Dan Pinkard

1819 23rd Ave #207

Seattle, WA 98122

Phone: (314) 368-1046

Email: dan@lotn.org

 

Overview

A Swiss Army Knife of Internetworking.

Core strengths

§         Voice/IP/LAN/WAN Network Design, Implementation, and Administration

§         Product Engineering and Technology Research/Evaluation

§         Linux/Unix/Windows Systems Design, Administration, and Integration

§         Strong Automation, Process Planning, and Tools Creation Skills

§         Product and Service Creation and Development

§         Diverse Web-based Software Development and Deployment Experience

Experience and Achievemets

AccessLine Communications (Network Design Engineer, 10/05-present)

Designed, implemented, and maintained network infrastructure for AccessLine Communications, a private provider of enhanced telephony services and VOIP dial-tone. AccessLine operates a national network to transport VOIP calls including on/off-net subscriber traffic, conferencing systems, unified messaging, and follow-me services. Was responsible for technical service creation, infrastructure design, systems design and maintenance, and technical project management. Participated in process creation and training, as well as product design.

·         Managed a nationwide data network ranging up to OC-12 speeds providing high-availability to VOIP transport and call processing systems. External network connectivity included transit via multiple tier 1 and 2 providers, as well as high-speed private peering for customers and partners. Responsible for all aspects of public and private interconnections.

·         Developed a multi-city VOIP delivery network from start to finish, utilizing partner DSL networks and public internet connectivity, and commodity ADSL, SDSL, and T1 hardware. Responsible for all aspects including technology research, test deployments, provisioning/configuration process, training, monitoring, and troubleshooting procedures. Ongoing involvement includes escalation, and technology ad process refinement to support additional product requirements and changing hardware availability.

·         Designed and maintained internal computing systems for call-path processing, data warehouse users, and QA/development labs. AccessLine’s network hosts a wide range of Sun and x86 hardware, and Solaris and Linux operating systems delivering home-brew call-control, protocol conversion, and media gateway control applications. Responsibilities include standardization, upgrades, and supporting junior administrators.

·         Built automated deployment systems for CPE voice hardware deployment. Worked with developers and wrote custom programs to create one-touch installation of internally developed software and OEM voice gateway hardware. Established a preconfigured device testing facility for pre-ship hardware verification.

·         Researched, customized, and deployed network and systems management tools. Projects included deployment of a distributed automated Oracle-based DNS and network allocation system, and enhancements to network configuration management facilities. Developed traffic monitoring tools for network verification including high-resolution tracking of network and path stability for customer networks as well as internal systems.

·         Established and deployed  network-wide security models incorporating internal billing and call-control traffic, exposed customer-facing web applications, customer call-control, internal real-time traffic, and customer traffic. Security models included consideration for Internet-based accessibility, and customers utilizing both private and public networks.

·         Designed, documented, and deployed network upgrades and technology refreshes. Migrated to a multi-node fully-meshed BGP network including core and distribution layers deploying a unified internal network.

Savvis Communications (Product Engineer, R&D, 9/03-9/05)

Designed and deployed network-based products for SAVVIS Communications, an international private networking company, and tier-1 ISP. Responsible for the product life cycle for a variety of products and technologies, integrating duties including product management, project management, service delivery, process engineering, training, lab and operational testing, troubleshooting, and building support models. .

·         Managed delivery of carrier services and partner best-practices to establish international availability of SAVVIS services via CLEC-provided DSL networks. Directed all training and deployment resources, and provided technical guidance for establishing inter-carrier connections. Created and managed internal turn-up processes for early release products.

·         Provided product direction and technology validation for home-grown next-generation integrated access devices, including virtual routing, traffic management, and VOIP features.

·         Maintained vendor relationships for current and future backbone, edge, and enhanced services products.

·         Working with a technology partner, designed the deployment of a private VoIP network offering global availability, high levels of availability, and robust advanced intelligent network features. Created all technical and supporting information consolidating engineering design specifications, vendor documentation, internal procedures, and in-house development requirements.

·         Routinely validated products and equipment in a diverse network environment mixing technologies such as ATM, Frame-Relay, POS, Ethernet, L2TP, and PPP, employing various testing tools, protocol analyzers, scripting, and traffic generation utilities.

Independent Consultant (Sr. Consultant, 3/03-9/03)

Supported and managed client networks for a variety of customers and projects. Responsible for many aspects of network/product deployment including initial specifications, design, procurement, installation and operational management.

·         Designed, installed, and implemented a 600 seat call center network in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Coordinated all aspects of circuit  delivery and turn-up, network hardware installation, and operations training. Provided trouble-shooting and support for deployment of NeoWare Citrix terminals, PSO SoftPhone, Avaya Definity Multivantage switch, and connectivity to the Sprint GeoTel network.

·         Advised the design and planning for a regional SoftSwitch interconnection deployment. Participated in many areas of capacity planning, process management, and carrier negotiations.

·         Designed wireless network applications for a potential mid-west WISP. Responsible for all aspects of technology research and deployment.

River City Internet (Director Network Engineering, 11/01-3/03)

Managed the design, update, and maintenance of network and servers for a regional ISP, and an international web-hosting company. Created and maintained tools for system automation, technical support utilities, and utilization tracking using Perl, PHP, C, and MySQL.

·         Planned and executed the migration of web-hosting network of over 100 servers, routers, switches from Cincinnati, San Diego, and Seattle to St. Louis, including restoration of network availability and hosting facilities.

·         Participated in creation and deployment of new products. Products included Metro-Area-Networks, CPE firewalls, shared hosting and collocation security applications. Customer applications included banking services, online directory services, independent airlines, and video production companies. Security products used Linux-based firewalls, host-based packet-level filters, and router-based access lists.

·         Managed the migration of the ISP network from 100bt to a Gigabit Ethernet core using Cisco 7200 VXR routers and Extreme Networks Summit aggregation switches. The project included extending the iBGP peering, OSPF areas, and HSRP nodes to include aggregation-level devices for better drain utilization and resiliency.

·         Performed exhaustive update and consolidation affecting all service areas including WAN topology, BGP peering, and local routing using OSPF. Migrations included consolidation of a Fore/Marconi based ATM backbone to include DSL and MAN applications. Cisco based DSL aggregation provided PPPoA, PPPoE, and bridged/VLAN services.

·         Maintained and updated a cluster of 30+ Unix (Linux, Solaris) and Windows machines. These systems are used for security, consumer services (smtp, pop3, dns, web), network monitoring, and usage/notifications applications. Servers included a custom mail system of separate filtering SMTP servers, local delivery, and POP3 servers. Extreme and Foundry gear provided load balancing, enhancing network reliability and scalability. 

·         Authored a traffic analysis and security package using a custom Cisco Netflow processor. The C back-end and Perl/CGI front-end provided network and packet-level summary and statistics. Extended and customized a PHP-based real-time DNS management system.  Distributed C and Perl scripts managed system and configuration files multiple companies and as many as 14,000 domains. Created a web-server management system using a combination of Perl, shell scripts, PHP and SQL. Dynamic runtime Apache configuration files, MySQL, and server-specific utilities managed accounts, permissions, and processes for 3000+ sites across multiple servers and operating systems. 

Meshworx, Inc. (Sr. Consultant, 11/00-11/01)

·         Created interactive planning tools for a Voice over DSL, Class 5, and Soft Switch vendor. Based in Excel/VBA, the tools allow thorough business case analysis and cash flow projections for a variety of scenarios and networks.

·         Contributed to white papers and technical overviews of DSL provisioning processes for programmers/designers creating provisioning software systems.

·         Provided consultation, support and problem resolution for remote access platforms, ICD/Softswitch issues, SS7 design, and Class 5 deployments.

Mpower Communications (Sr. Network Engineer, 7/00-11/00)

Designed, planned, and managed networking related projects. Duties included both voice/interconnection design, data network projects, and product research.

·         Assisted in migration and integration planning for merging Primary’s regional network with Mpower’s national network. Provided cross training for network platforms including DSLAMs, DSL SMS, and ATM switches.

·         Conducted research and lab tests for Voice over DSL platforms for the MOKA region integrated services deployment. Created and executed test plans working closely with vendor resources, including current and pre-release products, taking into consideration product features, maturity, and roadmap.

·         Provided technical and procedural guidance to national Class 5 switch deployment program managers. Worked with vendors and internal managers to develop timelines, design requirements, and benchmarks.

·         Managed interconnection negotiations for Mpower’s Class 5 deployment with Southwestern Bell for the St. Louis and Kansas City, MO markets. Was responsible for network design, E911 and trunking requirements, and NXX acquisition and activation.

Primary Network Communications (Co-founder, Sr. Network Engineer, 10/98-7/00)

Co-founded in 1998 as BroadSpan Communications to provide advanced DSL services. Contributed to the entire process of establishing a functioning startup including incorporation, fund raising, pro-forma development, market research, technology research, and budgeting. Served as Network Engineer throughout the lifecycle of product creation and deployment.

·         Built an Internet Call Diversion (ICD) product, using the Stratus SINAP SS7 and Ascend ASG platforms, HP-UX fault tolerant systems, and Lucent Max TNT. Guided all areas of product creation including business case analysis, product definition, technology research, network design, turn-up/implementation, and operations hand-off.

·         Managed multiple regional CLEC interconnections with Southwestern Bell for the purpose of exchanging interlata and intralata traffic.

·         Developed a CDR processing system for inter-carrier billing built on Sun servers and MySQL fed by custom Perl and shell tools.

·         Designed and prototyped DSL and RAS aggregation scenarios for wholesale products using Cisco or Redback platforms for L2TP or PPPoE via Frame Relay or ATM.

·         Created a fully redundant regional management network used for managing DSLAMs , ATM aggregation, and Q.931+ signaling. Utilized OSPF and HSRP over TDM and ATM for to sustain losing multiple links.

Advisorlinks.com (Co-founder, programmer, 4/97-present)

Created a web-based system for the presentation of complex calculations. Written in Perl, the system utilizes SQL for session persistence and a template system to translate the results into an online tool. Current applications include a suite of personal finance tools for clients such as AmFunds and Transamerica Insurance.

Educational Experience

Washington University

Pursued a degree in Computer Science/Computer Engineering

 


 

Technical Experience

Transport Technologies/Protocols

Ethernet, ATM, DSL, ISDN, Frame Relay, T1, T3/DS3, OC3, TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, PNNI, PPP, SS7, Q.931+

 

Programming Languages/Environments

C/C++, Java, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic/VBA, Pascal, Assembler (68k, 6800, x86), SQL (MySQL, PostgresSQL, MS SQL Server, Sybase SQL Anywhere), MS Access, Emacs, Unix make, GCC 2.x/3.x, ProDev

 

Hardware/Service Platforms

Accelerated Networks voice services gateways and IADs, ADC/CAC CSU and multiplexers, Adtran CSU/DSUs and multiplexers, Cisco routers (all), Cisco Catalyst layer 2/layer 3 switches, CopperCom voice gateways and Class 5 (DTI) switch, Foundry layer 2/layer 3 switches, Foundry application switches, Lucent (Ascend) access concentrators (MAX, MAX TNT), Lucent (Ascend) access routers (Pipeline family, DSL Cellpipe), Lucent (Stratus) SS7 gateway, Marconi (Fore) ATM switches (TNX/ASX), Netgear ISDN and LAN products, PolyCom NetEngine IADs, Redback Subscriber Management System (SMS), Siemens access routers (Efficient Networks), Netopia access routers, NetScreen firewalls

 

Operating Systems

Linux (all varieties), BSD (FreeBSD 2-4, BSD/OS 2.x) and SysV (IRIX 5.3-6.2, Solaris 2.x-10, HP-UX 10.20), Windows (9x/NT/2K/XP/2003), Cisco IOS, ScreenOS

 

Server Hardware

Stratus Continuum (model 412 fault tolerant severs), SGI, Sun (Sparc, UltraSparc,  Sparc64, RAID systems), Dell PowerApp/PowerEdge, HP/Compaq Proliant, various desktop and server components (Adpatec, Mylex, Intel, Qlogic, SpectraLogics, etc)

 

Network Monitoring/Diagnosis Tools

NetXRay Ethernet sniffer, TTC Tberd 224 telecommunications test set, GN Nettest/WinPharoah ATM and Ethernet capture/analyzer, Multi-Router Traffic Grapher (MRTG), Cacti, HP Openview, Lucent Navis Suite, TCPDump, Ethereal/WireShark, Nagios

 

Software/Applications

Lucent (Stratus) SINAP/SS7, Lucent (Ascend) ASG, Apache (1.0-2.x, mod_perl, Jserv, SSL, mod_auth), Procmail, Bind (4.x-9.x), SMTP (Sendmail, Postfix, Exim, Qmail), Veritas Foundation Suite/VxFS, Samba, IPFilter/IPTables, dhcpd, ssh, Java JDK, Xwindows, Netscape iPlanet Server, NFS, Emacs, Virtual Network Computer (VNC), MySQL, PostgresSQL, Oracle

 

References Available Upon Request