Welcome to My Wiki

Who am I?

My name is Zach! I made this wiki to show off all of the projects I've worked on in the past and present. I will also be documenting my educational journey!

Ways to connect with me:

Github

My Projects

• Building a Virtual Enterprise Infrastructure for DevOps, Security, and AI Research

Building a Virtual Enterprise Infrastructure for DevOps, Security, and AI Research

Introduction

I built this lab to demonstrate end-to-end enterprise infrastructure skills: network segmentation, identity management, orchestration, storage, and AI workloads. It’s a reproducible, interview-ready project that showcases practical experience with modern systems engineering and DevOps tools.

Overview

This project replicates a small enterprise network with domain services, Linux and Windows integration, DevOps automation, and a Kubernetes cluster — all virtualized under Proxmox VE 9.

Host Hardware

• CPU: AMD Threadripper 9970X (32 cores / 64 threads)
• Memory: 128 GB DDR5-5600
• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5090 (VFIO-ready)
• Storage: Samsung 9100 PRO 1 TB NVMe
• Motherboard: ASUS TRX50-SAGE Pro WS A
• PSU: Corsair RM1000e 1000 W Gold

Virtualization Stack

• Host OS: Arch Linux
• Hypervisor: Proxmox VE 9
• Filesystem: Btrfs RAID0 with zstd compression
• Network: VLAN-aware bridges (vmbr0) with pfSense as the virtual router/firewall

Network Design

The lab network is segmented into multiple VLANs for isolation and realism. Each VLAN maps to a distinct subnet in the 10.0.x.0/24 range.

Virtual Machine Topology

Storage Integration

TrueNAS SCALE delivers:

• NFS + iSCSI for Kubernetes persistent volumes
• SMB shares for Windows and Linux clients
• AD integration for ACL management
• Built-in Docker and K3s support
• ZFS snapshots and replication

Identity & Access

• AD Domain: lab.local
• Domain Controller: DC01 (10.0.2.10)
• Linux clients join AD via realm join --user=Administrator lab.local
• DNS points to the AD server to enable Kerberos authentication and group-based access.

Kubernetes & DevOps

• Cluster setup with kubeadm, containerd, and Calico CNI
• Terraform manages VM provisioning and cluster resources
• AD integration planned through OIDC (Dex or Keycloak)
• Practice environment for IaC and GitOps (ArgoCD)

AI & Cyber Range

• Ollama + OpenWebUI on host GPU for LLM use
• Stable Diffusion for image and video generation
• SIEM01 collects telemetry and detects simulated attacks from Cyber Range VMs

Technical Highlights

• Multi-VLAN design using Proxmox VE 9 and pfSense
• Hybrid Windows/Linux identity integration
• Kubernetes cluster automation with Terraform
• Enterprise-class storage with TrueNAS SCALE
• SIEM deployment and network security simulation

Next Steps

• Integrate OIDC authentication for Kubernetes
• Expand Terraform automation and GitOps tooling
• Deploy centralized logging (OpenSearch / ELK)
• Extend cyber range and incident response testing

Author: Zach Yorks Date: October 2025 Technologies: Proxmox VE 9 | pfSense | Windows Server 2025 | Rocky Linux 10 | TrueNAS SCALE | Kubernetes | Terraform

From Homelab Engineer to AI Infrastructure Architect

🧩 Overview

Starting in Spring 2026, I will begin my journey toward becoming a Cybersecurity Architect specializing in AI infrastructure and enterprise networking.
This roadmap outlines how I will progress from my academic study at UTSA’s BBA in Cybersecurity to advanced Cisco certifications such as CCIE Data Center, leading toward a role in AI-first companies like NVIDIA or Cisco.

🎓 Current Certifications and Skills (as of 2025)

📅 Career Roadmap Timeline (2026–2034)

🧱 Phase 1: Academic Foundation (2026–2028)

Goal: Build strong networking and cybersecurity fundamentals while completing UTSA’s BBA in Cybersecurity.

Focus Areas

• Network architecture, subnetting, and VLANs
• Virtualization with Proxmox and pfSense
• Security fundamentals and risk management
• Scripting with Bash and Python

Short-Term Certifications

• 🎯 Cisco CCNA
• ⚙️ CompTIA Security+
• ☁️ AWS Cloud Practitioner

Experience Targets

• Part-time IT or NOC position
• Expand Proxmox enterprise network simulation
• Document homelab projects using mdBook

🚀 Phase 2: Network Engineering Growth (2028–2030)

Goal: Transition into full-time network or cybersecurity engineering roles.

Focus Areas

• Enterprise Layer 2/3 design and VLAN segmentation
• Automation via Ansible and Terraform
• Network monitoring and observability (Prometheus, Grafana)
• Cloud networking and security integration

Key Certifications

• 🧠 CCNP Enterprise
• 🔐 Cisco CyberOps Associate
• ☁️ Azure Network Engineer Associate

Roles

• Network Engineer
• Security Operations Engineer
• Infrastructure Automation Specialist

🧩 Phase 3: Advanced Architecture (2030–2032)

Goal: Develop advanced data center and security architecture skills.

Focus Areas

• Cisco ACI (Application Centric Infrastructure)
• VXLAN, EVPN, and SDN frameworks
• Cloud-native network automation
• Identity and Access Management across AD and Kubernetes

Certifications

• 📘 CCNP Security
• ⚙️ Cisco DevNet Professional
• 🧩 CCIE Data Center (Written)

Career Path

• Senior Network Architect
• Cybersecurity Engineer (Automation Focus)

🧠 Phase 4: AI Infrastructure Leadership (2032–2034)

Goal: Design and secure high-performance AI networks.

Focus Areas

• AI cluster networking (InfiniBand, NVLink, RoCEv2)
• Zero Trust architectures and multi-tenant security
• High-throughput data center automation pipelines
• AI security compliance and monitoring

Certifications

• 🏅 CCIE Data Center (Lab Complete)
• 🔐 CISSP or CCSP
• 👨‍💻 DevNet Expert (Optional)

Career Path

• Cybersecurity Architect
• AI Infrastructure Architect
• Principal Network Engineer (AI Systems)

🧰 Supporting Technologies in the Homelab

📚 Continuous Learning Resources

🏁 Final Vision

By combining formal education from UTSA, hands-on homelab architecture, and progressive Cisco certifications, my long-term mission is to design and secure scalable AI-driven network infrastructures.

Through this roadmap, I aim to evolve from a homelab engineer to an AI Infrastructure Cybersecurity Architect — capable of building and defending intelligent, data-driven networks for the next generation of computing.

🏗️ Homelab Topology Overview

My homelab environment is designed to simulate an enterprise-grade network and cybersecurity infrastructure, fully virtualized on Proxmox VE 9 with pfSense, TrueNAS Scale, and multiple Linux and Windows VMs.
This environment is used for hands-on practice in Active Directory, network segmentation, Kubernetes, and infrastructure automation using Terraform and Ansible.

🌐 Network Architecture

All VLANs are trunked through pfSense, which acts as the default gateway, DHCP/DNS provider, and inter-VLAN router.
Firewall rules and NAT policies are defined in pfSense to isolate or allow traffic between VLANs as needed for testing.

🧱 Virtual Machine Layout

🧩 Network Services Overview

🔒 Security and Segmentation

• pfSense enforces inter-VLAN policies — for example, K8s nodes can reach AD for authentication but not directly access SIEM.
• VLAN 99 is isolated for admin-only access to pfSense, TrueNAS, and Proxmox GUIs.
• All traffic to the internet routes through pfSense’s WAN (bridged or passthrough NIC).
• Firewall rules simulate Zero Trust segmentation, testing lateral movement prevention and network hardening.

⚙️ Automation and Integration

• Terraform provisions VMs, network bridges, and VLANs inside Proxmox.
• Ansible configures systems post-deployment (networking, packages, K8s init).
• LDAP / RealmD connects Linux systems to AD for central authentication.
• TrueNAS shares storage via iSCSI/NFS for VM disks and backup volumes.
• Kubernetes runs lab microservices and containerized testing tools.

🧠 Lab Use Cases

• Practicing Active Directory and LDAP integration with Linux-based services
• Simulating enterprise segmentation and security policy enforcement
• Deploying Kubernetes and Terraform in realistic networked environments
• Hosting SIEM and log correlation tools for threat monitoring practice
• Running TrueNAS-based storage networks with VLAN-isolated traffic

🧩 Summary

This homelab provides a self-contained enterprise network ecosystem designed for hands-on learning in:

• Network security architecture
• Virtualization and infrastructure-as-code
• Active Directory and domain management
• Kubernetes and DevOps automation
• Cybersecurity monitoring and analysis

Together, these systems form the foundation for my path toward becoming an AI Infrastructure Cybersecurity Architect — blending networking, security, and automation into one cohesive platform for experimentation and professional growth.