Sr. Level Systems and Networking Consultant
San Francisco Bay Area
- Current
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- Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant at Aboutscan.com, LLC
- Sr. Level Linux Systems Administration Consultant at Dust Networks
- Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant at Wafergen, Inc.
- Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant at Octant Technologies
- Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant at U'Name IT Services
- Volunteer Unix Systems Administrator at Green Party of California
- Business Manager, Senior IT Services Consultant at Godmoma's Forge, LLC
- Past
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- Sr. Level Linux Systems Administration Consultant at Asterpix
- Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant at Single Point of Contact
- Sr. Level Unix/Linux Systems Administration Consultant at Foundry Networks
- Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant at Skyline Displays
- Co-Founder/Sr. Systems Operations at TargetFirst, Inc.
- Co-Founder/VP Systems and Network Operations at Web Communications, LLC
- Sr. Level Unix System Administrator at Electric Schoolhouse
- Education
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- Cabrillo College
- Cabrillo College
- Occidental College
- Santa Monica High School
- Recommended
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6 people have recommended Thomas - Connections
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202
connections
- Industry
- Internet
- Websites
Thomas Leavitt’s Summary
Independent systems and network consultant (Unix, Linux, Windows, OS X) with more than a decade's worth of experience in information technology (assembled my first PC XT from parts bought at LA area swap meets when I was in high school). Former Senior Unix Systems Administrator for Web Communications, LLC (co-founder) and TargetFirst, Inc. (formerly ClickRebates.com, also co-founder). Created one of the first 2000 web sites on the Internet (gnosis.org, in 1993). Co-owner of and business manager for Godmoma's Forge, LLC (web, graphic, print, multi-media design firm) since 2001 (dot.com refugee, made and lost a million several times before I was thirty).
If it's digital, I can make the d*mn thing work. :)
I'm open to "high-impact" opportunities - in my ideal world, I'd be one of the first ten employees hired, and the authoritative individual on all things technical outside of actual hard-core coding (this is my typical consulting client)... if you need someone to build a systems and network architecture to serve a million customers (been there, done that), then I'm your man.
Along the way, I can also relieve your high value coder geeks of the responsibility of trying to keep the server(s) up, figure out why Marketing's PCs keep on getting infested with spyware, and get the CEO's cellphone/PDA to sync properly with his laptop and desktop. Not to mention unjamming the copier, programming the auto-attendant and voicemail, and getting the presentation remote to work properly with the Marketing VP's laptop. Not averse to getting my hands dirty, as long as I get to have some fun along the way.
Thomas Leavitt’s Specialties:
perl, sql, unix, systems administration, unix systems administration, windows xp, networking, wireless, database, dba, linux, hpux, solaris, mandriva, ubuntu, debian, sendmail, postfix, imap, pop, samba, haproxy, high availability, ssl, ssh, smtp, bind, dns, apache, lamp, ldap, nfs, nis, internet, http, https, ecommerce, sybase, mysql, html, php, startup, server architecture, customer service, content creation, oscommerce, wordpress, open source, vmware, virtualization, wireless, WEP, WPA
Thomas Leavitt’s Experience
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Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant
Aboutscan.com, LLC
(Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)
December 2007 — Present (6 months)
Senior Level Unix Systems Administration Consultant for IT Services Company, working for a variety of clients on an ongoing / part-time basis.
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Sr. Level Linux Systems Administration Consultant
Dust Networks
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Wireless industry)
December 2007 — Present (6 months)
Provide ongoing support services for a variety of internal Linux systems and the applications deployed on top of them.
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Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant
Wafergen, Inc.
(Public Company; 11-50 employees; Biotechnology industry)
September 2007 — Present (9 months)
Provide ongoing support for Windows based internal corporate client network and a mixture of Windows and *nix based servers. Customized configuration of Trac, Samba (stabilized service by fixing configuration), recommended VPN/Firewall and Wireless AP hardware, transitioned company from POP/IMAP host to Hosted Exchange with Intermedia and troubleshot transition.
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Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant
Octant Technologies
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Mechanical or Industrial Engineering industry)
August 2007 — Present (10 months)
Provide ongoing support services for a variety of internal Unix systems and the applications deployed on top of them.
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Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant
U'Name IT Services
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
August 2007 — Present (10 months)
Senior Level Unix Systems Administration Consultant for IT Services Company, working for a variety of clients on an ongoing / part-time basis.
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Volunteer Unix Systems Administrator
Green Party of California
(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Political Organization industry)
2005 — Present (3 years)
Service as volunteer Unix Systems Administrator for Green Party of California's internal IT group. Help administer and maintain party's external web presence.
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Business Manager, Senior IT Services Consultant
Godmoma's Forge, LLC
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
July 2000 — Present (7 years 11 months)
Manage business and financial side of small IT Services company, act as Senior IT Services Consultant to a variety of clients large and small. Company offers dual specialties in Linux/Unix Systems Administration and Graphic / Web Design services.
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Sr. Level Linux Systems Administration Consultant
Asterpix
(Privately Held; Internet industry)
July 2007 — January 2008 (7 months)
Worked on a variety of projects, including installation and configuration of Ubuntu 6.10 and 7.04 and 7.10, deployment, configuration, customization and upgrading of various open-source intranet applications on Ubuntu (Bugzilla, Trac, Testlink, MediaWiki), virtualization using VMware, integration of intranet applications with LDAP (securely via TLS and SSL), troubleshooting network, VMware, and server configuration issues, configuring and securing NFS, MySQL, apache2, XAMPP, and writing up detailed ongoing documentation of activities. Converted entire Intranet infrastructure to Secure LDAP based authentication.
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Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant
Single Point of Contact
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
July 2007 — January 2008 (7 months)
Senior Level Windows and Unix Systems Administration Consultant for IT Services Company, worked for a variety of clients on an ongoing / part-time basis.
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Sr. Level Unix/Linux Systems Administration Consultant
Foundry Networks
(Public Company; 501-1000 employees; FDRY; Computer Networking industry)
December 2007 — January 2008 (2 months)
Provided implementation support services for a DR deployment, and deployed dokuwiki to facilitate internal communication processes within IT dept.
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Sr. Level Systems Administration Consultant
Skyline Displays
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Graphic Design industry)
August 2007 — December 2007 (5 months)
Provided ongoing support for Windows based internal corporate network (server and client side) and applications deployed on it.
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Co-Founder/Sr. Systems Operations
TargetFirst, Inc.
(Public Company; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)
March 1999 — September 2002 (3 years 7 months)
Internet Advertising Company pioneered the C2B (Consumer to Business) market by developing technologies and methods that allow delivery of highly targeted marketing messages to opt-in consumers via the Internet
Task split: 75% technical/25% management
Define, specify and assist in implementing a highly scalable, redundant and secure systems architecture
Migrate services to low-cost datacenter environment and reconfigure back end systems to maintain service at 5-10% of previous cost after company “rightsizing” resulted in immediate layoff all systems staff
Identify original opportunity, specify product and marketing strategy, join with co-founders to develop prototype, obtain seed funding and assist in recruiting CEO and other staff
ClickDough service (www.clickdough.com) gained 400,000 plus users in less than one year, ranked among top 500 Internet sites by PC Data, and generated $700,000+ in revenue in face of collapsing market for product -
Co-Founder/VP Systems and Network Operations
Web Communications, LLC
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry)
May 1994 — February 1999 (4 years 10 months)
Web Hosting Company pioneered and defined business model for self-service web hosting segment in 1994, Media Metrix Top 500 Internet property
Task split: 80% technical/20% management
Designed, built and maintained all systems and architecture, email, web, and database servers, primary systems admin
Personally wrote 7,000+ lines of code in CGI, SQL and Perl to create end user interfaces allowing self-service account management, automate systems maintenance, and handle monitoring and reporting (for both technical and business purposes), much of it still in use today
Grew self-funded web hosting start-up to $3,000,000 in revenue, 25 employees, and 10,000+ customers before sale to Verio (now a unit of NTT)
Helped define business model, identify services needed, develop marketing and promotional programs, manage customer relations, hire, train and develop staff, and manage day to day operations of rapidly growing business. -
Sr. Level Unix System Administrator
Electric Schoolhouse
(Internet industry)
1998 — 1998 (less than a year)
Briefly worked as a Sr. Level Unix Systems Administrator for aspiring Internet Service Provider specializing in content aimed at educational institutions.
Thomas Leavitt’s Education
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Cabrillo College
Computer Science September 2004 — June 2006
Returned to school to finish up general education requirements in preparation for transfer to B.A./B.S. granting institution, also refresh/update technical skills.
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Cabrillo College
Computer Science January 1993 — June 1994
Changed major to pursue technical career - dropped out of school after time demands of company I co-founded in Spring Semester made continued attendance unfeasible.
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Occidental College
Religious Studies September 1990 — June 1992
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Santa Monica High School
Additional Information
Thomas Leavitt’s Websites:
Thomas Leavitt’s Interests:
Science fiction, SF, computers, unix, linux, programming, system administration, sysadmin, politics, Internet, economics, science, history, history of technology, history of science, political history, literature, learning, new technology, entreprenuership, startups, business, gadgets, social networking, glbt, parenting, board games
Thomas Leavitt’s Groups:
BABN, SOBOA, Usenix/SAGE, BayLISA, Dave Farber's IP list, Dewayne's WarpSpeed List, Green Party
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The New Rich member
Thomas Leavitt’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
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- reference requests
- getting back in touch
