I’m Claude R. Hector — platform engineer, CKA, RHCSA.

By day I’m a platform engineer at a Fortune 500 company managing Kubernetes cluster lifecycle at scale. Eight months into the role and I’ve found my niche. This is exactly where I want to be.

The path here wasn’t straight.

I spent years as an accountant before making the switch to tech. Six months in a DevOps bootcamp, a few years in my first role, a layoff, another bootcamp, a relocation, two certifications, and here we are. The full story is in the 3.5 Years of Silence post if you want the backstory.

What I’m working with

At work: Enterprise-scale Kubernetes — both on-premises and cloud. Cluster lifecycle management at scale. Provisioning, patching, operations.

At home: A bare-metal Kubernetes cluster — two ThinkPad masters, two ThinkCentre workers, a NAS incoming. The site you’re reading right now runs on it. Deployed via ArgoCD from a GitHub repository.

Certifications

  • CKA — Certified Kubernetes Administrator (January 2026, 4th attempt)
  • RHCSA — Red Hat Certified System Administrator (September 2025)
  • CKS — in progress

Why this blog exists

I wanted to go deeper. The cert taught me how to use Kubernetes. This blog is about understanding how it actually works — building it, breaking it, documenting what I learn along the way.

Writing in public also keeps me accountable. And if something I write saves someone else three hours of debugging, that’s a win.

Outside of work

I train seriously — bodybuilding is my thing outside of tech. Based in Charlotte, NC. My tribe is in Fort Lauderdale. I love to travel when I can.

Get in touch