Infrastructure operator.
Systems builder.
I’m Virgil Schwake. I build and operate real-world infrastructure: from early hosting at scale to building datacenter environments, internal platforms, and operational maturity that holds under pressure.
COO at Cloudnium — building datacenters, hosting platforms, and the systems behind them.
COO · Licensed Contractor · Executive Advisory
What I’m known for
Operational engineering: build → run → refine systems in production.
Infrastructure: datacenters, redundancy, power/rack density, storage + network design.
Systems: internal platforms, automation, quote-to-cash workflows.
Maturity: SOC 2 + ISO 27001 readiness as a byproduct of operations.
Construction & facilities: Licensed contractor in Wisconsin with practical build experience.
Executive advisory: C-suite consulting and operational strategy since 2023.
Started
1999
Operational engineering 27+ years
Scale
20,000 customers
Hosting by age 15.
Exits
2016 / 2020
Hosting/DDoS + retail base.
Mode
Builder-Operator
Ship outcomes, not theory.
What I build
I build systems that work when it matters: infrastructure you can grow, workflows you can trust, and operations you can audit.
Infrastructure
Datacenters, redundancy, power/rack density, AI/HPC hosting environments.
Systems
Internal platforms, automation, quote-to-cash workflows, dashboards.
Storage & networking
Ceph/ZFS patterns, performance reality, BGP thinking, practical resiliency.
Operational maturity
SOC 2 / ISO 27001 readiness built into daily operations.
Construction & facilities
Licensed contractor (WI). Physical build experience that informs datacenter design, power planning, and real-world constraints.
C-suite advisory
Executive-level consulting since 2023: infrastructure strategy, operational scaling, cost modeling, and risk alignment.
Builder arc
- 1999: started building for fun; turned into systems thinking.
- 2005: grew hosting to 20,000 customers and 1m+ revenue.
- 2011: started and ran a computer store.
- 2012: started and ran a ddos protection company.
- 2016: managed and operated a loan company.
- 2016: sold hosting + DDoS ventures.
- 2020: sold retail customer base and closed the store.
- 2023: started offering executive level consulting.
- Now: building datacenter infrastructure and operational platforms.
Featured writing
Technical depth and infrastructure philosophy.
June 22, 2026
Datacenters Can Be Good Neighbors
Datacenters do not have to create community problems when they are planned, powered, cooled, and operated responsibly.
February 4, 2026
Systems Don’t Fail the Way You Think They Do
Most outages aren’t caused by catastrophic events. They’re caused by small design assumptions compounding under scale.
February 1, 2026
Compliance Without the Theater
How to make SOC 2 and ISO 27001 a byproduct of real operations instead of a paperwork exercise.