I like to talk about anything in the computer technology space, so I wanted to start this blog to document my thoughts, ideas and musings.

I watch a lot of training videos on YouTube, Pluralsight and CBT Nuggets - and they're often full of interesting and noteworthy information but when I need the information I've either forgotten the specifics or forgotten which video I've watched. So I've built this site to help capture those key moments in a searchable way, and find them easier.

About Me

I am a UK-based network consultant with a passion for learning about anything technology based. I mainly focus on large enterprise technologies, however I also like to keep myself grounded with SMB technologies because not all companies want (or can afford) an all-signing-all-dancing solution to their problems.

I have a long history working with networking technologies such as Aruba, Cisco, FortiGate, Juniper, Palo Alto, and with Microsoft cloud technologies such as Azure, Entra, Office 365, and on-prem technolgies including Active Directory and SCCM. I've also dabbled in a bit of Citrix and numerous other infrastructure technologies.

I enjoy building my homelab which consists of an Unraid NAS running various docker containers, and a two-node Proxmox cluster hosting VMs and LXC containers. I purchased some Unifi network equipment to host the networking side and allow me to expand my learning.

This is a dumping ground for my thoughts and findings. I don't know if there will ever be any order to the documents, I'll post things which I find useful as I find them and will try to organise them as best as I can.

2007 - 2016

From leaving university, I’ve been working in IT since 2007 where I started on the ServiceDesk, mainly working on end user compute, and got myself involved in SCCM and Active Directory management.

I worked my way up into a 3rd line position and eventually in to an Enterprise Architecture team working to improve the user experience and mobility.

2016 - 2022

In 2016 I joined Esteem (which would eventually become Roc Technologies after an acquisition). I was employed to work on the end user compute pipeline; mainly working with SCCM and Citrix to deploy software and updates to end users at the request of the customer… During this time I was sat next to a gentlemen who kept talking about slapping a vlan up a trunk and EIGRP, banging a static route on a router and other magical language… All of which I’d not heard since University.

I started working on trying to understand what he was talking about so I studied the CCNA material in my own time, I slowly was able to converse with him as I jumped around the curriculum trying to keep up with conversations with Jerry.

6 months after starting with Esteem I was asked to take part in a firewall replacement, moving from an infamous McAfee Sidewinder (which had CPR performed on it many times) to a Cisco ASA, and then eventually to a FortiGate which would be the longer term strategy. I took my newly refreshed network knowledge to work on a plan of what I was asked to do - all of which was successful.

Eventually, I was able to converse with Jerry without needing to spend the following hours googling frantically to understood what he was telling me, and we were able to work closely on several large projects where I was able to bring my Server & Compute knowledge.

I worked in an amazing team (squad) on some large and scary projects, including a Data Center switch replacement and a remote access plan to tackle the COVID response.

2022 - Present

I took a position within Roc as a Senior Network Consultant and have been able to take the knowledge I gained between 2016 to 2022 and rapidly apply it to other customers and platforms.

During the time in my new role I’ve continued my love for learning - focusing on stuff I need for the job (learning Aruba switching and Wifi technologies) but also developing my skills within Azure, Office 365 and DevOps practices.

There is so much more to add to this section but I’ll come back and update it when I’ve had some months/years to reflect on what I’ve achieved.

Thanks for visiting!

You can find me on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwhiteley/

Tom