Master Server Side Craft withiximiuz Labs 🚀
iximiuz [ eg-zim-ee-uhs ] — from Latin eximius, meaning "eminent, outstanding, excellent."
iximiuz Labs is an indie learning-by-doing platform created by Ivan Velichko.
For the past five years, Ivan has been helping thousands of people improve their skills and become outstanding DevOps, SRE, and Platform Engineers. This platform is his most ambitious attempt to make the learning process more fun, interactive, and efficient.
to practice
signed up
launched
What iximiuz Labs Offers
- Remote Playgrounds - Experiment with Linux, Networking, Docker, and Kubernetes.
- Hands-on Tutorials - Learn by doing with bite-sized step-by-step guides.
- DevOps Challenges - Hone your skills by solving practical problems.
- Self-paced Courses - Master new technologies one lesson at a time.
- Skill Paths & Roadmaps - Follow curated learning paths for more guided experience.
At the core of iximiuz Labs is its Playground Engine, a Firecracker-powered microVM orchestrator that transforms a fleet of bare-metal servers into numerous small, isolated, and disposable sandboxes called Playgrounds.
The Playgrounds are ideal for free-form experimentation from the browser or local terminal, and they also serve as the foundation for other types of content, such as Tutorials, Challenges, and Courses.
The second key component of the platform is the Interactive Content Engine, which creates a feedback loop between a playground and the learning material on the page.
Tutorials, challenges, and courses use interactive content blocks that react to the user's actions in the playground. In tutorials and courses, these blocks help explain new concepts and provide step-by-step guidance. In challenges, they indicate the correctness of the user's solution.
How To Use iximiuz Labs
- 🧪 Practice in Playgrounds - Remote sandbox environments for free-form exploration of Linux, networking, containers, Kubernetes, and related technologies.
- 📖 Learn with Tutorials - Traditional long-form articles with clear diagrams, reproducible instructions, and interactive blocks - augmented by Playgrounds.
- 🏆 Solve Challenges - LeetCode/HackerRank-styled problems but for DevOps tasks - with auto-grading, hints, and explanatory solutions.
- 📚 Enrol in Courses - Theoretical lessons intermixed with hands-on exercises to cover broader topics in depth.
- 🛠️ Follow Skill Paths - Highly focused learning sequences to develop or improve specific DevOps skills.
- 🗺️ Explore Roadmaps - Comprehensive learning paths to master entire domains or technologies.
We know firsthand that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to learning. That's why each part of iximiuz Labs is designed to support you at every stage of your journey.
The best way to build proficiency is through practice in a realistic yet safe environment - that's exactly what Playgrounds provide. With just a one click, you can get a Linux VM, Docker, or even a multi-node Kubernetes cluster ready in seconds, letting you experiment freely without risking your host system.
When you're looking to deepen your understanding with theory, our Tutorials and Courses offer clear explanations to help you grasp even the most nuanced topics.
For a more structured approach, Skill Paths and Roadmaps offer carefully curated, step-by-step guidance, so you always know exactly where you're headed next.
Finally, when you want to put your skills to the test, our interactive Challenges simulate real-world scenarios, helping you apply your knowledge through practical, hands-on exercises.
From the Author
Hi there! It's Ivan, the creator of iximiuz Labs.
Since 2019, through my blog and newsletter, I've published more than 100 articles on Containers, Kubernetes, Linux, Networking, and Programming. I've also created several open source projects and spent countless hours answering questions on Twitter, Discord, and other platforms. All with a single goal: to help people master the Server Side craft.
A couple of years ago, when iximiuz.com started gaining traction, my dream evolved. I wanted to augment my static writing with a more dynamic experience - giving readers the ability to spin up carefully crafted remote sandbox environments right in their browser to experiment with Linux, Docker, and Kubernetes without needing to install anything on their local machines. This dream eventually led to the creation of iximiuz Labs.
The platform uses a Freemium model with a generous free tier. A large part of the content is (and will remain) free, and only a single-click signup is required to access the playgrounds. However, on the free tier, the daily playground time, the microVM's resources, and Internet egress traffic are significantly limited. This serves two purposes: keeps bots away and also incentivizes the most serious students to become premium members.
With iximiuz Labs Premium students get unlimited daily playtime, more powerful microVMs, and unrestricted Internet egress, allowing them to experiment with a much wider set of technologies in much more permissive environments. Trust me, you will notice the difference even if you find the free tier already good.
I'm a full-time engineer and I build and maintain iximiuz Labs in my spare time, often during late evenings and weekends. The moral support and feedback from the community have been enormous and have kept me motivated to continue working on the platform for almost two years now. However, the only way for iximiuz Labs to continue to exist and grow in the long run is by making its development sustainable. Every purchase of iximiuz Labs Premium is a vote of confidence in my work and a contribution to the platform's bright future 🚀
