Behind every smooth-running server is a team of dedicated experts working hard to keep websites online and customers happy. Today, we’re shining the spotlight on one of Hostek’s long-time members of Staff. In this month’s employee spotlight, I will speak with Caleb Combites from the cPanel team so our readers and Hostek users can get to know more about the people behind the work.
Join us as we get to know the man behind the terminal window and learn what makes him such a valuable part of the Hostek team.
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Q&A with Caleb
Q: First, let’s just start off with the basics. What’s your role at this company and how long have you worked at Hostek?
Caleb: I’m a Linux administrator with the cPanel team and I’ve been with Hostek for the past 16 years.
Tasha – “ Wow, that is awesome!”
Q: So what do you do with your spare time? Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Caleb: Well, I’m 42, married with two kids. One’s 15, the other’s 2. Yeah, I know I kind of started up again when one kid was almost out of the house. I went to school as an aviation maintenance technician or AMT, which is another term would be an A&P mechanic. So an aviation mechanic is what I went to school for. And sure, it’s not really in the tech field, but troubleshooting is all the same once you know the system.
Tasha – “Yeah, I can agree there”
Q: Do you have any hobbies outside of work that you want to tell us about?
Caleb: Yeah, I do a lot of outdoor water activities, mainly like fishing, canoeing, kayaking, but I also spend a lot of time with my two kids and wife. We go shooting quite a bit, and I do a lot of gaming on computer or board games.
Q: Oh, shooting, that’s cool. What’s your favorite type of thing to shoot?
Caleb: It’s mainly shooting targets, but I used to do hunting when I was younger as a kid, but me and my wife like to go out and do some shooting with our pistols.
Tasha – “I remember I went to a gun range when I was really young, and I got to shoot a shotgun, and I got to shoot a Glock 9. I remember thinking guns are way harder to shoot than I ever thought they would be. The movies lied to us.”
Caleb- “ I grew up shooting muzzle loaders, lever action rifles, some bolt action rifles, like a British 303 or a 30-30 carbine from like World War II and World War I. My dad was heavy into Civil War reenacting, so I got to shoot like a Springfield 1863 model with live ammunition. And I did a lot of different stuff as far as in that, let alone had some fun with cannons as a kid as well.”
Tasha– “Wow! That sounds like a really cool past and sounds like you have a lot of hobbies.”
Q: So, let’s get back to Hostek. What do you enjoy most about working at Hostek?
Caleb: Just in the tech field by itself, I just enjoy troubleshooting. It’s just something that I’ve always found fun, fixing things. So it’s just something that I’ve always enjoyed as a kid. Even as a kid, I took things apart. My mom usually got mad at me because I didn’t always get to put them back together, but I usually got a good understanding of how things actually operated, so.
Tasha – “Yeah, that’s actually a common story with a lot of the interviews I’ve had so far is people are really curious. They like to kind of take things apart, gadget by gadget. I myself used to take my little radio apart and try to understand how it’s making music. So I can definitely resonate with that.”
Q: All right, now when it comes to hosting, what’s a common hosting misconception that you wish more people understood?
Caleb: I’d have to say it’d be the importance of actual troubleshooting because being able to go through the process of elimination and narrowing down the cause of an issue allows for being able to get it actually up and running a lot quicker, let alone like in different industries, they’ve got some people that are called like a parts replacer and a troubleshooter. If you’re a parts replacer, you’ll receive like an actual issue and then you just start replacing parts, not knowing whether or not it’s gonna fix the issue until you actually fix it. While others, you actually diagnose the issue, be able to identify the problem and get it up and running again with limited resources.
Tasha – “That’s cool, I like those two distinctions. Thank you for that.”
Q: All right, Caleb, what got you interested in technology and servers?
Caleb: I’ve actually always been interested, as I’m old enough to experience things like Windows 3.1 and Commodore 64 systems. Let alone I learned to type with an electronic typewriter. I got into coding doing Half-Life mods with games and eventually into Linux systems and learning their architecture. I’m just one of those rare self-taught, learning-hands-on people.
Tasha – “Nice. Thank you for sharing that. Next, let’s do a little quick rapid fire round, one or the other, just to kind of give our readers a little bit more info about you.”
Q: Are you a dark mode or light mode operator?
Caleb: Dark mode.
Tasha – “ Hey that’s good on the battery!”
Q: Are you into coffee or tea?
Caleb: Both actually, cause I switch between the two.
Q: Early bird or night owl? I think I already know the answer but for our readers.
Caleb: Yeah, night owl, since I’m night shift.
Tasha – “Right, right. I knew you work the night shift and I am a night owl myself. I think I stay up so late sometimes that I actually do get to enjoy the mornings because I get to see them right before I go to bed.”
Q: Cat or dogs?
Caleb: Both, I have three dogs and two cats.
Tasha – “Now you just need 1 more cat to balance it out! Lord knows there is plenty of them out there.”
Q: What are the cats like? Are they a boy and girl? Are they Tabbies?
Caleb: All my pets are females.
Tasha – “Oh, all girls at the ladies club, okay.”
Caleb – “Yeah, I’m outnumbered.”
Q: Is there any news or important cPanel notes that you wanted our viewers and readers to know?
Caleb: Pretty much, we’ve just mainly been keeping everything up to date as far as on our servers and pushing out updates as far as globally, so making sure everything stays in their top shape.
Tasha- “Wonderful, yeah, we definitely encourage our readers to make sure that all of your applications and things are always up to date. And we try to do that as well, especially for our shared environments. We do give the leeway to VPS users to go ahead and kind of determine when they want to update. But with our shared servers, our admins keep the stuff up to date as much as possible. So we appreciate you guys keeping up with that.”
Q: And before we go, is there any last words you want to tell our wonderful users and readers at Hostek?
Caleb: Nope.
Tasha – “All right! Thank you so much, Caleb for sitting down — or technically just speaking with me here. We look forward to you having great things in store for the cPanel team. I hope you have a good rest of your night.”
Caleb – “Yep, I’ll try.”
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New to Hostek Family or looking for Reliable cPanel Hosting?
Now that you’ve met one of the experts helping keep our systems running smoothly, let’s talk about the services Caleb and the cPanel team help support every day.
Whether you’re launching your first website, managing multiple client accounts, or running resource-intensive applications, Hostek offers cPanel solutions designed to make website management simple and reliable.
Shared cPanel VPS Hosting
Perfect for website owners who want the familiar power of cPanel without the complexity of server administration. Our shared cPanel hosting plans provide an easy-to-use control panel, reliable performance, and expert support whenever you need it.
Full-Control cPanel VPS Hosting
Need more resources and flexibility? Our Full-Control cPanel VPS Hosting gives you dedicated server resources with the convenience of cPanel and the peace of mind that comes from having experienced administrators helping maintain your environment.
AI-Powered Solutions
We’re also helping customers explore the future with Hostek AI solutions. Whether you’re interested in AI-powered tools, automation, or new ways to improve productivity, our AI offerings are designed to help businesses leverage emerging technology without the complexity. Including making a website in minutes with our cPanel ai hosting plan!
Why Hostek?
At Hostek, our technology is backed by real people who genuinely enjoy solving problems. Team members like Caleb bring years of hands-on experience and a passion for troubleshooting that helps ensure our customers receive dependable service and knowledgeable support.
Ready to get started? Explore our cPanel hosting and AI solutions and discover why businesses have trusted Hostek for reliable hosting for decades.
https://hostek.com/hosting/cpanel/vps/cpanel-vps-hosting
Thanks for Stopping By!
A big thank you to Caleb for taking the time to share a little about his life, hobbies, and experience on the Hostek cPanel team. We love giving our readers a chance to meet the people working behind the scenes to keep websites running smoothly.
We hope you enjoyed this month’s Employee Spotlight and learned something new about one of the talented team members who help make Hostek what it is. Be sure to check back for future spotlights, hosting tips, company updates, and industry insights.
All the Best!
– from Tasha and the whole Hostek Team!
Joke of the Month!
Q:Why was the computer late to work?
A: It had a hard drive.