Cloud Infrastructure
CDNs, serverless, Docker, CI/CD
58 episodes
#3807: Why Cloud Servers Cluster in Only a Dozen Cities
Submarine cables, carrier hotels, and network effects concentrate cloud infrastructure in just 15-20 metro areas worldwide.
#3803: Can You Touch Your Cloud?
Boutique cloud operators let you visit your rack. Here’s how dedicated hosting works in 2026.
#3802: What's Really in That Private Network Cable?
Virtual cables, MPLS circuits, and dark fiber — how cloud providers connect data centers behind the scenes.
#3793: Solving the Bulk Redirect Problem for System Migrations
What tools exist for managing bulk redirect mappings when QR codes are already stuck on physical assets?
#3791: Who Still Runs Windows Server in 2026?
Windows Server still holds 32% of x86 server shipments. Here's where it's the rational choice.
#3790: Server Distro Showdown: BTRFS, ZFS & Pragmatic Picks
Why filesystem support often picks your distro — and what "support" actually means in practice.
#3781: Peer-to-Peer Backup: Brilliant or Overcomplicated?
Can a blockchain-inspired network replace your backup drive? We explore the promise and hidden pitfalls.
#3749: Triage When Everything Breaks at Once
When a roof leak, server failure, and lease termination hit simultaneously, here's how to prioritize.
#3748: Your Backup Is Probably Corrupted Right Now
How to catch ZFS pool degradation before your backup faithfully preserves garbage for weeks.
#3431: How YouTube Stores 500 Hours of Video Every Minute
YouTube's videos are shredded, replicated across global servers, and stored at a cost approaching zero. Here's how.
#3399: Why Mail a Disc to Your In-Law?
Cloud backups are durable. Physical backups give you sovereignty. Here’s why both matter — and how M-Disc fits in.
#3304: Rumble's Cloud Business: Video Site or Hosting Giant?
Rumble's $2.1B valuation is driven by cloud infrastructure, not conspiracy videos. Here's what it actually is.
#3299: Two Hundred People Before You Board
What happens in the 72 hours before a transatlantic flight takes off? The answer involves 200 people and 5 fuel buckets.
#3298: How Air Traffic Control Sequences 48 Landings Per Hour
The invisible choreography behind that mesmerizing funnel of landing lights at major airports.
#3223: Handcuffed to a Petabyte: Urgent Physical Data Transfer
When data moves faster by plane than fiber, couriers handcuff petabytes in reinforced cases across oceans.
#3222: How Petabytes Move at Light Speed
From 40 gig to 3.2 terabit—the hidden infrastructure moving science data at unimaginable speeds.
#3218: Building Your Own Cloud in 2026
The software and hardware for a DIY private cloud have never been more feasible. Here's how to pick the right pieces.
#3217: When a Truck Beats the Internet: Shipping Data at Scale
Why FedEx sometimes beats fiber for moving massive datasets across the country.
#3033: 3,000 Episodes, 3 Copies: Is This Backup Setup Enough?
Three copies, two clouds, one NAS. But is this setup truly protecting 3,000 podcast episodes?
#2961: Podcast Analytics Without Selling Your Soul
Three paths to listener data that respect privacy and actually work with object storage.
#2823: Video on Static Sites: When to Use a Platform
Mux, Cloudflare Stream, or Bunny Stream? When to stop serving MP4s and start using a purpose-built video platform.
#2822: Serverless E-Commerce: Medusa, Saleor, and Vendure
Three open-source headless commerce engines that make serverless e-commerce actually viable.
#2814: HTTP Redirects: 301, 308, and When to Use Each
301 isn't always the right choice. Learn the real differences between redirect codes and where to put them.
#2811: Cloudflare's Endgame: From CDN to Cloud Platform
How a spam-tracking side project became the CDN that's quietly building a new kind of cloud.
#2799: Where Should Your Images Actually Live?
WordPress to static sites: where do images & videos go? Repo, object storage, or CDN — and when to move up the chain.
#2782: Are AI Data Centers Really New or Just Patched Together?
The real bottleneck isn't GPUs — it's power transformers. A look at the physics and economics of AI infrastructure.
#2776: Where Does Your Vercel Site Actually Live?
Your Vercel site lives everywhere and nowhere. Here's what's actually happening under the hood.
#2775: How to Stop Wasting 75% of Your Build Pipeline
Stop rebuilding your entire site for every single content change. Here's how debouncing and caching save time and money.
#2694: When AI Agents Write Your Backup Scripts
Borg, Restic, and Kopia compared for whole-server incremental backups on Ubuntu Docker hosts.
#2596: The Hidden World of Industrial Computing
Two parallel tech worlds: industrial systems integrators and IT managed service providers. How they differ, and why one pays $300/hour.
#2578: Building Deliberately Slow Deployment Pipelines
How to build CI/CD pipelines designed as filters, not firehoses — with manual gates, staging environments, and quality checks.
#2571: How S3 Billing Actually Works (And Why R2 Is Different)
Storage is the decoy cost. The real surprises come from request charges, egress fees, and early deletion penalties.
#2550: Idempotent Pipelines: Checkpoints, Manifests & Safe Re-Runs
How to design scripts and pipelines so re-running them is safe, even after a crash mid-execution.
#2548: Static vs Server-Side: What Actually Happens When You Deploy
The moment you see content appear instantly on production and realize it wasn't pre-built — that's when architecture gets interesting.
#2547: Self-Hosted Podcast Analytics & Caching Fixes
How to track listeners, handle caching delays, and get sponsor-ready numbers when self-hosting on Cloudflare R2 or S3.
#2514: WebSockets vs SSE: Choosing the Right Real-Time Connection
WebSockets vs Server-Sent Events: when to use full-duplex vs one-way streaming, and why most developers pick wrong.
#2506: Squashing Database Migrations Without Breaking Production
How to safely squash old migrations, cut deploy times, and generate schema documentation at version boundaries.
#2503: The Gap Between Your Mental Model and the Wire
What really happens when you press Enter on a URL? From DNS to TLS to headers, we break down the full lifecycle.
#2477: Stop Polling: Push-to-Deploy for Solo Devs
Why your cron job is obsolete. Push-to-deploy with GitHub Actions and deploy keys — the simplest setup that actually works.
#2476: Database Backups Without the Bloat
pg_dump, WAL archiving, and the free tools that beat expensive commercial backup software.
#2475: Docker Volumes: Why They Can't Move and What To Do
Docker made apps portable but left your data stuck. Here's how to actually move volumes between hosts.
#2474: Private Container Registries: Docker Hub vs GHCR vs Self-Hosting
Comparing Docker Hub, GitHub Container Registry, and self-hosted options for private container storage.
#2473: GitHub Actions Beyond CI/CD: What You're Missing
Cron jobs, self-hosted runners, NPM publishing, and self-healing repos — GitHub Actions does way more than run tests.
#2438: The Folder Illusion: How Object Storage Fakes Hierarchy
Blobs, flat namespaces, and why those "folders" in cloud storage are complete illusions.
#2433: What Actually Makes a Hyperscaler?
It's not just about size. The architecture, automation, and breadth of services define what makes a hyperscaler.
#2345: Why File Naming Conventions Are More Than Just Style
Discover how file naming conventions like snake_case and camelCase impact development workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and filesystem compatibility.
#2338: Who Keeps Matplotlib Running?
How does a team of just 15 people maintain Matplotlib, the backbone of global scientific visualization?
#2301: Inside Podcasting's Simple, Powerful Infrastructure
Explore the elegant simplicity of podcasting’s RSS backbone and how it empowers creators with independence and control.
#2096: Why 6G Is Just Lightbulbs with Extra Steps
We hit the physics wall: why 6G needs smart mirrors, not brute force, to beat concrete and rain.
#2080: The Silent Failure of Emergency Alerts
Why your phone might sleep through a siren, and how traffic lights could save your life.
#1944: PostgreSQL: The Thirty-Year Miracle
How does a volunteer-run database power the New York Stock Exchange and survive every tech trend without burning out?
#1924: Ending the Manual Update Loop
Stop manually copying files. Learn how to host your own authenticated repositories for .deb and APK files using simple static web servers.
#1921: The Three-Second Heartbeat That Keeps Israel Safe
Why a civilian website sends an empty JSON payload every three seconds, even during peacetime, and what it reveals about mission-critical architect...
#1920: InfluxDB vs. Postgres: The Time-Series Showdown
We compare specialized time-series databases like InfluxDB against traditional SQL options like Postgres with Timescale extensions.
#1869: The Invisible Broadcast That Bypasses Your Dead Phone
No signal, no SIM, no problem. Discover the hidden GSM radio channel that hijacks your phone to scream warnings, and why it works when everything e...
#1848: Why Cloud Bills Can Hit $100K Overnight
From recursive loops to AI agents spending your money, we unpack the terrifying speed of cloud cost disasters.
#1782: Jenkins, GitHub, or Tekton? Picking Your 2025 CI/CD Engine
Jenkins is still the COBOL of DevOps, but the "one size fits all" model is dead. Here’s how to pick your pipeline.
#1758: The Internet's Physical Bread Delivery System
Netflix doesn't stream from California to Jerusalem. It uses local boxes in your city. Here's how the internet physically moves data to you.