infrastructure · monitoring · ai
Notes from the part of IT
nobody thanks you for.
Honest write-ups on the infrastructure I run and the AI I build to deal with it — escaping overpriced monitoring tools, standing up open-source stacks, and turning "there should be a tool for this" into actual tools. Not an expert. Just someone who keeps the lights on and ships.
the database
130 monitoring tools, compared honestly
Every network, infra and observability tool — license, pricing model, and the catch no vendor writes down. Filter, compare, decide.
the guides
Which one should you actually use?
Opinionated “best tool for ___” guides — homelab, SolarWinds escapes, Datadog alternatives — ranked from the database. No sponsorships.
recent entries
The 6 Ways Monitoring Tools Bill You (One Is a Trap)
Per-host, per-GB, per-event, per-node, flat, or free — the pricing model decides your monitoring bill more than the tool does. Here's the one that quietly bankrupts you.
Escaping SolarWinds Without Losing Your Mind
SolarWinds vs Prometheus vs Zabbix — an honest, at-scale comparison from someone staring down a doubled renewal: cost, SNMP, alerting, HA, and AI-readiness.
Your Switches Are Screaming. Nobody's Listening.
Building a real-time AI log analyzer from scratch with a Unix box, a few devices, and zero enterprise software. Here's the actual POC.
The AI Write Tool Factory: 1,000 Pages, Zero Prompts
What if every 'ai write [X]' Google search had its own single-purpose tool page? The keyword data says yes.
Network Monitoring Is a Racket Built on Free Protocols
SolarWinds charges six figures to run SNMP queries you could do from a Raspberry Pi. AI is about to make that business model very uncomfortable.