Hybrid Identity
Active Directory, Entra ID, domain join, authentication flow, group membership, password-change behavior, and identity troubleshooting.
Infrastructure • Networking • Identity • Root Cause
Light in the dark fiber.
I’m Joshua C. McDonald — an infrastructure and network analyst focused on Active Directory, Entra ID, routing, switching, documentation, and turning messy symptoms into clear root cause.
Breaker of broadcast storms
Enemy of stale DNS
Supreme Commander of All Packets
About
Technical enough for the packet path. Practical enough for the business impact.
I work across infrastructure, networking, identity, endpoints, vendors, and support operations. My lane is the messy middle: where authentication, DNS, routing, switching, cloud identity, documentation, and user impact all collide.
I specialize in finding the real failure beneath the symptoms, documenting it clearly, and helping teams move from “something is broken” to a fixable action plan.
Focus Areas
Where I do damage control.
Networking
Routing, switching, VLANs, wireless, ports, uplinks, segmentation, and the eternal question: “where does the packet actually go?”
Infrastructure
Servers, virtualization, storage, firewalls, backups, site support, documentation, vendor handoffs, and operational continuity.
Automation & Support Tools
PowerShell reporting, repair workflows, endpoint investigation, repeatable checks, and scripts that reduce repetitive support pain.
Portfolio
Sanitized case studies.
No internal IPs, no private screenshots, no vendor drama. Just the kind of work that shows judgment.
Diagnosing Hybrid Identity Failures
Mapped user-facing sign-in symptoms to domain controller discovery, password-change behavior, cloud sync timing, and authentication dependencies.
- Translated scattered incidents into a coherent failure pattern.
- Created validation steps for escalation and vendor review.
- Focused on business impact: email, files, apps, and production support.
Troubleshooting Network Access in Segmented Environments
Worked through endpoint visibility, VLAN behavior, switchport state, authentication paths, and physical-layer assumptions.
- Compared expected topology against observed behavior.
- Used practical testing to isolate bad assumptions.
- Documented risk and next steps without overcomplicating the fix.
Keeping Multi-Site Infrastructure Usable
Supported distributed environments with servers, switches, firewalls, Wi-Fi, virtualization, storage, and business-critical operations.
- Balanced daily support with modernization work.
- Coordinated vendors and internal stakeholders.
- Improved documentation and operational clarity.
Experience
Built from real-world IT, not lab-perfect diagrams.
2025 — Present
IT Coordinator / Infrastructure & Network Operations
Manufacturing IT operations, identity support, network troubleshooting, endpoint support, vendor coordination, and escalation documentation.
2021 — 2024
Network Administration & Systems Support
Multi-site infrastructure, firewall and switch environments, virtualization, storage, wireless, support operations, and documentation.
2009 — 2021
Infrastructure, Operations, Consulting & Support
Progressive IT roles across enterprise, education, manufacturing, and consulting environments.