Eric J. Dennis E-mail: me@ericdennis.com
URL: http://ericdennis.com
Github: https://github.com/threetee
URL: http://ericdennis.com
Github: https://github.com/threetee
Profile:
I am a seasoned technology professional with leadership and hands-on experience in building and operating cloud-based web/new media applications and infrastructure. My skill set has been built and honed over a 15-year career of making technology work for companies that run the gamut from massive media companies to small startups.
Experience:
2009 - Present: EJD Consulting (Fullerton, CA)
Owner
- Provide engineering and infrastructure consulting services for large and small businesses.
- Built cloud-based streaming audio infrastructure for a one-time promotional campaign for "The Dark Knight Rises" movie.
- Led engineering effort, and designed, built and operated cloud-based infrastructure for iTwango, an online group buy startup that was sold to Local.com.
- Led engineering effort, and designed, built and operated cloud-based infrastructure for fitmingle.com, a personal fitness site.
- Design, build and operate cloud-based infrastructure for vanswarpedtour.com and rockstarmayhemfest.com.
Jan. 2011 - Present: Disney/DIMG Innovation (Burbank, CA)
Director, Technology
As engineering lead for Disney.com “rethink” project (to be launched mid-2012):
- Worked with product team to define project scope, timeline and strategies.
- Hired 12 engineers to build out the frontend, backend, search, and systems engineering teams.
- Led the design and implementation of a service-oriented architecture for the Disney.com rethink, integrating components built in-house with third-party and pre-existing Disney components. Components built in-house include Rails-based frontend, multiple backend API components, Solr-based search platform, and a configuration/deployment ecosystem built around Chef.
- Designed and implemented cloud-based hosting infrastructure for all necessary environments: development, integration, user testing, demo, QA, production.
- Led continuous integration and deployment implementation.
- Evaluated and selected the tools and technologies for the Disney.com rethink.
Jan. 2011 - Present: DigiSynd, Inc. (Burbank, CA)
Director, Systems
- Led the systems engineering team responsible for operation of all DigiSynd apps, including Disney Tickets Together and various social media analytics apps.
- Infused a devops mentality into the existing systems culture while designing and overseeing the build of a fully cloud-hosted environment to which all DigiSynd sites are currently being migrated. New environment allows for continuous deployment modeled after Heroku (e.g., a single git push deploys code).
- Oversaw operation of physical infrastructure for office and colocation network (LAN/WAN).
- Managed business relationships between DigiSynd and its external vendors.
Sep. 2006 - Jan. 2011: Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services (Burbank, CA)
Manager, Systems Engineering
Manager, Systems Engineering
- Managed business relationships between WB ADS and its internal and external customers. Acted as point of contact and subject matter expert for infrastructure requests and issues.
- Managed business relationships between WB ADS and its hardware and software vendors. Negotiated product pricing and worked with internal finance and procurement teams to procure necessary hardware/software, and coordinate product delivery.
- Acted as point of contact for internal groups to coordinate infrastructure additions and changes. Worked with web serving, web development and application development teams to ensure optimal application design. Coordinated load and stress tests of ADS-hosted applications.
- Managed a team of three systems engineers and one network engineer to provide enterprise-level systems and network infrastructure for WB ADS-hosted sites and applications. This team was responsible for 400+ servers, 50+ switches and 20TB+ of storage, housed in multiple US locations.
- Maximized ROI for infrastructure investments by proactively ensuring that ADS systems infrastructure is performing at optimal levels and redeploying hardware where needed to handle all current and future load.
- Ensured that the systems engineering team is trained on the latest technologies.
- Ensured that other engineering groups are trained on all pertinent systems technologies.
- Identified necessary hardware and software for various ADS infrastructure projects. Maintained relationships with vendors in order to procure necessary hardware and software.
- Project planning and management for strategic infrastructure projects, such as:
- Server virtualization
- Server migration and data center expansion
- Infrastructure buildout, setup and migration for key sites, such as thecw.com, kidswb.com, essence.com and zuda.com.
- Developed, implemented and enforced systems engineering policies for all WB ADS systems.
- Updated asset management system to track all WB ADS server, network, server software and storage assets.
- Reduced engineering overhead by redesigning server configuration management infrastructure, linking it with asset management system.
Jun. 2001 - Sep. 2006: Warner Bros. Online (Burbank, CA)
Sr. Systems Engineer
Sr. Systems Engineer
- Led a team of three senior engineers in designing and building the network and server infrastructure for The Matrix Online, Warner Bros.' first MMORPG offering. (The Matrix Online property was sold to Sony Online Entertainment in 2005.)
- Assembled and managed a team of five full-time engineers to perform 24x7 administration for the 600+ servers that powered The Matrix Online.
- Planned and managed the move of WBOL's internal server infrastructure to new offices with minimal downtime.
- Developed custom web statistics generation and reporting tools for all WBOL-served web sites.
- Developed web-based host and asset management tools to track all WBOL servers.
- Administer the 200+ Sparc and Intel web, application and database servers that serve the majority of web sites for Warner Bros. properties such as harrypotter.com, looneytunes.com, and scoobydoo.com.
- Administer all WBOL DNS, POP3, SMTP and IMAP servers.
- Administer all WBOL Windows and Active Directory infrastructure.
- Backed up Sr. Network Engineer for all network-related duties: primarily configuration, troubleshooting and deployment of WBOL's switches, firewalls and routers.
Nov. 2000 - Jun. 2001: ARTISTdirect, Inc. (Los Angeles, CA)
UNIX/Linux System Administrator
UNIX/Linux System Administrator
- Administered the 50+ Sparc and Intel servers that power the majority of the ARTISTdirect online music network, which consists of high-profile, high-traffic web sites such as ubl.com, metallica.com, bjork.com, and imusic.com. Sun E450, E220R, Ultra 5, and VA Linux servers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego data centers provided HTTP, DNS, POP3, SMTP, and other services for millions of users daily.
- Ensured the consistent uptime of the ARTISTdirect network by configuring and maintaining redundant Cisco PIX firewalls, F5 BIG/IP load balancers, Cisco 6509 switches, Cisco 7204 routers, and Cisco 3640 routers.
- Installed and configured auto-akamaization filtration appliance for the ARTISTdirect network.
- Implemented three-stage development environment for web site production staff. Wrote Perl scripts to automate synchronization between stages.
- Developed custom ad server software with PHP/MySQL for use on the ARTISTdirect network.
- Automated common server administration tasks to allow delegation to help desk staff.
Jul. 1999 - Nov. 2000: Comtelligence, LLC (Garden Grove, CA)
Manager - Internet Services
Manager - Internet Services
- Installed, configured, and maintained BIND, Apache, Apache-SSL, Stronghold, Sendmail, SSH, FTP, POP3, IMAP, Radius, backup, and other services on over 25 BSDI Unix and Red Hat Linux servers housed in data center.
- Implemented and maintained 24x7 monitoring for all servers. Responded to service notifications and alerts. Identified and eliminated service problems.
- Developed web site and software components in Perl and PHP3.
- Architected and implemented technical infrastructure for clients wishing to provide dialup access to customers.
- Consulted for industrial clients on network design and implementation. Configured VPNs for certain clients.
- Performed in-house computer maintenance and upgrades.
Dec. 1998 - Jun. 1999: Association of Information Technology Professionals (CSUF Chapter)
Internet Director (volunteer position)
Internet Director (volunteer position)
- Designed and maintained organization web site.
- Recruited new members via in-class presentations.
- Communicated key information to new members via e-mail and web site.
Aug. 1997 - Jul. 1999: HURLnET (Placentia, CA)
System Administrator/Programmer
System Administrator/Programmer
- Developed key software components and processes using Perl, SQL, Java and ASP.
- Installed and configured FTP, POP3, IMAP, SMTP, Apache, Apache-SSL, Samba, Telnet, SSH, and other services on company's Red Hat Linux and FreeBSD servers.
- Installed and configured company's proprietary software on customer-owned Sun, Intel, and Alpha servers.
- Maintained company web site.
Education:
1997 - 2000: California State University, Fullerton
- Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration.
- Concentration in Management Science/Information Systems.
Technical Knowledge:
