Ron Pratt Email & Phone Number

Cary, Nc, Us

- Current projects include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Nivida GDSIO/GPUDirect AI testing application performance and solutions architecture as it relates to Netapp cloud/Hybrid Cloud solutions. -Extensive experience in writing automation scripts to manage large numbers of Windows and Linux clients. Writing custom tools and scripts to automate testing and data collection in Power Shell, Python, and Ansible, needed to easily analyze that data. - Conceptualize, design, implement and document performance testing and workload characterization projects from the ground up for various end to end solutions, including Cloud and Hybrid Cloud solutions related to NetApp. These include partner, 3rd party and competitor products. - Interface with field personnel to share performance related information gathered from performance testing and workload characterization projects. The data is used to provide guidance for customer sizing and best practices for various application workloads and external facing documentation and validation of various Netapp platforms and solutions. -Extensive experience with Windows and various Linux OS flavors. Experience with building out entire testing environments in Hyper-V, ESX and AWS,GCP and Azure cloud environments for large scale application testing. Applications involve Microsoft Sql (Windows and Unix flavors), Cassandra and MySql as well as for Bench marking applications. - Worked with various bench marking tools including IOmeter, Microsoft File Server Capacity Tool, SPECsfs2014, SPC-1, Vdbench, TPC bench marking tools to validate NetApp solutions performance over various protocols.-Developed an Opensource Workload IO Bench Marking and characterization tool for Sql/MySql called Sql Sever Storage BenchMark,(SSB) written in Python. The Benchmarking tool is becoming a standard performance testing tool for Sql /MySql and many other Sql applications at Netapp. https://github.com/NetApp/SQL_Storage_Benchmark

• Handling of critical cases where the business impact often involves highly business critical production systems.• Interface with Engineering on high level critical cases where a software or hardware defect has been identified in a particular customer scenario. Be able to identify and understand the customer’s issue and if necessary reproduce complex environments in the lab in order to facilitatetroubleshooting and resolution.• Established reputation as a specialist in Microsoft Clusters, Exchange and SQL in iSCSI or FCP SAN environments including troubleshooting SAN and performance issues in those environments. Also responsible for many Exchange, SQL and Microsoft Cluster recoveries. • Managing multiple escalations with various high priority customers and critical issues, drive them to resolution and restore customer understanding and confidence. Respond to situations where the first and second line TSE’s have failed to reach a resolution • Technical team leader providing consultation and guidance to first and second line Technical Support Engineers to make sure cases are going in the right direction towards resolution in a timely manner.

• Take incoming support calls and resolve customer issues as quickly as possible.• Diagnose and resolve interoperability issues with the Netapp Storage Appliance and various Operating Systems and Applications in data centers and enterprise environments.• Manage multiple cases and drive them to resolution in a timely manner.• Interfacing and consulting with fellow technical support engineers and Escalations Engineers to gain guidance and direction in troubleshooting cases. • Contributing to the Knowledge Base system with KB Articles created from solutions I’ve found in particular customer issues. • Technical Support Engineer promoted to Escalations Engineer in 2006.