Systems Engineer - Windows, Linux, Cloud, VMware

Yeshaswini Mallula

Systems Engineer

Windows Server • Linux (RHEL) • VMware • AWS • Azure • PowerShell • Ansible

Minneapolis, Minnesota 763-***-**** *********************@*****.***

SUMMARY:

Systems Engineer with 5 years of experience designing, deploying, securing, and supporting enterprise server, virtualization, and cloud infrastructure across Windows, Linux, VMware, AWS, and Azure environments in large, high-availability production settings.

Hands-on expertise in Windows Server and Red Hat Linux administration, VMware vSphere, Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, patch management, backup and disaster recovery, and capacity planning for business-critical applications.

Experienced in infrastructure automation using PowerShell, Bash, Python, Ansible, and Terraform to standardize server builds, patch cycles, user provisioning, and configuration management, reducing manual effort and configuration drift.

Skilled in monitoring, alerting, and incident response with Splunk, SolarWinds, Nagios, and CloudWatch, with a record of resolving Level 2 and Level 3 incidents within SLA and delivering root cause analysis with preventive fixes.

Strong working knowledge of security hardening, vulnerability remediation, identity and access management, and compliance standards including HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and SOX across healthcare, retail, and telecom clients.

Delivered infrastructure solutions for enterprise clients across media and telecom, retail, healthcare, and IT services, supporting on-premises, hybrid, and cloud workloads.

Collaborates with network, security, application, database, and DevOps teams in ITIL-aligned Agile environments to deliver stable, well-documented, and scalable systems.

COMPETENCIES:

Administered and supported large fleets of Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 and RHEL/CentOS/Ubuntu servers in production, test, and development environments, performing builds, upgrades, performance tuning, and lifecycle management to maintain 99.9% availability.

Designed and managed VMware vSphere and Hyper-V virtualization platforms, including cluster configuration, vMotion, DRS, HA, snapshots, templates, and resource allocation, improving consolidation ratios and reducing hardware footprint and cost.

Provisioned and operated cloud infrastructure on AWS and Azure, including EC2, S3, IAM, VPC, Azure VMs, Azure AD, and storage accounts, with right-sizing, tagging, and cost-monitoring practices to control spend.

Automated repetitive operations using PowerShell, Bash, Python, and Ansible for patching, user and mailbox provisioning, log collection, health checks, and compliance reporting, saving significant manual effort every week.

Managed Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, LDAP, and certificate services, including user lifecycle management, role-based access control, privileged access reviews, and domain controller health and replication monitoring.

Led patch and vulnerability management cycles using WSUS, SCCM, Red Hat Satellite, and Ansible, coordinating maintenance windows with application owners and achieving high patch compliance with minimal downtime.

Implemented and tested backup, restore, and disaster recovery procedures using Veeam and Commvault, meeting defined RPO and RTO targets and documenting recovery runbooks for critical systems.

Built monitoring and alerting with Splunk, SolarWinds, Nagios, and CloudWatch, tuning thresholds and dashboards to reduce alert noise and shorten mean time to detect and resolve incidents.

Applied security hardening baselines (CIS benchmarks), firewall and endpoint controls, and vulnerability remediation to meet audit and compliance requirements for sensitive and regulated data.

Troubleshot complex production issues spanning operating systems, storage, networking, and applications, performing root cause analysis, documenting findings, and implementing permanent corrective actions.

Followed ITIL practices for incident, problem, change, and release management using ServiceNow and Jira, and partnered with network, security, application, and DevOps teams to deliver reliable infrastructure services.

TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Operating Systems & Administration: Windows Server 2016/2019/2022, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Ubuntu, Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, LDAP, IIS, Apache, Nginx, File and Print Services

Virtualization & Cloud: VMware vSphere/ESXi, vCenter, Hyper-V, AWS (EC2, S3, IAM, VPC, CloudWatch, RDS), Microsoft Azure (VMs, Azure AD, Storage, Azure Monitor), Docker

Automation & Scripting: PowerShell, Bash, Python, Ansible, Terraform, Git, GitHub, Jenkins, Cron, Task Scheduler

Monitoring & ITSM: Splunk, SolarWinds, Nagios, CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, ServiceNow, Jira, Confluence, ITIL Incident/Problem/Change Management

Patch, Security & Compliance: WSUS, SCCM, Red Hat Satellite, Tenable/Nessus, CIS Benchmarks, Vulnerability Remediation, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOX, Endpoint Protection

Networking: TCP/IP, VLANs, VPN, Firewalls, Load Balancers (F5), DNS, DHCP, Routing and Switching Fundamentals

Backup, Storage & DR: Veeam, Commvault, SAN/NAS, RAID, Snapshots, Replication, Disaster Recovery Planning and Testing

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Client: Comcast, Philadelphia, PA June 2024 – Present

Role: Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

Administer and support a large fleet of Windows Server and RHEL servers across production and non-production environments for enterprise telecom applications, maintaining 99.9% availability through proactive monitoring, patching, and capacity management.

Design, deploy, and maintain VMware vSphere and AWS-hosted infrastructure, including cluster configuration, templates, right-sizing, and workload migrations, reducing provisioning time for new servers from days to hours.

Built automation with PowerShell, Bash, Python, and Ansible for server builds, patching, user provisioning, and compliance checks, reducing manual operational effort by 35% and improving consistency across environments.

Manage Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, and DHCP services for thousands of users and devices, handling account lifecycle, access reviews, and role-based permissions in line with security policy.

Lead monthly patching and vulnerability remediation cycles using WSUS, SCCM, and Ansible, coordinating maintenance windows with application owners and achieving over 98% patch compliance with minimal service impact.

Resolve Level 2 and Level 3 incidents within SLA using ServiceNow, performing root cause analysis across operating system, storage, network, and application layers and documenting preventive actions.

Configure monitoring and alerting in Splunk and SolarWinds, tuning thresholds and building dashboards that reduced alert noise and improved mean time to detect and resolve incidents.

Support backup and disaster recovery operations with Veeam, including scheduled restore tests, retention policy reviews, and recovery runbooks aligned to defined RPO and RTO targets.

Implement security hardening baselines based on CIS benchmarks, close audit findings, and remediate vulnerabilities identified by Tenable scans within agreed remediation windows.

Plan and execute server migrations and operating system upgrades, including pre-checks, rollback plans, stakeholder communication, and post-migration validation to avoid business disruption.

Use Terraform and Git-based workflows to manage infrastructure as code for repeatable environment builds and to reduce configuration drift between development, test, and production.

Participate in change advisory reviews, on-call rotations, and major incident bridges, communicating status clearly to technical teams and business stakeholders.

Maintain technical documentation, standard operating procedures, and knowledge base articles to support handoffs, onboarding, and consistent operations across teams.

Perform capacity and performance analysis on CPU, memory, storage, and network utilization trends, and present recommendations to leadership so hardware, cloud, and licensing needs are planned ahead of demand.

Standardize golden images and server templates for Windows and Linux, embedding security baselines and monitoring agents so new systems are compliant and production-ready on first deployment.

Support cloud cost optimization by identifying idle and oversized instances, enforcing tagging, and scheduling non-production shutdowns, lowering monthly infrastructure spend without affecting service levels.

Mentor junior engineers and new team members on troubleshooting methods, change procedures, and scripting practices, and review their scripts and change plans before production use.

Partner with network, security, database, application, and DevOps teams in Agile and ITIL-aligned processes to deliver reliable, scalable infrastructure services.

Environment: Windows Server 2019/2022, RHEL 8/9, VMware vSphere, AWS (EC2, S3, IAM, CloudWatch), Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, PowerShell, Bash, Python, Ansible, Terraform, WSUS, SCCM, Splunk, SolarWinds, Veeam, ServiceNow, Tenable, Git.

Client: Kroger, Cincinnati, Ohio March 2023 – June 2024

Role: Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

Supported Windows and Linux server infrastructure in data center and store-support environments running retail, point-of-sale, supply chain, and inventory applications that required high availability around the clock.

Monitored system health, performance, and capacity using SolarWinds and Nagios, identifying issues before they affected stores and improving system reliability from 97% to 99.5%.

Automated scheduled maintenance, log collection, disk and service checks, and system reporting with PowerShell and Bash, saving several hours of manual work each week and reducing human error.

Administered VMware virtual machines, including provisioning, resource adjustments, snapshot management, and decommissioning, while tracking capacity trends to support planning for new application demand.

Managed user accounts, groups, and permissions in Active Directory and enforced Group Policy standards to keep access consistent with least-privilege and PCI-DSS requirements.

Performed routine and emergency patching for Windows and Linux servers, validating changes in test environments first and scheduling production windows to avoid peak retail traffic periods.

Worked with network and application teams to troubleshoot connectivity, latency, and performance problems affecting store systems, shortening resolution times through structured root cause analysis.

Supported backup and recovery operations using Commvault, verifying job success, resolving failures, and performing restores for application and file server owners as requested.

Handled incident, request, and change tickets in ServiceNow following ITIL processes, consistently meeting response and resolution targets and keeping detailed records for audit purposes.

Reviewed security scan results with the security team and remediated findings such as missing patches, weak configurations, and unused accounts to maintain compliance.

Created and updated runbooks, configuration standards, and knowledge articles to help support teams handle recurring issues faster and onboard new team members.

Took part in release and change planning with application owners, providing infrastructure readiness checks and post-deployment monitoring for major retail system updates.

Maintained storage and file services, including volume expansion, share permissions, and quota management, and resolved capacity alerts before they affected store and warehouse applications.

Supported seasonal peak readiness for holiday retail traffic by reviewing capacity, validating failover and backup procedures, and staging additional resources with application and network teams.

Reduced repeat incidents by analyzing ticket trends, identifying recurring causes such as expiring certificates and full disks, and creating automated checks and alerts to catch them early.

Environment: Windows Server 2016/2019, RHEL, CentOS, VMware vSphere, Active Directory, Group Policy, PowerShell, Bash, Commvault, SolarWinds, Nagios, ServiceNow, SCCM, WSUS, Git.

Client: Cigna Health Insurance, Chicago, IL January 2022 – November 2022

Role: Systems Engineer

Responsibilities:

Maintained secure, HIPAA-compliant Windows and Linux server infrastructure supporting critical healthcare claims, member, and provider applications with strict uptime and audit requirements.

Managed Active Directory, Group Policy, and access controls for more than 2,000 users, enforcing role-based access and completing periodic access recertification for sensitive systems.

Led monthly patching cycles and operating system upgrades with SCCM, WSUS, and Red Hat Satellite, planning maintenance windows and rollback steps to keep downtime to a minimum.

Configured monitoring and alerting in Splunk and SolarWinds for servers and key services, improving incident detection time by 25% and giving support teams earlier warning of failures.

Supported backup, recovery, and disaster recovery testing using Veeam, documenting results and helping meet recovery objectives for regulated workloads.

Used Terraform and CI/CD practices to manage Azure infrastructure and deployments for supporting systems, reducing deployment failures by 70% through consistent, reviewed templates.

Administered Azure virtual machines, storage, and Azure AD integration for hybrid workloads, applying tagging, access controls, and monitoring in line with company standards.

Applied encryption, access control, logging, and data-handling standards suited to protected health information while maintaining shared servers and supporting reporting environments.

Resolved incidents and service requests through ServiceNow, performing root cause analysis on recurring problems and recommending permanent fixes to reduce repeat tickets.

Participated in design reviews and coordinated delivery with distributed engineering teams across time zones, ensuring infrastructure changes met security and compliance requirements.

Documented server build standards, configuration baselines, and operational procedures to support audits, handoffs, and consistent support across teams.

Supported internal and external audit requests by providing evidence for patching, access reviews, backup success, and change records, helping the team close findings within the agreed timelines.

Managed certificate renewals, service account reviews, and decommissioning of unused servers and accounts to reduce the attack surface and keep the environment clean and compliant.

Assisted with capacity forecasting and cost tracking for Azure and on-premises resources, flagging underused systems and proposing consolidation to support budget goals.

Environment: Windows Server 2016/2019, RHEL, VMware, Microsoft Azure (VMs, Azure AD, Storage), Active Directory, Group Policy, Terraform, PowerShell, Bash, SCCM, WSUS, Red Hat Satellite, Splunk, SolarWinds, Veeam, ServiceNow, GitHub.

Company: Infosys Private Limited, India October 2021 – December 2021

Role: System Engineer

Responsibilities:

Provided Level 1 and Level 2 infrastructure support for client Windows and Linux servers, handling incident and service request tickets within SLA and escalating complex issues with clear technical detail.

Performed server health checks, disk, memory, and CPU monitoring, user account management, and routine maintenance using standard operating procedures and shell scripts.

Assisted with patching, antivirus updates, and configuration changes under approved change requests, validating results and recording evidence for audit purposes.

Supported AWS EC2 and S3 resources for client applications, including instance start and stop, storage checks, and basic access management under senior engineer guidance.

Monitored application and server alerts using CloudWatch and Nagios, diagnosing failures and restoring services to meet agreed delivery windows.

Wrote and updated shell scripts and checklists to speed up routine health checks and ticket handling, and shared the improvements with the wider support team.

Followed security and data-handling guidelines for client environments, completing mandatory compliance training and keeping access limited to approved systems.

Completed structured training in Linux administration, virtualization, networking, and ITIL processes, and contributed updates to team knowledge base articles.

Environment: Windows Server, RHEL, Bash, AWS (EC2, S3, CloudWatch), Nagios, VMware, Active Directory, ServiceNow, ITIL.

EDUCATION:

Master's in Information Technology and Management (January 2023 – May 2023)

Bachelor's in Electronics and Communication Engineering – Malla Reddy Institute of Technology (July 2017 – August 2021)

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