Ashish Gunda

Data Center Technician with 3+ years of hands-on experience in server and network hardware break-fix, Linux troubleshooting, and data center operations. Skilled in component-level repairs (drives, DIMMs, fans, power supplies, SSD/NVMe), IPMI/BMC and iDRAC/iLO out-of-band troubleshooting, Linux Kickstart/PXE autobuild failures, and physical-layer network diagnosis across copper and fiber. Experienced as an escalation point and mentor for contracted technicians, owning Jira/ServiceNow ticket queues against SLA, and supporting on-call rotations in 24x7 environments.

Hands-on with direct liquid cooling (CDUs, manifolds, quick-disconnects, rear-door heat exchangers) for high-density GPU racks.

Data Center Technician - NVIDIA - Reno, NV, USA

(2026-06)

• Performed component-level break-fix repairs on GPU and compute servers, replacing failed drives, DIMMs, fans, and power supplies, and installed new SSDs/NVMe drives into existing servers.
• Conducted Linux OS and IPMI/BMC-level troubleshooting (boot/POST failures, log review, SEL events) using iDRAC/iLO across multiple server platforms.
• Supported engineering teams in resolving Linux Kickstart/PXE provisioning failures by identifying hardware, BIOS, and cabling causes on nodes that failed to build.
• Diagnosed physical-layer network connectivity issues across copper and fiber, replacing faulty optics, transceivers, and DAC/AOC cables.
• Served as a go-to resource for contracted technicians on difficult repairs, helped train new technicians on daily tasks, and escalated unresolved issues to senior engineers.
• Managed repair and deployment tickets in Jira, keeping documentation accurate and work completed within SLA.
• Racked, stacked, and commissioned high-density NVIDIA HGX/DGX GPU systems, InfiniBand/Ethernet switches, and PDUs for large-scale AI clusters, with labeling and cable management to site standards.
• Installed, maintained, and troubleshot direct-to-chip liquid cooling systems, including cold plates, CDUs, rack manifolds, and quick-disconnect fittings; performed leak detection, flow and pressure checks, coolant top-offs, and filter replacements per safety SOPs.
• Monitored GPU and coolant temperatures, CDU alarms, and power telemetry, coordinating with facilities teams to keep high-density racks within thermal limits.
• Performed firmware/BIOS updates, asset tracking, and server lifecycle management (provisioning, patching, decommissioning) in a 24x7 environment.

Data Center Technician - Crusade technologies - CA, USA

(2025-01 - 2026-05)

• Performed hardware break-fix through diagnostics and component replacements (HDD/SSD, DIMMs, fans, power supplies, CPUs) and preventive maintenance, cutting infrastructure downtime by 25%.
• Executed server and network hardware deployments, racking and configuring rack-mounted servers, switches, and storage devices supporting 10K+ daily transactions, boosting deployment efficiency by 30%.
• Troubleshot Linux-based servers through system logs, boot issues, and IPMI/iDRAC/iLO out-of-band management, addressing 40+ infrastructure incidents monthly and preserving 99.9% uptime.
• Supported server provisioning and PXE/Kickstart OS installations with engineering teams, resolving failed builds caused by hardware, BIOS, and network issues.
• Diagnosed physical-layer network issues, replacing faulty cables and optics, and maintained structured cabling with fiber & copper, patch panel connections, and labeling at 100% standards compliance.
• Handled Tier 2 tickets in ServiceNow/JIRA for end-to-end incident management, ensuring SLA adherence, clear documentation, and timely escalations.
• Carried out root cause analysis (RCA) of Linux/Windows systems via RDP/SSH and monitored alerts with Nagios/Zabbix to sustain high availability in a 24x7 environment.
• Orchestrated server lifecycle management covering provisioning, firmware/BIOS updates, patching, asset tracking, and decommissioning.

Research Assistant - SUNY Polytechnic Institute - USA

(2024-01 - 2024-12)

• Developed and enhanced machine learning predictive models analyzing California wildfire trends, elevating accuracy by 20% through expert feature engineering and hyperparameter tuning.
• Architected scalable Python-based data pipelines to gather, process, and unify 100K+ geospatial and temporal records from MODIS Active Fire, LANDSAT, and Sentinel datasets, amplifying data reliability and processing efficiency by 35%.
• Executed spatial and temporal analytics to detect wildfire hotspots, seasonal risk patterns, and long-term burn severity trends, furnishing data-driven insights for wildfire mitigation efforts.
• Engineered and automated Google Earth Engine (GEE) scripts for expansive geospatial processing and visualization of wildfire perimeters and burn severity, slashing manual analysis by 40% and expediting research deliverables.
• Utilized Nagios/Zabbix to monitor infrastructure, preemptively tackling alerts and upholding high availability in 24x7 environments.
• Managed server lifecycle tasks such as provisioning, firmware/BIOS updates, patching, decommissioning, and secure data wiping.
• Executed remote hands support including server rack installations via rack & stack, power cycling, hardware replacement, cabling, and connectivity troubleshooting.
• Resolved network connectivity disruptions employing TCP/IP tools (ping, traceroute, nslookup) and layer 1/2 troubleshooting for Layer 1–3 incidents.

Infrastructure Support Engineer - Accenture - India

(2021-08 - 2022-12)

• Supplied Level-2 infrastructure support for enterprise SAP environments, tracking application servers, system logs, and performance metrics in production/staging to secure 99.9% system uptime and SLA compliance.
• Facilitated server provisioning, configuration, OS installations, and system upgrades on Linux and Windows servers powering enterprise applications and vital workloads.
• Diagnosed server performance bottlenecks, hardware limitations, and network connectivity faults, remedying 30+ infrastructure incidents monthly through log analysis and root-cause probes.
• Advanced data center operations with hardware health assessments, server reboots, backup verification, and patch management, elevating system reliability and stability by 20%.
• Sustained technical documentation, asset inventory records, and configuration logs to accelerate incident resolution and boost operational transparency for infrastructure teams.
• Engaged with networking essentials including TCP/IP, VLANs, DNS, DHCP, network protocols, and collaborated on layer 1/2 troubleshooting for Layer 1–3 resolutions.
• Supported virtualization platforms (VMware/Hyper-V) through VM provisioning, resource distribution, and performance diagnostics.
• Harnessed iDRAC/iLO, monitoring systems, incident/change management processes, ensuring adherence to data center security and operational protocols.

Masters - Computer Information & Sciences - SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Bachelors - Information Technology - Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology