Michael Heep
Linux / Kubernetes Administrator
Atkinson,IL
Summary
Experienced System Administrator with a strong background in Linux systems administration and cloud infrastructure management. Proficient in DevOps methodologies and equipped with key skills including Jenkins, Shell Scripting, Ansible, Container Orchestration, Terraform, Python, Troubleshooting, Patch Management, Git, Docker, and Kubernetes. Recently achieved Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) and Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) certifications, seeking opportunities to leverage expertise in a dynamic IT environment.
Legal Status: Green Card holder
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
3
3
Certifications
2
2
Languages
Work History
IT Consultant Linux
Swiss IT Security Deutschland GmbH
08.2023 - 12.2023
- Set up and operated Mastodon based self-hosted open source social media platform (social.hessen.de) used by multitudes of government organizations and offices in the state of Hessen, Germany.
- Administered Linux servers and VMs running MariaDB clusters, Keycloak, Tomcat, and web servers as well as handling ad-hoc tasks.
Senior System Administrator
ATLAS Dienstleistungen Für Vermögensberatung GmbH
04.2013 - 06.2023
- Worked through compeople AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany from April 2013 to June 2016. Contract staffing/by attorney of ATLAS GmbH, employed at ATLAS GmbH from July 2016.
- Administered 300+ servers/VMs (CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux on VMWare), and 1000+ containers (Kubernetes) as well as the corresponding applications (Tomcat, Apache HTTP Server, HA Proxy, MySQL, Postfix) ensuring high availability of 99-100%.
- Performed 2nd level support on a 24/7 shift basis, maintained flexible schedule, and assumed extra shifts during staff shortages.
- Regularly installed important security and functionality patches to maintain optimal protections against intrusion and system reliability
- Coordinated maintenance work including external service calls.
- Created and adapted documentation and content within the knowledge database.
- Resolved issues and escalated problems with knowledgeable support and quality service (Incident management according to ITIL).
System Engineer
Dunkel GmbH
10.2012 - 03.2013
- Administered and monitored 50+ Linux-based services in virtualized environments (VMWare).
- Configured custom solutions and services.
- Performed testing and implementation of Ceph, establishing it as a new storage technology.
- Resolved issues and escalated problems with knowledgeable support and quality service.
- Maintained flexible schedule and responded to after-hours and weekend emergencies by participating in 24/7 on-call duties.
System Administrator
IQ-optimize Software AG
12.2011 - 09.2012
- Administred, installed and configured Linux systems (Ubuntu), databases (MySQL), web servers (Apache/nginx) and openQRM (KVM virtualization).
- Performed technical project planning and implementation to migrate a subsidiary’s applications to openQRM based VMs, including implementation of Nagios/Icinga based monitoring, „back-up-to-disk“ via rsnapshot, configuration and performance analysis of Dell Equalogic SAN storage systems.
- Created and extended scripts (shell/bash) to optimize administration processes.
- Resolved issues and escalated problems with knowledgeable support and quality service.
- Maintained flexible schedule and responded to after-hours and weekend emergencies by participating in 24/7 on-call duties.
Career Break / Further Education
N/A
04.2010 - 11.2011
- Pursue of personal goals and further education (online) through oncampus.de at the Hochschule Emden/Leer, University of Applied Sciences, Emden, Germany.
- Acquired certifications in Java Programming and Development, Software Engineering (Process Models, Analysis, Design, UML), Database Design (ERM) and Implementation (SQL), PHP programming.
Senior System Administrator
DZ BANK AG
02.2008 - 03.2010
- Operated Investment Banking Division's Murex Trading Platform, used by 100+ Traders, as Solaris System and Sybase Database Administrator, ensuring high availability of 99-100% and faultless end-of-day processing.
- Maintained flexible schedule and responded to after-hours and weekend emergencies by participating in 24/7 on-call duties.
- Resolved issues and escalated problems with knowledgeable support and quality service.
- System Manager and administrator for TV video streaming servers (VLC) and Applix Pricing servers (Red Hat Enterprise Linux).
- Implemented and configured TV video streaming servers.
System Administrator
O2 (Germany) GmbH & Co. OHG
10.2004 - 11.2007
- Initially hired as student trainee.
- Evaluated and implemented Big Brother as monitoring tool for HP/Compaq RAID arrays on 100+ servers ensuring failure discovery and alerting of previously not monitored hard disks.
- Reprogrammed cpqarrayd to be usable as stand alone component (executable) within Big Brother check scripts (shell/bash).
- Created RPM packages with standardized Big Brother components and rolled them out.
- Effective March 15, 2005 hired as full-time System Administrator.
- Ensured and maintained high availability of 99-100% for networks, databases, systems (Red Hat ES/AS, Solaris), and applications (Apache HTTP Server, Tomcat, JBoss) for O2's customer portal o2online.de.
- Regularly initialized, planned, executed, and monitored system updates.
- Created and extended scripts (shell/bash) to optimize administration processes.
- Evaluated and implemented openLDAP servers and configured applications (OpenSSH, PAM modules, Apache HTTP Server, Tomcat) to leverage LDAP as central authentication mechanism, reducing user administration and access management efforts by 90%. Created and rolled out corresponding RPM packages and wrote technical documentation.
- Resolved issues and escalated problems with knowledgeable support and quality service.
- Maintained flexible schedule and responded to after-hours and weekend emergencies by participating in 24/7 on-call duties.
Education
Dipl.-Inform. (FH), Graduate Degree - Computer Science
FH Wiesbaden, University of Applied Sciences
Wiesbaden, Germany 02.2005 -
Skills
Linux (Red Hat, Ubuntu)
Kubernetes
Container Orchestration
Docker
DevOps
Shell Scripting
System Monitoring
System Updates
Technical Troubleshooting
Team Collaboration
Analytical and Methodical
Quick Learner
Certification
CKA: Certified Kubernetes Administrator
Timeline
CKA: Certified Kubernetes Administrator
02-2024
CKAD: Certified Kubernetes Application Developer
02-2024
The Ultimate DevOps Bootcamp (KodeKloud Training)
09-2023
IT Consultant Linux
Swiss IT Security Deutschland GmbH
08.2023 - 12.2023
Senior System Administrator
ATLAS Dienstleistungen Für Vermögensberatung GmbH
04.2013 - 06.2023
System Engineer
Dunkel GmbH
10.2012 - 03.2013
System Administrator
IQ-optimize Software AG
12.2011 - 09.2012
Career Break / Further Education
N/A
04.2010 - 11.2011
Senior System Administrator
DZ BANK AG
02.2008 - 03.2010
Dipl.-Inform. (FH), Graduate Degree - Computer Science
FH Wiesbaden, University of Applied Sciences
02.2005 -
System Administrator
O2 (Germany) GmbH & Co. OHG
10.2004 - 11.2007