Andy Graybeal

Andy Graybeal

FOSS Evangelist, Linux Enthusiast, EFF Advocate.

Linux Nerd • Open-Source Advocate

I enjoy solving technical problems with a practical, open-source approach.

Systems and Network Administrator

I have 20+ years of experience supporting information technology infrastructure across higher education, government, small business, and manufacturing environments. Built upon a foundation of self-directed, hands-on learning, I’m now formalizing decades of field experience by completing an Associate of Applied Science in Cybersecurity and Network Systems. I am seeking a cybersecurity internship, part-time opportunity, or entry-level security role where I can apply my infrastructure experience while continuing to develop my cybersecurity expertise.

Background

I began my IT career in 1995 as a technician at Tri-Star Computer Solutions, a local computer retailer and service provider, installing and supporting networks, servers, and workstations for retail, manufacturing, and public sector clients while also providing phone-based technical support for a regional Internet service provider. That hands-on foundation carried into progressively larger environments—from workstation support for state correctional facilities to a multi-year progression at the University of California, Santa Cruz, from Tier I help desk to server administration supporting approximately 300 clients across multiple university departments.

From 2004 to 2013, I served as System Administrator / IT Coordinator for a worker-owned restaurant cooperative of approximately 90 people. I designed and implemented secure network infrastructure, led an organization-wide migration from Windows to Linux, and implemented centralized identity and access management to provide single sign-on across multiple applications. I also deployed virtualized infrastructure and implemented infrastructure monitoring to support long-term capacity planning and operational visibility.

In 2015, I founded and operated a mobile food business, managing its strategic planning, operations, and technology — including a self-administered AWS-hosted e-commerce platform — until the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the industry in 2021. I then spent several years as a CNC machine operator in precision manufacturing before returning to IT, enrolling at Hocking College in an Associate of Applied Science in Cybersecurity and Network Systems program, expected in 2027.

Experience

My experience has been rooted in on-premises infrastructure:

  • Identity and Access Management: Implemented centralized identity and access management using Zentyal, built on OpenLDAP, Kerberos, and Samba, enabling Single Sign-On (SSO) across multiple applications.
  • Network Security & Remote Access: Designed, implemented, and administered network infrastructure from the ground up, including pfSense firewalls and secure OpenVPN remote access.
  • Virtualization: Deployed and administered virtualized environments using KVM and libvirt.
  • Centralized Desktop Services: Implemented and managed Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) environments to provide centralized desktop management and application delivery.
  • Web and Enterprise Applications: Deployed, configured, and administered web and enterprise applications on LAMP and Java-based platforms.
  • Infrastructure Monitoring: Implemented SNMP and Icinga-based (Nagios) monitoring and alerting to improve operational visibility, support capacity planning, and proactively identify issues before they impacted users.
  • Cloud Infrastructure: Deployed and managed virtual machines on Amazon Web Services (AWS) EC2.

I’ve written more about this experience in Building Open-Source On-Premise Infrastructure.

Currently Expanding into

  • Modern IAM: Keycloak, FreeIPA, and Authentik, AWS IAM
  • Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Terraform, OpenTofu, AWS CloudFormation
  • Automation: Ansible
  • Containers and Orchestration: Docker, Podman, Kubernetes, K3s
  • CI/CD and DevSecOps: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD
  • Monitoring and Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, Loki
  • Secrets Management: HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager.
  • Security Monitoring and SIEM: Wazuh, Splunk.
  • Intrusion Detection and Prevention: Suricata, Zeek, Snort
  • Vulnerability Management: Nessus, OpenVAS.
  • Incident Response and Cloud Security: AWS CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Security Hub