Lucas Hankins
Summary
Dedicated Infrastructure Operations Engineer with 10+ years managing large-scale VMware, hybrid cloud (AWS/Azure), and enterprise environments in MSP and healthcare settings. Deep expertise in Linux systems, storage, disaster recovery, automation/scripting, and complex troubleshooting. Proven ability to rapidly learn new technologies, troubleshoot unknown issues under pressure, and deliver complete solutions. Veteran with Secret clearance. Eager to bring operational excellence and quick ramp-up to Lightning AI’s GPU-scale infrastructure and Kubernetes environments.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Systems Engineer (VMware Infrastructure)
Ascension
10.2024 - Current
- Deliver expert VMware vSphere support including installs/configs, resource management, networking (vSwitches, vDS), and storage (SAN, NFS, vSAN) in regulated healthcare environments.
- Excel at system analysis, root cause analysis, troubleshooting, and remediation of complex issues while adhering to HIPAA/PCI, ITIL, and change management processes.
- Drive VM provisioning, performance tuning, patching, and capacity planning through scripting and automation.
- Consistently dive into unfamiliar problems and deliver completed solutions in fast-paced production settings.
Systems Engineer
NTT Data (formerly Secure-24)
10.2015 - 07.2024
- Supported and maintained 20+ environments in VMware, Azure, and AWS serving large customers (300–700+ VMs each), handling ESXi upgrades, datastore provisioning, VLANs, and performance reviews.
- Executed 20+ migrations (20–500 VMs) using Zerto/vCenter and led annual disaster recovery tests across Cloud, Microsoft, and Linux platforms with PowerShell/Bash validation.
- Built and configured hundreds of Windows and Linux VMs including LVM, file systems, and services.
- Managed Rubrik backups, Pure Storage (15+ instances), NFS appliances, volume provisioning, restores, and replication while meeting 300+ SLAs.
- Applied Ansible and Puppet for configuration management; actively developing Terraform IaC skills through self-study and home lab to enable reproducible environments.
- Produced reports and provided technical consultation on Linux, Windows, and virtualization; exercised strong independent judgment on incidents, changes, and escalations.
Microsoft Engineer
NTT Data (Acquired Secure-24)
Southfield, MI
11.2017 - 11.2020
- Managed enterprise Windows Server, Active Directory, Exchange, SQL, DNS, GPOs, and Office 365 environments to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
Central Michigan University
01-2017
Skills
- Linux (RHEL/SUSE, LVM, NFS)
- AWS
- VMware vSphere
- Terraform
- Ansible
- Puppet
- Bash scripting
- PowerShell scripting
- Troubleshooting
- RCA
- Disaster Recovery
- Backups
- Storage
- Monitoring
- ITIL
- Change Management
- Active Directory
- Rapid Technology Adoption
Certification
- CompTIA A+
- Network+
- Server+
- Security+ (expired)
- Certified Ethical Hacker (expired)
- Microsoft Technology Associate (expired)
- ITIL
- Secret Security Clearance
Timeline
Systems Engineer (VMware Infrastructure)
Ascension
10.2024 - Current
Microsoft Engineer
NTT Data (Acquired Secure-24)
11.2017 - 11.2020
Systems Engineer
NTT Data (formerly Secure-24)
10.2015 - 07.2024
Bachelor of Science - Information Technology
Central Michigan University