Brian Kei Tanaka

Email: brian.tanaka@gmail.com
Telephone: Available upon request
Postal: Available upon request

Summary

I’ve been working in the Internet and IT field since 1993. I’ve worked for notable companies such as: SGI, Intuit, RealNetworks, the Well, and Nintendo. I do server-side and client-side web development, Unix systems administration, and management. I have team leadership, project management, and customer relations skills. I’m an effective communicator, and I write excellent documentation. I have been published in Linux Journal, LinuxWorld, Sys Admin Magazine, and I have published a book. (“Take Control of Permissions in Mac OS X”; Take Control; ISBN: 1-933671-00-9.)

Critical Skills

Career History

Martingale-Oak, LLC / Brian Tanaka Consulting Services, LLC

Owner
Seattle, WA / Emeryville, CA
June 2002 - present

I provide Internet technologies consulting to individuals and businesses. Services include: back-end web application development (LAMP; primarily PHP, but also Perl, Django), client-side web development (HTML, CSS, Javascript, AJAX), server configuration and administration (email services, Apache, MySQL/PostgreSQL, LDAP, system security), training and documentation. Currently, I’m the sole consultant in this LLC, so all responsibilities within the company fall to me and include: programming, server configuration and administration, marketing and business development, client relations, project management, graphic design, and copy writing.

RealNetworks

Manager of Systems Automation, RBN Division
April 2001 - June 2002
Seattle, Washington

Provided leadership and advocacy for a team that included junior network and systems administrators as well as developers responsible for devising and implementing new automation tools and systems. Developed team from inception to maturity. Interviewed candidates, performed annual performance reviews, lead weekly team meetings. Facilitated and initiated intra- and inter-group communication. Provided technical and career-development mentorship to team members.

RealNetworks

Systems Administrator, RBN Division
July 1998 - April 2001 Seattle, Washington

Member of a small team of system administrators responsible for a large (200+ servers), distributed (continental US with small European presence), installation of primarily Linux and Solaris servers in a rapidly changing, high-availability, high-profile (clients included ESPN, ABC News, etc) environment. Majority of servers provided services directly to the public. All standard services required (e.g. DNS, SMTP, HTTP, FTP, et cetera) but marked emphasis placed on RealServer and in-house developed content distribution and client redirection systems. Wrote Perl scripts. Developed web-applications (PHP, Oracle). Attended to diskspace and other resource management issues as well as security measures. Ad hoc team leader/manager for junior network and systems administrators. Primary responsibilities of senior systems adminstrators can be summarized as follows: maintain high levels of availability, develop infrastructure for new services, and develop enhancements for the in-house content distribution and client redirection systems.

Nintendo of America Inc.

Network Integrator
April 1998 - July 1998 Redmond, Washington

Performed system administration tasks for a network of 30 SGI workstations and servers. Wrote Perl and shell scripts to automate tasks. Administered backups and restorals. Installed software and hardware. Provided technical support to a user population of engineers and graphic designers. Helped design a company-wide data encryption infrastructure. Wrote CGI programs. Wrote documentation. Recommended software and hardware purchases. Performed system and network troubleshooting.

Intuit Inc.

System Administrator
April 1997 - March 1998
Mountain View, California
(via Taos Mountain — a system administration consulting firm in the Silicon Valley.)

Performed system administration tasks for three groups: Online Financial Exchange (online banking) server quality assurance, Information Services and Technology (IS&T), and Quicken.com. Set up and maintained seven Windows NT Server 4.0 SP3 servers with multiple virtual web servers on each. Set up and maintained approximately 25 Sun servers and workstations running both Solaris and SunOS. Provided guidance to other groups. Trained users. Participated in project planning. Gathered requirements from participating groups. Recommended hardware and software purchases. Performed DNS updates. Wrote documentation. Compiled and installed software. Set up and removed user accounts. Administered backups and restorals. Performed server and network trouble shooting. Configured SSL-enabled servers and adminstered in-house Certificate Authority. Wrote shell scripts and CGI programs to automate tasks.

Micronics Computers, Inc.

System Administrator
January 1997 - March 1997
Fremont, California
(via Taos Mountain — a system administration consulting firm in the Silicon Valley.)

Sole system administrator for five UNIX servers and two Windows NT servers. Services provided by these servers included WWW, FTP, SMTP, and DHCP. Migrated FTP server and DHCP server from Linux and HP-UX respectively to Windows NT. Monitored system performance. Performed system backups and file restorals. Created site-specific technical documentation. Created and modified web pages and wrote cgi scripts. Planned web site maintenance streamlining. Trained other employees in technical matters. Monitored diskspace usage. Created and removed user accounts. Configured and performed troubleshooting on POP3 accounts. Installed software. Administered DHCP server. Configured VirtualHost Web servers. Wrote scripts to automate administration tasks.

SGI (nee “Silicon Graphics, Inc.”)

System Administrator
May 1995 - December 1996
Mountain View, California
(via Taos Mountain — a system administration consulting firm in the Silicon Valley.)

Designed and developed shell and web-based (CGI) tools for the IS Assistance Center staff using Perl, sh, and ARSPerl. Developed OnLineISAC, a web-based tool that allows SGI employees to initiate and review service request tickets stored in an Oracle database via Remedy Action Request System. Supplied system and application support for SGI employees via phone, email, and pager. Installed software. Performed system administration tasks on department systems and user systems.

The WELL

UNIX System Administrator
October 1994 - April 1995
Sausalito, California

Administered small site network of Sun SPARCstations running Solaris and SunOS, along with midsized site network of Macs and PCs. Provided technical support for 30 staff users and 10,000 paying users. Monitored system security (using COPS and Tripwire). Monitored system conditions (load averages, disk usage). Backed up and restored filesystems (using both Legato Networker and ufsdump/ufsrestore). Wrote technical documentation. Installed software. Wrote shell scripts to automate administrative tasks. Removed inactive user accounts. Provided system usage data for accounting. Cleaned tape drives. Ordered supplies.

The WELL

UNIX System Support
March 1993 - September 1994
Sausalito, California

Designed, developed and implemented new billing and accounting database in Revolutionary Software’s /rdb (relational database), using shell scripts, Perl, sed, awk, and /rdb’s family of commands and functions. Automated office procedures using shell scripts and Filemaker Pro databases. Assisted customers on phone and via email. Printed bills, submitted batched credit card transactions, provided technical support for accounting, and generated reports on demand from R:Base database. Processed new registrations.

Wildwood Computer Consulting

dBaseIII+ Developer, Owner
June 1992 - February 1993
San Francisco, California

Designed and developed tools and applications in dBaseIII+ Developer’s Languarge. Conducted technical writing, technical support, computer training, and project management. Designed, developed, maintained and administered inventory control system for two retail companies and accounts receivable system for commercial printing shop. Advised clients on software purchases, installing software, and training.

Publications, Articles

Publications, Books

Education

Other Skills

References Available Upon Request