Niek Vlam
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Niek Vlam · Cloud Native & DevOps Engineer

I build and operate
cloud platforms.

From application code to the infrastructure underneath it. I work with Kubernetes, Azure and Terraform to make deployment repeatable.

Explore my work About me

Working with

  • Kubernetes
  • Azure
  • Terraform
  • GitOps
  • ArgoCD
  • Docker
  • Go
  • CI/CD
  • Linux
  • Automation

Public project · Personal lab

Talos Kubernetes Homelab

A four-node Raspberry Pi 5 Kubernetes platform running Talos Linux and managed declaratively through ArgoCD.

I use this cluster to test GitOps workflows, platform services and operational choices on hardware I manage myself.

Inside the homelab View repository (opens in a new tab)
Homelab architectureGit holds the desired state, which CI validates. Argo CD runs inside the Kubernetes cluster and reconciles that state into it. Platform capabilities for networking, storage, secrets, identity, policy, observability, delivery and backups support the self-hosted workloads.
Git repositoryDesired state, validated in CI
Kubernetes clusterTalos Linux · 4 × Raspberry Pi 5

GitOps

Argo CDPulls from Git and reconciles the platform and workloads

Platform capabilities

Networking
Cilium · Gateway API
Storage
Longhorn · NFS
Secrets
External Secrets
Identity
Pocket ID · oauth2-proxy
Policy
Kyverno · Trivy
Observability
Prometheus · Loki · Grafana
Delivery
Argo Rollouts · Renovate
Backups
Longhorn · etcd to NAS

Workloads

  • Home Assistant
  • Zigbee2MQTT
  • Media stack
  • BookOrbit
  • Obsidian LiveSync

Professional work

Cloud infrastructure & delivery

Selected work in cloud infrastructure and application delivery. Private systems, described at a high level.

Azure environments, Terraform, private networking and the investigation work needed to understand how those systems behave.

Full experience & education

Development background

From backend code
to cloud platforms.

I started in backend and e-commerce development. Building applications led me to the pipelines, hosting and cloud platforms that keep them running.

When I troubleshoot, I follow the problem across application code, delivery workflows and infrastructure.

More about me

Get in touch

Questions about my work or the homelab?

Send me an email.

[email protected]