Gabriel Cain: Me, Myself, and I; a collection of projects and works

Gabriel Cain

P.O. Box 15605
Seattle, WA 98115
425-418-8166
gabriel at gabrielcain dot com

Objective

I am seeking a position as a senior Systems and Network Administrator, or a role as IT manager, that allows me to utilize my experience administering large systems to build stability and performance of network systems. I am interested in a position that also offers growth potential into greater responsibility.

Experience

Pop Cap Games, Inc
November 2005 to current
Senior Systems Administrator, External Team
Seattle, WA

My responsibilities at Pop Cap Games consist of the architecting and management of Unix (Linux & FreeBSD) server infrastructure, Cisco and Foundry Networks based network, and database clusters. The management of our unix infrastructure includes Apache/PHP/Memcached/MySQL web clusters, global server load-balancing (foundry gear), postfix and exchange based email system.

I was responsible for the design and implementation of our global network design, VPN architecting, server colocation deployments in Dublin, Ireland, and many other systems.

These included the specification of servers with our vendors, colo specification, power requisitioning, network design and rollout, and capacity planning.

I also was responsible for implementation of a multi-country database architecture to support our e-commerce system. I implemented CFEngine-based configuration management of our server systems to automate and provide change control over our server deployments to reduce sysadmin time required, and to facilitate change tracking.

I have grown the sysadmin team at Pop Cap from just me when I started to a team of seven systems administrators. I lead a team of three other systems administrators in response to supporting our global e-commerce website.
MeadGroup, Inc / ColoCenters (contract position)
August 2005 to November 2005
Systems Administrator/Developer/Many Things
Seattle, WA

ColoCenters/The Mead Group is a consulting and colocation company located in downtown Seattle, in the Westin building. My role is that of being an interrim sort; I have done cabling, mail server configuration, development, and anything else that needs to occur. I brought in the use of a ticketing system and a wiki to this organization to centralize and streamline documentation and issue tracking.
Dialup USA, Inc. (acquired by Ikano Communications in August 2005)
December 2001 to August 2005
Senior Systems Administrator
Lynnwood, WA

I maintained systems, including mail, web, dns, databases, and web proxies. I developed software for handling sysadmin tasks (database maintainance, db user creation, systems monitoring and reporting). I developed and utilized monitoring software to track system stability, availability and proactively handle capacity planning and system outage management. I managed MySQL-based databases, including mail and dial user account information. I handled networking implmentation issues, and specified networking components for growth, which included router configuration, routing protocols (BGP, OSPF), and similar technology. I handled implementing, and improving network security, and incidence response. I managed development of internal tools to improve employee productivity. I also handled second-level support issues. I implemented request-tracker at our location to aid in issue tracking, and troubleshooting. I managed four employees (another sysadmin, a developer, and the support staff.)
Bigdam.net
January 2000 to December 2001, some current consulting
Systems Administrator
Grand Coulee, WA

I designed and implemented the networking and server enviroment at Bigdam.net. This is an ISP that I built with my father, Alan Cain. My responsibility including implementation of all network services, including: dialup service, email, web services, dns, and all other information services. I developed software to manage our userbase, monitor our systems, and generate reports. I implemented web-based email services to allow our customers to read their email remotely. I assisted in the implmentation of our fixed wireless network deployment serving four counties. Bigdam.net is still in business serving the local area around Grand Coulee, and the surrounding counties.

Skills

Operating Systems
- FreeBSD (3/4/5/6) - 7 years
- Linux (various distros) - 10 years
- Windows 3x/9x/NT/2K/XP - 7 years
- Cisco IOS - 6 years
- NetApp DataOntap - 3 years
Networking, Storage, and Monitoring
- Nagios for service monitoring - 4 years
- Cisco routers (26xx, 3725, 72xx) - 5 years
- Cisco switches (29xx, 35xx, 37xx, 65xx) - 7 years
- Foundry switches and load balancers - 5 years
- OSPF and BGP - 5 years
- IP Networking and Routing - 7 years
- Netapp F7xx and F8xx series filers - 3 years
Programming Languages
- Perl - 9 years
- SQL - 7 years
- C - 5 years
- PHP - 5 years
- shell scripting - 6 years
Unix Services
- Apache Web Server (1.3/2) - 8 years
- Postfix Mail Server - 8 years
- MySQL Database Server - 8 years
- Bind v8/v9 DNS - 8 years
- SpamAssassin - 8 years
- Radius - 4 years
- NFS - 5 years
- Squid - 3 years
- Slipstream SP Web Accelerator - 3 years
- Samba - 4 years
- NTP - 7 years
- FTP - 5 years
- CFEngine - 2 years
- Xen Virtualization - About a year
- LDAP - less than a year
- Many other tools and services...
Other Skills
- General ISP skillset; dialup networking, routing protocols, diagnosing consumer computer issues, etc
- Capacity Planning and monitoring with tools such as MRTG/RRDTool/Cricket/Scripts I wrote/etc
- PC troubleshooting/systems integration/repair
- Pulling and terminating ethernet cable systems, including 25 pair cable
- Cable plant management and grooming
Management
- Lead a team of three systems administrators at Pop Cap Games
- Managed four technical staff members at Dialup USA

Years is in reference to how long I've known/used the technology; it may (and probably) doesn't necessarily mean continuous use during that period. But it may, so if you're curious, ask me. :-)

Certifications and Training

CCNA, April 2007
MySQL 5.0/5.1 High-Availability Training