This article discusses the cause and solution to the error message “Cannot allocate memory” relating to pfBlockerBG. In this scenario, we’re using a Netgate 2100 Base firewall appliance. The firewall was receiving the following error message when reloading the filter rules (in “Status – Filter Reload“). There were error(s) loading
Read moreLatest Articles
Synology NAS Not Reporting Disk Issues, But Should
This article describes a situation where the Synology 720+ NAS has poor write performance due to a disk issue. However, the NAS is not reporting an issue. SMART is reporting that everything is OK. First, the symptoms. The following two screenshots show the actual speed when the disk was in
Read more
Advert Blocking Comparison Between pfBlockerNG & AdBlocker
This article is a quick comparison of advert blocking for web browsing between pfBlockerNG DNS filtering, and the web browser plugin Ad Blocker. This is hardly scientific, but it does give an idea of how effective each are with basic settings. I’m sure with more effort, the impact could be
Read more
Synology NAS & UniFi Switch LACP/Aggregation (802.3ad)
This article shows how to configure the Synology NAS and UniFi switch to use multiple ethernet connections to increase speed. In this article, we’re using two Ethernet cables, but more is possible too. The hardware used in this article are: Synology NAS DS720+ running DSM 7.2.1-69057 Update 5 UniFi US-8-60W
Read moreInstalling & Configuring Zabbix Agent2 on Ubuntu
This article demonstrates how to install and configure the Zabbix Agent2. Our Zabbix server is already up and running, but the host (that we’re about to add) isn’t listed in Zabbix yet. On the Zabbix server: Log into the Zabbix web portal => Data collection => Hosts => Create host
Read more
Building a Minimal Web Proxy & WPAD
This article demonstrates how to install and configure a Squid proxy along with a WPAD to assist with client configuration. Paths to configuration files may vary between system types. Both http and https will work through this proxy. We’re going to install the Squid proxy and Apache web server on
Read moreWhitelisting Directories with Apache
This article demonstrates how to allow access to specific directories while denying access to all other directories. We’re using Ubuntu 22.04 and Apache 2.4.58. We’ve got two directories that we want to explicitly allow access to: “east” and “west”. All other directories (existing or not) are denied with a “403”
Read more
Replace OneDrive with Synology Drive
Windows likes to store documents and other content in OneDrive. But for those using Synology Drive, the idea of replacing the path from OneDrive to Synology Drive is attractive. This article shows how to set the Synology Drive folders as your defaults for Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Videos, etc. You have
Read morePostgreSQL DB-Level Snapshots with BEGIN and ROLLBACK
PostgreSQL allows for a kind of snapshot to be taken before changes are made. Once the changes have been made, the administrator has the option to accept the changes or roll back to the previous state. Test before use. Note that any changes made between the “BEGIN” and the “ROLLBACK”
Read moreConfigure Windows 11 For Family Safety – A Guide
If you’ve using the Microsoft “Family Safety” app to put restrictions on kids while they use their Android phones, you may also want to include their computer in the restrictions. If so, you’re in the right place. We’re using a Lenovo Windows 11 computer purchased in 2024. While the computer
Read more