Madhukar Kanduri
Linux & Datacenter Administration
Sunnyvale,CA
Summary
Results-driven Datacenter and Lab Systems Administrator specializing in rack-level AI hardware integration and liquid-cooled GPU/APU platforms. Proficient in managing compute infrastructure within Linux and VMware environments, ensuring optimal performance through effective troubleshooting, monitoring, and system upgrades. Expertise in cooling systems, CDUs, and providing 24/7 production support, complemented by a strong background in networking, backup and recovery solutions, and hardware management. Skilled in root cause analysis (RCA), vendor management, and facilitating AI/GPU server bring-up and validation in high-density environments.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
3
3
Certifications
Work History
Datacenter/Lab Technician
AMD
07.2024 - Current
- Lead rack-level integration, bring-up, validation, and lifecycle management of liquid-cooled HPE Cray MI200 GPU/APU blade systems and AMD MI300X GPU platforms on Supermicro and ZT Systems, including component replacement, failure analysis, troubleshooting, and RMA to ensure reliability, performance, and minimal downtime.
- Perform hands-on data center operations including rack & stack, cabling, power integration, and airflow optimization for high-density AI and HPC compute racks, ensuring scalable designs with efficient power distribution and cooling.
- Integrate, configure, and maintain power infrastructure by managing PDUs, performing firmware updates, validating power stability, and ensuring safe and efficient power delivery across liquid-cooled and air-cooled GPU environments.
- Support end-to-end system qualification and deployment workflows, including firmware flashing using Dediprog, CRD flashing via Jenkins, driver validation, ROCm installation, post-deployment testing, and specialized configurations such as Wombat and UART setup using Raspberry Pi.
- Deploy, provision, and maintain operating systems using Canonical MAAS to streamline OS installations, automate updates, and support large-scale GPU lab environments.
- Configure, deploy, and troubleshoot networking components to ensure secure, high-performance connectivity, while monitoring system health and performance using Zabbix and Grafana to proactively identify and resolve issues.
- Collaborate closely with facilities, vendors, and cross-functional engineering teams to diagnose and resolve rack-level power, cooling, hardware integration, and infrastructure issues in GPU lab and data center environments.
- Manage hardware inventory, asset tracking, and audits using SnipeIT and SuperGodzilla, while maintaining accurate records, integration procedures, test results, and hardware changes in Confluence for operational transparency and collaboration.
- Coordinate task orchestration and issue resolution using Conductor and GitLab, tracking data center and lab tickets to ensure timely resolution of complex hardware, firmware, and infrastructure-related issues.
Linux & Data Center Operations Engineer
Infosys-Broadcom
05.2021 - 03.2024
- Supported data center rack deployments and ensured infrastructure readiness for production environments through detailed power, cooling, and temperature audits.
- Managed and monitored data center servers, physical hardware, security systems, and access controls to maintain operational integrity and compliance.
- Coordinated with colocation facilities, data center operators, and third-party vendors for hardware installation, decommissioning, rack-level changes, and on-site repairs while adhering to security and operational standards.
- Installed, configured, and maintained Linux and Windows operating systems, including firmware updates, OS upgrades, patching, and resolution of OS and software-related issues.
- Performed hands-on hardware installation and troubleshooting for compute, network, and storage components, resolving infrastructure incidents and minimizing downtime.
- Collaborated closely with network and storage administrators to address connectivity issues, plan upgrades, and manage vendor dependencies.
- Managed accounts and data center access through the Cyxtera portal, and monitored DCIM platforms such as Device42 for infrastructure visibility and asset tracking.
- Documented operational procedures, maintained compliance records, supported 24×7 infrastructure uptime, and executed vulnerability remediation to meet enterprise reliability and security requirements.
Linux/VMware Compute Operations Engineer
Maryland Dept of Health
09.2020 - 04.2021
- Installed, configured, and patched Linux, Unix, and Windows applications in Ansible environments.
- Utilized Ansible for task automation, privilege escalation, and managing playbooks, roles, and inventory.
- Resolved Linux/Unix issues on physical and virtual servers and collaborated with cross-functional teams.
- Managed user accounts, security patches, and repositories with Yum and Chocolatey.
- Administered Windows servers, performed disaster recovery, and coordinated release management with Git.
- Worked with the ELK stack, F5 load balancers.
Linux/VMware Compute Operations Engineer
Meta
01.2020 - 08.2020
- Optimized business operations systems to enhance daily efficiency.
- Coordinated hardware replacements and issue resolution with HP, Dell, and VMware.
- Managed VMware vSphere operations, including vSAN health and vMotion.
- Performed datastore management, network configurations, and software upgrades.
- Utilized VMware tools for automation and operational management.
- Conducted Linux VM migrations, resource sizing, and log analysis.
Linux System Administrator
WORLDPAC
04.2019 - 12.2019
- General Linux and VMware Administration
- Skilled in Dell EMC RecoverPoint, vSAN, VPC creation, and cross-region networking (VPC Peering)
- Experience with SSL cert management, EDI troubleshooting, email security (AppRiver), and IMAP/DNS configurations.
- Performed Veeam backups, hardware replacements, upgrades.
Linux/Unix High Performance Computing
KLA-Tencor
04.2018 - 03.2019
- Managed Linux environments (OpenSUSE, RedHat, CentOS, Ubuntu) across desktop and server editions.
- Built and troubleshot server racks (16u, 42u, 48u) for projects like Lotus, ADC 2.0, and Exige.
- Proficient in VMware, KVM, OpenStack, and Super Micro hardware, including JBOD enclosures.
- Documented procedures for system builds, upgrades, and Netgear switch configurations.
- Configured RAID, BIOS flashing, and network settings with tools like Yast and deployment tools like Clonezilla.
- Managed compute nodes, DVP systems, and remote tools (IPMI, iDRAC) in data centers and clean rooms.
Linux/VMware/Cloud (AWS) System Administrator
Stanford University (UIT)
11.2016 - 03.2018
- Managed linux OS and configurations and AWS systems
- Administered AWS services (EC2, S3, Route53, IAM) with automation via Ansible and Puppet.
- Performed backups, recovery, and configuration management with IBM TSM, Git, and ServiceNow.
- Automated security tasks, applied patches, and monitored systems with tools OEM, Nagios, Qualys, Splunk, and Ossec.
- Built and managed VMware and Dell PowerEdge hosts, including network and storage configurations.
Linux (Azure) Support Engineer/Admin
Microsoft
12.2015 - 10.2016
- Supported Microsoft Azure Linux platforms, resolving issues across distributions and Azure services.
- Troubleshot Azure configurations, resolved critical production issues, and enhanced platform performance.
- Automated tasks with Bash scripts and managed Azure deployments using OpenStack templates.
- Collaborated with network and storage teams for tuning and feature enhancements.
- Provided 24/7 support, managed incidents, and utilized tools like Azure Chef, Jenkins, and Ansible.
Education
Bachelors -
Osmania University
Hyderabad, India04.2010
Master's - Business Administration With IT
NPU
Fremont, CA09.2015
Skills
- Data Centers & Labs
- Rack & Stack Servers, Network&Storage devices
- Linux and Windows OS Installations
- Server Configuration
- Networking
- Backup and Recovery tools
- Hardware Deployment
- Monitoring Tools
- Cloud Service
- Virtualization
- Demand forecasting
- Documentation
- Cross-functional team leadership
- Datacenter Operations Management
- Procurement
- Asset Management
Certification
Nvidia-Certified Associate: AI Infrastructure and Operations (NCA-AIIO)
Timeline
Datacenter/Lab Technician
AMD
07.2024 - Current
Linux & Data Center Operations Engineer
Infosys-Broadcom
05.2021 - 03.2024
Linux/VMware Compute Operations Engineer
Maryland Dept of Health
09.2020 - 04.2021
Linux/VMware Compute Operations Engineer
Meta
01.2020 - 08.2020
Linux System Administrator
WORLDPAC
04.2019 - 12.2019
Linux/Unix High Performance Computing
KLA-Tencor
04.2018 - 03.2019
Linux/VMware/Cloud (AWS) System Administrator
Stanford University (UIT)
11.2016 - 03.2018
Linux (Azure) Support Engineer/Admin
Microsoft
12.2015 - 10.2016
Master's - Business Administration With IT
NPU
Bachelors -
Osmania University