Serdar Tekin
Co-Founder & CTO
Co-Founder & CTO at Raff, focused on cloud infrastructure, systems architecture, security, reliability, and production operations.
121 articles published
Blog Posts(11)
Tutorials(22)
How to Install Ghost CMS on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx
Install Ghost CMS on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx, Node.js 22, MySQL 8, Ghost-CLI, HTTPS, backups, rollback, and current Ghost 6 deployment guidance.
How to Self-Host Plausible Analytics on Ubuntu 24.04 with Docker
Self-host Plausible Analytics CE on Ubuntu 24.04 with Docker Compose, automatic HTTPS, protected secrets, health checks, backups, and safe upgrades.
How to Install Coolify on Ubuntu 24.04
Install Coolify on Ubuntu 24.04 with the official installer, secure direct-access ports, configure HTTPS domains, deploy an app, and plan backups and updates.
How to Use Raff S3-Compatible Object Storage with AWS CLI
Use AWS CLI with Raff S3-compatible object storage on Ubuntu 24.04. Configure scoped credentials, transfer files, sync safely, and create presigned URLs.
How to Install PM2 and Deploy Node.js on Ubuntu 24.04
Install PM2 on Ubuntu 24.04 and deploy a Node.js app with cluster mode, graceful reloads, systemd startup, private ports, Nginx, and safe cleanup.
How to Deploy a Multi-Container App with Docker Compose on Ubuntu 24.04
Deploy a multi-container Docker Compose app on Ubuntu 24.04 with Node.js, PostgreSQL, Redis, secrets, health checks, private networking, backups, and persistence.
How to Automate Rsync Backups with Cron on Ubuntu 24.04
Automate rsync backups on Ubuntu 24.04 with cron, safe --delete dry runs, locking, retention, integrity checks, restore testing, and troubleshooting.
How to Install fail2ban on Ubuntu 24.04 for SSH Protection
Install and configure fail2ban on Ubuntu 24.04 for SSH brute-force protection with systemd journal monitoring, safe ban testing, tuning, and rollback.
How to Install Portainer with Docker on Ubuntu 24.04
Install Portainer CE on Ubuntu 24.04 with Docker, Nginx, trusted HTTPS, private admin access, backups, secure updates, and verification steps.
How to Deploy Gitea with Docker Compose on Ubuntu 24.04
Deploy Gitea on Ubuntu 24.04 with Docker Compose, PostgreSQL, Nginx, HTTPS, SSH clone access, backups, upgrades, and verification steps.
Generate SSH Keys on Ubuntu 24.04: Ed25519 Setup Guide
Generate an SSH key on Ubuntu 24.04 with Ed25519, ssh-keygen, ssh-copy-id, ssh-agent, safe password disabling, troubleshooting, and key rotation.
How to Install Certbot for Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04 with Let's Encrypt
Install Certbot for Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04, issue a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate, redirect HTTP to HTTPS, test renewal, and troubleshoot common errors.
How to Build a Remote Development VM with code-server and Tailscale
Build a private remote development VM on Ubuntu 24.04 with code-server and Tailscale Serve, HTTPS, localhost binding, backups, and safe updates.
How to Harden an Ubuntu 24.04 Server
Harden Ubuntu 24.04 with SSH keys, safe OpenSSH drop-ins, UFW, automatic security updates, AppArmor, access auditing, logging, and recovery checks.
How to Set Up a LEMP Stack on Ubuntu 24.04
Set up a LEMP stack on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx, PHP 8.3, MariaDB, secure database access, HTTPS, verification, and rollback steps.
How to Install Open WebUI with Ollama on Ubuntu 24.04
Install Open WebUI with Ollama on Ubuntu 24.04 using private Docker Compose networking, Caddy HTTPS, pinned versions, backups, and safe updates.
How to Set Up UFW Firewall on Ubuntu 24.04
Set up UFW on Ubuntu 24.04 without losing SSH access. Configure IPv4/IPv6 rules, ports, source restrictions, logging, rule order, and Docker caveats.
How to Install OpenClaw on Ubuntu 24.04 with Telegram
Install OpenClaw on Ubuntu 24.04 with Telegram pairing, a loopback-only Gateway, secure credentials, SSH-tunneled Control UI, backups, and safe updates.
How to Install WordPress on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx
Install WordPress on Ubuntu 24.04 with Nginx, PHP 8.3, MariaDB, secure permissions, and Let's Encrypt HTTPS on a Raff Linux VM step by step.
How to Install Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04
Install Nginx on Ubuntu 24.04, verify the current Ubuntu package, configure UFW safely, create a server block, test HTTP, and inspect logs.
How to Deploy Uptime Kuma with Docker on Ubuntu 24.04
Deploy Uptime Kuma 2 with Docker Compose on Ubuntu 24.04 using localhost-only port 3001, Caddy HTTPS, monitors, status pages, backups, and safe updates.
How to Install Docker on Ubuntu 24.04
Install Docker on Ubuntu 24.04 from Docker’s official APT repository. Add Docker Engine, Compose and Buildx, verify hello-world, and avoid common UFW exposure mistakes.
Guides(81)
App Platform Migration Checklist: Builds, Variables, Domains & Data
Migrate between App Platforms with a checklist for builds, variables, secrets, services, data, domains, scheduled jobs, rollback, and decommissioning.
App Platform Scaling and Release Management
Plan vertical and horizontal scaling, scale-to-zero, immutable revisions, health-gated releases, rollback, capacity headroom, and production release safety on App Platforms.
Multi-Service Applications on an App Platform
Design multi-service applications on an App Platform with public/private services, workers, scheduled jobs, databases, persistent state, domains, and independent scaling.
Environment Variables and Secrets on App Platforms
Manage environment variables and secrets on app platforms with service-level scope, preview isolation, platform bindings, rotation, logging safety, and deployment controls.
Buildpacks vs Dockerfiles for App Deployment
Compare buildpacks and Dockerfiles for app deployment: control, portability, system packages, build reproducibility, health checks, secrets, and persistent state.
Migrate an AWS Lambda HTTP Handler to Raff Functions
Migrate an AWS Lambda HTTP handler to Raff Functions by removing event/context coupling, mapping request/response behavior, replacing AWS-specific dependencies, and staging a safe cutover.
Business Continuity Plan for Small Businesses: Systems, Recovery & Ownership
Build a small-business continuity plan covering critical functions, owners, dependencies, recovery targets, workarounds, communications, and testing.
MongoDB Production Architecture: Replica Sets, Scaling & High Availability
Plan production MongoDB with replica sets, elections, write concern, read scaling, private networking, backups, and sharding only when measured limits justify it.
TLS & Application Edge Security for Cloud Workloads
Plan TLS and application-edge security for cloud workloads: certificates, HSTS, TLS termination, firewalls, WAF, rate limiting, mTLS, headers, and encryption boundaries.
Git-Based Deployment Workflows for Small Teams
Git deployment guide for small teams covering native push-to-deploy, CI/CD boundaries, build reproducibility, previews, health checks, revisions, and rollback.
SLOs for Small Cloud Applications: A Practical Reliability Framework
Practical SLO guide for small teams: choose SLIs, set reliability targets, calculate error budgets, use burn rate, and connect reliability to release decisions.
Operating Serverless Functions in Production: Security, Observability & Recovery
Production serverless operations guide covering triggers, scoped bindings, retries, observability, spend controls, revisions, rollback, and incident recovery.
Production Deployment Strategies for SaaS Apps
Compare production deployment strategies for SaaS apps: in-place, rolling, blue-green, canary, health gates, rollback, capacity, and database compatibility.
Background Workers and Task Queues for SaaS Apps
Learn when SaaS apps need background workers and task queues, including retries, idempotency, dead-letter jobs, worker sizing, scaling, and monitoring.
CI/CD for VM Deployments: Pipelines, Secrets, Rollbacks & Releases
CI/CD guide for VM deployments covering artifacts, GitHub Actions, deploy credentials, approvals, health checks, migrations, and rollback.
Reverse Proxy Guide for Cloud VMs: Nginx, Caddy, TLS & Routing
Reverse proxy guide for cloud VMs covering Nginx, Caddy, TLS, proxy headers, routing, timeouts, logs, and when to add a load balancer.
Application Deployment on a Linux VM: From Source Code to Production
Linux VM deployment guide covering artifacts, secrets, process managers, reverse proxies, TLS, health checks, persistence, and rollback.
Startup Cloud Infrastructure Guide: From MVP to Production
Plan startup cloud infrastructure from MVP to production: compute, data, cost, reliability, launch readiness, diligence, and Kubernetes decisions.
How Much RAM Do I Need for a VPS? 1GB–16GB Guide
How much RAM does a VPS need? Compare 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 8 GB and 16 GB for websites, Docker, databases, APIs and Windows workloads.
2 vCPU vs 4 vCPU: Meaning, Performance & When to Upgrade
2 vCPU vs 4 vCPU explained: learn what each means, when extra vCPU improves performance, and when RAM, storage, or another bottleneck matters more.
VM Sizing Guide: How to Choose CPU, RAM, Storage & VM Size
Use this VM sizing guide to choose CPU, RAM, storage, and network capacity for apps, databases, containers, and production workloads without overbuying.
Shared vs Dedicated vCPU: How to Choose the Right VM Class
Compare shared CPU vs dedicated CPU (shared vCPU vs dedicated vCPU), CPU predictability, production workload fit, and when each VM class makes sense.
VPS vs Dedicated Server: Cost, Performance, and When to Upgrade
Compare VPS vs dedicated server by cost, CPU consistency, isolation, storage, scaling, recovery, and the workload signals that justify physical hardware.
VPS for Application Hosting: When It Fits Small Teams
Evaluate VPS application hosting by workload, resources, state, background jobs, recovery, scaling, and when one VM or another platform fits.
VPS vs Cloud VM vs Cloud Server: What’s the Difference?
VPS vs cloud VM vs cloud server: learn what each term means, where they overlap, what the labels do not guarantee, and which infrastructure details to verify.
ClickHouse Monitoring: Queries, Merges, Replication & Alerts
Monitor ClickHouse query latency, rows read, memory, parts, merges, mutations, replication, Keeper, disk growth, and ingestion freshness with actionable alerts.
ClickHouse Partitioning & TTL: MergeTree & Retention Trade-Offs
Design ClickHouse partitioning and TTL for MergeTree tables: keep partitions coarse, use ORDER BY for queries, and automate safe retention without part explosion.
ClickHouse Materialized Views: Pre-Aggregation & Query Trade-Offs
Use ClickHouse materialized views for pre-aggregation without losing correctness: compare incremental vs refreshable views, backfills, target tables, and write trade-offs.
ClickHouse Backup & Replication: Availability, Recovery & Restore
Design ClickHouse backups and replication for availability and recovery: separate replicas from historical backups, define RPO/RTO, monitor Keeper, and test restores.
Kafka Retention: Durability, Replication & Data-Loss Trade-Offs
Design Kafka retention across time and size limits, delete vs compact cleanup, replication, ISR durability, consumer replay windows, and storage capacity.
Redis vs Valkey: Compatibility, Operations, and Migration
Compare Redis vs Valkey across protocol compatibility, clients, persistence, modules, operations, and safe migration for cache, sessions, and queues.
MySQL Performance Bottlenecks: Queries, Indexes, and Connections
Diagnose MySQL performance bottlenecks across slow queries, indexes, connections, locks, memory, and storage before scaling production database capacity.
MySQL Binary Logs, Backups, and Point-in-Time Recovery
Design MySQL backups and point-in-time recovery with full backups, binary logs, retention, restore testing, and safe replay after accidental changes.
Redis Cache Strategy for SaaS Apps: Queues, Valkey & Sessions
Plan Redis and Valkey for SaaS caching, queues, sessions, rate limiting, persistence, and recovery, then choose managed Valkey or self-hosting.
Database Storage on Block Volumes: Layout, Monitoring, and Recovery
Plan database storage on block volumes for PostgreSQL and MySQL, including layout, capacity headroom, I/O monitoring, backups, and recovery.
Database Migration Services: Costs, Process & Provider Checklist
Compare database migration services by scope, cost, downtime, provider responsibilities, validation, and rollback before choosing a migration provider or consultant.
Database Migration Checklist for Managed Databases
Use this database migration checklist to assess compatibility, prepare the target, prove recovery, synchronize data, control cutover, validate production, and plan rollback.
Database Backup Strategy for SaaS Apps: Recovery Framework
Build a database backup strategy for SaaS apps using RPO, RTO, point-in-time recovery, retention, isolation, disaster recovery, and tested restores.
PostgreSQL Replication vs Backups vs Snapshots: What Each Protects
Compare PostgreSQL replication, backups, point-in-time recovery, and snapshots by the failure modes each protects and the recovery gaps each leaves.
Managed Database vs Self-Hosted: What Small Teams Should Choose
Compare managed database vs self-hosted across total cost, control, backups, HA, recovery, security, scaling, and operational ownership for production workloads.
K3s Upgrade and Rollback Strategy
Plan K3s upgrades with release channels, server-first sequencing, System Upgrade Controller, datastore snapshots, v1.37 checks, and rollback.
K3s Networking, Ingress, and Load Balancing
Design K3s networking with Flannel, Traefik, ServiceLB, Gateway API, private node traffic, and a separate HA control-plane registration endpoint.
K3s Persistent Storage and Backup Strategy
Choose K3s storage for production across local-path, Longhorn, node failure, PVC recovery, and backups without confusing persistence, HA, and DR.
ClickHouse Performance Tuning: ORDER BY, Keys & Query Optimization
Improve ClickHouse query performance with better ORDER BY and sorting keys, lower scan volume, and controlled memory, joins, and concurrency.
Redis Eviction Policies: Choosing the Right Memory Strategy
Choose a Redis eviction policy across LRU, LFU, LRM, noeviction, volatile policies, maxmemory, TTLs, monitoring, and Valkey compatibility.
Redis RDB vs AOF: Persistence & Data Loss Trade-Offs
Compare Redis RDB vs AOF across durability, fsync behavior, restart speed, write overhead, backup use, data-loss windows, and when to use both.
Managed ClickHouse vs Self-Hosted ClickHouse: Cost, Scaling & Ownership
Compare managed and self-hosted ClickHouse across pricing models, scaling, backups, HA, operational ownership, and total cost for production analytics.
Docker on a Cloud VM: Architecture, Security, and Operations
Run Docker on a cloud VM with a clear production model for security, networking, storage, monitoring, and recovery.
K3s High Availability: Embedded etcd vs External Database
Learn K3s default datastore behavior and compare SQLite, embedded etcd, and external PostgreSQL/MySQL/etcd for HA, quorum, backups, and recovery.
K3s on Cloud VMs: Architecture, HA, Storage, and Operations
Design K3s on cloud VMs across single-server, agent, and HA topologies, including datastore, networking, storage, backups, upgrades, and production operations.
Scaling Beyond One Docker Compose Host
Learn how to scale beyond one Docker Compose host with role separation, multiple app VMs, load balancing, shared state, Swarm, and a clean path to orchestration.
Docker Compose Backup and Restore Strategy
Back up and restore a Docker Compose stack by protecting configuration, secrets, persistent data, databases, images, and a tested clean-host recovery path.
Docker Compose Networking: Public Ports, Private Services, and DNS
Design Docker Compose networking for production with deliberate port publishing, private services, service-name DNS, network segmentation, and safer host exposure.
Docker Host Security Checklist for Production VMs
Use this Docker host security checklist to harden production VMs across daemon access, privileges, networking, images, secrets, updates, and recovery.
Docker Resource Limits, Logging, and Disk Management
Control Docker CPU, memory, logs, and disk growth on production VMs with clear limits, rotation, monitoring, and safe cleanup policies.
Serverless API Security: Authentication, CORS & Rate Limiting
Learn how to secure serverless APIs with authentication, authorization, CORS, rate limiting, validation, scoped secrets, and safe HTTP Function boundaries.
Serverless APIs and Webhooks: HTTP Functions for Small Teams
Learn when serverless APIs and HTTP Functions fit webhooks, callbacks, small APIs, and event-driven endpoints, and when a persistent app runtime fits better.
Kubernetes Security Best Practices: RBAC, Secrets & Pod Security
A practical Kubernetes security baseline for RBAC, ServiceAccounts, Secrets, Pod Security Standards, securityContext, and recurring access reviews.
Serverless Function Timeout, Memory & Concurrency Limits
Learn how serverless function timeout, memory, temporary storage, and concurrency limits affect workload design and when to choose another compute model.
Serverless Cold Starts, Concurrency, and Scale-to-Zero
Learn how serverless cold starts, concurrency, scale-to-zero, warm capacity, and traffic bursts affect latency, autoscaling, and production function design.
Kubernetes Monitoring: Metrics, Logs, Events, and Traces
Learn Kubernetes monitoring across metrics, logs, Events, and traces, with a practical small-team observability and alerting framework.
Kubernetes Autoscaling: HPA, Node Scaling, and Cost
Understand Kubernetes autoscaling with HPA, node scaling, resource requests, scale-to-zero, stabilization, scheduling, and worker cost boundaries.
Kubernetes Backup and Disaster Recovery Strategy
Plan Kubernetes backup and disaster recovery with RPO/RTO, etcd, persistent data, VolumeSnapshots, restore testing, and failure-specific recovery runbooks.
Kubernetes Upgrade Strategy: Maintenance, Risk, and Rollback
Plan Kubernetes upgrades with supported-version checks, API compatibility, worker drains, PDBs, recovery state, stop criteria, and post-upgrade validation.
Kubernetes Cluster Management for Small Teams: Operations Guide
Kubernetes cluster management for small teams: capacity, upgrades, recovery, autoscaling, monitoring, security, and cost.
Kubernetes Requests vs Limits: CPU, Memory, and Scheduling
Understand Kubernetes requests vs limits for CPU and memory, including scheduling, throttling, OOM behavior, HPA, QoS, LimitRange, best practices, and worker capacity.
Kubernetes Load Balancer vs Ingress Controller: Differences & When to Use Each
Compare Kubernetes LoadBalancer Services vs Ingress controllers, including routing, TLS, TCP/UDP, public endpoints, Gateway API, and when to use each.
Kubernetes Services Explained: Ingress and Load Balancers
Understand Kubernetes Services, ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer, Gateway API, and Ingress for production traffic exposure.
Kubernetes Networking and Storage Architecture
Design Kubernetes networking and storage across Services, Gateway API, NetworkPolicy, PVCs, StorageClasses, private networking, and recovery.
Kubernetes DNS and Service Discovery Troubleshooting
Troubleshoot Kubernetes DNS and service discovery across CoreDNS, namespaces, Pod resolver settings, Services, EndpointSlices, NetworkPolicy, and upstream DNS.
Docker Compose to Managed Kubernetes Migration Checklist
Plan a Docker Compose to Kubernetes migration across state, probes, networking, secrets, storage, worker sizing, cutover, and rollback.
Kubernetes Node Pools: Workload Separation and Scaling
Learn when Kubernetes node pools make sense, how labels, affinity, taints, autoscaling, failure capacity, and worker shapes affect workload placement.
Kubernetes Cluster Sizing: Nodes, Capacity & Headroom
Size Kubernetes clusters using Node Allocatable, workload requests, worker shape, rollout overlap, N+1 failure headroom, and autoscaling boundaries.
Kubernetes Persistent Storage: PVs, PVCs & StorageClasses
Understand Kubernetes persistent storage, PVs, PVCs, StorageClasses, access modes, reclaim policies, StatefulSets, snapshots, and backup boundaries.
Kubernetes Network Policy: Default Deny, Ingress & Egress
Learn Kubernetes NetworkPolicy with default-deny, ingress, egress, selectors, DNS rules, examples, rollout checks, and production verification.
Managed vs Self-Managed Kubernetes: What Every Team Needs to Know
Compare managed vs self-managed Kubernetes across control-plane ownership, upgrades, HA, recovery, cost, and team fit—and see when a managed Kubernetes service makes sense.
Container Infrastructure for Small Teams: Docker, K3s, and Kubernetes
Choose Docker, Compose, K3s, or managed Kubernetes based on ownership, multi-host needs, scaling, and recovery.
Docker Compose in Production: Best Practices, Deployment & Limits
Use Docker Compose in production with practical best practices for configuration, security, health checks, releases, storage, backups, monitoring, recovery, and single-host limits.
Shared Hosting to Cloud VM Migration for Growing SaaS Teams
Understand shared hosting to cloud VM migration for SaaS teams, including architecture, data sync, DNS cutover, rollback, security, and recovery planning.
User Access Review for Cloud Servers: SSH Keys, Admins, and Permissions
Run an access review for cloud servers covering users, SSH keys, RDP, API keys, privileged access, offboarding, private-network reachability, and recovery permissions.
Private vs Public Admin Access: When Each Model Is Appropriate
Private vs public admin access for secure remote access across SSH, RDP, VPNs, bastions, break-glass recovery, and Raff VPC.
Comparisons(7)
DigitalOcean Alternative 2026: Droplet Pricing vs Raff
DigitalOcean's 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 80 GB Basic Droplet is $24/mo; Raff's matched VM is $17.99. Compare pricing, bandwidth, regions, databases, and support.
OVHcloud Alternative 2026: Pricing, Performance & Features
Considering OVHcloud? Raff is $17.99/mo for 2 vCPU and 4 GB against d2-4 at $18.69, with a 3 Gbps port on every plan.
Hetzner Alternative 2026: Pricing, Performance & Features
Considering Hetzner? Raff is $17.99/mo for 2 vCPU, 4 GB and 80 GB NVMe against CPX22 at €19.99, about $23.17.
Heroku Alternative 2026: Pricing, Performance & Features
Considering Heroku? Raff Apps starts at $3/mo with $0 public egress; Heroku starts at $5 Eco with a mature PaaS ecosystem.
Neon Alternative 2026: Pricing, Performance & Features
Considering Neon? Raff is a Neon alternative from $7.99/mo for 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM and 25 GB, with fixed pricing and managed backups.
AWS Lambda Alternative 2026: Pricing, Performance & Features
Considering AWS Lambda? Raff Functions has free requests and egress, active-CPU billing, and standard jobs up to 24 hours.
Cloudflare R2 Pricing 2026: Free Tier, Costs & Raff Comparison
Cloudflare R2 pricing explained for 2026: Standard and Infrequent Access rates, 10 GB free tier, request costs, free egress, calculator examples, and Raff comparison.