About PacketLife.net

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

Mark Twain

Hi. My name is Jeremy Stretch, and I'm a network engineer. This is my web site. I started Packet Life back in March of 2008 when I deployed to Iraq as a defense contractor after fulfilling my enlistment as a 3C251 in the US Air Force. Initially, I just wanted a place to record my notes while studying for Cisco's CCNP certification, and I figured a blog would be a great way to record my progress and share with others what I'd learned.

Over time, the blog became somewhat popular. Over more time, it became really popular (for an independent networking blog, I mean). Way more popular than I had ever anticipated. I stuck with the blog through my tour in Iraq and my return stateside, through several jobs, through marrying the woman of my dreams, and I continue writing to this day. It has become an invaluable component of my career, connecting me with people who I otherwise might never have had the opportunity to meet, and pushing me to overcome challenges against which I might otherwise have relented.

Over time the blog has grown to include other resources which continue to attract fellow networkers. The site sees upward of a hundred thousand visitors per month, people scattered all over the globe. I'm continually amazed at the expressions of appreciation I receive, and proud that I can in some small way contribute to the industry which has given me so much.

I hope you find the resources here useful, and please let me know if there's something you think I can improve upon. Thanks for reading!

stretch

How It All Works

Web Framework

Django | Python

Server Hosting

DigitalOcean

Code Revision Control

Bitbucket | git

Email

Fastmail | Mailjet

Statistics

Google Analytics | AWStats

Code Editor

JetBrains PyCharm