About
Mustafa Erbay
System Architect · Network & Infrastructure Specialist · Security and Software Focused
I have been in the industry since 2006. I never narrowed down to a single area; system architecture, network, server infrastructure, large-scale buildouts, software development and system security are pieces of the same picture for me.
I bring up complex infrastructures, scale them and make them sustainable under real load. I know how systems that operate under real outage risk and real operational pressure on the field need to be designed.
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Years of Experience
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Published Posts
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24/7
Operations
I do not design a system around how it runs, but around how it breaks, how it can be recovered and how it can be made more resilient.
— This blog is the direct extension of that mindset
Right Now
Things I am working on these days
Main Focus
Zero-trust network models and segmentation architectures at enterprise scale
My Own Projects
BurnCPU (a social network I built) and HRMarge (multi-tenant attendance/PDKS) — from idea to production
Experimenting
The fully autonomous AI content pipeline behind this blog — hourly publishing with multi-provider fallback
Reading
"Guns, Germs, and Steel" — Jared Diamond
Expertise
My Main Working Axes
System Architecture
I design systems for enterprise structures with high availability, scalability and operational continuity in focus.
- Distributed architecture design
- Load balancing and failover
- Redundancy and disaster recovery
- Large-scale platform planning
Network & Infrastructure
From the network layer to the data center, from edge structures to service connections, I build and manage end-to-end infrastructure.
- Routing / switching
- Firewall and segmentation
- VPN, WAN and edge topologies
- Data center and server infrastructure
Server & Platform
I bring up critical systems on physical, virtual and cloud environments; I orchestrate monitoring, automation and continuity.
- Linux / Windows server stacks
- Virtualization and clustering
- Monitoring and capacity planning
- Cloud and hybrid platforms
Software & Automation
By combining infrastructure knowledge with software, I build solutions that speed up operations, simplify maintenance and improve security.
- Backend services
- APIs and integrations
- Automation and scripting
- CI/CD and platform tooling
System Security
I treat security not as a layer added later, but as a fundamental part of the architecture.
- Hardening and access model
- Logging and traceability
- Secure network architecture
- Risk reduction and operational security
Operational Leadership
I do not just build technology; I also make sure these structures are long-lived, manageable and sustainable for the teams.
- Standardization
- Documentation
- Incident management
- Technical guidance and mentorship
Side Projects
I Built These Too
BurnCPU
SosyalSelf-hosted social network — Rust + Axum
A self-hosted social network I built from scratch. Rust + Axum backend, SolidJS frontend; powered by PostgreSQL, Redis and Meilisearch. AI-assisted moderation and a federation-ready architecture. The project behind my "first 100 users" career story.
burncpu.com
Hesapciyiz
Finans34 calculators for Turkey, all in one place
34 calculators tailored for Turkey: salary, VAT, severance, BMI and more. Up-to-date 2026 parameters, runs instantly in the browser, no sign-up.
hesapciyiz.com
Spam Kalkanı
GüvenlikAndroid spam-call blocker (Turkey)
Android spam-call blocker tailored for Turkey. Auto-filters 0850 and known scam numbers. Privacy-first: calls are processed entirely on-device.
spamkalkani.com
İş Listesi
ÜretkenlikTurkish task manager — web & mobile, free
Turkish-first task management app. Web + iOS + Android, free and no sign-up. Microsoft To Do's practicality with Things 3's clean design. Privacy-first: no location, microphone or contacts access.
islistesi.com
GerçekVeri
VeriAnonymous Turkey data — salary, rent, bills
An anonymous data platform that collects real-life Turkey numbers (salary, rent, bills, fees) and compares them by city and position. No personal info asked, contribute in 30 seconds.
gercekveri.com
HRMarge
ÜretkenlikMulti-tenant time & attendance — multi-company, one panel
Modular multi-tenant time and attendance (PDKS) platform for Turkish companies. Manage multiple companies and branches from one panel; shift, overtime, leave workflows and PDKS device integrations work out of the box. Connects to payroll and ERP via API.
hrmarge.com
Blog Collection
What Do I Write?
Category Distribution
Last 12 Months Publishing Rhythm
Total 876 posts · average 73 posts/month
Recent
My Latest 3 Posts
To My 20-Year-Ago Self: 7 Things That Would Change My Career
With 20 years of system architecture experience, I share the turning points of my career and 7 things I wish I had known looking back. This is not advice, but…
Is a University Degree Still Necessary for Software?
With 20 years of system architecture experience, I examine the place of a university degree in the software world and its pragmatic realities.
3 Reasons to Build Your Own NAS Instead of Buying Synology
While the allure of ready-made NAS solutions is strong, building your own NAS system offers significant advantages in terms of cost, flexibility, and security.
My Working Principles
My Decision Frame
I make technology choices not for the trend, but for the business goal and operational reality.
For me, what matters is not just that the system runs, but that it can recover quickly when things break.
Security, performance and ease of maintenance are pieces of the same architecture that must be solved together.
I see software and infrastructure not as separate worlds, but as complementary layers of the same system.
What Sets Me Apart
Not One Layer, the Whole System
There are plenty of profiles in the industry who know networking but not software, who know software but have never seen operations, or who have built infrastructure but never internalized security. My difference is being able to read all these layers together.
My decisions are not just technically correct, they are also operationally realistic. I do not pick the "best design"; I pick the one that "stays standing in the field".
20+
Years in the Field
6
Specializations
∞
Curiosity
Journey
Timeline
Entering the Industry
My professional journey started on the system, network and infrastructure side. I gained my core operational reflexes during this period.
Going Deeper into Infrastructure and Operations
I focused on server installations, network topologies, service continuity and the realities of the field.
Enterprise Structures and Architectural Approach
I took on more responsibility on scale, redundancy, security and centralized management in larger systems.
Combining Software + Infrastructure
I deepened my software-side capabilities — automation, integration, platform interfaces — and merged them with infrastructure.
Architecture, Security and Large-Scale Systems
My focus today: building large systems, making decisions on the security and continuity axis, and turning complex infrastructures into something simple and manageable.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What areas are you available for consulting or collaboration?
System architecture, large-scale infrastructure design, network segmentation, enterprise security hardening, SRE / operations improvement, and AI-assisted automation projects. Instead of small, quick consultations, I focus on structures that produce real operational value.
Are your blog posts written by AI?
Since launch, this system has been a fully automated pipeline running every hour. I provide the persona and the context, the Gemini models produce the content, and posts that pass the validation layers get published. Right now the blog itself is the live example of the "AI + infrastructure" combination I keep talking about.
Why do you self-host?
The operational practice itself matters to me. The Astro + Node + SQLite + Nginx + systemd + Let's Encrypt chain that publishes my blog also reflects the disciplines I apply in the field: atomic deploy, daily backup, observability, change safety. It is a small model of the system I am trying to describe.
Your favorite tools?
It depends on context: at enterprise scale Terraform, Kubernetes and Prometheus earn their place; in my own projects radical leanness wins — this blog runs on a single VPS with Astro + Node + SQLite + Nginx. My common ground: iTerm + zsh, JetBrains, Claude Code and a multi-AI pipeline. For details, check my /uses page.
How can I get in touch?
You can message me directly via GitHub or LinkedIn. I try to reply within a few days to well-formed messages with clear context. For general technology talk, the comments under the posts are also open.
Contact
Shall we work together?
Reach out for architectural decisions, enterprise infrastructure design, security hardening or operational improvement projects. For short questions the comments under the posts are open; for more in-depth conversations LinkedIn is the fastest path.
Topics I am available for
- Enterprise infrastructure and architecture consulting
- Network segmentation and zero-trust transition
- SRE and operations discipline improvement
- AI-assisted automation pipeline design
- Not available for small, urgent ad-hoc consulting