2721 Lury Ln.
Annapolis, MD 21401-7312
H) 410-571-7873
C) 443-852-0671
sgarrett-resume@technomancer.com

Computer Skills

Operating System Experience

Current Experience (Total Years): Current Version(s)

• Linux/UNIX (36 years): Ubuntu/Debian, Redhat RHEL 6/7/8, CentOS 6/7/8, Raspian, Fedora, Kali
• VMware (15 years): vSphere/vCenter 6.x in a large enterprise (4000+ VMs)
• MacOS (36 years): 10.x
• Windows Server (27 years): 2016 Server, 2012 Server
• Windows Desktop (29 years): 10

Networking/Software

Current

• Drupal
• Gatsby
• Wordpress
• Veritas Netbackup backup system in a large network environment; 4000+ clients (version 2.1-9.01)
• TCP/IP-Internet: DNS/BIND9/DNSSEC, E-Mail (Postfix/Sendmail/Dovecot), DKIM/DMARC, SSH, NFS, NTP/Chrony, FTP, TFTP, DHCP, LPR, HTTP, Active Directory/Samba
• Infoblox DNS Appliances
• Brocade SAN FiberChannel Fabrics
• ZFS
• Let's Encrypt Certificate Management
• Ubiquiti - UDM Pro/USG, Switches, Access Points
• Apache Web Server Administration
• MariaDB/MySQL
• Docker/Podman Containers
• Multimedia Tools: ffmpeg, Handbrake, mplayer, mkvtoolnix, VLC, etc.
• OpenVPN
• Git

Programming Language Experience

Current

• Unix shell scripting (sh/ksh/bash, SED and AWK, myriad of command line utilities)
• Python (coming up to speed)
• HTML/CSS
• PHP

Hardware

Current

• Dell Server Hardware
• Dell Hardware RAID Systems
• Apple Macintosh
• Raspberry Pi
• Intel-PCs: Dell, Generic/Frankenputers
• Veritas 5330 Media Appliances
• Data Domain 4200/9800
• StorageTek SL3500 (in SCSI attached and a shared SAN environment), Dell Tape Libraries, and standalone tape drives
• LTO Tape drives: 6/7/8 series
• F5 load balancers
• Brocade Switches
• Cisco Switches

Employment Experience

• Contractor: 28 Feb 2022 - Present: CAS Severn.
• Contract: 28 Feb 2022 - Present: Prince William County, VA - Department of Information Technology
Duties TBD

• 14 Oct 2008 - 25 Feb 2022: DC City Government - OCTO ECIS (Enterprise Cloud and Infrastructure Services)
• Team Lead: Backups/Storage/Linux/Load Balancers
• Senior Linux administrator managing 1000+ systems in multiple data centers
• Progressive upgrades of Netbackup 5.1 environment through all versions up to 9.x
• Implemented Data Domain disk-based staging backup system
• Architected and implemented new DC Government CMS pilot with Redhat Linux and Drupal
• Top level support/troubleshooter of various hardware, SAN, network, OS, and Application issues
• Unofficial support for various Apple products; "The Apple Guy"
• Review and testing of various backup software and equipment to determine which is best for new environment
• Created and improved methods for automating common tasks
• In group that interviews job applicants
• Updated and polished new backup architecture
• Assisted with VMware vSphere design and buildout
• Train other engineers in Netbackup, Linux, and our environment
• Built a Linux Web/File/Wiki server for team documentation
• Implemented an Openfire chat server for team
• Configure and help troubleshoot F5 load balancers
• Assisting in developing a hybrid Amazon and Azure cloud environment
• Oracle ExaData/ExaLogic administration

• Contractor: 19 Sept 2005 - 14 Oct 2008: DBTS, Inc.
• Contract: 19 Sept 2005 - 14 Oct 2008: DC City Government - OCTO Server Operations - Backup and Storage Engineer
• Complete re-architecture and design specs for updated backup/DR system
• Migration of previous Solaris based Netbackup environment to Linux
• Performance Evaluation of current environment
• Performance tuning of Solaris and Netbackup
• Developed performance monitoring tools and web site to view graphs
• Implement automated reports
• Add monitoring process
• Daily monitoring of Netbackup and Backup Exec systems
• Training team on UNIX
• Configuration and maintenance of ACSLS server to control STK Powderhorn shared with open systems and Mainframe clients
• Administration of Solaris master and media servers
• Implementation of CentOS 5.1 Linux based Netbackup 6.5.1 for DC Public Schools

• Contractor: 27 Jun 2005 - 02 Sept 2005: Enterprise Solutions
• Contract: 27 Jun 2005 - 02 Sept 2005: BankOne/JPMorgan-Chase, contract through Enterprise Solutions for StorageTek
• Installation and rollout of 3 datacenter Veritas Netbackup 5.1 master server solutions to back up a variety of servers, ranging from HP/UX, AIX, Solaris Enterprise servers (e450s on up to e15k) and Microsoft servers
• Created and maintained documentation of the process, including "dynamic" mapping tables that update automatically.
• In depth performance tuning of differing tape technologies, STK 9940B and LTO2 technologies, by adjusting various Solaris kernel and Netbackup tuning parameters to find optimal settings.

• 01 Mar 2004 - 19 May 2005: Constellation Energy Group
• Developing and implementing process improvements in the form of documentation and building new tools for operations group to use in daily management of the backup and disaster recovery system.
• Responsible for testing and patching of the Netbackup software (both 3.4, 4.5 and 5.0) on the servers and clients; Solaris based servers and clients of Microsoft, HP/UX and Solaris enterprise servers, from e420s up to E10Ks.
• Capacity Planning
• Manage interaction of SAN HBAs and Solaris
• Development and implementation of staged disk-based backups and creating workarounds for bugs in the Veritas software.
• Implementation and testing of vaulting system based on Veritas Netbackup
• Developed scripts and tools to improve the backup process
• Managed volumes, Q-Trees, snapshots and NFS exports on Netapp Nearstores

• Contractor: 24 Feb 2003 - 29 Feb 2004: TEKsystems
• Contract: Backup Administrator, 24 Feb 2003 - 29 Aug 2003 (6 month contract): Alcoa
• Support of the HP/UX clients for multiple Veritas Netbackup masters in multiple datacenters.
• Developing and implementing process improvements in the form of documentation and building new tools for operations group to use in daily management of the backup and disaster recovery system.
• Responsible for testing and patching of the Netbackup software (both 3.4, and 4.5) on the servers and clients.
• Responsible for configuration and troubleshooting of SAN tape drives
• Provide support for UNIX related problems
• Contract: Backup Administrator, 29 Aug 2003 - 29 Feb 2004: BG&E/Constellation Energy Group
• Developing and implementing process improvements in the form of documentation and building new tools for operations group to use in daily management of the backup and disaster recovery system.
• Responsible for testing and patching of the Netbackup software (both 3.4, and 4.5) on the servers and clients.

• Senior Storage Engineer, 16 Apr 2001 - 12 Nov 2002: U.S. Internetworking (USi)
• Brought in to review and improve a Veritas Netbackup backup system
• Level 3 support of trouble tickets
• Development of various scripts, utilities and a website to improve and monitor the system
• Maintenance and troubleshooting of Solaris servers
• Aid the level one and level 2 UNIX Administrators (act as level 3 UNIX tech when needed)
• Gathering and parsing of statistics to load into a database for trending
• Developed methods for managing large quantities of media (12,000+ tapes)

• Senior Systems Engineer, Jul 1999 - 15 Apr 2001: Utenzi (formerly Interlan Communications; Company no longer exists)
• Designed, installed and maintained a Veritas Netbackup backup solution in a mixed Solaris, Linux, NT 4.0, and Windows2000 environment
• Primary installation and support for Linux installations
• Design, implementation and maintenance of Solaris Jumpstart server for customer builds
• Created and maintained a suite of web based utilities (shell script CGI and PHP) and command line scripts for monitoring, managing and reporting various aspects of the backup system
• Compliled and generated custom Solaris packages for various software packages to be part of standard customer build
• Troubleshooting various server and network problems on a daily basis
• Development of a Kerberos 5 (Solaris SEAM) authentication scheme
• Secondary support for customer SAN (primarily MTI) disk storage

• Senior Operations Engineer, Jun 1997 - July 1999: Digex, Inc.
• Architecture, installation and maintenance of a Veritas Netbackup backup solution for a large server farm (1000+ machines) of Solaris, SunOS, and Compaq WindowsNT servers onto several large ATL DLT libraries and custom tailored backup solutions for individual clients using a variety of tape libraries.
• Installation and buildout of Solaris servers
• Level 3 UNIX support
• Diagnosing and fixing problems on a diverse group of Sun (Solaris) and Compaq (NT) servers
• Created suite of web utilities, reporting tools, and internal scripts for the backup system
• Troubleshooting network, routing and firewall problems
• Spearheaded internal network upgrade to 100/1000Mbit Cisco switches to improve backup performance, with web based configuration system

• Senior Installation and Repair Technician, Jan 1997 - Jun 1997: Virginia Tech
• Duties included troubleshooting FORE and Cisco ATM switches, Cisco and USRobotics modem pools, installation and testing of assorted network interfaces, including ISDN, T-1s, and OC-3 fiber, the integration and testing of many video conferencing systems, including PictureTel, V-Tel and Apple systems, and developing an internal web site documenting the Network Virginia ATM network.

• Systems Administrator, Feb 1996 - Jan 1997: NRVnet (Company no longer exists)
• Duties included the administration of Digital Unix, DEC Terminal Servers, Multi-Tech and USRobotics Modems, writing the Macintosh client software, the conversion to Kerberos 4 authentication, account maintenance, DNS maintenance, setup of a Linux based printer server, and re-wiring of the office phones and network.

• Systems Administrator, 1993 - 1995: Radford University
• Responsible for setting up and repairing various Macintosh, PC and Sun configurations, Windows NT and 95 administration and integration, and the installation and setup of a video editing station.

• SUN System Administrator, 1992: Virginia Tech
• Job entailed the installation of SunOS, configuration of NFS, NIS, DNS and FTP services, as well as user account management.

• Student Representative for Virginia Tech, 1991 - 1992: Apple Computer
• Duties included installation and maintenance of Macintosh computers on campus, managing Macintosh help desk, and writing the modem scripts to enable communication with the campus network.

• Apple Network Technician, 1990 - 1992: Virginia Tech
• Duties included installation and maintenance of the department's AppleTalk network and file/printer services, plus several Unix systems (SunOS and A/UX).

Related Experience

Created and administer in-house computer lab

• Built a Wordpress Site to document how I implement things
• Set up a VMware environment, and run a "production" linux server with e-mail, web, file sharing, proxy and various other services (including this resume)
• Implemented a Netbackup environment using disk based backup with de-duplication
• Set up NAT service for internal machines and dual (internal and public) wireless networks
• Built a "lab" for learning VMware, Cisco, Linux, Windows Server, and any other equipment of interest

Custom build gaming PCs

• Worked with many brands of motherboards, video cards, RAM, power supplies, cases, etc.
• Performance tuning

Tech Support guy for all my friends and family

• Any computer problems my friends and family have, they tend to call me. I handle various software and hardware issues and upgrades for just about everything.

Education

• Bachelors of Science, Computer Science, December 1995, Radford University
• Attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Computer Science, 1988-1992;1994
• Veritas Vision Technology Conferences (formerly Vericon), 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2017
• Windows 2008 Server training, 2009
• Infoblox appliance training, 2009
• VMware vSphere training, 2009

Other Hobbies/Skills

• Photographer
• Amateur Radio
• Home Automation
• Video Gaming
• Board Gaming