Welcome to NicholasQuirk.com! I am a devoted technology enthusiast with a versatile background in IT projects. Blending my passion for technology seamlessly with my professional life, I have embarked on a journey to continually enhance my skills and knowledge in the field of Information Technology. Alongside my tech pursuits, I am an avid marathon runner and a follower of Stoic philosophy. My unwavering commitment to expanding my expertise makes me an ever evolving and dedicated professional in the IT realm.
The computer that first sparked my interest in IT. An NCR 486 PC running Windows 3.11 for Workgroups
Applications that I have written and decided to publicly release with the source code, as free and open source software
Have a look at some of the projects I've been working on in my spare time!
My first time building a custom PC from the ground up with off the shelf components. Prior to this, I had only upgraded existing systems
Breathed new life into a 2008 Dell Latitude E6400 by reverse-engineering hardware mods, upgrading components, and dual booting Windows XP & 7, air-gapping the system for security. A deep-dive into real-world troubleshooting, nostalgia, and disciplined restoration
Building my Network and Server Stack
Full-stack server build. Here's the story of how I built my home lab, secured the network, and ran disaster recovery. Ever rebuilt a NAS from your phone during a shopping trip? I did. This is homelab engineering at its finest!
My Own Persistent OS on a USB Key
I installed a full, encrypted, RHEL-compliant Linux OS onto a 256 GB USB stick using the graphical installer (via Ventoy), manually partitioned it with LVM and LUKS, separated /home, and customized it with a complete troubleshooting toolkit. It’s my portable OS for sysadmin missions and homelab ops — and it’s already paid for itself in time saved.