Resume of Erik W. Niklas

Technical Skills Summary

Operating Systems

Highly competent in Linux system administration (Slackware, Red Hat, Oracle Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, SuSE, Knoppix, and Gentoo)

Some knowledge of HP-UX, AIX, and OpenBSD system administration

Intermediate knowledge of Solaris and Windows 95/98/NT/2000/2003/XP

Hardware

Experience with most Sun hardware, including SunFire X4170 and X4200, 4800 and 6800, Enterprise 420R/3000/4500/5500/6500, V100/215/240/440/480/880/1280, Netra, and SunBlade 100

Experience with Dell PowerEdge 1950, 2650, 2850, and R900 servers

Twenty years of experience with Intel x86 hardware

Scripting/Programming

Thorough experience with Perl, Bourne/bash shell scripting and HTML

Significant experience with CGI, C/C++, Pascal, Modula-2, and BASIC

Some experience with Java, MIPS assembler, and x86 assembler

Utilities/Applications

In-depth knowledge of VMware, Xen, Oracle Virtual Server (OVS), NIS, NFS, SCCS, DNS, Samba, Apache, VNC, rsync, Jumpstart, Kickstart, and DiskSuite

Intermediate knowledge of Expect, sudo, Sun OpenBoot, Veritas Cluster Server, Veritas Volume Manager, Sun RAID Manager, sendmail, Postfix, CVS, printing, and HP RDP (Rapid Deployment Pack)

Some experience with MySQL and Oracle Applications and databases

Experience hosting several virtual domains using the Apache web server

Protocols

Knowledge of common protocols, such as TCP/IP, UDP, DHCP, NTP, ICMP, TFTP, ARP/RARP, BOOTP, PXE, POP, and IMAP

Administrative

Excellent troubleshooting and logic skills; solid understanding of Unix philosophy

Outstanding writing and communication skills

Highly security-conscious and proactive

Fast learner, self-motivated and highly interested in Unix/Linux system administration

Able to operate in a lead role; good leadership and interpersonal skills

Able to prioritize projects and work well in a group or alone

Experience hardening servers in response to Sarbanes-Oxley legislation

Experience with change control processes and ITIL

Experience

Unix System Administrator, Oracle Corporation Canada, 1/05 - present

Job Responsibilities

Provide consulting services to outside companies, including configuration of DNS, mail, backups, Kickstart, and general system administration and troubleshooting.
Perform senior system administration support for 400+ Sun Solaris, Oracle Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Linux, and Windows 2003 and XP servers (both physical and virtual).
Develop new solutions as part of an architecture team.
Develop and maintain scripts to simplify administration and automate processes.
Develop, maintain, and support VMware and Xen images.
Maintain and improve infrastructure to support hundreds of Unix and Windows servers, both internal and for customer projects.
Provide periodic on-call support.

Special Accomplishments

Developed and maintained VMware and Xen images of Red Hat Linux, Oracle Enterprise Linux, Windows XP, Windows 2003, and Oracle 9i and 10g RAC deployed thousands of times for sandbox, development, and production use, requiring minimal administrator interaction.
Wrote scripts to automate configuration of Linux servers across multiple data centers, with over 30 configuration items.
Contributed a vast amount of quality documentation describing internal processes, best practices, tips, and procedures.

Unix System Administrator, Nationwide, 3/99 - 12/04

Job Responsibilities

Install, upgrade, and administer 650+ Unix servers in two data centers, including Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, and Linux.
Write scripts to automate tasks and ease administration.
Maintain a set of Perl utilities allowing front line support to administer user accounts.
Serve as postmaster for a sendmail server supporting 1000 users.
Responsible for periodic on-call support.
Keep skills current by reading periodicals, books and web sites pertinent to the field, and by attending regular training and conferences.
Decide upon and document best practices.
Review and improve security templates.
Mentor junior system administrators.

Special Accomplishments

Wrote a suite of tools to implement password security mechanisms in an NIS environment.
Proved that Linux is a viable alternative in the existing Unix environment.
Designed and implemented the Linux solution.
Created tools to migrate existing DNS zones to a new DNS infrastructure with minimal customer impact.
Migrated central sendmail server to Postfix.
Wrote many authoritative documents, including one used by the entire team to upgrade several hundred servers from Solaris 2.6 to Solaris 8.
Assumed a lead role among a group of sixteen peers.

Intern in Unix System Administration, Nationwide, 2/98 - 3/99

Monitor, maintain, and upgrade many systems, including Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, and DEC Ultrix.
Address customer requests for system modifications and installations.
Help patch and certify several hundred servers for Y2K compliance.
Write a program to allow endusers to safely shut down and reboot workstations.

System Operator, Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals, 8/96 - 2/98

Monitor and maintain two laboratory systems and several hospital system interfaces.
Rectify internal system and interface problems.
Perform department-wide hardware and software upgrades to IBM PCs.

Assistant to Electronics Specialist, Grant Medical Center, 6/91 - 8/96

Install, maintain, and train users on IBM PC hardware and software.
Organize and catalog over 200 cable connections to the laboratory system.
Perform electrical safety checks on lab equipment in preparation for inspection.
Design and create flowcharts and organizational charts using Visio.

Intern in Office Equipment Services, Battelle Memorial Institute, 9/91 - 5/94

Install, maintain, and upgrade IBM PC hardware.
Install software.

Professional Development

Sun Microsystems SunFire training

Veritas Cluster Server (VCS) training

Usenix LISA conference 1999-2002, 2006, 2007, and 2009, including tutorials on sendmail, DNS, regular expressions, Perl, scripting, security, filesystems, and advanced Solaris administration

LinuxWorld 2003 conference

Sun Performance Tuning class

Oracle Database 10g: Administration Workshop I

Oracle Database 10g: Real Application Clusters

Erik W. Niklas

Objective

Professional Summary

Technical Skills Summary

Experience

Education

Professional Development

Certifications