SUMMARY:

• Linux specialist with several years professional experience as a technical support engineer for computer software firms. Highly familiar with a broad range of Linux (primarily Debian/Ubuntu and RedHat/CentOS, some others) and UNIX (AIX, HP - UX and Solaris) operating system software. Broad exposure to business networks ranging from small offices up through large enterprise. Possess a Masters Degree in Computer/Information Science.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Confidential, Rochester, NY

Technical Support Expert

Responsibilities:

• Supported a fleet of over 40,000 Ubuntu Linux-based backup and disaster recovery appliances deployed by Managed Service Provider business partners into SMB environments.
• Tasks included replacement of failed/failing disks, hardware diagnostics, hardware upgrade projects, resolving backup failures, managing retention consistent with available storage.
• Proficient with ZFS, a hybrid filesystem/LVM framework ported from Solaris, including zpool management, zfs snapshots, clones, rollbacks, send/receive replication.
• Worked with an additional fleet of 2,000+ Ubuntu servers across multiple datacenters for cloud data replication and offsite DR virtualization.
• Used Linux iptables, ISC dhcpd, OpenVPN, routing tables, VirtualBox and similar tools to replicate client networks and servers within cloud VLANs for continuity/DR purposes.
• Image-based restore from server backups to replacement hardware or to hypervisor.
• Troubleshooting status of Linux services, cron tasks, replicating UI and back-end defects.
• Implementing common manual procedures and one-off workarounds from Linux shell via SSH.
• Contributed shell scripts to team library including automation of device migration process.
• Debian-based package management (apt, dpkg).
• 80% of workday spent in Linux command line.

Confidential, Rochester, NY

Technical Support Manager

Responsibilities:

• Supported an enterprise software product implemented in Java and deployed by universities for online course delivery.
• Utilized Microsoft IIS or Apache httpd (depending on platform) and Apache Tomcat as a web application stack on multiple platforms (primarily Windows or RedHat, occasionally Solaris).
• Reviewed Java stack traces in web application, Tomcat and catalina logs, correlated to internal knowledge resources and past tickets to determine cause of application failures (often module version incompatibilities) and identify solutions.
• Assisted with integration to course enrollment and student/faculty directory-type data sources including BANNER, OpenLDAP and similar via standard protocols for both data import and authentication purposes.

Confidential, Sunnyvale, CA

Consultant, Professional Services

Responsibilities:

• Worked with enterprise customers to deploy Confidential 's range of Linux-based (RedHat/CentOS-derived) email security appliance products into corporate networks.
• Worked as part of team on some large 100,000+ seat deals. Handled other normal size projects mostly independently. Many customers in Fortune 100.
• Executed projects to displace legacy solutions with Confidential products for new customers, also hardware refresh (often P2V) and module add-on projects for existing customers.
• Setup and configuration of email appliances on corporate networks, orderly cut-over of mail flow from legacy product. Experience with project planning and change management frameworks used within larger enterprises.
• Communicated requirements to, coordinated implementation with firewall/load balancer admins, DNS administrators, SSL procurement groups, etc.
• On-the-fly problem solving to successfully complete cutovers within change windows.
• Overall responsibility to keep projects on track and progressing to completion, steering customers toward best practices to ensure successful deployment.

Confidential, Rochester, NY

Technical Support Engineer for Confidential

Responsibilities:

• Continued to support Confidential ’s range of Linux-based hardware appliance products used for email security in medium-to-large businesses.
• Similar duties as when direct with Confidential but now serving as technical leader for a support team working out of a BPO provider.
• Contributed multiple KB articles, bash shell scripts and similar to team library.
• Assisted with interviewing candidates and on-job of new hires.
• Go-to guy for technical and sales team escalations.

Confidential, Cupertino, CA

Technical Support Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Supported a range of Linux-based (RedHat/CentOS-derived) hardware appliance products used for email security in medium-to-large enterprise. Functionality included antispam, antivirus/phish enforcement and regulatory-driven (HIPAA, PCI) detection of non-public information in mail flow, also email encryption. sendmail MTA expertise including configuration, daily operation, queue management.
• Expert in ESMTP, email routing and delivery; determining issues through sendmail logs, review of message headers and NDR (bounce message) emails. All manner of email troubleshooting/testing including via telnet, openssl s client, swaks, etc.
• DNS expertise including publishing DNS zones for mail routing, SPF and DKIM, troubleshooting DNS via dig command, DNS Block List integration, implemented both authoritative and recursive caching DNS resolver instances using BIND/named.
• TLS experience including management for https web applications as well as for ESMTP STARTTLS. Management of forced-TLS mail routing between business partners including break-fix troubleshooting (e.g. expired or incorrectly-installed certs) and trust store management.
• Integration of appliance with corporate directory (generally Active Directory, sometimes OpenLDAP or others) via secure LDAP; troubleshooting e.g. via ldapsearch.
• Support of on-appliance web UIs behind Apache httpd for administrator and end user access.
• MySQL including InnoDB, some master/slave replication; rudimentary ad-hoc SQL queries.
• All manner of network connectivity troubleshooting from telnet to tcpdump.
• 90% of workday spent in Linux command line.

Confidential, Bloomington, IL

College intern

Responsibilities:

• Mission-critical implementation included High Availability Failover designs with redundant server hardware and fibre-channel SAN storage.
• Day-to-day tasks included managing storage growth within LVM frameworks, OS patching, performance troubleshooting.
• Obtained for IBM eServer p5 and pSeries Administration and Support for AIX 5L Version 5.3.