Multi-Device Monitoring Infrastructure

Dec 2025 - Present

Set up monitoring across 4 Raspberry Pis and servers in my lab. MQTT collects data from everything, InfluxDB stores it, and I built 25+ Grafana dashboards to visualize it all. The coolest part was troubleshooting a memory leak that had one Pi at 93% RAM usage - moved everything to Docker containers and got it down to 23%.

What I learned: Python MQTT publishers, InfluxDB data retention, Docker Compose networking, and way too much about Grafana query syntax. Still learning how to make dashboards that don't look overwhelming.

Network Security Implementation

Dec 2025 - Present

Started getting serious about network security after seeing how many random bots try to SSH into exposed servers. Set up Pi-hole for DNS filtering to block malicious domains, Suricata to watch for intrusion attempts, fail2ban to lock out brute-force attacks, and UFW for basic firewall rules. Working on WireGuard VPN setup so I can access everything securely when I'm not home.

Reality check: Security is hard. I'm learning as I go - reading logs, figuring out what's normal vs suspicious, tweaking rules when I accidentally lock myself out. It's a constant work in progress.

Hardware Diagnostic Platform

2023 - Present

This started as a way to speed up motherboard diagnostics from my repair days. Raspberry Pi reads POST codes via GPIO to catch boot failures, then switches to monitoring mode once the system is up. Built a Python/Tkinter GUI with a cyberpunk aesthetic (because why not?) that shows CPU temp, RAM usage, disk health, and network stats. Recently added basic malware scanning.

Challenges: Making it work on tiny 320x480 TFT screens meant learning adaptive UI scaling. Also spent way too long getting POST code timing right - turns out motherboards are fast.

Docker Infrastructure Migration

Dec 2025

Snap containers kept giving me permission headaches, so I moved everything to Docker CE. Backed up 7 services, rebuilt them as Docker Compose stacks, and verified everything still worked. Documented the whole process in case I need to do it again (or when I inevitably break something).

What I learned: Docker networking, volume mounts, restart policies, and the importance of backups before major changes.

Networking

Comfortable setting up and troubleshooting home networks - static IPs, DNS, basic routing. Learning VPN setup and MQTT for IoT device communication. Still figuring out the fancier stuff but getting better at reading network logs.

Linux

Use Ubuntu Server and Raspberry Pi OS daily. Can navigate CLI, manage services with systemd, install packages, read logs, and do basic security hardening. Still learning - I break things regularly but getting faster at fixing them.

Scripting

Bash: Write automation scripts, use grep/sed/awk for text processing, set up cron jobs. Getting comfortable chaining commands together.

Python: Built monitoring scripts, worked with MQTT libraries, did some GPIO interfacing with Raspberry Pi. Intermediate level - can read and modify code, write simple scripts.

PowerShell: Basic Windows automation, file management, Git commands.

Monitoring & Dashboards

Built a lot of Grafana dashboards. Learning InfluxDB queries, setting up alerts, and making sense of time-series data. Also getting into security monitoring - reading IDS logs and trying to understand what's actually a threat vs noise.

What I'm learning next: Kubernetes basics, setting up CI/CD pipelines, and improving my IDS configuration. Want to get better at infrastructure automation.

Future goals: Dive deeper into Python (OOP, proper testing), learn Ansible for automation, explore SIEM tools, and maybe try some basic penetration testing. Really interested in the cybersecurity side of things.

Dream skills: Cloud platforms (AWS/Azure), building distributed systems, security architecture. Long way to go but really enjoying the journey.