Profile

Calin Somoza — Unix Engineer

Currently

Deutsche Bank AG, Global Unix Platinum Support

In IT since

1985

Location

Höchst im Odenwald, Germany

Languages

German, English, Romanian; basic Spanish and French

Skills

Cloud and engineered systems

Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer (ExaCC) and Oracle Database Appliance in the four-figure VM range, dedicated and autonomous databases, Oracle Exadata and Exalogic, Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance; Google Cloud Platform including NetApp Volumes and the integration of existing on-premises systems.

Operating systems

Oracle Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE, Debian and Ubuntu, Solaris 10 and 11, OpenSolaris and Illumos-based systems (OpenIndiana, SmartOS), IBM AIX, macOS, Windows.

Automation at fleet scale

Design and operation of an in-house shell framework that distributes configuration, patches and identities across a four-figure number of nodes, spanning Linux, Solaris and AIX alike. Alongside that CfEngine 2 and 3, Puppet, Foreman, automated installation frameworks (Kickstart, JumpStart, AI) and software packaging (RPM, SVR4, IPS).

High availability and storage

Oracle RAC, Solaris Cluster / Sun Cluster 2.2–3.3, Veritas Cluster Server, Veritas Volume Manager, SVM, ZFS, SAN storage subsystems.

Identity and security

SSH key management across entire fleets, HSM-backed keys (PKCS#11), Kerberos and Active Directory integration, NFSv4 with krb5p, OpenLDAP.

Backup and recovery

Relax-and-Recover, Veritas NetBackup, IBM TSM, custom-built procedures.

Databases

Oracle, Sybase ASE, MySQL, PostgreSQL.

Programming

UNIX shell (ksh, sh, bash), Python, PHP, C/C++, Java, PL/SQL, assembler (MC6502, MC68k, 8088).

Career

I have been with Deutsche Bank since 2014 — first as a contractor, and as a permanent employee since 2018. The positions before that, from 1997 to 2013, were freelance engagements as an IT consultant.

1. since 2018 — permanent employee Deutsche Bank AG — Global Unix Platinum Support
   Operation and automation of an Oracle Cloud@Customer estate of some 1,300 ExaCC and ODA VMs running dedicated and autonomous databases. Author of the shell framework that distributes patching, configuration and SSH identities across the whole fleet, spanning Oracle Linux, Solaris and AIX. Involved in moving parts of the environment onto Google Cloud Platform, including Kerberos and Active Directory integration and NFSv4 with krb5p.
2. 2014 – 2018 — as a contractor Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt am Main and Eschborn
   Global Technology and Operations — Global Unix ES, Platinum Support for Oracle Engineered Systems (Exadata, Exalogic, ExaCC). The same remit I have continued in since becoming an employee.
3. January 2013 – December 2013 — freelance ISCeco (WBF), Bern, Switzerland
   Migration of configuration management from CfEngine 2 to 3, build of a Solaris 11 installation and configuration infrastructure, integration of existing Linux systems.
4. April 2012 – December 2012 Deutsche Vermögensberatung (DVAG), Frankfurt am Main
   Build of a cloud platform: vendor selection, evaluation and stress testing (rack awareness, datacenter replication, disaster scenarios), auto-installation modules; Linux operations across a heterogeneous multi-site landscape.
5. May 2011 – March 2012 Commerzbank AG, Frankfurt am Main
   Server platform consolidation: decommissioning of EOSL legacy systems, migration and build of replacements with concurrent cost optimisation (RISC to x86).
6. October 2009 – May 2011 Commerzbank AG, Frankfurt am Main
   “Growing Together” bank merger — acquisition of Dresdner Bank. Migration and rebuild of 5- to 9-node clusters, zones and applications through to handover to regular operations.
7. August 2006 – February 2009 BHF-Bank AG, Offenbach am Main
   UNIX operations, build of new systems and migration of legacy ones, clustering (Solaris Cluster 3.2), automation of business and administrative processes.
8. July 2008 – December 2008 Maersk (EDS), Rüsselsheim
   M9000 clustering across six domains, Oracle RAC, Solaris Cluster 3.2 for test, acceptance and production environments.
9. October 2006 – February 2007 ZDF, Mainz · Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt am Main
   NetBackup environment for backup and recovery; menu-driven auto-installation framework for Solaris Cluster 3.2.
10. June 2005 – September 2006 SCHUFA Holding AG, Frankfurt am Main · O2 / Sun Microsystems
    New systems landscape for the “meineSCHUFA” web portal including HA services and test metrics; backup and recovery environment for the relocation of the O2 communication centre from London to Frankfurt.
11. November 2004 – July 2005 EADS (Airbus), Hamburg · Deutsche Bundesbank
    Build of 3- and 5-node engineering clusters including a framework for generating and packaging custom HA agents for Sun Cluster 3.x.
12. February 2002 – December 2004 Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz
    Build of a production and development landscape, custom installation and backup procedures, OpenLDAP, migration from Sun Cluster 2.2 to 3.1.
13. January 2000 – December 2001 Sun Microsystems, Langen · DREGIS · European Central Bank
    Consulting and integration for Sun Professional Services clients; migration of highly available databases from HP to Sun (E10K domaining, mirrored datacenters); HA systems on Sun E4500 for the ECB.
14. May 1998 – December 1999 Commerzbank AG · Deutsche Bundesbank · CDC, Frankfurt am Main
    Build of CDC GmbH's production environment after the spin-off from Paris; UNIX operations in trading, E10000 administration; Y2K test infrastructure for the Bundesbank.

This overview is abridged. A detailed profile with the full project list is available on request — calin@calin.de.