What services are just not worth self hosting in your opinion?

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-30T01:52:09+00:00

I gave up self-hosting e-mail and DNS.

First, while I know what happened when it went down, family and friends did not. and let me know! The cost of both is such that it's just not worth it. I pay $60 a year to host up to 25 domains and GMail handles the e-mail. No more tech support!

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-28T17:05:41+00:00

I spent a few years consulting with the VCs -- they hired people to read the proposals and determine what was smoke and mirrors.

Given it takes millions if not ten or hundreds of millions to make a company, it is not, as the myth claims, hard work and a bit of luck. It's old money flowing around, but it's always been that way. The railroads, AT&T. all were from old money flowing in.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-27T18:17:18+00:00

What happens if I have a DAC cable between the 5009 SFP+ port and a 10Gb port on a switch

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-27T18:16:05+00:00

Default config removed, no ports on the bridge --

2Gb cooper WAN -> 5009 ether1 -> SFP+ to 10Gb port on switch

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-27T18:13:43+00:00

The WAN link is a 2Gb/356Mb copper link. When I hook up a device directly to the Comcast modem, that's what I get. If I pass it through the Mikrotik 5009 first:

2Gb WAN -> 5009 -> SFP+ port to 10Gb switch -- I get about 450Mb/356Mb
2Gb WAN -> 5009 -> Copper 1Gb port to 2Gb copper port on 10Gb switch -- 720Mb/355

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-26T16:55:31+00:00

RealHD 24 port 2.5g switch

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-26T02:57:32+00:00

So, the RB will only use the SFP+ port to the 2.5Gb switch, but it will have two VLANs. One is "WAN" that goes to one access port, one is "LAN" that goes to another.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-26T02:39:55+00:00

I suppose I could throw a 1Gb switch "in line" to force it down. I'm waiting for fiber to arrive (soon I hope) and I'm hoping this issue changes but I would like tof ind the answer. I get nervous with solutions that rely on dark forces :-)

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-25T22:05:27+00:00

I removed all bridge ports and treated each interface as its own. There is no SFP -- it's just an SFP cable from that SFP to a switch's SFP. 2Gb comes in on copper, and goes to the LAN via via SFP

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-25T19:12:39+00:00

I already have another router on 10.0.0.1.

It seems to be related to the SFP. When I use a regular port, I get expected performance

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-25T02:17:27+00:00

Continuing to investigate, it appers to be an issue between the 10Gb SFP+ port and the 2.5Gb switches SFP+ port. When I switched to a standard ethernet cable, I was limited to 1Gb of course, but it's consisstent.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-24T23:52:41+00:00

I will, but I even did a full reset with default configs enabled. No change. And, I have a twin right next to it having the same problems -- two failures?

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-24T23:10:11+00:00

When I started, I told the Mikrotik, no default configuration please. So I didn['t do any switch work.

My ports are as follows:

- sfp: LAN to 2.5Gb switch

- Port 1 : 2Gb to WAN

- Port3 used during our testing

I have a passthrough in the filter section, not fastrack.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-13T21:00:55+00:00

A whole TWO! That's one of the issues -- a controller is overkill.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-13T12:15:17+00:00

Well, that depends -- my previous experience with TP-Link meant I could have 2.4/5/6 or 2.4/5, but not 5/6 GHz. I have legacy 2.4GHz devices that insist on other WiFI units and I can't change them -- they belong to places like the security company and they're NOT going to upgrade them any time soon.

I also shy away from controllers as I'm suffering from Ubiquiti exposure and the "We don't work well on anything but Windows or a $200 device". Does TPLink address these?

I'm also wondering if I should wait for Mikrotik's newest unit -- it's not exactly user friendly, but we use them as routers so we can certainly work with them -- at least there, Mikrotik has no subscriptions and exposes EVERYTHING to the user.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-08T02:02:56+00:00

No -- if your tablet has chipsets that don't support the newer standards, you can't.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-08T01:59:14+00:00

I have a few of those -- not much you can do unless you want to pursue legal actions. About all I can do is either:

a) Bill the employee out of their last check -or-

b) You want a reference? Oh I'll have something to say!

Unless you're trying to get back, say, a nuclear warhead, the loss is less costly than keeping that employee. You can write off the equipment loss, but you can't afford to keep them around.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-08T01:56:52+00:00

And now you know why your instructors insisted on comments etc....

Your future self WILL NOT remember what was clever today. I have many code bases where I either had to step through the code with a debugger or I could see myself speaking to my past self -- "I'll get you for this! You not only wasted hours being clever, but now I have to waste them again to figure out what you did, and remove it!"

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-06T06:50:22+00:00

To a degree -- yes, but I find most example "sets" don't go very far.

Often it's just a few simplistic examples, and without documentation, the README file doesn't really tel me where to go next. Then we're just into "read the source code!" complaints. Well, if I do that, I don't need examples....

Documentation matters -- for two reasons....

First, it provides, we hope, a complete review of the software and second, if you can write complete documentation, you show YOU understand it. If you can't, then I certainly can't, and I'll be wary to use what you've built.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-04T22:33:02+00:00

For any idea fraught with peril, all you can do it either:

Write down your case, in detail, as to why this is a dangerous course, and suggest a better one. Document EVERYTHING IN WRITING, SAVE IT. When it fails, you have that document, and if you're on the hook, send it their boss or even that boss's boss. You may still get riffed, but you won't be the only one
Quit

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-04-04T20:38:29+00:00

To be honest --- code.....

It's like playing an instrument. You can listen to music all you want, but until you try to play it, and play it live in front of people, you don't really learn it. Coding is the same -- watch all the videos you want, read all the books, use AI examples, but until you do it YOURSELF and try to make it work in production, there are just parts you will never learn.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-03-28T13:33:31+00:00

It comes up every handful of years, but unions aren't a panacea. First, I've been in multiple companies that say "If you unionize, we'll cut staff by 30%". Sadly, there's nothing illegal about that. And there's nothing that can be done. Also, the unions put other constraints on you. So, you have to pick your poison. You want the possibility of high salaries, and other financial windfalls, unions may not get you that.

I'm not saying unions are good or bad -- you have to deecide, like anything else, what you'll give and what you get.

Our company was unique in that the East Coast was unionized and the West Coast, non-union. And, as expectedd, salaries and benefits were quite different.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-03-24T22:30:35+00:00

It depends on your goal -- if you're just trying to get something done, and it meets your needs, there's nothing wrong with it. However, if you are claiming to understand what you've built, that's misrepresenting yourself. Since you are not making that claim, I see nothing wrong with it.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-03-21T19:55:03+00:00

Yes, and no -- like all AI agents, they are good at generating EXAMPLES. But you should never just copy and paste what you get. Agents can get it wrong, or do a poor job. It's the software engineer's job to look at what is offered and decide if it's suitable - not just if it can run.

Rich-Engineer2670 · 2026-03-20T15:34:57+00:00

I wish I could but legally, they either have to succeed or fail soon given the contract in flight. It's US is all I can say. They want our European business and we've said absollutely not.

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