2025-08-30
FreeIPA: The Untamed Titan of Enterprise Identity
Introduction
While Keycloak and FusionAuth focus on the web, FreeIPA operates on a different level. It’s not just an authentication server. It’s an integrated solution for identity management and security policies in UNIX/Linux environments. It’s not designed for quick web app integration but for building centralized access control at an enterprise scale. If your infrastructure consists of many Linux servers, this tool is your ally.
2025-08-29
FusionAuth: Challenging the Giants with an API Focus
Introduction
While Keycloak may feel like a heavyweight titan built for the enterprise world, FusionAuth enters the arena with a much more developer-friendly agenda. This service positions itself as a solution built by developers for developers. It promises to be simple, fast, and most importantly, manageable through a clean, well-structured API. Sounds like a relief after wrestling with complex documentation.
The Big Promise
The core message of FusionAuth is “less configuration, more code.” It promises to save you from wrestling with dozens of XML files and bulky UIs. Instead, you should be able to integrate authentication in just a few hours using only API calls. Its arsenal includes:
2025-08-28
Keycloak: Open Source and Big Ambitions
Introduction
In a world where more and more services outsource user management, Keycloak offers a different path. This project is not just a set of login APIs. It is a full-fledged, self-sufficient authentication server that promises to relieve you from headaches with user management, protocols, and security. At the same time, it remains open source. Sounds like utopia, but let’s take a closer look.
2025-08-23
When Control Matters Most
Services like Tailscale and NetBird are convenient, but they rely on a third-party control server responsible for authentication, key distribution, and route exchange. For those who, for security or privacy reasons, don’t want to entrust this function to anyone, there are two paths: Headscale and “pure” WireGuard.
Headscale: Your Own Tailscale
Headscale is a fully open-source implementation of Tailscale’s control server. It allows you to deploy your own Tailscale alternative on a VPS or server while still using the official Tailscale clients.
2025-08-10
What is Xen?
Xen is a powerful and flexible Type 1 open-source hypervisor that runs directly on server hardware, delivering high performance. Its unique architecture, based on the concept of paravirtualization, became the foundation for many major cloud platforms, including the early versions of Amazon Web Services (AWS). Xen is known for its performance, security, and ability to flexibly manage resources, making it a popular choice for building scalable and fault-tolerant environments.
2025-08-09
What is QEMU?
QEMU (Quick Emulator) is a multifunctional open-source project that acts both as an emulator and a virtualizer, making it a unique tool in the virtualization world. Unlike other hypervisors, QEMU not only runs virtual machines but can also emulate a processor and other hardware components. This dual nature allows it to run operating systems and applications designed for one architecture on a machine with another (for example, running an ARM system on an x86 server).
2025-08-08
What is KVM?
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a virtualization technology built directly into the Linux kernel. KVM transforms the Linux kernel into a Type 1 hypervisor (bare-metal), allowing multiple virtual machines to run while leveraging hardware virtualization features of the CPU (Intel VT-x and AMD-V). KVM serves as a core component for many modern cloud platforms, including OpenStack and Red Hat OpenShift.
As part of Linux, KVM is a fully open-source solution, giving developers and system administrators enormous freedom and control over their infrastructure with zero licensing fees.
2025-08-05
What is Proxmox VE?
Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) is a powerful and flexible open-source virtualization platform that allows you to manage virtual machines and containers through a single web interface. Proxmox VE is based on the Debian GNU/Linux operating system and uses the KVM hypervisor for full virtualization and LXC for lightweight containerization. Its key advantage is versatility and ease of management, making it a popular choice for both home labs and small to medium-sized businesses.
2025-07-25
n8n + Appwrite: An Open-Source Firebase Alternative for Self-Hosting
We’ve already explored Supabase and Firebase — now it’s time to look at Appwrite, a powerful and fully open-source BaaS platform designed for self-hosting and complete data control.
If you want to build a backend on your own infrastructure, Appwrite can be the perfect partner in combination with n8n.
What Is Appwrite?
Appwrite is a full-featured Backend as a Service (BaaS) platform with open-source code. It provides REST APIs for most features a modern application needs:
2025-07-20
Graylog: A Flexible and User-Friendly Log Management Solution
We’ve already covered ELK Stack and OpenSearch — powerful logging tools with scalable architectures. Now let’s take a look at Graylog — a dedicated log management platform offering convenience, powerful processing, and flexible alerting.
What Is Graylog and How Does It Work?
Graylog is a centralized log management system designed for ease of use and rich capabilities. Unlike the ELK Stack, Graylog was built from the ground up as a unified platform.
