With experience in both Docker and Kubernetes, I can help teams transition from single-host setups to a fully orchestrated cluster, restructuring Compose files into manifests, setting up centralised storage, and establishing reliable rollout strategies.

While I already write and manage repetitive tasks, such as SSH hardening or administrator onboarding, I keep digging deeper into Ansible roles and playbooks with the goal of reaching a one-click deployment in the future.

Docker was my first step into containers. I have explored networks, Compose, and storage, currently running 50 containers across 13 application stacks. It’s great for non-replicated workloads, but I found myself wanting more in terms of centralised storage, high availability, and rollbacks.

Prometheus and Grafana are my go-to stack for monitoring. Prometheus scrapes and stores metrics, while Grafana turns them into clean, actionable dashboards.

Ubuntu is my go-to server OS. My personal servers are all based on Ubuntu, which offers LTS long-term support, wide compatibility and its easy to use.

Alpine is my container OS of choice for the smallest and simplest images. 5 MB compared to 200 MB (Ubuntu) makes a huge difference in efficient container development.

In my projects I have also worked with RHEL, which offers enterprise support but has core differences, such as RPM-based package management. To avoid subscription costs, I use AlmaLinux to test concepts and build mockups.

Git is a fundamental part of my workflow for version control. GitHub extends that with collaboration and a central place to store my code. I am still exploring CI/CD pipelines, but I can already see a lot of unclaimed potential in these tools.

Proxmox is my homelab hypervisor. I helped small businesses to migrate from VMware to Proxmox after the Broadcom acquisition. While I gradually move my workloads towards the cloud, I still run tests, high-utilization workloads, and data-heavy services across my Proxmox nodes.

ESXi was my primary hypervisor early in my career. I deployed, managed, and troubleshot both Linux and Windows systems through its web console, gaining hands-on experience with virtualization, snapshots, and basic network configuration.

For the network projects I have worked on, I chose Ubiquiti as my vendor of choice. It is easy to configure and offers a lot of additional services, making it a perfect fit for small businesses.

In larger projects I mostly touched Cisco Meraki infrastructure, where I analysed networks and requested routing and configuration changes.

I have experimented with Terraform across different providers BPG for Proxmox, hcloud for Hetzner and AzureRM for Azure. While I am still experimenting, this tool fits naturally into my vision of a one-click infrastructure deployment.

Cloud-Init is a must-have tool on every server I manage. It enables quick, stable initial configurations and passes all necessary parameters to a system on its first boot. It’s a perfect bridge between provisioning and configuration management.

I personally deploy my web applications on Hetzner Cloud VPS. It is cheap, fully manageable via Terraform and Ansible, and the best value for money I have found. Test infrastructure is billed per minute, making it cost-efficient to spin up and tear down environments without unexpected costs.

Azure integrates natively with the M365 stack most SMBs already have, making it an extension of their existing infrastructure. It’s expensive, but for the right workloads it’s absolutely worth it.

OpenStack is a powerful self-hosted cloud platform that I tested using Kolla-Ansible. However, the complexity and operational responsibility were so high, that I decided to step back from exploring it further.