Technology underpins all the work we do. Alongside specific posts about current training, consulting and development projects, this section highlights interesting tech that has the potential to inform our future work.

• Cloud provisioning
• DevOps
• Docker
• Git
• Kubernetes
• Puppet
• Terraform
• Virtual reality
• Artificial intelligence

• Positive Futures for AI - 3. Context
  20 Jan 2025
  Generating large language models is out of reach for most businesses, but it's context rather than parameter count that makes AI useful.
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• Cloud provisioning for container hosting
  26 Sep 2024
  Containers are a great way to run software or deliver services, they just need hosting in such a way that they're manageable, scalable and secure
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• Kubernetes exercises
  09 Sep 2024
  Create a simple hosted service using Kubernetes and kubectl
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• How to use Markdown for future-proof publishing
  12 Aug 2024
  Simple text-based structures allow you to write once, publish everywhere, and in such a way it will still be editable in 10 years
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• Use NextAuth (Auth.js) for both anonymous and GitHub-authenticated logins
  02 Oct 2023
  Next.js new App router opens up new opportunities for server-side optimised app delivery
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• Positive Futures for AI - 2. Train
  24 Aug 2023
  Artificial intelligence is closer to artificial intuition than a reasoned intelligence. The way we train machines can help us train ourselves.
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• Positive Futures for AI - 1. Understand it
  21 Jul 2023
  Artificial intelligence is oft portrayed as scary, but we're collective shaping the reality (and future) of this exciting new tool
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• Terraform-Docker integration exercises
  19 Feb 2021
  Azure provides all the building blocks we need to securely run containers in the Cloud, we just need Terraform to glue them together
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• Docker exercises
  08 Feb 2021
  Containers allow us to run isolated processes in a controlled security context. Try out these exercises to hone your skills!
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• What is Kubernetes?
  06 Nov 2020
  From the ground up, or really the application down, we look at the transformative effect that Kubernetes is having and the container technology that underpins it
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• Building blocks for hosting containers
  06 Oct 2020
  Build a simple, secure platform to host containers on-prem or in the Cloud
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• Terraform exercises (Part 2 - Secret management)
  20 Sep 2020
  Terraform provides a great way to create resources in the cloud using infrastructure-as-code. Just ensure you grant yourself permission to delete the things you create!
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• Adopt GitFlow for team collaboration
  06 Sep 2020
  Git scales well from a 1-2 person team to a vast enterprise of developers, but the key is branching and merging.
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• Set up PostgreSQL cluster on Kubernetes in 5 minutes
  29 Jun 2020
  Managing the data layer is non-trivial because containers need redundancy and high-availability in order to be reliable. Enter Helm, the Kubernetes package manager, to make the orchestration simpler.
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• Use free tools to provision infrastructure-as-code
  17 Mar 2020
  Avoid click-and-tick web interfaces that lose or obfuscate config. Instead write simple code to provision your environments using free and open-source software (FOSS).
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• Put containers into production, in weeks not months
  04 Mar 2020
  If you've got a beta app but no production environment to host it in, start small and iterate towards a full Cloud
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• Create an Oracle Cloud VM (always free) instance using Terraform
  12 Feb 2020
  Oracle Cloud is still something of the new kid on the block, but their always-free tier offers a great starting place for some automated cloud resources provisioned with Terraform
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• Beware open ports in Oracle Cloud's Default Security Lists
  12 Feb 2020
  Setting up a Network Security Group confers additional (OR) access, not restrictive access (AND)
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• Multi-cloud first
  10 Feb 2020
  Going to the Cloud? Don't let your investment get lost in just one. Instead, use infrastructure-as-code to make the vendors compete for your custom.
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• Push back against IT vendor hype
  11 Dec 2019
  IT vendors are always pushing the next big thing, but knowing if it's right for your organisation cannot be answered by a sales pitch
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• Puppetting machines from a puppetmaster
  16 Nov 2019
  Here are some exercises to get you using Terraform and Puppet together
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• Git for Version Controlled magic
  07 Oct 2019
  There are many version control systems (VCS) but few have the reach or convenience of git
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• Master the Migrate-Train-Run cycle
  30 Sep 2019
  IT is endlessly keeping up with the future, but there are things that make it dramatically easier
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• Terraform exercises (Part 1 - Language)
  11 Sep 2019
  These exercises for part of the Terraform section of our Cloud training courses.
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• Manage secrets in Git repos using Eyaml
  10 Sep 2019
  Strong asymmetric encryption can keep secrets confidential even if the repository that stores them is open source
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• Create a Puppetmaster using Puppet masterless
  17 Aug 2019
  A simple exercise in bootstrapping the most complex config-managed server in the estate, the Puppetmaster.
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• Use Puppet for templating Hiera data into configuration files
  14 Aug 2019
  Maintaining infrastructure-as-code at scale requires a clear, logical and ruthlessly consistent approach to machine state. Hiera is the way.
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• Multiple node definitions in puppet's site.pp
  13 Aug 2019
  A single node defined in site.pp is how all vast server estates begin, but multiple node definitions allow us to build out while sharing common configuration.
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• Import Hiera values into Puppet classes
  13 Aug 2019
  When configuration code contains 'hard-coded' configuration values, it's much harder to maintain. Hiera allows us to break the latter out into something readable.
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• String substitution in Puppet using variables
  12 Aug 2019
  Variables allow us to start genericising Puppet configuration and allow us to keep things DRY (don't repeat yourself)
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• Create resource groups in Microsoft Azure using Terraform
  11 Aug 2019
  Resource groups hold everything together in Azure, like virtual containers for the resources we provision.
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• Organise Puppet manifests using classes
  10 Aug 2019
  Classes are to resources like folders are to your Physics revision notes.
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• Getting started with Puppet, masterless
  07 Aug 2019
  Getting going with Puppet can be as simple a few lines of infrastructure-as-code (IAC).
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• Set up Terraform to provision in Microsoft Azure
  05 Aug 2019
  Terraforming your Azure Cloud means building out a more predictable, reliable and extensible Cloud estate for the future
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• Puppet for configuration-managed Windows desktops
  02 Aug 2019
  Configuration management makes homogenising similar machines easier and there are some great free tools to get started
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• GraphQL using AWS AppSync
  31 Jul 2019
  An AppSync GraphQL example, automatically provisioned with Terraform
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• Get started with remote provisioning using Terraform
  30 Jul 2019
  Often local machines or firewalls make it impossible to run Terraform locally, but remote provisioning offers a convenient secure alternative
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• Force your attackers to cross multiple security boundaries
  06 Jul 2019
  While a single firewall should be enough, the number of successful attacks implies that it's not.
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• Keep track of AWS costs in real-time
  27 Jun 2019
  Don't wait to find out tomorrow what you could learn today, or for a big bill from your Cloud provider at the end of the month
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• Cloud data warehouse, just-in-time
  02 Apr 2019
  Gone are the days when you needed a massive online database 24/7 for analytics
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• Transferring Terraform state in S3 over to another project
  22 Jan 2019
  Terraform state files in S3 are the way forward, but when you need to split a project, managing those state files requires care
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• Fear not the technical debt
  16 Jan 2019
  Tech debt is great, if managed.
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• Tell me what you've got, what you've really really got
  14 Nov 2018
  Whether you've got a web site, web service or full web business, understanding where it's at requires a clear view of where it's headed.
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• Web service review and Cloud audit
  (Checklist)
  Beyond the code, there's so much that needs to be thought about when launching and running a production-grade, scalable and extensible app or web service. Let's get specific!
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• Storing Terraform state in S3
  01 Oct 2018
  Terraform is a great solo tool but, when you start working together as a team, keep the tfstate files in the Cloud (S3)
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• VR, wow... now what?
  11 Mar 2018
  Each iteration of VR technology creates a wow factor, but the annoyances slowly suck the life out of the experience. Are we getting close to a minimum viable sustainable VR hit?
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• VR for the near future
  25 Feb 2018
  VR has been a tantalizingly close proposition for years but where will it land first?
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