CV | AIXperts Consultancy ltd.

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I am an AIX and Linux administrator with 25 years of experience ranging from a small software company to enterprise businesses running critical 24×7 systems using the largest IBM servers available. I have extensive knowledge of IBM hardware and IBM’s technologies, micro-partitioning and virtual I/O and knowledge of a range of other technologies including AWS and Ansible. I have worked with TSM Spectrum Protect backup systems, SAN and storage systems such as the ESS Spectrum Scale GPFS clusters, NIM servers and clusters as well. I am AIX 5.1 CATE certified which is IBM’s highest certification level.

I work happily in both teams and on my own. I am quick to pick up the procedures and technologies of the team I join but can also help develop processes where needed. Regardless of the roll I always work hard on root cause analysis to prevent recurring problems which in the end result in a stable and efficient environment for my client.

I have a significant amount of experience outside work, including but not limited to 25 years of Linux experience, MySQL, Apache, WordPress, Mail, DNS, networking and firewalls. This is all detailed after the chronological list of jobs held.

I have passed the AWS certifications Cloud Practitioner, SysOps and Solutions Architect exam.

Summary of main skills

IBM AIX Support, troubleshooting and performance tuning
Linux Systems Administration
IBM System p hardware, LPARs, virtualisation, VIOs and HMCs
IBM VIOs, SEA, NPIV, etherchannel.
IBM LPM Live Partition Mobility
NIM Installation manager
TSM Spectrum Protect backups
MySQL database support
Ansible setup, playbooks and Jinja templates
Scripting/programming in KSH, BASH, Python, PHP etc.
Grafana graphing of system data
TCP/IP networking, firewalls, netfilter, etherchannels, VLANs, SEA etc from a Unix admin perspective
Apache web server, mail server, DNS, NFS and various skills related to running web and mail domains
AWS Certified
Very broad set of knowledge and can pick up anything needed

Work Experience

Howdens Joinery ltd.

AIX and Linux Systems administration on IBM Power and VMWare
BAU support of 400 servers
Zabbix monitoring and administration, script writing to monitor all aspects of Linux and AIX
Automating jobs and patching writing Ansible playbooks
Performance monitoring using Grafana, writing custom Python scripts to send data for graphing
AIX performance tuning and capacity planning using scripts to calculate memory, processor and I/O contentions
Patching AIX, Linux and VIO systems
Troubleshooting incidents and assisting application team with troubleshooting

AIXperts Consultancy ltd. May 2022

Ethical hacking bounty hunting
Offensive security trainee

Viskefi animation studios December 2021 – April 2022

Planning and designing all infrastructure from scratch

SSE/HCL January 2020 – November 2021

Supporting BAU and solving incidents and doing on-call
Supporting TSM tape to ESS GPFS migration project
Joining project to security patch 1500 servers across the estate

SSE Scottish & Southern Energy BAU June 2019 – December 2019

Tidy-up and configuration of 350 project servers to productionise them
Assisting ESS storage project planning going forward
Supporting BAU and solving incidents

SSE Scottish & Southern Energy Project team October 2018 – June 2019

Main technical person of IBM ESS migration project to replace TSM tape libraries with ESS high performance GPFS disk system
Configuring IBM ESS software and RedHat on POWER
Building first SSE RedHat Linux on POWER LPAR for testing
Setting up virtual tape pools on existing TSM servers and migrating clients
Trouble shooting and supporting ESS storage systems
Writing monitoring scripts for ESS
Adapting and testing use of REAR (RedHat Backup Recovery) on IBM POWER
Working with Veritas clusters decommissioning disks and resources

SSE Scottish & Southern Energy Maintenance March 2017 – September 2018

Maintaining OS and firmware levels on 1500 AIX LPARs across 18 pSeries frames
Maintaining OS and firmware levels on 100 Linux servers on HO ProLiant hardware or WMware
Planning and arranging upgrades and out-of-hours failovers with application teams and business users to ensure all servers were on supported levels
Configuring LPM Live Partition Mobility for hardware migration project
Maintaining and updating Python monitoring GUI after release

SSE Scottish & Southern Energy BAU Support June 2013 – March 2017

BAU support of 1500 servers
Working on both automated and user raised incidents
Resolving problem ticket for long term issues and improvements
Managing Veritas and RAC Clusterware clusters
Managing TSM backups, nodes and servers
Configuring LPM Live Partition Mobility for hardware migration project
Using IWS to monitor job schedules
Writing script amendments for monitoring
Writing Python GUI to visualise alerts in monitoring system
Supporting MySQL database and PHP scripts for monitoring system

SGN Scotia Gas Networks project team. June 2012 – June 2013

WebMethods migration project, version 6.5 to 8.2
Installing, patching and configuring WebMethods 8.2
Installing and configuring Terracotta cluster for WebMethods and working with networking team to set-up load balancer
Support for WebMethods developers and testers, troubleshooting and configuring WebMethods
Building LPARs to SSEs specifications on POWER7 hardware using dual VIOs, NPIV, logical VLANs and virtual switches
Using NIM to build AIX 6.1 LPARs following strict SSE build procedures
Setting up mksysb and TSM backups of LPARs controlled by TWS
Working with DBAs to deliver LPARs to support Oracle databases
Configuring fail-over systems for DR recovery
Assisting BORIS migration project by building LPARs and configuring for Oracle use

SSE Scottish & Southern Energy January 2012 – April 2012

BAU work on 500 AIX LPARs and 50 Solaris servers
Ensuring successful TSM backups
Using TWS to run scripts for backups and housekeeping
Started project to find and eliminate any network set-up issues, fixing missing links in etherchannels, replacing broken adapters, upgrading all links to gigabit and migrating channels in Shared Ethernet Adapter fail-over set-ups to go to separate switches, all done concurrently with-out affecting users
Fixed and amended monitoring scripts, added network link down detection and paging space and VG quorum flags not set correctly detection. Also fixed monitor not treating vscsi devices correctly.
Advising project team in setting up new VIO systems using VLAN and Shared Ethernet fail-over
Mapping VIO disk LUNs through vhosts to client partitions and setting up multipathing through VIO pairs
Fixing a number of long-term outstanding issues such as slow servers, erratic scripts and repetitive monitoring alerts

IBM October 2011 – October 2011

12 day project to build procedure control system for fire services
Setting up RAID 5 and installing VIOs
Building AIX LPARs using IVM on p710s to run MQseries, DB2, Message Broker and BPM
Setting up bridged Host Ethernet Adapters and virtual Ethernet and setting them up as an etherchannel device on the LPARs for redundancy
Cloning installed systems using virtual optical drives on VIO server
Setting up call-home services
Writing manual for installing p710 with VIO, AIX LPARs and software from scratch

Lloyds TSB. February 2011 – May 2011

Supporting EngageOne insurance letter system
Supporting testing of EngageOne updates by verifying successful transactions and helping testers investigation why transactions failed
Supporting go-live and investigating issues
Deploying software and managing configurations using ClearCase

GlaxoSmithKline. March 2010 – December 2010

Building LPARs on POWER6 hardware using HMC v7 and NIM
Allocating storage for AIX installation on NetApp Netfilers
Installing SAP
Zoning Brocade SAN switches
Resolving incidents and problem tickets on NetApp storage and Brocade switches

Virgin Media. March 2009 – December 2009

Tasked to make E-billing system PCI compliant, consisting of AIX and Linux systems and involving peripheral systems as well such as email servers, FTP servers, TSM backup system, web servers and WebSphere application server.
Responsible for technical side of E-billing stabilisation project
Setting up NIM server
Patching production servers incl. keeping on top of emergency security patches
Configuring Sendmail
Implementing and testing Netcool monitoring on whole platform working with the monitoring team
Writing monitoring scripts for Netcool
Implementing Tripwire file integrity system
Setting up scripts to monitor inactive user accounts
Upgrade and configure TSM clients
Upgrading HMC from v5 to v7
Configuring HMC dial-home
Fixing numerous HACMP problems
Working with PowerPath using EMC storage on HACMP platform

McKesson. September 2008 – November 2008

Main person on Registrations project – Building servers, storage and SAN. Running on p690 LPARs, AIX 5.3 cloned via NIM, ESS storage, SAN+zoning, NIM+mksysb cloning, setting up HACMP cluster
Wrote script to gather system data daily for all servers
Migrated NHS hub cluster from POWER4 to POWER5 systems and setup HACMP

Pipex Homecall. December 2007 – May 2008

Installing, designing and building p570, including setting up VIO server and four partitions using virtual ethernet and SAN disks
Configuring and assigning LUNs on ESS for new systems and migrating data between systems
Supporting the TSM team in running the TSM server and migrating from a 3584 library to DataDomain NAS devices
Configuring flashcopy for data replication between systems on the ESS
AIX redesigning and cloning of systems using flashcopy, NIM and mksysb
Day-to-day support of existing systems
Maintaining and configuring SAN and zoning when adding new clients
Maintaining ESS, working with IBM adding new disk arrays, splitting into LUNs, setting up Flashcopy and assigning to clients.

VISA Europe. May. 2007 – October 2007

Day-to-day support of 180 AIX systems and 250 Solaris systems
Doing firmware upgrades and hardware maintenance on POWER 5 systems
Building LPARs on POWER4 and POWER5 systems using NIM
Supporting HACMP clusters including doing upgrades

Attenda. April. 2006 – April 2007

Day-to-day support of 30 managed Unix clients running Solaris, Linux and AIX dealing with incidents and communicating with clients.

Main technical expert on our two AIX clients, Nisa Todays and DeLaRue, running mainly on P690s and p570s, supporting requests, doing troubleshooting and maintenance and assisting in migrating environments from POWER4 to POWER5
Supporting HACMP clusters including doing upgrades
Implementing changes to systems requested by clients.
Ensuring reliable backups were running daily and assisting with restores using Netbackup.

Camelot Interactive. Oct. 2003 – March 2006

Main AIX responsible in EuroMillions project, installing, advising and supporting the development and production servers. Also involved in installing the main EuroMillions draw application and quality approving the installations in the UK and Spain.
Building test, development and production AIX servers for project Oxford both at main site and backup site. Implementing NetHSM encryption devices to be used with project Oxfords store terminals (FastPay)
Main technical person on capacity upgrade project replacing two p690 with new p570 and p510 servers. I was working on this project from beginning to end getting new hardware in house, racking and cabling, building servers from NIM mksysb image networking and configuring them and working with the applications team. Also built virtual I/O servers supplying disk and network to the partitions.
Supporting database servers for the sales and marketing team
Supporting SUN Solaris server running our DNS and mail servers
Built NIM servers for easy building and upgrading of servers.
Administering four IBM p690 systems including designing partitions for maximum availability and installing AIX and software
Managing TSM server and tape library ensuring reliable daily backups of all servers as well as doing capacity planning
Installing StorWatch Expert and SANavigator to manage and monitor McData switches and ESS storage system assisting in performance tuning and avoiding storage growth problems
Administering ESS storage system by allocating storage to hosts and monitor storage growth and performance.
Doing day-to-day support by responding to incident reports from the operators. Also doing overnight call-out.

Safeway plc. Nov. 2002 – Oct. 2003

Capacity planning and installing p690s and partitions. Installing and configuring AIX on partitions.
DB2 DBA tasks, mainly configuring connectivity from AIX servers to DB2 on the mainframe
Setting up fibre cards and SDD multi path drivers in connection with building new SAN and installing McData switches
Managing TCP/IP and SNA networking on AIX including setting up Ethernet and ESCON links
Installing MQSI hub with DB2
Planning web portal running WebSphere and HACMP
Doing performance tuning on our Business Objects partitions.
Installing TSM clients and testing our new mainframe TSM system in co-operation with our automation team.
Day-to-day support and troubleshooting.
Installing AIX and software.

PBS Data A/S, Copenhagen Aug. 2001 – Jun. 2002

Doing systems administration of AIX on IBM’s RS/6000 and managing five SP systems with PSSP.
Working on several software systems doing trouble shooting, capacity planning, documentation and planning strategies on our computer systems.
Installing and planning configurations of all our SP systems and stand-alone pSeries systems
Working with backup and software systems such as OnDemand, DB2 and Oracle.
Planning and implementing security strategies together with our audit and security department.
Installing and supporting HACMP clusters.

International Data Post, Copenhagen Feb. 1999 – Jul. 2001

Doing systems administration on the company’s Unix computers used for development and testing for two years, working with AIX, Solaris, HP/UX, SCO UNIX and Linux.
Installing and configuring new systems, setting up development environments and test systems.
Doing maintenance, trouble shooting, performance tuning, backup and documentation of the Unix computers.
Also involved in planning, setting up and supporting the network that consisted of Cisco switches and a Cisco router. I have a lot of experience with TCP/IP and routing on Unix and this in combination with working on a Cisco network has given me a good knowledge of networks.
Responsible for support on hardware, software and operating systems. Responsible for procurement of hardware/software, maintenance agreements, developing IT strategies, etc. Advising my ‘customers’ and the management in the company on what to buy and how to design the systems. Did analysis on what to buy for projects.
Later working in the customer service department supporting ePost/Open2, a hybrid mail system. In connection with this I worked with InfoPrint Manager, Prisma+APA, Oracle and MQseries. Was the main responsible person on InfoPrint Manager and Prisma+APA.
Doing installation and trouble shooting on our customer’s ePost/Open2 installations and was deeply involved in testing of new patches and releases of the system.

Other experience

I have been running Linux since my University days on laptops, PCs and servers. I run several domains, Web, WordPress, MySQL, DNS, mail etc, for myself and family. My home router runs Linux as well and is a firewall, proxy server, CUPS print spooler, monitoring server and runs ZoneMinder CCTV system amongst other things.

I have 10-20 years of experience with the following technologies:

Linux (RedHat/Ubuntu/Debian/Amazon Linux) and Linux kernel
Running Linode VPS
Apache web server, WordPress software and home made PHP written web pages
Apache virtual hosts
Bind DNS primary and secondary domains including DNS-SEC
Mail servers and secondary spooler with SPF and grey-listing anti-spam measures
WebMail (Squirrelmail & Roundcube) and Dovecot IMAP mail services running multiple domains
MySQL databases for websites and applications including home written applications
Squid proxy server with throttling buckets and SquidGuard blacklisting
Routing and firewalling for IPv4 & IPv6 including bucket throttling
Multi-IP-camera CCTV system running on ZoneMinder and MySQL
System V and CUPS print spooler and services

Education

1992-1994 Graduated from high school in Ringkøbing, Denmark, Ringkøbing Gymnasium
1994-1995 Six-month tour of duty with the civil defence in Denmark
1996-1999 Studied mathematics, physics and computer science at the University of Copenhagen (not finished)

Training and Certification

1999 IBM AU16, Advanced AIX System Management and Problem Determination
2000 Azlan, Cisco ICND (Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices)
2000 eHuset, Solaris Systems Administration I
2001 IBM AU91, SP Systems Administration I
2002 IBM CF21U, DB2 UDB Administration Workshop for UNIX
2002 IBM AU54GB, HACMP System Administration I: Planning and Implementation
2003 IBM WF38GB, WebSphere Application Server V4 (Advanced Edition) – Administration
2003 IBM AU70GB, pSeries Logical Partitioning (LPAR) for AIX
2004 InTechnology, TSM implementation and configuration
2005 IBM AU54GB, HACMP System Administration I: Planning and Implementation
1999 Certified — AIX 4.3 Systems Administration
2003 Certified – p690 LPAR Technical Support
2006 Certified Specialist — eServer p5 and pSeries Administration and Support for AIX 5L V5.3
2007 Certified Specialist — eServer p5 and pSeries Enterprise Technical Support AIX 5L V5.3
2007 Certified Specialist — eServer p5 Virtualization Technical Support AIX 5L V5.3 IBM
2007 Certified Systems Expert — eserver p5 and pSeries Enterprise Technical Support AIX 5L V5.3
2007 Certified Systems Expert — eserver p5 Virtualization Technical Support AIX 5L V5.3
2007 Certified Systems Expert – eServer p5 HACMP for AIX 5L
2007 IBM Certified Advanced Technical Expert — IBM System p5
2019 AWS Cloud Practitioner
2019 AWS Solution Architect

CV