Josh Noll

Hi, my name is

Josh

I like to do nerd stuff. I write about it here.

Click on blog to read about my nerd adventures. Click on homelab to read about my homelab. Scroll down to learn more about me.

View My Resume

About Me

Systems Engineer | Homelabber | Lifelong Learner

I am a passionate technologist and homelabber dedicated to learning, practicing, and sharing new and nerdy things.

I’m most enthusiastic about automation, infrastructure as code and open source software.

I wasn’t always this nerdy. In fact, I used to be one of the least technically inclined people I knew. The kind that you wouldn’t trust to be alone in a room with a computer, because only one would be walking out in one piece.

Now, I’m a Data Systems Engineer. I manage cloud infrastructure. I know how to read and write code. I have a homelab. And I love sharing these things with other people. This site (and most of my socials) are my efforts to do just that.

I’m currently working on migrating my homelab to Kubernetes, championing AI-based innovation projects in Azure, and improving my data literacy.

Read my full story here

I'm familiar with the following technologies:

Ansible
PowerShell
Python
Bash
Azure
AWS
Kubernetes
Longhorn
Linux
Docker
Windows Server
VMWare
Proxmox

Experience

3rd Special Forces Group
1st Brigade - 101st Airborne Division
US Army Cyber Center of Excellence
Untied States Army Alaska
1-40th Cavalry

Data Systems Engineer - 3rd Special Forces Group

May 2024 - present

I currently work in Cloud and Data operations as the Group’s Data Systems Engineer. I manage multiple environments in Microsoft Azure and am primarily responsible for major IT projects, cybersecurity compliance and various innovation efforts.

Information Systems Engineer - 1st Brigade - 101st Airborne Division

Oct 2021 - May 2024

This was my first job after graduating the Information Systems Engineer course at Ft. Gordon (now Ft. Eisenhower). Here, I got plenty of hands on experience with VMWare, SharePoint, Active Directory and PowerShell.

Accomplishments:

Created the Bastogne Automation Tool
Deployed several mission command servers in preparation for a major training exercise
Built several file share servers configured with DFS repliaction

Student - Information Systems Engineer Course - US Army Cyber Center of Excellence

January 2021 - October 2021

Here, I learned how to be a nerd. It all started with CCNA. I drank from a firehose and in two months, I went from asking the question “What is an IP address?” to having my CCNA. The course covered networking, Microsoft Server, VMWare, cloud, cybersecurity, RMF and more. I also began studying for my master’s degree during this time.

Aide de Camp - Untied States Army Alaska

February 2020 - Januray 2021

US Army Alaska has since been re-flagged as the 11th Airborne Division. I took over as the Deputy Commanding General’s Aide-de-Camp just in time for COVID to start. Unfortunately this meant that all of the fun travel plans never happened. I did, however get a front row seat to the making of the US Army’s Arctic strategy.

It was during this job that I took an interest in tech. Dealing with the rapid deployment of Microsoft Teams and various other teleworking solutions required this lowly infantryman to act as a tier 1 helpdesk.

Platoon Leader - 1-40th Cavalry

March 2019 - February 2020

This was my first real job in the Army. I got to ride around in trucks with big guns, sneak around in the woods and fight pretend bad-guys at the Joint Readiness Training Center, and generate some stories that I’m sure I will tell my grandchildren in inflated detail for dramatic effect.

The Josh of this era would have never guessed that he would be doing what he does today.