// header image

kubectl get engineer karsten -o yaml

apiVersion: cloud.karsten/v1
kind: Engineer
metadata:
name: karsten
namespace: freelance-prod
labels:
location: karlsruhe.de
type: Freiberufler
available: true
spec:
role: Freelance DevOps & Platform Engineer
experience: 10+ years
focus:
- Kubernetes & Platform Engineering
- Observability & SIEM
- GitOps & Infrastructure as Code
- Cloud & Security
clouds: [AWS, Azure, GCP]
status:
phase: Running
message: open to new engagements
ConfigMap about/karsten ns/about
name Karsten
location Karlsruhe, Germany
since Cloud & infra since 2015 · Freelance since 2022
legal Freiberufler (§18 EStG)
capacity 120–160 billable hours/month
bio Self-taught infrastructure engineer. Transitioned to cloud in 2015 across AWS, Azure and GCP. Since 2022 freelancing with a focus on platform engineering, Kubernetes, observability and GitOps. Currently running a long-term public sector SOC/SIEM platform project. I work best in technically challenging environments, value pragmatism over architecture astronautics, and genuinely enjoy collaborating to solve complex problems..
philosophy Start small. Automate everything. Leave it better than you found it.
Pods skills/tech-stack ns/skills
// Container & Orchestration
Kubernetes ████████████████████ expert
k3s / ECK ████████████████████ expert
Strimzi / Kafka ████████████████████ advanced
// Observability
Prometheus / Thanos ████████████████████ expert
Grafana ████████████████████ expert
Elasticsearch / Kibana ████████████████████ expert
Vector ████████████████████ advanced
// GitOps & Automation
ArgoCD ████████████████████ expert
Helm / Kustomize ████████████████████ expert
Terraform ████████████████████ advanced
Ansible ████████████████████ advanced
GitLab CI ████████████████████ advanced
// Security & Secrets
HashiCorp Vault ████████████████████ expert
cert-manager / PKI ████████████████████ expert
Keycloak / OIDC ████████████████████ advanced
Ext. Secrets Operator ████████████████████ expert
// Cloud Platforms
AWS ████████████████████ advanced
Azure ████████████████████ advanced
GCP ████████████████████ advanced
Deployments projects/active ns/projects
name status stack age
soc-siem-platform
Full platform build for a public sector SOC/SIEM — data ingestion at 400k events/sec, BSI-Grundschutz audit logging, GitOps-first operations. Lead engineer + team mentor.
 Running
k3s ECK Strimzi Vector ArgoCD Thanos Vault
2y+
BurnRate
Browser-only meeting cost timer SPA. No backend, no tracking. Enter headcount and seniority — watch money evaporate in real time.
 Building
SPA PWA HTML/CSS/JS
now
KafkaCalculator
Calculator for Kafka topic retention settings based on PVC size, throughput, and replication factor. No backend, runs in the browser.
 Running
Kafka SPA HTML/CSS/JS
new
karsten.cloud
This site. Static HTML/CSS, zero dependencies, terminal-inspired. Replaces WordPress.
 Building
HTML CSS Static
now
ReplicaSets experience/timeline ns/experience
2022 – present
Freelance IT Infrastructure, DevOps & Platform Engineer
Self-employed · Karlsruhe, Germany
Long-running public sector SOC/SIEM platform project as senior engineer. Airgapped Kubernetes platform migration, observability stack, GitOps workflows, security architecture and mentoring.
KubernetesArgoCDElasticsearchVaultPrometheusKafkaFreiberufler
pre-2022
Cloud & Infrastructure Consultant
Consultancy · Karlsruhe, Germany
Designed, deployed and operated cloud-native products and platforms for enterprise clients across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and on premises. Foundation for later specialisation in platform engineering and Kubernetes.
AWSAzureGCPIaC
2015
Cloud transition
Career pivot
Left Windows client administration, moved into cloud. Started on AWS, expanded to Azure and GCP. Self-taught throughout — no formal CS degree, a lot of production hands-on.
AWSself-taught
Service contact/karsten ns/contact
◎ location Karlsruhe, Germany · remote-first
◎ availability Open to new engagements · 120–160 h/month
◎ call cal.com/karsten-cloud/15min
◎ web karsten.cloud
⎆ Schedule a call ↓ Download CV