Hello, Internet 👋 — Why I Built techwithkr.com

Thu Aug 28 2025

Welcome to techwithkr.com – A Public Lab for Engineers, Learners, and Doers

Hello! I'm Kundan Ram, a Linux/DevOps/Kubernetes engineer with over 6 years of experience in troubleshooting complex systems, building automation tools, and learning continuously in production environments. This website, techwithkr.com, is more than a blog – it’s a public lab where I document what I learn, the mistakes I make, how I fix them, and the best practices I adopt to grow as a professional.

If you’re someone passionate about engineering problems, automation, reproducibility, or simply curious about how real-world systems are built and maintained, you’re in the right place.

Let me tell you why I built this site, what you can expect, and how you can use it to fast-track your learning journey.

🔍 Why I Built techwithkr.com – My Story

The Early Days – Curiosity Meets Frustration

When I first started working in tech, I was eager but clueless. I would jump into projects without understanding the underlying systems fully. Most of the time, I ran into problems where Googling didn’t give me direct answers, or the solutions were outdated.

I would spend hours debugging issues — permissions, environment variables, network settings, container orchestration, or security configurations — only to realize later that there was a simpler approach or a fundamental concept I overlooked.

The feeling of helplessness was real. But that’s where I learned the value of structured troubleshooting, reproducible steps, and deep understanding rather than copying commands blindly.

🚧 The Problems I Wanted to Solve

Here are some recurring problems I faced which became the foundation of this site:

  • Scattered Knowledge
    There was no single place where I could track what I learned. Notes were everywhere — notebooks, random docs, or memory.

  • Lack of Practical Examples
    Tutorials often taught concepts but skipped the real-world edge cases, errors, and debugging steps.

  • No Feedback Loop
    I wasn’t documenting what worked, what didn’t, and why. Without this, growth was slow.

  • Automation was Overwhelming
    Automation tools are powerful, but understanding where to start, how to test safely, and when to scale them was confusing.

  • Imposter Syndrome
    Seeing others share perfect solutions made me feel like I wasn’t good enough to contribute.

techwithkr.com is my way of tackling all of these problems — not only for myself but for anyone who feels stuck or wants to learn faster.

🎯 My Goals – Beyond Just Writing Posts

I built this site with specific, measurable, and growth-oriented goals in mind:

✅ Become a Top 1% Engineer

I’m not here to be average. My aim is to push my limits, learn continuously, and share everything that helps me reach a mastery level in DevOps, Kubernetes, Linux, and automation.

✅ Practice Automation Daily

Every day, I challenge myself with real tasks — from scripting and monitoring to debugging and scaling infrastructure. I document these to help others build muscle memory and resilience.

✅ Share Knowledge Openly

Nothing is more empowering than sharing what you know, even if it’s not perfect. I document both successes and failures because learning is a messy, iterative process.

✅ Build a Community of Practitioners

I want this space to become a go-to place where engineers help each other by sharing solutions, tools, and strategies.

📚 What You’ll Find on This Site

1️⃣ Troubleshooting Stories

Real-world problems I’ve faced, how I approached them, what worked, what didn’t, and how I finally solved the issue.

Example topics:

  • Debugging Kubernetes networking issues
  • Handling storage problems in cloud environments
  • Fixing permission errors in containers
  • Automating error reporting

2️⃣ Clean, Reproducible Steps

Every guide will have step-by-step instructions that you can follow, replicate, and adapt without confusion.

I focus on:

  • Commands that work reliably
  • Configuration files with explanations
  • Best practices in debugging and monitoring

3️⃣ Production-Style Thinking

Theoretical knowledge is only half the battle. I share how to work under pressure, in distributed systems, and when documentation is missing.

Learn how to:

  • Plan deployments
  • Roll back changes
  • Write scripts that are testable and scalable

4️⃣ Automation Experiments

Not all automation is about fancy tools. Sometimes it's about small, repeatable scripts that save hours. I document experiments using Python, Bash, and cloud SDKs.

Example projects:

  • Auto-scaling triggers
  • Log rotation scripts
  • CI/CD pipelines with error handling

5️⃣ Case Studies

In-depth write-ups of real incidents — outages, fixes, patches, and optimizations.

📖 How I Learn – The Process That Works for Me

🧠 Structured Curiosity

Instead of jumping to a solution, I break the problem into smaller parts and ask:

  • What is this error really about?
  • Which components are involved?
  • What tools can I use to inspect this?
  • What are possible causes?

✅ Test, Learn, Document

Every fix I try is tested in a safe environment before applying it to production. I document the process so I can repeat it later.

📂 Maintain Notes Like a Professional

I treat my notes as living documents:

  • Clean headings
  • Version control
  • Screenshots and code snippets
  • Lessons learned

🤝 Ask for Help

Whenever I get stuck, I reach out to experts or online communities. This is not a weakness — it’s a way to learn faster.

🌱 The Power of Open Sharing

One of the hardest lessons I learned was that many engineers fear sharing their incomplete knowledge. But hiding your experience prevents others from learning from your mistakes.

Here’s why sharing helps:

  • You reinforce your own learning by writing about it.
  • Others can build on your work and offer improvements.
  • Collaboration brings new perspectives.
  • It creates trust and credibility.
  • It helps build a support network.

That’s why everything here is openly documented — mistakes, patches, and all.

🚀 Who This Site is For

  • Junior engineers looking for practical, real-world guidance
  • Mid-level professionals aiming to improve troubleshooting and automation skills
  • DevOps enthusiasts wanting structured learning paths
  • Tech leads and architects who want reproducible solutions
  • Anyone curious about Linux, Kubernetes, and cloud infrastructure

If that’s you, you’re not alone. Let’s learn together.

📩 How You Can Engage

  1. Suggest Topics
    If there’s a problem you’re facing or a tool you want to learn more about, ping me on LinkedIn.

  2. Collaborate
    Share your own experiences, scripts, or projects. Let’s create something useful for the community.

  3. Follow the Journey
    Bookmark this site, subscribe to updates, and build alongside me.

  4. Ask Questions
    Don’t hesitate to ask if something isn’t clear — troubleshooting is a shared journey.

🔥 My Vision for the Future

This is just the beginning. Over the coming months and years, I want techwithkr.com to become:

  • A comprehensive knowledge base for engineers
  • A place where beginners grow into experts
  • A platform for reproducible, well-documented learning
  • A community that values continuous experimentation, curiosity, and discipline

I believe that engineering mastery is not about being the smartest — it’s about consistency, resilience, and sharing what you know with others.

💬 Final Thoughts

Building techwithkr.com has been one of the most rewarding steps in my career. It’s not perfect, and I’m still learning, but every post, every bug, and every fix brings me closer to becoming the engineer I aspire to be.

If you’re reading this, welcome to the journey. Let’s explore, experiment, and build solutions that matter — together.

See you in the next post!

— Kundan Ram