Rackmount + SFF Cluster
Three physical nodes — IBM M4, Dell R610, Dell R410 — give the cluster realistic failure domains and hardware diversity. All production workloads run on enterprise rack hardware, not a single desktop box.
Project | Infrastructure
Proxmox Infrastructure
Three-node Proxmox cluster — IBM M4, Dell R610, Dell R410 — running 22 VMs and LXC containers across SIEM, identity, media automation, AI inference, home automation, game servers, and network tooling. Backed by a Proxmox Backup Server and Synology NAS.
Proxmox VE
3-Node Cluster
LXC Containers
PBS Backups
3-2-1 Strategy
Enterprise Hardware
What I Built
- Built a 3-node Proxmox cluster on IBM M4 (firstmoon), Dell R610 (secondmoon), and Dell R410 (thirdmoon).
- Deployed 22 running VMs and LXC containers covering SIEM (Wazuh), SSO (Authentik), self-hosted media server, AI inference (Ollama + Open WebUI), home automation (Home Assistant), game servers (Pelican Panel + Wings), and network tooling (Unifi controller, netboot-xyz, Headplane).
- Implemented a 3-2-1 backup strategy: Proxmox Backup Server for deduplicated incremental backups, with a secondary Synology NAS target for redundancy.
- Maintained a full host inventory with IPs, service roles, ports, and dependencies.
Operational Habits
- Document every host: IP, MAC, role, and dependencies before making changes.
- Use PBS deduplicated backups so restores are fast and storage-efficient.
- Separate production services (identity, reverse proxy) from experimental workloads.
- Use LXC containers for lightweight services, QEMU VMs for OS-level isolation needs.
- Maintain a private documentation repo for inventory, change log, and incident notes.
3-2-1 Backup Strategy
Proxmox Backup Server handles deduplicated incremental VM backups as the primary target. A Synology NAS provides a second copy. Media and config backups land on a separate Synology, keeping media storage and VM backups on independent hardware.
Production-Like Diversity
Security tools (Wazuh, Authentik), a self-hosted media server, AI inference (Ollama), home automation (Home Assistant), and game server infrastructure (Pelican) create realistic cross-service dependencies that mirror what a junior admin encounters in the field.
What This Shows Employers
I manage a real multi-node cluster, not a single-host lab. I can provision VMs and containers, maintain a backup strategy, document host inventory, and keep 22 services running without losing track of what depends on what. That's the daily reality of infrastructure work.
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Open to Junior Network Administrator, SOC Analyst, NOC, MSP, Help Desk, IT Support, and Cybersecurity Internship opportunities.
Email: NazeemDickey@gmail.com | Boynton Beach, FL