Recovering my family photos taught me that a backup is only useful when it can be unlocked, restored and verified.

How I have been using Hermes Agent to document, maintain and improve my Linux workstation and homelab.

A practical homelab built from quiet, second-hand and low-power hardware.

I accidentally wiped my main TrueNAS server and thought years of family photos were gone. This is how I recovered them from a messy collection of replicas, cloud backups and an old Immich installation.

Technical support engineer, homelab builder and Linux enthusiast based in the West Midlands.

The first note on Samirtech: a personal space for Linux, homelab projects and practical technology.

A practical series about recovering data, designing backups and testing restores.

What I am currently building, learning and improving.

The systems, experiments and practical projects behind Samirtech.

The tools and technologies behind my workstation, homelab and website.