Wizard City
// a little about me

The Archives

A bit about who I am, what I work on, and the proof I can actually do it.

DISCIPLINE IT & Security HOME LAB Proxmox CERTS 4 active STATUS always learning

About Me

I work in IT and security. Most days that means fixing hardware, helping people out of whatever they got stuck in, and keeping the stuff that's supposed to just work actually working.

The rest of the time I'm in my home lab breaking things on purpose. It runs on Proxmox, with a reverse proxy out front and a rotating set of services behind it. I like pulling something apart, figuring out exactly how it works, and putting it back together a little more locked down than I found it.

Mostly I learn by building. The certs below are nice to have, but the lab is where the real learning happens.

Core Competencies

Systems Administration
Setting up, maintaining, and rescuing servers on both Linux and Windows.
Network Engineering
Switching, routing, VLANs, subnetting, and IP schemes that stay tidy.
Security Hardening
Access control, risk assessment, and closing holes before someone else finds them.
Self-Hosting
Proxmox, containers, reverse proxies, and web stacks running behind TLS.
Troubleshooting
Tracking down hardware, software, and user problems without losing the plot.
Automation & Scripting
Scripting the boring, repetitive stuff so I never have to do it twice.

The Lab

// the stack

A Proxmox box runs a rotating cast of VMs and containers: a reverse proxy out front, internally-signed services behind it, monitoring on everything, and separate networks keeping the noisy parts away from the quiet ones.

// the philosophy

Nothing gets trusted just because it works. Every service is something to actually understand, document, and defend. And every outage is a free lesson, whether I wanted it or not.

Active Certifications

CompTIA A+
Hardware, operating systems, and troubleshooting fundamentals.
CompTIA Network+
Switching, routing, IP addressing, and network troubleshooting.
CompTIA Security+
Risk, architecture, access control, and incident response.
Cisco CCNA
Network fundamentals, IP connectivity, services, and security.