Server Expert

Role Purpose:
We are seeking a seasoned infrastructure professional to fully own, design, optimize, and stabilize our server, virtualization, Linux, and datacenter rack environments. This is not a general IT administrator role .

The role exists to address performance issues, inefficient designs, and gaps in expertise in our current server and VM environment—particularly in Linux systems and datacenter rack architecture. The successful candidate will drive deep root-cause analysis, architectural redesign, and performance optimization, going beyond day-to-day operations.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Server & Virtualization Ownership

• Full ownership of Windows Server (2016 / 2019 / 2022) and Linux Servers (RHEL, Rocky Linux, Ubuntu, Debian).

• Design, build, optimize, and maintain Hyper-V environments.

• Advanced VM lifecycle management including:

  • VM sizing and placement
  • Resource optimization
  • Template creation and standardization

2. Deep Linux Expertise (Mandatory)

• Advanced Linux administration: systemd, kernel tuning, ulimits.
• Performance tuning for CPU, memory, disk, and network.
• Filesystem and storage management (ext4, XFS, LVM design/optimization).
• Linux networking: iptables/nftables, VLANs, bonding, MTU optimization.
• Advanced CLI troubleshooting: top, htop, iotop, vmstat, perf, strace, lsof.
• Shell scripting (Bash, Python) for automation and diagnostics.
• Troubleshoot Linux systems without GUI tools .

3. Datacenter Architecture & Design (Optional)

• Troubleshoot hardware performance issues.
• Understand CPU and memory architectures (Intel/AMD, NUMA, DIMM rules).
• Knowledge of RAID controllers vs HBAs, NVMe/SAS/SATA characteristics.
• Datacenter expertise: rack layout, power/cooling, hardware lifecycle planning.

4. Performance Optimization & Root-Cause Analysis

• Diagnose complex performance issues across hardware, hypervisor, OS, and application layers.
• Analyze metrics from hardware counters, hypervisor data, and OS statistics.
• Lead performance tuning initiatives and long-term optimization.

5. High Availability, Resilience & Disaster Recovery

• Design and maintain HA and clustering solutions.
• Backup and restore architecture design.
• Conduct failover testing and disaster recovery simulations.
• Optimize RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective).

6. Security & Hardening (Infrastructure Scope)

• Server hardening for Windows and Linux systems.
• Maintain secure baseline configurations and patch management.
• Collaborate with IT Security on privileged access controls and secure build standards.

7. Documentation & Infrastructure Standards

• Maintain datacenter and server architecture diagrams.
• Define server build and hardening standards.
• Create VM sizing and optimization guidelines.
• Enforce infrastructure standards consistently.

8. Expert Escalation & Mentorship

• Act as Level 3 escalation for server, Linux, virtualization, and datacenter hardware issues.
• Mentor Level 2 engineers to enhance team capability.
• Eliminate recurring incidents by addressing root causes.

Required Experience:

• Minimum 10 years in enterprise server and infrastructure roles.
• Minimum 5 years hands-on Linux experience in production environments.
• Minimum 5 years virtualization experience (Hyper-V).
• Proven experience in datacenter design or infrastructure optimization.

Mandatory Technical Skills:

• Operating Systems: Windows Server (Expert), Linux (Expert).
• Virtualization: Hyper-V, resource management, cluster design.
• Datacenter Hardware: CPU, memory, storage architecture, enterprise storage/networking, power/cooling/rack design.

Soft Skills:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving mindset.
• Ability to challenge poor designs with evidence.
• Excellent documentation and communication skills.
• Strong ownership and accountability.
• Calm and structured during critical incidents.

Certification Requirements:

Linux (At least one):

• Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE)
• LPIC-2 or LPIC-3

Virtualization (At least one):

• VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization (VCP-DCV)
• Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate

Datacenter/Infrastructure (Optional):

• VMware VCAP (Design or Deploy)
• HPE ASE or Dell EMC Proven Professional
• Cisco CCNP Data Center

Success Criteria:

• Noticeable improvement in server and VM performance.
• Reduction of recurring infrastructure incidents.
• Stable, scalable, and well-documented server architecture.
• Improved infrastructure reliability and predictability.