DevOps

Why I prefer self-hosted Git repositories to Github, Bitbucket, etc.

Saturday, 10th February, 2018

It’s the year 2018 and it’s impossible for a software developer to have not heard about (or used) Github, or a variant like Bitbucket. Even self-hosted Git evangelist GitLab is a popular choice.

At the start of February 2018, I provisioned a new Cloud VPS to run my website and other apps. I also chose to migrate all my private Git repositories to it and cancelled my paid Github subscription.

This article explores the reasons why I went self-hosted.

DevOps , Software Development Read more

The Great Big Cloud Hosting Speed Test 2017

Sunday, 21st January, 2018

2017 was an exciting year for the bigger players in the cloud hosting arena.

With all these improvements in cloud hosting, I thought it would be interesting to focus on a key metric of hosting providers that many overlook: network speed.

Most modern cloud hosting providers give your dedicated server or VPS a 100Mbps or 1Gbps network connection. But how close can you actually get to that speed?

DevOps , Software Development Read more

Content Delivery Networks can improve your website’s performance

Monday, 27th November, 2017

Content Delivery Networks were created for one reason: to speed up your websites and web applications. In this article, I explore how you can take advantage of Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to improve your website performance for a small cost.

DevOps , Software Development Read more

MariaDB 10.1 is Generally Available

Wednesday, 21st October, 2015

The open-source database fork of MySQL, started by MySQL’s original developer – MariaDB – have certified their latest release of the 10.1 series (10.1.8) as Generally Available.

DevOps , Software Development Read more

Migrate an SVN repository to TFS

Wednesday, 7th October, 2015

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Microsoft’s Team Foundation Server (TFS.) It is a complete tool for managing an application throughout its lifecycle. However I was bought up (and learnt most of my programming skills) on open-source software. It’s important to me that I don’t forget my roots!

While TFS is a fantastic tool for commercial application lifecycle management, SVN (Subversion) also has its place in corporates. It’s free and has lower training overhead: perfect for companies that don’t need anything other than source control (or use other tools.)

In this article I’m going to teach you how to migrate an SVN repository (including all its history) into TFS using a Git repository.

DevOps , Software Development Read more

Linode: Why I chose them to host my website and applications

Friday, 2nd October, 2015

This post explains why I chose Linode to host my new website (this one) and other web applications I use in my day-to-day work – and why I’d fully recommend them to anyone who needs a virtual server (VPS.)

DevOps , Software Development Read more