6115 East Surrey Ave
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
480-443-9568 (home) 602-418-9699 (cell)
noah@noahdavids.org
personal home page: http://noahdavids.org
Online resume at: http://noahdavids.org/resume.html
I solve problems. Currently those problems deal with local area networks and TCP/IP. I do this from my desk, mostly by looking at packet traces, system configuration files, and log files. Occasionally I will attach to a remote session and observe the system in real time as well as speak directly to customers either one-on-one or as part of a conference call.
I review other people's programs both to find bugs and to understand how they work. I also write test programs to isolate bugs or duplicate customer application behavior. These activities keep my programming skills sharp. I also maintain a library of shell script tools to assist in packet trace analysis on http://github.com/noahdavids/packet-analysis.
I enjoy writing and have written numerous customer presentations and articles as well as technical articles on networking and product reviews. I also wrote a 5 day class on network configuration and troubleshooting for the Stratus VOS operating system.
I am a firm believer in continuing education. Whenever possible I attend seminars and webinars on new and potentially important topics. I read constantly.
| Protocols | Currently using | Ethernet, TCP/IP |
| Previously used | FDDI, Token Ring, X25, SS7 | |
| Languages | Currently Using | C, Perl, Python |
| Previously used | FORTRAN IV, PL/I, IBM-PC assembler, ALGOL 60, Lisp, Ada, Pascal, C++ | |
| Certifications | Wireshark Certified Network Analyst (#233310) | Wireshark University 11/2010 |
| RHCT (#605007269115207) | Red Hat 9/2007 | |
| CCNA (ID: CSCO11014841) | Cisco 1/2006 | |
| MCSA 2003 (ID: 2328442) | Microsoft 11/2003 | |
| MCSE 2000 (ID: 2328442) | Microsoft 5/2001 | |
| Network+ | CompTIA 12/99 | |
| Ethernet Data Link | CNX 10/98 | |
| NetAnalyst Level II | Network Analyst Forum 9/96 | |
| Operating Systems | Currently Using | Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, Microsoft Windows, Cisco IOS |
| Previously used | DEC-System-10, MS-DOS, Multics, SunOS, HP-UX 10.x, HP-UX 11.x, FTX (Stratus SVR4 UNIX), Microsoft Windows NT/2000/2003/2008, VOS (Stratus proprietary), | |
| Protocol Analyzers | Currently Using | Wireshark, tcpdump |
| Previously used | Microsoft Windows Network Manager, Network General Sniffer, Etherpeek, Ethereal, Shomiti Surveyor |
| Education | Various classes taught by vendors and seminar houses (see http://noahdavids.org/continuing_education.html) |
| MS Computer Science 1988 Arizona State University Thesis: How People Use Large Vocabulary Systems | |
| B.Sc. Mathematics 1975 Colorado School of Mines | |
| Publications | Numerous publications on networking topics (see http://noahdavids.org/publications_list.html) |
Work History
| 6/2013 to Present | Red Hat | Phoenix AZ |
I am responsible for resolving customer problems dealing with Ethernet and the TCP/IP protocol suite on Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems. Problems range from bugs in the Linux software to incorrect system configuration or application design and network failure or performance problems caused by bad network design or failing equipment. Resolution of network problems typically requires analysis of a protocol trace and Layer 2, 3 and 4 statistics. I also act as a consultant to other customer support personnel.
An important part of the job is writing solutions which describe a problem, how to diagnose it and how to resolve it. In addition I have presented internal training tutorials on network analysis and troubleshooting.
| 11/1987 to 6/2013 | Stratus Technologies | Phoenix AZ |
I was responsible for resolving critical customer problems dealing with Ethernet and the TCP/IP protocol suite, on all five of Stratus' operating systems, VOS, FTX, HP-UX, Microsoft Windows 2000/2003/2008 and Red Hat Linux. Problems range from bugs in Stratus software to incorrect system configuration or application design and network failure or performance problems caused by bad network design or failing equipment. Many times resolution of network problems required analysis of a protocol trace and Layer 2, 3 and 4 statistics. Most of the time I used remote debugging tools built in the operating system or 3rd party tools like a protocol analyzer with remote access capabilities. When necessary I traveled to customer sites for on-site analysis and resolution of the problem. I also acted as a consultant to other customer support, field support and sales personnel.
In addition to problem solving I wrote and presented tutorials both internally and to customers. I presented tutorials at the Stratus Users conference, the Stratus World conference, the Continuous Availability Summit and several webinars which can be found on the “Stratus Tech” channel on YouTube.. I wrote and presented a 5 day class on Stratus OpenVOS network administration and troubleshooting I also wrote numerous articles on networking. These articles include tutorial information and tools written in C, Perl and the proprietary Stratus VOS command language. Some of these were published in the Stratus Users Group newsletter, the Stratus Customer and Partner eNewsletters and the Stratus OpenVOS blog.
Special projects included simulating a customer's network with 3,000 hosts, the development of an LPD client for the VOS operating system, a version of UUCP for FTX. The development of a set of Perl scripts and Excel macros for the analysis of TCP protocol traces and diagnosis of TCP performance problems and a white paper on security hardening of the OpenVOS operating system.
Prior to my specialization in the communication area I resolved problems dealing with Oracle and Sybase databases on VOS.