Author Archives: John S. Tonello

Building a democratized organization

Anyone looking to hire or be hired into an IT organization these days knows the job boards use algorithms to screen applicants, but this AI-infused approach to identifying talent often misses the people IT organizations need most: cross-functional experts who bring unique, game-changing talents — but don’t look good on digital paper. So, instead of… Read More »

NanoPi NEO Plus2 packs power into cookie-sized IoT device

If you’ve taken some time to get to know the Raspberry Pi, the all-in-one computer that’s only slightly larger than a deck of cards, you’re sure to like its tiny cousin, the NanoPi NEO Plus2 — especially if you’re deploying IoT devices. The NanoPi is less than half the size of the Raspberry Pi 3,… Read More »

Use motion, Dropbox, RPi to create a remote cam

Check out an updated containerized version of this project in https://www.johntonello.com/how-my-cat-helped-me-build-a-better-iot-app/ One of the first projects I ever built on the Raspberry Pi 2 was a motion detector camera to keep track of my cats. The idea was to tune in to the home-based camera while I was away or at work so I could,… Read More »

Chef Infra in 60 seconds

This brief video provides a quick overview of Chef Infra, a versatile modern tool for infrastructure-as-code.

How to install Chef Automate and Chef Infra Server

A step-by-step guide to installing Chef Automate and Chef Infra Server on-prem so you can get started with automation and configuration management with Chef Infrastructure, Chef Compliance, and Chef App Delivery.

Chef 101: Getting Started With Automation

Take a look at some practices that can help you get a running start with your Chef automation and the principle of Policy as Code. This post is designed to be beginner-friendly. You don’t need any coding experience to follow along — just an interest in automation, and curiosity about how best to implement it… Read More »

The coding SysAdmin

For anyone working in a traditional sysadmin role, automation — and a larger DevOps conversation — can be disconcerting. Modern automation means “code” and some sysadmins insist coding is outside their job descriptions. In fact, when I was an IT director, I had a sysadmin tell me, “We don’t code.” He was content with maintaining… Read More »

SQL Server on Linux

When Wim Coekaerts, Microsoft’s vice president for open source, took the stage at LinuxCon 2016 in Toronto last summer, he came not as an adversary, but as a longtime Linux enthusiast promising to bring the power of Linux to Microsoft and vice versa. With the recent launch of SQL Server for Linux, Coekaerts is clearly… Read More »