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incident commander · linux · kubernetes · rust

More than a decade with Linux, Python, and Rust. Cross-functional instincts honed from a lifetime of dealing with servers. I also build furniture and fix tractors.

mailsam@mkdir.foo webmkdir.foo githubfaangbait
Bash History Length
9209 lines
since january
Devcontainers
1 running
Free Disk Space
25.16 TiB
including gluster volumes
Available Memory
792.14 GiB
across 3 servers, 1 workstation
Location
Home
Device charging, on WiFi
Now Playing
Welcome Home
by Coheed and Cambria (Spotify)
certs active
1 until 2027
homelab nodes
3 Dell R730/R730X
...as of
May 5, 2026, 3 p.m.
01 // core skills
Linux
Cloud-agnostic · containers · on-prem · Red Hat · RHEL
2008 — 2026
Orchestration
Kubernetes · OpenShift · Docker/Swarm · Podman · Bare-metal
2017 — 2026
Infrastructure
Terraform · Helm · Ansible · CloudFormation · Tekton · Bash
2017 — 2026
Observability
Prometheus · Thanos · Grafana · Sentry · SLO improvement
2018 — 2026
Cloud
AWS — EKS · VPC · Lambda · S3 · Route53 · private clouds
2015 — 2026
Languages
Bash · Python · TypeScript · Rust · Golang
2008 — 2026
Bash Python TypeScript Rust Golang Ansible Docker Kubernetes Terraform Bazel OpenShift RHEL Prometheus Grafana Thanos AWS EKS Helm Tekton Podman Ceph Django Cognito Jenkins
02 // experience
Enterprise Hosting
04/2024 — 12/2025
Principal Infrastructure Engineer
  • Led enterprise-scale migrations of IBM Maximo Application Suite to OpenShift 4 for Fortune 500 clients (General Mills, Denso), reducing deployment lead times through automated provisioning.
  • Architected a custom multi-cluster "single pane of glass" management platform using Django and OIDC/Cognito, centralizing governance across fragmented environments.
  • Engineered reusable IaC libraries in Terraform and Ansible, standardizing deployment patterns and improving consistency across client engagements.
Cybersecurity
12/2022 — 02/2024
Senior Platform & Infrastructure Developer
  • Modernized observability stack for 650+ EKS clusters, increasing availability from 99% to 99.99% (two-nines to four-nines).
  • Reduced technical debt by deprecating 10,000+ lines of critical-path code, dramatically decreasing maintenance overhead and system complexity.
  • Served as Incident Commander, leading high-pressure resolutions for observability outages and overhauling incident runbooks and SOPs.
Vendor Support
03/2022 — 10/2022
Senior Red Hat Consultant
  • Delivered bespoke architecture solutions for high-priority Red Hat clients, specializing in Ceph Storage forks and custom TypeScript/Node.js integrations.
  • Built automated Jenkins CI/CD pipelines to streamline software delivery for enterprise partners.
Datacenters
11/2019 — 03/2022
Systems Engineer
  • Provisioned distributed compute and storage to automate bare-metal resource management across multiple data centers and colocation providers.
  • Optimized resource allocation by partnering with providers to scale physical hardware with fluctuating workload demands.
OEM R&D
04/2017 — 06/2019
R&D Engineer
  • Led full-cycle migration of on-premise marketing technology stack to cloud, improving scalability and global reach.
  • Developed technical roadmaps and PoCs for industrial controls, bridging electrical, mechanical, and firmware teams.
Freelance
06/2008 — 04/2017
Salesforce Architect / Technical Writer
  • "Top Rated Plus" on global contracting platforms — top 60 contractors by billables and long-term client retention.
  • Designed custom Salesforce architectures for diverse clients, focusing on complex data integrations and process automation.
03 // certifications
Red Hat Certified OpenShift Administrator
Red Hat
Active · 2025 — 2027
Red Hat Certified Application Developer
Red Hat
Active · 2022 — 2024
Red Hat Certified System Administrator
Red Hat
Active · 2022 — 2024
Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ceph Storage
Red Hat
Active · 2022 — 2024
04 // education
2012 — 2013
M.A. Advertising
Syracuse University
summa cum laude · Thesis: Predicting Vehicle Purchase Intent via Twitter
2005 — 2008
B.A. Philosophy, Psychology
Syracuse University
Dean's List · Minor: Political Science
2002 — 2005
A.A.S. Computer Programming
Kilgore College
magna cum laude · Phi Theta Kappa