Cloud and Infrastructure

Cloud infrastructure designed around the business, not the other way around.

The cloud is not automatically the right answer. But when it is the right answer, the architecture matters more than the platform. I design infrastructure that serves your operations -- not the other way around.

"Not every business needs the cloud. But when it does, it needs to be architected right."

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The Approach

Infrastructure designed for how you actually operate.

I have designed and operated cloud environments for federal agencies, healthcare systems, and mid-market businesses. Those are very different environments with very different requirements, but the underlying discipline is the same: understand what the system needs to do, design it so it performs and survives, document it so it can be maintained.

At Avaya Professional Services I architected cloud environments for Impact Level 5 federal compliance. That means designing for security, availability, and auditability at a level most businesses will never need -- but the habits it builds carry into every engagement I take on. I know what rigorous infrastructure design looks like because I have done it in environments where there was no tolerance for anything less.

I approach every infrastructure engagement the same way: start with the business requirements, identify what availability and recovery actually need to look like for this operation, then design the architecture that achieves that without over-engineering or unnecessary cost.

What I Work In

Platforms and tools I deploy in production.

AWS and Microsoft Azure are the primary cloud platforms. I have production experience with EC2, RDS, S3, Lambda, VPC, IAM, CloudWatch, Azure Virtual Machines, Azure SQL, Azure Active Directory, and the surrounding ecosystem on both platforms.

Docker and Kubernetes for containerization. Linux (RHEL, Ubuntu, CentOS) and Windows Server for server administration. Terraform and Ansible for infrastructure as code. GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and Azure DevOps for CI/CD pipelines. Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, and CloudWatch for monitoring.

On the storage and backup side: Veeam, Commvault, AWS Backup, Azure Backup, S3 Glacier, and custom retention policies built around your actual recovery time and recovery point objectives.

What I Can Help With

Specific problems I solve.

Cloud and infrastructure engagements range from a single server that needs to be better managed to a full enterprise migration. Here is where I spend most of my time.

AWS and Azure Architecture

Architecture reviews, greenfield designs, and environment builds on AWS and Azure. VPCs, subnets, security groups, IAM policies, service selection, cost optimization, and everything else that makes a cloud environment actually work in production rather than just passing a proof of concept.

Cloud Migration

Moving from on-premise to cloud without disrupting operations. I assess your current environment, identify what can be lifted and shifted versus what needs to be rearchitected, and build a migration plan that minimizes downtime and risk. I have done this for small businesses and enterprise environments.

Docker and Kubernetes

Containerizing applications, building Docker images, writing Compose configurations, and deploying to Kubernetes clusters. Container orchestration for applications that need to scale horizontally, recover automatically, and deploy without downtime. EKS, AKS, and self-managed cluster experience.

Linux and Windows Server Administration

Day-to-day server management, hardening, patching, performance tuning, and troubleshooting. RHEL, Ubuntu, CentOS, Windows Server 2016/2019/2022. I manage servers in production environments where availability matters and downtime has a real cost.

High Availability Design

Infrastructure that stays up when things go wrong. Load balancers, auto-scaling groups, multi-AZ deployments, read replicas, failover configurations, and the monitoring that catches problems before they become outages. I design for the failure mode, not just the happy path.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Backup strategies that match your actual recovery objectives. Not just "we have backups" but tested, documented, regularly-verified recovery procedures with clear RTO and RPO targets. I have designed DR plans for healthcare systems where the stakes were genuinely high.

CI/CD and Deployment Automation

Automated deployment pipelines that take code from commit to production reliably. GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitLab CI. Blue-green deployments, canary releases, rollback procedures. Eliminating the "manual deploy" problem before it causes the incident at 2am.

Monitoring and Performance

Visibility into what is actually happening in your infrastructure. Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, CloudWatch, Azure Monitor. Alerting that wakes you up when something actually needs attention -- not just noise. Performance baselines, capacity planning, and cost monitoring built in from the start.

Compliance-Oriented Infrastructure

Environments that need to meet specific compliance requirements. IL5 federal compliance, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC 2. I have designed and documented environments that passed government security audits and healthcare compliance reviews. Security-first architecture from the beginning, not bolted on after the fact.

The Process

How It Works

Infrastructure engagements start with understanding what your business actually needs, not with a platform recommendation.

Tell me the problem.

Slow systems, unreliable infrastructure, an upcoming migration, compliance requirements you need to meet, or a current setup that keeps breaking. Whatever the infrastructure challenge is, describe it. I will assess what is actually going on.

We agree on what solved means.

Before any infrastructure changes are made, I document what the environment needs to look like when we are done. Availability targets, recovery objectives, security posture, cost constraints. You approve the design before the build starts.

I go to work.

I build, configure, test, and document the environment. Runbooks, architecture diagrams, and operational documentation are part of the deliverable -- not an afterthought. When the engagement ends, you own the environment and understand how it works.

Get Started

Have an infrastructure problem?

Tell me what is not working or what you need to accomplish. Whether it is a migration, a reliability issue, a compliance requirement, or a performance problem -- describe it and I will tell you how I would approach it.

Backed by the Jeff Norton Guarantee.

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