Career

 

Here is a full list of my career, including all the stuff that won’t fit into a CV.

I am currently unavailable for contract work in the U.K.


I will be free in March 2024.


Experience


05.15 -  01.19  Unix Systems Administrator        Virgin Media    Liverpool (w.f.h) 


www.virginmedia.com 


Currently assisting Virgin Media with Virtualising their nationwide legacy Unix Systems and migration of legacy VMware Red Hat servers, managing the system migration, and decommissioning their old End of Life hardware.


11.20 -  04.21  Hexaware        w.f.h


www.hexaware.com 


Currently upgrading BoKS authentication, and intergrating new builds with Ansible Tower automation.


02.20 - 09.20    Unix Systems Developer    HMRC    Essex


A Civil Service contract during lockdown requiring SC clearance, my role at HMRC was related to development work around Unix transfer manager (UTM) for specific data file transfers. Modifying transfer scripts to update process flows to new cloud (AWS) servers, and to accommodate new transfers within the existing scripts.


Main skills: using bash scripting in an agile environment and UTM (Unix File Transfer)


05.19 - 08.19    Systems Administrator    University of Leicester    Leicester


A short term contract to assist with and document their debian/ubuntu linux infrastructure. Monitor and maintain their IP infrastructure services running DHCP, Sec DNS, Wifi Gateways, Proxy Services, Radius, IP Tables Firewalls and device authentication.  The technologies used include in-house scripts using cvs, gpg signing, CF-Engine, squid, nagios, elastic search, apache all on Xen Virtualised Debian systems.


Main skills: using gpg, bash scripting and CF-engine to maintain sql scripts in a subversion environment for DHCP and DNS configuration.



05.15 -  01.19  Unix Systems Administrator        Virgin Media    Liverpool 


www.virginmedia.com 


Currently assisting Virgin Media with Virtualising their nationwide legacy Unix Systems. This involves creating Solaris Zones and Ldoms, managing the system migration, and decommissioning their old End of Life hardware.



02.13 -  05.15  Unix Systems Administrator        TNT Express   Ashby    Leicestershire   


www.tnt.com


At TNT my role once again is to maintain the EBO Back office for SAP systems running on a Solaris infrastructure.  I am also involved in the decommission of older Sun4u machines, the migration to later releases of Solaris 10 and ZFS, and the rollout of updated applications. I’m still involved in keeping the Jumpstart server up to date, but now also with a view of migrating to Oracle Ops Centre and beta testing Solaris 11.


11.12 -  02.13  Unix Systems Administrator       Bank of America   Chester  Cheshire


www.bankofamerica.com


This was a short term contract to cover for their existing administrator who was forced to take leave of absence due to baking rules. My duties were to administer and maintain the AFT and CTM systems within the marketing sections of the bank. Maintenance scripts were also required to be updated as and when required, to cover new or expanded systems. These were mainly written in a combination of Perl and/or Python for speed of execution.


11.11 -  10.12  Unix Engineer        Ericsson   Athlone  Republic of Ireland


www.ericsson.com


At Ericsson Software Campus in Ireland I am working on the Unix Infrastructure for Ericsson Platform to assist in the development of future releases. My duties revolve around the installation and upgrade procedures of common infrastructure servers for DNS (inc IPv6), DHCP and LDAP etc. The role involved bash scripting for automating the installation and upgrading of the Solaris servers supporting the Ericsson Platform, with some involvement in the migration to RedHat, plus developing a low cost entry level solution using Agile methodology.


04.09 -  09.11   Unix Systems Administrator    Egg.com    Derby


www.egg.com


As part of the Unix Support team within Egg, I have had several duties. The main task is the continuation of BAU support, so managing 2nd line Unix work, both problem and project based. The secondary tasks have been project based, I have assisted with the decommissioning of a data centre in the West Midlands and the commissioning of the new data centre within the Citi Group in London. The latest project is the migration from Solaris 8 to 10. Both of these projects involve following the Citi processes for the management of assets within the banking regulatory framework. This was driven by a need to reduce support costs for legacy systems, and replace them with newer virtualized systems using Ldoms.



02.09 -  03.09   Unix Systems Administrator    BT    Bolton


www.bt.com


A quick short term contract to finish off some partially built servers in the BT data centre. Just trivial finishing touches such as setting up user accounts, ssh keys, NFS shares, and correcting host table entries, correcting NTP and nameservice configs. Finished the first days allotted work in 1 hour, and the month long scheduled tasks were completed in a couple of weeks.



03.07 -  01.09   Unix Systems Administrator    TNT Express    Ashby    Leicestershire


www.tnt.com


At TNT, my role is to support the Solaris environment for the SAP back office team. I am mostly involved with the commissioning of new servers, and the upkeep of the Jumpstart server.  I am heavily involved in scripting for post installation processes, and also in setting up containers ( zones ). In a support role, I also help to maintain the UNIQ print servers, and have been heavily involved in setting up Sun NAS storage. The role is split 50/50 between project and support duties for SAP and Internet systems.



01.07 - 02.07    Unix Systems Administrator    AAH Pharmaceuticals    Coventry, Warwickshire


www.aah.co.uk


AAH required a short term technical expert, who could perform a technical audit on a wide range of Unix and Linux servers, of different makes. My role was to audit the Sun, IBM and Red Hat servers throughout the company, and to report back to management with issues arranging from software licensing, patching levels and end of life or end of support systems.



04.06 - 12.06    Unix Systems Administrator    Britannia Building Society    Leek, Staffordshire


My role at the society was to provide 2nd line Unix support on a range of Sun Solaris and Red Hat Linux servers. The skills required are Veritas netbackup and Volume Manager, plus supporting the Netscape/SunONE mail platform and a host of legacy systems. This also includes 24x7 support shared amongst a team of 6 administrators during a phased rollout of Solaris 10. I am also responsible for liaising with suppliers to manage any supported hardware failures.



05.05 - 04.06    Unix Systems Administrator    European Central Bank    Frankfurt am Main


www.ecb.eu

 

The ECB required an experienced Solaris administrator to perform second line support as well as project tasks. The range of skills required varied from knowledge of NIS+,  Veritas Volume Manger and Disksuite to supporting the many varied bespoke applications and webservers used by the Statisticians and National Banks. My primary tasks were to take care of any UNIX issues being raised by the first line support team, and to facilitate any required hardware replacements. The range of systems comprised of a rull range of servers from E15K down to Ultra 2's. As a public body, the ECB had an emphasis on cost reduction, I managed to make significant savings within the organisation by arranging the secure destruction of failed components and facilitate their replacement under warranty.

 


09.04 - 05.05    Unix Systems Intergrator    Vivista    Wiltshire


www.sunguardas.co.uk

 

This role requires the build and implementation of multiple servers and applications in a secure environment. The tasks are to build and install Sun enterprise servers and bespoke middleware applications . These systems comprise of Sun V880’s and V240’s, T3  and StorEdge storage systems. Install and configure filesystems running a mixture of Disksuite and Veritas Volume Manager. Installation and configuration of Oracle, Tuxedo and veritas Netbackup. Also installed bespoke application developed in-house. This role also required site visits, and on site installation and configuration.

This was a government led project, with long procurement lead times and tight implementation schedules.

 


12.03 – 09.04    Systems Engineer    ITS-Linux    Crewe

 

Installation of Linux based Groupware, Secure Firewall, HA-Cluster and Enterprise Servers. Installation of backup software and development of bespoke backup scripts. Automation of administration tasks such configuration file updates and user migration tools. Perform telephone support and user training.

 


07.03 - 12.03    Unix Administrator    Pindar    Scarborough


www.pindar.com

 

Maintained Sun servers and patch updates on 3 continents. Scripted web based asset management system. Installed and configured Jumpstart on 3rd party x86 blade servers. Administered Veritas Volume manager.

 


03.03 - 06.03    Systems Engineer    ITS-Linux    Crewe

 

Contracted to design, develop and implement bespoke scripting tools for back office functions.

 


08.02 - 03.03    Student    Dusseldorf University    Dusseldorf

 

Studied German as a foreign language on an Intensive course at the Institute for International Communication (IIK)

 


10.01 - 08.02    Not Contracted    Congleton

 

During this period I caught up with some personal projects. Started learning German with help from my partner. I decided to attend University in Germany to further study the German language.

 


07.99 - 10.01    Unix Administrator    KPN Orange (Base)    Brussels


www.base.be

 

Contracted to provide installation, administration and support to the whole range of Solaris and HP-UX operations. Provided 2nd line support for the 24x7 operations. Maintained DMZ and B2B services, DNS, FTP and remote data services. Managed NIS servers. Managed Veritas Volume Manager, Checkpoint Firewall, Disksuite, HP-Openview and Ciscoworks 2000. Configured Solaris for EMC SAN. Managed all Solaris patching. Attended steering meetings with Sun Microsystems.

 


05.99 – 06.99    Unix Administrator    Alenia Marconi    Stanmore


www.baesystems.com

 

Contracted to provide 2nd level support. Administered NIS, NFS, and NIS+ servers. Followed strict change control procedures.

 


12.98 - 05.99    Unix Administrator    Synopsys    Reading / Munich


Contracted to provide Europe wide Y2K risk assessment. Performed patch upgrades where required. This role started with 3 months in Reading, I was then asked to move to the centre of their European hub in Munich in order to complete upgrades on the entire european infrastructure. This was my first overseas role and was initially quite a daunting task. The systems stretched from Finland and Norway to Israel, and patch upgrades were performed on all the then current releases of Solaris and SunOS 4.



09.98 - 11.98    Unix Administrator    CSC for British Aerospace    Preston

 

Contracted to perform a site wide survey of all IT assets. Reported to management on the Y2K compliance status. Administered Solaris patches where required in accordance with strict change control procedures. This role actually involved searching and cataloguing their network of Unix workstations, none of which had been formally documented at that time.

 


01.97 - 09.98    Unix Administrator    EDS for Rolls Royce Aerospace    Derby

 

Contracted to perform Solaris and HP upgrades and application roll outs. Performed 2nd level support for over 400 Solaris and HP-UX workstations and a range of NIS, NFS and Solaris based application servers. Installed and administered Jumpstart and boot servers.

 


10.96 - 12.96    Unix Administrator    Safa    Liverpool

 

Contracted to support a SCO environment. Provided additional support and advice where needed, reported back to director level. Developed automated reports generated from a 3rd party database package, and provided assistance in upgrading their existing system. Fully documented the automated reporting system.

 


09.96 - 10.96    Unix Administrator    Communication Arts    Egham

 

Contracted to perform 1st and 2nd level support to a wide range of Sun Solaris and Silicon Graphics systems to media and advertising companies in the West End of London. The main task was to provide support to a range of media houses based in the Soho area of London.

 


08.96 - 09.96    Unix Administrator    E&P Data Solutions (IBM)    Maidenhead

 

Contracted to perform installation and upgrades to Sun based GIS systems. Assisted the AIX administrator to perform UNIX administration tasks. This contract was initially for 1 day, to install the Sparcworks C compiler. E&P decided to keep me for a month whilst they searched for a replacement AIX administrator.

 


05.96 - 08.96    Unix Administrator    Jaguar Cars    Coventry

 

Contracted to man the drop in help centre for designers requiring help with their Sun Solaris, HP-UX and Silicon Graphics workstations. My duties were to offer first line support to the graphic designers working on Jaguar and Ford parts design.

 


05.95 - 04.96    Unix Administrator    Hero Drinks    Kegworth

 

Contracted to perform Unify Accell 4GL and Unix Admin for a large production system. Hero’s database systems ran on Sun hardware. I was also involved in some Unix administration tasks.



01.95 - 05.95    Analyst Programmer    Transax    Edgbaston

 

Employed as an Analyst Programmer for Transax (now part of Equifax) for the VAT system.

Designed and implemented a VAT reclamation system for non EU tourists.

 


09.92 - 12.94    Analyst Programmer    Quintech    Sandbach

 

Employed as an Analyst Programmer in Unify Accell 4GL on Sequent systems. Quintech were a software house developing large sales order processing systems and stock control systems.

 


05.90 - 08.92    Analyst Programmer    Barcrest    Ashton-u-Lyne

 

Employed as a Programmer in FORTH and M6809 assembler on ICL UNIX platform. At Barcrest I developed fruit machines for the eastern European markets of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. Software was developed using emulation software on an ICL Sequent machine, then blown onto eprom for final testing on the production line.

 


08.89 - 04.90    Analyst Programmer    Symphony Kitchens    Leeds

 

Employed to do Unify Accell 4GL programming, with systems administration and design on Sequent systems. At Symphony I was trained in the design of database systems for a sales order processing system, and also the use of SQL query language for report writing.

 


10.88 - 07.89    Analyst Programmer    GEC Sensors    Basildon

 

Joined GEC as a graduate employee and undertook Z80 assembler work on passive military projects. This role involved design, development and testing of Z80 Assembler code for thermal imaging equipment.