As a cybersecurity student, I spend a lot of time analyzing complex infrastructures, auditing policies, and looking at how data flows securely across networks. But today, I’m turning the lens inward. As part of a mandatory requirement for this project, I want to take you behind the scenes and explain exactly how this website came to life, the tech stack behind it, and why I made certain design choices.
If you’ve ever wondered what powers this portfolio, here is the architectural breakdown.
The Infrastructure: Hosting and Domain Via Academic Software
Every website needs a home (hosting) and an address (the domain name). Because I am a student at Howest, I have access to Academic Software, a platform that provides students with licenses for various digital tools and services.
Through Academic Software, I was able to secure a student license for Combell, one of Belgium’s leading hosting providers.
- Domain Registration: My custom domain name was officially registered through Combell’s system.
- Web Hosting: Combell also provides the server infrastructure where all the files, blog posts, and images for this site securely live.
Using an industry-standard provider like Combell gave me a first-hand look at domain management, DNS configurations, and server provisioning—the foundational building blocks of the web.
The Platform: Content Management via WordPress
When it came to deciding how to build the site, I chose WordPress, the world’s most popular Content Management System (CMS). WordPress allows for a highly modular approach to web development, letting you separate the underlying code from the day-to-day content creation.
Design Choice: Function Over Form (Focusing on Content)
As a developer or IT student, it’s easy to get caught up in the “rabbit hole” of writing custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript from scratch. However, I made a very deliberate strategic decision for this project: I used a pre-formatted, clean WordPress site template.
Why? Because my primary goal for this website was to focus heavily on the content rather than the visual design.
In cybersecurity and GRC, communication is everything. I wanted to channel my time and energy into documenting my journey, sharing my internship projects at the CCB, writing about the tech meetups I attend, and highlighting the community building we do at Campus Stack. By leveraging a well-structured, pre-made layout, I could ensure the site was highly readable, professional, and accessible right out of the box, allowing me to do what I do best: share meaningful insights with the IT and security community.
The Final Blueprint
To summarize the tech stack:
- Domain & Hosting: Combell (via Howest Academic Software student license)
- CMS: WordPress
- Design Philosophy: Pre-formatted, content-first layout
Building this site was a great exercise in deploying an end-to-end web project, from domain registration to content management. Thanks for stopping by and checking out the results!
Questions about the setup? If you’re a fellow student trying to deploy your own site via Academic Software and need some help with the Combell integration, feel free to drop a comment below or reach out!