https://zanginator.com/posts/ Recent content in Posts on z-Tech Hugo en Tue, 05 May 2026 01:10:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/proxmox-backup-physical-machines/ Tue, 05 May 2026 01:10:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/proxmox-backup-physical-machines/ This post is in a way part of Encrypting Proxmox Backups, reading that first may help here. Proxmox Backup Client The Proxmox Backup Client is built into Proxmox Virtual Environment (PVE) and Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) by default, however it is avaliable via it’s own repo for use on systems not running within Proxmox. This makes things super useful if you want all your backups avaliable in one location. Currently the tool only avaliable through APT-based repository, so for Debian based people go follow the instructions provided by Proxmox for getting the Backup Client Only Repo setup and installed. https://zanginator.com/posts/proxmox-backup-encryption-and-recovery/ Tue, 05 May 2026 01:08:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/proxmox-backup-encryption-and-recovery/ Proxmox Backup I am a long time Proxmox user, the earliest use of it on this site is sometime in 2015 though my use predates that. However like many people within the industry of IT, we’re migrating away from VMware to other platforms. Infact I did this just over a year ago now with my day job (and rather successfully I may add). This however does leave a small issue of Backup. https://zanginator.com/posts/migrating-the-site/ Thu, 28 Aug 2025 17:13:19 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/migrating-the-site/ If you’ve tried to come to this site over the last few years, you’ve probably been met with the consistent message ‘Site Under Maintenance’. It was intended that I’d fix a few things with the site and have it back up within a few days. However, the best layed plans don’t always come to bear. Many years overdue the site has (and all it’s previous content) have been migrated to a new platform. https://zanginator.com/posts/upgrade-dell-r720/ Sun, 16 Sep 2018 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/upgrade-dell-r720/ In this video I give you a quick update and go through the upgrades I made to the Dell R720. Taking it from a single Hex Core with 96GB RAM to Dual Ten Core CPUs with 192GB RAM. The two Intel Xeon E5-2680 v2’s were aquired off of everyones favorite auction site at a really cheap price as they appear to be new old stock for Cisco server. Maybe people didn’t realise that they would fit any machine. https://zanginator.com/posts/dell-r540-overview/ Thu, 13 Sep 2018 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/dell-r540-overview/ This is a quick overview of a Dell R540 (one of two) acquired for a bit of storage work at my day job. These are rather nice machines, however this has a particularly interesting internal layout. https://zanginator.com/posts/january-2018-server-update/ Tue, 02 Jan 2018 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/january-2018-server-update/ Here’s a quick New Year update and a quick rambling of some changes made and some plans for the future. https://zanginator.com/posts/may-2017-server-update/ Tue, 30 May 2017 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/may-2017-server-update/ So after a bit of a break (whoops) here is a quick run down of what’s now in my rack and why some changes occurred. Also the 10Gb switch is the main reason for the high pitch fan squeal. https://zanginator.com/posts/august-2016-server-update/ Tue, 16 Aug 2016 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/august-2016-server-update/ In this video I cover some quick changes I’ve made to the server and also the network. Also some upcoming changes and videos I may have teased. Well, not really. Using some Intel x520-DA2 I am connecting my Proxmox Machine and FreeNAS box together via direct attach SFP for the ultimate 10Gb link! https://zanginator.com/posts/10gb-direct-links/ Thu, 16 Jun 2016 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/10gb-direct-links/ 10Gb Direct Links, woooooo! Using some lovely Intel X520 10Gb SFP cards to directly attach my Proxmox Virtualizer and FreeNAS storage. The use of SFP and NFS shares (instead of the FC) is to get around some limitations that are imposed by using Fibre Channel targets on FreeNAS https://zanginator.com/posts/june-2016-router-update/ Thu, 09 Jun 2016 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/june-2016-router-update/ Back in May of 2015, I “bodge” built a router out of an old server/PC for my parents house. Now over a year on, its time to update on a change of hardware, using a much lower platform than the old Celeron or even the WatchGuard Device shown. Specs: AMD AM1 Athlon 5350 (Quad Core 2.05Ghz) 4GB of DDR3 RAM ASUS AM1I-A Mini ITX Intel Pro 1000/PT Quad Port NIC Phanteks Enthoo Evolve ITX https://zanginator.com/posts/june-2016-server-update/ Fri, 03 Jun 2016 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/june-2016-server-update/ https://zanginator.com/posts/oracle-sun-fire-x4170-cpu-ram-upgrade/ Sun, 22 May 2016 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/oracle-sun-fire-x4170-cpu-ram-upgrade/ Today, (well actually a month ago) I upgraded the Sun Fire X4170 with 2x X5650’s and and extra 48GB of RAM. Taking it to a whooping 24 threads and 96GB of RAM! As a side note to the processor speed, I shall follow it up in another video. But basically, it was a simple reset the BIOS fix. https://zanginator.com/posts/oracle-sun-fire-x4170-m2-overview/ Tue, 12 Apr 2016 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/oracle-sun-fire-x4170-m2-overview/ In this NEW and exciting installment of a segment called “I cover random tech” (not really), I take a look at the Oracle Sun Fire X4170 M2. A nicely compact 1U system featuring dual LGA 1366 processors and 18 DIMM. So what’s interesting about this server in particular? This is a very compact system for the impact it has in terms processing power and connectivity. So what’s the machine capable of? https://zanginator.com/posts/storage-server-2015/ Wed, 30 Dec 2015 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/storage-server-2015/ Storage Server 2015 was a roller coaster of a build. There were many things that tried to stop the updating of the storage server, although it ended up working out! The idea of updating the storage server had been floating around in my head since around September 2014. This was around the time that I had switched to using ZFS and FreeNAS on the Server I built in 2013. The old server specs are as follows: https://zanginator.com/posts/basics-of-vlans/ Thu, 25 Jun 2015 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/basics-of-vlans/ In this video I go over the basic of VLAN’s. Why you want them, what the benefits are, basic functionality. https://zanginator.com/posts/proxmox-automigration-of-vm/ Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/proxmox-automigration-of-vm/ Quite sometime back (Sept 2014) I created a small bash script as a proof of concept for a shortcoming of Proxmox. This was originally posted on the TekSyndicate (now Level1Techs) site and is linked HERE. Proxmox is a very powerful tool, which I have used for many years. It even supports the use of live-migration of VM’s (and containers) between other Proxmox nodes. What is Proxmox? What is Live Migration? Live migration is where the VM being run is migrated to another Proxmox node whilst it is still running. https://zanginator.com/posts/cross-flashing-lsi-9240/ Wed, 27 May 2015 13:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/cross-flashing-lsi-9240/ If you are reading this and using this as a guide….. you are crazy. I joke, but seriously DISCLAIMER if this fudgess up, it is not my fault. Firstly, what is a cross flash? Essentially its where you flash the BIOS of one product into another. This is not guaranteed to work for every single product in existence, but in the case of the LSI 9240-8I (and IBM M1015) it can be done. https://zanginator.com/posts/home-firewall-pfsense-2015/ Mon, 25 May 2015 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/home-firewall-pfsense-2015/ Home Firewall using PfSense After facing some major issues with the network at my parents house, a full blown router rebuild was done. Switching away from the crappy out of the box/ISP provided solutions to an x86 based platform. Using an old Sophos firewall, it was up cycled to its new home. It was removed from its old case, into a larger ATX tower so a better cooler could be used. https://zanginator.com/posts/archive-server-build-2013-pt2/ Sat, 23 May 2015 14:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/archive-server-build-2013-pt2/ Server Build - Part 2 So continuing from Part 1 the build log. Additionally to purchasing the parts for the server, I picked up this pretty neat small LCD with a temperature probe attached. Made by XSPC they are avaliable in a lot of different colours. I got green becuase… I could. Note the additional small fan attached to the chipset heatsink. For some reason in Windows this chipset gets extremely hot, whilst under Linux it doesn’t. https://zanginator.com/posts/archive-server-build-2013-pt1/ Sat, 23 May 2015 13:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/archive-server-build-2013-pt1/ Server Build - Part 1 Back in the Summer of 2013 when I originally built this machine, I used to have a lot of pre-built OEM machines. Mainly Dell Poweredge machines. However their only limit was their age. All the servers I had were either LGA 771 or older and only had an average of 8-16GB of DDR2 RAM. So I decided (after a quick browse of ebay) to build my own. https://zanginator.com/posts/welcome/ Fri, 22 May 2015 12:00:00 +0100 https://zanginator.com/posts/welcome/ Welcome Well hello there! This is my silly tech blog that I ‘maintain’ and place the projects and various tech things that I am doing. Anyway thanks for dropping by and I hope you find something interesting!