Newsletter on firstfinger

Blockchain, Cryptocurrency and Web3 Explained for Kids

Sat, 30 Dec 2023 05:05:00 +0000

🗄️ What is Blockchain?

Let’s think of blockchain as a special diary that is copied among many different computers. This diary can be used to record transactions - like person A sending money to person B.

The exciting part is that once a transaction is written in the diary, it can never be erased! And for a new transaction to be added, all the computers have to agree that it is valid. This prevents anyone from cheating or changing the records.

Should You Use Open Source Large Language Models?

Sun, 10 Dec 2023 15:34:28 +0000

Large language models (LLMs) powered by artificial intelligence are gaining immense popularity, with over 325,000 models available on Hugging Face. As more models emerge, a key question is whether to use proprietary or open-source LLMs.

What are LLMs and How Do They Differ?

LLMs leverage deep learning and massive datasets to generate human-like text
Proprietary LLMs are owned and controlled by a company
Open-source LLMs are freely accessible for anyone to use and modify
Proprietary models currently tend to be much larger in terms of parameters
However, size isn’t everything - smaller open-source models are rapidly catching up
Community contributions empower the evolution of open-source LLMs

How Do (LLM) Large Language Models Work? Explained

A large language model (LLM) is an AI system trained on extensive text data, designed to produce human-like and intelligent responses.

How Companies Are Saving Millions by Migrating Away from AWS to Bare Metal Servers?

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 13:30:46 +0000

These two Companies OneUptime and Prerender are finding that migrating from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to bare metal servers hosted in colocation data centres can lead to substantial cost savings. They have cut costs by over 50% by taking control of their infrastructure while maintaining performance and reliability.

OneUptime was spending $456K+ annually on a 28-node AWS Kubernetes cluster.
Prerender projected over $1M per year on AWS services and data transfer.

📈 The Hidden Costs of Cloud

For many startups and tech companies, AWS seems like an easy choice. It allows you to spin up servers and scale rapidly without investing in your hardware upfront. But as these companies grow, the operating costs on AWS start to add up:

Kubernetes for Noobs

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 16:53:28 +0000

So you keep hearing about this “Kubernetes” thing but have no idea what it is or does? No worries. I’m here to explain Kubernetes to you in simple terms so you have a basic understanding of what all the fuss is about.

Let’s start from the beginning. Kubernetes is an open-source system that helps with deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications. Hmm, containerized applications - that probably sounds like more tech jargon if you’re new to all this stuff.

What is FIDO? — The Future of Secure and Passwordless Authentication

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 17:58:53 +0000

You know what I hate, I mean hate? Passwords. There are just too many of them, and they’re so hard to keep up with. I find myself losing them all the time. I bet you feel the same way. Well, what if I told you there’s a way to ditch these passwords without compromising security? There’s a way that not only eliminates the hassle but also enhances the usability of the system while making it more secure. Achieving both of these at the same time is quite a feat.

DevOps vs SRE vs Platform Engineering

Sun, 26 Nov 2023 06:30:56 +0000

Originally, DevOps, SRE, and Platform Engineering were just new ways of thinking - cultures and philosophies. But over time, they’ve turned into real roles at companies with specific focuses and responsibilities. This profile of job titles can create confusion - What exactly do these roles for? How do they interact and differ?

Of course, all these new job titles can get confusing. DevOps engineer, SRE, and platform engineer - they sound pretty similar, right? But while they’re related in some ways, the work these roles do is also very different.

What is MicroCloud?

Sat, 07 Oct 2023 21:27:59 +0000

Deploying and managing private clouds has traditionally been complex, time-consuming, and resource-intensive. Setting up all the required components like virtualization, storage, and networking from scratch. It requires deep technical expertise across multiple domains.

Even for experienced infrastructure engineers, building and operating private clouds can be frustrating. The setup process is manual and tedious. Ongoing maintenance is challenging with so many moving parts. Upgrades and security patching turn into headaches.

The result is private cloud environments that are:

Top 50+ AWS Services That You Should Know in 2023

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 07:35:38 +0000

Amazon Web Services (AWS) started back in 2006 with just a few basic services. Since then, it has grown into a massive cloud computing platform with over 200 services spanning categories like compute, storage, networking, databases, analytics, application services, deployment, management, mobile, developer tools, Internet of Things (IoT), security, hybrid cloud, augmented reality/virtual reality, and more.

With so many services available, it can be overwhelming for developers to know where to start. That’s why I’ve put together this guide to walk through Top 50+ AWS Services That You Should Know in 2023

VPN vs. Zero Trust Network: Which is More Secure for Remote Access?

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 21:38:27 +0000

In today’s digital landscape, data breaches and cyberattacks are growing more sophisticated and prevalent. Traditional network security models centred around perimeter defences have proven insufficient to protect against modern threats. Zero trust networking has emerged as a new security paradigm to prevent data breaches and stop malicious actors.

But what exactly is zero-trust networking? How does it differ from technologies like VPN? And what are the main components required to implement zero trust architecture? First, let’s understand “What is tunnelling?”