About me
Hey, I'm Joe. infrastructure engineer and network specialist from Indonesia who lives by one rule: if it can be self-hosted, customized, or optimized, I'm doing it myself.
Currently, I work as an IT Manager at a multinational retail company, where I handle infrastructure deployments, maintain high uptime across stores and data centers, and ensure everything from PCI DSS compliance to event rollouts runs flawlessly.
In my free time, I pursue my passions: building production-grade self-hosted infrastructure, flashing custom OpenWrt firmware, deploying services on Proxmox like Plex with NAS, setting up outdoor WiFi expansions with voucher systems, diving into kernel module development, and scalp trading crypto on TradingView while monitoring server uptime.
Core Technical Skills
- Network Engineering: OpenWrt firmware customization, routing (ZeroTier, OpenVPN, VLAN), firewall rules, static routes, bridging, VRRP redundancy, SQM/QoS optimization, and flow offloading.
- Infrastructure: Linux sysadmin (Debian specialist), Docker containerization, Proxmox virtualization, mail server configuration (Postfix, Dovecot, DKIM/SPF), and self-hosted service deployment.
- Hardware: Router hardware evaluation, mini-PC as router setups, breed bootloader recovery, KWRT firmware, and hardware spec analysis for price/performance efficiency.
- CCTV & Smart Home: Evaluating and running platforms like Blue Iris, AgentDVR, Scrypted, and Zoneminder, with focus on Android accessibility and long-term stability.
- Development: Shell scripting, PHP, GitHub Actions for automated firmware builds, device tree source (DTS) configuration, and UCI-level debugging.
Work Philosophy
Pragmatic over perfect. Cost-efficient over expensive. CLI over GUI. Every solution must work in production, not just on paper. I troubleshoot fast, go straight to the root cause, and have zero tolerance for overpriced, overengineered, or unrealistic solutions.
Real-World Experience
I've delivered IT support for new store openings and events with 100% on-time rollouts, kept uptime high through regular hardware reviews, and supported PCI DSS and PwC audits with all findings resolved within SLA. I design and maintain infrastructure that just runs—24/7—without needing constant babysitting.
Why Self-Host?
Control, privacy, cost savings, and continuous learning. Every service I deploy teaches me something new. Every 2 AM troubleshooting session makes me sharper. This blog documents those journeys: technical deep dives, real-world troubleshooting stories, deployment notes, and the occasional life lesson (like remembering to top up my toll card before a long drive).