Andre LaBranche dre | at | mac.com What Matters I have a unique mixture of technological savvy and communication skills. This has allowed me to excel in training and support roles where complex and often foreign concepts must be framed in a familiar context. Additionally, I greatly enjoy working on my own to solve problems, and take pride in solutions that perfectly fit a problem. My frustration with imperfect solutions and broken technology is what drives me to get it right. * OS X / Unix geek, through and through * Very Internet-savvy, strong with net technologies * Strong experience with productivity, multimedia and development applications * Stellar interpersonal skills, excellent in support roles and user training * Proficient and experienced writer Employment History Apple Computer Inc - Unix System Administrator (Cupertino, CA 4/2005 - present) * Architected and implemented the replacement of Apple's corporate NetInfo directory service with Open Directory. * Maintained file servers (AFP, NFS) for several thousand users * Responsible for corporate directory and authentication services, including LDAP and Kerberos * Worked closely with software engineers to identify and solve problems affecting enterprise-scale IT infrastructure * Staffed Apple's annual World Wide Developers Conference, providing various advice and hands-on help in the enterprise IT lab. Computer Stores NorthWest - Apple Certified Trainer (Seattle, WA 3/2002 - 4/2005) * Trainer for all of Apple's IT certification courses, focusing on server administration, directory services, and troubleshooting. * Invited by Apple to participate in the development and testing of several new courses, via the Alpha and Beta sessions held prior to course release. * Occasionally contracted directly for Apple, where I taught at Apple market centers in Cupertino, Austin, and New York City * Developed training curriculum for in-house use on topics including basic Mac OS X, Final Cut Pro, Dot Mac, iMovie, Unix, and others. Islandless Network - Network Administrator (Tortola, British Virgin Islands 5/2001 - 2/2002) * Designed a complete IP network for a startup ISP (employee #2), from the end user to the Internet * Became intensely familiar with Cisco's Aironet product line * Mastered 802.11 security (WEP / LEAP) * Lots of Linux administration, including user services (http, smtp, ftp, dns) and network management (squid, mrtg, scripting) * Some perl development and web development * Administrative and user documentation * Lots of research into telecommunications law and precedence. RHI Consulting - Systems Analyst, VoiceStream Wireless (Seattle, WA 9/2000 - 4/2001) * Responsible for the health of the entire IT production environment * Identified and solved technical issues using an array of troubleshooting techniques * Gained exposure to a very large network and datacenter * Developed enhanced network monitoring procedures Mac-In-Touch Inc. - Consultant (Bradenton, Florida 11/1999 - 5/2000) * Serviced and sold Macintosh computers * Lots of on-site support and training, both residential and business * Web development, for customers and for the company Manatee County School Board - Intern / Contractor (Bradenton, Florida 7/1996 - 5/2000) * Supported 10,000+ systems across 30 schools; ~75% Macintosh, ~25% Windows * Administered and developed for several Internet and Intranet servers * Conducted hundreds of hours of staff development training, and developed curriculum * Worked with educators to facilitate the integration of technology into k12 curriculum * Part time Television production for both closed circuit and cable TV (camera, master control, audio, talent, editing in both linear and non-linear environments) Skill Brief Just about anything Mac or Unix related, including very detailed knowledge of Mac OS X Server; *ix administration: experienced administrator of most common services, shell scripting, perl, tcl; network administration: packet filtering, routing, traffic shaping / queuing, diagnostics and troubleshooting; writing; TV / video production; novice but functional Objective-C / Cocoa programming. Other Qualifications * Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist (ACHDS) (instructor level) * Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) (instructor level) * Apple Certified System Administrator (ACSA) (instructor level) * Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Contributed to an O'Reilly book, Essential Mac OS X Panther Server Administration. I wrote the Firewall chapter, which closely examines Apple's firewall service that sits atop BSD's ipfw. There is a detailed explanation of how and when to use this service (and when not to), including very thorough examination of how the firewall service is architected and configured in Apple's server OS. * Active participant in the Apple Software Customer Seeding program Other Interests Making music, Quake3 and Quake4, learning, remembering to google, engaging a crowd, enjoying life. References available upon request.