In this jam-packed episode of Rebel Devs, your hosts Tom May and Jonah May sit down with none other than Nico Stein—Veeam Vanguard, Cisco Champion, and home lab experimenter extraordinaire.

🚀 From exploding 10Gb NICs to streamlining data redundancy with Syncthing, Nico brings real-world IT challenges and homegrown solutions to the table. The crew dives into:

• 🧪 Nico’s take on building a Microsoft-free personal cloud with Syncthing, Ubuntu, and Synology.
• 💾 Why SureBackup is the most underrated feature in Veeam (and how it can save your job).
• 🔒 Immutable backups, ransomware readiness, and the harsh truths about cloud cost creep.
• ☁️ Object First vs. Linux Hardened Repos — the showdown you didn’t know you needed.
• 💥 That infamous CrowdStrike Friday outage and how Nico’s clever Veeam boot integration shaved off recovery time.

You’ll laugh, you’ll learn, and you’ll probably want to audit your DR strategy afterward.

🔗 Mentioned in the episode:

• Nico’s blog: nicostein.com
• CyberFortress for resilient DRaaS options
• DifferentDev for fractional Veeam expertise and audits

🎧 Whether you’re a seasoned sysadmin or new to the world of backup and continuity, this is one episode you do not want to miss.