Life
API Versioning: Simplicity or Flexibility for the Developer?
I compare API versioning strategies based on my experiences: Should we prioritize simplicity or flexibility for developers? The trade-offs…
#life
83 posts found.
Life
CI/CD Deployment Strategies: Speed or Security?
I examine the strategic choices made when balancing speed and security in CI/CD pipelines, and their real-world impacts.
Life
Product Tree Denormalization in Side Projects: Is It Really Necessary?
I'm examining the product tree denormalization problem I encountered in my side projects and my pragmatic approach to it. Is it really always necessary?
Life
Using ORMs in Side Projects: Is Control Sacrificed for Speed?
I explore my personal trade-offs between speed and control when using ORMs in my side projects. When I choose ORM, when raw SQL, and why...
Life
Observability: Metrics or Logs, Which is Truly Enough?
Find the balance between metrics and logs on your system observability journey. In which situations is each more effective? I analyze with my experience.
Life
Practical Approach to Kernel CVE Emergencies
My personal experiences and lessons learned on practical methods, rapid response, and risk management strategies I apply when encountering Kernel CVEs.
Life
Morning Routine for the Pragmatic Engineer: Discipline or Flexibility?
We examine the pragmatic routine of those who are actually at the helm of real systems, rather than the 'LinkedIn engineers' who wake up at 5 AM and take cold.
Life
Idempotency in Distributed Systems: The Realities of Design
What idempotency means in distributed systems, why it's critical, and the challenges I've faced in real-world projects, along with solution approaches and…
Life
App Size: A Battle for Every Kilobyte, or Prioritizing Functionality?
Examining the importance of app size in development processes from mobile, web, and backend perspectives; balancing functionality and optimization based on my.
Life
Clean Code vs. Working Code: Which One for the Solo Developer?
As a solo developer, I analyze the hidden costs of clean code obsession and the balance of working code through my own experiences.
Life
Prompt Injection Defense: An Unnecessary Burden for Indie Hackers?
For independent developers integrating AI, understanding the true scope, cost, and pragmatic defense methods against the prompt injection threat…
Life
Eventual Consistency: 3 Decision-Making Criteria for Side Projects
I explain when and why I prefer the Eventual Consistency approach for my side projects, and the 3 criteria I consider when making this decision.
Life
Why VLAN Segmentation is No Longer as Necessary? (Or Is It?)
With 20 years of system and network experience, I examine why VLAN segmentation is no longer as essential as it used to be, in a practical and direct manner...
Life
The Hidden Cost of Idempotency in Distributed Systems
Why is idempotency necessary in distributed systems? In this post, I discuss the challenges I've faced in design, the associated costs, and my pragmatic.
Life
BGP Knowledge for Indie Hackers: Is It Really Necessary?
I examine how important BGP truly is for indie hackers, when it's an unnecessary detail, and what you should focus on instead.
Life
Perfect Architecture vs. Working Code: 3 Lessons for the Solo
Examining the dilemma of perfect architecture versus working code, I share pragmatic ways for solo developers to escape over-engineering traps.
Life
RAG Retrieval Quality: Development and Cost Anatomy in Side Projects
I explore methods for improving retrieval quality in Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, with concrete examples and cost analyses.
Life
3 Load Balancing Strategies for High Availability in Side Projects
I'm delving into 3 different load balancing strategies I've used to ensure high availability in my own side projects or small-scale applications.
Life
Dependency Vulnerabilities: The Cost of Constant Updates
Managing software dependencies carries a continuous burden and security risk in today's software world. In this post, I explore the technical and financial.
Life
Metric Cardinality: High or Low? 4 Steps to Making the Right Choice
Learn the impact of metric cardinality on system performance, its cost, and how to set it right in 4 steps. Explained through my own experiences.
Life
Secret Rotation Automation: The Operational Cost of Security
I analyze the operational overhead of secret key rotation and the cost-effectiveness of automation. Real-world scenarios and trade-offs.
Life
Supply Chain Data Flow Management in Side Projects: Why the Overkill?
Reflecting on my own side projects, I share what I misunderstood about supply chain data flow management and why simpler approaches are often more efficient.
Life
Offline-First Synchronization: The Overlooked Cost of Mobile
The allure of the offline-first approach in mobile applications, its real-world challenges, and the hidden costs it brings to developers, based on my own.
Life
4 Smart Ways to Manage Retries in Side Projects
Learn practical ways to learn from mistakes and progress in your side projects. An experience-filled guide from Mustafa Erbay.
Life
Eventual Consistency: The Inevitable Reality of Distributed Systems
Exploring the meaning of eventual consistency in distributed systems and how it reflects in our lives and work methods, through my own experiences…
Life
Is Hosting Your Own LLM Really Advantageous for a Side Project?
I examine the real-world advantages and disadvantages of running your own LLM locally in terms of cost, performance, and flexibility.
Life
Build Cache Optimization in CI/CD Pipelines: 3 Practical Ways
Improve developer quality of life by speeding up slow CI/CD processes. We examine 3 practical and concrete methods for build cache optimization.
Life
API Versioning: URI or Header? A Pragmatic Choice
Comparing API versioning strategies through URI and Header approaches. A pragmatic decision-making guide.
Life
CI/CD Strategies: The Cost of Over-Complexity for Indie Hackers
How I approach CI/CD as an indie hacker, the impact of unnecessary complexity on time and cost, and simple, effective solutions. My journey...
Life
Dependency Vulnerabilities in CI/CD: 3 Practical Management Methods
Learn 3 effective methods for managing dependency vulnerabilities in your software development processes with Mustafa Erbay's experience. Enhance CI/CD.
Life
Retries in Distributed Systems: My Observations
Why are retries in distributed systems inevitable? Practical approaches and life lessons learned from twenty years of experience.
Life
MVCC Misconceptions: The Indie Hacker's Database Choice Dilemma
I analyze the practical implications of MVCC, performance trade-offs, and real-world scenarios when choosing a database for indie hackers.
Life
A Step Onto the Shore at Samsun
107 years ago one man stepped ashore at Samsun. No money, no plan, no army — just a decision. A short, sincere note on 19 May.
Life
Eventual vs. Strong Consistency: The Indie Hacker's Tough Choice
As an indie hacker, I discuss how I choose between Eventual and Strong Consistency for my systems, the trade-offs involved, and my real-world experiences.
Life
The Cost of Blue/Green Deploy: The Tip of the Developer Time Iceberg
Examining the hidden developer time costs of the Blue/Green deploy strategy and its implications.
Life
Monolith or Modular Architecture? An Indie Hacker's Transition Journey
I share my personal experiences on the differences between monolith and modular architectures, the challenges of transitioning for indie hackers, and practical.
Life
Secret Rotation: 3 Core Principles for Secure Applications
Exploring secret rotation, a cornerstone of application security, and delving into my own principles of automation, lifecycle management, and seamless.
Life
Kernel CVE Response: The Unexpected Bill of Delaying
We examine why delaying responses to kernel security vulnerabilities can be costly with concrete examples. Read to understand the price of procrastination.
Life
CI/CD Times and Our Daily Lives: Local vs Shared Build Cache
I examine the effects of build cache mechanisms on CI/CD times and, consequently, our daily workflow, looking at the differences between local and shared.
Life
Product Tree Denormalization and the Anatomy of Technical Debt
I share my experience with product tree issues in a manufacturing ERP, the reasons for denormalization, and how technical debt accumulates.
Life
✍️ Hand-written
An Engineer's Sustainability Ledger: Why I Run on Less
One VPS, fewer watts, less carbon. A 20-year engineer's pragmatic manifesto on why running lean isn't a green sticker — it's an architectural ethic.
Life
The Idempotency Nightmare in AI Pipelines: Data Loss and Recovery
I delve deep into the idempotency issues I encountered in an AI-powered pipeline, the resulting data loss, and my solution process. Real-world experiences and.
Life
The Mysterious Quirk of the AI Pipeline: Sunday Morning Debugging
I'm sharing how I step-by-step resolved an unexpected error I encountered in an AI pipeline on a Sunday morning, and the lessons I learned from the process.
Life
AI's Silent Mistakes: Hours Lost in My Side Project
I'm sharing my experiences with hidden mistakes in AI projects that unknowingly consume time and resources, based on my own side project.
Life
✍️ Hand-written
Swap Fire on My VPS: A Nightmare That Started with a Kernel CVE Patch
I detail the process that began with my VPS's swap usage suddenly spiking and the system crashing, including the kernel CVE patch and the steps I took to.
Life
✍️ Hand-written
Swap Fire on My 7.6GB VPS: A Nightmare That Started with a Kernel
Swap usage on my VPS suddenly spiked. I detail the root cause, solution, and lessons learned from this issue that began with a kernel CVE patch.
Life
✍️ Hand-written
My Systems' Silent Alarm: My Mind Awake Even While I Sleep
A practical guide from Mustafa Erbay on detecting unseen dangers in your systems and taking proactive measures.
Life
✍️ Hand-written
Living on My Own Server: An Indie Hacker's Work-Life Balance
I share my experiences managing my own servers and its impact on the 'indie hacker' lifestyle and work-life balance.
Life
✍️ Hand-written
My Server's Crisis Moment: An Alert During Family Dinner
I'm sharing a first-hand account of an unexpected crisis on my own server, the alerts that came in during a family dinner, and the debugging process that.
Life
✍️ Hand-written
Living on My Own Server: Balancing Time and Freedom
Hosting my projects on my own server isn't just a technical choice; it's a life philosophy. The time and effort I spend for the sake of control and.
Life
Black-Box Artificial Intelligence: An Engineer's Helplessness
The growing complexity of AI models drives engineers into the 'black box' problem. This piece explores the ethical, technical and professional weight of…
Life
The DevOps Culture War: The Resistance of Old Habits
DevOps isn't only about tools — it's a deep cultural shift. Discover how old habits and silo mindsets resist this change.
Life
The Hidden Disaster of a Single 'Magic Number' in Production
Learn the hidden disasters a single 'magic number' can cause in your production processes — and how to avoid them.
Life
The Silent Automation Betrayal: Trust Crisis and the Human Factor
A quiet danger that came with the rise of automation: the erosion of human trust and the growing skepticism toward automated systems. In this piece, we explore…
Life
The Lasting Weight of Quick Fixes: An SRE's Diary
From an SRE perspective, we examine the long-term impact of stopgap fixes on systems and teams, and the unavoidable cost of technical debt.
Life
The Dead End of Selling Invisible Risks: An Engineer's Frustration
Discover the frustration engineers face when trying to explain invisible risks to leadership or stakeholders, and the practical strategies to break through…
Life
The Burden of Being the Only Expert: A Sysadmin's Loneliness
Discover the challenges of being the sole expert as a system administrator, the loneliness it brings, and strategies for coping with that burden. Work-life…
Life
Silent Drift in Machine Learning Models: From an SRE's Lens
Look at silent drift — the gradual performance loss in ML models over time — from an SRE perspective. Learn detection, monitoring, and mitigation strategies.
Life
The Architect's Dilemma: A Single Decision That Could End in Disaster
Explore how, in critical moments of life, a single decision can drive an entire structure or system into disaster. On The Architect's Dilemma…
Life
Alarm Fatigue: The Moments When Silent Screams Go Unheard
Look at the 'alarm fatigue' phenomenon — the mental exhaustion of constant notifications — and learn how to deal with it in the digital age.
Life
Midnight 'Swap Storm': An SRE's Memory Nightmare
Through an SRE's eyes, look at the 'Swap Storm' nightmare that paralyzes systems and causes sleepless nights — and how I made it through.
Life
Untangling the Inheritance: The Hidden Burden of Undocumented Systems
Learn how to untangle the hidden burden of undocumented systems you run into in your work or personal life. Step-by-step strategies and practical fixes for…
Life
The Post-Mortem Culture War: The Personal Cost of Learning From…
Learning from mistakes is a hard road. Look at the personal price tag behind post-mortem culture, the shift from blame to learning, and the individual…
Life
The Hidden Rate Limiting Battles in Production
A look at the hidden rate limiting problems that show up in production environments and how to solve them, from Mustafa Erbay's point of view.
Life
The Unexpected Chaos Engineering Test of Distributed Systems in…
Discover how unexpected failures are managed in distributed systems and how Chaos Engineering principles save lives in real-world scenarios.
Life
The Hidden Legacy of Slow Queries in Monolithic Applications
Slow queries at the heart of monolithic applications are not just a technical problem — they cast a deep shadow over workflows and developer motivation…
Life
Hidden IP Conflicts in Production: The Invisible Network War
Take a detailed look at the causes, consequences, and remedies for the hard-to-detect hidden IP conflicts that pop up in production environments.
Life
Hidden Distributed Lock Deadlocks in Production: The Silent…
Learn about the distributed lock deadlocks you encounter in microservice architectures and how to solve them, with Mustafa Erbay's guide. Hidden in production…
Life
Eventual Consistency: An Engineer's Mental Load and Approaches to It
Explore the cognitive load that Eventual Consistency, a fundamental piece of distributed systems, places on engineers — and the strategies to manage it…
Life
Thundering Herd: The Hidden Architect of Production Bottlenecks…
Take a guided look at the Thundering Herd problem behind unexpected bottlenecks in production processes — and the countermeasures Mustafa Erbay relies on…
Life
Hero Engineer Syndrome: The Hidden Toxicity in Production
Explore the toxic effects of Hero Engineer Syndrome in production environments and how to break out of the cycle, on Mustafa Erbay's blog.
Life
Imposter Syndrome in Critical Systems: The Architect's Inner War
Explore the battle critical-system architects fight with imposter syndrome and strategies to manage that inner war. Causes, effects, and ways forward.
Life
The Human Cost of Zero Trust: A War Fought With Access Policies
We look at the potential human cost of Zero Trust security beyond its technical benefits — its effects on user experience and productivity. Overly strict…
Life
Panic Management with Chaos Engineering in Cloud Architecture…
How Chaos Engineering helps with panic management when unexpected issues hit cloud architectures, and how to handle the production-side earthquakes…
Life
Ghosts of Distributed Systems: The Team Stress of Intermittent Errors
An in-depth look at the nature of intermittent errors in distributed systems, the stress they place on teams, and strategies for dealing with these 'ghosts'...
Life
First Change in a Critical System: Between Fear and Automation
An exploration of the fear that comes with making the first change to a critical system and how automation makes the process easier.
Life
Hidden Dependencies in Distributed Systems: Production Backfire…
An in-depth look, from Mustafa Erbay's perspective, at the production issues caused by hidden dependencies in distributed systems and the 'backfire battles'…
Life
The Shadows of Automation: Battling Unexpected Side Effects
The benefits of automation are undeniable, yet confronting its overlooked shadows and battling its unexpected side effects matter just as much…
Life
Escaping the Retry Storm: Data Consistency in Distributed Systems…
Examine the difficulties of achieving real-time data consistency in distributed systems, plus traps like the 'retry storm' that you need to avoid.
Life
The Single-Expert Trap: The Cost of Operational Dependency
Learn the operational risks of depending on a single expert and how you can break free from this trap.
Life
Middle-of-the-Night Zero-Day: Leadership Lessons from a Team in Crisis
Learn how to put your leadership skills to work when an unexpected zero-day vulnerability triggers a team crisis in cybersecurity. Crisis management...
Life
Communication During Operational Crises: Lessons from the Field
Strengthen your crisis management with effective communication strategies during operational crises and lessons drawn from the field.
Life
The Hidden Dependency Hell of Cloud-Based Microservices
A guide describing the hidden dependency problems faced in cloud-based microservice architectures and how to escape this hell.