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Skills & certifications

Networking, systems
& cybersecurity.

CompTIA A+ certified and currently studying for CompTIA Network+. I develop my IT support, Linux and networking skills through the systems I build, maintain and troubleshoot.

Certifications & ongoing study

CompTIA A+

Earned

Certified in IT support fundamentals, hardware, operating systems and troubleshooting.

CompTIA Network+

In progress

Currently studying networking concepts, services and connectivity troubleshooting.

01 / networking fundamentals & lab practice

Networking

From protocol layers and addressing to routing, switching, VPNs and fault finding.

  • TCP/IP & the OSI model

    Understand protocol layers, encapsulation, TCP versus UDP, ports, ARP and ICMP, and how they relate to communication and troubleshooting.

  • Routing & IP addressing

    Study IPv4/IPv6 addressing, subnetting and how default gateways and routing decisions affect connectivity.

  • Switching & VLANs

    Learn MAC tables, switching and VLAN concepts, including access and trunk ports. VLAN segmentation is a future homelab exercise.

  • Layer 2 operation

    Study Spanning Tree, LACP and network discovery as part of networking fundamentals.

  • Network services

    Understand DHCP address assignment, DNS resolution, NAT/PAT, NTP time synchronisation, and SNMP and syslog monitoring.

  • VPNs & private remote access

    Remote-access versus site-to-site VPNs and IPsec fundamentals. Practical Tailscale use for private access to homelab systems.

  • Network security

    Study access controls, secure administration and network segmentation, with an emphasis on understanding their purpose.

  • Connectivity troubleshooting

    Use ping, traceroute, DNS lookups and SSH to investigate connectivity and service issues in my own environment.

02 / support fundamentals & transferable skills

IT support

A practical, methodical approach to diagnosing user issues, backed by customer-facing supervisory experience.

  • Structured diagnosis

    Gather symptoms, narrow down the cause, test a change, verify the result and document the fix.

  • Hardware & peripherals

    Identify CPU, RAM, storage, power and display components, and investigate common hardware, peripheral and printer faults.

  • Windows, Linux & software

    Hands-on operating-system installation experience, alongside support knowledge of updates, drivers, local accounts and application issues.

  • Connectivity & resource access

    Check client IP configuration, wired and wireless links, shared resources and whether a service or device is reachable.

  • Tickets & user communication

    Understand queue prioritisation, useful support notes, escalation and clear step-by-step guidance for end users.

  • Endpoint protection

    Recognise phishing and malware risks, understand MFA and password practices, and the role of patching and software updates.

03 / Homelab experience

Linux &
infrastructure

Hands-on work across current homelab services and earlier builds, from operating-system installation to remote service administration.

  • Debian & Linux administration

    Install packages, manage users and groups, change ownership and permissions, inspect processes, and read systemd service status and journal logs.

  • Proxmox & VMware

    Create and manage virtual machines, allocate CPU, memory and storage, and work through a shared Proxmox cluster interface. Earlier virtualisation practice includes VMware.

  • Docker Compose & dashboards

    Define images, ports, environment settings and persistent data in Compose files. Deployment experience includes Pi-hole, Uptime Kuma and a Homarr dashboard.

  • Nginx & Apache hosting

    Host static website files with Nginx on Debian, deploy updates with SCP, and resolve web-root permissions. Earlier web-server work includes Apache on a Raspberry Pi.

  • Network storage & remote administration

    Earlier Raspberry Pi NAS work, plus SSH command-line administration and secure file transfers. Understand the difference between network reachability and filesystem access.

  • DNS & availability monitoring

    Review Pi-hole queries and configured clients, use Uptime Kuma check history, and relate reported failures to service configuration and logs.

04 / Learning & platform practice

Cybersecurity

I use TryHackMe and Hack The Box to develop security foundations alongside the systems I administer.

  • Web content discovery

    Practise reviewing robots.txt and sitemap.xml, finding hidden paths and files, and understanding subdomains and virtual hosts.

  • Web & service fundamentals

    Build my understanding of HTTP/HTTPS, requests and responses, exposed services and how reconnaissance informs further investigation in a lab.

  • Linux access & security

    Relate users, permissions, authentication and least privilege to the security of a running service.

  • Logs & investigation

    Use timestamps and service errors to trace faults, while developing the broader log-analysis skills needed for security investigations.

  • CTF documentation

    Describe lab steps, evidence and conclusions in a report, including an earlier Subrion 4.2.1 exercise involving reverse-shell access.

  • Malware research

    Research ransomware behaviour and WannaCry’s kill switch, and learn how non-executing static inspection differs from dynamic malware analysis.

Continuing development

What I’m learning next.

CompTIA Network+

Currently preparing for Network+, building on my A+ certification with deeper study of TCP/IP, routing, switching, network services and troubleshooting.

Bash & Python

Build Bash and Python scripting skills; my Python study uses Hyperskill.

Network automation

Develop practical use of APIs, structured data and configuration management from my networking foundations.