Jayanth Katta | Technology, Life, Health & Learning

  There’s a question I often reflect on: Why am I more inclined toward long‑term, consistent investments instead of rushing into real estate or chasing fast returns? I don’t deny the importance of diversification. Any well‑balanced portfolio should ideally be spread across multiple investment types like equities, real estate, fixed income, and alternative assets. But for me, the future‑focused approach offers something deeper than numbers on a balance sheet. It gives me relief, hope, and most importantly teaches me patience. Long‑term investing forces you to trust time rather than timing. Whether it’s contributing steadily to a TTPF, building a 529 plan for education, holding a VUL life insurance policy, or sticking to systematic investment plans, the philosophy remains the same: consistency over intensity. Automating investments, especially in strong, innovative companies like the so‑called Magnificent 7 removes emotion from the equation and replaces it with discipline. These choi...

  Introduction Cloud costs do not always rise because of growth. Sometimes they rise because of configuration. That was exactly the case in our environment. We noticed that Log Analytics costs had climbed to roughly $17,000 per month . At first, nothing obvious stood out. There were no major application changes, no large-scale onboarding of new workloads, and no sudden increase in operational activity. But once we reviewed the ingestion data closely, the real issue became clear: a logging configuration was generating far more data than was actually needed. This post explains what we found, what we changed, and how the environment moved from a high-cost logging model to a much more efficient one while still keeping the right operational and security visibility. The Problem: High Log Analytics Ingestion The first step was to understand which tables were driving ingestion. Using the Usage table in Log Analytics, we reviewed billable ingestion over time and by data type. The results s...

Introduction Backups are one of those things we rarely think about—until the moment we need them the most. In a recent scenario, I had to design a solution to move and retain large SQL Server backups (around 2TB) from on-premises to Azure for a short duration. What initially seemed simple quickly evolved into a design problem involving cost, performance, automation, and reliability . This post walks through the thinking, decisions, and lessons learned. The Problem Multiple SQL Server databases One large database (~2TB) Daily backups required for 2 weeks Fast restore capability needed Cost-sensitive solution This wasn’t just backup—it was controlled, intentional data movement . The Questions That Matter This is where the real engineering begins: Do we need Hot, Cool, or Archive storage? What if restore is needed immediately? Should we copy .bak files or backup directly? How do we automate safely? What happens if authentication expires? How do we handle large databases efficiently? Thes...

  Why do I have adult conversations with Ameya? Why do I tell her how my day went, honestly, not filtered? Why do I share when I felt bad because someone at work wasn’t kind to me? And the bigger question, how would an 18-month-old even understand any of this? Maybe she doesn’t. Not today. But I believe children are always listening. Not just to words, but to tone, to emotion, to how we carry ourselves after life nudges us the wrong way. When I speak to her, I’m not trying to be understood in the moment. I’m trying to build something deeper, an environment where honesty is normal, emotions are not hidden, and recovery is more important than reaction. I want her to see that it’s okay to feel hurt, but also important to let go. That not every bad moment deserves a permanent place in your mind. One day, years from now, maybe she’ll come home from school and say something like, “Dad, my friend was rude to me today. It didn’t feel good, but it’s okay. It’s not important. You are...

  Change is hard… but it is possible. I say that not as motivation, but as experience. I’ve struggled to change my food habits. I’ve tried to stay consistent with exercise. I’ve pushed myself to think differently, to become better. Every time I start, there’s energy. Motivation shows up, strong and convincing. For a few days, sometimes weeks, I feel like I’ve finally figured it out. And then… it fades. Not suddenly. Not dramatically. Just slowly enough that I don’t notice until I’m back in the same loop I promised I’d escape. I used to think something was wrong with me. But maybe it’s not that simple. Maybe it’s the constant comparison. Maybe it’s the invisible competition with people I don’t even know. Maybe it’s impatience — wanting results before the process has had time to work. Or maybe it’s stress… the kind that doesn’t announce itself, but quietly drains discipline. So I started asking myself different questions. What if I stopped comparing myself to others? What if I on...

  When I was growing up, money was always spoken about with one main instruction. Save. Save what you can. Don’t waste money. Keep something aside for the future. Those lessons were sincere and practical. They helped families stay safe during uncertain times. Saving money was seen as responsibility and discipline. But as I grew older, I slowly realized something important. While we were taught how to save money , very few of us were taught how to invest money . Saving protects what you have. Investing grows what you have. That difference changes everything over a lifetime. Learning Later in Life Like many people, I entered adulthood focused mostly on earning and saving. Work hard, earn a paycheck, and keep a portion aside. That was the pattern. Only later did I start learning about investing, compounding, and ownership. I began to understand that money, when invested wisely and given enough time, has the ability to grow quietly in the background. It does not happen overnight. It...