James Howard

Professional Summary

A seasoned IT professional with 20 years of experience in Information Technology, Infrastructure, and Web Development. Extensive expertise in Linux administration, automation, and enterprise infrastructure management.

Skills & Experience

  • Linux Administration: Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Oracle Linux, Debian, Ubuntu
  • Automation: Ansible Automation Platform, Oracle Linux Automation Manager, Chef, Puppet
  • Virtualization: VMware vSphere/ESXi
  • Cloud Platforms: Microsoft Azure, AWS, IBM Softlayer
  • Scripting: Bash, Perl, PHP, Python
  • Web Development: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, CGI/Perl, PHP, Python
  • Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, Oracle
  • Directory Services: LDAP/Active Directory
  • DNS: Bind, Infoblox
  • Web Servers: Apache, Nginx, IIS
  • Network Monitoring Systems: Elastic, Grafana, GroundWork, Nagios

Education

ECPI Technical College, Raleigh, NC

Information Technology/Web Development

Graduated 2003

Employment History

MetLife, Cary, NC

Enterprise Infrastructure Engineer

2018-2024

  • Managed MetLife's US Linux Infrastructure, including Red Hat Satellite and Ansible Automation Platforms, supporting approximately 5000 physical and virtual RHEL application and database servers.
  • Created customized and hardened base RHEL images for Hosting Services.
  • Reviewed, accepted, and assigned change tasks for OS-level work on Linux hosts.
  • Resolved incidents in collaboration with suppliers such as Red Hat and VMware.
  • Developed Ansible playbooks and collaborated with ServiceNow developers to enable self-service requests for common tasks (e.g., server access requests, adding virtual disks, expanding file systems, restarting services).
  • Employed Agile and SAFe for Teams methodologies to enhance team collaboration and project delivery.
  • Applied ITIL best practices for incident, problem, and change management.
  • Integrated DevOps practices to streamline deployment processes and improve system reliability.

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence (acquired Perimeter Internetworking dba SilverSky), Durham, NC

System Administrator/Engineer

2008-2018

  • Managed over 500 physical, virtual, and cloud-based systems hosting mail, spam and virus scanning, content filtering, data loss prevention, and encryption services.
  • Implemented and migrated inventory management systems to track all physical and virtual systems.
  • Implemented web service monitoring systems to simulate user interaction with service portals and to report performance metrics.
  • Developed custom Nagios plugins for monitoring proprietary services.
  • Collaborated with network and storage teams to minimize service downtime and ensure 99.9% service availability.

Perimeter Internetworking (acquired US Networks), Morrisville, NC

Command Center Analyst/Network Technician

2006-2008

  • Monitored customer network devices, troubleshot network issues, documented and tracked trouble tickets, and worked with telecom providers to restore network circuits.
  • Often worked night shifts, handling duties for multiple teams, including call center triage and application support.
  • Developed tools to ease the testing of out-of-band modems for managed customer network devices.

US Networks, Morrisville, NC

IT Help Desk Technician

2005-2006

  • Provided third-party IT technical support for multiple corporate clients and their customers.