Gatus is a single-binary monitoring tool that probes your services and shows a public status page at a URL you control. You define every check in one YAML file. So your whole setup can live in Git next to the rest of your stack. There is no need for a database, no web UI to click through, and no per-monitor pricing. If you self-host a blog, a Gitea instance , a Home Assistant server, or a mail relay, Gatus gives you a simple way to know when something breaks.

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 benchmark your SSD on Linux, use fio for full sequential and random I/O tests, hdparm for a quick sequential read check, and GNOME Disks for a visual one-click run. A healthy Gen5 NVMe drive (a Crucial T705, Samsung 990 EVO Plus Gen5, or WD Black SN8100) should hit 12,000-14,000 MB/s sequential reads and over 1,200,000 random 4K read IOPS. Gen4 drives top out near 7,000 MB/s sequential and 800,000-1,000,000 IOPS. If your numbers fall well short, there is usually a clear reason: heat throttling, a PCIe slot at the wrong generation, or a bad I/O scheduler setting.

Every DNS query your devices make tells a story. When your home network sends those queries to Google (8.8.8.8), Cloudflare (1.1.1.1), or your ISP’s resolver, that provider builds a record of every domain every device visits. Your phone, your laptop, your smart TV, your thermostat: all of it. You can fix this. Run Pi-hole as a DNS sinkhole to block ads and trackers across the whole network. Then pair it with Unbound , a local recursive resolver, so your queries go straight 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 better DIY NAS choice in 2026 if you plan to run Plex or Jellyfin, want ZFS, or need more than two drives. The Raspberry Pi 5 still wins for low-power, always-on file storage where idle power cost is what counts. The right pick depends almost entirely on what you 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 getting harder to recommend. Newer Synology units reject non-Synology drives. Those rejected drives work just like the approved ones. The DSM operating system has changed too. It used to be a handy management layer. Now it’s a closed platform that pushes cloud services you didn’t ask for. A Synology DS423+ costs about $500 with no drives. A DIY N100 build with four SATA ports runs under $200.