Salman Akhtar

Over 6 years in IT industry and working as a Linux & DevOps Engineer. Expert level in deploying, configuring, and maintaining enterprise-grade Linux environments, specializing in CentOS, RHEL, and Ubuntu. Skilled in VMware infrastructure optimization, server migration, and disaster recovery.

Proficient in system patching, security hardening, and high-availability production support, ensuring maximum uptime across critical systems. Demonstrated success in automating infrastructure with Ansible and deploying containerized applications using Docker and Kubernetes. Extensive experience in AWS cloud provisioning and Git version control.

Demonstrates expert-level proficiency in networking, storage management (LVM, RAID, SAN & NAS), and system monitoring (Nagios, Datadog, Prometheus). Skilled at resolving complex system issues, enhancing operational efficiency and expert in RCA.

Linux & DevOps Engineer at PNC Bank (2024-04 – Present)

• Delivered high-availability production support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux environments, ensuring maximum uptime of critical systems and applications through proactive monitoring and rapid issue resolution.
• Handling day-to-day system operations, providing end-user support and resolving system administration tasks, ensuring continuous service delivery.
• Performed comprehensive system patching, including kernel updates, security hardening, and third-party application updates, to maintain optimal server security posture and performance metrics.
• Managed virtualized Linux server environments using VMware ESXi and vSphere Client, aligning infrastructure with scalability, performance, and high availability requirements.
• Successfully decommissioned legacy physical and virtual servers, following strict data security protocols and minimizing downtime impact during the transition to newer infrastructure.
• Employed Nagios for real-time infrastructure monitoring, preemptively detecting and resolving performance bottlenecks and system faults, ensuring continuous service delivery.
• Utilized Ansible for infrastructure automation, enabling auto deployments, system configuration, and environment consistency with reduced human error across complex environments.
• Developed strong Ansible playbooks to automate multi-stage application deployments and infrastructure provisioning in development, testing, and production environments, driving operational efficiency.
• Automated large-scale configuration management and orchestration using Ansible Tower, streamlining multi-node deployments, and ensuring efficient inventory and playbook management across heterogeneous environments.
• Deployed Docker Engine in virtualized environments, containerizing applications to enhance scalability, resource utilization, and deployment velocity in DevOps pipelines.
• Managed local Kubernetes clusters, deploying and scaling containerized applications, and ensuring high availability and performance across microservices-based architectures.
• Advanced proficiency in creating and managing Logical Volume Management (LVM), optimizing storage allocation and management for dynamic workload demands.
• Provisioned and configured AWS EC2 instances with custom AMIs, handling automated deployments of cloud-based applications, and optimizing cloud infrastructure for availability and performance.
• Designed and implemented secure AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) architectures, deploying instances with enhanced network segmentation and optimized security configurations.
• Administered AWS IAM roles and Security Groups, implementing granular access controls across VPC environments to enforce least-privilege security models.
• Expertly managed Git-based source control workflows using GitLab, implementing CI/CD pipelines and centralized code repositories to facilitate team collaboration and streamline code management.
• Proficient in version control best practices, including branching, tagging, and merging strategies in Git, ensuring efficient code management across continuous integration and deployment workflows.
• Implemented proactive server monitoring using Datadog, continuously assessing system health, resource utilization, and performance anomalies, resulting in increased infrastructure reliability.

Linux Systems Admin at Nvidia (2021-04 – 2024-03)

• Expert in the deployment, configuration, and maintenance of enterprise-grade Linux environments, including CentOS, RHEL, and Ubuntu, ensuring system reliability and performance across production and development ecosystems.
• Executed physical-to-virtual migrations with VMware Converter, optimizing infrastructure through efficient virtual machine provisioning and resource allocation.
• Configured local YUM repositories to streamline package management in isolated environments, enabling efficient software installation and updates.
• Configured RAID configurations for data redundancy and performance enhancement, ensuring hardware fault tolerance and aligning storage performance with business-critical uptime requirements.
• Administered patch management, performed package upgrades, and handled security vulnerability assessments to ensure server integrity and compliance with industry standards.
• Upgraded and hardened Linux servers and kernels, ensuring adherence to security best practices and troubleshooting post-patch issues for operational continuity.
• Expertly managed file systems, including ext3, ext4, and XFS, with responsibilities encompassing creation, resizing, and repair to maintain optimal data storage architecture.
• Conducted comprehensive monitoring of system performance, disk utilization, user activity, security alerts, and log files to ensure continuous system health, security posture, and early detection of anomalies.
• Integrated Linux systems with Active Directory for centralized user management, executing tasks like account creation, password management, and decommissioning of user accounts.
• Deployed and managed Zabbix for comprehensive monitoring of network infrastructure and Linux servers, ensuring real-time alerting and issue resolution.
• Resolved network issues using protocols such as TCP/IP, UDP, HTTP, DNS, DHCP, FTP, and TFTP, applying in-depth knowledge of network architecture and troubleshooting techniques.
• Conducted advanced network troubleshooting, including IP address allocation, hostname configuration, and host management, to ensure smooth network connectivity.
• Managed system processes and services using priority adjustment (nice/renice), kill signals, and virtual memory management to optimize server performance.
• Integrated Docker architecture, deploying applications within isolated containers using Docker host, client, and registry, ensuring seamless container orchestration and lifecycle management.
• Configured and optimized NIC bonding with active-passive failover and load balancing strategies, minimizing latency, and ensuring maximum network throughput in high-demand environments.

Jr. Linux Administrator at Charter Communication (2019-10 – 2021-03)

• Delivered user support, providing technical assistance for issue resolution and troubleshooting.
• Conducted on-site technical support, including PC configurations, network setup, and resolving printer connectivity issues.
• Installed and configured software and hardware equipment to ensure optimal system performance.
• Executed system upgrades and applied patches to maintain security and operational efficiency.
• Proficient in Secure Shell (SSH) key-based authentication, diagnosing and resolving SSH-related issues to ensure secure access and system integrity.
• Developed and automated health checks through Bash scripting, employing cron jobs to monitor CPU, memory, and disk usage for continuous system optimization.
• Implemented NFS for network file sharing, ensuring secure and scalable access to shared resources across distributed Linux environments.
• Utilized network diagnostic tools such as ping, traceroute, and tcp dump for deep analysis of packet flows, isolating and resolving network issues.
• Collaborated with third-party vendors for server hardware replacements and maintenance of faulty components.
• Identified and addressed system performance bottlenecks, working closely with Linux Administrators and Engineers to implement effective solutions.
• Administered routine system backups, managed task automation via Cron, and optimized system scheduling processes.

Bachelor in Electrical Engineering – The University of Faisalabad (2014)