POSTS
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SYNOPSIS Welcome to the inaugural post of vgnshlv.nz, a cloud-native blog platform that combines the nostalgic aesthetics of Unix manual pages with modern serverless architecture. DESCRIPTION This platform represents an experiment in cost-effective cloud architecture. The goal: deliver enterprise-grade features while staying within a $1-10/month budget. Key Features Static Site Generation - Python-based generator creating lightning-fast HTML AWS Infrastructure - S3, CloudFront, Lambda@Edge for global distribution Client-Side Search - Pagefind provides instant search without API costs CI/CD Pipeline - GitHub Actions automates builds and deployments Cost Monitoring - Real-time tracking of AWS spending Manpage Aesthetic - Monospace fonts, minimal design, terminal-inspired ARCHITECTURE The system consists of several layers: ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Content (Git Repository) │ │ ├── Markdown Posts │ │ └── HTML Pages │ └──────────────┬──────────────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ GitHub Actions (CI/CD) │ │ ├── Build Static Site │ │ ├── Generate Search Index │ │ └── Deploy to S3... [read more]
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NAME aws-cost-optimization - strategies for running lean cloud infrastructure SYNOPSIS aws-cost-optimization [--aggressive] [--monitoring] [--lifecycle] DESCRIPTION Running applications on AWS doesn't have to be expensive. With careful architecture and strategic use of free tiers, you can host production applications for just a few dollars per month. This post outlines the strategies used to keep vgnshlv.nz running for under $2/month while serving thousands of visitors. OPTIONS --aggressive-caching The most impactful cost reduction strategy is aggressive caching: CloudFront TTL: 7 days default, 1 year maximum Browser Cache: 1 day minimum for HTML S3 Standard-IA: Archive content after 90 days Impact: Reduces CloudFront costs by 80-90% --free-tier-maximization AWS provides generous free tiers: Service Free Tier Strategy Lambda 1M requests Use for APIs, analytics CloudWatch 5GB logs Centralize logging DynamoDB 25GB storage Metadata storage S3 5GB storage Content storage Impact: $0 cost for compute and storage within limits --client-side-processing Move processing to the client: Search:... [read more]
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NAME terraform - define infrastructure using declarative configuration SYNOPSIS resource "aws_s3_bucket" "blog" { bucket = "vgnshlvnz-blog" tags = { Name = "ManpageBlog" Cost = "Minimal" } } DESCRIPTION Terraform is the industry standard for Infrastructure as Code (IaC). It allows you to define cloud resources using a declarative configuration language (HCL), making infrastructure reproducible, versionable, and testable. This platform uses Terraform to define all AWS resources, ensuring consistent deployments across environments. CONFIGURATION S3 Bucket The blog content is stored in S3 with versioning enabled: resource "aws_s3_bucket" "blog" { bucket = "vgnshlvnz-blog" } resource "aws_s3_bucket_versioning" "blog" { bucket = aws_s3_bucket.blog.id versioning_configuration { status = "Enabled" } } resource "aws_s3_bucket_lifecycle_configuration" "blog" { bucket = aws_s3_bucket.blog.id rule { id = "archive-old-content" status = "Enabled" transition { days = 90 storage_class = "STANDARD_IA" } transition { days = 180 storage_class = "GLACIER_IR" } } } CloudFront Distribution CDN configuration with aggressive caching: resource "aws_cloudfront_distribution"... [read more]