Work-place Linux

Two years of work-place Linux experience (supplemented by over 5 years of home use). Familiar with Centos4-5 (RHEL4 & 5), FC 6, Ubuntu 7.10, Smoothwall, Cygwin.

I'm going to be brutally honest here: I'm not an expert Linux admin. My strengths lie in adaptability, innovation, and automation, particularly with scripts and programming languages. I have the ability to understand and program in various languages, but I've only used it as needed. I do the homework involved to understand something, but I discovered that I need access to an expert-level source, on occasion. Especially when it comes to *nix services that are designed to communicate with Windows, there is the potential for hard-to-solve (but difficult to spot) problems to develop. I took a class in advanced Unix while I was doing the job of a system administrator (working as a contractor), and received the highest grade in a class of 12, with the observation that I "did not immediately ask questions when I had them, but did some research to try to determine the answer myself."

I believe I would make an ideal junior systems administrator.

5/2005 - 4/2008: Platinum Processing Services, Inc.; Austin, TX
Implemented Samba file server, after researching ideal Linux platform to use. Saved the company money by choosing CentOS over RHEL when I determined that the server would likely be using solutions not supported by Red Hat.

Implemented automated backup scripts that use rsync to back up changes made to files on the network to a network repository on an hourly basis. ( Result is a backup repository that is always available to the users. ) Backup script system uses 'pessimistic' log processing to automatically mail out only log messages that are not matched via regular expression. This allows an automated file to be generated with only relevant information, while also allowing for tailoring the backup process to the unique environment of the company's network.

Implemented automated mailer on Centos server that will process text files with specific strings (such as To: and Attachment: ) in order to automatically mail out logs generated by any machine on the network that writes such a file to the network share.

Researched and implemented Smoothwall firewall/router solution for company. Used Perl to customize 'port knocking' solution on firewall, allowing for remote administration under very specific conditions, without permanently opening a port on the firewall.

( And at home ):
Implemented custom Smoothwall Perl/bash scripts to block internet access from a specfic client until the access is granted remotely. Attempting to browse (to any site) while blocked results in the display of a page of tasks to complete before access is unblocked.

I consider myself a Linux afficionado. Got a question about Linux? (Such as 'will it work in my office environment?') Ask me. I've spent the last 3 years learning various concerns that impact this answer.