Unix System Administrator
I’ve worked closely with computers most of my life. I enjoy computers for their own sake, much as a sculptor enjoys the sensations of working with clay. However, my most rewarding experiences involve helping other people work with computers. I’ve spent most of my career in system administration positions. I prefer system administration to development because there are more frequent opportunities for me to be the hero. The rest of my experience is in Customer Service where hero opportunities occur daily, but the freedom and responsibility of system administration allow for more dramatic feats of heroism.
I have no formal education beyond high school, but I do have over twelve years of Unix and Windows system administration experience and a further four years of customer service and programming experience beyond that.
| Data System Administrator | Reporting to: |
| SCHARP / FHCRC | Mija Lee |
| March 2010 - Present | 206-667-5000 |
| Seattle, WA |
SCHARP is a portion of The Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center devoted to AIDS and HIV research and prevention. I am responsible for a system which is part of the processes by which the organization obtains the data it needs to perform statistical evaluations of technologies developed to fight HIV and AIDS.
I have not yet been with the organization long enough to list out any lessons learned of to describe my duties succinctly.
| System Operation Specialist | Reporting to: |
| The Disney Interactive Media Group | Topher White |
| May 2002 - February 2010 | 206-664-4000 |
| Seattle, WA |
The Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) is the group within The Walt Disney Corporation responsible for most of the development, publishing and hosting of Disney websites, as well as many other Internet technologies used throughout the corporation. My most recent work was in the Platform Systems team where I maintained the mail and messaging systems. Previously I worked in the Service Operations Center, which is responsible for monitoring the production environment and serves as a communication hub for all the groups involved in managing that environment. Before that I worked in the Data Center Services team, which maintains over 1500 live production servers and devices from hardware to operating system and works with other groups to assist with capacity planning, business continuity management, performance and troubleshooting. Previously to that I worked in the team which later became the Service Operations Center.
Some of what I’ve learned:
Some of my duties:
Job titles at DIMG do not map well to industry standard titles. In my years with the company my work included activities normally associated with these more traditional titles:
| System Administrator | Reported to: |
| Got.net, The Internet Connection | Don Fredrickson |
| April 2000 - April 2002 | 831-460-2000 |
| Santa Cruz, CA |
Got.net was a small ISP when I last worked with them. I was the lead technician, and the ‘company guru’. I spent most of my time keeping systems running, but also helped with difficult support issues, advised customers seeking solutions to complicated problems, and on projects which added business value. I occasionally wrote small web and shell applications for customers, or to solve internal problems.
At Got.net I learned about making due with minimal resources, how to build constructive relationships with customers and colleagues by making and keeping promises, and that some problems can’t be solved just by working harder for longer.
| Network and System Administrator |
| Tapestry.net |
| October 1998 - March 2000 |
| Scotts Valley, CA |
When I worked for Tapestry.net, they were a job search company. I worked both as internal support and as administrator for their public systems. I also consulted with internal developers on how to optimize their applications for the Internet.
At Tapestry I learned (by doing the wrong thing) to adjust my communication to my audience.
| System Administrator |
| Coast Commercial Bank |
| September 1997 - September 1998 |
| Santa Cruz, CA |
Coast Commercial Bank is a small community bank in Santa Cruz county. They were bought by Greater Bay Bancorp not long after I left. Working there I maintained seven Novell servers, 100 Windows workstations, one Linux server, and several dozen teller machines. I helped migrate them from IPX/SPX to TCP/IP.
CCB showed me that there are places where time and money are not the scarce resources. My biggest challenges were integrating disperate vendors’ products, such as Novell NetWare and Microsoft Windows, though by now I have forgotten the details of the products.
| System Administrator |
| Got.net |
| Februrary 1996 - August 1997 |
| Santa Cruz, CA |
In addition to the two years at Got.net mentioned above, I also worked there in ‘96 and ‘97. I was much more involved in customer support in those days, and only took over system administration duties about halfway through my time there.
| Windows95 Support Technician |
| Unisys / TAD Temporaries |
| July 1995 - December 1995 |
| Austin, TX |
I worked for six months as a phone support technician when Microsoft launched Windows 95. My duties consisted entirely of answering support calls, helping the customers, or escalating calls if I couldn’t resolve them myself.
I learned a little about Windows and a lot about customer service working at Unisys.