👨💻 About My Technical Journey
Second-year Computer Science & IT student at the University of Galway with a passion for building scalable web applications and managing complex systems. My journey into development began with creating a swimming monitoring system that sparked my interest in full-stack development, leading me to explore everything from React frontends to containerized infrastructure.
🔭 Currently Working On: Swimming Monitoring System with React and Node.js
🌱 Learning: PostgreSQL, Advanced React Patterns, Cloud Deployment, Java
🎯 Recent Achievement: Participated in Game Jam with "Artificial" - exploring humanity's creations
🏛️ Leadership: Public Relations Officer, Ordinary Committee Member, and Auditor of CompSoc
📫 Contact: semyon.fox@gmail.com | LinkedIn
🚀 Featured Projects
What started as a broken Dell XPS 15 laptop became a year-long journey into systems administration, networking, and containerization. When the hinge crushed the 4K touchscreen, I transformed this "half-useless" machine into a powerful learning server.
The Beginning: From Broken Laptop to Server
- Hardware: Repurposed Dell XPS 15 with Ubuntu Server on 500GB SSD
- Initial Challenge: Terminal-only interface pushed me to learn command line
- Growth: From copy-pasting YAML into ChatGPT to managing complex infrastructure
Current Infrastructure (30+ Docker Containers)
- Media Services: Streaming, photo storage (Immich), and media management
- Network Services: DNS (Pi-hole), VPN, and reverse proxies with NGINX
- Monitoring: Netdata and Glances for system reliability
- Dashboards: Comprehensive monitoring and management interfaces
- File Services: Self-hosted cloud storage solutions
- Database: PostgreSQL with pgAdmin for data management
Custom NAS Build
- Hardware: TerraMaster enclosure with 4× 4TB Seagate IronWolf drives
- Configuration: RAID 10 via OpenMediaVault with Btrfs filesystem
- Features: Subvolumes mapped to network folders for secure family photo and media access
- Reliability: Automated systemd timers for mounting and network checks
Network Infrastructure Upgrades
- Wi-Fi Solution: Ubiquiti U6-LR access point in attic with hardwired ethernet
- Router Upgrade: GL.iNet Flint 2 (OpenWRT-based) replacing aging ISP router
- Advanced Features: VLAN tagging, PPPoE, and proper subnet management
- ISP Integration: Configured with Airwire for optimal performance
Lessons Learned Through Real-World Challenges
- Power outages and disaster recovery procedures
- SMART disk failure monitoring and replacement
- Internal IP reshuffling and network troubleshooting
- GPU acceleration issues (NVIDIA SMI) and workarounds
- Filesystem experimentation and optimization
Comprehensive dashboard for swimming coaches and athletes - Digitizing local swimming clubs' workflows with modern web technologies.
Technical Stack
- Frontend: React with Tailwind CSS for responsive design
- Visualization: Chart.js for performance analytics and data visualization
- Backend: Node.js with custom JWT authentication system
- Database: PostgreSQL (migrated from MySQL for better performance)
- Security: Custom authentication with secure JWT token implementation
Key Features
- Team management and coaching tools
- Performance tracking and analytics
- Secure user authentication system
- Responsive dashboard interface
- Database optimization for query performance
Progressive clicker exploring human creativity - A philosophical game exploring humanity's artificial creations, built for a game jam and continuing development.
Development Approach
- Technology: Pure JavaScript implementation without frameworks
- Theme: Exploring humanity's relationship with artificial creations
- Mechanics: Historical progression system through different eras
- Challenge: Rapid prototyping and creative problem-solving under time constraints
Technical Highlights
- Vanilla JavaScript game logic and state management
- Progressive disclosure of historical content
- Responsive design with pure CSS
- Educational content integration
Automated system optimization and infrastructure management - Tools and scripts for maintaining both Windows and Linux environments.
Windows Maintenance Suite
- Implementation: Comprehensive PowerShell scripting
- Features: Automated cleanup, optimization, and system maintenance
- Status: Production-ready with regular updates
Docker Infrastructure Management
- Purpose: Self-hosted services deployment and orchestration
- Tools: Docker Compose for multi-service management
- Scope: 30+ containerized applications and services
- Focus: Infrastructure automation and best practices
🛠️ Technical Skills & Experience
🌐 Full-Stack Development
- Frontend: React applications with modern patterns, Tailwind CSS responsive design, Chart.js data visualization
- Backend: Node.js with Express.js, custom JWT authentication systems, RESTful API development
- Database: PostgreSQL optimization, MySQL to PostgreSQL migration, query performance tuning
⚙️ DevOps & Infrastructure
- Containerization: Docker and Docker Compose orchestration for 30+ services
- System Administration: Ubuntu Server management, self-hosted services deployment
- Networking: VLAN configuration, subnet management, NGINX reverse proxies
- Storage: RAID configurations, filesystem optimization (Btrfs), NAS management
🧠 Problem Solving & Architecture
- Fundamentals: Data structures and algorithms in C and JavaScript
- Architecture: Scalable web application design, component-based development
- Troubleshooting: Hardware failure recovery, network diagnostics, performance optimization
"What started as a broken laptop became a learning sandbox with just enough risk to make every mistake valuable, but not costly. This journey has made me more confident with Linux, networking, containerization, system administration, and monitoring in real-world environments."
Get in Touch
Have a question or want to collaborate? Send me a message!