A system administration or related technical position (e.g. DevOps, Security Analyst, etc.) working with primarily Unix-like (Linux, FreeBSD, MacOS, etc.) systems which allows me either to primarily telecommute and/or schedule my work flexibly to accommodate my parental duties for my severely disabled son.
General skills:
Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Avid and rapid learner of new systems.
Expert troubleshooter
Experienced leading technical teams
Internet-related skills and assets:
Multi-platform server administration experience. Familiar with a wide range of protocols, server monitoring systems, failure analysis, and user support systems.
Expert in electronic mail and spam filtering systems.
Web "1.0" development skills: HTML, Perl CGI, etc.
Over 2 decades of varied experience in technical, consulting, and leadership roles for Internet-focused endeavors.
Online policy and strategy development and implementation for corporate and service provider systems.
Unix system administration. Familiar with multiple commercial and free varieties of Unix and Unix-like systems and their use for a variety of Internet-related and enterprise applications.
Broad and deep MacOS (both "classic" and MacOS X) skills including software development, system administration, user support, and media production.
Competent user of Windows (3.1-WinXP) with experience supporting historical (3.1-Win95) versions in office environments.
Operating Systems: Linux, FreeBSD, MacOS, Solaris, Tru64, AIX
Languages: Shell (sh/ksh/bash), Perl, HTML, PHP, C/C++, Pascal
System Management and Integration Tools: Salt, cfengine, rsync, sudo, NIS, NFS, RequestTracker (RT)
Server Applications: Postfix, Sendmail, CommuniGate Pro, Dovecot (IMAP/POP), Apache HTTPD, BIND, rbldnsd, Webmin, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle DB
Mail Filtering: MIMEDefang, Apache SpamAssassin
Virtualization/Cloud Management: QEMU/KVM, OpenNebula, AWS, Citrix XenServer, VMWare
Since the late 80's I have been involved in a broad range of collaborative technical activities ranging from regional Mac User Groups and BBS user help fora to Usenet groups, user-to-user tech support mailing lists, and open source software development. I am a voting member of the Apache Software Foundation, as well as a Project Management Committee member for the Apache SpamAssassin project. I have been active in the SpamAssassin user and developer communities for over a decade. I am a credited minor contributor to the OpenNebula project.
Returned to CipherSpace (see below) at the invitation of top management. Restored sound maintenance & support to systems left unadministered for over a year. Helped evacuate services from EU data centers to consolidate in US as pandemic collapsed our capacity to operate in Europe.
Spam control programming, system tinkering, advice, & customer satisfaction
I acted as SME for Unix/Linux platforms and messaging on a small collaborative team of system and network admins. I acted as technical lead 2010-2014 while building a global system administration team including the CipherSpace GmbH & Mafatlal CipherSpace Pvt. Ltd. (India) subsidiaries. I planned, deployed, and supported the earliest OpenNebula Cloud environments for CipherSpace, including the 1st production environment.
CipherSpace provides managed IT security, email hosting, customized web and corporate application hosting, IaaS, SaaS, and general IT support to a diverse set of SMB customers with global scope. Supported and managed hosts included FreeBSD, MacOS, Linux, and Windows servers, Cisco routers and firewalls, iPhone, Android, and (in the past) BlackBerry mobile devices, as well as Windows and MacOS personal computers. Due to the small staff, I helped provide tech support for all of those systems at some point during my time there.
Supported a heterogeneous environment of 50-150 hosts running Solaris, Tru64, and Linux (multiple distributions.) Provided technical leadership and security oversight for a team of local Unix admins varying in size from 2 to 12 members. Created and maintained custom toolset for secure centralized administration of all Unix systems. Designed, deployed, and provided primary support for VWoA external mail gateway and spam filtering system. Established the use of standard system builds and automated load process (Sun JumpStart) for rapid deployment of new systems. Provided mentoring and technical consulting for creation of a comprehensive disaster recovery environment for Unix and Windows systems, for which I took over primary support and operational duties in 2006. Member of the Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERT) for both Volkswagen and gedas/T-Systems both on the global and local levels. Advised other Americas Region Unix Administration teams on security practices and Sendmail configuration. Acted as technical advisor and consultant to Security team. Secondary support for customized RT installation providing asset tracking and operational support ticketing. Provided sole support for Cacti system monitoring environment. Managed NFS and security configuration of EMC Celerra multi-protocol NAS system. Created documentation and provided training for transition of all VWoA Unix support operations to T-Systems Mexico.
Managed the Policy Administration Services (PAS) program, which provided outsourced abuse desk service to Internet service providers. One of 3 Directors reporting directly to the "Managing Member" (CEO) of MAPS.
Provided training on network abuse issues and online investigation methods to external customers. Created software tools to meet the needs of the PAS abuse desk outsourcing operation. Advised PAS clients and staff on operational issues and on the handling of difficult cases.
Supported the DCX Vendor Extranet, a complex of webservers, proxies, firewalls, database connections, and network access systems linking DCX suppliers, dealers, and other business partners directly to a internal corporate applications. I provided support for end users and IT staff of business partners and provided feedback to the Extranet architecture and development teams. I regularly consulted with application owners ('business side' DaimlerChrysler staff) and developers regarding how to make their applications operate better in the Extranet environment. In addition, I was responsible for escalated support of the Extranet systems and documentation of the systems for the 1st level (help desk) and off-hours support staff. Mentored and provided technical oversight for the team of first level support specialists.
One of a team of 12 administrators providing 24x7 2nd level support for all non-mainframe, non-Novell server systems at DaimlerChrysler, primarily Solaris and AIX with some older SVR4 and NT systems. Those consisted of roughly 600 machines globally of all sizes. Responsible for most problem analysis on those systems and for coordinating hardware service calls. During this period we also provided much of the support for the DCX Vendor Extranet prior to the formation of a dedicated support team.
Did all IT planning, administrative, and support duties for a highly computerized publishing company using a variety of platforms. Acted as internal consultant to the owner/publisher on all information systems issues, and specified all corporate computing and data communications purchases. Primary architect and webmaster for all online magazine editions and other Finan-hosted sites. Established coding standards for all sites. Extensive Perl CGI programming and database web publishing. Advised advertising salespeople on how and what to sell as ad space on the websites. Planned and executed a zero-downtime platform migration of print production department. Administered in-house and co-located Linux servers. Ran multiple mailing lists as adjuncts to Finan's websites and magazines.
Designed and implemented coherent network-based systems for marketing, human resources, and CEO's office. Provided secondary support for all computer users at corporate headquarters. Advised CIO on LAN/WAN planning and implementation. Led initial development of the corporate brand websites and managed all corporate Internet presence. Brought multimedia software development for marketing department in-house, reducing implementation time and cost.
Developed gateway software for FirstClass groupware. Administered large public FirstClass system (UltraLink) through a period of fast growth and evolution from a commercial BBS to an Internet/Usenet access gateway. Provided primary support for 1000+ users. Managed Internet connections providing e-mail, Usenet newsgroups, and an experimental ftp-by-mail gateway. Pioneered message exchange with other FirstClass sites across the Internet.
Independent consulting, working primarily with small businesses providing strategic analysis for IT issues, system administration, systems integration planning, and technical support during the 1990's, more recently a small amount of analytical piecework including "expert witness" reports in spam-related litigation.
B.A. Webster University, 1988
Extensive coursework at St. Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis, Webster University, and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville 1982-1992, covering an eclectic range of interests including the sciences, theatrical design, and computer science. Details available by request.
Sun Certified System Administrator (Solaris versions 8 and 10)
Citrix Certified Administrator for Citrix XenServer 5