VMware Systems Engineering & Virtualization Specialist

JAWAD ALI, P.ENG

*** ********* *****, *******, **, M1S 3W4

EMAIL: ************@*****.***

CELL: 647-***-****

OBJECTIVE

To secure a responsible position in a challenging environment where my expertise of VMware Specialist, Virtualization Expert, System Administrator, Datacenter Migration Consultant, Infrastructure Engineer & Architect, and Trainer can be fully utilized.

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:

HARDWARE

IBM /Dell/HP and Cisco UCS Servers, IBM DS8880 and DS8884 Storage, HP EVA 8400/6400Storage, HPE MSA2060, HP 3PAR StoreServ 8200, EMC VNXe3300 / VNX 5000 Storage, NetApp FAS8000, NetApp SF 4805, EMC Data Domain DD6300/6900, Dell PowerVault, IBM Storage N3300/3600, Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches, Brocade and Cisco Switches, Routers, Laser Printer.

SOFTWARE

Windows 2019/2016/2012R2, Unix, Linux, VMware vSphere 6,7&8, VMware ESXi6.5/7.0/8.0, VMware SRM (Site Recovery Manager),Azure Cloud Services, Azure AVS, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Hyper-V 2016/2019 Server, SCCM 2303, Symantec NetBackup, Symantec Backup Exec 11d, Veeam Backup, Cohesity backup, Commvault, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, Symantec AV, Shavlik, WSUS, Cisco UCS Manager, SolarWinds, TeamMate Audit Management System, ISM Change Management, and ServiceNow.

INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEER

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) JAN 2024 – JUL 2026

Designed and architected VMware vSphere 8.0 virtualization solutions across Production and Disaster Recovery environments, defining the vCenter Server, ESXi host, compute, storage, networking, availability, and resource management architecture to support enterprise workloads.

Managed ESXi 8.0 patch lifecycle using VMware Update Manager (VUM/vLCM), applying critical security patches and updates to maintain host compliance and reduce vulnerability exposure across the vSphere infrastructure.

Configured and maintained VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) to automate failover and failback processes, ensuring business continuity and minimizing recovery time objectives (RTO) across critical workloads.

Developed and tested disaster recovery plans within VMware SRM, executing scheduled DR drills to validate replication integrity and recovery procedures in alignment with organizational RPO/RTO requirements.

Engineered and designed a highly available Veeam Backup & Replication architecture supporting two VMware vCenter environments, with one vCenter dedicated to Production, and the second serving as the Production and Disaster Recovery environment.

Architected a distributed Veeam solution with two Backup Servers each data centers and dedicated proxy infrastructure, providing workload isolation, optimized data processing, scalable backup operations, and efficient utilization of network and storage resources.

Implemented a centralized Veeam Enterprise Manager architecture to unify management and monitoring across multiple Veeam Backup servers spanning geographically distributed environments.

Deployed centralized reporting and operational visibility workflows within Veeam Enterprise Manager, consolidating job status, performance, and compliance data into a single console for cross-site oversight.

Designed custom Veeam ONE dashboards, reports, and alerting solutions for capacity planning, compliance auditing, backup success-rate analysis, and storage utilization forecasting — giving leadership actionable, real-time infrastructure insights.

Architected Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 protection solutions for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams, defining backup, retention, and recovery strategies to address Microsoft 365 data protection requirements.

Performed Microsoft 365 data recovery and operational support, including mailbox, email, files, and SharePoint/OneDrive restore, monitored backup repositories and resolved backup failures to maintain required RPO/RTO.

Provided operational support for Veeam Backup & Replication, monitoring backup jobs, troubleshooting failures, managing backup repositories, and ensuring successful completion of scheduled backup and replication jobs, and performed VM and file-level restore operations

Performed regular patching, performance tuning, and system health monitoring using tools using Tableau and Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (RVBM).

Developed and maintained interactive Tableau dashboards, integrating with ServiceNow database to extract P1 and P2 vulnerabilities details and compiled for weekly and monthly compliance reports.

Provided IT service management (ITSM), and IT operations management (ITOM) support for Tickets/incidents, Change Requests, and CMDB using ServiceNow platform.

INFRASTRUCTURE SR. SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR

Allstate Insurance Canada MAR 2020 – DEC 2023

Designed and led a data center modernization and consolidation initiative, designing the migration strategy for 1,100+ servers from Markham to U.S. datacenters, a 35+ server OS upgrade path from Windows 2012 R2 to Windows 2019, and a cloud migration solution for 100+ servers — serving as technical liaison across infrastructure, application, and business stakeholders throughout execution.

Architected, and deployed VMware vSphere 7.0 environments using Dell PowerEdge R740/R740xd servers and Dell EMC PowerMax 2500/8500 storage, including ESXi cluster design, vCenter Server, Fibre Channel SAN connectivity, multipathing, HA/DRS, capacity planning, and performance optimization for enterprise workloads.

Designed and executed a migration solution for 100+ on-premises VMware servers to Azure VMware Solution (AVS), including workload assessment, dependency mapping, network and security architecture, HCX-based migration waves, testing, cutover planning, and post-migration validation while minimizing downtime and business disruption.

Administered Azure cloud computing environment, Azure component & services, Entra ID, storage accounts, and Azure Blob Storage for scalable and reliable solutions.

Supported Office 365 environment in Azure cloud, Implemented Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery for robust disaster recovery solutions.

Designed and executed the migration of 950+ VMware virtual machines using VMware vSphere Replication, developing replication and cutover strategies, migration waves, network/storage mapping, failover testing, and rollback procedures to minimize downtime and ensure successful workload migration.

Ensured the compatibilities of Applications, Hardware, and Licenses, for In-Place upgrade from Windows 2012 R2 to Windows 2016/2019 as well as for New-Install of Windows 2016/2019.

Thoroughly checked and ensured if BIOS/Firmware upgrade needed, OS patches required, and full backup taken before the OS upgrade, following Change Management process for minimal disruption.

Administered Rubrik Backup & Recovery infrastructure for enterprise environments, configuring SLA Domains, backup policies, retention, archival, and replication while monitoring capacity, backup health, and recovery performance.

Managed and supported Rubrik backup and restore operations, including VM and file-level recovery, troubleshooting backup failures, monitoring protection status, and performing recovery validation to meet business RPO/RTO requirements.

Provided operational support for enterprise Rubrik data protection and disaster recovery, managing backup policies, replication, retention, recovery workflows, and DR testing to ensure resilient and reliable data protection.

Engaged with challenging stakeholders by actively listening, clarifying requirements, and aligning expectations to achieve project and business objectives, and effectively managed difficult conversations with stakeholders, addressing conflicts and concerns constructively while maintaining positive working relationships.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND MIGRATION CONSULTANT

IBM- OMERS PENSION PLAN (OMERS) JAN 2017 – DEC 2019

Planned, analyzed, and tracked down a series of +750 Servers for datacenter migration and 40+ servers OS upgrade.

Thoroughly checked and ensured the compatibilities of Applications, Hardware, Licenses, and also confirmed if BIOS/Firmware upgrade needed, OS patches required, and full backup taken before the In-Place upgrade from Windows 2008 to Windows 2012/2012 R2.

Interacted with infrastructure, application, business, and IT owners for Physical to Virtual, and Virtual to Virtual using Veeam Replication tool.

Upgraded VMware vSphere 5.5 and 6.0 to vSphere 6.5 and installed patches using VMware Update Manager.

Closely monitored and continuously checked ESX hosts and Windows servers for Firmware, OS upgrade and patches, scheduled upgrades, and updates in the weekend or after hours.

Developed automation routine infrastructure tasks and auto scaling virtual machines using vRealize Automation (VRA).

Setup Azure Virtual machines, and virtual networks using Azure portal and assisted to install applications in 20+ servers.

Worked with IT team to for the centralized data protection plans, reporting replication and protection policies, and centralized reporting using VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM).

Built and configured Windows 2019/2016/2012 servers, as requested in Server Workbook for development, UAT and Production servers.

Upgraded VMware tools and VM hardware after the migration in Windows and Linux Standalone and Clustered servers after the migration.

Administered and maintained Veeam Backup & Replication infrastructure, creating and managing backup jobs for physical, virtual (VMware/Hyper-V), and cloud workloads while ensuring successful backup completion and data integrity.

Performed backup monitoring, troubleshooting, and disaster recovery operations, including backup verification, restore testing, and replication to meet business continuity and recovery objectives (RPO/RTO).

Followed OMERS Change Management Policy, created RFC and worked on tickets using ServiceNow.

IT INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEER

HP – ONTARIO MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (OMA) JAN 2016 – DEC 2016

Analyzed and developed plan to re-arrange blade servers and reallocate virtual servers to ensure efficient and cost-effective use of hardware

Administered and supported systems high availability and capacity management to ensure operations targets are met

Supported the team in all Backup/Restore and replication software installation, configuration and management on/off sites for better BCP/DR testing plans

Performed analysis on existing implementation of the various data storage SAN components (HP 3PAR StoreServ 8200, HPE MSA 2040), configuration, design, and integration

Prepared reports on the SAN/FC network traffic, bandwidth / throughput, bottlenecks, and recommendation for improvements on the storage controllers and FC switches

Configured a Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) policy management. Patch management and implementation for OS, firmware and anti-malware

Administered Microsoft Windows Active Directory environments, including user and computer accounts, security groups, Organizational Units (OUs), password policies, and access permissions.

Managed and maintained Group Policy Objects (GPOs) for security configurations, software deployment, desktop/server settings, and compliance requirements across Windows environments.

Monitored and troubleshot Active Directory, DNS, authentication, and replication issues, including domain controller health, account lockouts, login failures, and connectivity problems to maintain reliable services.

Administered and maintained Commvault Backup and Recovery solutions, including backup jobs, schedules, policies, media agents, storage libraries, and backup infrastructure for physical and virtual environments.

Configured and monitored VMware and Windows server backups, troubleshooting failed jobs, backup performance issues, storage capacity, and recovery errors to meet organizational RPO and RTO requirements.

Performed file, folder, application, and full VM restores, monitored backup health and compliance, and maintained backup reports and documentation to ensure reliable data protection and disaster recovery readiness.

DATA CENTER MIGRATION CONSULTANT

IBM – ROGERS COMMUNICATION (ROGERS) JUN 2014 – DEC 2015

Planned, implemented and tracked down a series of 100 + Windows Servers for SAN migration based on IBM and Rogers migration methodologies

Interacted with infrastructure, application, business and IT owners in order to understand the dependencies for a successful migration

Coordinated and negotiated to get signoff with certain functional group for freeze and release periods

Created Change Request (ISM) to get approvals for the migration as per IBM and Rogers Change Management Systems

Configured several data copy sessions using Softek TDMF using host-based migration methodology

Migrated SAN boot servers and PXE boot servers between data centers, ensuring zero disruption to OS deployment and re-architected network boot configuration (IP addressing, DHCP scopes, TFTP paths) to align with new data center topology

Configured and administered the migration of Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 clustered servers to Windows 2012 servers

Installed and managed Windows 2012 Clusters on Dell PowerEdge R620 servers for refresh cases

Configured and maintained Dell PowerVault MD3400/3420 storage

Installed Modular Disk Storage Manager (MDSM), configured Disk Arrays, assigned Hot-spare disks, Alerts and Updated Firmware

Configured File & Print servers and Print Spooler in a clustered environment

Installed and configured Double-Take Replication technologies

Managed the high availability and disaster recovery solution by managing Volume and Folder replication

SR. SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR

ACCENTURE JAN 2012-MAY 2014

Installed and configured VMware ESXi, within vSphere 5.0 and 5.1 environments with vCenter management, DRS, HA, vMotion and Storage vMotion.

Upgraded VMware vSphere 4.0/4.1 to vSphere 5.0/5.1 and installed patches using VMware Update Manager.

Managed VMware environments for disaster recovery purposes using VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM).

Built, configured and deployed VMs and templates. Completed Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) and Virtual-to-Virtual (V2V) migration of Windows 2000, 2003, 2008, & 2012 as well as Linux servers from VMware, and Hyper-V 2008 R2.

Maintained Exchange environment, added new account, managed email retention and the recovery of mail.

Supported and troubleshot Active Directory multi domain environment, sites and services, domain controllers holding different FMSO roles and DNS troubleshooting.

Created Virtual Machine within Hyper-V server 2008 R2 and designed & deployed failover clustered Hyper-V environments.

Configured and maintained EMC VNXe 3100, VNX 5300 SAN using EMC Unisphere tool, and support provided to replace the EMC SAN parts such as Storage Processor etc.

Managed and administered HP EVA 1000, EVA 4000 SAN using HP Storage Works Command View.

Performed Zoning using Web tools on Brocade SAN switches.

Managed EMC DataDomain with EMC DataDomain Enterprise Manager.

Configured Backups for Windows and Linux servers, and managed Image & File level Restore processes using vRanger, Symantec NetBackup on EMC DataDomain.

Performed backups and restores jobs in Symantec Backup Exec 11d on HP StorageWorks MSL5000 Tape Library.

Reviewed the information security policies and procedures to ensure the information security system is compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

Support provided to TeamMate Audit Management System on application and server levels.

VMWARE CONSULTANT and INTEL SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR

IBM- ROYAL BANK OF CANADA (RBC), BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA AUG 2007 -DEC 2011

Planned and Migrated datacenter (for 1500 servers) from physical to virtual in VMware environment.

Built IBM/Dell/HP Servers to build datacenter for virtualization from Windows/Linux environment to VMware environment.

Installed, configured and maintained ESXi /ESX 3.5 hosts.

Managed VirtualCenter server for VI 3.5, configured VLANs and vSwitches, managed HA, DRS, and vMotion features of VirtualCenter.

Migrated Windows 2000/2003 & Linux, standalone and load balanced Physical servers to Virtual servers (P2V), Microsoft virtual servers to VMware virtual servers (V2V), using VMware Converter and PlateSpin Power Convert.

Performed operational works with VM guest operating systems, including: Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows server 2008, and Red Hat Linux.

Prepared technical documents, like; Server build documents, P2V step guide, V2V step guide, P2V Pre& Post migration process and checklist.

Managed and maintained the datacenter in VMware vSphere 5.0 and VMware vSphere 4.1, 4.0 environments

Built and configured IBM/VMware Windows 2003 and 2008 Physical/Virtual servers, and installed software as requested in Server Workbook for development, UAT and Production servers

Microsoft patches were applied to the latest, which were released by Microsoft every month using Shavlik and MS- Windows update

Maintained, and administered Citrix Server farm running 40+ Windows 2003/2008 servers

Created backup tasks for full and incremental/differential backups. Completed the requests for Restore of data at file as well as image levels, using Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM)

Created and implemented Change Requests for installation & removal, upgrade, new addition & modification of Hardware and Software as desired by customer. The processes were completed remotely and on site based on the type of requests.

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

B.Sc. (Computer Engineering), and Member Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO)

VMware Certified Professional - vSphere 4.0 (VCP 4.0)

VMware Certified Professional –Datacenter Virtualization (VCP 5.0)

ITIL ® V3 Foundation

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)

Microsoft Azure Administrator

Microsoft Azure Solutions Architecture Expert

Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) – Hyper-V

TRAININGS:

oPMP – Project Management Professional

oCitrix Certified Administration

oProject Management and Project Planning

oProposal and Technical Report Writing

LANGUAGES: Fluent in English, Turkish, Arabic, Urdu, and Persian languages

REFERENCES: Gladly provided upon request

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