Chris Blocker
Senior Systems Engineer
Rockville,MD
Summary
Senior systems engineer with over 20 years of successful experience in IT and cloud infrastructure design and management. Recognized consistently for performance excellence and contributions to success in the MSP industry. Strengths in automation scripting and network design backed by training in information systems management.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
2
2
years of post-secondary education
3
3
Certifications
Work History
Cloud Services Team Lead
Optimal Networks
Rockville, MD
03.2012 - Current
- Led team of 5 engineers in day-to-day operations to manage virtual desktop service offered to approximately 700 users among 15+ clients. This included maintenance and management of entire infrastructure as well as working directly with clients on escalated issue resolution.
- Successfully developed and deployed highly available virtual desktop infrastructure utilizing Microsoft Azure and Citrix Cloud Virtual Apps and Desktops. Migrated entire client base to this new environment with virtually no disruption to service.
- Developed many automation scripts for tier 1 through tier 3 support that shortened task times by 90%, removed human error, and automatically documented process for later review.
- Migrated approximately 1000 mailboxes from Microsoft Exchange 2010 to Microsoft Office 365.
- Successfully migrated entire client base from Citrix XenApp 6.5 on Server 2008 R2 to Citrix XenApp 7.15 on Server 2016. This included a change from roaming profiles to Citrix UPM and ultimately FSLogix profile containers.
- Deployed, managed, and maintained Windows-based, multi-node data center infrastructure that included a 20-node Hyper-V cluster, EMC VNX SAN, and accompanying 10Gbe iSCSI network.
- Deployed and maintained highly available Citrix Netscaler/ADC virtual appliance used as both Citrix gateway for VDI and load balancing of various services including Microsoft Exchange and Citrix web services.
Senior Network Engineer
Peak Hosted Solutions
Clarksburg, MD
03.2021 - 03.2021
- Maintained RDS-based virtual desktop infrastructure on a multi-node Hyper-V cluster located in local data center.
- Maintained highly available Microsoft Exchange cluster for hundreds of mailboxes.
- Worked directly with clients on escalated issues that could not be solved by tier 1 support.
IT Consultant
Self Employed Services
Odenton, MD
06.2006 - 10.2009
- Installed, configured and maintained complete network infrastructures for small and medium businesses including file servers, firewalls, data backup systems and corporate antivirus solutions.
- Administration of small business information systems, including IIS and SQL 2000 used for on-site hosted e-commerce website. Troubleshooting of IT related problems for multiple small businesses.
- Migration of web servers from Windows/IIS to Linux/Apache.
Senior Network Engineer
DHR Technologies
Columbia, MD
11.2007 - 01.2009
- Maintained client networks which included MS file, database, mail and virtual servers for several clients.
- Migrated network users, data and mailboxes from MS SBS 2000 to SBS 2003.
- Maintained multiple Blackberry Enterprise servers.
IT Consultant
IAO Networks
Stafford, VA
02.2004 - 06.2006
- Installed, configured and maintained complete network infrastructures for small and medium businesses including file servers, firewalls, backup systems and antivirus solutions.
- System migration from Windows NT domain to Windows 2003 Active Directory domain.
- Administration of small business information systems, including IIS and SQL 2000 used for on-site hosted e-commerce website.
Education
Information Systems Managment
University of Maryland - University College
Hyattsville, MD 09.2016 - Current
Skills
Cloud Infrastructure
Virtualization
Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops
Citrix ADC/NetScaler
Powershell
Active Directory
Failover Clusters
Certification
Sonicwall CSSP
Timeline
Senior Network Engineer
Peak Hosted Solutions
03.2021 - 03.2021
Sonicwall CSSP
04-2018
Information Systems Managment
University of Maryland - University College
09.2016 - Current
Microsoft Certified Professional
03-2015
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist
10-2012
Cloud Services Team Lead
Optimal Networks
03.2012 - Current
Senior Network Engineer
DHR Technologies
11.2007 - 01.2009
IT Consultant
Self Employed Services
06.2006 - 10.2009
IT Consultant
IAO Networks
02.2004 - 06.2006