Denys Zhdanov

Senior Site Reliability Engineer | DevOps & Linux Systems Expert
Amsterdam, NL.

About

Highly accomplished Senior Site Reliability Engineer with over 20 years of expertise in Linux systems, DevOps, and SRE principles, specializing in building and optimizing resilient distributed systems. Proven ability to drive innovation in observability, database management, and cloud infrastructure, consistently delivering high-performance solutions and contributing to open-source projects like Graphite.

Work

Booking.com
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Senior Site Reliability Engineer

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

Summary

Leading observability initiatives as a Senior SRE, leveraging a diverse technical stack to enhance system reliability and performance for Booking.com.

Highlights

Architected and implemented robust observability solutions utilizing AWS, EKS, Mimir, Loki, Grafana, and Prometheus to ensure high availability and performance of critical travel platforms.

Developed and optimized infrastructure-as-code using Terraform and Python, streamlining deployment processes and improving system scalability.

Applied FinOps principles to cloud resource management, identifying cost optimization opportunities within Kubernetes (EKS) environments.

Contributed to Go-based services, enhancing system resilience and operational efficiency within a large-scale distributed architecture.

Circonus, Inc
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Part-time Consultant (Go, Python, Lua Developer)

Remote, Maryland, US

Summary

Provided specialized consulting services, focusing on Go, Python, and Lua development to enhance monitoring product functionalities.

Highlights

Reimplemented Graphite functions in Lua for the IronDB monitoring product, significantly enhancing data processing efficiency and feature set.

Contributed to core development in Go, Python, and Lua, delivering robust solutions for complex monitoring challenges.

Collaborated with engineering teams to integrate new features and optimize existing functionalities within the monitoring platform.

Marktplaats B.V. (part of Adevinta SA)
|

Senior Linux System Engineer / Subject Matter Expert in Databases

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

Summary

Led database and observability initiatives, driving the adoption of new technologies and enhancing infrastructure reliability for a major e-commerce platform.

Highlights

Led the company-wide implementation of CockroachDB as a newSQL database solution, significantly improving data scalability and resilience.

Promoted NoSQL (Cassandra) and NewSQL (CockroachDB) solutions, educating development teams through workshops and classes to foster broader adoption.

Engineered and executed multiple observability migrations, transitioning Graphite to Metrictank and operational monitoring from Nagios/Graphite to Thanos/Prometheus, enhancing system visibility and performance.

Designed and improved a Packer-based infrastructure pipeline for VM image building, streamlining deployment processes and ensuring consistency across environments.

Managed a major MySQL migration project, consolidating sharded clusters back to a single 5.7 instance for simplified management and improved performance.

Marktplaats B.V. (part of Adevinta SA)
|

Linux System Engineer

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

Summary

Played a key role in infrastructure migration and database optimization projects, enhancing system reliability and performance for an e-commerce platform.

Highlights

Participated in multiple migration projects from bare metal to an Openstack-based private cloud, leveraging Hashicorp products and Saltstack for seamless transitions.

Curated several major MySQL migrations (5.6 to 5.7 and 5.7 to sharded clusters), ensuring data integrity and minimal downtime.

Optimized the Graphite stack by implementing Grafana and migrating Python Graphite to Go-graphite, significantly improving monitoring performance and visualization capabilities.

Contributed to infrastructure automation initiatives, reducing manual effort and increasing system reliability.

eCG / Marktplaats B.V.
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Linux Engineer

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

Summary

Engineered and supported critical Linux infrastructure, focusing on deployment, database management, and monitoring for a high-traffic e-commerce platform.

Highlights

Developed and fixed Fabric-based deployment scripts, integrating with Citrix Netscaler as a load balancer to enhance release efficiency and system stability.

Managed Riak deployments, including load testing, monitoring, enterprise evaluation, and backup, ensuring high availability and data integrity.

Executed dotCMS migration from 1.9 to 2.X and subsequently to MySQL 5.6, minimizing service disruption and improving platform performance.

Enhanced MySQL monitoring and troubleshooting, including Percona XtraDB Cluster evaluation, and led the migration of all production clusters from MySQL 5.1 to 5.6.

Implemented and supported Graphite monitoring, including deployment, patching, load testing, and migration to a sharded setup, improving observability for critical systems.

Cogniance, Inc
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Senior Unix System Administrator/Architect

Kiev, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine

Summary

Provided architectural guidance and operational support for a mobile marketing adserver platform, integrating DevOps principles and optimizing system performance.

Highlights

Supported Velti's Adserver platform (RHEL5, Jboss AS, PostgreSQL, Hadoop, Voldemort, AWS), ensuring 24/7 availability and optimal performance.

Integrated DevOps principles, including deployment, configuration management (CFengine), infrastructure inventory, and monitoring (Nagios/Cacti/Smokeping), enhancing operational efficiency.

Optimized performance of Jboss, Voldemort, and Hadoop components, improving the responsiveness and scalability of the adserver platform.

Participated in platform development, contributing to the design and implementation of new features and system enhancements.

EPAM Systems
|

Unix Server Support Analyst

Kiev, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine

Summary

Supported corporate Unix infrastructure for a global investment banking client, ensuring high availability and adherence to ITIL standards.

Highlights

Provided 24/7 support for corporate Unix infrastructure, including RHEL 3/4/5 and Solaris 8/10, maintaining critical system uptime for Barclays Capital.

Managed EMC/Symmetrix SAN storage and Veritas Cluster software, ensuring robust data management and high availability solutions.

Adhered to ITIL3.0-based processes for incident, problem, change, and capacity management, improving service delivery and operational consistency.

Collaborated with global business and IT teams to provide seamless support in a multinational environment.

InSat GmbH / hi-stream.ru
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System Administrator (Part-time/Freelance)

Saarbrucken, Saarland, Germany

Summary

Managed Linux/FreeBSD systems and satellite ISP infrastructure, ensuring robust monitoring, backups, and user support.

Highlights

Administered Linux/FreeBSD systems for a satellite ISP startup, ensuring stable operation of critical services.

Implemented and maintained monitoring solutions (Nagios, Cacti) and backup systems (Bacula), enhancing system reliability and data protection.

Provided technical helpdesk support, resolving user issues efficiently and maintaining high service levels.

Gained hands-on experience with satellite equipment and technology, contributing to specialized network operations.

Information-analytics center "LIGA"
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Unix System Administrator

Kiev, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine

Summary

Administered complex Unix/Linux environments, virtual infrastructure, and a diverse stack of applications and databases for a legal services and news agency.

Highlights

Managed Linux/FreeBSD/Solaris administration, including connectivity with Windows and Lotus Domino services, ensuring seamless integration across diverse platforms.

Organized and administered enterprise virtual infrastructure using VMWare and Veeam products, enhancing resource utilization and system resilience.

Administered frontend (Nginx, Squid) and backend (Apache Tomcat, Jetspeed, 1C Bitrix, mod_perl) stacks, optimizing highload performance for web applications.

Administered and tuned OpenX banner system on a 12-node cluster, significantly improving ad delivery performance.

Developed and supported a remote software update system and an Internet payment platform (Perl/Apache/Nginx), improving operational efficiency and user experience.

Managed database administration for MySQL (multi-master, multi-slave, ~250 GB), DB2, MSSQL (~100 GB), and PostgreSQL, ensuring data integrity and performance.

Administered enterprise Java applications (Apache Tomcat) and Atlassian Jira/Confluence, alongside FibreChannel SAN (Sun Storagetek) and comprehensive monitoring (Nagios, Cacti, Veeam).

Implemented backup planning and support with Bacula and EMC Retrospect, ensuring robust disaster recovery capabilities.

SpaceGate ISP
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Chief Technical Officer

Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine

Summary

Progressed from Technical Helpdesk to CTO, overseeing system administration, satellite technology, and technical negotiations for an ISP.

Highlights

Advanced from Technical Helpdesk Engineer to Chief Technical Officer, demonstrating significant leadership and technical progression within the organization.

Led the system administration of high-loaded Linux servers, optimizing performance and ensuring high availability for ISP services.

Managed satellite equipment and technology, contributing to the core infrastructure and service delivery of the ISP.

Conducted technical negotiations, securing partnerships and resources vital for business growth and operational expansion.

NTK Display ISP
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System Administrator

Yevpatoria, Crimea, Ukraine

Summary

Administered Linux/FreeBSD/Solaris systems and developed billing solutions for an ISP, supporting LAN/WAN and MetroWLAN infrastructure.

Highlights

Administered Linux/FreeBSD/Solaris systems, ensuring reliable operation of ISP services for a growing user base.

Developed and implemented LAN/WAN/Dialup ISP Billing system using Perl and C, streamlining customer invoicing and service management.

Provided comprehensive technical helpdesk support, resolving connectivity and system issues for customers.

Managed LAN/WAN and MetroWLAN infrastructure, contributing to network expansion and service delivery.

Education

National Aerospace University "KhAI"
Kharkov, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine

Bachelor

Electronic Engineering

Courses

Optimization, backup and recovery of MySQL

Nginx - Configuration and Highload

VMware vSphere: Fast Track

MySQL Scaling & Optimization

InnoDB and ExtraDB

Functional Programming Principles in Scala

Introduction to Data Science

Malicious Software and its Underground Economy

Languages

English
Dutch
Russian
Ukrainian

Certificates

HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate

Issued By

HashiCorp

Skills

Cloud & DevOps

AWS, EKS, Kubernetes, Terraform, FinOps, Openstack, Packer, Saltstack, Nomad, Consul, CFengine, Puppet, Capistrano, ITIL.

Monitoring & Observability

Mimir, Loki, Grafana, Prometheus, Thanos, Graphite, Go-graphite, Metrictank, Nagios, Cacti, Smokeping, Munin, Veeam Monitoring, IronDB.

Databases

MySQL, PostgreSQL, Cassandra, ScyllaDB, CockroachDB, Riak, DB2, MSSQL, Project Voldemort, Timeseries Databases, Database Internals.

Programming & Scripting

Golang (Go), Python, Perl, Lua, C, PHP, XML, SOAP, REST, mod_perl, Bash Scripting.

Operating Systems

Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, RHEL, Gentoo), FreeBSD, Solaris (8, 10), Windows Server (2003/2008), HP-UX.

Networking & Infrastructure

Citrix Netscaler, Nginx, Squid, Varnish, OpenLDAP, ActiveMQ, LAN/WAN, MetroWLAN.

Virtualization

VMware ESX/vSphere, Veeam Products.

Big Data & Data Science

Hadoop, Elasticsearch, Information Retrieval, Search, Data Science.

Security

Security, Cryptography, Privacy.

Other Tools & Technologies

Jboss AS, dotCMS, 1C Bitrix, OpenX, Gerrit, Git, Bacula, EMC Retrospect, Symantec BackupExec, Kayako, DVB Hardware, FibreChannel SAN (Sun Storagetek).

Interests

Hobbies

Computer games, Fiction books, Emulation/old hardware.

Open Source

Graphite Co-Maintainer, Go-graphite Co-Maintainer, DevOps-related Open-source projects.