$ history

Active Directory – Home Lab

When working through my A+ certification I discovered the use of Active Directory to provide centralized authentication and authorization for an organization. I discovered that I could download an evaluation copy of Windows Server 2022 for free. This allowed me to set-up a home lab environment to further explore the set-up and implementation of Active Directory. I took characters form a fictional book series I enjoyed reading and used them to created a simulated enterprise structure of users (to the best of my knowledge) in Active Directory. There are so many details about Active Directory, and servers in general, that I have yet to learn, but inch by inch… I’m getting much more comfortable in this digital environment.

I first installed an evaluation copy of Microsoft Windows Server 2022 on an old Dell PC I had collecting dust.

Dashnav2 — After installation, I promoted the server to a domain controller and explored the various tools and options before finding where to add my users to Active Directory.

Users2 — I created a rough structure of a fictional enterprise and then populated all the user accounts.

Contractor2 — After exploring the user properties configurations, I decided to give one of my contractor an account expiration and limit his logon hours.

Password2 — I then found how easy it was to reset a users password.

GPO — With a multitude of different police configurations, here I’ve enabled a domain wide police for all computers.

Components

Dell Optiplex 9010 (Spare PC)

Windows Server 2022 (Evaluation)

Skills

General Navigation

Creation and Configuration of OU’s, Users and Groups

User Account Unlock and Password Reset

Create and Manage Group Polices

References

Easily Setup & Install Windows Server 2019 in VirtualBox (Playlist)

Learn Microsoft Active Directory (ADDS) in 30mins

Windows Server 2019 Group Policy Explained

Raspberry Pi – All In One (COMING SOON)

I currently have a few separate Raspberry Pi projects under my belt, all living on separate boards. As I started learning about virtual machine’s and container’s I wanted to test out these technologies while de-cluttering my desk full of Pi boards. I decided to focus on containers for this project , by using Docker and Portainer to manager the containers. To create this All-In-One Raspberry Pi I will be combining my Pi-Hole add blocker with Unbound (creating a recursive DNS for my network), a small DIY Network Attached Storage/media server, an internet speed test tracker, and a self-hosted application dashboard called Homepage.

Components

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Skills

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References

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Screen Brightness Alarm

This project started out as a problem in need of a solution. My employer had a system that would populate fulfillment orders on a computer monitor, accompanied by an audible alarm for the first order on screen. On a regular basis this alarm would fail to go off when the initial order was populated. I had neither the access or system knowledge to troubleshoot the issue directly. So I came up with an idea that would substitute for the alarm and would not interfere with the primary system. This was my first attempt at ever using a micro controller, sensors or Python. It took some time and many iterations to achieve the desired goal, but I am very proud of the accomplishments made from this project. Eventually I’d like to explore other ways to signal to the user of an incoming order.

Mock-up — After a basic understanding of each component was achieved, a mock-up was pieced together.

Prototype 1.0 — The first prototype was constructed from the mock-up with a couple Popsicle sticks, a few rubber bands and some electrical tape.

Protoype 2.0 — The Pi Pico board was moved to be front facing on the 2.0 version. This allowed for utilization of the onboard LED as an indicator for when the device had been power cycled and was ready for its “one-hit” use.

Switch needed to reset program/alarm after every use due to lack of programming knowledge. — Prototype 2.0 saw a rocker switch added to the USB cable to make power cycling the device easier.

Prototype 3.0 — A Lexan mounting bracket was fabricated for version 3.0 to clean up the build and reduce screen obstruction. Coding was improved to reduce the need to power cycle after every alarm trigger to every 11 alarm triggers.

cleaner wiring management. — Prototype 3.1 incorporated Watchdog Timer in the code to deal with exceeding recursion depth and eliminate the need to power cycle the device.

3.1 MicroPython code — My first coding project with MicroPython, using the Thonny IDE.

Components

Raspberry Pi Pico

LDR (Light-dependent Resistor) Sensor

Piezoelectric Buzzer 5V 2KHz

Micro-USB cable w/ Rocker Switch

Pi Pico Acrylic Case Handmade Lexan Mounting Bracket

Skills

Python Programming

Troubleshooting

Soldering

Polycarbonate Fabrication

References

Raspberry Pi Pico Documentation

Raspberry Pi Light Sensor: A Simple LDR Tutorial

Make Annoying Sounds With a PICO and This Buzzer

How to use the PICO Watchdog Timer

My first PC Build

For the longest time I only considered “off the shelf” consumer machines for all my computing needs. Eventually my curiosity and eagerness to learn led me to building my first personal computer. I didn’t have much money and wasn’t looking to build anything crazy, so I settled on a straight forward budget friendly build.

Components

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor

MSi B450 Tomahawk Max Motherboard

PowerColor Radeon RX 580 8GB GPU

Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB RAM (x2)

WD Blue 1TB SSD

Noctua NH-U12S

Montech Beta 650 Bronze PSU

LIAN LI Mid-Tower Chassis ATX

Skills

Research

Reasoning

Basic Hardware Assembly

Hand Tools

Power Calculation

References

Common PC Building Mistakes that Beginners Make!

Intel vs AMD: Which CPU platform is the best right now? | Ask a PC expert

Best $800 Gaming PC Build Guide – GTX 1660 SUPER Ryzen 5 3600 (w/ Benchmarks)

Best Way to Apply Thermal Paste? Does it Even Matter?

Case Fans – How many should you have?

Will More RAM Make your PC Faster?? (2020)

DIY Pi-NAS

Just like MY First PC Build, I had little money and wanted to learn something about Network Attached Storage technology in the process. I stumbled upon a great YouTube video that was the perfect size and fit for this project. I installed openmediavault and JellyFin on a Raspberry Pi 4 and enclosed it in the Argon One M.2 case. The Argon case provides active cooling, general protection, and most of all, support for an M.2 SATA SSD. While this NAS can’t really compete with more expensive solutions, it was a great learning experience and functions just fine for my minimal media server needs.

Pi4B — Set-up the Pi with a new SD card loaded with Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit) Bullseye. Next, I logged into my router to set an IP reservation to lock in this Pi’s address.

omvinstall — Using PuTTY to SSH into the Pi, I updated and upgraded the OS. Next, I installed openmediavault using a script from their GetHub.

The Raspberry Pi, M.2 SSD and Argon case is now fully assembled and functioning. My NAS is complete. — With the Raspberry Pi, M.2 SSD and Argon case fully assembled and functioning, I moved on to complete the software side of the build.

Using the IP address I reserved for the Pi, I used OMV’s web GUI to configure al settings and SSD storage.

Jellyfin was installed and configured for the Media Server experience, using it’s web GUI.

Components

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

Kingston 32GB Micro SD card

Argon ONE M.2 case

Kingston 120GB SSD M.2

Skills

Linux Command Line

Basic Hardware Assembly

Mapping Shared Drives

IP Reservations

References

omv-extras.org

how to build a Raspberry Pi NAS (it’s AWESOME!!)

Argon ONE M.2 information

Raspberry Pi Getting Started

Jellyfin Media Server Setup for Openmediavault

My First Web Site

This web site was a project goal I set for myself a few years back. I initially started learning HTML and CSS, but I eventually opted for a more efficient approach using WordPress. I started, stopped, deleted and restarted this project many times. It’s still a work in progress; two steps forward and one step back. Every few weeks I review the site. This often leads to improving the navigation, or inspires me to incorporate additional information/projects. I would not consider myself a professional web designer, but I am proud to say I have a web site!

WebNotes — I started by creating some preliminary notes on what to include and the basic structure of the web site.

WebHost — Initially, I used a free account to host the site, but later I upgraded to a payed account and acquired the domain name in use today.

I am still learning WordPress and it’s many plug-ins to build up my web site.

HomePage — My first web site is up… but not finished. Every now and again I learn something new to add and improve the site.

Components

A Web Host

A Domain

WordPress

Skills

Basic Web Design & Layout

Written Communication

Documentation

References

you need a website RIGHT NOW!! (create a website for FREE)

How to Properly Layout A Website (For Beginners)

So what does the future hold…

In The Works

Python Coding

I’ve just started learning Python and I can’t wait to take a deep dive into this (my first) programming language.

Windows/Linux Terminal

With the completion of my A+ certification came a basic understanding of terminal, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Next step, full immersion.

CompTIA Network+

Every day I chip away at my third CompTIA certification.

AAS in Cybersecurity

I was a bit hesitant to go back to a formal institute of higher learning, but I found a program that checked a lot of the boxes for me. So here I am, working on my second degree.

Wireshark

I’m really excited to start learning more about computer networks and the nitty gritty of how those networks function on a more detailed level.