Hello! I’m Alexandru Pruteanu, a self-taught DevOps Engineer with over 4 years of experience building and managing cloud infrastructures. But my journey didn’t start with Kubernetes or Terraform—it started with Python scripts at a helpdesk.
How It Started
Like many in tech, I didn’t follow a traditional path. I started in IT support, spending my days handling tickets and performing repetitive manual tasks. The kind of work that makes you think: “there has to be a better way.”
So I taught myself Python. Not from a formal course or bootcamp, but out of necessity. I started automating the mundane tasks that ate up my day—user provisioning, log analysis, batch operations. What began as simple scripts to save myself time evolved into a genuine passion for automation and infrastructure.
That helpdesk experience taught me something crucial: the best solutions come from understanding the pain points firsthand. When you’ve manually done something hundreds of times, you know exactly what needs to be automated.
What I’m Building
Beyond my day job in DevOps, I’m currently developing Chatter—an end-to-end encrypted chat application built with Go. It’s my playground for exploring secure communication, implementing the Signal Protocol, and making architectural decisions.
Chatter is where I put theory into practice. Building a production-ready encrypted messaging system means wrestling with real problems: choosing between monolithic and distributed architectures, designing efficient APIs with Protocol Buffers, implementing cryptographic protocols correctly. It keeps me honest—I can’t rely on theoretical knowledge when actual users will depend on the security and reliability of the system.
What You’ll Find Here
This blog is where I share what I’m learning and building:
DevOps & Infrastructure
- Production-ready AWS and Kubernetes architectures
- Infrastructure as Code with Terraform
- CI/CD pipelines and deployment strategies
- Real-world solutions to scaling challenges
Software Engineering
- Secure application development
- API design and Protocol Buffers
- Architectural decision-making (when to choose monolithic, when to go distributed)
- Go development patterns
Creative Writing
- Occasional detours into fiction writing with my project “The Resonant Grave”
- Because engineers need creative outlets too
The Philosophy
I plan to write about things I’ve actually built or problems I’ve actually solved. No theoretical “best practices” that sound good in articles but fall apart in production. When I write about deployment strategies, it’ll be from real experience. When I discuss cryptographic protocols, it’ll be from implementing them in Chatter.
This blog will document the journey from writing Python scripts to automate helpdesk tasks, to building distributed systems and encrypted applications. It’s messy, it’s real, and hopefully it’ll be useful.
Beyond Code
When I’m not deploying infrastructure or debugging Chatter, you’ll find me in completely different worlds:
Creative Writing: Working on “The Resonant Grave”—a fiction project that lets me explore storytelling. Turns out, architecting a narrative has some surprising parallels to architecting systems. Both require thinking about structure, flow, and how the pieces fit together.
Gaming: I’m an avid gamer with a soft spot for narrative-driven RPGs. The Witcher 3 and Dragon Age series are among my favorites—give me a good story with meaningful choices and I’m hooked. Also a big fan of the cult classic Tomba 2 (if you know, you know). And yes, I play League of Legends where I’m permanently hardstuck Gold. Some of us are better at deploying Kubernetes clusters than climbing ranked ladders.
Anime & Manga: Big fan of shows like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Trigun, and Yu Yu Hakusho—there’s something about the blend of atmosphere, music, and character development that just works. When it comes to manga, Vagabond and Vinland Saga are peak storytelling. The way they explore themes of violence, redemption, and personal growth is unmatched. Also love Blame! for its unique dystopian cyberpunk atmosphere and minimal dialogue that lets the world-building speak for itself.
Stay Connected
Whether you want to discuss DevOps, debate architectural decisions, or talk about Chatter’s development, feel free to reach out:
Thanks for stopping by. Let’s build better systems—and maybe automate a few tedious tasks along the way.
