Rob Nelson

Current

Tech & Social Media Blogger / Online Evangelist at Self Employed / Consultant
Self Employed / Consultant at Robert Nelson

Past

Partner at The Village Oracle
President, CEO at INTERNOC
Network Operations Manager at Flycast Communications, Inc.

Acedemic Computing Support Specialst at University of Texas at San Antonio

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Education

The University of Texas at San Antonio
Northern Illinois University

Recommended

5 people have recommended Rob

Connections

111 connections

Industry

Computer Networking

Websites

Rob Nelson’s Summary

[Looking to make a quick connection to me? Email on Resume!]

I always welcome guest blogging opportunities. You can view my work on My Blog link above. I'm am also available for professional application testing, bug-reporting and reviews.

Currently I'm looking for a permanent position, as well, preferably with an early stage startup company. I would most welcome opportunities in online games, ground breaking social media, or entertainment production and/or delivery.

A career network engineer, I began my career designing system architectures to support Internet access. That focus has given me broad experience in the many facets of large scale, mission critical, enterprise networks, from throughput to latency management to data security. I specialize in Linux platforms and IP technology in addition to virtualization techniques. I have managed data center build-out projects, corporate moves, product roll-outs, and many enterprise-level “fork-lift” upgrades. I've also built and run my own businesses, ranging from Systems Integration/VAR to Internet-centric meeting places.

My career experience means that I can anticipate and troubleshoot just about any situation that can threaten your system; and if your business is growing, I can prioritize your network build-out ensuring that your platform is scalable, stable and secure. I understand where these technologies came from, how they have grown and what the trouble spots are. My communication skills are excellent, my work ethic is exemplary, and I can work well in many organizational configurations.

Rob Nelson’s Specialties:

Linux Kernel Build / Performance Tuning & Compiler Bootstrapping (gcc)
Windows (NT4 2003Server) Active Directory / Group Policy
Cisco IOS, Firewall, Switching
Protocols TCP & UDP, DNS, NFS, CIFS -performance tuning
VMWare Workstation/Server
OpenSource Software - build install maintain any platform
NAS/DAS - NetApp, RAID
Bash Shell scripting / Read & Edit C/C++ Python PHP
Protocol Analysis, NetMgmt NMS & Monitoring
Capacity Planning - Arcitechture Scaling
Bleeding Edge Technologies

Rob Nelson’s Experience

Tech & Social Media Blogger / Online Evangelist

Self Employed / Consultant

(Computer Software industry)

2008 — Present (1 year )

Tech Blogger

I offer opinions and insight into the businesses in the social media landscape. Articles range from application reviews, to op-ed pieces on services, technology trends, and search and advertising opportunities.

I'm an evangelist for products and services that I use, and provide expert-level application testing, bug-reporting, and reviews.
Self Employed / Consultant

Robert Nelson

(Computer Networking industry)

December 2004 — Present (5 years 1 month)

Systems Architecture & Administration
Capacity planning / scalability
WAN design & Security
Corporate Mobility solutions

Operating Systems
Linux (gentoo, Slackware, knoppix, Debian, RedHat, Ubuntu) BSDI, Solaris, SCO, UnixWare, HP-UX, IRIX, Digital UNIX, Windows 3.0 through 2K3/Vista, Novell Netware, Mac OSX, Mac OS9, VMware Workstation/Server

Network Security
Linux IPTables, Checkpoint FW1, VPNs, WAP, WEP, PPTP, various intrusion detection systems, Cisco PIX & VPN3000, Sniffer/Protocol Analyzers

Network Protocols
FTP, HTTP, NNTP, NTP, DHCP, SMTP, POP3, IMAP, Radius, DNS, WINS, NFS, CIFS, NIS, TCP, UDP, IP, RIP, OSPF, ATM, Frame relay, Ethernet, PPP, much more

Hardware Platforms
Cisco, Nortel, and Lucent routers and switches,
Intel, Dell, HP, Compaq, AMD, Sun, SGI, DEC, and Mac - workstations and servers, Network Appliance (for mixed NFS/CIFS environments), Terminal servers, modem banks, telephone channel banks, PBX, other telecom equip.
Partner

The Village Oracle

(Food & Beverages industry)

2001 — 2004 (3 years )

The Village Oracle was a large cyber-café in Nothern California. We had a very eclectic clientele, ranging from internationally known fine artists, to movers and shakers in the electronic music industry, fans, and area locals.

We provided a stopping point for regular travelers on the West Coast, where they could get everything from a home-cooked organic meal, to internet access, to a luxurious environment that felt more like home than many of their homes!

The Village Oracle was well-known for it's Art Shows as well, hanging shows from local Mt. Shasta area artists and internationally known painters. Art sales made up a huge portion of the cafés revenues. Paintings and sculptures sold for anywhere up to $10,000.

My personal responsibilities included:

Design & Architecture of the cyber-café environment
Design & Code jukebox
Curate & Install for Art Shows
Head Barista - selection of coffee blends, training staff
Evening Manager on Duty for the Café
Part-time chef
President, CEO

INTERNOC

(Computer Networking industry)

1995 — 2000 (5 years )

INTERNOC provided service to startup Internet Providers during the earliest days of the dotcom boom. We provided "growth management" consulting, network design, administration, and end-user technical support. INTERNOC was the only such provider services in Texas at the time, with clients statewide.

We were actively involved in beta-testing new carrier equipment, and installed the First Commercial DSL line in Texas. We saved not only our own clients, but other Texas ISPs millions of dollars through our interpretation of Tariffs filed by LECs. We leveraged our relationship with the Texas PUC to ensure that ISPs were recognized as carriers, not consumers, increasing ISP profit margins easily by 30%

INTERNOC was also very involved in the early planning stages of the restructuring of the Domain Name System. We worked to protect the interests of the public and of smaller carriers as the original MoU transferred control of the DNS from the US Government (and IANA) to what became ICANN.
Network Operations Manager

Flycast Communications, Inc.

(Computer Networking industry)

September 1997 — May 1999 (1 year 9 months)

I joined Flycast in a very critical stage of it's early life. Flycast developed bleeding edge ad-serving technology, brokering online ad space in real-time. As the NetOps Manager, I worked closely with the developers to move from a monolithic system to a large heterogeneous server farm.

A hands-on manager, I was responsible for all aspects of the Production networks. I led my team through build-outs of several co-located production data center sites, as well as the development data center in our SF offices, contracting with Data Center providers, managing telecom contracts, and actually installing hardware and circuits. We worked very closely with the development team to streamline and tune software and hardware, implement configuration management techniques. Working with Sales & Marketing we developed incident reporting and notification procedures.

By the time I left Flycast, it had grown from a privately held 20 person operation, to a hugely successful public corporation.
Acedemic Computing Support Specialst

University of Texas at San Antonio

(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)

October 1990 — October 1994 (4 years 1 month)

Originally part-time support of word processing users

Supported all off-campus network environments

Became nearly single point of contact for over 2000 administrative users.

Developed automated distribution methods for anti-virus tools

Supervised staff of several Desktop Support technicians

Oversaw deployment of all desktop computers & networks

Consulted with research faculty on special projects and supercomputing needs

Developed and maintained a 30 seat computing classroom used to train faculty and staff in several different operating environments

Rob Nelson’s Education

The University of Texas at San Antonio

English, Philosophy 1990 — 1991
Northern Illinois University

English, Philosophy 1987 — 1989

Additional Information

Rob Nelson’s Websites:

Rob Nelson’s Interests:

Music, Drums, Dog Training, Bicycling, Traveling, History, world religions, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Information Theory, mysticism, world music, Painting, Abstract Art, investments, real estate