Zach Mitchell Email & Phone Number

Chittenango, Ny, Us

Arlington, Va, Us

• Lead Kubernetes Engineer who was responsible for communication, strategy, best practices and security for RKE2 and Rancher Multi Cluster Kubernetes deployments.• Built runbooks and maintenance strategies for use with application workloads and Kubernetes platforms to provide continuous integration• Leveraged GitLab CI for GitOps best practices providing automation for building OS/AMI images using Ansible, packer and terraform.• Developed Kubernetes self-service in CI allowing for requests which built manifests based on developer needs and was deployed using ArgoCD.• Designed automation and safeguards to provide hands off Kubernetes maintenance to teams in remote or air gapped environments

Arlington, Va, Us

• Built automation to create Kubernetes clusters with a click of a button using Terraform, Ansible, Python, Golang, RKE2 and Rancher on VMWare vSphere.• Used GitLab CI/CD to automate the creation of sandbox environments to allow for end-to-end testing of Kubernetes cluster building automation.• Worked with Rancher to pave the way for VMWare cluster creation and downstream cluster automation. Provided many detailed bug reports with Rancher engineers to identify and document bugs which lead to major Rancher MCM improvements.• Created automation to create VM templates in VMWare from existing approved templates to ensure immutable infrastructure and timely system updates.• Helped develop offline automation using Golang and Terraform for Kubernetes cluster creation in air-gapped networks.• Subject matter expert for Helm, Kubernetes, logging, and automation.

Syracuse, New York, Us

• Deconstructed and redesigned existing systems and services.• Capable of analyzing difficult situations and finding the best path forward.• Rearchitected the web hosting platform, which was hosting 12,000 websites to be secure, maintainable, and automated.• Created documentation on all the functionality, issues, and resolutions for each aspect of the current systems and services.• Implemented Ansible tower to perform automation on server and website maintenance, which allows for additional personnel to respond to trouble tickets.• Created CI/CD workflows in GitLab to allow developers and System administrators an easy way to deploy and continuously integrate new changes with their Kubernetes deployments.• Created custom Docker containers and Helm charts to move our existing brick and mortar websites to container-based deployments in Kubernetes.• Created highly available Rancher administration cluster on Ubuntu using K3s and KubeVIP.• Constructed a Kubernetes environment, helping campus partners migrate over 100 sites to our existing platforms with grace and ease.• Designed and implemented two highly available and fault tolerant storage solutions for our on-premises Kubernetes environment using GlusterFS and Linstor.• Implemented a log and monitoring solution using Grafana Loki and Prometheus, which enabled warnings for service outages and metric dashboards.• Primary responder to DDoS attacks to campus.• Implemented a Content Distribution Network with Fastly and Varnish for some of our primary self-hosted campus websites to ensure global website speed, DDoS protection, and site uptime.

Syracuse, New York, Us

• Primary lead for academic enterprise-wide Windows server applications.• Handled major upgrades on Atlassian Jira and Confluence Server.• Scripted a procedural and reusable upgrade for Confluence Server, which included our brand changes and WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility modifications.• Worked to ensure WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility was met across all web systems maintained. Committed code back to vendors when possible.• Handled Confluence site migration from two sperate systems into a single maintainable solution.• Provided consultation to campus partners on performance and configuration of Video streaming platforms.• Handled Accessibility automation tools to ensure that campus resources were complying with WCAG 2.0 AA.• Provided plans, documentation and training for enterprise-wide web applications maintained by our team.

• Created complex workflows in increase enterprise-wide communication, productivity, and cooperation using Microsoft SharePoint 2013• Lead enterprise-wide SharePoint application development and implementation. • Rearchitected existing Active Directory and Group Policy policies to ensure a more secure and understandable environment.• Implemented a log monitoring system which allowed for proactive responses to common issues.• Programmed auto responses and self-help articles into existing ticket systems to allow end user to solve common issues and help alleviate the help desk from being overwhelmed.• Implemented automatic updates for all applications on secure systems and employee desktops to ensure critical applications were up to date. • Implemented an application upgrade utility which could monitor and assist users immediately and provide reporting to administrators about inventory status of each managed machines. This allowed up to respond to critical Vulneribilies in applications and ensure systems were 100% compliance within hours or receiving vulnerabilities notices.• Provided PII and HIPAA compliance on file servers using Varonis.• Architected computer deployment process to use PXE, MDT and RDS to ensure that computers could be imaged and deployed to target locations in under two hours from unboxing.

Cazenovia, Ny, Us

• Trail blazed new ways to image dual boot iMacs with both Windows and OS X. while keeping software per each operating system in compliance and up to date with the induction of Munki, WDS, PDQ and SCCM. • Responsible for Windows and OS X server creation and implementation on virtual servers. Insured redundancy between services and managed down time when updates are required.• Ensured that all shared directories and applications are locked down based on permission group and only the correct users have access.• Designed and implemented a theme for SharePoint for use by the campus. • Lead enterprise-wide hardware and software installations and recommendations. Oversaw major server upgrades and expansions, terminal services and network performance. Integrated new technologies into existing data-center environments. • Strengthened system/network security and business-continuity planning as a member of the company’s security incident response team• Rectified issues by instituting best practices in system log analysis, backups, user account/permissions management and systems/software auditing. • Managed all campus printers. Established relationships with vendors. Maintained supplies and inventory. Troubleshoot technical issues and conducted necessary repairs.• Assisted with the creation and front-end development of all internal campus websites. Developed web applications that heighten online customer support.