Tech-Reader.blog

Insight: A Document Is More Than Data—Rethinking Automation from the Ground Up with AWS Systems Are Built to Serve Documents In today’s landscape, much is said about automation, generative AI, and orchestration frameworks. Tools are improving. Models are faster. Interfaces are more responsive. But beneath all that change, one truth remains: most systems are built to serve documents, not the other way around. Even in the powerful ecosystem of AWS, the focus should remain on the document and its purpose. This idea is not flashy, but it is quietly foundational. In a world driven by forms, sign-ups, requests, and submissions, the work often begins with a document—a structured expression of need, intent, or record. It may be digital from the start, or it may pass through scanning, transcription, or extraction. But either way, it has a life. And in order to build systems that serve our users well, we must understand the lifecycle of that document from its beginning to its conclusion, leverag...

Insight: The Humble microSD Card—Raspberry Pi's OS Home For anyone embarking on their Raspberry Pi journey, one of the first things you'll encounter is the instruction to "flash your OS to a microSD card." It's the de facto standard, the tried-and-true method for getting your tiny computer up and running. But like any custom, it comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Let's delve into why the microSD card reigns supreme for Raspberry Pi OS, and what its limitations are. The Upside: Why microSD Cards are the Go-To The popularity of microSD cards for Raspberry Pi OS isn't accidental. They offer several compelling benefits: Cost-Effectiveness :  microSD cards are incredibly affordable, especially when compared to other storage solutions like SSDs or even traditional hard drives. This low barrier to entry is a huge part of the Raspberry Pi's appeal as an accessible computing platform. Compact Size :  Their minuscule form factor is a perfect...

Understanding the diff Command on Raspberry Pi for Newbies Hey there, Raspberry Pi enthusiasts! So, you’ve got your tiny computer humming along, maybe you’re tinkering with some Python scripts, or perhaps you’re experimenting with configuration files. As you dive deeper, you'll inevitably run into situations where you need to compare two files. Maybe you made a change and want to see what's different from the original, or you're collaborating on a project and need to merge changes. This is where the mighty diff command comes in – a surprisingly powerful and essential tool in your Linux arsenal. What is diff? At its core,  diff  (short for "difference") is a command-line utility that analyzes two files and outputs the differences between them. It tells you which lines have been added, deleted, or modified. Think of it as a super-smart "spot the difference" game for your code or text files. Why is diff useful for Raspberry Pi use...

Insight: Get Organized with the sort Command in Ubuntu Hey there, new Ubuntu users! So you've just started your journey into the wonderful world of Linux, and things might feel a little different than what you're used to. Don't worry, we're here to help you navigate the command line, one powerful tool at a time. Today, we're going to talk about a super handy command called sort . Think of  sort  as your personal data organizer. Whether you're dealing with lists of names, numbers, or even lines of code,  sort  can quickly arrange them in a way that makes sense to you. Let's dive in! What Does sort Do? At its core, the  sort  command takes lines of text from a file (or even directly from your keyboard) and outputs them in a sorted order. By default, it sorts alphabetically and numerically, in ascending order. Your First sort Command Let's start with a simple example. Open your terminal (you can usually find it by searching for ...

New Article on Medium: A Practical Guide to Cutting Redshift Storage Costs Need to get large volumes of Redshift data off snapshots and into affordable S3 storage? We built a script that: Discovers all tables in a schema Exports them to S3 with UNLOAD Lets you control tiering, lifecycle, and cost It’s open source and built for engineers under pressure. Check out the full guide and grab the code: 🔗 Read the Medium Article Great for audit, archive, and cloud cost reduction. Let us know how it works for you. Need AWS Expertise? We'd love to help you with your AWS projects.  Feel free to reach out to us at  info@pacificw.com . Written by Aaron Rose, software engineer and technology writer at Tech-Reader.blog.

Insight: From Snapshots to S3—A Smarter Way to Offload Redshift Data When Compliance Meets Cost Pressure Imagine you’re managing a mature Redshift deployment that’s been running for years. Some data is critical, some is rarely touched, but it all needs to stick around for compliance, audit, or regulatory reasons. The default solution? Snapshots. They’re easy, they’re automatic, and they live in S3. But there’s a catch: Redshift snapshots are managed by AWS and stored in the S3 Standard tier. You can’t move them to cheaper storage like Glacier or Deep Archive. And while snapshots are great for point-in-time restore, they’re expensive if all you really need is a cold, readable copy. Exporting Tables—Not Snapshots If your primary goal is to retain data affordably rather than restore clusters quickly, exporting your tables might be the better path. Once exported to S3, that data can live under your control—with lifecycle policies that drop storage costs automatically over time. Of course, ...

Insight: Can You Save on Redshift Snapshot Costs?  Yes You Can...And Here's How Understanding the Challenge When running Redshift at scale, every penny counts—especially when it comes to long-term storage like manual snapshots. Naturally, folks start wondering: can we move those snapshots to cheaper S3 storage classes like Glacier? The question came up again recently, and it’s a smart one. The logic is simple: if snapshots live in S3, shouldn’t we be able to take advantage of S3’s storage tiers? Why It Matters Manual snapshots in Redshift are invaluable for point-in-time recovery, regulatory compliance, and protecting against accidental data loss. But they can also rack up surprising costs over time, particularly for large datasets or frequent snapshot schedules. AWS’s default behavior is to store these snapshots in the S3 Standard class, which prioritizes quick access over affordability. If you're retaining these for months—or even years—without regular access, tha...