// what i do
From the bare metal to the running app
I work across the whole stack a real system needs, not just one slice of it.
Infrastructure and Virtualization
VMware vSphere, ESXi, vCenter, vSAN, and Proxmox. Clusters, VMs, and the storage and networking under them.
Cloud and IaC
AWS and GCP managed with Terraform. VPCs, IAM, compute, and storage as repeatable code, not manual clicks.
Storage Solutions
MinIO object storage with erasure coding and replication, vSAN pools, and TrueNAS. Highly available by design.
Web Hosting and Performance
cPanel/WHM, Plesk, NGINX, Apache, LiteSpeed. WordPress and WHMCS tuning that cuts load times hard.
Security and Hardening
Server hardening, fail2ban, firewalls, Wazuh for log monitoring, and SPF, DKIM, DMARC for email.
AI Agents and Automation
Self-hosted AI agent systems, n8n workflows, and OpenClaw setups. I build the server, the agents do the work.
// experience
Where I have worked
DevOps and Linux System Administrator, CyberX Studio
2024 to present · Islamabad
- Rebuilt the performance stack of a busy WHMCS site with PHP 8.2, MariaDB tuning, LiteSpeed, and a Redis cache layer. Time to first byte came down from about 4 seconds to 54 ms, and the grade went from F to B.
- Managed more than 20 WordPress sites on cPanel/WHM, and raised Google PageSpeed scores from 45 to 90 and above.
- Deployed Next.js, Node.js, and other apps with Docker behind NGINX, handling SSL and production traffic.
- Hardened AlmaLinux and CentOS servers, and set up Wazuh for central logs, alert rules, and threat detection.
- Ran OpenVPN for over 20 users with certificate login, and managed DNS and email records.
DevOps Engineer, FullDuplex
2022 to 2024 · Lahore
- Designed and ran the VMware environment: 4 ESXi hosts under vCenter, a 6 TB vSAN pool, and 30 virtual machines, with dual 10 GbE links for vSAN and vMotion, plus backup and disaster recovery.
- Built two MinIO clusters with three nodes each, using erasure coding and cross-site replication for highly available object storage.
- Operated a Docker microservices platform: 30 or more services across 10 to 15 servers, with reverse proxies, API gateways, Redis queues, and background workers.
- Managed production Kubernetes clusters, and wrote Terraform for AWS and GCP.
- Deployed a VoIP platform for over 300 users on Docker, Asterisk, and Redis, with zero-downtime delivery, and set up Grafana dashboards.
Cloud and Linux System Administrator, Pinha Limited
2021 · Islamabad
- Managed AWS and GCP: EC2 and Compute Engine, VPC, IAM, backups, and cost monitoring.
- Wrote Terraform modules for both clouds, and deployed Node.js and PHP/Laravel apps with Docker behind NGINX and Apache.
- Built GitHub Actions pipelines for testing, building, and deploying.
// projects
Things I have built
The infrastructure code, hardening playbooks, and ops scripts behind this work, with tfsec, checkov and shellcheck running in CI, are open to read on GitHub.
Virtualization and Storage
A vCenter cluster of 4 ESXi hosts, 6 disks per host plus an SSD for cache. vSAN over dual 10 GbE gave a 6 TB pool running 30 production VMs, with backup and disaster recovery.
vSphere · ESXi · vCenter · vSAN · 10 GbE
MinIO Object Storage
Two MinIO clusters, three nodes each, with erasure coding, an NGINX load balancer for a single URL, and site replication between the clusters for high availability.
MinIO · erasure coding · NGINX · replication
WHMCS Performance Rebuild
Rebuilt the full performance stack on a busy WHMCS install. Time to first byte dropped from about 4 seconds to 54 ms, with no disruption to the live site.
LiteSpeed · PHP 8.2 · MariaDB · Redis
VoIP Platform
A voice platform for more than 300 users on Docker, Asterisk, and Redis, with zero-downtime continuous delivery.
Docker · Asterisk · Redis · Drone CI
AWS Serverless and CDN
Built serverless automation with AWS Lambda, and set up a CloudFront CDN with caching and IAM-scoped access for fast, secure content delivery.
AWS Lambda · CloudFront · S3 · IAM
CI/CD Pipelines
Built automated build and deploy pipelines with GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and Drone CI for PHP, Node.js, and containerized apps. Multi-stage builds, parallel deploys across servers, and zero-downtime releases.
GitHub Actions · Jenkins · Drone CI · Docker
See the security CI running on GitHub →Next.js and Strapi Platform with CI/CD
Run a production Next.js and Strapi platform on a Linux VPS, with GitHub Actions building and deploying on every push, PM2 keeping the app running, and NGINX and SSL in front. A live example of the deploy pipeline in action.
Next.js · Strapi · GitHub Actions · PM2 · NGINX
Production App Backend Migration, Zero Data Loss
Moved the PHP/MySQL backend of a live iOS and Android app off a managed VPS onto new hosting with no app changes and no data loss. Built the new server in parallel, kept every API endpoint identical, migrated the database, mailboxes, and DNS, and cut over at 3 AM with a short write-freeze so the data stayed on one side during propagation. Over 12,000 user records moved with zero loss, email continuity preserved, and the old server kept live as instant rollback until confirmed.
Linux · PHP/MySQL · DNS · Cloudflare · Let's Encrypt · email
// ai and automation
Self-hosted agents and automation
I host AI agent systems and automation on servers I set up and secure. The agents do the work, I make sure the server stays solid and safe.
RAG Document Q&A System
A FastAPI service that lets a team ask plain-language questions about their own documents. It ingests PDFs, Word files, and Notion pages, embeds them locally, and answers from the matched content with the sources cited and a confidence score. Built on retrieval-augmented generation, with secrets kept in environment config and a one-command Docker run.
Python · FastAPI · LangChain · Chroma · OpenAI
See the code on GitHub →MLS Data Connector for Claude (MCP)
An MCP server that lets a real estate brokerage's agents pull live MLS data straight from a Claude chat. It connects Claude to the Spark (FlexMLS) API and exposes tools for listing search, comparable sales, market stats, listing lookup, sold trends, and open houses. Python, served over HTTPS as a Claude connector, with credentials kept in environment variables.
Python · MCP · Anthropic Claude · Spark/FlexMLS API · HTTPS
See the code on GitHub →Multi-Agent Outreach System
A 5-agent system that runs cold outreach and Reddit automation on its own. The agents do the research, drafting, and routing. I set up the VPS, hardened it, added SSL and login, and set the limits that keep it safe.
VPS · Docker · NGINX · agent orchestration
AI SDR Pipeline
A 3-agent pipeline that pulls leads, adds detail to each one, and writes a tailored message. It runs unattended on a single VPS.
Python · APIs · VPS · cron
Automated Lead-Generation Pipeline
A nightly pipeline that finds prospects on its own. It generates search queries with an LLM, runs web search, scores each company against the client's criteria, finds and verifies the decision-maker's email, dedupes in a database, and delivers a clean list every morning. It runs unattended on the client's own server, and a monthly job retrains the matching rules from the results the client marks good or bad. Over a hundred verified leads, each with a source, and no invented contacts.
Python · Anthropic Claude · web search · Hunter · SQLite · systemd
OpenClaw and Hermes Deployments
Set up and configured OpenClaw and Hermes agent platforms on client servers, including headless Linux with browser automation, with the gateway, SSL, and OAuth all in place.
OpenClaw · Hermes · Linux · OAuth
AI Voice Agent
Built and deployed AI voice agents on Twilio that answer calls, route them, record, and log to a CRM, including a Retell based phone agent that books appointments and answers common questions.
Twilio · Retell · voice AI · CRM
ECW to GoHighLevel Sync
Built a sync that pulls patient records from eClinicalWorks over its FHIR API and pushes them into GoHighLevel through webhooks, hosted in the AWS region the access requires.
FHIR · webhooks · GoHighLevel · AWS
n8n Automation Platform
Self-hosted n8n in Docker with SSL, used to connect services and run automated workflows and webhooks.
n8n · Docker · NGINX · webhooks
n8n Workflows
SSL and domain expiry monitoring, RAG support triage, AI lead enrichment and scoring, an SEO blog content engine, and a multi-platform social publisher. Each has retries, conditional routing, dedup, and approval steps. Importable JSON exports.
n8n · HTTP APIs · OpenAI · WordPress · Graph API
See the workflows on GitHub →AI Website Chatbot with Lead Capture
A custom AI assistant embedded on a live company site that answers visitor questions and captures leads straight to the sales inbox. PHP backend with the model provider swappable in one line, API keys kept server-side, rate limiting, and a lightweight vanilla-JS widget that drops in through a plugin.
PHP · OpenAI/Anthropic · JavaScript · WordPress
Email Your MP Campaign Tool
A Cloudflare Worker that writes a personalized campaign email to a constituent's local representatives with an LLM, served through an embeddable widget with an admin page to manage the campaigns. It runs at the edge with no server to maintain, and campaign data lives in Cloudflare KV.
Cloudflare Workers · Anthropic Claude · KV · JavaScript
// upwork delivery
Client work on Upwork Top Rated · 100% JSS
A few of the jobs I have finished for clients, each closed five stars.
OpenLiteSpeed SSL Fix
Several domains on one OpenLiteSpeed server were serving the wrong SSL certificate. I traced it to the SNI and vhost mapping, rebuilt the per-domain bindings, and cleared the cache. All sites back on the right cert with no downtime.
OpenLiteSpeed · SSL/SNI · Linux
ClickHouse Setup and Tuning
Set up and tuned a ClickHouse database holding 5.3 billion rows (83 GB) so analytical queries run fast at production scale.
ClickHouse · Linux · query tuning
Server Recovery After Data Loss
Recovered and fully rebuilt a Magento store after data loss, and brought the site back online.
Magento · Linux · recovery
Self-Hosted Supabase
Deployed a self-hosted Supabase platform with Docker, PostgreSQL, and NGINX, with SSL and a clean setup the client could maintain.
Supabase · Docker · PostgreSQL · NGINX
Email Deliverability with SendGrid
Set up SendGrid with a subaccount, domain authentication, and DMARC so a client's mail landed in the inbox instead of spam. Delivered the same day.
SendGrid · DNS · SPF/DKIM/DMARC
WordPress Hosting and Email
Pointed a GoDaddy domain to AWS Lightsail, set up a WordPress instance with SSL, and configured professional email accounts.
AWS Lightsail · WordPress · DNS · Email
VPS Migration Between Providers
Moved a trading VPS from one provider to another with the full setup intact and no data loss, and got it running on the new host the same way.
Linux · migration · VPS
Tailscale Mesh VPN
Set up a Tailscale network so a client could reach a laptop, NAS, and tablet securely from anywhere, with no ports opened to the internet. I also configured an exit node, so a device can route all of its internet traffic through one trusted machine on the network, which is handy on public or untrusted Wi-Fi.
Tailscale · exit node · VPN · networking
// recognition
Featured by MinIO
My storage work in the official MinIO newsletter
My MinIO project was featured in the MinIO newsletter (September 2024): two clusters with three nodes each, erasure coding so data survives a node failure, an NGINX load balancer for a single access URL, and site replication so the data stays available even if one cluster goes down.
// testimonials
What clients say 5.0 average
Real feedback from Upwork clients, every one of them five stars.
"So fast, perfect deliverable. Delivered exactly what we needed, faster than expected. I would definitely work with Muhammad again. Great job."
"Muhammad is genuinely great at what he does, he was given a brief and executed it perfectly. Always there when I needed to ask a question or if something needed to be improved. I would 100% recommend and will be doing further work with him in the future."
"Muhammad is very zen - which is what you need in the delivery of mission-critical dev-ops analyses and resolves - a solid professional."
"Reasonable price, quick communication, great job. What's not to like? Thank you Muhammad"
"Great working with Ammar. He completed our website hosting and server migration job successfully on-time and we were able to get the website live with no any issue"
"Exceptional service and knowledge. He has provided ongoing support for me for months and has worked with me through all my special requests and has always delivered great work. Highly recommended!"
"I am happy working with Muhammad. He's proactive, resourceful and skilled DevOps engineer. What I appreciated most is how he takes ownership and turns complex infrastructure needs into clean, secure, production-ready setups without making things feel complicated. You can trust him to get things done smoothly and thoughtfully."
// skills
Tools I work with
Infrastructure
Cloud and Containers
Web and Hosting
Data and Cache
Security and Networking
CI/CD and Scripting
AI and Automation
// cybersecurity
Security and SOC
I treat security as part of building a system, not something added at the end. I am trained as a SOC analyst and keep building on the blue team side.
What I do on the security side
Deployed Wazuh as a SIEM for central log collection, custom alert rules, agent management, and active threat detection across servers. I harden Linux with kernel tuning, fail2ban, firewalls, and patching, set up VPN and certificate based access, and handle email security with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. I have done hands-on labs in log analysis, malware basics, and privilege escalation, and I map what I find to the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
// certifications
Certifications
EC-Council Certified SOC Analyst (CSA v2)
EC-Council SOC for Blue Teaming
arcX Cyber Threat Intelligence 101
TCM Security Linux Privilege Escalation
Hack & Fix Certified Phishing Prevention Specialist
Hack & Fix Cybersecurity Career Starter Certification
EC-Council Security Automation with Ansible
EC-Council Open-source Identity and Access Management
cPanel WHM System Administrator II (CWSA-2)