As a cybersecurity or IT professional, keeping your skills up to date is paramount. There are a lot of resources out there when it comes to training, but I think the best way to train yourself is to build something from scratch. What you build doesn't have to be advanced his XDR, it can be something simple like what I'm working on. The technology on a fundamental level hasn't really changed. New security solutions emerge every day that essentially work the same way. Building simpler projects based on more complex production-ready products is a great way to learn how security/IT solutions work, and this learning process Applicable to new products.
Building the Purple Teaming Lab is what I decided to do during my layoff. Rather than sit around and wait for something to happen and allow my skills to dull, I decided to take the initiative to grow as a person and as a professional. This home lab has helped me stay patient and disciplined when problems are difficult to solve or troubleshoot.
Building tenacity is the key to becoming a good problem solver.
I used the classic troubleshooting technique of knowing where I was in the OSI layer and moving up or down the stack depending on the type of problem I needed to solve. For example, last night I couldn't figure out why my Windows 2019 Server DC couldn't connect to the internet. I noticed that my network adapter had a red x on it. I started troubleshooting at layer 3 (networking/routing) and was able to ping the AD-DC gateway, but apparently not the DC. This turns out to be a layer 1 or layer 2 issue since the adapter is not available on Windows DC either. After some research, I needed to install a Proxmox-specific network driver for my Windows guest. After loading and installing the driver ISO into the VM, the network adapter came online and I was finally able to ping the DC.
When I was able to solve a problem, no matter how big or small, it was a victory and it kept me motivated to continue on this path of self-discipline.
Part 1 describes the required hardware, initial setup, and network configuration with Proxmox.
