David Thomas

Systems Administrator with 10 years experience building, troubleshooting, and supporting Linux, Solaris, and Microsoft Windows based systems. Current experience with tuning and troubleshooting Apache/Tomcat/JBoss applications running on RHEL and Solaris systems utilizing Subversion, PostgreSQL and Python scripting.

System Administrator - Level 2 Support at CollabNet

May 2007 - Current

• Subject matter expert in PostgreSQL for department
• Advised hosted and on-site customers in performance tuning and database maintenance.
• Created internal training and documentation on database tuning and usage.
• Obtained PostgreSQL Associate DBA Certification from EnterpriseDB in June 2010.
• Technical lead in providing System Administration service to large on-site customer.
• Technical lead on transition of hosted customers from off-site hosting to in-house.
• Trained CollabNet employees on management of SourceForge Enterprise Edition (now known as CollabNet TeamForge) .
• Maintained all previous responsibilities from position at VA Software.

Product Support Engineer for SourceForge Enterprise Edition at VA Software

November 2006 - May 2007

• Provided customer support for SourceForge Enterprise Edition.
  • Answered questions via phone, email, and ticketing system on a a variety of technologies used with SourceForge including CVS, Subversion, SSH, James SMTP server, JBoss, Apache, and PostgreSQL.
• Maintained Hosted Edition Customer servers.
  • Remote system upgrades using SSH and iLO (Integrated Lights-Out).
  • Creation, deletion, and loading of CVS and Subversion repositories.
  • Automation of tasks using Perl, BaSH, and cron.
• Created and maintained user documentation.
  • Created new and edited existing knowledge base articles.
  • Created new and edited existing FAQ entries.
• Participated in 24/7 on call rotation

Networking Specialist for nextSource on assignment at General Electric

Louisville, KY June 2006 - November 2006

• Managed CVS repositories
• Supported IIS and Apache web servers.
  • Deployed, monitored and maintained Apache / Tomcat applications.
  • Configured and maintained IIS web servers
• Created and maintained remote access to Windows 2003 servers using SSH tunnels.
• Assisted DBAs in accessing Windows SQL servers.

Tier 2 Unix Support at Hosting.com

Louisville, KY January 2005 - June 2006

• Headed deployments of new dedicated and co-located customers.
  • Configured HP/Compaq hardware for Web and SQL servers
  • Automated OS installations using Microsoft ADS, and Red Hat Kickstart scripts
  • Configured Cisco Local Director for load balanced server configurations
• Supported dedicated, co located and shared customers
  • Provided technical advice for scopes of work.
  • Documented troubleshooting procedures that were then used by co-workers.
  • Worked with a variety of operating systems including Red Hat and Debian Linux, Solaris, and Windows 2000/2003 Server.
  • Worked with a variety of Web technologies including Apache, Sendmail, MySQL, PHP, Perl, Internet Information Server (IIS), Merak Email server, and Cold Fusion.
  • Answered customer questions via email/ticketing system and phone.
  • Provisioned new customers on Windows/Linux/Solaris servers including web, email and DNS setup.
• Monitoring of Network and Servers
  • Investigated monitor alerts using standard TCP/IP tools, ping/traceroute/telnet/ssh/dig.
  • Restarted services on a variety of operating systems including Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris.
  • Created scripts and automated processes to delete log files/restart services automatically.
• Participated in 24/7 on call rotation.

Network Administrator at Trustaff

Cincinnati, OH August 2004 - January 2005

• Maintained corporate website
  • Edited existing ASP based website to add and remove features.
  • Created and updated stored procedures in Microsoft SQL Server database.
  • Generated reports from Microsoft SQL Server database using Perl via an ODBC connection.
• Goldmine Contact Manager
  • Created/deleted/updated custom screens and fields.
  • Updated tables via perl and an ODBC connection to the dBase back-end.
  • Generated reports from the database with perl and MS Access.
• Phone System
  • Ran new lines from punch panel to wall outlet.
  • Managed users voice mail boxes.
  • Configured and tested VoIP phones.

System Administrator at Signalysis Inc

Cincinnati, OH February 2002 - March 2003

• Maintained internal network of desktop machines running both Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000.
• Maintained Red Hat Linux servers that provided many services to the internal, as well as the external network.
  • CVS, Samba, FTP (proftpd), Bugzilla (Apache/Perl/MySQL), Iptables Firewall, DNS/DHCP
• Made customizations to Bugzilla install, including modifying Perl code, and the MySQL database.
• Monitoring of internal network using MRTG and SNMP
• Converted existing bug database from DCS reports to Bugzilla using standard UNIX GNU tools (grep, sed, awk) and Perl.
• Implemented IPSec VPN using FreeS/WAN, and PGPNet/SSH Sentinel.
• Managed Backup schedule using BRU (Backup and Recovery Utility).

Customer Care Technician at UltraDNS Corporation

San Mateo, CA August 2000 - May 2001

• Provided technical support for the managed DNS service.
  • Assisted users with creation of MX/A/CNAME and other DNS records.
  • Troubleshooting DNS problems via phone and email.
• Deployed user accounts.
  • Manipulation of large (1000+) lists of zones using standard GNU tools, i.e. grep, sed, awk, cat.
  • Use, and modification of perl scripts to insert zones into database back-end.
• Monitored global network
  • Basic troubleshooting of network issues using ping/traceroute/telnet/ssh .
  • Worked with co-location engineer to resolve connectivity issues.

Attended Maysville Community College and Northern Kentucky University between 1996 and 2000