Field Notes

Occasional notes on running small servers, networks, and the tools around them.


Why a small box is enough for a static site

2026-11-12

A $7 instance with 1 GB of RAM serves thousands of static pages a day without breaking a sweat. The bottleneck is almost never the machine.

BBR, in one paragraph

2026-11-10

Most default TCP congestion control reacts to packet loss. BBR models the pipe instead, which is why it helps so much on long-distance links.

A checklist before exposing a new service

2026-11-05

Five things to verify before a new port goes public: firewall scope, auth, logs, updates, and a rollback plan.