Executive Summary

Today’s technology landscape is defined by structural shifts across infrastructure, software licensing, and artificial intelligence architectures. In artificial intelligence, the industry is transitioning from brute-force scaling of parameters to optimizing inference-time compute and deploying agentic workflows. This shift is mirrored in cloud computing, where hyperscalers are aggressively deploying custom silicon to mitigate the high capital expenditure of AI workloads while simultaneously building out sovereign cloud architectures to meet stringent regional compliance mandates.

Summary

Quantum computing is a cloud and research discipline today, not a consumer product. IBM says its systems run in data centers with cryogenic infrastructure and access through the IBM Quantum Platform, and its public roadmap still runs toward fault-tolerant systems by 2029 (IBM hardware, IBM roadmap). Microsoft also positions Azure Quantum as a cloud service for quantum plus HPC/AI workloads, not as home hardware (Azure Quantum).

Executive Summary

Today’s technology landscape is defined by a transition from experimental implementations to structural, architectural shifts. In artificial intelligence, the industry is moving rapidly beyond passive chat interfaces toward “agentic” systems capable of autonomous execution and reasoning. This shift is placing new demands on cloud infrastructure, driving cloud providers to expand custom silicon deployments and establish localized, sovereign cloud environments to meet stringent global compliance standards.

Executive Summary

Today’s technology landscape is defined by a transition from experimental implementation to structural optimization. In artificial intelligence, the industry is shifting away from simple, prompt-based interactions toward autonomous, multi-agent workflows and highly efficient Small Language Models (SLMs) designed for edge deployment. This architectural evolution is mirrored in the cloud and DevOps sectors, where custom silicon and platform engineering are reducing the cognitive load on developers while optimizing spiraling infrastructure costs.

Executive Summary

Today’s technology landscape is defined by a critical transition from experimental implementation to operational maturity. In artificial intelligence, the industry is shifting away from monolithic, brute-force models toward highly optimized, agentic workflows and localized Small Language Models (SLMs). This transition promises to democratize AI capabilities while addressing pressing concerns regarding operational costs and data privacy.

Simultaneously, the cybersecurity domain is grappling with systemic vulnerabilities within the software supply chain, forcing organizations to re-evaluate trust boundaries and accelerate the adoption of memory-safe programming languages.

The Pipelines section

The Pipelines section in the sidebar contains more items than Repos:

• Pipelines — the CI pipelines (build)
• Environments — deployment targets such as acceptance and production
• Releases — the classic visual release pipelines (older system, being replaced by multi-stage YAML)
• Library — variable groups and secure files
• Task groups — reusable task blocks that can be shared across multiple pipelines
• Deployment groups — self-hosted agents grouped per environment

On a new project the Pipelines list is empty.

Setup: organisation and project

After logging in to dev.azure.com the mvdboom organisation is visible with one existing project.

This article describes the full build of a two-server Windows Server 2022 home lab in Proxmox VE. Together, the two virtual machines provide Active Directory Domain Services, DNS, Group Policy and a Certificate Authority (ADCS). RDP connections are secured with PKI certificates so the Mac Mini M1 management workstation connects without certificate warnings.

This is part 3 of the series on building a Windows DevOps lab in Proxmox. In part 1 I described how to create a VM, and in part 2 how to prepare the template.

This is part 2 of the series on building a Windows DevOps lab in Proxmox. In part 1 I described how to create the VM. In this article I prepare the VM as a reusable Proxmox template. All future VMs — the CA server, member servers and other roles — will be cloned from this template.

Important: After Sysprep, never start the VM again. If you do, the generalization is consumed and the template must be rebuilt from scratch.

]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/ws2022-proxmox-vm-creation/Mon, 30 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0200https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/ws2022-proxmox-vm-creation/ Download as Word document

In this article I describe step by step how I create a Windows Server 2022 VM in Proxmox VE 9.1.6. The guide is based on real-world experience and includes all corrections and lessons learned along the way. This is part 1 of a series on building a fully functional Windows DevOps lab in Proxmox.

Lab Environment

Component	Value
Proxmox host	macpro2013.local — Mac Pro 2013 Trashcan
Proxmox version	9.1.6
RAM	128 GB
Storage	3.6 TB NVMe (local-lvm pool)
Network bridge	vmbr0 — internal lab network (192.168.178.x)
Proxmox WebUI	https://192.168.178.205:8006

---

Why a CA Is Needed — the SSL Warning

Anyone who opens the Proxmox WebUI via macpro2013.local in Safari will immediately see a certificate warning. Proxmox uses a self-signed certificate by default.

]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/windows_server_2022_ad_dns/Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/windows_server_2022_ad_dns/This article describes step by step how I installed Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and DNS on a Windows Server 2022 Datacenter VM in a VMware Fusion lab environment. The result is a fully functional domain controller for the domain lab.local, serving as the foundation for a Windows DevOps lab.

Environment

Component	Value
Virtualization	VMware Fusion (macOS)
Guest OS	Windows Server 2022 Datacenter (Desktop Experience)
Hostname	DC01
Domain name	lab.local
NetBIOS name	LAB
Lab network adapter	Ethernet1 — 172.16.37.10 (static IP)
Internet adapter	Ethernet0 — DHCP via VMware NAT

---

Step 1 — Configure Networking

Before installing Active Directory, the domain controller needs a static IP address. AD DS and DNS depend on a stable address.

]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/windows_packet_capturing/Sun, 18 Jan 2026 20:19:01 +0100https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/windows_packet_capturing/Troubleshooting LDAPS Connectivity: Using Built-in Windows Tools to Audit Firewall Compliance As organizations move toward more secure infrastructure, migrating from standard LDAP (Port 389) to LDAPS (Port 636) is a critical step. However, this transition often reveals “silent” failures where a network firewall might allow the initial connection but block the subsequent SSL/TLS handshake.

At Van den Boom Online, we understand that a smooth user experience starts with a robust backend. In this guide, we’ll show you how to perform packet capturing using only built-in Windows tools to verify if your traffic is reaching its destination or being dropped by security appliances.

]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/ansible_awx/Wed, 02 Jul 2025 13:35:25 +0200https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/ansible_awx/Create a Ubuntu Virtual Machine with:
32 GB RAM
8 cores
120 GB HD

Step-by-step: Install AWX 24.6.1 on Minikube (Ubuntu)

🔧 1. System Preparation

1$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
2$ sudo apt install -y curl wget apt-transport-https ca-certificates gnupg lsb-release software-properties-common
3$ sudo timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Amsterdam

📦 2. Install Docker (Minikube backend)

 1$ curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo bash
 2$ sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
 3$ newgrp docker  # Activate group without reboot
 4
 5Enable and start Docker:
 6$ sudo systemctl enable docker
 7$ sudo systemctl start docker
 8
 9Test:
10$ docker run hello-world

🧱 3. Install Minikube

]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/ansible_automation_platform/Sun, 29 Jun 2025 23:10:08 +0200https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/ansible_automation_platform/Attention: I have not been able to make it restart automatically after a reboot!
Perhaps it is better to look into making it run in Minikube?

Create a Red Hat 9 Virtual Machine with:
32 GB RAM
8 cores
120 GB HD

1$ sudo hostnamectl hostname aap.vandenboom.local

Download the Ansible Automation Platform 2.5 Containerized Setup Bundle from: https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/480/ver=2.5/rhel---9/2.5/x86_64/product-software

 1$ tar zxvf ansible*.tar.gz
 2
 3$ sudo vim /etc/hosts
 4localhost aap.vandenboom.local
 5
 6$ ping aap.vandenboom.local
 7
 8$ sudo dnf install -y podman git python3-pip rsync tar jq unzip
 9
10$ podman login registry.redhat.io
11
12$ sudo dnf install ansible-core wget
13
14$ python3 -m pip install virtualenv
15$ pip3 install ansible
16
17$ vim inventory
18Edit the settings as seen below
19
20$ time ansible-playbook -i inventory ansible.containerized_installer.install -K

This is the contents of the file: ./inventory

]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/pas_op_met_openshift/Sat, 29 Mar 2025 15:15:43 +0100https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/pas_op_met_openshift/When comparing Kubernetes with OpenShift (Red Hat’s Kubernetes-based platform), there are several key differences that affect how they handle resource consumption and system resources. While OpenShift is built on top of Kubernetes, there are additional functionalities and differences that impact the resource requirements:

1. Additional Functionalities in OpenShift OpenShift offers more out-of-the-box functionality than Kubernetes. This can lead to higher overhead, but also to more ease of use and integration:

• Security: OpenShift adds extra security layers, such as Security Context Constraints (SCC) and SELinux restrictions, which may require additional resources for securing containers and applications.

  ]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/pas_op_met_kubernetes/Sat, 29 Mar 2025 15:00:43 +0100https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/pas_op_met_kubernetes/The statement “beware of Kubernetes, it burns through your resources” refers to the fact that Kubernetes, although a powerful and flexible solution for orchestrating containerized applications, can consume a relatively large amount of system resources (such as CPU, memory, and storage).

  This is due to several factors:

  1. Kubernetes has overhead: Kubernetes itself runs as a cluster of various components, such as the API server, scheduler, controller manager, and more. These components run on the control plane and need to be managed. This adds extra overhead to your system, meaning that the resources Kubernetes itself uses are added on top of the applications you are actually running.

     ]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/golang_go_concurrency/Sat, 22 Mar 2025 21:00:43 +0100https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/golang_go_concurrency/<p>Concurrency might sound like a technical term, but it boils down to a program performing multiple tasks at once, as if it’s multitasking. Imagine you’re cooking: while the pasta is on the stove, you start the washing machine and charge your phone. Although you’re not doing everything at the exact same moment, it all happens smoothly side by side. Software that supports concurrency works the same way: a program can, for instance, download files, perform calculations, and send data to a server all at once. This multitasking makes the use of computing power more efficient and ensures faster, smoother performance.</p>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/diagram/Wed, 01 Sep 2021 11:36:50 +0800https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/diagram/This article offers a sample of basic diagram usage that can be used in Hugo content files.

     Please see also Mermaid.

     ]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/markdown-syntax/Mon, 09 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/markdown-syntax/Headings

     The following HTML <h1>—<h6> elements represent six levels of section headings. <h1> is the highest section level while <h6> is the lowest.

     H1

     H2

     H3

     H4

     H5

     H6

     Paragraph

     Xerum, quo qui aut unt expliquam qui dolut labo. Aque venitatiusda cum, voluptionse latur sitiae dolessi aut parist aut dollo enim qui voluptate ma dolestendit peritin re plis aut quas inctum laceat est volestemque commosa as cus endigna tectur, offic to cor sequas etum rerum idem sintibus eiur? Quianimin porecus evelectur, cum que nis nust voloribus ratem aut omnimi, sitatur? Quiatem. Nam, omnis sum am facea corem alique molestrunt et eos evelece arcillit ut aut eos eos nus, sin conecerem erum fuga. Ri oditatquam, ad quibus unda veliamenimin cusam et facea ipsamus es exerum sitate dolores editium rerore eost, temped molorro ratiae volorro te reribus dolorer sperchicium faceata tiustia prat.

     ]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/rich-content/Sun, 10 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/rich-content/Hugo ships with several Built-in Shortcodes for rich content, along with a Privacy Config and a set of Simple Shortcodes that enable static and no-JS versions of various social media embeds.
     ]]>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/placeholder-text/Sat, 09 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/placeholder-text/<p>Lorem est tota propiore conpellat pectoribus de pectora summo.</p>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/math-typesetting/Fri, 08 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/math-typesetting/<p>Mathematical notation in a Hugo project can be enabled by using third party JavaScript libraries.</p>https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/emoji-support/Tue, 05 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000https://1552afcb.notes-6if.pages.dev/en/posts/emoji-support/<p>Emoji can be enabled in a Hugo project in a number of ways.</p>