Hello, I am Matthew Butch
System Engineering Leader

I'm a highly accomplished and well-rounded leader of system engineering, with a successful career managing and leading teams, creating visions, identifying opportunities, developing innovative solutions, and delivering strong revenues and profits within multiple retail markets.

I have a proven ability to understand business needs, identify ideal matches to fulfill those needs, and strategize execution with excellent cost to benefit ratios.

I'm a highly skilled director in planning, building, implementing, optimizing, and expanding enterprise technologies, teams, operations and processes.

I'm a natural, strong, and effective leader and manager, with the proven ability to motivate teams to create and follow a shared goal, and to extract maximum commitment and talent from people.

My knowledge and skills cover the entire technology stack, from clients to servers and from engineering to development.

Please check the sections on the side to learn more about me or to contact me.

Personal Info

Projects

Go to next/previous page

 

This page lists some of the major projects I've lead, with a short summary for each. More information is available on request.

  • New Production Infrastructure
    2020

    We have been planning a migration of our major internal web application (used by everybody in the business from sales agents in the field to accounting) from virtual machines to Kubernetes pods. We hav some small applications and all development environments running on two Kubernetes clusters in two self-hosted datacenters, and we were ready to move the major web application. This had a deadline for that of December 31st, 2020, which meant the infrastructure had to be read by October 31st, 2020. We began our project early July 2020.

    With this charge, I proceeded to design a brand new production infrastructure. This required deciding on and purchasing new servers and confirming we had enough networking and electrical resources. This became three subprojects involving three teams.

    We first evaluated server venders and selected the final brand (Dell) with the server count (22 total, 11 per datacenter). Then we planned the network infrastructure as we had older Cisco switches and would not have enough ports to use all the new servers. We again evaluated switch vendors and selected the final brand (Cisco) and setup (2 core switches with 2 top of rack switches). With the hardware selected, we evaluated the current electrical capacity and the required electrical capacity. We determined we had enough main and generator power, but not enough UPS power. So we selected a new bottom of rack UPS to match the requirements.

    Next I presented the entire plan to the VP and after his approval, the CIO. The plan was approved, and we made final revisions with our vendors and placed the order. With everything ordered, I planned the installation for all three subprojects. This involved coordinating delivery of servers, switches, cables, SFPs, racks, PDUs, and UPS's. I also had to coordinate the electrical circuit for the new UPS with both the UPS vendor and our electrical contractor.

    I assigned tasks to different teams and different members of those teams.I kept track of delivery of all physical items, as well as installation and configuration of all the devices. Once everything was installed and set up (easier said than down - the teams did a lot of work, and I pitched in to connect cables and install servers), the final set was configuration of servers, switches, UPS's, and PDUs. I supervised this work and helped the teams overcome any obstacles, either by making decisions to move the work along, or jumping in to configure settings and troubleshooting issues.

    This took about four months from start to finish and we hit our deadline with two weeks to spare. The new infrastructure was a complete success.

  • Department Reoganization
    2020

    Our company is divided up into Service Groups (mine: Business Technology), then Divisions (mine: Delivery), then Departments (mine: SRE), then teams (mine: Networking/Security & Server/Storage).

    Originally the Server/Storage team was composed of 6 members, but that size was leading to ineffiencies and slowdowns in coordiations and discussions. So a decision was made to split that team up into a Support Server/Storage team and an Architect Server/Storag team.

    This involved selecting the members for each team from the original team, planning out the scope of duties for each team, and communicating to the teams and the rest of the Service Group.

    The teams, and the department as a whole, is now operating more smoothly and efficiently.

  • SAN Addition
    2019

    We wanted to add fast storage, as our existing solution was slow and support was lacking.

    I lead the department that created an evaluation process, evaluated two onsite solutions, and made the proposal to upper management on which solution to select. We selected a Pure Storage FlashArray. This is a highly performant all-flash iSCSI storage solution with an amazing API.

    Once the decision was approved, I lead the department that implemented FlashArray. This involved cross team coordination, as it involved both physically setting up the devices at two datacenters, connecting them to our network, and connecting VMware and Kubernetes servers to the devices.

    The project was a success and the new storage has opened up a lot of options for our company.

  • New Infrastructure
    2018

    Our old ecommerce infrastructure was hosted on Rackspace. This was not a very performant environment, nor was it cost effective. I took a detailed survey of alternative solutions and decided due to cost, control, and performance that self-hosting was the best solution.

    I proceeded to design a brand new infrastructure. This required securing a data center and internet service providers. We hosted with Netrality in Philadelphia, and set up connections with Cogent and Hurricane Electric.

    Next was to design the network infrastructure. We went with pfSense appliances for internet routing and firewalling. There would be 10Gb connections (all HA'd) to the network switches and servers. There were two sets of switches, one for internal networking and one for iSCSI traffic.

    After the network was decided, I planned the server infrastructure. There would be three hosts for virtualization and four database servers, along with a SAN.

    I planned the configuration, with Ansible, and the migration. We switched from our old infrastructure to our new infrastructure with zero issues. The new infrastructure was five times as fast as the old one. It also saved us $200,000 per year.

    This took about four months from start to finish. The migration was a complete success.

  • Site Merger
    2017 - 2018

    Our company merged with another company, and this required merging our ecom sites. Because the other company outsourced theirs, but used the same platform as ours (Magento), we decided to pull their content into ours.

    This required a detailed project plan involving many people. I personally set up the server configurations, and managed the developers who integrated the code and the content (products, inventory, photos, and site UI).

    This took about four months from start to finish. The integration was a complete success, with very minor issues.

  • Website Rescue
    2015-2017

    I took over running a major retail ecommerce website. The site could barely handle a few hundred users due to the poor configuration of the servers, and it was lucky to stay up most days. It was also insecure. I evaluated all parts of the stack: firewall, load balancer, web servers, database servers, and caching servers.

    I optimized and secured each different piece, and added configuration management to the setup. In a month the site was stabilized, and I continued to optimize the configuration and added additional servers as needed. By six months the site rarely went down even under high load. After one year of changes, the site could handle thousands of users during product releases. I also saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless human hours. And with the improved security, the site was much less vulnerable.

  • Firewall Upgrades
    2015

    I upgraded four SonicWall firewalls in two locations. This required taking the website offline, which is a major deal for an ecommerce website. I configured all four SonicWalls (two each site for HA) to our specification. In one location I removed the old ones, installed the new ones, and ensured everything worked. For the other location which was many miles away, I managed a contractor to do the physical removing and installing, and then I ensured it all worked. I lead this project from start to finish.

  • Network Reconfiguration
    2014

    I reconfigured our network for PCI compliance and created 4 different networks in 4 locations (Development, Testing, Production Datacenter 1, Production Datacenter 2. This required reconfiguring Force10 switches, EqualLogic SANs, ESXi hosts, vCenter, and SonicWall firewalls. I lead this project from start to finish.

  • Switch and SAN Upgrade
    2014

    I upgraded two Force10 switches (a 1 gigabit and a 10 gigabit one) and an EqualLogic SAN for our Development and Testing Environment. This required configuring both switches differently for the two environments and purposes (iSCSI and VM traffic). I lead this project from start to finish.

  • Upgrading vSphere from 4.1 to 5.1
    2013

    I upgraded two clusters from 4.1 to 5.1. This also included creating two new vCenter VMs and migrating the database.

  • SRM Installation and Configuration
    2013

    After upgrading and creating two new vCenter VMs, I had to recreate the Site Recovery Manager setup. This involved configuring two EqualLogic pools, setting up SRM on both vCenters, and testing out the recovery plan.

  • Upgrading all wireless access points from 3COM to Ruckus
    2012 - 2013

    All four buildings had a limited 3COM wireless deployment. We upgraded the over the span of a few years to Ruckus. This involved a new controller, configuration of new and old switches, contracting out and supervising the physical access point install, configuration of the controller and APs, and finally testing.

  • Upgrading all Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2007 to Windows Server 2008R2 and Exchange 2010
    2012

    We had physical and VM servers, and I planned a migration of all services (Exchange, AD, File, Print, Financial, Lync). I proceeded to make new VMS and migrate the services, all with minimum downtime and impact to our users.

  • Reconfiguring entire network
    2011 - 2012

    I created a plan to move, upgrade, and retire switches, as well as rewire all the network closets. This was a time intensive task. I removed 43 switches that we no longer needed to due wireless coverage. I moved switches around for better reliability. I upgraded switches for better performance. I reconfigured the entire network for better reliability and performance.

Resume

Go to next/previous page

Skills

  • Server Management
  • Network Management
  • Employee Management
  • Project Management
  • Client Management
  • Customer Service

Detailed Skills

  • Server Management

    Setting up, installing, configuring, and troubleshooting servers.

    Technologies used:

    Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS), Macs, Windows
    Nginx, Apache, MySQL, Redis, Solr, Memcache, Elasticsearch, PHP, Git
    Ansible, Bash, Python, Objective-C
    Magento, Laravel
    Kubernetes, VMWare vSphere with HA and SRM
    Active Directory, Exchange, MSSQL, IIS
  • Network Management

    Setting up, installing, configuring, and troubleshooting networking and SANs

    Technologies used:

    EqualLogic, Cisco, Brocade, Aruba, Meru, Ruckus
    IPv4, IPv6, iSCSI, VLANs, layer 3 router, BGP, DNS
  • Employee Management

    Managing tasks, duties, responsibilities, requirements, and operation of employees.

  • Project Management

    Designing, planning, implementing, and evaluating technology and non-technology projects and personnel.

  • Client Management

    Setting up, installing, configuring, and troubleshooting clients including Mac, Windows, Linux, iPads.

  • Customer Service

    Communicating, assisting, and instructing customers with a positive and productive attitude.

Experience

  • Fastmail - Platform Team Manager
    2021 - present
    • Managing a team of 4 system engineers
    • Planning and implementing infrastructure improvements in multiple datacenters
    • Manage cross team and department development projects and initiatives
    • Automating server and networking configurations
    • Configuring and maintaining servers, firewalls, switches, and routers
    • Collaborate with other teams in day to day operation
  • Power Home Remodeling - Lead Site Reliability Engineer
    2019 - 2021
    • Managing a department of nine site reliability engineers, split among three teams
    • Planning and implementing infrastructure improvements in multiple datacenters
    • Manage cross team and department development projects and initiatives
    • Automating server and networking configurations
    • Configuring and maintaining servers, SANs, firewalls, switches, and routers
    • Collaborate with other teams in day to day operation
  • DTLR - Director of Digital Systems
    2017 - 2019
    • Managed a team of developers, system engineers, and project managers
    • Planned and implemented development and infrastructure improvements
    • Automated server configurations for web, mail, database, and other services
    • Configured, scaled, and maintained servers, SANs, firewalls, switches, and routers
    • Managed cross team and department development projects and initiatives
    • Collaborated with other teams in day to day operation
    • Managed budget with an eye towards low cost but high value
    • Wrote internal applications such as code deployment services
  • Villa - Manager of System Engineering
    2016 - 2017
    • Managed a team of developers
    • Planned and implemented development and infrastructure improvements
    • Automated server configurations for web, mail, database, and other services
    • Configured, scaled, and maintained physical and virtual servers
    • Managed cross team and department development projects and initiatives
    • Collaborated with other teams in day to day operation
    • Managed budget with an eye towards low cost but high value
    • Wrote internal applications such as code deployment services
  • Villa - Senior System Engineer
    2015 - 2016
    • Planned and implemented development and infrastructure improvements
    • Automated server configurations for web, mail, database, and other services
    • Configured, scaled, and maintained physical and virtual servers
    • Collaborated with other teams in day to day operation
  • WebstaurantStore - Senior Web System Administrator
    2014 - 2015
    • Lead Web System Administrators team of four members
    • Automated server configurations for web, mail, database, and other services
    • Configured and maintained servers, SANs, firewalls, switches, and routers
    • Wrote internal applications such as code deployment services
    • Planned and implemented technology projects
  • Custom Computer - Senior System Administrator
    2014 - 2014
    • Managed bench technician
    • Planned and implemented technology projects
    • Configured and maintained servers, routers, switches, and firewalls
  • Pequea Valley School District - System Engineer
    2011 - 2014
    • Planned and implemented technology projects
    • Configured and maintained servers, SANs, firewalls, switches, routers, & wireless
    • Instructed teachers and IT staff on technology
  • Penn Manor School District - Technology Support Specialist
    2008 - 2011
    • Planned and implemented technology projects
    • Configured and troubleshot software and hardware issues for Macs and PCs
    • Instructed teachers and IT staff on technology
  • MacOutfitters - Onsite Hardware Manager
    2005 - 2008
    • Managed on-site service technician
    • Troubleshot and repaired software and hardware issues on Macintosh laptops
  • Millersville University - Student Technology Specialist
    2000 - 2005
    • Configured and troubleshot software and hardware issues for Macs, PCs and printers
    • Worked with staff and student workers to plan and implement technology projects

Professional Organzations

  • League of Professional System Administrators
    2015 - present

    Member

Education

  • Millersville University
    2000 - 2005

    B.S in Computer Science and B.A. in Government and Political Affairs

  • Harrisburg University
    2009 - 2013

    M.S in Learning Technologies

Contact Me

Go to next/previous page

Contact info

I'm always open for discussion about any topic. Use the below information to get ahold of me. Email is best.

Send me a message

Thanks for sending your message! We'll get back to you shortly.

There was a problem sending your message. Please try again.

Please complete all the fields in the form before sending.