02 / HARDWARE + LAB

THEPHYSICALLAYER.

NOTE 01 / OPERATORI enjoy the part of computing that can be touched, opened, repaired and understood.

NOTE 02 / SCOPEServers, networking equipment, thermals, electronics and physical infrastructure are as interesting to me as the software running on top of them.

LOGIC BUS: 5V
POWER PATH: IDLE
RELAY STATE: OPEN
THERMAL PATH: NOMINAL
SYSTEM STATE: STANDBY

SERVERS · NETWORKING · REPAIR · THERMALS · ELECTRONICS

00 LOGICDecisions at signal level

[02.0]HARDWARE PROFILE

SYSTEMS START BELOW THE SOFTWARE.

HP-01

COMPUTE

Enterprise servers
Custom systems
CPU platforms
Memory / storage

HP-02

NETWORK

Firewalls
Switches / NICs
VLAN infrastructure
Management interfaces

HP-03

THERMALS

Airflow
Fan replacement
Temperature monitoring
Noise reduction

HP-04

REPAIR

Diagnostics
CPU socket repair
Component replacement
Hardware recovery

HP-05

MAKER

3D printing
Electronics
Custom enclosures
RelayDynamics hardware

[02.1]SELECTED BUILDS

CASE 01 / SERVICE LOG

HP PROLIANT
DL380 RECOVERY

DAMAGED CPU SOCKET / RESTORED OPERATION

Close view of the damaged CPU socket in the HP ProLiant DL380 — FAULT DETAIL / CPU SOCKET 02AUTHENTIC REPAIR IMAGE

A server with bent socket pins was inspected, repaired and returned to functional dual-CPU operation.

FAULT: Bent CPU socket pins
PROCESS: Inspection
Manual alignment
Validation
RESULT: CPU functionality restored

IF IT CAN BE OPENED, IT CAN PROBABLY BE UNDERSTOOD.

CASE 02 / RELAYDYNAMICS

RELAYLINK
MARK I → II

PHYSICAL BUILDS / PROTOTYPING

RelayLink Mark I and Mark II physical prototypes on a workbench — BUILD COMPARISON / MARK I + MARK IIWORKING PROTOTYPES

A physical control interface developed through successive working builds—combining enclosure design, electronics, assembly and software.

VIEW RELAYLINK MARK II REPOSITORY

PROJECT: RelayLink Mark II
METHOD: 3D printing
Assembly
Electronics
STATUS: Working build

Early RelayLink Mark I prototype with exposed wiring — MK-I / FUNCTIONAL PROTOTYPE

RelayLink internal assembly showing Raspberry Pi and wiring — MK-II / INTERNAL ASSEMBLY

MEASURE BEFORE ASSUMING.

CASE 03 / TEST INSTRUMENT

MOTHERBOARD
MEASUREMENT RIG

LIVE SYSTEM / PHYSICAL TELEMETRY

Running motherboard connected to a custom 3D-printed measurement control panel — BENCH TEST / LIVE MOTHERBOARDFUNCTIONAL EXPERIMENT

A 3D-printed control panel assembled to observe and take measurements from a motherboard while it was running.

BUILD: Custom enclosure
Control interface
PURPOSE: Live measurement
System observation
METHOD: 3D printing
Electronics
Assembly

Close-up of the 3D-printed motherboard measurement control panel — CONTROL PANEL / LIVE READOUT

Breadboard experiment using discrete transistors, resistors and indicator LEDs — DISCRETE TRANSISTOR LOGIC / BREADBOARD TEST

CIRCUIT NOTEThe photo shows a transistor-based logic experiment, but the exact gate or latch topology cannot be verified without tracing the connections or seeing the schematic.

[02.2]THE RACK

Front view of Vincent's physical homelab rack with networking and compute equipment — RELAY NETWORK / PHYSICAL PLANTSWEDEN · 2026

Open HP ProLiant DL360 G8 Atlas node during hands-on inspection — ATLAS / DL360 G8OPEN CHASSIS / DOCUMENTARY VIEW

RACK / 20UPOWER + DATA

U19

YGGDRASIL

SWITCHING

U18

HEIMDALL

FIREWALL

U13

ODEN

COMPUTE / SERVICES

U11

AURORA

COMPUTE / VIRTUALIZATION

U09

BIFROST

ENTERPRISE COMPUTE

U07

LOKI

EDGE SERVICES

U06

ATLAS

ENTERPRISE COMPUTE / DL360 G8

02.3 / WHY HARDWARE

SOFTWARE MAKES MORE SENSE
WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND
THE MACHINE BELOW IT.

I like knowing what happens beneath the abstraction: power, thermals, memory, storage, networking and the physical constraints software ultimately depends on.

[02.4]MAKER MINDSET

01REPAIR RATHER THAN REPLACE.

02MEASURE BEFORE ASSUMING.

03FAILURE IS DIAGNOSTIC INFORMATION.

04PROTOTYPE. TEST. REBUILD.

05COMBINE SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE.