Gatus is a single-binary or single-container monitoring tool that continuously probes your services and renders a public status page at a URL you control. You define every check in one YAML file, so your entire monitoring setup can live in Git alongside the rest of your infrastructure. There is no mandatory database, no web-based configuration UI to click through, and no per-monitor pricing. If you self-host anything - a blog, a Gitea instance , a Home Assistant server, a mail relay - Gatus gives you a straightforward way to know when something breaks and to show your users that things are running.

A Raspberry Pi 5 running RetroPie or Batocera turns a $80 single-board computer into a retro gaming console that handles everything from NES and SNES through PlayStation 1, N64, Dreamcast, and even some PSP titles. The Pi 5’s quad-core 2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 CPU and VideoCore VII GPU deliver roughly 3x the single-core performance and 2.8x the GPU throughput compared to the Pi 4, making previously choppy N64 and Dreamcast games run at full speed for the first time on Pi hardware. With Bluetooth controller support, CRT shaders, and a polished menu system, the result rivals commercial retro consoles like the Analogue Pocket or Retroid Pocket at a fraction of the cost.

To properly benchmark your SSD on Linux, use fio for comprehensive sequential and random I/O testing, hdparm for a quick sequential read sanity check, and GNOME Disks for a visual one-click benchmark. A healthy Gen5 NVMe drive — a Crucial T705, Samsung 990 EVO Plus Gen5, or WD Black SN8100 — should deliver 12,000-14,000 MB/s sequential reads and over 1,200,000 random 4K read IOPS. Gen4 drives top out around 7,000 MB/s sequential and 800,000-1,000,000 IOPS. If your numbers fall significantly short of those targets, there is usually a diagnosable reason: thermal throttling, a PCIe slot running at the wrong generation, or an I/O scheduler misconfiguration.

Every DNS query your devices make tells a story. When your home network forwards those queries to Google (8.8.8.8), Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), or your ISP’s default resolver, that provider accumulates a detailed record of every domain every device visits - your phone, your laptop, your smart TV, your thermostat, all of it. You can fix this by running Pi-hole as a DNS sinkhole to block ads and trackers network-wide, and pair it with Unbound as a local recursive resolver so your queries go directly to the DNS root servers instead of a third-party middleman.

You can revive a 2012-2015 MacBook Pro by swapping the HDD for an SSD and installing a light Linux distro. A machine that felt slow and unsupported under macOS turns into a snappy computer for web, writing, and dev work. The swap keeps working hardware out of landfill and gives you a secure, up-to-date machine for years.

Which MacBook Models Are Worth Restoring in 2026?

Not all old MacBooks make good Linux candidates. The key factor is hardware upgradability. Apple’s shift from user-serviceable to sealed hardware draws a hard line.

The Intel N100 is the superior choice for a DIY NAS in 2026 if you plan to run Plex or Jellyfin, need ZFS reliability, or want to expand beyond two drives. But the Raspberry Pi 5 remains the champion for low-power, always-on file storage where idle electricity cost is the primary concern. The right answer depends almost entirely on what you actually want the box to do.

Why Build a DIY NAS in 2026? The Case Against Synology

Synology and QNAP have spent the last few years making themselves harder to recommend. Synology introduced drive compatibility restrictions that reject non-Synology-branded drives in their newer units - drives that work identically to approved alternatives. Their DSM operating system has evolved from a convenient management layer into a proprietary platform with aggressive upselling for cloud services you didn’t ask for. A comparable Synology DS423+ costs around $500 without any drives included, while a comparable DIY N100 build with 4 SATA ports runs under $200.