JOB DESCRIPTION

Position:
Systems Administrator

Mission/Vision:
Community systems are the natural evolution of the Internet. The Internet removed all physical barriers to communication. The job of the Technology Department is to build systems that facilitate communication and create systems that will democratize and provide access to information as well as a platform for everyone to have a voice.

Reports to:
Sr. Tech Manager of Network Ops, CoVibe TECH

Job summary:
Build and maintain server hardware and software used to support Mainstream Holdings’ global service operations. Will work alongside CoVibe TECH’s application developers to assure optimal performance of production systems, and support their development resources. Support intranet resources for company-wide communication.

Essential functions:
• Support mission critical Linux and FreeBSD systems; perform routine system administration functions including: OS tuning, performance monitoring, security monitoring, and system upgrades. Responsible for the installation and management of all systems in MOLI’s remote data centers as well as our headquarters in Florida.
• Perform day-to-day system administration functions such as account creation, trouble tickets, server building and facilitating backups.
• Monitor all critical network and systems architecture.
• Document current and future systems architecture.
• Knowledge of the broad scope of Network, Systems, and Information Security administration roles.
• Must be comfortable working long hours to complete projects. 24/7 on-call duties for directly managed projects and systems. On-call cycle duties for other components of our operations.
• Must be willing and able to travel to datacenter locations for initial builds and expansion, if required.
• Any other duties as assigned.

Marginal functions:
• Assist IT staff in desktop support roles as necessary.
• Stay abreast of technology changes and innovation within relevant businesses, participating in training courses or self-instruction as needed.
• Interact with vendors and service providers as necessary.

Supervisory responsibilities:
• None

Physical demands:
• Requires long periods of typing and/or reading from a computer display.
• Work related injury is minimal with repetitive injury caused by on computer keyboard and using the mouse as the primary concern.
• Work is normally performed in a typical interior/office work environment. No or very limited physical effort required. No or very limited exposure to physical risk. No or very limited exposure to safety hazards. No exposure of hazardous materials.
• Infrequent light lifting (30 to 40lbs) may occur during data center server systems installation.
• May require long and/or irregular hours.

Reasoning ability:
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram or schedule form.
• Ability to quickly comprehend new technologies and techniques and apply them.

Language skills:
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures or governmental regulations.
• Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions to groups.

Mathematical skills:
• Ability to apply mathematic skills for analysis of data, programming logic and implement mathematic functions as needed.

Knowledge, skills and abilities / equipment:
• Our systems are primarily UNIX-based, serving roles in both our hosting and network architecture. A strong understanding of UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems is required, with a focus on FreeBSD 6.x and the Centos Linux distribution running on i386 and x86_64 platforms.
• Must have a strong understanding of Perl and shell scripting. C, C++, PHP, Python, a plus.
• Working knowledge of Cisco switches & routers is required.
• A strong understanding of common desktop operating systems is also required to simplify client->server troubleshooting, when necessary. This includes Windows (XP, Vista) and Mac OS X, Linux desktops.
• Must have a strong understanding of application support in a distributed environment.
• Must understand basic SQL and have experience using and administering MySQL database servers.
• Familiarity with full system software support is required, including but not limited to package management, patches, and software compilation.
• Strong familiarity with concepts such as RAID, hardware diagnostics, backups, replication, failure & recovery procedures are all required.
• Hands-on experience/knowledge with DNS and BIND, Apache1.3/2.2(server configuration, modules, tuning), FreeBSD ports, LAMP stack, rsync, MySQL, Subversion, Samba, Sendmail (along with ClamAV, SpamAssasin, SPF, Domainkeys, Sender-ID), tcpdump, stateful firewalls.
• Strong understanding of IP networking; understanding of how to isolate, diagnose, and resolve service delivery components (service delivery components include servers, networks, and applications); familiarity with the functionality, operating, and failure modes of key networking devices (routers, switches, firewalls, hardware load balancers); be able to identify networking as the potential cause of a service issue using server-resident tools to generate this data (tcpdump, ping, traceroute, etc.); familiarity in interpreting the output of these tools; familiarity with common network topologies, protocols, and tools; have some notion of common network security exploits -- and their remedies; understanding of troubleshooting at the packet level.
• Familiarity with Nagios, Mantis, Cacti, SmokePing a plus.
• Familiarity with cfengine, LDAP, Kerberos, and TACACS+/RADIUS is a strong plus.
• Familiarity with open source backup tools such as Bacula and rdiff-backup is also a strong plus.
• Experience building easy-to-use Web(PHP/Perl)/cli interfaces and tools for administrators and developers is a plus.
• Experience with server performance and trend recording tools such as rrdtool is a plus.
• Hands-on experience with Citrix/Netscaler application switches and Cisco PIX firewalls a strong plus.

Education and experience:
• 3+ years experience supporting mid to large server environments based on UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems in a Web environment.
• Certification is not necessary, but must be able to demonstrate in-depth knowledge in each of the required areas.