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Compute Central

Compute Central is a practical DevOps, cloud, platform, AI engineering, and SRE knowledge base built around real infrastructure work.

Use it to learn, revise, and apply topics such as Linux, containers, Kubernetes, CI/CD, Terraform, Ansible, monitoring, troubleshooting, system design, and AI-assisted engineering. The focus is simple: explain concepts clearly, show how they work in practice, and connect them to day-to-day operations.

Compute Central DevOps knowledge hub

110+ Guides and lab-tested chapters

10 Learning tracks, foundations to production

2016 Notes and lessons collected since

The path through this site

flowchart LR
    A[Foundations] --> B[Docker & containers]
    B --> C[Kubernetes & OpenShift]
    C --> D[Automation: Ansible & scripts]
    D --> E["CI/CD: Jenkins & SonarQube"]
    E --> F[Observability & SRE]
    F --> G[System design]
    G --> H[AI engineering]
    classDef stage1 fill:#dbeafe,stroke:#2563eb,color:#172554
    classDef stage2 fill:#dcfce7,stroke:#16a34a,color:#14532d
    classDef stage3 fill:#fef3c7,stroke:#d97706,color:#78350f
    classDef stage4 fill:#fce7f3,stroke:#db2777,color:#831843
    class A,B stage1
    class C,D stage2
    class E,F stage3
    class G,H stage4

Most readers move left to right, but every section stands on its own — jump straight to the track you need.

Start Here

Docker and Linux Containers A from-first-principles course: namespaces, cgroups, OCI runtimes, networking, storage, and Docker workflows.

Kubernetes and OpenShift Learn core concepts, OpenShift operations, labs, troubleshooting, and quick-reference commands.

Ansible Automation A book-length series: fundamentals, playbooks and roles, core internals, the enterprise platform, and production scale.

CI/CD and Code Quality Set up Jenkins pipelines, SonarQube checks, and deployment workflows that are easier to review and operate.

SonarQube Install, configure, and wire SonarQube into Jenkins with quality gates that actually get enforced.

Monitoring and SRE Use Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, Loki, and troubleshooting patterns to understand system health.

System Design Platform-engineering system design: CI/CD platforms, Kubernetes platforms, observability, and multi-environment delivery.

AI Engineering Understand LLM fundamentals, AI agents, evaluation, and practical model workflows for technical teams.

Terraform Infrastructure as code fundamentals, core concepts, and common interview questions.

Shell Scripts Practical automation scripts and patterns for everyday operations work.

What You Will Find

  • Step-by-step guides for common DevOps and SRE tasks
  • Kubernetes, OpenShift, Docker, Terraform, Ansible, Jenkins, and SonarQube notes
  • Monitoring and troubleshooting workflows for production-style systems
  • Architecture and system design references for platform engineering
  • AI engineering notes that connect models, retrieval, tools, evaluation, and operations
  • Scripts, examples, and checklists that are easy to adapt

Learning Paths

Pick the goal closest to yours — each tab is a short, ordered route through the material.

Start with the Docker and Linux Containers course, then move to Kubernetes fundamentals.

Try the Minikube lab, the Docker Desktop lab, or the Podman lab.

Read the Ansible book series — jump straight to playbooks — and pair it with shell scripts.

Set up Jenkins, add SonarQube quality gates, then wire in Kubernetes CI/CD.

Stand up the monitoring stack, review Kubernetes troubleshooting, and study system design.

Start with the AI Engineering Guide, then LLM fundamentals and AI evaluation.

How to Use This Site

Start with the topic you need, then follow the examples in a local or test environment before using them in production. Most pages are written to help you understand the reason behind each step, not just copy a command and move on.

Best way to learn

Read the short explanation first, run the example safely, then write down what changed and why it worked.

Production reminder

Always review commands, credentials, namespaces, and environment names before running anything against shared or production systems.

Browse every section

About Sameer Alam

I’m Sameer Alam, a DevOps Engineer and SRE practitioner focused on reliable, automated, observable, and secure systems.

My work includes infrastructure design, deployment automation, monitoring, incident response, platform operations, and simplifying complex workflows for teams.

I started documenting my learning in 2016. Compute Central brings those notes, experiments, and real-world lessons into one organized place.