IT Operations Guide Series
Practical guides for IT operations including server management, certificate renewal, monitoring, and infrastructure automation for sysadmins.
IT operations is the backbone of any tech infrastructure. These guides cover the day-to-day tasks that keep systems running, certificate renewals, server monitoring, backup automation, and infrastructure management for sysadmins who need practical, no-nonsense solutions. Whether you manage a single server or a fleet of machines, having reliable processes for monitoring, alerting, and recovery is critical. Automation can handle the repetitive checks while you focus on incidents and improvements. Build your runbooks, document everything, and test your backups regularly. The difference between a good sysadmin and a great one is preparation. When something breaks, having documented procedures and automated recovery plans turns a crisis into a minor event. These guides help you build that foundation step by step. Every article in this series is written by someone doing the job daily. You will find scripts, configuration files, and monitoring templates that have been tested in production environments. Skip the theory and go straight to what works when your pager goes off at 3 AM.
About the IT Operations Knowledge Base
Welcome to our IT Operations guide collection. Our team tests real solutions on physical hardware. We share clear steps, proven scripts, and practical fixes. You get exact terminal commands without fluff or guesswork.
Each guide helps you fix a specific issue or speed up your daily workflow. Browse the tutorials below to find working fixes, benchmark data, and verified code.
All IT Operations Guides & Technical Runbooks
Windows 11 Dev Drive Benchmarks: Is ReFS Worth It? (24H2)
We benchmarked Windows 11 24H2 Dev Drive against NTFS across npm install, git status, and Rust builds. See real speedups, Defender mode, and SSD trade-offs.
TMOG vs Process Explorer vs Task Manager: Benchmarked (2026)
We benchmarked TMOG, Process Explorer, System Informer, AppControl, and Windows Task Manager on Windows 11 24H2. Footprint, handles, and telemetry tested.
TMOG Download: Is Task Manager OG Safe? 5 Real Tests (2026)
Download Dave Plummer's TMOG (Task Manager OG) safely from tmog.org. We tested the 1.0.0 installer, SSL signature, zero-telemetry claim, and 60Hz metrics.
Why Google Fires Off-Topic Sites: 100 Sources & Our Audit
We analyzed 100 sources and Google's leaked API signals to explain why off-topic articles destroy rankings. Here is our full breakdown and public cleanup list.
Tuning Linux Page Cache & InnoDB: Stop Database OOM Kills
Stop MySQL and Postgres OOM kills. Learn how to tune Linux page cache, vm.swappiness, dirty ratios, and cgroups to stop kernel memory starvation on DB servers.
Fix splwow64.exe 0xc0000142 Error: 3 Tested Steps (2026)
Fix splwow64.exe error 0xc0000142 when printing from 32-bit apps on Windows Server and Windows 11. Complete driver isolation and registry runbook.
Replace Docker Desktop with Podman on Windows 11 & WSL2
We replaced Docker Desktop with Podman on Windows 11 WSL2 across 4 workstations. Here is our setup runbook, compose compatibility guide, and benchmarks.
RAG Pipeline with Open-WebUI & Ollama: 3 Setup Steps (2026)
Deploy private local RAG with Open-WebUI, Ollama, and ChromaDB. Step-by-step setup guide with Qwen 2.5 benchmarks, Docker compose, and GPU memory sizing.
GPO Sprawl: How We Audited and Pruned 140 Zombie Policies
Is GPO sprawl slowing down Active Directory logins? Discover how to audit unlinked, empty, and duplicate Group Policy Objects with PowerShell.
Shadow AI Audit in Microsoft 365: 5 Native Steps (2026)
Discover unauthorized AI tools and data exfiltration inside your Microsoft 365 tenant using native Purview and Defender for Cloud Apps. Free audit runbook.
Why We Quit Docker Desktop: WSL2 & Podman Guide (2026)
Tired of Docker Desktop RAM bloat and fees? Here is how our engineering team replaced it with native WSL2 dockerd and Podman, saving 8GB of RAM.
Docker Desktop Licensing: Cost & Alternatives Guide
Navigate Docker Desktop enterprise licensing terms. Our team migrated 120 devs to rootless Podman, saving $24k/yr. Cost matrix, Quadlets, and CI config.
Automate TLS Certificate Renewal: 3 Proven Scripts (2026)
Automate Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificate renewals across internal reverse proxies using local DeepSeek scripting. Zero unexpected cert expirations.