at Lawrence Systems, with a request for a review.

Homelab DNS Troubleshooting

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:56 +0000

DNS failures are deceptive. Everything looks broken - and most issues are straightforward once you know where to look. Every issue here is something I’ve run into personally.

DNS and HTTPS in the Homelab: Moving Beyond IP Addresses

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:55 +0000

At some point, every Homelab runs into “IP address fatigue.” You start with a couple of services, and your bookmarks suddenly become a chaotic mess of IP addresses and ports that correspond to each service running.

Homelab DNS: Running BIND with Docker

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:54 +0000

Getting BIND running in Docker takes minutes. Running it correctly takes a bit more.

Designing Your Homelab DNS

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:53 +0000

Now that we’ve covered the theoretical intersection of DNS and HTTPS and the benefits that come from each, it’s time to plan a solid DNS strategy. Before you go spinning up containers or editing configuration files, you need a design.

Understanding DNS Records

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:52 +0000

A DNS zone is a text file containing a series of Resource Records, each following a standard format:

[Name] [TTL] [Class] [Type] [Value]

The Anatomy of DNS Zones: Roles and Functions

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:51 +0000

It’s helpful to divide DNS zones into two categories to properly understand them.

DNSSEC and DNS’ Fundamental Flaw

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:50 +0000

Before diving into DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions,) let’s cover the fundamental flaw in the original design of DNS: trust.

Who Manages DNS for the Internet?

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:49 +0000

DNS is at the core of the Internet and there’s no question that it’s a service we all depend on – so who is in charge of keeping it running smoothly?

The Origin and Evolution of DNS, the Domain Name System

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:48 +0000

To understand the Domain Name System, you need to first understand that computers are fundamentally incapable of understanding “names.”

DNS in the Homelab

Mon, 04 May 2026 00:17:47 +0000

Back in March, I wrote about my DNS setup after rebuilding my BIND environment in Docker. It brought back a mix of solid lessons and a few painful ones - and I didn’t expect the flood of questions that followed.

Performance vs Capability

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 17:42:20 +0000

Why buy a Hummer when an Accord gets you there just the same? I’m not talking about off-roading; I’m talking about commuting.

Running Your Own DNS Server in a Homelab - Architecture, Lessons, and My Setup

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:38:53 +0000

DNS is one of the most critical services on the internet, quietly hanging out in the background of nearly every transaction that takes place on the Internet and local area networks.

Respect the Work: Why IT Buyers Don't Need Another Star Wars Pun

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 01:24:56 +0000

Pop culture references are everywhere in IT marketing. Infrastructure campaigns are built around lightsabers from Star Wars, firewall ads are wrapped in fantasy metaphors, and compliance webinars are named after space operas.

NFS Mount Lazy Loading: Fixing Slow Boot Due to NFS

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:34:52 +0000

If you’re running NFS in your Homelab, you’ve probably dealt with this at least once.

You reboot a machine and it takes way longer than it should - long enough to mentally inventory every possible failure point before the login screen appears.

n8n Zoom Transcript Analysis Workflow (and Download)

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 21:38:05 +0000

Chat transcripts are often packed with valuable information, much of which can be missed during a conversation.

Starting a Homelab the Right Way - With the Why

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 21:45:27 +0000

There’s a pattern I’ve noticed in Homelab culture: people start with hardware.

Racks of it. Blinking lights, enterprise gear pulled from datacenters, computing clusters before identifying a single problem they’re trying to solve.

The Self-Hosting Responsibility Spectrum

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:44:41 +0000

Not all self-hosting is equal. The difference isn’t hardware, its operational accountability.

I took good look at my responsibility matrix and decided it was time for an upgrade to clarify where systems sit and what it all really means in practice:

Homelabs, self-hosting, and doing whatever the fsck you want.

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 03:04:00 +0000

“Homelab” is one of those worlds that mean everything and nothing at the same time.

Depending on who you ask, it’s one of these:

Bullshit as a Service

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:49:30 +0000

The modern keyboard warrior has evolved into something much worse, and all it took was access to free generative AI services - and no, this isn’t about AI-powered scams, it’s about poor judgment and getting lost in fantasy.

Running Your Own Mail Server: Lessons from 25+ Years of Chaos and Custody

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 03:04:00 +0000

Email is one of the oldest, most decentralized, and most politically fraught services on the Internet.

It’s also one of the messiest topics in self-hosting, Homelab, and other scenarios where you take operational responsibility for a service often best left to experts.

Your Intensity Brings Meaning

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 09:37:35 +0000

“We’ve traded intensity for meaning.”

I saw that line while scrolling LinkedIn between meetings yesterday, and it refused to let go. By the afternoon, I was repeating it in a meeting with an IT vendor who wanted help stabilizing a product that’s been mostly vibe-coded.