Containerised services
Applications, monitoring services, security tools and supporting infrastructure.
Engineering Environment
A practical platform for building and operatingmodern infrastructure.
My Engineering Lab is a continuously evolving environment used to design, deploy, secure, monitor and document production-style infrastructure solutions.
Purpose
Learning through operational engineering.
The environment exists to provide practical engineering experience beyond isolated tutorials and theoretical exercises.
Each platform is designed with operational requirements in mind, including monitoring, security, resilience, documentation and maintainability.
Changes are version controlled, applications are containerised, infrastructure is monitored and important technical decisions are documented.
Platform Overview
Infrastructure built for practical experience.
The lab combines physical systems, container platforms, cloud environments and centralised operational tooling.
Raspberry Pi systems
Dedicated systems supporting Docker, Kubernetes and specialist workloads.
Container platforms
Docker Compose and Kubernetes provide separate engineering environments.
Operational monitoring
Prometheus, Grafana and alerting provide continuous platform visibility.
Core Systems
Separate platforms with clear responsibilities.
Workloads are distributed across systems according to their operational purpose and hardware requirements.
Application and Infrastructure Host
Main Docker Platform
Hosts the public portfolio, monitoring stack, reverse proxy, identity services, security tools and self-hosted applications.
View related project →Container Orchestration Environment
Kubernetes Platform
A practical K3s environment used to develop Kubernetes, ingress, load-balancing and deployment skills.
View related project →Specialist Audio Workload
BirdNET Monitoring System
Processes live audio through a USB microphone to identify bird species and expose operational telemetry.
View related project →Cloud Infrastructure Lab
AWS Engineering Platform
Provides a modular environment for developing Terraform, cloud networking, IAM and remote-state management skills.
View related project →Platform Flow
From the internet to monitored applications.
Public traffic passes through multiple layers before reaching application workloads, while observability and security operate across the environment.
Engineering Capabilities
Technology applied as part of a complete system.
Each capability supports a specific engineering or operational requirement rather than existing as an isolated demonstration.
Container Platforms
Applications are deployed using Docker Compose and Kubernetes, providing practical experience across container lifecycle management.
Monitoring and Observability
Metrics, logs, dashboards and alerts provide operational visibility across hosts, containers, applications and security controls.
Security Engineering
Internet-facing services are protected using edge controls, authentication, behavioural threat detection and firewall enforcement.
Networking and Access
The environment includes DNS, reverse proxying, Docker networks, Kubernetes load balancing and controlled external access.
Automation and Delivery
Git-based workflows, infrastructure as code and deployment pipelines make changes repeatable and auditable.
Documentation and Mentoring
Architecture, deployment procedures, training material and operational guidance are maintained as version-controlled documentation.
Operational Approach
Designed beyond initial deployment.
Version controlled
Application code, deployment definitions, infrastructure and documentation are managed through Git.
Observable
Services expose health and performance data through metrics, dashboards, logs and alerts.
Secure by design
External exposure is controlled through Cloudflare, HTTPS, authentication, MFA and automated threat response.
Documented
Architecture, implementation decisions and operating procedures are maintained alongside the platforms.
Currently Developing
The lab continues to evolve.
Current work expands the environment into cloud engineering, Kubernetes, public observability and dedicated technical training.
Engineering Portfolio
ActiveBuilding a professional Astro-based portfolio with live operational dashboards and structured case studies.
View related work →AWS Cloud Platform
DevelopingDeveloping modular Terraform infrastructure, remote state and reusable cloud components.
View related work →Kubernetes Engineering
DevelopingExpanding the K3s environment with applications, monitoring and Git-based deployment practices.
View related work →Public Monitoring Dashboards
ActivePreparing sanitised Grafana views for platform health, security monitoring and BirdNET activity.
View related work →Azure Engineering Lab
PlannedPlanning practical Azure infrastructure, identity and automation projects.
Engineering Training Platform
PlannedSeparating structured technical training content into its own dedicated platform.
Explore the Platform
See the systems behind the portfolio.
Explore the complete architecture, project case studies and public operational dashboards.