SUMMARY:

Results driven Windows Systems Engineer with 18+ years of experience in supporting enterprise level hardware and software network solutions. Solid experience on design, management and maintaining Windows Server solutions including key technologies such as VMWare ESXi. Extremely effective working in geographically dispersed teams, highly motivated self - starter with strong communication and presentation skills

TECHNICAL STRENGTHS:

Windows Server 2012, 2008, & 2003 maintenance, support, performance tuning and monitoring, VMWare 4.5 - 5.5 & Hyper-V, Exchange Server 2003, Active Directory, Group Policy, Cisco Router and Switch support, Symantec Backup Exec, VMWare Linux Builds (Red Hat & Centos), Patch Management/Monitoring/Reporting (Microsoft Confidential & SCOM 2012, Nagios & Solarwinds), IIS Web Server & ASP.NET application support, Windows Failover Clustering, SAN \ Storage support, LAN/WAN Network design and installation.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Sr. Support Engineer, Dallas, TX

Confidential

Responsibilities:

• Provide Tier 3 technical support for Confidential issues of private and public sector clients.
• Analyze customer environment and business needs to make design \ engineering recommendations for best practice implementations for Confidential 2012 and current branch versions.
• Troubleshoot and resolve critical issues related to all aspects of Confidential such as patching \ updates, application \ package management, reporting, inventory, asset intelligence, asset discovery, content distribution, and operating system deployment.
• Troubleshoot issues related to Windows Server 2008 \ 2012 \ 2016, Active Directory, SQL Server, IIS, and networking.
• Provide support for virtualized production and lab systems using Hyper-V and VMware.

IT Consultant, TX, IN, NJ, FL

Confidential

Responsibilities:

• Provide IT Consulting services specialized in Windows Engineering, IIS Engineering, and VMware Administration for major corporations with lines of business in Banking \ Financial, Web & Cloud Hosting, and Video & Telecommunications
• Spec out and recommend server configurations that would allow for best performance while meeting required timelines and budgets.
• Build, install, and administer various Windows 2000 \ 2003 \ 2008 R2 \2012 R2 Application and Infrastructure Servers. Manage roles and features according to server needs.
• Provide Level 3 support for Windows Server (2003 \ 2008 R2 \ 2012 R2).
• Troubleshoot and resolve application and operating system issues on physical and virtual platforms. Perform root cause analysis (RCA) to identify the issue and come up with preventative measures.
• Collaborate with 3rd party vendors, as well as in-house technology teams to support various systems \ applications, specifically for problem resolution, escalations, incident and change management.
• Administer and troubleshoot Active Directory, AD One Way Trust relationships, DNS, and group policy (GPO) issues.
• Server consolidation and decommissioning projects.
• Support enterprise level global server implementations across multiple datacenters.
• Modify \ edit and use various PowerShell scripts to accomplish repetitive tasks, troubleshoot issues with scripts and add additional functionality as needed.
• Use of enterprise Microsoft Systems Center Suite 2012 tools for monitoring and operations such as Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012 ( Confidential ), System Center Operations Manager 2012 (SCOM), and MS System Center Endpoint Protection. Administer agent installs, security patch synchronization and installation, collection management, reporting, anti-virus signature updates.
• Use SCOM 2012 R2 for monitoring the performance and availability of servers and applications. Install various Management Packs and modify alerting and thresholds accordingly.
• Work with development teams to test and deploy custom .Net web applications throughout Dev \ QA \ Production environments running IIS 6, IIS 7, IIS 8.5. Migrate .Net applications from older versions of IIS to newer. Manage DNS and load balancer changes (Netscaler & A10), resolve issues with SQL Cluster connectivity.
• Troubleshoot issues related to performance, authentication \ authorization, load balancing, connectivity, SSL, etc.
• Install and configure any middleware components required to support web applications (Oracle drivers), SSO (Single-Sign On \ Siteminder).
• Support all video operations for 3 VHO's in different regions of the U.S. to insure customers receive uninterrupted video services such as standard and high definition video content, Widgets, interactive guide data, Video On Demand, Set-top box functionality, etc.
• Provide Windows Server 2008 R2 implementation and support activities for a project to upgrade a large number of healthcare clients (hospitals & clinics) from Sunrise Clinical Manager 5.0 to 5.5.
• Support Dell Server hardware and management tools (DRAC, OpenManage)
• Provision \ customize vSphere 5.5 VM’s for application upgrades and migrations.
• Datacenter migrations using Veeam to perform V2V \ P2V between datacenters.
• Troubleshooting various network LAN\WAN connectivity issues between servers, DMZ’s, and firewalls using tools such as WireShark & Network Monitor for data captures.
• Document network diagrams and various install\implementation procedures (Visio, Excel, Word).
• Participate in on-call rotation, support after-hours scheduled maintenance and change activity.
• Manage incidents and change requests using ServiceNow and Remedy ticketing system to meet contractual SLA commitments.

Confidential, Dallas, TX

Sr. Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Steady State team member performing Windows administration tasks for rapidly growing high-profile client project in the Financial & Banking industry.
• Provide level 2 & 3 problem and incident response support for the enterprise production and non-production systems.
• Support applications and systems within the scope of the Managed Services such as Confidential SourcOne Email Archive, this includes on-call support activities and weekend \ after hours as required.
• Responsible for the administration of applications running on Windows Server 2008 R2 \ 2012, as well as VMWare ESXi 5.0 infrastructure that maintain the operational integrity of the client’s systems \ technologies located in multiple datacenters in several domestic & international geographic locations 24x7.
• Support 85% virtual environment based on VCE Vblock using vCenter (vSphere), troubleshoot VM performance issues, manage templates, VM clusters, SAN storage connectivity.
• Build and manage AWS EC2 (AMI) instances for application testing and proof of concept.
• Manage AWS S3 and other storage implementations.
• Use enterprise Microsoft Systems Center Suite 2012 of tools for monitoring and operations such as Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012 ( Confidential ), System Center Operations Manager 2012 (SCOM), and MS System Center Endpoint Protection.
• Perform daily tasks within the scope of the role including but not limited to, health checks, routine maintenance, review patch \ maintenance levels on applications, promote code, update and create documentation and proactively support the applications and infrastructure in production and non-production environments.
• Interface with 3rd party vendors, as well as in-house technology teams to support various systems \ applications, specifically for problem, incident and change management.
• Modify \ edit and use various Powershell scripts to accomplish repetitive tasks, troubleshoot issues with scripts and add additional functionality as needed.
• Perform server builds, Windows Server OS performance tuning and troubleshooting.
• Administer and troubleshoot production issues with IIS 7 web servers.
• Manage incidents and change requests using ServiceNow ticketing system to meet contractual SLA commitments.
• Support Windows Server infrastructure components such as Active Directory, DNS, group policy (GPO), IP management, IIS, SQL Server 2008 R2 etc.
• Install Windows Server 2012 Standard & Beta application servers in Dev environment for developer testing and POC. Install apps, roles, and services to support small scale version of production solution.

Confidential, Plano, TX

Sr. Systems Administrator

Responsibilities:

• Was part of a 25 member team that managed 1700+ enterprise Windows 2000 \ 2003 \ 2008 servers that included Active Directory, DNS, WINS, DHCP, and various services and applications.
• Manage Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V hosts and virtual guests.
• Build, install, and administer various Windows 2003 Application Servers on Compaq\ Confidential DL 380, DL 360, DL 385, blade servers and Dell 2650’s.
• Microsoft MOM and SCOM 2007 for systems management and monitoring.
• Confidential SIM for managing system hardware, iLo remote management.
• Microsoft patch management using Update Expert.
• Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager ( Confidential ) for patch management.
• Resource usage\performance report creation and management.
• Respond to and resolve critical system outages as they occur by communicating and troubleshooting with network and app teams as needed.
• Manage issues of different severity levels while documenting troubleshooting progress in Peregrine ticketing system.
• Troubleshoot complex operating system and application issues then implementing a resolution to meet contracted LOS agreements.
• Participate in on-call rotation.
• Intranet Team Website Admin (Migrated ASP site to SharePoint 2007 - Install, administer and maintain SharePoint Server 2007)
• Brightstor Enterprise Backup to backup\restore production servers.
• Clustering setup and support for various applications (Hyper-V, Exchange 2003, SQL, file\print)
• Administer multiple Confidential fiber & iSCSI SAN-based servers.

Confidential, Plano, TX

Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Part of a small 3 member team to design, support, and manage over 250 enterprise Windows 2000 \ 2003 servers that included services such as Active Directory, DNS, MS SQL, and Exchange, to support customized .NET and ASP hosted and standalone applications.
• Install, manage, backup, and troubleshoot the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 email. Manage client access with Internet Protocols (SMTP, POP3, OWA) and configure and troubleshoot mobile device connectivity (Blackberry, Treo, etc.)
• Install and manage multiple SQL Server 2000\2005 systems, backup\restore databases, use TSQL statements to run basic queries for data to use in troubleshooting. Setup security and manage access to system and databases.
• Use VBScript to automate administration tasks.
• Install and configure server farms running IIS 6, setup sites to use SSL certificates, manage URL’s with registrars and configure or make DNS requests for proper website access. Review logs to troubleshoot problems.
• Configure Microsoft Application Center 2000 to replicate website code across IIS server farms to provide failover and maintain file integrity.
• Use VMware ESXi virtualization to setup development domain environment used to test Active Directory GPO changes, new software installations, research and test different operating systems such as Linux.
• Implement F5 and Microsoft load balancing to provide high-availability and maintain performance of web applications.
• Install and manage Snort and ISS RealSecure IDS systems. Update and tune rules and policies to provide the best security implementation for the environment.
• Work with in-house Security Engineer to review internal \ external scan reports, then remediate vulnerabilities and implement security measures to maintain SOX, PCI, and SAS 70 Compliance (patching, disable services, research port usage, etc.).
• Install and configure Solarwinds and Nagios software on multiple Fedora Linux servers to monitor server\website up\down and performance status. Setup alerts to be sent to IT personnel via email\text messages to allow 24 hour response to problems as they occur.
• Build, install, and administer various Windows 2003 Application Servers on Compaq\ Confidential DL380, DL360, and Blade servers in colocation datacenters.
• Maintain and create network diagrams\documentation using Visio, Excel, and Word.
• Manage Symantec Enterprise anti-virus solution to protect servers and workstations.
• Research and test new technologies to consider implementing as new solutions to business needs. Spec and design new systems to accommodate provided budget.
• Patch installation and management using Microsoft WSUS 3. Schedule outages with business analysts and clients to minimize impact of productivity while performing server updates and maintenance.
• Use Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer to expose security vulnerabilities in servers and to comply with recommended security configurations.
• Use Terminal Services and VNC for remote server management at offsite enterprise data centers.
• Research event logs and run performance monitoring tools to troubleshoot network and server performance issues as needed.
• Troubleshoot\repair end user desktops\laptops (Windows and Apple Mac OS X) and perform day to day maintenance with software, hardware, patches, Cisco VPN, and email.
• Assist Network Engineer with LAN\WAN design and provide backup network support as needed with Cisco router and switch configurations and troubleshooting, VLAN and port management on Cisco 4000 and 2900 series Catalyst Switches.

Confidential, Dallas, TX

Sr. Systems Administrator

Responsibilities:

• Troubleshoot\monitor server and LAN/WAN issues then resolve them to meet Level of Service.
• Use Network Associates Sniffer and Fluke products to analyze\troubleshoot network issues.
• Recommend technologies and hardware to increase server performance and reliability.
• Build, install, and administer various Windows NT\2000 Application Servers on Compaq\ Confidential platform that utilized RAID 1\5 drive configurations.
• Hardware monitoring with CIM\SIM to notify team via email\text of hardware failures such as drives, processors, RAM, fans, etc.
• Configure Advanced Hostmonitor to monitor up\down status of servers.
• Provide reports to management to display system up\down time to compare to LOS agreements.
• Backup\Recovery using BrighStor\ARCserve to backup data to tape and store offsite.
• Compaq\ Confidential SAN administration configures SmartPath, create LUNS and manage server access to storage and Tape Library.
• Manage issues of different severity levels while documenting troubleshooting progress in Remedy.
• Support software\hardware issues with end user desktops and laptops, deploy and test new applications, patches, service packs, and ensure virus definitions are current.