Latest from Hamzah & Marissa
-
Three of my mini-PC power supplies have died over the last 2–3 months.That’s half my #K8S cluster unavailable right now. 😓All three nodes are old Optiplex 3010s, and their #QuickSync support isn’t great anyway. Right now #Plex / #Jellyfin is pinned to a single node with the “newest” CPU for transcoding.Debating whether to replace the PSUs or just upgrade the dead nodes to newer mini-PCs.#homelab #kubernetes #k8s
Read on → -
Does this kind of thicker stringing look like due to wet filament? Or something else? I know the very fine, cotton candy like fluffy stringing is due to wet filament, but I'm not sure if this ticker one is also.
Read on → -
Grafana Alloy in My Homelab: Why I Run Three Separate Instances
When I set up Grafana Alloy across my homelab Kubernetes cluster, the first question was: how many instances do I actually need? Most tutorials show a single Alloy deployment handling everything. That works for a proof of concept but it papers over a real architectural question — one that comes down to a single word: clustering.
Read on → -
This is so good. #buldak #food #foodporn #spicy
Read on → -
Parenting Like a DevOps Engineer: Managing the Chaos of Family Life
Father’s Day just passed, which got me thinking—not just about fatherhood in general, but how weirdly useful my job as a DevOps engineer has been in helping me parent. I have three kids: two sons (8 years old, and 6 years old), and one daughter (4 years old). They’re amazing, unpredictable, and chaotic—kind of like a Kubernetes cluster that’s constantly in flux, demanding constant monitoring, quick rollbacks, and a whole lot of automation to keep from spiralling into an unmanageable mess.
Read on → -
Reviving My Broken Ender 3
Introduction Link to heading In my previous post, I introduced the two second-hand Ender 3 printers I recently acquired. One was completely stock and fully operational, while the other had a variety of upgrades — but was non-functional. I decided to take on the challenge of restoring and improving the broken Ender 3, ordering a range of replacement parts that would not only get it printing again but also enhance its performance.
Read on → -
Starting My 3D Printing Journey in 2025 with the Ender 3: Klipper, Tinkering, and Endless Upgrades
Introduction Link to heading I’ve been fascinated by 3D printing for years, but I always hesitated—would I actually use it enough to justify the cost? It’s easy to get swept up in the hype of new hobbies, only to let gadgets gather dust. Recently, while browsing Facebook Marketplace, I stumbled across a deal that seemed too good to pass up — an original stock Ender 3 with a few spools of PLA and TPU for just £50.
Read on → -
How to Redirect Hardcoded DNS with VyOS (Perfect for Pi-hole or Blocky Setups)
Smart devices like Chromecasts and TVs often use hardcoded DNS servers that bypass your custom DNS filters like Pi-hole or Blocky. In this guide, you’ll learn how to configure VyOS NAT rules to intercept and redirect all DNS requests to your preferred DNS server — even if the client tries to bypass it. I use Blocky as my DNS server on my home network, but this should work with Pi-Hole and any other DNS server as well.
Read on → -
Hamzah Khan
Hamzah Khan (M. Hamzah Khan) is a DevOps Engineer based in London, UK. He writes about Kubernetes, Grafana observability, VyOS networking, home lab infrastructure, and 3D printing at hamzahkhan.com.
Read on → -
VyOS as a Reverse Proxy Load Balancer
VyOS, the robust open-source network operating system, has recently introduced an exciting new capability – the ability to function as a load-balancing reverse proxy. This integration leverages the power of HAproxy, a battle-tested proxy server, and load balancer, providing VyOS with powerful reverse proxy and application load balancing functionality. While this integration is still in its early stages, and lacks many features, it presents exciting features that will hopefully improve with time.
Read on → -
VyOS - WireGuard based Road Warrior VPN Configuration
In our modern, hyper-connected world, where remote work and global access are increasingly vital, the need for secure connectivity to your home or office network has evolved from a luxury to an essential requirement. Whether you’re a professional in need of remote access to an office network or a passionate home lab enthusiast managing various services, a road-warrior style VPN is your key to top-tier, secure and hassle-free remote server access from anywhere in the world. Regardless of if you are managing a personal web server, delving into home automation experiments, or overseeing your own cloud services, this guide serves as your trusty roadmap, expanding on the principles covered in our previous post about establishing a site-to-site VPN with WireGuard and VyOS.
Read on → -
VyOS - Site-to-Site VPN using Wireguard and OSPF
Connecting two sites securely and efficiently is essential for many businesses and individuals. In this post, we’ll explore how to achieve seamless connectivity between two locations using the powerful combination of WireGuard, a modern and high-performance VPN protocol, and VyOS, a robust and versatile network operating system. Whether you’re looking to enhance communication between remote offices, create a secure link between your data center and a cloud-based infrastructure, or simply want to connect two geographically separated sites, this guide will walk you through the process, ensuring a reliable and secure connection every step of the way.
Read on → -
Using FreeIPA CA as an ACME Provider for cert-manager
I’m using FreeIPA for authentication services in my home lab. It’s extreme overkill for my situation, as I don’t have many users (mainly just me!) but alas I like overkill. :) I am using FreeIPA’s DNS service to host some DNS subdomains for internal services.
Read on → -
About M. Hamzah Khan — Senior DevOps Engineer
I’m Hamzah Khan (M. Hamzah Khan) — self-proclaimed genius, ruler of the Internet, and Senior DevOps Engineer the rest of the time. I’m based in London, UK, and I’ve been working in Linux systems and infrastructure for over 15 years.
Read on → -
My Home Lab — Network, Kubernetes, and Infrastructure
My home lab is a platform for running infrastructure I actually use, experimenting with technologies I work with professionally, and self-hosting services I’d rather not hand to third parties. The design philosophy mirrors production engineering: infrastructure as code, GitOps for state management, full observability, and automation wherever possible. The core of the current setup is a bare-metal Kubernetes cluster managed with FluxCD, backed by a VyOS router, Proxmox hypervisors, and a full Grafana observability stack.
Read on → -
Playing with Mastodon, the Open Source, Federated Social Network
I recently started playing with Mastodon, an open source, Twitter-like social network. In the past, I’ve looked at StatusNet (now known as GNU Social), but at the time it did not seem very intuitive, and had a number of problems which I cannot remember any more. So far I have been using Mastodon for almost a month, and while the community is very small, I’m finding myself using it more than I do Twitter (or any other social media platform for that matter).
Read on → -
Automate Athan Prayer Times on Google Home with Home Assistant
Update I recently migrated my blog from WordPress to Hugo. Due to this migration, the comments that were originally on this post are not present. I hope to migrate them over soon..
Read on → -
Growing Date Palms from Seed
Recently my auntie gave me some Ajwah date fruit she got while she was in Medina in Saudi Arabia. I absolutely love dates and have always heard that dates have a lot of health benefits. While I was enjoying my dates, I decided to Google what the health benefits actually are.
Read on →