About

whoami

Hi, I'm Collin Campbell. I've been messing with computers since I was a teenager. Windows 3.1, DOS, Win95, then Linux, then macOS. It's just been part of everything I've done.

This is a one-man operation, and that's the point. You talk to the person doing the work. One-on-one attention, no account managers, no handoffs, no "let me check with the team."

What I actually do

I make systems interact correctly. I build and test playbooks, configure infrastructure, automate the boring parts. I'm a generalist, not a savant with encyclopedic knowledge, but someone who figures things out and makes them work.

Core expertise

  • Linux administration (Nginx, Apache, MySQL, Postgres)
  • CI/CD? CI/CD Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment, automated testing and delivery pipelines that deploy code changes quickly and reliably. (Jenkins, Ansible, Bitbucket Pipelines, GitHub Actions)
  • Cloud (AWS, DigitalOcean, Cloudflare)
  • Migrations and automation for revenue-critical sites

How I approach things

Proactive, not reactive

I'd rather set up monitoring and automation now than get a panicked call at 2 AM later. It's cheaper for you and better for my sleep.

Automation first

If you do something twice, script it. Infrastructure as Code? INFRASTRUCTURE AS CODE Managing servers and infrastructure through machine-readable definition files rather than manual processes. , observability, SRE? SRE Site Reliability Engineering, applying software engineering practices to operations to keep systems reliable, scalable, and running smoothly. practices. Not buzzwords, just good habits.

Clear communication

I document what I do and why. You won't be left wondering what changed or who to call when something breaks.

Less is more

Anyone can throw together something that looks impressive. That's not the goal. Three things that work beat thirty that mostly do.

"I've been at this since about 1990. I can build it, I can fix it, and I'll tell you straight whether you actually need it. I'm good that way."

Collin Campbell

The rest of it

Outside of tech, I read: high fantasy, grimdark, Junji Ito manga. I play D&D 2e (yes, 2nd edition, the real one). I love woodworking, even though I don't have my tools anymore and my practical experience is limited. It's the craft of it that I love.

I breathe hardware and dream in computer configurations. It's a horrible hobby, but it keeps me out of trouble.

I listen to a lot of music. I couldn't tell you encyclopedic facts about what I listen to, I just know what feels good.

I like using AI to accelerate work. I also hate what it's doing to the industry. Both things are true.

Thanks for stopping by. If you're looking for something that's not listed, contact me and we'll see if I can't lend a hand. I'm good that way too.