DARREN LUCHT

Minneapolis, MN 763-***-**** addn8l@r.postjobfree.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenlucht

IT SYSTEMS ENGINEER / ARCHITECT

SUMMARY

Resourceful accomplished IT professional with proven expertise in network systems architecture, project management, enterprise security and implementing strategic IT initiatives that improve business functionality with positive impact to the bottom line. Ability to work immediately with any technology to design, secure and implement solutions to help businesses run more efficiently. Track record for diagnosing complex problems and consistently delivering effective solutions. Reputation for dedicated teamwork, high- energy work ethic, commitment to customer service and building strong relationships.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Network Architecture

• IT Systems Integration

• Network Operations / Security

• IT Project Management

• IT Best Practices

• Root Cause Analysis

• Active Directory / Group Policies

• PowerShell / Automation

EXPERIENCE

Senior IT Systems Engineer

AVARTEC, INC. – Coon Rapids, MN

2017 - Present

Specialize in creating customized solutions to fit business needs and budget. Lead projects ranging from complete IT design and implementation to the strategic deployment of new technology within an existing environment. Deliver evaluations and recommendations to help meet strategic goals.

• Develop and perform systems infrastructure design, implementation, migration, maintenance and optimization of Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware, Failover Clusters, DFS Replication, Azure AD Connect and Windows Servers (2008, 2012, 2016, 2019) including Active Directory / Group Policy design, migration and administration to increase client efficiency while using best practices.

• Extensive experience with Microsoft Exchange Server (2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, EXO) design, implementation and migration. Office 365 migrations and Exchange hybrid design solutions. Perform on-going administrative tasks, troubleshooting mail flow issues and post-migration activities.

• Recognized for exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills with a proven ability to identify and resolve outages and performance issues using root cause analysis.

• Perform Microsoft SQL Server installations, upgrades, migrations and administration including tuning, transaction logs, backup/recovery to optimize database performance.

• Conduct analysis to ensure the peak performance of business-critical networks, servers, workstations, applications and databases. Evaluate capabilities of existing systems with the goal of identifying improvement opportunities.

• Risk assessment, vulnerability and security engineering services. Analyzing all critical systems, developing reports to document system vulnerabilities and recommending appropriate solutions.

• Implement disaster recovery and business continuity infrastructure planning, design and support to ensure network diversity and availability.

Freelance IT Engineer

FREELANCE IT ENGINEER – Minneapolis, MN

2016 – 2017

Designed and implemented technology solutions for SMB clients. Identifying and executing opportunities to improve processes and setting priorities for the development, implementation and maintenance of all business-critical IT systems.

• Conduct analysis to ensure the optimal performance of business-critical networks, servers, workstations, applications and databases. Evaluate capabilities of existing systems with the goal of identifying improvement opportunities and providing network solutions along with hands-on experience of supporting advanced networking technologies.

• Provide server support and consolidation through virtualization, storage management and upgrades, firewall and VPN implementations, software and hardware upgrades, data management, managed services migrations and disaster recovery planning.

• Perform information security needs analysis, including requirements and evaluation of emerging technologies, along with recommendations and implementation for system selection, execution, improvement and support.

IT Manager / Senior Network Engineer

PACAL, INC. – Roseville, MN

2000 – 2016

Leading the organizations’ technological direction including planning, implementing and maintaining the best practices that align with corporate goals. Achieving optimal technical operations by directing all aspects of enterprise information technology, including infrastructure management, systems integration, network engineering, systems security, project management, business intelligence, IT governance, risk management, capacity planning, budgeting and procurement.

• Designed network systems that were scalable, robust and stable to seamlessly integrate multiple technologies to achieve business objectives. Implemented technologies that improved business productivity and decreased costs.

• Established information technology operational policies, procedures, standards, and best practices governing corporate security, incident response, access control, change management and acceptable usage of technology assets.

• Directed and implemented deployment of Epicor Vantage (ERP) solution which included partnering with functional business units and vendors to develop specifications and requirements, served as the primary liaison for issues/obstacles resolution and performed product configuration, testing and deployment.

• Defined, facilitated and tested business continuity and disaster recovery plans in order to limit losses caused by disruptions to critical business operations and to enable efficient recovery.

• Deployment and implementation of enterprise security controls including firewalls, IDS/IPS systems, content filtering, spam filtering, centralized antivirus and network monitoring.

• Consolidated physical environment to an end-to-end virtual environment, including server virtualization and Storage Area Networks (SAN), resulting in a more efficient IT infrastructure, with a 70% reduction in hardware costs and improved server availability.

• Architected, implemented, and provided project leadership on various network infrastructure solutions including deployment, upgrades, enhancements and migrations of Windows servers, SQL servers, Exchange servers, Citrix XenApp servers, Active Directory/Group Policies, routers and switches, firewalls, spam filter appliances, SAN/NAS servers, applications, printers, hardware and cabling.

EDUCATION

NEI College of Technology – Minneapolis, MN

COMPUTER NETWORKING SYSTEMS

CERTIFICATIONS

Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)

Technical Project Management

SKILLS

OPERATING SYSTEMS

• Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019

• Windows XP/7/8/10

• Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

VIRTUALIZATION

• Microsoft Hyper-V

• VMware ESXi

NETWORK SERVICES

• Microsoft Active Directory / Group Policies

• Microsoft DNS/DHCP/WINS

• Microsoft Failover Clusters

• Microsoft DFS/DFSR

• Certificates SSL/UCC

SERVER SOFTWARE

• Exchange Server 2010/2013/2016/2019/EXO

• Microsoft IIS

• Citrix Metaframe/XenApp

• Zentyal Server

• Epicor Vantage ERP 4/5/6/8

• SYSPRO ERP

WEBSERVER SOFTWARE

• LAMP/WAMP

• WordPress CMS

• NextCloud Server

• Shopify / WooCommerce

PROTOCOLS

• TCPIP/IPv4/IPv6

• NTP/SNTP

• SMTP/POP3/IMAP

• NAT/SNAT/RIP/OSPF

• VLAN/QoS/LACP/LAG

• SNMP/MIB

• 802.11 A/B/G/N/AC

• FTP/SFTP/SSH/Telnet

• SSL/IPsec/VPN

• RDP/VNC

• NFS/SMB/CIFS

DATABASE SOFTWARE

• Microsoft SQL Server 2012/2014/2016/2017

• Progress OpenEdge

• Oracle MySQL

HELP DESK SOFTWARE

• Autotask PSA/RMM

SERVER / STORAGE HARDWARE

• Dell EMC Compellent SC Storage Arrays

• Dell PowerVault ML Storage Arrays

• Dell PowerEdge Servers

• HP ProLiant Servers

• Lenovo ThinkServers

• DAS/NAS/SAN/iSCSI

• RAID 0/1/5/6/10

NETWORK HARDWARE

• Cisco Catalyst Switches

• Dell PowerSwitch Switches

• Dell N3000 Series Switches

• D-Link Routers/Switches

• Netgear Routers/Switches

• Linksys Routers/Switches

• APC Smart-UPS/NMC

• Avaya IP Office 500

• Printers/Plotters/Scanners

FIREWALL HARDWARE

• Dell SonicWALL NSA Firewalls

• WatchGuard Firebox Firewalls

• Cisco ASA Firewalls

• IDS/IPS/Filtering

BACKUP / RECOVERY SOFTWARE

• Acronis TrueImage Server

• CA ArcServer Backup

• Symantec BackupExec

• Condusiv Undelete Server

• ERD Commander

SECURITY / NETWORK SOFTWARE

• SolarWinds LANsurveyor

• SolarWinds Orion

• Wireshark

• WhatsUp Gold

• MRTG

• NIST Framework

• Metasploit

• Kali Linux

• OpenNMS

• Nmap

• Nessus

• Avast CloudCare

• Kaspersky Endpoint Security

• Symantec Endpoint Protection

Contact this candidate