FRANCI(7) Linux User's Manual FRANCI(7)
Alessandro Franci - a systems administrator
franci [--admin linux|windows] [--vm hypervisor] [--voip system] [--bash]
[--networking cisco|hpe] [--firewall] [--monitoring] [--citrix] [--web] [--other]
I’m a Systems Administrator with skills in Linux, Windows, networking, backup, script automation, virtualization, citrix and VoIP.
I live in Trento (Italy). I was born in 1988 in Bologna (Italy). I have been always very passionate about IT since I was a child. During my high school years I started using Linux, using several distributions; I started with Slackware, then Gentoo, Debian and Centos. When I was 18 I had a VMware ESXi server under my desk. I used that server for several purposes, especially for managing my own e-mail with my own domain (the-root.org) with Postfix. I used that server also for VoIP solutions (Elastix with Asterisk) and as a NAS (FreeNas).
My passion for IT led me to get my Bachelor degree in Bologna University with 110/110 cum Laude in 2010. My Bachelor’s thesis was a study about the possible technologies to increase energy efficiency in big datacenters (as Cloud datacenters), that subject was very important for big players like Google, Amazon or Microsoft during those years (2010). During my Master's degree I studied for two quarters at the University of Santa Cruz (UCSC) in California, getting a GPA of 3.72/4.00 . When I came back to Bologna, I got my Master's degree in IT with 110/110 cum Laude in 2012. My final thesis was a study about a VoIP solution that could be used and deployed in University of Bologna.
After my degree, I worked in several companies in the Bologna (Italy) area as Systems Administrator, strengthening my knowledge of Linux and Windows OSs, VmWare and VoIP solutions. At this moment I am working in a Bolzano company (+100 branch offices worldwide,+7k employees). I manage the systems, virtual machines, backups, citrix solution, firewall and networking.
--admin systems
Extensive experience with the configuration, hardening, and maintenance of various Linux distributions, including:
* CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux
* Debian, Ubuntu
* Gentoo
* Slackware
Expecially, I have wide expertise with these Linux software:
* Web servers (NGINX, Apache)
* Database (MySQL)
* Monitoring (Zabbix, Nagios)
* Mail (Postfix)
* LDAP (OpenLDAP)
Experience in configuring, hardening, and maintenance of various Microsoft Windows Server as:
* Windows 2012
* Windows 2012R2
* Windows 2016
* Windows 2019
--vm hypervisor
Extensive experience with those hypervisors:
* VMware : Skilled in VMware ESXi. I started working on it when I was 18; I worked in several companies where it had a key business impact. In my actual company I manage a cluster of 20 servers with about 300 VMS that has a critical business impact.
* Proxmox: deployed and configured Proxmox in previous company
* KVM/QEMU
--voip system
Experience with those VoIP Systems:
* Asterisk: Skilled in Asterisk, with several installations and deploys (standalone or with Elastix). Created several custom scripts and voip applications and extension profiles.
* Cisco Unified Call Manager: in my current company, managed and deployed the migration project from POTS lines to VoIP system in all Italian offices.
--bash
I have deep skills in bash scripting, since I love automation and I script from when I was 17. I can do almost anything in bash.
--networking vendor
Experience with those vendor families:
* Cisco: skilled in deploy and managment of Cisco network devices (switch, router, ASA). In almost all the company where I worked I managed also the network. Currently I manage the network of +100 branch offices. I am currently taking the CCNA certification.
* HPE: in several company where I worked (also my current one), I managed HPE switches directly or with the use of HPE Manager.
--firewall
In almost all the company where I worked I managed also the firewall. Currently I manage the central firewall and over 40 remote branches using Checkpoint technologies. In past jobs I used Sonicwall extensively and PFSense.
--monitoring
I have worked with several monitoring systems. I have worked a lot with PRTG (actual job) and Zabbix.
--citrix
I have been working on Citrix 7.15 in my recent job, where is a business critical software. I manage more than 100VDI with about 1500 users. I got my CCA-V certification on April 2020.
--web
Designed, developed and deployed several website for costumers, using CMS as Wordpress, PHP, CSS, MySQL, Apache and NGINX.
--other
Certifications:
* April, 2020 : Citrix CCA-V
* Ongoing: Cisco CCNA
Held conferences at the University of Bologna:
* 26 May, 2011 : ”Cloud Computing”, conference at University di Bologna
* 29 October, 2010: ”Green Computing”, conference at University di Bologna
Published article:
* ”Booting Linux in less than 40 seconds”, Linux Gazette #147
Honors and Awards:
* February 2011: Certificate of Merit signed by the chancellor of the University of Bologna (Ivano Dionigi) as one of the best students in the Science Faculty by year 2011.
* July 2010 - November 2011: Microsoft Student Partner for the University of Bologna. Organized and held
seminars.
* November 2007: 1st Prize winner in year 2007 of the 4th edition of The Research Language Competition ("Il linguaggio della Ricerca"), held by the Italian Research Council.
* Xanadu LTD
Servers: +200 bare metal servers. Container: Docker. Virtualization: Proxmox. Backup: Bacula. Networking: Cisco, HPE. VPN: OpenVPN 2.6 . Firewall: PFSense. Monitoring: Zabbix. IaC: Ansible, Ansible AWX. Linux Debian.
* Fercam SpA
Virtualization: VMware ESXI 6.7. Backup: Veeam. Citrix 7.15: +100VDI, about 1500 users. Networking: Cisco, HPE, Aruba. Firewall: Checkpoint, Cisco ASA. Monitoring: PRTG. Mail systems: Lotus, O365, LibraESVA. Windows 2012R2, 2016, 2019. Linux Debian/CentOS.
* Net Service SpA
Systems Administrator. Virtualization: VMware 6.5. Networking: Cisco, HP. Mail systems: Zimbra, Microsoft Exchange. VoIP systems: Asterisk, Elastix. Docker, Kubernetes. Monitoring: Zabbix. Web: Apache, NGINX. LDAP: OpenLDAP. DB: Oracle.
* Sherwin-Williams
Systems Administrator. Administration and managment of the virtualization infrastructure, network and VoIP system for the whole EMEA South region. Virtualization: VMware (6.5 Enterprise Plus, hosts CISCO UCS, ~300 VMs). Backup: Veeam. Managment of the Italian migration project to the VoIP system: CISCO Call Manager (~300 extensions, 3 remote offices). Server administration (Windows, Linux). Mobile managment (MDM Airwatch). Managment of the server room
* Net Service SpA
Systems Administrator. Virtualization: VMware (~600 VMs), Proxmox. Mail systems: Zimbra, Microsoft Exchange. VoIP systems: Asterisk, Elastix (~50 estensioni, 2 sedi). Web: Apache, NGINX. LDAP: OpenLDAP. DB: Oracle. Server room: 2 rooms, 35 physical hosts (~200 CPU), 7 storage (~40TB).
* Laboratori Marconi SpA
Systems Administrator for Networking and Services. NOC Operator. Systems Administration (Linux), Networking Administration (WAN, Cisco, Juniper, 3COM)
* Araknos Srl
Internal Systems Manager. Administration of internal systems and infrastructures (50+ server). Managing and developing solutions for securying systems, monitoring hardware/software, authentication solutions. Support for on-site costumer infrastructures. Monitoring, Linux (CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian) administration, Security practises, Virtualization (VirtualBox, VMWare), Energy&Cooling Efficiency, High Availability (DRBD).
* Prometeia SpA
Support for ALM financial project. Internal and costumer assistance (Italy and Worlwide). SQL Server, Microsoft HPC, Microsoft Active Directory, Windows Server
* University of Bologna
Master’s Degree in IT: 110/110 cum Laude (2012)
* University of Santa Cruz
Overseas program: GPA 3.72/4.00 (2011-2012)
* University of Bologna
Bachelor’s Degree in IT: 110/110 cum Laude (2010)
* Freelancer as Web Designer
Creation of web sites for the commercial activities (www.ripetizionicamilla.it, www.bikeframebo.it, www.pgsbellaria.com), with SEO and on-line marketing (Adwords, positioning). Creation of a photobook for some of the websites. Web: HTML, PHP, CSS, Javascript. Graphic skills: Adobe Photoshop CS6.
* Freelancer as System Administrator
Systems Administrator in several companies (Cartolito MGB, Anzola dell’Emilia - La Dorica SRL, Bologna). Design and cabling of the company network. Creation and managment of the internal DNS. Backup system, e-mail and web (Samba, Postfix, Apache). Network connection with VPN among headquarters and local shops. Migration of virtual machines. DNSMasq, Bind, VMware vSphere, VMware ESXi, Asterisk.
* High School Liceo Scientifico Enrico Fermi, Bologna (BO)
Teacher for Linux O.S. to 25 students of Liceo Enrico Fermi (Bologna, Italy) inabout 30 hours of lectures.
* Teorema SRL, via della Beverara, Bologna (BO)
Software developer for Oracle DB.
* E-mail: alex at the-root dot org
* Phone: +39.344.2964480
* LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexfranci/
Alessandro Franci 2024-01-31 FRANCI(7)