Sean Newton
San Diego, CA 92117
(760) 535-1783
newton_resume@cheapspeech.com
Strengths
- Versatile skillset - backgrounds in database administration, systems administration, and development provide a diverse spectrum of viable roles for either contract or employment opportunities, as well as streamlining communications with DBAs, sysadmins, and developers.
- Ability to develop low-maintenance, automated systems to streamline manpower-intensive tasks, including new machine setup.
- Well developed proficiency in C programming. Knowledge of C-based debugging tools and background in systems administration leads to speedy resolution of Linux or Solaris-based application failures.
- Experience with on-call responsibilities, and in the unique requirements of developing applications which communicate with on-call personnel.
Skills
- Languages: C/C++, Perl, SQL, bash, HTML, some PHP, Basic, some Java, DEC Command Language, Pascal, Rexx, Intel/6502/DEC Alpha assembly language
- Platforms: Linux (CentOS, Redhat Enteprise, Fedora, PS2 Linux, Debian, SuSE), Solaris, Unix, VMS, OpenVMS, Windows, Amiga
- Debugging skills: GDB, strace, truss, coredump analysis.
- Databases: PostgreSQL, Sybase, MySQL.
- Application Administration: Apache, Qmail, sendmail, Kickstart, VMWare, CFengine, Squid, TWiki, Spamassassin, DNS/BIND, ssh, NFS, Samba, DHCP, Nagios/Netsaint, Mon, Radius, Kickstart.
- Networking: Basic wiring, and ipchains/iptables under Linux. I know how to implement conventional firewall rules, as well as implement NAT for proxy applications.
- Game programming: Head administrator and sole programmer for an online multiplayer role-playing game. Programming responsibilities include AI design, game balance, statistics gathering/reporting, speed/performance optimization, and maintaining the in-game event scripting engine. I also manage a development staff for gameworld design. Past experience involves programming for Avatar MUD, a similar online game with over 8000 player characters as of my last involvement.
- Web development: mod_perl, CGIs, and some familiarity with PHP.
- Kernel experience: Experienced in applying kernel patches (particularly for Firewire and VPN support), and have made direct code changes to the usb-masstorage module to add support for a particular digital camera.
- Linux kickstart: Developed the official on-site system image for Red Hat Enterprise Linux v4 and v5 at Kyocera Wireless. Integrated a selection of Redhat-supplied packages with a set of on-site tools, centralizing management with CFengine.
Prior Employment
- September 2004 - present: Senior unix systems administrator at Kyocera Wireless.
- January 2004 - present: Freelance consultant for various companies, primarily in Perl-based monitoring systems and systems administration.
- February 2000 - January 2004: Database administrator at Vivendi-Universal Network Techologies (VUnet USA) (formerly MP3.com). I was laid off during the last stage of the company's shutdown.
- March 1998 - January 2000: Senior systems administrator at Mid-South Connections, an internet service provider.
- September 1997 - current: Programmer on staff at Avatar MUD, an online text-based game with 8000+ player characters. All Avatar development is done in C.
- November 1997 - July 1999: Part-time sales staff at N&F Computers in Clarksville, TN.
- May 1997 - August 1997: Human Resources Webmaster at DSC Corp. in Dallas, TX.
Experience and Accomplishments
- At Kyocera Wireless, I am the sole Linux administrator, and personally supervise around 75 hosts, distributed between San Diego, India, Russia, and China. I developed and maintain our official Linux system image and kickstart procedure, as well as the CFengine instance that keeps the machines in sync. I am also the resident Apache admin (which hosts all of our externally facing websites), and have provided some light support for our Tomcat server.
- As a consultant, I developed a performance monitoring and trending suite for general system performance, as well as developing custom Nagios plugins to diagnose NFS issues. I also served at Napster as an interim database administrator during their search for a full-time DBA. When I started at Kyocera, I switched to part-time consulting. I later worked on the infrastructure for www.spawareurope.com, which is a US Department of Defense project.
- After MP3.com was absorbed by Vivendi-Universal, I became a database administrator and worked extensively with Sybase Replication Server and Adaptive Server Enterprise. My responsibilities involved 24-hour on-call responsibility with a 15-minute maximum response time tolerance. I developed Perl-based monitoring scripts to pre-emptively detect developing problems before they became serious, and designed applications to collect and present statistical information on each database for performance tuning purposes. Some of these scripts are now in open source at http://sybcontrol.sourceforge.net/.
- As a statistician at MP3.com, my responsibilities involved parsing application logs for information and designing Perl scripts to graph it on a web server. Designed click-through report scripts to permit the sales staff to run their reports at their leisure, eliminating what had been a manpower-intensive manual task. Also developed other statistical display scripts on an as-requested basis.
- Designed an SQL parser for an online multiplayer game to query internal C data structures, making them available to web-based statistical display scripts. Also incorporated AOL Instant Messenger support for idle players via an external Perl-based daemon.
- As senior systems administrator at Mid-South Connections in Clarksville, TN, responsibilities included installation and maintenance on the web, mail, DNS, and database servers - as well as the design of database-driven websites. Modified the C source of Cistron Radius to log extended information on dialup users into Postgresql, then created an intranet-based site for tech support's use in querying this information. After also similarly modifying the pop3 mail daemon, the average tech support call time was cut in less than half by this means of tracking and accounting for user errors. Lastly, by implementing the Netsaint monitoring system on the network, overall system downtime was greatly reduced.
- Interned at DSC Communications in Summer '97. Converted Human Resources forms into HTML and PDF files. Designed numerous CGIs in Perl, including a universal HTML form interpreter which facilitated filling out forms online while negating the need for a new CGI behind each form. This resulted in a bonus at the end of my internship.
- Selected three times for the annual Association for Computing Machinery programming team at my college. In the 1998 contest, my two-person team placed first in the local contest site and 16th in the 70-team mid-central region. In the 1997 contest, my three-person team placed first at our local site site and 4th regionally. Each time, C was our language of choice. Served as President of the student chapter (1997 to spring 1999) and as Vice-president from 1996-1997.
- Developed a customized inventory control/customer database system in MS Basic 7 for a Tennessee motorcycle sales and repair store.
- Coordinated Amiga Special Interest Group at local computer users group. Moderated message boards and file collections on two local Bulletin Board services. Arranged for guest speakers and delivered monthly presentations on various aspects of hardware and software. Created and maintained distribution of a public domain/shareware library including monthly updates. Publicized monthly meetings.
Education
- Thomas Edison State College, New Jersey - Fall 1999 - 2000
- Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, TN - 1993 to Spring 1999. I'm two math classes short of a bachelor's in Computer Science.
- Clonlara High School, Ann Arbor, MI - graduated 1992
References available upon request.