Rodney D. Nichols, Jr.
E-mail: r **********@*****.***
Fulshear, TX 77441
Objective
To provide reliable, optimal and secure solutions for any network I am responsible for while continuing to sharpening my skills with progressing technology. Skills
● Cisco PIX/ASA, Juniper Netscreen and SRX firewalls.
● Cisco 1800 – 7600 series routers.
● Juniper EX, QFX, Cisco Catalyst and Nexus switches.
● Juniper M, MX, and J series routers.
● static IPSec and DMVPN setup and troubleshooting
● Routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, RIP, EIGRP, IS-IS)
● F5 load balancers.
● MPLS L3VPNs, MPLS-TE, RSVP, and VPLS.
● QoS classification, marking, queuing and policing.
● TCL / expect scripting to assist with mass network changes.
● Experience with customer facing support, SCADA control networks and commodities trade floor environments.
Work Experience
CVR Energy
Sr. Network Engineer
Jun 2014 -- Current
● Managed network operations at 13 corporate sites, 3 refineries, and 53 SCADA pipeline locations.
● Provided design input and diagrams for new builds as necessary.
● Provided 24 hr. on-call support as part of a group rotation.
● Interfaced with security, systems, and voice operations as stakeholders for new designs.
● Managed relations and operational processes with partnered vendors and managed service providers.
● Produced parts and license lists for quotes as necessary per project demands.
● Provided guidance and training to junior and mid-level staff.
● Kept up with, and produced new, documentation for networks in production and being implemented.
● Notable projects:
Designed and replaced the entire network at two of CVR’s refineries, 4 corporate offices, and 50 SCADA pipeline site.
Designed and replaced a pair of datacenters operating as active/passive.
Designed and implemented a complete carrier diversity deployment for the corporate WAN.
Replaced an aging HP wireless network with a Cisco deployment.
Worked with a vendor to implement ISE for wireless, 802.1x, and TACACS+ authentication.
Lumenate
Sr. Network Consultant
Mar 2013 – May 2014
● Assisted with customer cut-overs, integrations, and changes as defined by agreed Statements of Work.
● Assisted on sales meetings by providing technical expertise in response to customer questions.
● Provided hourly estimates and Bills of Materials for proposed projects.
● Attended vendor/partner training sessions to stay updated on new technologies.
● Performed technical interviews as part of a client’s hiring process.
● Created and modified documentation as required per project specifications.
● Worked with vendors/partners for new product deployments.
● Noteworthy projects:
Assisted with the planning, configuration, and cut-over of a client datacenter to Nexus 7k and 5k cores.
Travel, plan, and perform network integrations for plants acquired by a customer.
Performed a migration for a client replacing a point-to-point VPN WAN with a MPLS L3VPN core.
Kinder Morgan
Sr. Network Design Engineer
Dec 2012 – Mar 2013
● Managed the MPLS/VPLS core network.
● Provided on-call and last line of support for operational network outages.
● Designed and deployed new site build-outs.
● Planned and executed changes on the MPLS core and pipeline terminal edge networks.
● Provided operation support for pipeline control/monitoring networks (SCADA) and user/VoIP environment.
● Managed Datacenter core networks including Juniper QFX fabric switches and MX960 routers.
Calpine Corp. (through Connective Talent, then Xerox Network Services) Sr. Network Engineer
Sep 2011 – Dec 2012
● Planned and performed changes necessary for the migration of the primary and secondary data centers including but not limited to: DHCP, NTP, EIGRP, IPSec over GRE on 3G wireless, and BGP routing for replication traffic.
● Provided operation support for plant control networks (DCS) and the commodities trade floor environment.
● Defined a standard topology and configuration for Calpine’s plant sites including standard troubleshooting methodologies and network design best practices.
● Planned and performed changes at Calpine’s 95 plant sites and offices necessary for both the datacenter migration and plant standardization activities.
● Acted as the final technical escalation point for all routing/switching related problems and outages.
● Installed and configured standard TCL/expect scripting to assist with mass pushes that were dynamic in nature based on site information.
● Performed other projects within the scope of the network team as assigned. Sungard Availability Services
Sr. Network Engineer
March 2007 – Sep 2011
● Performed changes and maintenance on the MPLS core network structure for all Sungard data centers relating to BGP import and advertisement of customer assigned networks.
● Planned and performed changes on SunGard’s MPLS service provider network related to route propagation, LSP setup and traffic engineering for provider outage windows.
● Performed emergency outage support for all data center network equipment.
● Managed routers, switches, load balancers and firewalls for dedicated customer environments.
● Worked with ISPs to resolve circuit and BGP issues.
● Worked with auditors to ensure PCI and SOX compliance where necessary
● Planned and executed customer migrations and upgrades with minimal downtime.
● Worked with server engineers to troubleshoot application issues and perform changes.
● Participated in the planning of Sungard’s ITIL v3 migration for internal policy/structure as it pertains to the Change Management Organization.
● Performed all necessary functions of a team lead including ticket assignment within my group, taking escalations for customer service issues, served as an escalation point for difficult technical problems, and feedback to managers regarding co-worker performance.
NF Smith and Associates
Network Engineer
May 2005 – Mar 2007
● Managed worldwide IPSec VPN structure at 11 sites.
● Provided support for all network outages.
● Performed hardware upgrades and redesign of network core little downtime; no negative business impact.
● Prepared the corporate network to handle VoIP across the LAN and WAN.
● Designed a vlan architecture and DMZ setup for risk mitigation and control due to security events.
● Participated with management in vendor negotiations and long term planning.
● Maintained the back-end administrative and monitoring networks/servers.
● Provided operation network support for the trade floor environment. Certifications
● Cisco CCNA
● AWS Solution Architect - Associate
● Cisco CCNP (re-pursuing)
● JNO-521 (JNCIA-FWV) Juniper firewalls and VPNs – (expired)
● 650-001 (CCIE Routing/Switching Written) (expired)
● JNO-101 - JNCIA-JunOS (expired)
● JNO-343 - JNCIS-ENT (expired)
Education
● North Harris College - Houston, TX
A.S., Physics, May 2005
● Northern Arizona University - Flagstaff, AZ
B.S., Computer Information Technology, April 2017
● New Horizons
CJFV - (Netscreen firewalls), 2009
● Proteus Networks (All in 2011)
IJOS - Introduction to the JunOS Operating System
JRE - Juniper Routing Essentials
JIR - JunOS Intermediate Routing
JEX - Juniper Enterprise Switching