WORK EXPERIENCE:

Confidential, Charlotte, NC

Senior Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Project prioritization of mission critical applications and environments.
• Daily deliverables and status calls throughout the day to keep client and support teams informed of real time progress. Global restore tracker portal utilized.
• 24x7 shifts for rapid recovery across multiple data centers in different geographic locations. Worked with internal & external support teams and service providers.
• Opened and managed support cases with appropriate vendors when necessary - i.e, Microsoft, VMware, HP, Commvault, etc.
• Remedy incident & support tickets management & assignment.
• Technical lead & SME for Wintel platforms - Windows Server 2003, 2008, & 2012 operating systems. Assisted in creation & modification of documentation to support recovery process.
• Technical lead & SME for VMware infrastructure; vSphere, vCenter, ESXi, Site Recovery Manager (SRM), & Update Manager; version 5.5 & 6.0 environments. Assisted in creation & modification of documentation to support recovery process.
• Restoration of complex environments - 2-3 node Windows clusters, Citrix, SQL, Oracle environments, etc. Multi-tier architecture - Web, Application, & Database.
• Analyzed issues with members of multiple support teams to decide on best plan of recovery in most efficient manner possible.
• Restores & recoveries performed using a variety of solutions. Commvault, NetApp, & TSM for data recovery. Recovery of thousands of virtual servers. Failover activated via VMware SRM for Tier I business critical applications. VM snapshots also used.
• Redeployment of hundreds of physical Windows servers via offline system recovery. 1-Touch bare metal recovery.
• HP ProLiant, Dell PowerEdge, & Cisco UCS server hardware. NetApp, EMC, & IBM storage. Cisco network switches.
• System hardening & vaccination via customized scripts and updated McAfee DATs and Access Protection Rules. Security and regulatory compliance adherence.
• Microsoft Windows patch management and applied latest patches using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).
• Evidence documentation required and provided for each system recovery to verify process followed correctly before handing over to client’s internal teams.

Confidential, Columbus, OH

Infrastructure Engineer & Architect (Consultant)

Responsibilities:

• Infrastructure Engineering Consultant supporting large enterprise, multi-datacenter environment for Confidential .
• Provide thought leadership to infrastructure teams, contributing to new datacenter and infrastructure expansion, POCs, upgrades, and new version releases.
• Responsible for research and providing solutions and recommendations to help drive decisions for IT infrastructure and processes; increasing efficiencies and ROIs.
• Wintel SME providing contributions to server and OS refresh projects that consist of end of life hardware decommissioning and new hardware implementation, involving both rack mount and blade server technology. Predominantly HP Proliant brand servers; some IBM, Dell, & Cisco UCS. Virtual server refresh as well. Operating system upgrades from Windows 2003 and 2008 to 2012 and 2016.
• Supported VMware ESX versions 5, 5.5, 6, & 6.5 across dozens of ESX clusters containing several hundred physical ESX hosts across multi-datacenter linked mode environment. 8,000+ virtual server footprint. Assisted with and completed vCenter, ESX, & SRM upgrades to version 6.5 during second quarter of 2017.
• VMware SME representarive and consultant for enterprise shift towards Software Defined Networking (SDN) & Network Virtualization using VMware NSX product.
• Supporting virtual & physical server platforms running on SAN, NAS, & flash storage; Primarily EMC VMAX & VNX storage.
• Supporting all current Microsoft Windows Server operating systems and x86 technologies, including Windows Server 2003, 2008, 2012, & 2016 OS.
• Server infrastructure upgrade: Transitioned from Legacy BIOS to more secure UEFI boot mode. Upgraded from iLO3 to iLO4.
• Technical lead in VMware Lab Manager migration.
• Technical lead in virtualization of voice & telecommunications environments involving VMware vSphere and Cisco UCS.
• Virtualization lead in migration to newly built production datacenter. Migrated hundreds of Windows & Linux production VMs. Utilized SAN replication, SRDF & vMotion.
• Task automation and scripting using Powershell and PowerCLI.
• Utilized multiple configuration management tools including Puppet and Docker to increase manageability and productivity across multiple platforms - Windows, Linux, etc.
• Contributed to installation and configuration of VMware vRealize Suite to deliver infrastructure and applications within hybrid cloud platform.
• Creation and management of XaaS using vRealize Automation (VRA) to deploy custom IT services across multiple platforms and IT departments. Automated infrastructure deployment, application deployment, etc.
• Automated workflows, management and operational tasks using vRealize Orchestrator (VRO). Created workflows for deployment of new virtual machines, migrations, Site Recovery Management, etc.
• Assisted support teams in the testing, configuration, and deployment of VMware vShield Endpoint (virtualization security solution for antivirus and anti-malware processing).
• One of technical leads in creating updated security configuration policy for VMware vSphere platforms using CIS Benchmark and VMware Security and Hardening Guide as foundation. Yearly PCI and security compliance audit & review.
• Provide technical writing, documentation, & architectural diagrams to support current and future system and infrastructure enhancements.
• Change and process management through request for change (RFC) process and work requests completion through request for service (RFS) intake process.

Confidential, Charlotte, NC & Phoenix, AZ

Senior Systems Engineer / Architect

Responsibilities:

• Work with multiple teams to design and implement infrastructure layout to support a 3000+ virtual server environment, including storage, network, server capacity, load balancing, firewall rules, proxy, DNS, & LDAP requirements.
• Currently supporting VMware ESX version 4.1, running on IBM xSeries server hardware & EMC VMAX SAN storage. VMware ESXi version 5 upgrade. Predominantly IBM server hardware.
• Migrate 100+ VMs during each scheduled move date from current data center to new data center, utilizing technologies such as site to site storage replication, SRDF, SAN copy, & PowerCLI script automation.
• Multiple server platforms, including varying versions of Microsoft Windows and Red Hat Linux.
• Work with teams across multiple areas of support and platforms in planning, testing, staging, & migration procedures.
• Assist with capacity planning to ensure efficiency of infrastructure’s resources - server load, CPU & memory allocation, SAN storage, network capacity, load balancing, etc.
• Windows Server support assistance during migrations - troubleshooting, break/fix, analysis, RCA, etc. Windows 2003 & 2008 operating systems.
• Support of DR (Disaster Recovery) environment using VMware’s SRM (Site Recovery Manager), creating protection groups and recovery plans for servers deemed business critical by business continuity planning team.
• Maintain & update virtual server portion of storage provisioning reports & server migration cut sheets.
• Create & maintain infrastructure diagrams using Microsoft Visio.
• Project tracking & coordination using Microsoft Word, Excel, Visio, Project, & Sharepoint.
• Operational support through ManageNow problem & incident management system.
• Change management submission & approval for team’s RFCs.
• Combination of working remotely & traveling from Charlotte, NC home to Phoenix, AZ site.

Confidential, Charlotte, NC

Senior Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Build/deploy new Windows servers, both physical & virtual; upgrading Windows 2000 & 2003 servers to Windows 2008 operating systems; for dev, QA, & prod environments. (New installs on new hardware. No in place upgrades.)
• OS deployment using Altiris Deployment Console.
• VMware ESX & ESXi administration & support; versions 4.1 & 5. Perform patching & update releases vCenter Server & vSphere Client.
• Create and maintain VM templates for server builds, as well as cloning & snapshots.
• Utilize VMware vCenter Converter for migrating virtual machines from one datacenter to another.
• Physical hardware - IBM X Series servers, HP Proliant servers, EMC & Clariion storage, Avocent DSR & MergePoint KVM appliances.
• BIOS & Firmware updates of physical servers using IBM Director.
• Windows 2003 Cluster & Windows 2008 Failover Clustering configuration & support. Experience supporting one, two, three, & four node clusters.
• Disaster recovery and data protection support using Double Take solution.
• Microsoft Windows patch management using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM).
• Configuration of allocated SAN disks into Windows servers & SQL clusters. EMC storage
• Data manipulation using SQL/DML - Select, insert, update, delete, etc, commands to modify table data.
• Installation & basic configuration of MegaRaid Manager, SANSurfer, & PowerPath utilities.
• Deployment of McAfee ePO Framework. VirusScan Enterprise + AntiSpyware Enterprise 8.8.
• Installation of Symantec Backup Exec for server & data backups.
• Initial IIS configuration & support.
• Health & performance monitoring using System Center Operations Manager (SCOM).
• Active Directory & DNS support
• Project tracking using Microsoft Project, Visio, & OneNote.
• Project task assignment using AtTask project management software.
• Operational support through Remedy IT Service Management.
• ITIL & ITSM practices utilized. Completed mandatory ITIL v3 training for core competency requirements.
• Change management submission for all RFCs.
• 12 month contract.

Confidential, Salisbury, NC

Wintel Platforms Engineer

Responsibilities:

• Windows server administrator, supporting Windows 2000, 2003, & 2008 server operating systems, including high availability clustering.
• Administrator of virtual server environment running latest VMware vSphere 4: ESX & ESXi; responsible for installation, configuration, management, deployment, and maintenance.
• Support server platforms running on HP Proliant server hardware (rackmount & blades), NetApp & IBM XIV storage, & Cisco 3500-3700 Series switches.
• SAN storage support for VM environment and physical servers
• Citrix Administrator supporting Presentation Server 4.5 and latest Xen platforms - XenApp, XenDesktop, & XenServer; responsible for installation and management of environment, as well as publishing applications and providing remote access to over 2500 concurrent users.
• Work with application teams and vendors to scope and design new system architecture for new projects and upgrades.
• Point of contact for capacity planning of server environment; working with management and vendors to ensure sufficient resources are available for current and near future expansion.
• Completed ITIL training and incorporated practices to meet customer and business needs.
• Obtain quotes from vendors for new hardware and submit to management for approval and procurement.
• Member of disaster recovery team, responsible for designing, testing, and maintaining DR solution, including annual DR exercises.
• Support Active Directory, DNS, WINS, & DHCP.
• Provide operating system support for application teams, web teams, SQL DBAs, etc.
• TSM & Veritas Backup Exec data backup and file restore support.
• Patch Management & Deployment using Altiris, BigFix, & LANDesk.
• Anti-virus support using Symantec End Point Protection
• Server hardware support of rackmount and blade servers.
• System & performance monitoring using CA’s Unicenter, Spectrum, & eHealth solutions.
• Incident support and part of 24x7 on-call rotation.

Confidential, Charlotte, NC

Systems Administrator

Responsibilities:

• Member of Systems Team that provides remote systems support for 300+ Confidential stores as well as onsite support for employees and systems at Confidential Headquarters.
• System support includes servers, workstations, thin clients, gift registry kiosks, and other hardware and electronic devices. Supporting IBM, Dell, HP/Compaq, Wyse, and Neoware hardware.
• System & Performance Monitoring using Tivoli & MOM solutions.
• TCP/IP, DHCP, WINS, DNS Support
• Windows 2000 & 2003 Server OS - Standard, Advanced, Enterprise
• Provide support for stand alone, clustered, and citrix environments.
• TSM data backup and file restore support.
• Patch Management & Deployment using Systems Management Server (SMS) & IBM Director
• Anti-virus support using McAfee
• Active Directory Support - Group policies, accounts setup, password resets, etc.
• Citrix administration and support. Responsible for installation, administration, maintenance, and support of a 40+ citrix server environment. Running Metaframe XPe Server for Windows on Windows 2000 Servers and Metaframe Presentation Server, Enterprise Edition on Windows 2003 Servers. Responsible for health and maintenance of citrix environment, staying up to date with latest service and feature packs.

Confidential, Columbia, SC

Network Analyst

Responsibilities:

• Windows 2000 & 2003 Server OS - Standard, Advanced, Enterprise
• Network Monitoring, TCP/IP, DHCP, WINS, DNS Support
• Active Directory Group Policy and Admin
• MS Exchange Support
• Citrix administration and support. Responsible for installation, administration, maintenance, and support of a citrix blade center server environment; Allowing hundreds of customers access to a remote desktop via a web browser.
• Involved in system process from build phase to post-production - Base build, system install, network connectivity, security scan, production support.
• Member of Operations Center that provides 24x7 support to all customers and also part of an on-call rotation.