⚔️ THE REALM
THE HYBRID CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE LAB
☁️ Azure ✦ ⚙️ PowerShell ✦ 🛡️ Security ✦ 🏗️ Automation
Curiosity → Capability → Automation → Expansion
Build. Secure. Automate. Expand.
Army veteran (MQ-1C operator and Aircraft Commander) moving into SOC, NOC and IT support work. CompTIA Security+ and Network+. Dallas-Fort Worth. LinkedIn
| Project | What it shows | Result |
|---|---|---|
| The Ward | Microsoft Sentinel detection for Entra ID privilege escalation (MITRE T1098.003), investigation write-up, Logic App playbook that disables the account | The first playbook build reported success and disabled no one. I audited it, fixed five configuration bugs, and verified the fix in the audit logs |
| The Ascent | The Ward rebuilt as code with Bicep and PowerShell | Rebuilt from an empty resource group in 1 min 9 s; the rebuilt playbook disabled a test attacker 15 s after the incident opened |
| AD bulk onboarding | Help desk account provisioning with PowerShell | 206-record new-hire CSV: 10 managers, 201 employee accounts, 5 department OUs, manager links, 2 security groups |
| DC1 vulnerability assessment | nmap from Kali against my own domain controller, then patch-level checks from the inside | Found the DC unpatched and Windows Update failing |
| Hyper-V NAT troubleshooting | Layer-by-layer network troubleshooting | Ping failed while TCP and DNS worked; traced to a missing default gateway and a DNS forwarder problem |
🧭 ENTER THE REALM
Welcome to THE REALM, my hands-on cloud infrastructure environment.
This is where I document the transition from systems administration into Azure infrastructure, PowerShell automation, and cloud security: building real environments, understanding how they work, securing them, and eventually defining them as code.
My purpose: Build the infrastructure. Secure the environment. Automate the work. Expand the capability.
🏰 SKY HOLD AZURE INFRASTRUCTURE Build the foundation. Virtual Networks and Subnets Network Security Groups Storage Hardening Az PowerShell and Azure CLI AZ-104 Lab Work |
⚙️ THE FORGE POWERSHELL AUTOMATION Turn knowledge into capability. PowerShell Module (MavLabTools) Remoting to the Domain Controller Idempotent AD Functions Azure Storage Baseline Script |
🛡️ THE WARD DETECTION & RESPONSE Protect the environment. Microsoft Sentinel KQL Detection (T1098.003) SOAR Playbooks Entra ID Security Least-Privilege Automation Incident Response |
🏛️ THE KEEP
SYSTEMS & INFRASTRUCTURE FOUNDATIONS
Before the cloud, there is infrastructure.
The Keep represents the foundation behind everything I build in Azure: understanding operating systems, identity, networking, and the systems that make modern infrastructure work.
⚔️ Foundation
Focus
🖥️ Windows
Administration & troubleshooting
👥 Active Directory
Identity & access
🐧 Linux
System administration
🌐 Networking
Connectivity & infrastructure
🖧 Virtualization
Hands-on environments
🔧 Troubleshooting
Understanding systems
Understand the system before attempting to automate it.
📜 THE ARCHIVES
NOTES & DOCUMENTATION
The Archives are where knowledge becomes reusable.
Here I collect technical notes, command references, lessons learned, study material, and documentation from the environments I build.
📘 Azure Notes ⚙️ PowerShell Notes 🛡️ Security Notes 🐧 Linux Notes 🌐 Networking Notes 📋 Cheat Sheets 🧠 Lessons Learned
Knowledge preserved. Capability expanded.
🌐 THE ROADS
CONNECTIVITY & ARCHITECTURE
Every system is connected.
The Roads are the darker side of the realm—a place where connectivity, exposure, routing, DNS, and network security meet.
🌐 Networking 🔗 Connectivity 📡 DNS 🔀 Routing 🛡️ Network Security ☁️ Azure Networking
Understand what connects the realm. Secure what crosses it.
🏔️ THE ASCENT
INFRASTRUCTURE AS CODE
The Ward, rebuilt as code.
I built The Ward by hand in the Azure portal. The Ascent defines the whole thing in Bicep, so it can be deleted and brought back with one deployment and two PowerShell scripts.
I tore it down and rebuilt it from an empty resource group: the deployment finished in 1 minute 9 seconds with no portal clicks. Then the rebuilt system caught a live privilege escalation and disabled the account 15 seconds after the incident opened.
Azure Administration
↓
PowerShell Automation
↓
Azure Security
↓
Bicep
↓
Infrastructure as Code ✓
Built With
🏗️ Bicep modules, outputs, and existing references
📦 One-command deploys with .bicepparam
🔁 Idempotent names with guid()
⚙️ PowerShell post-deploy scripts (Graph permissions, Entra log routing)
🛡️ Least-privilege RBAC for the playbook's managed identity
The goal is no longer simply managing infrastructure. The goal is defining infrastructure.
⚔️ CURRENT QUESTS
🛡️ Security+ (certified)
Applying security fundamentals to the cloud environments I build.
☁️ Azure
Building practical cloud infrastructure and administration skills.
⚙️ PowerShell
Developing automation for infrastructure administration and Azure workflows.
🏔️ Bicep
The Ward now rebuilds from code. Next: Defender for Cloud and Azure Policy, remediating a deliberately misconfigured subscription and recording the before and after.
🗺️ THE ROADMAP
🏔️ THE ASCENT
Bicep (complete)
↑
🛡️ THE WARD ←────── The Realm ──────→ 🏰 SKY HOLD
Security Azure
↑
⚙️ THE FORGE
PowerShell
↑
🏛️ THE KEEP
Windows • Linux • Networking
↑
📜 THE ARCHIVES
Notes • Documentation
⚔️ THE REALM PRINCIPLES
✦ Curiosity
Ask how the system works.
⚔️ Capability
Learn to build and administer it.
⚙️ Automation
Make the work repeatable.
🏔️ Expansion
Build something larger.
Curiosity → Capability → Automation → Expansion
☁️ Build the infrastructure.
🛡️ Secure the environment.
⚙️ Automate the work.
🏔️ Expand the capability.
The lab is never finished. The realm keeps expanding.