LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-labarre-a40a513
Pawling, NY,
12564
845-350-2039
j.e.labarre@gmail.com
AIX | Ansible | AS/400 | Automation | Bugzilla | CD-ROM mastering | Ceph | Debian | desktop | EDI | Fedora | Git | HotMedia | IBM High-Performance Switch (SP3 & Federation) | IBM Power | Jenkins | laptop | Linux | Linux Mint | Lotus Notes | Macintosh/MacOS X | Microsoft Office | Microsoft Windows | multimedia | NetWare | OpenOffice/LibreOffice | OpenStack | OS/2 | ppc64le | pSeries | QEMU | quality engineering | RedHat | RHEL | RS/6000 | scripting | Servers | shell scripting | software test | Solaris | Systems Administration | troubleshooting | Ubuntu | VirtualBox | virtualization | VMWare
SOFTWARE QUALITY ENGINEER | Red Hat, Inc., Remote | 2020-2024
OpenStack QE test and engineering for MultiArch development (Power8 & Power9).
Worked with IBM’s MultiArch team to coordinate testing and validation of OpenStack and other products being ported for support under Linux on Power/ppc64le.
Validated install/configuration documentation posted online for customer evaluation of MultiArch x86_64/ppc64le installations.
Maintained tests and triaged testing failures with OpenStack Hardware Provisioning team.
Collaborated with component teams to develop test scenarios for the next generation of Red Hat’s OpenStack (Red Hat OpenStack Services on OpenShift 18.0).
QE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING/TEST (RED HAT) | SelectGroup, Remote | 2017-2020
OpenStack QE test and engineering for MultiArch development (Power8 & Power9).
Worked with IBM’s MultiArch team to coordinate testing and validation of OpenStack and other products being ported for support under Linux on Power/ppc64le.
Validated install/configuration documentation posted online for customer evaluation of MultiArch x86_64/ppc64le installations.
LINUX SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR (IBM) | Collabera, Remote | 2016-2017
RFS Ring Fence was an IBM-internal staffing group to provide extra/fill-in staffing for other delivery teams at IBM that find themselves short-staffed for impending deliverables.
Tracked down, analyzed and correct security violations on customer systems.
Assisted development teams as they migrated customer’s Oracle/SAP systems from HP-UX and Solaris to Linux on VMWare ESX.
Configured, customized and secured servers for customer accounts as new systems came online.
CLOUD STORAGE ENGINEER (CISCO) | SelectGroup, Remote | 2015
QA/test for cloud storage automation group at Cisco.
Tested for Ceph and OpenStack for Cisco's cloud systems projects.
CLOUD ORCHESTRATION AND AUTOMATION (CIGNA) | TEKsystems, Remote | 2014-2015
The cloud group's (CPC Engineering) function at Cigna was to provide virtual compute resources for development and test internally, resources that could be quickly brought online using a custom written control center (written by a member of the team). This way developers could quickly stand-up and also quickly decommission standardized configuration test servers (RedHat Linux and Microsoft Windows) within 30 minutes, eliminating the long wait times normally needed.
Researched & implemented OpenStack (Havana and Icehouse), Ceph (Ceph Enterprise), Puppet, & other opensource resources for the development group at Cigna.
Worked with RedHat on troubleshooting & optimizing internal cloud computing solutions.
Built new compute images to be made available for deployment in OpenStack.
Had been the initial team member researching & building out Ceph, after which I instructed the rest of the team on the concepts, install procedures and maintenance of Ceph.
Managed and re-configured blades and servers hosting our OpenStack and Ceph clusters through the UCS management tools for the Cisco server hardware.
We were also working with Sensu, Logstash, Elasticsearch, Graphana, managing a Git host for developer code. Assisted other team members as they were installing, and configuring systems to work with these services.
SERVER SYSTEMS OPERATIONS (IBM) | Infinite Computer Solutions, Poughkeepsie, NY | 2013
Server floor admin for AmerisourceBergen in IBM Poughkeepsie data center.
Achieved certification for HIPAA before department was drastically reduced in size.
SENIOR SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR (IBM) | Collabera, Armonk, NY | 2013
Senior System Administrator, Wallstreet Systems/Treasury Support (IBM).
Managed & updated test servers for IBM's Global Business Services/Treasury management.
Provided support for production servers in IBM's Business Services.
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR, FUNCTIONAL VERIFICATION TEST, (IBM) | Computer Task Group, Poughkeepsie, NY | 2004-2012
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR - Capacity on Demand and Benchmark Centers, IBM
Installed & upgraded management nodes and compute clusters (Linux clusters for the most part) for customers on System X for CoD group in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Managed, installed & re-configured System P servers (AIX, SUSE Linux & Red Hat Enterprise Linux).
Troubleshot
software & hardware for management & compute nodes in Linux
& Windows servers.
FUNCTIONAL VERIFICATION TEST - RS/6000-SP systems, Server Group, IBM
Developed & ran verification tests for IB and High-Performance switch (Federation) system.
Using design documentation & input from developers, performed functional verification testing. Test systems were running AIX 5.x as well as SUSE Linux.
Handled administration, upgrades & installs on test systems for FVT team. Systems consisted of RS/6000 servers (which could be running either AIX or SLES) & Linux controllers for servers.
FUNCTIONAL VERIFICATION TEST, SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION, QA | IBM, Hawthorne, Poughkeepsie, NY | 2001-2004
Communications Subsystem Functional Verification Test (FVT) - RS/6000-SP systems, Server Group, Poughkeepsie, NY
Developed & ran verification tests for both Infiniband and High-Performance switch (Federation) system.
Using design documentation & input from developers, performed functional verification stage testing. Test systems were running AIX 5.x as well as well as Linux.
Handled administration, upgrades & installs on test systems for FVT team. Systems consisted of RS/6000 servers (up through pSeries 690, which could be running either AIX or SuSE Enterprise Linux) & Linux controllers for p690 servers.
Installed,
maintained & used RedHat Linux 7.2-based diagnostic systems used
to debug, control & upgrade the test systems.
System administration, QA test - Internet Media Group division, Hawthorne, NY
Installed, upgraded, diagnosed & maintained servers & workstations used for software testing.
Maintained Windows (95-2000), Macintosh (OS 7-9), AIX, Linux & Solaris systems used in testing.
Developed & ran tests for HotMedia java authoring tool, and verified functionality of applets produced by tool against various client & server configurations.
DATA ANALYSIS DEVELOPMENT, SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION, QA | Analysts International, (various client sites) | 1998-2000
Developed Lotus Approach database to track budgets for internal software development project at IBM, Mt. Pleasant NY. Trained administration staff for development group on usage of database application, diagnosed problems & added functionality to application as their needs dictated.
Developed automated consolidation spreadsheets for internal regional & corporate reports, Software Group, Somers NY. These were an interim solution until an internal reporting extension to their accounting system was completed.
Installed, upgraded, diagnosed & maintained servers & workstations used for software testing, Maintained Windows (95-2000), Macintosh (OS 7-9), AIX, Linux & Solaris systems used in testing.
Developed & ran tests for HotMedia java authoring tool, and verified functionality of applets produced by tool against various client & server configurations, Internet Media Group, Hawthorne, NY.
Implemented NT test servers with WebSphere Advanced server, Apache web server, DB/2, Lotus Domino R5 & Workflow. Worked with developers to create test methods for content management software intended to be deployed on WebSphere systems, Internet Media Group, Hawthorne NY.
NETWORK MANAGER, MULTIMEDIA QA | Net Results Technologies, Nanuet, NY | 1995-1997
Maintained & supported Novell (NetWare 3.11) & Windows networks and client workstations. Configured, maintained & customized test systems for multimedia software testing as well as testing of web services being developed in house. Was responsible for implementing TCP/IP connectivity.
Built and mastered CD-ROM titles & bundled packages, for both commercial titles intended for retail sales, as well as customized OEM packages for customers such as Compaq & Gateway.
Diagnosed software problems with software titles, discovered both in-house and from customer feedback, evaluated severity and possible resolutions. Communicated same to developers and/or customers as appropriate.
Reconfigured hardware and software for testing of various system configurations in order to duplicate conditions where problem was reported from customers.
Developed demo for web-based prospectus product being developed by the company.
NETWORK MANAGER & EDI COORDINATOR | Arch Associates, Elmsford, NY | 1992-1994
Implemented EDI system for PC-based accounting system.
Interfaced with customer IT contacts on their needs for EDI transactions they needed, worked with our consultants to try to implement same.
Explored alternatives & interfaces to accounting system on both PC Networks and AS/400, implemented & administered AS/400-based EDI system when company migrated to an accounting system on that platform.
Managed a migration from PC-based accounting package to AS/400. Migration involved adding terminal drivers to user workstations, testing connectivity & training users individually as their systems were connected to the AS/400 software.
Maintained & supported Novell (NetWare 3.11) network and client workstations.
Diagnosed software & hardware problems, repaired PC workstations
Performed hardware & software upgrades
Trained new users as well as training individual users when they started using new packages.
NETWORK MANAGER & EDI COORDINATOR | M.W. Samara, Hawthorne, NY | 1988-1991
Developed open order summary reports using Paradox. The accounting software in place was unable to create summary-only reports, which were needed by management to track pending orders not yet shipped. By extracting information from order entry system's flat files, was able to create needed reports, saving considerable time and expense over what would have been spent for customizations to the accounting system.
Designed & developed incoming order tracking system in Paradox. Previous method of tracking orders had been labor intensive, involving multiple hand-written logs sent out to various locations, which required periodic re-transcribing. By computerizing sales order logging saved considerable expense involved in writing & retranscribing handwritten logs, and drastically reduced missed & delayed orders caused by the manual process, thereby avoiding lost revenue from canceled customer orders and chargebacks.
Maintained & supported Novell NetWare network and client workstations
Diagnosed software & hardware problems, repaired PC workstations
Performed hardware & software upgrades
Trained new users as well as training individual users when they started using new packages.
Implemented EDI system for PC-based accounting system. Interfaced with customer IT contacts on their needs for EDI transactions they needed, worked with our consultants to try to implement same.
EDUCATION: Syracuse University – Film/TV Communications
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