Rob Loates Resume

July 2007-March 2008 MKM Longboat Capital Advisors (UK) Ltd Support Engineer (Perm)

Support engineer role in which I assisted and liaised with the senior network engineer on a wide-ranging variety of network infrastructure issues from 1st- 4th line for a hedge fund that managed 3 billion in assets that has a 50 user database with 30 servers across 2 sites.

Projects:-
• Disaster recovery testing of MKM environment with Windows 2003 Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 databases on physical in-house test equipment
• Upgrading Veritas Backup Exec for Windows Servers from 9.1 to Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers 11d, reconfiguring the existing backup jobs to take advantage of the latest features of 11d
• Implementing a new backup server from scratch, installing, planning and configuring Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers 11d, reinterpreting and compartmentalising the backup schedules into separate jobs (both to disk and tape) in terms of what mission-critical data they are backing up to take into consideration the ability and capacity of the tape library device, the time windows available and FSA requirements. Migrating over the existing Sophos Anti-Virus and Avaya phone administration console utilities from the previous server
• Building and configuring a new Windows 2003 Terminal Server from RAID initialization to the final end-user applications
• Testing, research and development of Microsoft Server 2008 and Windows Vista Business in the MKM environment with VMware Workstation 6.0
• Upgrading the Sophos Enterprise Anti-Virus solution across revisions
• Updating and consolidating system/network documentation

Server support duties:-
• Administration and support of Virtual Machines on ESX Server 2.5.0 (Build11548), managing VM resources
• Administration, configuration and support of Windows 2003 Active Directory: Server/desktop Group Policies, tailored logon scripts, NTFS permissions, Security Groups and Distribution Groups etc
• Administration and support of Microsoft Windows Server 2000| 2003; Windows 2003 Server builds from RAID configuration to live production environment: Dell Poweredge servers 750| 2650| 2850| 2950 and HP servers DL140| DL360| DL380| DL580
• Managing RIS for desktop (Microsoft XP Professional) and server (Windows Server 2003) image deployment
• TCP/IP administration using DNS and DHCP
• Managing Sysprep for desktop image deployment (Microsoft XP Professional) for legacy hardware via Symantec Ghost 6.5| 7.5
• Administration and support of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003: Mailbox creation, mailbox rights, mailbox management, public folder management, distribution group administration and backup and restore
• Administration and support of Microsoft SQL Server 2000: Database creation, backup and restore, database maintenance and performance optimisation
• Basic administration and support of Microsoft MOM 2005: 24/7 real-time monitoring of production servers via the MOM agent and prompt resolution of any issues identified via SMTP by the MOM agents
• Administration and support of Microsoft WSUS 3.0: Authorising system updates, scheduling deployment via Group Policy
• Microsoft Terminal Server administration and end-user support
• Administration and support of Blackberry BES 4.1.3.16 (42 users): New accounts, license activation, transferring handhelds
• Basic administration and support of IIS
• Administration and support of the NeverFail high availability and disaster recovery solution for Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft File Server
• Administration, configuration and support for the Sophos Enterprise Anti-Virus solution
• Managing the backup, tape media rotation, offsite, capacity monitoring and verification for mission-critical company data via Symantec Backup Exec for Windows Servers 11d using tape devices: Dell Powervault 110T (SDLT320)| Dell Powervault TL2000 (LTO4)

Desktop support duties:-
• Installation, configuration and support of physical desktop environment: APC Smart UPS 1500 solutions; Dell Precision workstations 490| 530| 650; Dell 2007FP monitors; Avaya 9630 handsets; Avaya CS60 headsets; IPC IQ/MAX dealerboard turrets
• Purchasing, administration, configuration, enterprise activation, and support of Blackberry handheld devices: 8100| 8310| 8800| 8830
• Installation, administration and support of Blackberry desktop software manager 4.1.1.9| 4.2.0.14| 4.2.1.6| 4.2.2.14| 4.3.0.17; Bloomberg for Blackberry; Yahoo messenger for Blackberry; Google maps for Blackberry etc
• Configuration and support of laptops: Lenovo IBM X60 Thinkpads; HP 6910
• Administration, configuration and support of Avaya ACM telephone system (VOIP) and Avaya IP Softphone integration with Microsoft Outlook
• Administration and support of AllianceMX Systems via IPC SYS view and IPC IQ/MAX dealerboard turrets: Creating and configuring new users (TRIDS)
• Installation, configuration and support of market data software client Bloomberg Professional: Ordering accounts, creating access points, assisting with account creation, assisting with keyboard setup and B-Unit biometric authentication and troubleshooting DDE, BBCOMM and Bloomberg Office tools issues when importing RTD to Microsoft Excel
• Installation, configuration and helpdesk/ application support of risk/ asset management, financial/ trading platforms and Excel add-ins for BackOffice and Traders: Sophis 3.2.3; Recon 5.80; Aexeo; Quotevision 3.1.8| 3.2.0; Truecalc; Sage; BarFX; Bear Stearns BestEX; REDIPlus; Trading Screen – TradeSmart; ThomsonOne; FinCAD
• Installation, configuration and helpdesk support of Microsoft solutions: Windows XP Professional; Office XP 2002| Office 2003| Office 2007| 2003 Outlook Web Access; Internet Explorer 7; Windows Defender
• Installation, configuration and helpdesk support of general software: Adobe Acrobat Reader 6| 7| 8; Adobe Acrobat Standard 8| Adobe Acrobat Professional 8; Yahoo Messenger 8; Firefox 2.0.0.7| 2.0.0.11| WinRAR; WinZIP; Daemon tools
• Installation, configuration and support of network printers: Canon IR C2880i; HP LaserJet 3550| 4250
• Installation, configuration and support of faxes: Panasonic KX-FLM651

Network duties:-
• Support and configuration of 3Com 48-Port 3870 Switches and Dell Poweredge KVM digital switches: 2161 DS-2
• Administration and support of the firewall (Juniper Netscreen 5XT): VPN’s, failover and VPN SSL client access
• Administration and support of the wireless access points (WAP200 Linksys Wireless-G access points)
• Remote administration using MSTSC, NetOp Remote Control 9.0 and SysInternals utilities
• Administration, configuration and support of Star Technology Email (Anti-Virus and Spam) screening services

Additional skills/duties:-
• Liaising with 3rd party suppliers for hardware and software
• Some basic exposure to PeerSync 7.3; Oracle 10g
• Registry hacking





November 2006-April 2007 Galliards Homes Ltd Support Engineer (Perm)

Support engineer role in which I assisted and liaised with the IT manager and managed 2 desktop support engineers. This was a construction company with a 90 user database with 25 servers across 3 sites and multiple independent satellite-sites.

Projects:-
• Implementing a SAN solution and consolidating existing servers via virtualization
• Planning and implementing a real-time network monitoring solution for the main sites and the multiple satellite-sites
• Troubleshooting, evaluating, restructuring and reconfiguring Windows 2003 Active Directory topology and Microsoft Server Services (Upgrading Microsoft DNS and DHCP to 2003 versions and eliminating WINS)
• WSUS implementation and configuration
• Satellite-site office setups
• Updating and consolidating system/network documentation

Server support duties:-
• Administration, configuration and support of Windows 2003 Active Directory: Server/ desktop Group Policies, tailored logon scripts, NTFS permissions, Security Groups and Distribution Groups etc
• Microsoft Terminal Server administration and end-user support
• Administration and support of Microsoft Windows Server 2000| 2003
• Administration and support of Microsoft Exchange 2003: Mailbox management and backup and restore
• Administration, configuration and support of the Email/Web filter (SurfControl)

Desktop support duties:-
• Administration, configuration, enterprise activation, and support of Blackberry handheld devices: 7250|7290| 8100
• Providing 1st – 3rd line helpdesk support for Microsoft solutions to HQ and remote sites: Windows XP Professional; Terminal Services; Office XP 2002| Office 2003; Internet Explorer 6| 7
• Installation, configuration and helpdesk support of general software: Adobe Acrobat Reader 6; Adobe Acrobat Professional 6; WinZIP
• Installation, configuration and support of various network printers: Canon; HP LaserJet; Lexmark

Network duties:-
• Administration and support of the firewall (Juniper Netscreen 5XT): satellite-site office VPN setups
• Network/ network performance monitoring, evaluation, performance optimisation and issue resolution via Solarwinds Engineers Toolset; Ethereal

August 2005-August 2006 Concordia Advisors LLP System Support Engineer (Con)

Initially contracted on an ad-hoc basis to develop research and strengthen the company’s business continuity procedures in relation to their Windows XP Professional desktop systems. Concordia is a world leading hedge fund that manages 20 billion in assets for their investors with a 90+ user database and 40+ servers across 4 international sites. My role at Concordia developed very significantly in a very short period due to their rapid expansion.

Projects:-
• Disaster recovery testing, research and development for OEM/Volume-Licensed instances of Microsoft XP Professional
• Implementing Sysprep for desktop image deployment (Microsoft XP Professional) via Symantec Ghost and Acronis True Image
• Basic Active Directory proposal for the London, New York, Bermuda and Singapore Sites illustrated virtually in VMware Workstation 5.0
• Distributed File System proposal for the international offices
• ESX Server Virtual Machine installations and configurations of Microsoft Windows Server 2000| 2003; Microsoft XP Professional; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3| 4 for disaster recovery and testing purposes
• Reorganising, clarifying, replacing or upgrading the Ethernet architecture for the London office
• Planning, installing and configuring APC network-orientated Power Distribution Strips 7950| 7951| 7954 and configuring dual redundant power supply units for all mission-critical production servers
• Planning, implementing and configuring the regular backup of mission-critical historical trade data via a HP MSL6030 (LTO3) tape library using Arkeia Network Backup V5.0 software
• Creating system, network and disaster recovery procedure documentation
Server support duties:-
• Administration and support of Virtual Machines on ESX Server 2.5.0| 2.5.2; ESX Server patch upgrades; Managing VM resources
• Administration, configuration and support of Windows 2003 Active Directory: NTFS permissions, Security Groups and Distribution Groups etc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3| 4 Server builds from partitioning on the host (HP Proliant DL585’s) to configuring partitions on an Array (HP Modular Storage Array 30). From basic OS configuration to hardware upgrades
• Administration and support of Microsoft Windows Server NT4| 2000| 2003; Windows 2003 Server builds, from RAID configuration to live production environment: Dell Poweredge 1650| 1750| 1850| 2550| 2650| 2850| 6650
• Managing Sysprep for desktop image deployment (Microsoft XP Professional) via Symantec Ghost and Acronis True Image Desktop
• Administration and support of Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5| 2003: Mailbox creation, mailbox rights, mailbox management, public folder management, distribution group administration, backup and restore
• Installation, administration and support of Microsoft SQL Server 2000: Database maintenance and performance optimisation, backup and restore
• Administration and support of Blackberry Enterprise Server: New accounts and license activations
• Administration, support and testing of TOPIO data replication disaster recovery solution software
• Administration, configuration and support for Symantec Anti-Virus Enterprise edition V9.0 solution
• Managing the backup, tape media rotation, offsite, capacity monitoring and verification for mission-critical company data via Veritas Backup Exec for Windows Servers 9.1| 10.0 using multiple Dell Powervault 110T (LTO2) tape devices
• Performance troubleshooting with Microsoft Performance Monitor
• Installation, administration, configuration and support of analogue Belkin KVM switches

Desktop support duties:-
• Installation, configuration and support of physical desktop environment: Dell Precision workstations 450| 470| 530| 540| Dell 1907FP monitors
• Administration, configuration, enterprise activation, and support of Blackberry handheld devices
• Configuration and support of laptops: Dell Latitude 505d| 610d
• Installation, configuration and support of market data software client Bloomberg Professional: Installing Bloomberg Professional software and keyboards, troubleshooting issues and escalating when necessary
• Installation, configuration and 1st - 2nd line helpdesk support of risk/ asset management, financial/ trading platforms for BackOffice and Traders: Tradar; BarX; CQGNET; Reuters
• Installation, configuration and helpdesk support of Microsoft solutions: Windows XP Professional; Office XP 2002| Office 2003| 2003 Outlook Web Access; SQL Server 2000 client tools; Internet Explorer 6
• Installation, configuration and helpdesk support of general software: Adobe Acrobat 6; WinRAR; Norton’s Internet security
• Installation, configuration and support of network printers: HP 3000| 4700; Canon IR 2200; Lexmark C750| C752

Network duties:-
• Configuring and troubleshooting RRAS Remote Access
• Administration and support of the Tanberg Video Conferencing system
• Assisted installation, configuration and support of Dell Switches 5224| 5324| 6024F

Additional skills/duties:-
• Liaising with 3rd party suppliers for hardware and software
• Partial experience of installing, maintaining and configuring the BT Norstar Meridian telephone system
• Gained exposure to SharePoint Portal Server 2003
• Exposure to FM 200 fire suppression systems; Diesel generator environments










July 2004-July 2005 eFusion IT Ltd Part-time MS SQL Server Support/Full-time Student

Contracted on an ad-hoc basis to install, configure and support Microsoft SQL Server. eFusion was a small independently run business that specializes in providing bespoke accounting software, web site development, support and IT consultant services for retail and commercial markets. During this period I successfully studied to attain Microsoft MCSA, MCSE, and MCDBA status and gained an entry level certification in Linux.

Server support duties:-
• Administration and support of Microsoft Windows Server 2000| 2003; Windows 2000| 2003 Server builds, from RAID configuration to live production environment
• Installation, configuration, administration and support of Microsoft SQL Server 2000: Database creation, backup and restore, database maintenance and performance optimisation
• Basic Auditing and Analysing with Microsoft SQL Server Profiler

Desktop support duties:-
• Installation, configuration and support of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 client tools
• T-SQL ad-hoc testing and querying
• Basic scripting of stored procedures
• Installation, configuration and support of Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional| Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Microsoft (McpID: 3240748)
• MCDBA 2000 (2005)
• MCSE 2000 (2005)
• MCSA 2000 (2005)
• MCP 2000 (2004)

CompTIA (CareerID: COMP001001530623)
• Linux+ Certified Professional (2005)
• Network+ Certified Professional (2004)
• A+ Certified Professional (2003)


The British Computer Society
• European Computer Driving Licence (2003)


Crosfield Electronic Limited
• Crosfield Magnascan Operator’s Course-Distinction (1994)

Windows Administration

English, basic Greek, very basic Russian

• Sir George Monoux Site 14-16 Site
GCSE x 8 (1990)

Connectivity Ltd
• Cisco Certified Network Associate Course (2005)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 SQL Design Course (2005)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 SQL Administration Course (2005)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Networking Environment Course (2005)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Active Directory Course (2005)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Infrastructure Course (2004)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional and Server Course (2004)

• Interests: Music, films, books, technology, health, people, places, and motorbikes

Available on request