Build.
Launch.
Repeat.
I'm Brent Dean. LaunchShell is my engineering portfolio and technical journal, covering Python automation, Linux and cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, networking, and electronics.
Explore what I built and how I tested it, from infrastructure automation and security research to software and physical computing. The guides explain tools and methods used along the way.
AWS three-tier infrastructure
Terraform provisioning, Ansible configuration, network validation, and automated teardown in a restricted, single-AZ cloud lab.
Featured engineering projects
Start with my AWS infrastructure lab using Terraform and Ansible, Porter, a local-first Python automation and reliability platform, and T-Pot honeynet research. Additional work includes Flask applications, electronics builds, TorKit, and REDCap validation automation from my Mount Sinai internship. The About page provides more background.
How the work is documented
Each writeup connects the build to its decisions and evidence: version changes, test results, logs, failures, and the steps needed to reproduce or understand the work.
Start small
Use what you have: a Codespace, VM, Raspberry Pi, old laptop, or small cloud server.
Build something
Make a real thing first: a web app, server, circuit, script, guide, or lab.
Back it up
Use Git, snapshots, exports, copies, and restore points before risky changes.
Break and fix
Use logs, errors, configs, commits, and history to understand what actually happened.
Start with the guides
Practical introductions to Linux, GitHub, cloud servers, and the tools used across the projects.
Explore by topic
Follow a topic from a short guide into a related project writeup.
Featured guides
Start with core tools and concepts before moving into larger projects. These guides focus on Linux, cloud servers, networking, electronics, and cybersecurity.
More projects
Additional software and data projects, smaller Python tools, and experiments that build on the same development and troubleshooting practices.
Technical resources
Tools, reading, and low-cost services useful for building and studying technical systems.