Research Articles
Original writing on the IT work I've actually done. New pieces ship as they're written, anchored to real production environments and real outcomes. No filler, no curated reading list dressed up as authorship.
Privacy is a Property, Not a Feature: an architecture of verifiable defaults at home
A small home network built around a single firewall, designed so no traffic ever leaves the house outside an encrypted VPN tunnel. Router-on-a-stick on pfSense 2.8.1, dual Mullvad WireGuard with automatic failover, Suricata IDS, six-VLAN segmentation, and the kill-switch layers that prove privacy at the network layer is achievable at home without enterprise gear.
- 01The problem most home networks ignore
- 02Architecture: topology, hardware, software
- 03Privacy architecture: threat model and defense
- 04Network segmentation: six VLANs, one job each
- 05What I learned: skills, mistakes, surprises
- 06Limitations: what does not work yet
- 07Tooling and documentation discipline
- 08Conclusion: privacy as an emergent property
Roadmap
Planned originals · subject to job-search bandwidthWireGuard Failover Patterns: dual-tunnel design
Building gateway failover groups across two Mullvad endpoints with policy-based routing, NAT-pinning, and graceful degradation under tunnel drop. Reproducible on any small pfSense build.
Retiring a File Server: a small-org SharePoint migration
Playbook for moving a small regulated org off legacy SMB drives onto SharePoint Online with OneDrive sync and department-level permission boundaries.
MFA + Conditional Access from Zero (small regulated org)
How to deliver a first-ever identity baseline in an SMB with no prior MFA. Break-glass design, trusted-location enforcement, and a three-month adoption rhythm.
Identity Lifecycle 30/60/90: an offboarding playbook
Same-day disable, mailbox retain, 90-day delete. Why this cadence matters in regulated SMB IT, how to enforce it, and what the audit trail looks like at year-end review.
CCNA Prep Notes: VLAN to inter-VLAN routing
Hands-on Cisco IOS labs leading up to the August 2026 exam. Configurations that worked on Catalyst 3560 and Cisco 1900, in the order an exam-taker actually needs to know them.
First-Ever IT Hire: a 90-day stabilization playbook
What to triage in the first 90 days walking into a small org with no documentation, no MFA, no cyber insurance. Order of operations from triage to harden.
What I'm Reading
Independent voices outside my own desk+ Reading list rotates as new posts ship. RSS automation comes later, after the first original is out.