Justin Van der Werff

Intro

I'm Justin, an IT guy from the Netherlands. I got into tech the way most people probably shouldn't. At a young age I took apart my dad's computer. With a hammer. It stopped working, obviously, but it got me hooked.

Since 2016 I've been working at different companies and internships, picking up a lot along the way. Hardware repairs, cloud setups, networking, servers. I like working with all of it. The messier the problem, the more interesting it gets.

Here's where I've worked and what I've been up to.

Work

IT is what I do and honestly what I enjoy most. Through different jobs and internships I've worked with a lot of different things:

• Windows 7, 8.1, 10 and 11
• Firewalls and VPN tunnels, mainly Sophos UTM
• Windows Server 2016, 2022 and 2025
• Setting up and configuring servers from scratch
• VoIP telephony
• Microsoft Azure and Intune

Right now I work at Incito ICT en Telecom as IT Helpdesk and System Administrator. Most of my work is Microsoft-based, mainly Intune and Entra ID, managing devices and users for different clients.

Outside of work I also volunteer at Digikids Rijnwoude where I help teach kids how IT works in real life. I set up a server for it so they actually get to do things hands-on, which is kind of the whole point.

I also help out at CoderDojo Leiden, where kids learn to code and build things. Same idea, just show up, help out, and let them figure stuff out themselves.

About

I'm from the Netherlands and basically grew up tinkering. If something had screws, I wanted to open it.

Outside of regular work I spend a lot of time doing hardware repairs. One thing that got interesting: DJI drone batteries. Most people just throw them away when they stop working, but with the right software you can reset the battery chip and get them running again. I got pretty good at it and it turned into a small side thing.

I also volunteer at Digikids Rijnwoude teaching kids IT basics, which is a nice change from the usual work stuff. Seeing it actually click for them is pretty cool.

Feel free to hit me up on LinkedIn if you want to connect.

Skills

Here's a rundown of what I've picked up over the years, both at work and on my own.

• Laptops and desktops
• Servers and workstations
• Apple Macs, MacBooks, and iPhones
• Samsung smartphones
• Printers
• DJI battery repair and chip resetting
• 3D printing
• Bosch motor diagnoses

• Microsoft Intune and Entra ID
• Windows Server management
• VoIP systems
• Networking and firewall configuration
• Security camera systems

Certifications

Certs and licenses I've picked up over the years.

Downloads

Stuff you can view or download. More might get added here over time.

Homelab

The network starts with a dedicated Sophos UTM 9 firewall appliance handling all traffic, DNS filtering, VPN and intrusion detection. A Sophos XG on a cloud VPS connects back via an IPSec tunnel so services are exposed safely without opening ports at home. Local switching runs through a Unifi 24-port managed switch with VLAN segmentation and a Unifi Lite AP for wireless.

Running a homelab means being responsible for your own data. Everything follows the 3-2-1 rule: three copies of the data, on two different media, with one stored offsite. Veeam Agent Free handles all automated backup jobs across the infrastructure.

No formal IT class. No degree on the wall. What I have instead is a homelab that forced me to learn everything by doing it, breaking it and doing it again until it worked. It started with a spare machine and a question about what a hypervisor actually does. Then one thing kept pulling the next one in.

Today it runs real infrastructure. The Voltec Systems websites deploy through Coolify on that main server. Tickets go through osTicket. Files live in Nextcloud. Things break at inconvenient times and every single failure teaches something no classroom ever would. That is the whole point.

Elements

i = 0;

while (!deck.isInOrder()) {
    print 'Iteration ' + i;
    deck.shuffle();
    i++;
}

print 'It took ' + i + ' iterations to sort the deck.';