Linux & Server Administration

I don't just deploy to servers.
I am the sysadmin.

Full-time Linux user since before most hosting companies offered Linux servers. Root access on 16+ active VPS and dedicated servers. Self-taught from the command line up — no managed dashboards, no hand-holding.

25+ Years on Linux
full-time
16+ Active servers
with root access
Mandrake 5.1 — where
it started
0 Times I've called
someone else for help
jer@deux-montagnes:~$ uptime && whoami
14:32:07 up 847 days, 3:12, 16 servers, load average: 0.02, 0.05, 0.01
root
jer@deux-montagnes:~$ echo "since 1998"
since 1998
jer@deux-montagnes:~$ _

I switched to Linux before most hosting companies offered it.

I installed Mandrake Linux 5.1 and never went back to Windows. That wasn't a career decision — it was a conviction. Linux was better. It was transparent, configurable, and honest about what it was doing. I've been a full-time Linux desktop user for over 25 years.

I used to convert non-profits to Ubuntu and cheaper hardware, saving them thousands in Windows licensing while giving them a more stable and secure system. I've taught Linux online. I've managed Linux servers since they were first available to rent.

When I configure your server, I'm not working from a tutorial. I'm working from 25 years of daily use, thousands of hours in the terminal, and enough production incidents to have seen most failure modes at least once.

~1999

Installed Mandrake Linux 5.1

Never booted Windows again. Learned the command line from first principles.

Early 2000s

First rented Linux servers

Managing remote Linux boxes from the first days they were available to rent. Ran BIND DNS servers.

2000s

Taught Linux online

Converted non-profits to Ubuntu. Showed people what was possible with free, open software.

Ongoing

16+ active servers with root

DirectAdmin hosting infrastructure, AWS EC2 for enterprise clients, personal NAS fleet, VPN infrastructure. All personal administration.

Now

High-performance KVM migration

Consolidating to 48-core, 48GB RAM Debian 13 KVM VPS. Still doing it personally. Still root.

What I actually do on these servers.

Not managed hosting dashboards. Real server administration from the command line.

🖥️

Server provisioning & configuration

New server to production-ready from scratch. OS installation, hardening, web stack configuration, firewall setup, user management, monitoring. Done personally, documented thoroughly.

🔒

Security hardening

CSF firewall configuration, SSH hardening, Apache/Nginx security headers, fail2ban, UFW, file integrity monitoring. I've done penetration testing — I know what to close off.

⚡

Performance tuning

MySQL tuning with MySQLTuner and benchmarking, PHP-FPM pool configuration, web server optimization, caching layers. I find the actual bottleneck, not just add another layer on top of it.

🌐

DNS management

I ran my own BIND servers. I know Cloudflare DNS, every record type, split-horizon setups, TTL strategy, and the full deliverability stack: SPF, DKIM, DMARC. DNS problems get solved fast.

🔐

VPN & secure networking

WireGuard, OpenVPN, Tailscale — configured and maintained. DD-WRT/OpenWrt router firmware. Cloudflare Tunnels for zero-trust access. I run my own VPN infrastructure.

💾

Backup architecture

Multiple offsite repositories, geographic redundancy, tested restoration procedures. I run three NAS units at home. I understand backup strategy from the hardware up.

🚨

Incident response & forensics

Active breach? I've handled them. Full forensic analysis, containment, remediation, post-incident hardening. I've worked directly with legal teams on security incidents.

☁️

Cloud infrastructure

AWS EC2 root administration for enterprise clients. Hybrid setups routing between headless WordPress CMS and Next.js frontends. Staging environments, deployment pipelines, Git-based workflows.

📊

Monitoring & uptime

External ping monitoring from remote VPS, log analysis, resource monitoring, alerting. I know your site is down before you do.

The stack.

25 years of accumulation. Every tool here has been used in production, on real servers, with real consequences for getting it wrong.

Operating systems

Debian Ubuntu CentOS / RHEL Mandrake / Mandriva

Web & application servers

Apache Nginx PHP-FPM PM2 Node.js

Databases

MySQL / MariaDB MongoDB MySQLTuner SQLite

Security & networking

CSF Firewall fail2ban UFW WireGuard OpenVPN Tailscale Cloudflare Tunnels BIND DNS Let's Encrypt

Control panels & admin

DirectAdmin cPanel / WHM SSH / SFTP Git Cron

Cloud & virtualization

AWS EC2 KVM / VPS Cloudflare Servarica

Self-hosted services

Mastodon Ollama OpenWebUI OpenWrt / DD-WRT

Things most developers have never touched.

Experience that comes from going further than the average WordPress developer has any reason to go.

Mastodon instance administration

I run Mastodon instances — decentralized social infrastructure built on ActivityPub. Most sysadmins have never set one up. It requires deep understanding of Ruby on Rails, Sidekiq, Elasticsearch, and federated networking. It's not easy, and I do it.

Penetration testing

I've been hired to conduct security audits using penetration testing tools. I know how servers and WordPress installations get compromised because I've done it — with permission — to show clients exactly where they were exposed. That knowledge informs how I configure everything.

Post-quantum cryptography

For clients with advanced security requirements, I've implemented post-quantum cryptographic protocols. This is increasingly relevant as quantum computing matures and legacy encryption becomes vulnerable.

Local AI inference (Ollama)

Running open source LLMs locally — Llama, Mistral, and others — on my own hardware. Deploying OpenWebUI for clients who need private AI that never sends data to external servers. The infrastructure knowledge to run this properly is not trivial.

Serial-over-IP & embedded integration

Early in my career I wrote software to bridge wireless total station serial communication over IP to early tablets, enabling surveyors to plot field measurements directly into AutoCAD in real time. Before this was a solved problem. Hardware integration from first principles.

NAS architecture

I run three NAS units at home — 8-bay, 4-bay, and 2-bay. Many terabytes of managed personal storage. RAID configuration, network shares, remote access, offsite replication. I consult on NAS selection, setup, and backup strategy for small businesses.

Server problems, security questions, infrastructure decisions.

Whether you need a server configured from scratch, an existing setup audited, a performance problem diagnosed, or someone to take over administration — let's talk about what you're working with.

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