Reliability Engineering
199 episodes · Page 8 of 9
#493: Beyond the Magic Smoke: Predicting Hardware Failure
Learn how to spot motherboard degradation, track NVMe wear, and use hidden NVIDIA telemetry to save your data before the "magic smoke" escapes.
#461: DIY vs. Pro: Is Your Smart Home Actually Secure?
Explore whether DIY smart home setups can truly replace professional security systems in this deep dive into hardware, reliability, and redundancy.
#458: Why Your City Won't Freeze When a Server Dies
Ever wonder how the power grid stays balanced? Herman and Corn dive into SCADA, PLCs, and the tech keeping our modern world running.
#457: Why a 90s Pager Beats Your Smartphone in an Emergency
Can your smartphone be trusted in a crisis? Explore why pagers and LoRa might be the ultimate "baby emergency" solution for parents.
#425: The Arc of Deprecation: Why Old Tech Still Rules the World
Why do floppy disks and fax machines still power our most critical systems? Explore the surprising reasons behind the "arc of deprecation."
#418: RAID is Not a Backup: Mastering Home Server Resilience
Why RAID isn’t enough and how snapshots act as a digital time machine for your home server’s survival.
#410: Redundancy Is Not a Backup
When a 7-year-old server dies, the recovery is a wake-up call. Discover why RAID isn't a backup and how to build a resilient "Server V2."
#409: When RAID Fails: The Rebuild Time Nightmare
Learn the math behind RAID levels, the risks of drive rebuilds, and why ZFS is the modern gold standard for data integrity.
#405: What Your Power Supply's Efficiency Rating Actually Means
Is your power supply killing your PC? Herman and Corn dive into the hidden world of PSUs, efficiency ratings, and server reliability.
#389: Minimizing the Blast Radius: Why Your Smart Home Needs Distributed Hardware
When a single home server fails, the whole house goes dark. Learn how to shrink your "blast radius" by moving to a distributed hardware grid.
#385: The Unkillable Workstation: Building for Total Redundancy
Can you build a PC that never dies? Herman and Corn explore redundant power, memory mirroring, and high-availability clusters for home servers.
#313: Digital Forever? Bit Rot and the Return of Physical Media
Why is our fastest tech also the most forgetful? Herman and Corn dive into bit rot, LTO tape, and the quest for 1,000-year digital permanence.
#269: What Your Crisis Setup Can Learn from Command Centers
Discover how high-stakes command centers manage global chaos through specialized design, AI, and the "Common Operating Picture" philosophy.
#236: How ECC Fixes Your Data: From QR Codes to Cosmic Rays
Discover how the brilliant math of ECC allows damaged QR codes and distant space probes to transmit perfect data across noisy channels.
#234: Building a Data Bridge Underground
Learn how to bypass thick concrete walls and bring high-speed internet into deep shelters using portable mesh networks and Starlink technology.
#211: The Portable Fortress: Moving Your Network Like a Pro
Learn how to build a "portable digital fortress" using military tactics and roadie discipline to make your next move tech-stress-free.
#205: The Rebuild Nightmare: Why 30TB Drives Break RAID
Herman and Corn dive into the history and math of RAID, exploring why 30TB drives make classic setups like RAID 5 more dangerous than ever.
#203: The Power of the SOP: Why Even Experts Need a Checklist
Discover why the world's best pilots and surgeons never "wing it" and how simple checklists can transform your personal and professional life.
#187: BGP: The Secret Glue Holding the Global Internet Together
Discover how BGP acts as the internet's postal service, managing data across thousands of networks through economics, policy, and trust.
#186: How Many Routers Does JFK Actually Need?
Ever wonder how thousands of people stay connected at JFK? Join Herman and Corn as they dive into the massive scale of airport networking.
#175: Beyond the Hype: The Real State of Quantum Computing
Forget Quantum MacBooks. Herman and Corn dive into the move toward logical qubits and why the future of quantum lives in the cloud.
#174: Why Supercomputers Can't Live in the Cloud
Explore the world of exascale computing, why specialized hardware beats the cloud, and if you can actually build a supercomputer in your bedroom.
#163: Big Iron: Why Mainframes Still Run the Global Economy
Think mainframes are relics? Herman and Corn explore why "Big Iron" remains the unbreakable backbone of global finance and high-speed transactions.
#162: When a Fast PC Isn't Enough: The Workstation Divide
Is your PC a workstation or just a fast desktop? Herman and Corn break down the hardware that defines professional computing in 2026.