VERN HART

About

Vern is a hands-on technologist who excels at solving problems. He headed IT of three startups, took a small hosting company from a handful of domains to over 250,000 domains, designing infrastructure and software to support them, and customized an embedded linux distribution for a world-wide, self-healing wifi network deployment.

Above all: Do.

As a deep technologist with over 25 years experience in the computer industry, he has administered Unix systems and Databases in almost every flavor. Vern is adept at one-on-one mentoring and group training. He was responsible for designing, implementing and managing successful training businesses at two companies and has helmed the support organization at two others.

Skills

Over 25 years experience in Computer Administration

Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE, 110-556-842)

Over 15 years of telecommuting experience, independent, self-managing.

Experienced Senior Unix Systems Administrator and Web Programmer with background in large installation support.

Solid working knowledge of Linux, IRIX, HP-UX, Sun and HP workstations.

Strong proficiency with shell and perl scripting.

Accomplished with networking software.

Skilled trainer with various Linux and Openstack topics, in both one-on-one and classroom settings.

Extensive knowledge of CSS and JavaScript.

Database administration experience with PostgreSQL, Oracle, and MySQL.

Veteran of the Dot-Com Bubble, having endured the birth and eventual demise of an Internet Startup.

Education

University of Idaho Moscow, ID
Computer Science and Art

Boise State University Boise, ID
BS candidate in Computer Science

Professional Experience

Field Software Engineer (09/2017 - present)
Canonical
Solution architect, sales support, deployment, cloud specialist. A focus on problem solving and client satisfaction. Develope QA tests for juju project. Architect, deploy, support complex cloud installations using OpenStack, juju, and Kubernetes.

Director of Delivery (06/2014 - 09/2017)
Solinea
OpenStack subject matter expert providing in-depth technical consulting for customers world-wide. Architecting solutions, implementation support, and OpenStack training. Deploy OpenStack using puppet manifests, RHEL OSP, HP Helion, and various other available distribution methods. Create custom OpenStack, DevOps, and Docker courseware for publicly available classes, web based training, as well as corporate on-site instruction.

Sr Unix SysAdmin/Web Programmer (11/1998 - 01/2015)
Anything.com Ltd.
Developed private domain tracking system for more than ten thousand domain names. Maintain DNS servers, mail servers, and web servers for the same ten thousand domain names. Responsible for selecting and purchasing hardware and services. Developed many proprietary perl/CGI utilities for administration and statistics related to the domain names. Established and maintain web pages with database access using perl, PHP, mod_perl. Extensive shell scripting to automate repetitive tasks. PostgreSQL and MySQL database creation and administration.

Cloud Solutions Architect (03/2014 - 06/2014)
Taos Mountain
Assisted big data company, Hortonworks, architect and implement OpenStack cloud computing platform for deployment testing and development of their hadoop data processing platform.

Director of Support Operations / Training (12/2010 - 12/2013)
Morphlabs
Responsible for directing the support of an OpenStack based cloud computing platform. This includes training internal personnel as well as third party partners. Evolved the skills and abilities of the internal support team and elevated the support capabilities of our partners. Also required to be a content matter expert with OpenStack and adept at troubleshooting, deployment, and resolving problems. Assisted research and development, technical operations, quality assurance, sales, marketing, and any others as needed. Architected and planned company's migration to OpenStack. Utilized puppet to facilitate installation and configuration of OpenStack. Traveled domestically and internationally to visit customers, train staff, and educate service providers.

Sr Service Engineer (02/2010 - 07/2010)
Yahoo!
In the run-time group. Responsible for keeping the many thousand servers that make up Yahoo! Search alive and healthy.

Perl Programmer (11/2007 - 5/2008)
JetBlue Airways
Developed and maintained online reservation system. Included debugging problems (and potential problems) as well as creating extensions to the system. Added PayPal payment option. Used CSS and JavaScript to redesign look and feel of reservation system to match the look and feel of corporate web site.

Founder / CTO (04/2004 - 11/2007)
NomadISP
Established and manage IT and infrastructure for the largest wireless hotspot network in the outdoor recreation industry. Senior architect and developer for embedded linux system used for wireless hotspot network deployment including unique, patentable technology. Certified satellite installer and trainer. The company eventually merged with our largest competitor.

Consultant / Trainer (01/2003 - 05/2008)
LinOra Corporation
Primary corporate trainer teaching classes of professionals basic and advanced concepts of Linux. Developed course-ware for multiple, in-depth courses. My students commonly say things like, "This is the best training I've ever had." Also responsible for on-site professional services deploying web architectures, developing custom applications and providing general Linux/Unix consulting. Installed and configured squid web proxies. Developed and maintain perl, shell and PHP applications. Created content management system to manage web pages for more than 250,000 domain names utilizing Perl, PHP and PostgreSQL.

Technical Support (09/2001 - 01/2002)
Colossus Web Hosting
Managed more than 500 Linux servers and supported more than 1000 customers. Worked on a team of three helping to administer more than 70,000 domain on those 500+ servers. Debugged scripts and programs in perl and shell script. Maintained DNS, email, pop, httpd, rwhod, and packet filtering. Installed Apache with many added modules including PHP, SSL, jserv, and mod_perl. Implemented total system automation to reduce amount of support required. Developed perl programs to simplify tasks and empower users.

Test System Programmer/Admin (02/1999 - 09/2001)
Hewlett Packard (via Adecco Technical)
Responsible for developing and maintaining tape drive test programs written in a proprietary scripting language for testing HP's new Ultrium LTO drive. Debugged and maintained C++ test system software. Managed day to day coordination of all product level testing. Developed and implemented processes for top level failure analysis, data capture, etc. Extracted data from test database and analyzed results. Administration - set up and maintained product test infrastructure. Coordinated execution of the product reliability test plan. Administered daily HPUX and NT test systems and environmental control chambers. Generated statistics and reports from Oracle database using PS/SQL and sqlplus. Performed emergency Oracle DB maintenance when primary DBA unavailable.

Sr. Unix SysAdmin/Consultant (10/1997 - 01/1999)
Computerland of Boise (ITG)
Provided high level Unix consulting on a contract and support basis. Served as internal information support for Unix systems and Web processes including email management, name service administration and cgi programming. Helped with business development by finding new consulting opportunities. Responded on an as-needed basis for a variety of clients, offering support on SCO, HPUX, AIX and Web technologies.

SysAdmin/Contractor (05/1995 - 10/1997)
Taos Mountain
Delivered quality contracting work for highly successful Silicon Valley contracting company. Set up and designed initial internal technology lab. Served as internal webmaster, maintaining CGI as well as HTML syntax. Worked for prominent Silicon Valley companies such as Sun Microsystems, SGI and SegaSoft.

Assistant Unix SysAdmin (06/1994 - 05/1995)
University of Idaho, Computer Science Dept
Administered mid-sized network of HP workstations running HP-UX, one SGI workstation and one SGI server, plus 20 X terminals, for 200+ users. Set up and maintained networking software, including NFS, NIS, DNS, and Sendmail. Conducted software builds for LaTeX, TeX, pine, and elm, and installed GhostScript and GNU utilities. Wrote ksh, sh and csh scripts to automate administrative tasks. Programmed for X11 environment. Provided technical user support, including training for beginning users. Supported WWW site, set up httpd, and installed Netscape browser tools.

PC Consultant, Owner (06/1993 - 08/1994)
Vern Hart Consulting
Helped people with technical customer support in areas of troubleshooting, tutoring, sales, and technical advice.

PC Service Consultant (12/1991 - 05/1994)
Cactus Computer Company
Installed, configured and troubleshot Intel based personal computers and peripherals. Provided technical customer support at client sites.