Updated: June 22nd, 2011

Objective
To obtain a position that utilizes my technical skills and abilities, while allowing me to acquire and use new skills within my field.

Skills/Competencies

•  Ten years experience in the installation and administration of Linux and Windows based operating systems offering a wide array of different network related services.

•  Intimate knowledge of many communication services, protocols, and related hardware.

•  Experience in a technical managerial position involving supervising others, hiring, delegating tasks, handling customer inquiries, organizing team meetings, and training employees.

•  Capable of working on multiple complex projects simultaneously.  

•  RedHat Certified Engineer

•  VMWare Certified Professional

•  Familiar with implementing monitoring systems including Nagios, Zabbix, MRTG, and Monit.

Employment History

Performed customer care and Linux/Solaris system administration for a co-location/dedicated Fortune 500 company. Responsible for maintaining and coordinating maintenance in multiple data-centers.

• Install and configures software requested by customers.

• Acts in a supervisory capacity for shift, overseeing workload distribution, quality, and timely escalations.

• Works with management to develop and refine division wide processes, procedures, and technical documentation.

• Coordinate technical tasks to be completed by/with other groups.

• Monitors customer and internal systems and responds to generated alerts.

• Installed, configured, and troubleshooted Veritas Netbackup clients.

• Utilized a wide array of knowledge to troubleshoot customer's websites: (coding, dns, apache, network configuration)

• Administered systems with RHEL 3.x,4.x, and 5.x; Solaris 8,9, and 10; VMware ESX and VI4

• Performed hardware troubleshooting tasks, delegating repair tasks to data center technicians.

• Assisted data center technicians with provisioning and configuration tasks.

Operated an independent computer service business for over five years providing network, server, and workstation support to business clients in wide array of business environments. Additionally, maintained business' network, including Linux and Windows servers, workstations, and firewall.

•  Implemented several monitoring systems for customers network and devices.

•  Developed a virtualized application server environment with automated backup and failover capabilities for a 10-person office that previously had no dedicated server.

•  Actively administered separate Linux and BSD Unix servers providing email, web hosting, Radius, and DNS services to approximately 300 end-users on an ongoing basis.  Additionally implementing upgrades and repairs as needed.

•  Converted and maintained a small office from a failing Windows 2000 server to a Linux based file storage system.

•  Developed and maintained a campground wide network including access points and a customized firewall solution.

•  Engineered and deployed a robust, scalable backbone system for two separate wireless ISPs in rural, mountainous terrain.

Was hired on to design, implement, and maintain all services and software needed to create a reliable dial-up Internet service.

• Designed and configured RADIUS authentication server using SQL back-end, additionally configuring system to work properly with outside vendor's radius requirements.

• Created a high availability mail server using external Dell Power Vault RAID 5 storage, hot-swappable servers, and BSD Unix jails.

• Configured and maintained primary and secondary email servers using Qmail and a MySQL backend.

• Developed shell scripts to simply common Linux administration tasks, as well as automating recurring maintenance activities.

• Configured and maintained Apache web servers for virtual hosting customers as well as internal support web sites.

• Developed a complete accounting and customer support system in PHP, Perl, and SQL allowing administrators, resellers, and customers to manage their accounts through a web interface. System handled all aspects of customer accounts, including customer sign-up, server provisioning, credit card authorizations, automated invoicing, and reseller commissions.

Duties included installing, hardening, and administrating RADIUS authentication servers, mail servers, LDAP databases, web servers, FTP servers, and SQL databases all on a variety of Linux based operating systems. Developed numerous scripts and utilities to assist in billing, system administration, and system security. Configured, purchased, and installed Dell Power Edge servers and workstations.

Completed the following major tasks:

• Supervised, interviewed, hired, and trained customer support technicians, growing the original five member team to over 20 technicians over a period of two years. Additionally handled scheduling, performance reviews, disciplinary actions, termination, starting wages, and wage increases on a regular basis.

• As the technical support team grew, selected and trained lead technicians and support supervisors.

• Configured and maintained Apache web servers for virtual web hosting customers and Allegheny Intel's primary web site.

• Developed a customer support web application in SQL and Perl for the technical support and accounting departments. This application became a core business component, used for tracking every interaction with the customer including sign-up, trouble tickets, payments, transactions, and requests.

• Configured a Linux based LDAP directory of over 40,000 users and implemented a system to authenticate users against this directory through the RADIUS protocol.

• Configured and maintained primary and secondary email servers using Postfix with an LDAP backend.

• Configured supplement Sendmail based mail servers to process internal email before sending to our upstream Postfix based server.

• Developed shell scripts to simply common Linux administration tasks, as well as automating recurring maintenance activities.

• Deployment of a fault tolerance solution for the mail system involving a detached RAID 5 disk array and an automatic migration to a hot-spare server saving hours of downtime over a period of several years

• Configured a web-based graphical network and local server monitoring system based on the SNMP protocol and the MRTG project.

• Configured, maintained and troubleshooted a Trip Wire Intrusion Detection System, establishing the server system and deploying clients to monitor for any possible intrusions or abnormal system behavior.

• Configured and maintained Cisco 7600 and 2600 routers, AS5400 and 5300 access servers.

• Configured and maintained a centralized backup server utilizing an external Dell Tape drive.

• Worked with high level personnel to develop training schedules in order to meet annual training requirements. Additionally, responsible for ensuring that the training needs of the individual Marines in our unit had been met.

• Developed and maintained current embarkation plans for unit, including inventory information, transportation logistics, as well as shipping and packing procedures. Provided embarkation, logistical, and disembarkation support for multiple overseas deployments.

• During a seven month period, operated and maintained an Internet communications center in Fallujah, Iraq under extreme conditions.

Education

• 1998-2001 Allegany College of Maryland
  Computer Science, Programming Elective

• 1995-1999 Bedford County Technical Center
  Electronics Technology, Computer Maintenance

• 1993-1999 Northern Bedford High School
  General Education, Technical Electives