Like many SMBs, we back up Microsoft 365 through a managed service that bills by data volume. The invoice kept growing every month, and nobody could tell why, the Admin Center spreads this information across three different portals, and you end up exporting CSVs to Excel anyway.

So I built a small dashboard for it and open-sourced it:

https://github.com/AussieCH/m365-usage-dashboard

What it shows:

• Total tenant storage across mailboxes, OneDrive and SharePoint, with a growth chart over time (weekly snapshots), so you can see whether cleanup actions actually work
• Per-user list, sortable/filterable: mailbox + OneDrive usage, quota utilization with warning thresholds, license type, and automatic detection of shared mailboxes (the classic silent growers: info@, accounting@ …)
• All SharePoint sites with real display names, storage, owner, file count, page views and last activity — sites inactive for 90+ days get flagged as archiving candidates. Great for finding the dead sites left behind by Teams sprawl.

Tech: PowerShell 7 + Pode web server, data via the official Microsoft Graph Reports API (read-only permissions), stored locally in a single SQLite file. No cloud dependency, no telemetry, nothing leaves your network. Runs on any Windows box (dev also works on macOS/Linux).

Setup: there's a step-by-step guide (PDF) plus PowerShell scripts that automate the whole app registration incl. permissions, or you click through Entra manually in ~10 minutes. A built-in demo mode generates sample data so you can try it without touching your tenant. Screenshots are in the README.

Two gotchas the guide covers because they cost me time: report pseudonymization must be disabled in the Admin Center (otherwise you only get hashes), and the usage reports no longer include SharePoint site URLs in many tenants, the dashboard resolves real site names via Graph instead.

It grew out of a customer project and is free/MIT-ish open source, feedback, issues and PRs very welcome. Happy to answer questions about the Graph endpoints used.

Finally, the day has come. The project has officially launched on Crowd Supply: https://www.crowdsupply.com/usbridge-technologies/usbridge-kvm-2-0

I've been working on this project for almost a year now. The idea began with a remote flash drive with a RAM cache, and looking back, I realize how much work has gone into it.

From a messy prototype with tons of bugs and cables, it has evolved into a device I can be proud of. Some might wonder why it took a whole year to make a KVM, but I wanted to ensure that when you receive it, you aren't getting a prototype or a board that "somehow works"—you are getting a fully-fledged, tested ecosystem. It solves many common problems, from simple remote access to installing Proxmox in one click.

Most importantly, I want to build a community around this ecosystem and continue developing it for you. I am focused on implementing useful, working features, not just pushing marketing slogans.

Thank you to all community members for supporting my work!

Try: `find /home/linuxteck -type f -exec md5sum {} + | sort | uniq -w32 -D`

Info: `md5sum` hashes file contents, `sort` groups identical hashes, and `uniq -w32 -D` compares the 32-character hash to output all duplicate files.

Examples:

$ `find . -type f -exec md5sum {} + | sort | uniq -w32 -d` # Show 1 sample per duplicate set

$ `fdupes -r /home/linuxteck` # Dedicated tool (`apt install fdupes`)

$ `rdfind -deleteduplicates true /home/linuxteck` # Auto-delete duplicates safely

Note: For large directories, `fdupes` or `rdfind` are purpose-built and significantly faster. Use `sha256sum` instead of `md5sum` if collision risk is a concern.

Follow r/LinuxTeck for more LinuxTips click here

I’m developing SEZOY, a web-based Windows deployment tool. I’m considering opening a public instance so people can test it without setting up the entire environment themselves. I’ve attached a short video of the current version. Before doing that, I want to get some opinions on the security side. I’m currently looking at ngrok / LocalTunnel or a similar solution, but exposing a deployment server to the Internet obviously has a different risk profile than exposing a normal web application. For those running homelabs or Windows deployment infrastructure: what would you consider necessary before putting something like this behind a public URL?

I’m mainly looking for practical advice on isolation, access control, and anything else I may be overlooking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTj2AU3eI4w

Hi

I wanted to share my ongoing nightmare with Seagate’s warranty process and highlight a ridiculous official stance from their Corporate Response Team regarding 2.5" SMR drives in laptops.

The Background & Hardware

·         Laptop: Clevo P170SM (well-cooled, enthusiast-grade chassis).

·         Target Drive: Seagate BarraCuda 2TB 2.5" (ST2000LM015) – SMR architecture.

·         Source Drive: Old Samsung SpinPoint 1TB (ST1000LM024) – PMR/CMR architecture.

The RMA Odyssey (Since June 3rd, 2026)

I have been trying to get a functioning 2TB drive for nearly two months.

1.     Drive 1: Dead/defective out of the box.

2.     Drive 2: Certified Refurbished (Recertified) – Overheated under sustained load.

3.     Drive 3: Certified Refurbished (Recertified) – Overheated under sustained load.

4.     Drive 4: Sent directly by Steven from the Seagate Corporate Response Team, assured to be brand new.

The Technical Issue: SMR Shingling Overhead & Thermal Runaway

When attempting to clone or copy my data from the old Samsung drive to the new Seagate SMR drive, the write performance completely falls off a cliff after about an hour due to the aggressive Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) drive-managed zones filling up.

Because the drive is forced to continuously read, modify, and rewrite overlapping tracks in a confined 2.5" laptop bay, the controller goes into overdrive. After roughly 2 hours of continuous writing, the Seagate ST2000LM015 hits a staggering 62°C (143°F), triggering critical SMART temperature protection alerts.

Meanwhile, the old Samsung CMR drive—which is under a much worse thermal restriction (mounted directly underneath a hot DVD/Blu-ray optical drive)—safely hums along at a maximum of 40–44°C under the exact same workload.

Seagate's official manual and product datasheets nowhere state that continuous, sustained write workloads are forbidden or unsafe for this internal laptop drive.

The Video Proof

Here is a short clip showing the cloning process, the performance collapse, and the thermal readout hitting 62°C on the brand-new replacement:
[INSERT YOUR YOUTUBE LINK HERE]

Seagate's Corporate Resolution: "Fix your workflow"

After escalating the issue and threatening UK Trading Standards / Citizens Advice action (Case Ref: CCA-8546090) due to a breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the Corporate Response Team gave me this mind-blowing troubleshooting advice:

"At this time, the troubleshooting recommendations we can provide are to use the device in a cooler, well-ventilated environment and to transfer data in smaller batches rather than performing large transfers at once*. These steps may help reduce heat buildup and prevent the SMART temperature threshold from being reached."*

Seagate is officially telling consumers that their internal 2.5" laptop drives cannot handle standard data migration workloads inside a laptop chassis without the user artificially throttling their own workflow to stop the drive from cooking itself.

I rejected their workarounds and demanded an SSD upgrade or a refund. Steven from the Corporate Response Team just replied with their final position: they officially refused any upgrade or refund.

Their logic? They explicitly acknowledged that the drive triggers the SMART temperature protection mechanism, but since the OS recognizes the drive and data can technically be written to it, they consider it "properly functioning". Their only counter-offer is to send it back for a fifth time so their engineers can "reproduce the behavior."

I have officially declined their 5th evaluation trap. The case remains open with UK Trading Standards, and I am moving forward with regulatory escalation.

Hi guys,

I've made a little utility in Python that could help my fellow sysadmin (in)mates in they work. It simply does what we're doing in Excel or brains, but with some added features: it does sizing HW for a servers - cluster, tracking load, and DR sizing over some nice GUI.
I've added screenshots for you to get idea what it does; packed it as exe (under release/zip for Win) and placed on github and looking for a review's :-)

Also, if you want to expand it - please do so, the code is available.

https://github.com/Tanks04/ClusterSizerv2

May this tool save you some time ,)

For IT teams, the best remote desktop software isn’t just about access, it’s about control, speed, and reliability.

From troubleshooting user issues to managing systems across locations, the right tool can make the difference between quick resolution and hours of back-and-forth.

But not all solutions are built the same.
Things that actually matter:

• Stable connections (no random drops)
• Secure access with proper authentication
• Easy deployment and minimal user friction
• Centralized visibility for IT teams

Because when something breaks, IT doesn’t have the luxury of “try again later.”

This article explores an alternative to directly troubleshoot production Linux systems with AI tools by using the sos command and using AI to analyze sosreports instead. I think is an interesting read:

https://medium.com/@linuxjedi2000/the-agentic-ai-risk-issue-on-linux-environments-fd5c55cedcc5?sharedUserId=linuxjedi2000

I know that this subject is very controversial and would love to read your point of view on the subject.

Over the past year, there’s been a noticeable shift: traditional endpoint protection (EDR/XDR) is still critical, but it’s no longer enough on its own. The reason? Work doesn’t happen “on the endpoint” anymore, it happens in the browser, across SaaS apps, and inside cloud workflows.

What’s changing?

• Threats are blending in with normal behavior. Copy-pasting sensitive data into AI tools, uploading files to random SaaS apps, or logging into lookalike phishing sites, none of this looks “malicious” in isolation.
• Attack timing > attack method. Instead of breaking in, attackers wait for users to do the risky action themselves.
• Visibility gaps are growing. Most tools still focus on files, processes, and networks, but miss what’s happening inside the browser session.

What teams are doing differently?

• Moving toward continuous monitoring with endpoint security solutions
• Adding behavior-based detection (who did what, where, and when)
• Extending security into browser, SaaS layers, not just endpoints

The takeaway

Endpoint security isn’t going away, but it is being redefined.
The real battleground now is user activity across apps, tabs, and sessions.

Lately I’ve been noticing more companies using Windows digital signage for dashboards, announcements, meeting room displays, and internal communication screens.

At first it looks simple, just connect a screen and display content. But once there are multiple screens across different locations, managing everything consistently seems like a bigger task than expected.

Things like remote updates, kiosk mode, content scheduling, and keeping systems stable probably become really important at scale.