Self-Taught IT & Infrastructure

Brian Brant

I designed, coded, and deployed a complete production website from scratch — hand-written HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, generated by a Python engine I built myself, and served from a Linux server I set up and secure. No website builder, no framework, no shortcuts: every layer, from the code to the cloud, is mine.

Get in touch See what I built
About

Career-changer who learned by doing

I taught myself IT and web infrastructure by building MortEdu — a live, public educational web platform — completely on my own: the Linux server, the network and DNS, the deployment automation, the security, and the code. I used AI as a research-and-coding partner (the way modern IT teams do), but the architecture decisions, the hands-on server and network work, and every production problem I diagnosed and fixed are mine. I'm now looking to bring that hands-on, keep-it-running mindset to an IT team.

1production Linux
server, self-run
252git commits
~2 months
5languages
used in production
65+automated tests
+ CI-style gate
2domains, full
email auth
Featured project

MortEdu — built and operated end to end

MortEdu (mortedu.com)

● live in production · mortedu.com

A public educational web publisher with server-side lead capture, transactional email, a security-hardened admin dashboard, automated safe deploys, and an AI-assisted content pipeline — all running on a Linux server I provision and administer myself. Below are the systems I designed and built for it.

▸ Linux server & Apache

Provisioned an Ubuntu VPS on DigitalOcean; run Apache with hardened vhosts, TLS (Let's Encrypt), file permissions, cron, and SSH-only access.

▸ Zero-downtime deploy pipeline

One command: build → package → SSH upload → lint every endpoint → atomic swap with automatic rollback → verify live → ping search engines.

▸ DNS, TLS & email

Registrar + DNS, HTTPS certs, and full custom-domain email (SPF/DKIM/DMARC); executed a complete domain migration with 301s and Search Console change-of-address.

▸ Security controls

Secret scanning, hardened HTTP headers/CSP, bcrypt auth with CSRF + rate-limiting, HMAC-signed download links, VPN-restricted admin (Tailscale).

▸ CI-style quality gates

~65 automated tests plus custom audits behind a single PASS/FAIL runner; PHP and JS linted before any release. Every bug fixed becomes a regression test.

▸ Automation & APIs

Scheduled server jobs (cron/systemd) and REST integrations (email, LLM, public data feeds) with secure server-side key management.

▸ AI content pipeline + guardrails

Generate drafts with Claude and local models (Ollama / Mistral), then run every output through an automated compliance firewall and human review before use — prompt engineering plus real AI governance.

Systems & tools I've built with and used

My toolbox

Every line hand-written — no website builder, no CSS framework, no page templates. This is the complete stack behind a live production platform I designed, coded, deployed, and keep running end to end:

Infrastructure & OS

Linux / UbuntuApacheDigitalOcean SSHLet's Encrypt / TLSDNS NamecheapTailscale VPNcron / systemd Windows

Languages

PythonPHPJavaScript PowerShellBashHTML / CSS SQL (basics)

Dev & DevOps

Git / GitHubCI-style gatesunittest Infra-as-configSCP / rsyncAtomic deploys Backups / DR

Services & APIs

Resend (email API)Anthropic Claude APIREST / HTTPS Cloudflare (edge)FRED / NWS / NOAASPF / DKIM / DMARC

Security

Secrets managementCSP / HTTP headersHMAC signing bcrypt / sessionsCSRF / rate-limitAccess control

Data & SEO

Search ConsoleSemrushJSON-LD schema First-party analyticsSitemaps / robots

AI & prompt engineering

Claude (Anthropic)Claude APIOllama (local LLM) Mistral / LlamaPrompt engineeringAI guardrails / compliance Human-in-the-loop reviewn8n automationMCP
Core strengths

What I'm good at

Troubleshooting & root-cause analysis
I read logs and error output, form a hypothesis, and fix the real cause — including live outages.
Linux server administration
Provision, secure, and operate a production server: Apache, SSH, permissions, cron, TLS, backups.
Networking, DNS & email
A records, TLS, VPN, and full SPF/DKIM/DMARC — plus deliverability debugging.
Safe, repeatable deployments
Automated, rollback-protected releases with lint and verification built in.
Security-first habits
Secrets out of code, hardened headers, strong auth, least-privilege access.
Self-directed & resourceful
I learn fast, document as I go, and get things working without hand-holding.
AI engineering & governance
I direct AI tools with careful prompting and — just as important — put guardrails around AI output (an automated compliance firewall plus human review) so what ships is safe, accurate, and on-brand.
Contact

Let's talk

Open to entry-level IT roles — support, systems administration, or DevOps/cloud. I bring real production experience and a keep-it-running attitude.

Email  info@mortedu.com Live project  mortedu.com