Posts on Jan 1970

Home 2025 December
My Top Technologies of 2025: A Year in Review and a Look to the Future
By Dimitri Bellini29 December, 2025Blog

My Top Technologies of 2025: A Year in Review and a Look to the Future

Good morning everyone, and welcome back to Quadrata! It’s Dimitri Bellini, and as we stand at the threshold of a new year, it’s the perfect time to look back. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, filled with good company and great gifts. Now, let’s dive into the technologies that truly impressed me in 2025. This is my personal highlight reel of the year, and I’m eager to hear what you think about these game-changers.

The Open-Source Powerhouses of 2025

This year, several open-source projects took massive leaps forward, solidifying their place as essential tools for professionals and hobbyists alike. Here are the ones that stood out to me.

Proxmox: The Evolution of Virtualization

We all know and love Proxmox, but in 2025, it became an even more dominant force in the virtualization space. The most significant update was the introduction of OCI standard container functionality. This means we can now run containers with some initial limitations, but it’s a massive step forward. When you combine this with its already powerful features like distributed storage with Ceph and ZFS, plus its flexible native backup solution, you have a suite that, in my opinion, covers about 85% of the needs of any medium-sized company. It might still be a bit tight for the largest enterprises, but the direction is incredibly promising.

Komodo: Simplified Container Management

For a while, the container management space felt like it was missing something. Portainer is great, but it can be a bit over-the-top or limited in certain areas. Komodo stepped in to fill that gap beautifully. As its name suggests, it’s a comfortable, convenient solution. It handles all the classic functionalities you’d expect, allowing you to run containers using Docker Compose syntax. But its real power lies in managing automation pipelines—taking code from Git, building a container, and deploying it to a specific node. It’s sophisticated enough for complex environments but simple enough for a homelab, which makes it a real winner in my book.

Pangolin VPN: Secure and Granular Access

Pangolin VPN is another solution that has made incredible progress. It allows you to securely expose services from your local lab to the internet using a reverse proxy. What’s truly impressive, especially in the latest versions, is the ability to create highly specific rules to make individual hosts or services visible only to certain people connected via the VPN. You can manage authentication through an external Identity Provider (IDP), allowing for simple or complex setups. Instead of a standard WireGuard setup that’s open to everyone, Pangolin lets you grant granular permissions to specific users or groups. The software is evolving every month, and it’s definitely one to watch.

Copyparty: The Geek’s File Server

We talked about this a while back, and the video was a huge success for a reason. CopyParty is a fantastic file-serving solution that feels like it was written by a true geek. It’s a more versatile and fun alternative to a standard FTP server, allowing access to your files via HTTP, WebDAV, Samba, and more. It’s packed with clever shortcuts and unique features that give you maximum flexibility for sharing files with others. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend you do.

Navigating the AI Landscape of 2025

Of course, no 2025 review would be complete without talking about artificial intelligence. While I haven’t made a video on it in a while, AI is something I use daily, and a couple of tools have become indispensable.

My Go-To AI Tools

  • Google Gemini 3.0: In my opinion, Gemini has reached a new level this year with its 3.0 version. While other models might be better for pure code generation, Gemini excels at reasoning and analysis. When I have a doubt or need analysis on a document or topic, it consistently outperforms others like ChatGPT and Claude. It gets straight to the point and provides clear, focused answers that feel like they were written by a subject matter expert. Since it’s often free to use, I absolutely recommend trying it.

  • NanoBanana: This AI image generator has been a revelation. It makes creating highly realistic images incredibly easy. It’s not just for making jokes; it has practical applications too. For example, it helped me create the infographic for this very discussion! For creating block schemes, specific images, or just visualizing an idea, it’s a powerful and useful tool.

A Broader Reflection: AI, Society, and Open Source

The rise of AI prompts a larger reflection. We’ve seen massive technological shifts before—the calculator changed how we do math, and the transition from books to TV to social media has fundamentally altered our attention spans. AI is another such shift. Used wisely, it’s an incredible tool to shorten tasks and deepen our understanding of topics we couldn’t otherwise explore. It allows us to have in-depth dialogues on complex subjects, almost like having an expert by our side.

However, we must also consider the role of multinationals in AI development. When these tools are controlled by publicly traded companies, there’s always the question of bias. How much does their training data—and their shareholders’ interests—affect the information we receive? Giving anyone the “keys to knowledge” is a risky proposition.

This is where open source could be our salvation. Having open-source AI models and search engines that we can run on our own hardware gives us a sense of freedom and control. Tools like the ones we’ve discussed—Proxmox, Komodo, Pangolin—are vital because they are transparent. We can know them, try them, and even improve them. They allow us to build our own solutions without being beholden to the opaque promises of the outside world.

Looking Ahead: Stay Curious

My final thought for the year is this: we must not be afraid to try new things, whether they are open source or not. The greatest risk we face is becoming atrophied, mindlessly sliding our thumbs on a phone screen. Let’s stay curious, keep learning, and continue to build a better technological future.

That’s all from me. What were your favorite technologies of 2025? What are you excited about for the new year? Drop a comment below and let’s discuss!

A big greeting from me, Dimitri, and I’ll see you next year. Happy New Year to everyone!

Connect with me and the community:

Read More

0

A Christmas Gift for Zabbix 7.0 Users: The Ultimate Table Widget is Here!
By Dimitri Bellini18 December, 2025Blog

A Christmas Gift for Zabbix 7.0 Users: The Ultimate Table Widget is Here!

Good morning everyone, and welcome back to Quadrata! Given the special time of year, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. This week, I have something truly special to share—a real game-changer for anyone using Zabbix, particularly the 7.0 Long-Term Support (LTS) release.

As many of you know, Zabbix 7.0 is the go-to version for production environments where stability and long-term support are critical. While it’s fantastic, I’ve always felt there were a few missing pieces in the dashboarding experience, especially when compared to some features in the newer 7.4 release. Today, that changes. Thanks to the incredible work of our friend Ryan Eberly, we now have a powerful, feature-rich Table widget backported to version 7.0!

Why This Widget is a Game-Changer for Zabbix 7.0

Dashboards are our window into the health of our infrastructure, but creating clean, dynamic, and truly useful tables in Zabbix 7.0 could sometimes be a challenge, especially when dealing with item prototypes from Low-Level Discovery (LLD). The default widgets are good, but they lack the flexibility needed for complex scenarios. Ryan’s “Zabbix Widget Table” fills this gap perfectly.

This isn’t just any table; it’s a highly customizable tool that allows you to present data in ways that were previously difficult or impossible to achieve in the 7.0 LTS version. It’s the Christmas gift we Zabbix users have been waiting for!

How to Install the Zabbix Table Widget

Getting this widget up and running is straightforward, but it requires one crucial step to ensure you get the correct version. Let’s walk through it.

Step 1: Connect to Your Zabbix Server

First, you’ll need to SSH into your Zabbix frontend server and navigate to the correct modules directory. For Zabbix 7.0, the path is:

/usr/share/zabbix/modules/

Note: This path was changed in Zabbix 7.4, so make sure you’re in the right place for 7.0.

Step 2: Clone the GitHub Repository

This is the most important part. You must clone the specific 7.0 branch from Ryan’s repository. If you don’t, you’ll get the latest version (for 7.4), and it won’t work.

Run the following command inside the modules directory:

git clone --branch 7.0 https://github.com/gryan337/zabbix-widgets-table.git

This will create a new directory named zabbix-widgets-table containing all the necessary files.

Step 3: Activate the Module in Zabbix

Once the files are in place, head over to your Zabbix UI.

  1. Navigate to Administration > General > Modules.

  2. Click the “Scan directory” button. Zabbix will discover the new widget.

  3. You will see a new module, likely named “Table” (Flexible Table Widget for Zabbix Dashboard). By default, it will be disabled.

  4. Simply click the status to Enable it.

That’s it! The widget is now ready to be used in your dashboards.

Exploring the Powerful Features

Now for the fun part. I’ve spent some time exploring what this widget can do, and the possibilities are immense. Here are a few examples to show you its power.

Example 1: Dynamic Network Interface Monitoring

Imagine you want a clean table showing the bits received and sent for all network interfaces on a router, and you want this table to update dynamically when you select a different device. With this widget, it’s easy!

  • Clean Interface Names: The widget can group items by a tag (e.g., “interface”), using the tag’s value as the row name. This gets rid of cluttered item names, leaving you with just the interface name.

  • Column per Pattern: You can define columns based on an item key pattern (like `* bits received`). This is perfect for handling item prototypes from LLD.

  • Interactive & Sortable: Every column is sortable and filterable right from the dashboard. Plus, you can configure the table to interact with other widgets, so clicking a row can update a graph to show that specific interface’s data.

  • Quick Links: Add a direct link to the “Latest data” history for any metric, which is incredibly useful for troubleshooting.

Example 2: Horizontal View for Disk Space

Want to monitor disk space across multiple dynamic filesystems (C:, D:, /root, /boot) for Windows or Linux hosts? You can create a compact, horizontal table.

  • Pattern Matching: Use a pattern to pull in all relevant filesystem items automatically.

  • Clean Up Labels with Regex: The item names for filesystems can be long (e.g., `fs/space/available`). The widget allows you to use Zabbix macros with regular expressions to clean these up on the fly, displaying just `/` or `/boot`.

  • Visual Indicators: Display data as numbers, bars, or indicators with custom thresholds for a quick visual status check.

Example 3: Three-Column Interface Status View

Another great use case is creating a simple list showing the operational status of all interfaces across multiple hosts. I configured a three-column layout to show the Host Name, Interface Name, and Status.

  • Trigger Severity Display: This is one of my favorite features. If a trigger is active for an item (e.g., an interface is down), the widget will display the trigger’s severity color right in the table. This provides an immediate, at-a-glance view of problems.

  • Host Context Menu: The widget also provides a quick-access menu for each host, letting you jump directly to its inventory, latest data, or problems.

A Big Thank You and a Call to Action

I am genuinely excited about what this widget brings to the Zabbix community. It adds a layer of professionalism and flexibility to our dashboards that was sorely needed in the 7.0 LTS release. The fact that Ryan Eberly took the time to backport this for us is a testament to the power of the open-source community.

I strongly encourage you to do two things:

  1. Try it out! Add it to your dashboards and see how it can improve your monitoring workflows.

  2. Show your appreciation. Head over to his GitHub repository and give it a star. If you find any bugs or have ideas for features, open an issue. He is actively developing these tools and values our feedback.

With this table widget, and hopefully more to come (like his custom graph widget!), our Zabbix 7.0 dashboards are on their way to becoming more powerful than ever.

Let me know in the comments what you think and what creative dashboards you build with it!

Until next week, happy monitoring, and once again, Merry Christmas!

Dimitri Bellini

My YouTube Channel: Quadrata

Join the conversation on Telegram: ZabbixItalia

Read More

0

Proxmox in 2025: A Complete Overview of the Open-Source Virtualization Ecosystem
By Dimitri Bellini11 December, 2025Blog

Proxmox in 2025: A Complete Overview of the Open-Source Virtualization Ecosystem

Good morning, everyone! Dimitri Bellini here, back on Quadrata, my channel dedicated to the world of open source and IT. It’s been a couple of years since I last did a deep dive on Proxmox, and so much has changed. With new releases, exciting features, and a brand-new product in its ecosystem, it’s the perfect time for an update. Plus, with the ongoing conversations around VMware alternatives, Proxmox is more relevant than ever.

For those who might be new to it, Proxmox is a powerful, open-source virtualization platform. It allows you to run and manage virtual machines (VMs) and containers on a single physical server. It’s a fantastic tool that I believe is a viable replacement for VMware for a significant number of businesses—perhaps even more than 60% of them. It’s robust, feature-rich, and completely open source.

The Core: Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE)

Proxmox VE is the heart of the ecosystem. It’s a complete virtualization management solution that provides an intuitive web-based interface. It’s built on a solid foundation of proven technologies:

  • KVM Virtualization: It uses the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) for running VMs, which is the standard for virtualization on Linux.

  • LXC Containers: For containers, it uses LXC (Linux Containers), which is designed to containerize entire operating systems, offering a different approach compared to application-focused containers like Docker.

Proxmox VE is packed with enterprise-grade features right out of the box:

  • Clustering: You can easily create a cluster of multiple Proxmox nodes and manage them all from a single web interface, without needing a separate management VM.

  • Live Migration: Move running virtual machines from one node to another without any downtime.

  • Flexible Storage: It offers incredible flexibility with storage options, including native support for distributed storage like Ceph and the robust ZFS file system.

  • Granular User Management: Control user access with detailed roles and permissions, including two-factor authentication.

What’s New in Proxmox VE?

The latest versions have brought some game-changing updates. One of the most exciting is the introduction of OCI container support. This means you can now pull and run container images directly from registries like Docker Hub within Proxmox. We’ll dive into how that works in a moment! They’ve also made significant improvements to the Software-Defined Network (SDN) capabilities, adding another layer of powerful networking features.

Protect Your Data: Proxmox Backup Server

For any serious virtualization environment, a solid backup strategy is non-negotiable. Proxmox offers a dedicated, fully integrated solution for this: the Proxmox Backup Server. This isn’t just a basic backup tool; it’s a feature-rich appliance with very impressive enterprise capabilities:

  • Incremental & Deduplicated Backups: This is huge. It saves an incredible amount of storage space by only backing up changes and avoiding duplicate data blocks.

  • Compression & Encryption: Backups are compressed to save space and can be encrypted for security.

  • Remote Sync: Easily synchronize your backups to an offsite location for disaster recovery.

  • Live Restore & Single-File Access: You can even browse backup contents and restore individual files without having to restore the entire VM.

The latest version has also introduced traffic limiting to prevent backups from congesting your network and, importantly, support for S3-compatible storage as a backend. This opens up a world of possibilities for offsite backups using various cloud storage providers.

The Big Picture: The NEW Proxmox Data Center Manager

This is the latest addition to the family and a true game-changer. If you manage multiple Proxmox clusters across different locations—say, for production, development, and various office sites—how do you keep an eye on everything? The Proxmox Data Center Manager is the answer. It’s a centralized management interface that gives you a single pane of glass to oversee your entire distributed Proxmox infrastructure.

From its modern, customizable dashboard, you can:

  • View aggregated metrics and the health status of all your nodes and clusters.

  • Manage the lifecycle of VMs and containers (start, stop, migrate) across different clusters.

  • Use a powerful search to quickly find any VM in your entire environment.

  • Centralize and manage updates for all your Proxmox hosts.

While it’s still the first major release (1.0), it’s a fantastic start and a clear sign that Proxmox is serious about capturing the enterprise market. The interface is also a step up, using a more modern and flexible graphical framework than the classic ExtJS-based one we’re used to.

Tutorial: Running Docker Images as OCI Containers in Proxmox

Let’s walk through the most exciting new feature in Proxmox VE: running OCI containers. I’ll show you how to launch a Grafana container.

  1. Pull the Image: In your Proxmox node’s storage view, you’ll see an “OCI Templates” section. Click “Download from URL” and in the “Image” field, type the name of the image from a public registry, like grafana/grafana. You can then query for available tags (e.g., latest) and pull the image.

  2. Create the Container: Once downloaded, click “Create CT” as you normally would. Give it a name and password. In the “Template” selection, you will now see your downloaded Grafana image.

  3. Configure Resources: Assign disk space, CPU cores, and memory. Proxmox manages these resources more like a VM, which can be an advantage for resource control. Configure the network (you can use DHCP or a static IP).

  4. Set Environment Variables: This is key. In the container’s “Options” tab, you’ll find a new “Environment” section. Here, you can add all the necessary environment variables your container needs to run, just like you would with a `docker run` command.

  5. Start and Access: Start your container! It will get an IP address on your network. The tricky part is that you can’t remap ports. You have to access the application on its default port. For Grafana, that would be `http://:3000`.

The ability to snapshot and back up these containers using the Proxmox Backup Server is a massive advantage. While the feature is still new and lacks things like an easy image update process, it’s an incredibly promising development.

Final Thoughts

The Proxmox ecosystem has matured into a comprehensive and powerful platform that can handle a wide range of virtualization needs. From the core VE to the robust Backup Server and the new centralized Data Center Manager, it offers a complete, open-source solution that is more than ready for the enterprise.

I’m genuinely excited about the direction Proxmox is heading, especially with its integration of OCI containers. It cleverly blends the stability of a VM-centric management style with the flexibility of the container world.

But that’s my take. What do you think? Are you using Proxmox in your lab or in production? What are your thoughts on these new features, especially the container management and the Data Center Manager? Let me know in the comments below!

That’s all for today. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more content on open source and IT. See you next week!

A greeting from Dimitri, bye!

Follow me and join the community:

Read More

0