About NJ van As

💡 Welcome! I'm NJ, a DevOps engineer and cloud architect passionate about building reliable, scalable infrastructure. This blog documents my technical journey, from homelab experiments to production-grade cloud implementations.

Professional Background

I specialize in designing and implementing modern infrastructure solutions with a focus on:

☁️ Cloud Architecture

Azure & AWS: Multi-cloud solutions, migration strategies, and cost optimization
Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, ARM templates, and CloudFormation
Serverless Computing: Azure Functions, AWS Lambda, and event-driven architectures
Cloud Security: Identity management, compliance, and security best practices

🚀 DevOps & Automation

CI/CD Pipelines: Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, and Jenkins
Container Orchestration: Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, and container security
Configuration Management: Ansible, Puppet, and infrastructure automation
Monitoring & Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack, and APM solutions

🛡️ Site Reliability Engineering

Incident Response: On-call procedures, post-mortems, and continuous improvement
Performance Optimization: Application tuning, database optimization, and caching strategies
Disaster Recovery: Backup strategies, failover procedures, and business continuity
Capacity Planning: Resource forecasting, scaling strategies, and cost management

What You’ll Find Here

This isn’t just another tech blog - it’s a detailed chronicle of problems encountered, solutions discovered, and lessons learned in the trenches of modern infrastructure.

🏠 Homelab Chronicles

Self-Hosting Journey: From simple file servers to complex microservices
Network Engineering: VLANs, firewalls, and advanced routing configurations
Hardware Deep-Dives: Server builds, storage solutions, and performance testing
Automation Projects: Home Assistant, monitoring stacks, and custom integrations

📚 Certification Journey

Azure Certifications: AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-305 study guides and exam experiences
AWS Learning Path: Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer certification prep
Kubernetes Expertise: CKA, CKAD preparation and hands-on labs
Security Focus: Cloud security certifications and best practices

🐳 Container & Orchestration

Docker Mastery: Advanced containerization techniques and optimization
Kubernetes Production: Real-world cluster management and troubleshooting
Service Mesh: Istio, Linkerd implementation and operational insights
GitOps Workflows: ArgoCD, Flux, and declarative infrastructure management

🔧 Real-World Problem Solving

Production Incidents: Detailed post-mortems and lessons learned
Performance Tuning: Database optimization, application scaling, and bottleneck analysis
Security Hardening: Vulnerability assessments, compliance implementations, and threat modeling
Cost Optimization: Cloud spend analysis, resource rightsizing, and architectural improvements

My Technical Philosophy

🎯 Reliability First

Every solution must be designed with failure in mind. I believe in building systems that gracefully handle edge cases and provide clear observability into their behavior.

📖 Documentation as Code

If it’s not documented, it doesn’t exist. I treat documentation with the same rigor as code - version controlled, reviewed, and continuously updated.

🔄 Continuous Learning

Technology evolves rapidly. I maintain a growth mindset, constantly experimenting with new tools and sharing both successes and failures.

🤝 Community Driven

The best solutions come from collaboration. I actively contribute to open-source projects and believe in sharing knowledge to elevate the entire community.

Why I Write

📝 Future Self Documentation

The primary audience for these posts is future me, six months from now, trying to remember how I solved a complex problem.

Every challenge I face has likely been encountered by others. By documenting solutions, I hope to save someone else hours of troubleshooting.

🧠 Learning Through Teaching

Writing about technical concepts forces me to truly understand them. The process of explaining complex topics deepens my own knowledge.

🔍 Building a Reference Library

Over time, this blog becomes a searchable knowledge base of solutions, configurations, and lessons learned.

Current Focus Areas

🚀 2024 Learning Goals

Platform Engineering: Building developer-friendly infrastructure platforms
FinOps: Advanced cloud cost management and optimization strategies
AI/ML Operations: MLOps pipelines and model deployment strategies
Edge Computing: IoT integration and edge infrastructure management

🛠️ Active Projects

Homelab v3.0: Complete infrastructure rebuild with GitOps and observability
Cloud Cost Optimizer: Open-source tool for multi-cloud cost analysis
Kubernetes Learning Lab: Hands-on training environment for container orchestration
Infrastructure Templates: Reusable Terraform modules for common patterns

Connect & Collaborate

I’m always interested in connecting with fellow infrastructure enthusiasts, whether you’re just starting your homelab journey or managing enterprise-scale deployments.

🔗 Professional Networks

GitHub: @njvanas - Open source contributions and project repositories
LinkedIn: NJ van As - Professional updates and industry insights
Email: Available in the footer for direct communication

💬 Community Engagement

Technical Discussions: Always happy to discuss architecture decisions and troubleshooting approaches
Mentorship: Open to helping others navigate their DevOps and cloud journey
Collaboration: Interested in contributing to open-source infrastructure projects
Speaking: Available for technical presentations and knowledge sharing sessions

About This Site

🏗️ Technical Implementation

This blog is built with Jekyll and hosted on GitHub Pages, emphasizing:

Performance: Fast loading times with optimized assets
Accessibility: WCAG compliant design for all users
Mobile First: Responsive design that works on any device
SEO Optimized: Structured data and meta tags for discoverability

📊 Content Strategy

Every post follows a structured format designed to be:

Scannable: Quick navigation to find relevant information
Comprehensive: Complete context and detailed solutions
Honest: Including failures and what didn’t work
Practical: Real-world applications with actual constraints

🎨 Design Philosophy

The site prioritizes content over flashy design, with a clean, professional aesthetic that matches the technical nature of the content.

🎉 Thanks for reading! I hope you find value in these technical adventures. Feel free to reach out with questions, suggestions, or just to share your own infrastructure stories.

The journey of building reliable, scalable infrastructure is never complete - there’s always something new to learn, optimize, or improve. Let’s learn together!