Interests, Hobbies, and IT Passions
My Family
I have a wonderful family and they are my greatest interest. Having grown up in Houston the vast majority of my life with three siblings, I like having a lot of family around. I have 5 awesome kids and the most precious granddaughter.
The oldest two have completed their bachelors, and one will finish her masters this year. Another is about to graduate high school and the other two are twins entering 4th grade.
I am so very proud of them and all they've accomplished and I'm truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful and talented kids and a gorgeous grand daughter. (who does not like to smile for pictures :-)
Quick Links:
To my Professional Family:
A Thank You!
It's virtually impossible to separate one's personal and professional lives. Experiences in one can have a profound effect on the other.
The one constant I've enjoyed the most in my career has been working with highly professional team members with a strong dedication to their team, a healthy desire to collaborate, and an innate ability to align on strategic goals.
Leading these teams allowed me to not only mentor and coach but to be mentored and coached. I would not be the person I am, either personally or professionally, without the experiences we've had and the lessons you have taught me.
To those who I have worked with you have my sincere gratitude and profound appreciation.
Thank you,
Mark
Muscle Cars
1973 Camaro - Partial Restoration
I love working on old cars and trucks. My favorites are a '32 Hi-Boy roadster, and any old truck up to the mid 1960's.
When the oldest was able to drive she wanted a 1973 Camaro... So, we found one in Georgia and drove it back to Houston.
She and I, but mostly me, spent a year tearing it down, fixing what we could, and outsourcing what we couldn't. She drove it all through college and a couple years beyond that. It's in need of a little TLC, but it's still around.
Harley Davidson
Dyna Wide Glide - Anniversary Edition
Riding is great fun. We've gone to the ROT Rally (Republic of Texas) in Austin, TX friends, a H.O.G rally in Gulfport Mississippi and others. Unfortunately I recently sold the DWG, but never fear... I'm on the lookout for her replacement.
My Home Network
I can't just read about the technology or work with it in the office. I enjoy the tactile and visual learning experiences that only come with architecting, designing, installing and implementing technology to understand "how" it works not just "why" it works. I currently have two locations which allows me to perform backups offsite, setup VPN services, establish remote management activities and much more. I also utilize an Office 365 Business Essentials subscription to manage the policies on the kids laptops.
My personal network includes:
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4 Domain Names
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Managed Routers
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Smart/Managed Switches
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3 Synology Servers (Linux)
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3 Virtual Servers (Linux)
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Wifi Routers (b/g/n)
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Alien Vault OSSIM Server
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DNS/DHCP Servers
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VPN Servers
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Directory Services
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File Servers
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Mail Server
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Video Management Server
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Multiple Windows/Linux Laptops
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Multiple Apple iPads
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Apple MacBook
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Misc. Network Devices
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TV's, Cameras, Arduino w/Edison chip, Raspberry Pi
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My current tech project... Qubes-OS
"A Reasonably Secure OS"
I dabble in numerous technologies but it's rare one catches my attention the way Qubes did. Qubes, not related to Qubit a unit of quantum computing, is an operating system based on the concept of isolation. Promoted as a "Reasonably Secure Operating System" it uses virtualization to compartmentalize your activities, services, devices, applications, etc.
Qubes starts with the Xen type-1 hypervisor and adds a virtual machine (VM) management layer. This allows them to create multiple VM templates from which the user can create "security domains" and application VM's.
The default install creates 3 domain based on the Linux Fedora distribution labeled Personal, Work, and Untrusted. (framed in green) Within these are typical applications you would run. When executed, each runs in it's own VM environment based on the template VM used to create that domain.
Each domain is created based on a template VM. Qubes comes with Fedora, Debian and Whonix templates (framed in blue) but you can add other Linux or Windows templates.
Here is the real beauty of the concept.... In addition to templates and domains, Qubes abstracts and isolates key components such as networking, firewall, storage devices, and the GUI in their own domains. (framed in red) This level of isolation helps to prevent exposure to these subsystems that malware is designed to use by traveling up or down the technology stack.
While an awesome concept, accounting for the way devices are used today creates architectural challenges. Ex. Sharing files between domains, using clipboard, and adding separate VPN solutions to the various domains (ex. work vs personal) all trade off user simplicity for security.
My interest and testing is related to understanding how best to configure the domain structure, especially given you're running a mixed Windows and Linux environment. How best to separate development or administrative functions from normal user functions used at work. When to separate a banking vs. shopping domain as their example shows and what domains do you want? Ultimately, implementation in an enterprise requires understanding how best to manage and apply policies to a device like Qubes in a BYOD scenario.
I applaud the Qubes team and their efforts are surely showing. The 4.0 release is a strong functional release and has come a long way from its roots.
Looking forward to hearing from you: