Mel McWeeney – Curriculum Vitae	
Last updated:  13 Jul 2009
Address:  136 Teffia Park, Longford.	Tel:  (043) 3347697 SMS:  085 1371515	
Updated CV@:  http://geocities.com/mmcweeney/ 	Skype: mmcweeney@skype.com  Ekiga: mmcweeney@ekiga.net	
eMail (Preferred Contact):  mmcweeney@inbox.ru	Drivers License: Irish, Full clean.	

Objective:	To relocate to where I can work within my interests and specialities, exploit my talents and grow my career.

Education, Qualifications and Training

Awarding body	Date	Course and Qualification	
Russian & Slavonic Dept.Trinity College.	May 2009	B1: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages(*)	
Dundalk Institute of Technology	1987 - 1989	National Certificate in Computing (Pass with Merit)	
Thomond College of Education, Limerick	1985 - 1986	Metal & Engineering Technology (Teacher training).	
Santa Cruz Organisation (Unix vendor)	May 1996	SCO Advanced Certified Engineer, (Unix).
Subjects: System Admin., TCP/IP. UUCP, Shell Programming	
Dell	1993 – 1998	Contemporary technology: PC, Servers, OS, others.	
Irish Blood Transfusion Service	2000 – 2006	GAMP (Good Automated Manufacturing Processes)	
VMWare (Virtualisation Vendor)	Jul 2008	Employee course: Vсenter Server 3: ESX Server 3.5, vCentre 2.5	

(*) http://www.coe.int/ Level B1: Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.

Active Projects
Name	Nature / Goal	Status	
Linux from Scratch	Manually build a functional GNU/Linux OS from sources	Preliminary build platform complete.	
Develop new website	Apache setup, and population with content from CMS	Portforwarding from DynDns.org working	
Remote access/control	Control multiple machines, evaluation of various options	VNC & passwordless ssh to local PCs	
Netbook Optimisation	Replace Eee and Aspire1 OS, eventually build my own	Puppy, Moblin, Sabayon Mandriva tried	
Creation of Virtual n/w	On laptop with 1MB RAM to safely test n/w technologies	Qemu, Virtualbox accessed via tun dev.	
Testing specialised OS	To always know the best tools to resolve everday probs.	Ongoing. Ophcrack, dban used recently	
Russian (CEFR)	Aiming to achieve Level “B2” within the before 12/2010	TV, radio, magazines incl. Technical.	

Employment history

Feb 2006 – Jun 2008
Oct 2008 – Present	Not formally “employed”, regularised company (needed for IBTS) taxes to late 2006.  Studying and jobsearching until VMWare, and again since.  I need work within my specialities and interests.
Kingsland Observatory, Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon: Technical assistance with various tasks, bugs and malfunctions of workstations, network connections, workstations, servers.
St. Mel's College,Longford: Transplant internet access box to alternative computer (Red Hat).
Rebalancing of Windows NT server partition contents retaining data, to spread the data evenly.
Nostra Systems, Dublin: Installation and configuration of Ubuntu Linux for use as a database server  for a electronic payments on an IBM BladeCentre with SAN.
P&G Cards, Athleague, Co. Roscommon: Resolve performance problem accessing Red Hat.
RCK Computers, Longford:  Computer, security and satelite TV retail outlet: Support and PC repair, software and antivirus installation and cleaning.
(Voluntary):  Russian-English language interpretation for immigrants.	
(Agency contract)	VMWare – Technical Support Engineer (Hosted and Emerging Technologies)	
Jul 2008 – Oct 2008	Provision of technical support to Vmware clients requiring help with “Hosted and emerging” products, by email, phone, remote observation and/or control (WebEx) of their systems.  Accurately documenting and logging their problems (Siebel), using and updating internal knowledgebases and wikis, escalating to senior technicians and/or engineering as appropriate.	
(Contract)	Irish Blood Transfusion Service  Unix / Linux System Administrator	
Two periods:

 Aug 2002 - Feb 2006
&
Nov 2000 - Oct 2001

Note:
Company ownership was a precondition of undertaking this work.	GAMP (Good Automated Manufacturing Practices) are standards required from pharmaceuticals.
Duties (General and by project):
System administration, user support, equipment service and repair, and 24x7 server monitoring.
Task simplification and partial / full automation where possible.  GAMP compatible documentation.
Cover for day-to-day incidents arising in the absence of the “officially delegated” IT staff member.
1: Progesa (Bespoke non-graphical Blood Bank Software Suite Database: “Basis”)
Preparation for "go-live" and user support thereafter.  Creating and editing SOPs, test scripts, proposal of change controls (required by GAMP).  Root cause analysis of “non-conformances”.
Preparation of tasks for delegation to other departments (automating into shell scripts).
Most major automation was OS and application reinstallation of laptop-servers with new hard disks
Cross-compiling code for Tru64.
2: eProgesa Progesa's successor (GUI interface, Oracle/Tomcat/Java)
Troubleshooting of implementation problems and investigation and proposal of alternative solutions (alongside the permanent Unix Admin and DBA). Blackdown and Sun Java evalution.
3: Nagios (Extensible Open Source monitoring system)
Programming custom Nagios plugins (structured bash scripts) to foresee pending infrastructural problems (user levels, disk usage) to monitor both standard organisation-specific services.
Provided links to printers and other devices to allow network fixing as part of Nagios output.
Determined in consultation with IT staff, what constitutes a Nagios (OK, Warning or Critical) status
Programmed autofixes and notifications as agreed (SMS, email, Winpopup) in response to events relating to disk space, network response, user levels, CPU usage, printer activity and queues.
This was primarily designed to eliminate 24x7 night support calls as far as possible.
4: eFinancials Implemented file transfering from Windows to Unix and vica versa with Samba	
(Company closed)	Viasec Ltd. (Donegal Town) – Linux System Administrator 	
Apr 2000 – Aug 2000	Integration of Solaris and Linux servers with existing Windows environment.	
(Company closed)	Computer Environments (Dublin 6) – Senior Unix Engineer	
Sep 1998 - Dec 1999	In-depth troubleshooting of Unix systems, LANs, WANs and peripherals.  Duties included server builds, O.S. installation, precise documentation, support by phone and on-site to clients (car-rental firms, credit unions, department stores and others).  Considerable time devoted the “Y2K” issue.  SCO corrected their “upgrade documenation” as a result of my experiences.	
(Permanent)	Dell Computer Corp. – Technical Support Specialist (Unix)	
Mar 1993 – Aug 1998	Hot-line technical support, and later Unix Support Specialist.
Worked in the following departments, often in parallel:
“High-end hardware” - Resolution of server and network related problems.
“Major Accounts” - Hardware support to the companys' most important clients.
“Integraged System Support (ISS)” - Support to software support contract holders).
Qualified as “SCO ACE” (Advanced Certified Engineer) for this position.
Supported engineers on-site with clients needing help in the course of their work.
Was known to be always willing to offer colleges assistance and share knowledge.
My documentation was constantly praised for it's accuracy and precision.
June 1994: The “Techies' techie” was awarded "Employee of the Month", primarily for debugging work on both SMC NICs and DPT SCSI controllers.
Participated in a 10-strong team formed to resolve employee issues in 1997.
Frequently volunteered to handle “awkward” customers for the Tech Duty Manager.
Was carried shoulder-high past protesting bouncers into a Dell party, months after leaving!!	
(Company closed)	JD Computers (Kilkenny) – Programmer, Engineer.	
Jul 1991 – Jan 1993	Varied duties in a small retail outlet and software house.  Programming and on-site work for clients, (Cinemas, newspapers, local businesses).  Supported “CATS” cinema ticket software.	
(One-year vacancy)	Dundalk Institute of Technology – System Administrator	
Sep 1990 – Jun 1991	I was honoured to return as a system administrator where I studied, and quickly became the "Unix technician".  Administered user accounts, printers, servers, terminals, applications and user requests.  Most notable projects were the migration from PrimeOS to AIX, and extracting a tape database format containing CAO (Central Applications Office) data.	
(“1 course” vacancy)	Roscommon Vocational Education Committee – Computer Tutor	
Jan 1990 – May 1990	To tutor 18 adults in preparation for Pitmans examinations in what are now called "ECDL" subjects. Many found work before the course even finished.  This was the most time-consuming position ever, but my efforts were greatly appreciated!	
(Temporary)	Electricity Supply Board, Regional H.Q. (Dundalk) – Programmer	
Jul 1989 – Dec 1989	Recruited from college to program a custom application using "Smartware" to track the location, condition and value of tools and equipment across the region.  After my departure, it was converted to “C”  and implemented nationwide.	

Technology Summary

@ VMWare	“VMWare View” (formerly VDI), “Vсenter Server” (formerly Virtual Centre), Virtualisation of servers, workstations and switches, ESX and ESXi server, Dynamic Resource Scheduling, vMotion, Storage vMotion, VMWare Converter (Standard and Enterprise), Migration (hot/cold), cloning, ThinApp (“Application” appliance), Fusion (Windows on Mac), Lab Manager and Stage Manager (deployment infrastructures), Consolidated Backup, Remote Desktop, VMWare HA.
WebEx, tWiki, Jabber
@ IBTS		Bespoke applications (progesa, eprogesa).  Other applications eFinancials, Nagios. With infrastructures:
Progesa	Database: Basis on Tru64 Unix, RAID/LVM active/passive failover cluster.
Eprogesa	Database: Oracle on Fujitsu active cluster application and database servers, Apache, Tomcat, Java, pen.
Mobile Clinics	SCO Open Server on “Laptop servers” accessed from NT4 laptops via Reflections.
Evaluations:	Red Hat Enterprise or Solaris 9 for central servers, Fedora or CentOS for mobile clinics.
Nagios:		Sentinix, Slackware, Gentoo Linux, Apache, MySQL, Webmin (and plugins), custom bash plugins, SNMP.
Efinancials:	SunOS, Samba (administered through SWAT).
Other tools :	smbclient, nullmailer, ksh, bash, nmap, lynx, nessus, p0f, grep, sed, awk, tr, c, *dialog, zenity, [auto]expect
@ Viasec	TCP/IP, Samba, DNS, VMware, CVS (and front-ends), X emulators.
@ Comp. Envs.	TCP/IP, patching, Unix (SCO OpenServer / Unixware7), Linux, DNS, Windows
@Dell		 Servers, PCs, peripherals, server technologies and storage. Networking, patching, protocols, TCP/IP.
@JD Computers	 MSDos, DrDos, Windows 3.x, dbaseIII+, Clipper, peripherals etc.
@Dundalk I.T.	 Novell Netware 2.x/3.x, Primos Unix, AIX, terminals, printers, PCs, RS232 soldering
@Roscommon	MSDos, Ability+, WordStar, WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, DbaseIII+, PCs!
@ESB Dundalk	Smartware (A “4GL”, similar to DBase, MSDos
@ Home
Linux Distribution families and package management: Arch (pacman), Gentoo (portage), Debian (apt), RedHat (rpm), Slackware (swaret, slapt), rPath (conary), Slitaz (Taz), Puppy (Pet-get), Mandriva (urpmi).
Special Purpose: ReactOS, Ophcrack, dban, R.I.P., Dyne:bolic, LiveCD tools, mpentoo, Blin, SystemRescueCD, partedmagic, gparted, backtrack.
Remote access: Firewall & proxy configuration, PAM, LDAP, password-less access.
Powertools and Multimedia: wget, rsync, curl, transcode, avidemux, ffmpeg, gstreamer, codecs.
Security: Nessus, SELinux, FAM, Aide, nmap, netcat, socat, netsed, wireshark.

 Hardware:

Main laptop:	Debian (Lenny) on Prestigio Laptop (256MB).  All other computers controlled from here.
Benq Joybook:	(1MB) Used for development of Linux from Scratch, Virtual computers, LPI Study, other experimental work.
Netbooks:	Acer Aspire1, Asus EeePC, for multimedia, Netbook OS evaluation, load sharing with main workstation.
Excito Bubba2:	DNS, Storage of security keys, all data, accessible from DynDNS, will host newly developed website.

Interests and Hobbies:

Russian:  	I follow Russian media, help foreigners solve problems, have started reading a novel & technical material.
Sport:		Prior to 2001, I completed four “Liam Ball Triathlon” events in Derry.  I swim every day.
Linux:		I can never leave anything alone until I know how it works, the site will soon move and contain my LFS.
		I have an accumulation of Linux Format articles awaiting my attention, projects, programs & distros to test.
Chess:		When I can find an opponent!

Additional Information:

I intend to get LPI or RedHat certification once employed. Linux from Scratch is part of this and will be a/v for download.
I follow developments in technology esp. Linux and Free software, and organise the Longford Software Freedom Day event

References:		Contact details by request.

Callum Hughes:		Technical Support Superviser while at VMWare
John Murphy:		Technical Director while at Computer Environments

Signed:___________________						Date:  ___/___/2009

Thank you for taking the time to consider my C.V.