sysadmin Memes

They Say Always Tip Your Server

They Say Always Tip Your Server
When they said "tip your server," I don't think this is what they meant. That poor rack server just took a nosedive onto concrete, spilling its guts like a digital piñata. Years of carefully managed RAID configurations, backups, and production data scattered across the floor in seconds. Somewhere, a sysadmin is having the worst day of their career while the CTO is frantically checking if their resume is up to date. Hope they had off-site backups, because no amount of "have you tried turning it off and on again" is fixing this massacre.

TCP Connection's Brief Pride Celebration

TCP Connection's Brief Pride Celebration
Ah, the classic networking betrayal. First two packets proudly announce their existence and identity, then the third one just unceremoniously terminates the connection. It's like the network equivalent of a company changing their logo back from rainbow after June 30th. The TCP handshake said "hello" only to immediately say "actually, nevermind."

Roight? DNS Propagation Miracle

Roight? DNS Propagation Miracle
Ah, the sweet relief when DNS actually decides to work in a reasonable timeframe! Nothing quite like watching your domain changes propagate in minutes instead of the usual "guess I'll go home, sleep, come back tomorrow, and maybe it'll be done" timeline. DNS propagation is basically the digital equivalent of waiting for paint to dry—except the paint sometimes takes an entire workday. When it actually happens quickly, it feels like the universe is finally cutting you some slack. Praise the networking gods, they've shown mercy today!

VSphere Is Still Pretty Great, But...

VSphere Is Still Pretty Great, But...
Server admin calmly stating "vSphere is still pretty great" until someone mentions "BROADCOM." Then the rage sets in. It's like mentioning printer drivers at an IT party - instant mood killer. For the uninitiated, Broadcom acquired VMware (maker of vSphere) and proceeded to change licensing models faster than developers change their minds about frameworks. Nothing says "enterprise stability" like your virtualization provider getting acquired and immediately making your budget explode.

Netcat Listening At Port 80

Netcat Listening At Port 80
The pun is strong with this one. Netcat (often abbreviated as 'nc') is a command-line utility used to read and write data across network connections. Port 80 is the standard port for HTTP web traffic. So what we have here is the literal interpretation: actual cats inside a computer case "listening" at port 80. The kind of joke that makes network administrators silently exhale through their nose while maintaining that thousand-yard stare developed after years of troubleshooting DNS issues.

The Ultimate Dual-Boot Solution

The Ultimate Dual-Boot Solution
The ultimate solution to the age-old "grub is too complicated" complaint. Just slap two light switches on a box, label one "WIN 10" and the other "LINUX," and you've got yourself a dual-boot setup that even management could understand. No more fighting with boot loaders or partition tables—just flip the switch and go. Sure, it's probably just wired to the power button, but sometimes the simplest solution is the most elegant. If only UEFI was this straightforward.

Disaster Recovery: Homer Edition

Disaster Recovery: Homer Edition
Oh. My. GOD! The absolute HORROR of attempting disaster recovery without a backup! 😱 On the left, we have the beautiful, organized Homer Simpson cake - the epitome of having your data properly backed up. But the right?! That MONSTROSITY is what happens when your production database crashes at 4:59pm on Friday and your last backup was from 2019! It's not even a proper Homer anymore - it's Homer's sleep-paralysis demon after a three-day coding bender! The sheer PANIC in those eyes speaks to my SOUL! This is why DevOps engineers drink heavily and database admins have that thousand-yard stare!

Reduce Crime With This One Simple Trick

Reduce Crime With This One Simple Trick
Batman dropping system administration wisdom that would make Gotham's IT department proud. In Unix-like systems, when a parent process dies but its child processes remain running, those orphaned processes get adopted by the init process (PID 1) - essentially becoming "Batman processes" without parents. It's the vigilante justice of process management. Criminals beware, orphaned processes are watching.

When Your $2.3 Billion Display Forgets To Install Updates

When Your $2.3 Billion Display Forgets To Install Updates
Nothing says "we spared no expense" quite like a multi-billion dollar stadium display running on Windows. Somewhere, a sysadmin is frantically trying to remote in while 50,000 fans witness the ultimate "have you tried turning it off and on again?" moment. The irony of spending $2.3B on a cutting-edge venue only to be defeated by the same update notification that ruins your Monday morning meetings is just *chef's kiss*. Bet they wished they'd clicked "Remind me tomorrow" one more time!

It's Time To Say Goodbye To My Mousepad

It's Time To Say Goodbye To My Mousepad
That torn piece of paper with handwritten IP addresses and login credentials is the true legacy system of every IT department. When your entire infrastructure depends on that one scrap that's been through coffee spills, desk moves, and now mouse erosion. The paper has reached its EOL before the systems it documents! The final stage of DevOps maturity: replacing your paper mousepad with actual documentation before it physically disintegrates beneath your RGB gaming mouse.

If Cable Hell Had A Final Boss, This Would Be It

If Cable Hell Had A Final Boss, This Would Be It
What you're looking at is the physical manifestation of every network admin's recurring nightmare. That tangled monstrosity isn't just cable management gone wrong - it's cable management that gave up, filed for divorce, and moved to another country. Somewhere in that digital spaghetti is the one cable that, if unplugged, would bring down an entire city's infrastructure. The irony is that the building has "Reliance Insurance" on it, but there's nothing reliable about whatever unholy networking abomination we're witnessing. This is why documentation matters, folks. Or just burn it all down and start over - both valid approaches at this point.

On My Way To Edit The Web Server's Config File

On My Way To Edit The Web Server's Config File
Just another Tuesday in production. Nothing says "minor config change" like suiting up in a bomb disposal outfit first. The level of caution is directly proportional to how many services depend on that nginx.conf file. One misplaced semicolon and suddenly you're explaining to management why the entire company website redirects to a 404 page.