Adding proper TOCs to my posts (AKA theme update)

How Git Efficiently Transmits Your Changes

So here’s a fun one. Have you ever noticed that even for huge changes to a repository, a git push only sends over a few kilobytes, maybe a few megabytes at most? If you’re familiar with the internals of git, you know that git stores an entire copy of the new file on commit. So how are these changes so small?

Spanning Tree Protocol(s) Explained

Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the BPDUs.

Spanning Tree Protocol, as mentioned previously, is a protocol used by switches to build out a loop-free logical topology of an Ethernet network. The protocol itself is built off of a concept called, well, a spanning tree.

How does this work? Well, that’s what I’m here to explain.

Moving From Sophos UTM 9 to pfSense

Yeah I figure why not, at the same time that I’m replacing another key piece of network infrastructure, I might as well just replace the (second) most important piece, right? So cue the music, because…

Now, this is a story, all about how my life network got flipped, turned upside down, and I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air the owner of a… just… just cut the music. Let’s begin.

BorgBackup: (TODO: Insert Borg Joke Here)

I was really fighting with my inner self to have a straightforward title for this one, but alas, resistance is futile.

BorgBackup, or, for short, just “Borg”, is a relatively fast (more on that later), efficient, secure, and authenticated way of backing up multiple devices either on a single network, or even across networks (you’ll see, again, later). This is currently what I use for backing up my stuff, and, well, it’s just cool, and definitely something you should take a look at.

MacOS Bundles (and Packages) Explained

When is a file more than just a file? When it’s actually a folder that Finder is lying to you about. Every program, every kernel extension, and everything Time Machine creates on a network share is.. a bundle. Even the Photos Library file in ~/Photos… well you get the point. Let’s unpack these things, shall we?

The Endless Struggle of Single Sign On

So if I said the words “Lightweight Directory Access Protocol”, do you feel my pain? if you don’t, keep reading. Otherwise, you likely know exactly where this is going to be going.

And for the record: this is something that I’ve struggled with for about 8 months, and I think it’s getting close to the point where I really should just give up… but I won’t.

How Time Machine Works

For those unaware, Time Machine is the built-in backup application within macOS that will take incremental backups of your system to an Apple Time Capsule, or another local disk. Simple premise, almost as simple in execution. Let’s take it apart, shall we?

Ah Yes, the SIMPLE Network Management Protocol

If that title isn’t a dead giveaway, I’m not happy. But yet I will somehow manage to vent my frustrations and explain something at the same time. Today: SNMP, or, “How to gather lots of stats on remote machines,” or, “Because you thought CVS was hard to wrap your head around.”

CVS Is Dumb

So I was going back through my list of version control systems, and something hit me. CVS isn’t just kinda old and worn out, it’s downright backwards and dumb. Heck, CVS over the network is something that, in all seriousness, should not exist.