Gordan is available for hire
Hire GordanGordan Bobic
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Sofia, Bulgaria
Toptal member since March 22, 2019
Bio
Gordon is an expert database developer and database administrator (DBA) who has over 20 years of experience with Linux (preference for CentOS/RHEL), databases (MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL), and development in a variety of languages. Besides having multiple years of in-depth experience under his belt, he also has a bachelor's degree in computer science and is certified as a MySQL administrator and developer.
Portfolio
iOlap
MySQL, MySQL DBA, MySQL Server, Amazon RDS, Relational Database Services (RDS)...
Bet Studios
MariaDB, ZFS, Linux, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB...
Mollie
MySQL, MySQL DBA, MySQL Server, Percona, Linux, Database Performance...
Experience
- Linux - 20 years
- MySQL DBA - 20 years
- MySQL - 20 years
- PostgreSQL - 20 years
- SQL - 20 years
- Stored Procedure - 10 years
- MariaDB - 10 years
- Amazon RDS - 6 years
Preferred Environment
Unix, Linux, MySQL, MariaDB, CentOS, Linux RHEL/CentOS, RHEL, Percona, ZFS, MySQL DBA
The most amazing...
...MySQL system I've architected was capable of processing 30 billion records per day.
Work Experience
MySQL DBA
2023 - 2023
iOlap
- Carried out MySQL migration from a Rackspace-hosted solution to AWS RDS.
- Provided guidance on performance profiling and tuning changes.
- Provided extensive post-migration troubleshooting support.
Technologies: MySQL, MySQL DBA, MySQL Server, Amazon RDS, Relational Database Services (RDS), Linux, Percona, Database Performance, Database Optimization
MariaDB Database Administrator
2022 - 2023
Bet Studios
- Carried out extensive performance and stability optimization as well as troubleshooting on the MariaDB database server estates.
- Deployed new database clusters augmented with ZFS storage.
- Deployed PMM-based monitoring across server estates.
Technologies: MariaDB, ZFS, Linux, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB, Database Administration (DBA)
MySQL Database Administrator
2021 - 2022
Mollie
- Consulted on all MySQL-related matters as the client’s subject matter specialist.
- Carried out day-to-day maintenance, troubleshooting, and optimization of a high-throughput payment processing system.
- Prototyped a ZFS storage solution for databases. Productionized ProxySQL deployment.
Technologies: MySQL, MySQL DBA, MySQL Server, Percona, Linux, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB, Database Administration (DBA)
MySQL Database Administrator
2020 - 2021
Digital Context
- Provided architecture, maintenance, and deployment support for the AWS infrastructure and RDS databases.
- Performed database performance and anomaly troubleshooting.
- Upgraded MySQL 5.6 to 5.7 in RDS and mitigated performance anomalies.
Technologies: MySQL, MySQL DBA, MySQL Server, Amazon RDS, Relational Database Services (RDS), Linux, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB, Database Administration (DBA)
MariaDB Database Administrator
2018 - 2020
Shutterstock
- Migrated and updated a part of a large database estate (dozens of replica sets, hundreds of servers, hundreds of TBs of data) from bare-metal servers in multiple data centers to AWS and self-hosted KVM.
- Used ZFS snapshot sending, XtraBackup, and mysqldump for large-scale data migration, depending on what was available and most appropriate for each server.
- Installed a continuous incremental backup regime with hourly restore granularity using ZFS snapshot sending via Sanoid/Syncoid.
- Implemented Percona Monitoring and Management (PMM).
Technologies: SQL Triggers, SQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), KVM, CentOS, ZFS, MariaDB, MySQL DBA, MySQL, Performance Optimization, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Optimization, Amazon RDS, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Big Data, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB
MySQL Database Administrator | Database Engineer
2019 - 2019
Zolo Ventures Ltd
- Carried out extensive database optimization and significantly reduced page load times.
- Deployed additional servers for analytics and read requests.
- Deployed a performance monitoring and alerting system.
Technologies: SQL, MySQL, Database Administration (DBA), MariaDB, Optimization, MySQL Server, SQL Performance, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB
Senior Database Architect
2014 - 2019
Pure360
- Redesigned a large MySQL database estate running on Red Hat/CentOS Linux.
- Alleviated concurrency contention bottlenecks in InnoDB, rewrote queries to improve efficiency, and improved indexes.
- Tuned storage alignment, MySQL, and OS-level configuration, and used ZFS to further improve performance and operational features.
- Delivered performance improvement of 12x (1,200%).
- Tested the performance impact of moving to different cloud providers, including AWS (Xen) and ESXi-based ones.
Technologies: SQL, VMware ESXi, Perl, Linux, ZFS, Amazon Web Services (AWS), MySQL, Performance Optimization, Query Optimization, Performance Tuning, MariaDB, Optimization, Amazon RDS, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB, MySQL DBA
MySQL Database Administrator
2016 - 2018
UKCloud
- Troubleshot and optimized the database estate consisting of Galera/MariaDB and MySQL server clusters on a large VMware ESXi server estate.
- Improved the run times of a number of regularly recurring tasks from hours down to minutes.
- Deployed new high-availability PostgreSQL and MariaDB clusters.
- Used DevOps methods to improve consistency and reliability.
- Migrated legacy MariaDB/Ubuntu systems to PostgreSQL/CentOS-based replacements.
Technologies: SQL, CentOS, PostgreSQL, Galera Cluster, MariaDB, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Performance Optimization, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Optimization, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, MySQL Server, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB
Database Specialist
2017 - 2017
Investis
- Delivered performance optimizations in the client's stored procedures on MySQL RDS databases.
- Developed existing operations on the client's PostgreSQL RDS databases.
- Built overall database performance improvements in the 10x to 50x range compared to original implementations.
Technologies: SQL Triggers, SQL Stored Procedures, SQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), PostgreSQL, MySQL, Performance Optimization, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Optimization, Amazon RDS, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, SQL Performance, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB, MySQL DBA
MySQL Database Administrator
2016 - 2016
Rise Projects
- Resolved database throughput bottlenecks (AWS, RDS, MySQL).
- Achieved a 100x (10,000%) increase in database throughput in the first three days with minimal application changes.
- Reimplemented the gathering of application dashboard statistics to be asynchronous, alleviating several deadlocking hotspots.
Technologies: SQL Triggers, SQL Stored Procedures, SQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), MySQL, MySQL DBA, Performance Optimization, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Optimization, Amazon RDS, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Performance, Database Design, Database Optimization, DB
Data Architect
2015 - 2016
DVSA
- Steered, as the database architecture specialist, the database design and implementation delivered by three separate suppliers across four separate projects.
- Established processes to ensure that the back-end database solutions are maintainable, robust, and capable of performing in line with challenging availability and performance requirements over the long-term lifecycle of the system.
- Oversaw the migration of databases from the previous cloud service provider to AWS (RDS).
- Designed an exhaustive audit superstructure using shadow tables and triggers to be attached to the existing database design with minimal changes to both the database and the application stack above it.
Technologies: SQL Triggers, SQL Stored Procedures, SQL, Perl, Amazon Web Services (AWS), MySQL, MySQL DBA, Performance Tuning, Amazon RDS, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Performance, Database Design, Database Optimization, DB
Systems Architect | Administrator
2013 - 2014
Moorfields Eye Hospital
- Architected a high-availability managed service platform for the OpenEyes project.
- Deployed Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6/RedSleeve, Linux 6, and VServer.
- Devised a method for multiple field systems to work disconnected and integrated data cleanly upon return to base.
Technologies: SQL, RHEL, MySQL DBA, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Optimization, DB
MySQL Database Engineer
2012 - 2013
Adfonic
- Optimized and improved the database infrastructure containing approximately 100 TB of data, based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and MySQL (variants including Percona, MySQL, MariaDB, and MySQL Cluster).
- Worked with compressed archive databases residing on a GlusterFS storage pool. Automated tasks using Perl and bash scripts.
- Implemented a selective, versioned backup system for MySQL database structures.
- Developed an in-database job scheduler using stored procedures and scheduled events to facilitate parallelization of stored procedures to better leverage multi-core hardware.
- Designed and implemented a new database ingress solution to boost the data throughput capacity from the old bottleneck of 170,000 transactions/second to several times that figure.
Technologies: SQL Triggers, SQL Stored Procedures, SQL, Percona, MariaDB, MySQL Clustering, MySQL DBA, Performance Optimization, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Optimization, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, MySQL Server, SQL Performance, Big Data, Database Performance, Database Design, Database Optimization, DB
ISP Developer
2012 - 2012
BSkyB
- Worked on improving and optimising performance of the firmware update system for broadband devices.
Technologies: SQL, Perl
MySQL Developer and Database Administrator
2012 - 2012
Cube 19
- Developed stored procedures and optimized the MySQL database performance of the client's business intelligence data warehouse system.
- Tuned MySQL server and Linux OS; optimized indexes, rewrote queries, and implemented materialized views maintained by triggers.
- Delivered performance improvements of around 24x (2,400%).
Technologies: SQL Triggers, SQL Stored Procedures, SQL, Linux, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Performance Optimization, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Optimization, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Performance, Database Design, Database Optimization, DB
Unix Platform Architect
2008 - 2012
Atos
- Designed and implemented new systems for the BBC. Projects involved load balancing technologies (Inlab's Balance and BalanceNG and Linux kernel-level load balancing using LNLB). The platforms used were Solaris and Red Hat Linux.
- Updated LNLB code to be compatible with later kernels.
- Resolved a major BBC iPlayer outage and rectified the complex MySQL database problem that caused it.
Technologies: SQL, Perl, Solaris, RHEL, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Performance, Database Optimization, DB
Senior Database Administrator
2011 - 2011
Lumesse
- Resolved stability issues, improved the performance, and redesigned the server estate to ensure the long-term supportability of a client's replicated MySQL databases.
- Resolved a long-term recurring table corruption issue.
- Improved the performance of the database stack by over 20x (2,000%) on the same hardware and same VMware ESXi platform. This enabled the massive reduction in the MySQL server estate's size (and cost) while still providing better performance.
- Upgraded MySQL servers from 5.0 running on Debian Linux to 5.1 running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 with negligible downtime.
Technologies: SQL, VMware ESXi, VMware, RHEL, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Performance Optimization, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Optimization, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Data Recovery, MySQL Server, SQL Performance, Database Performance, Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), Database Design, Database Optimization, DB
MySQL Database Architect
2010 - 2010
Transactis
- Optimized MySQL databases to meet the performance requirements in time for the software product launch.
- Tuned the entire application stack, including VMware configuration, Solaris and RedHat Linux, NAS MySQL, table structures, queries, and stored procedures.
- Achieved performance improvements of several orders of magnitude.
Technologies: SQL, VMware ESXi, Solaris, RHEL, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Performance Optimization, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Optimization, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Performance, Database Design, Database Optimization, DB
Senior Database Administrator
2010 - 2010
Via Vox
- Tuned MySQL databases running on Debian Linux systems.
- Migrated existing MySQL databases to new hardware.
- Implemented a redundant fail-over database solution based on block device mirroring (DRBD) and Red Hat clustering, with secondary backups using MySQL replication.
Technologies: SQL, DRBD, RHEL, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Performance, Database Design, Database Optimization, DB
Messaging Engineer
2009 - 2009
Deutsche Bank
- Worked in a team of system administrators responsible for the day-to-day running and maintenance of various messaging platforms.
- Looked after systems running Sendmail, Mailman, Brightmail, and PureMessage spam filtering.
- Deployed PostgreSQL and bespoke messaging solutions on Linux and Solaris (9, 10, zones) with LDAP authentication.
Technologies: SQL, Solaris, Linux, PostgreSQL, DB
Systems Engineer
2008 - 2009
BT Global Services
- Worked as a part of the team performing day-to-day administration and maintenance of a large Linux and Solaris based service delivery platform running bespoke software.
Technologies: Solaris, Linux
Systems Administrator
2007 - 2008
Griffin Information Systems
- Built a new email storage system based on RHEL and SAN-based clustered GFS storage.
- Designed a redundant MySQL database for email metadata storage.
- Supported network systems and servers underpinning services provided to customers.
Technologies: SQL, RHEL, MySQL, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Performance, Database Design, Database Optimization, DB, MySQL DBA
Software Engineer
2007 - 2007
Solartron Metrology
- Wrote calibration software for measurement probes in C++.
- Produced a calibration certificate generation system using Perl, with data stored in MySQL.
Technologies: SQL, C++, Perl, CentOS, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Database Administration (DBA)
Systems Engineer
2006 - 2007
UK2
- Resolved a number of performance issues impacting the email system using MySQL clustering for authentication and metadata storage.
- Introduced the use of virtualization for product testing.
- Assisted with a large-scale data centre migration.
Technologies: SQL, Xen, Perl, RHEL, MySQL Clustering, MySQL DBA, Performance Optimization, Performance Tuning, Query Optimization, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Design, Database Performance
Software Developer
2006 - 2006
Mobile Streams
- Maintained a MySQL database containing metadata for all of the available downloads.
- Developed additional interfaces to provide downloads to customers in Perl.
- Introduced PersistentPerl to improve the performance of the HTTP front end.
Technologies: SQL, Perl, RHEL, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Database Administration (DBA), Database Performance, Database Optimization, Database Design
Software Developer
2006 - 2006
Lorien Customer Focus
- Wrote software for supply chain management for a major car manufacturer.
- Wrote the software in Perl while preserving the data in a PostgreSQL database.
- Performed optimization of queries to meet performance goals.
Technologies: SQL, Perl, RHEL, PostgreSQL, Query Optimization, Optimization, Database Administration (DBA), Database Performance, Database Design, Database Optimization
Systems Architect
2004 - 2006
Hanover Park Services
- Maintained and audited software for the customer's insurance selling platform.
- Redesigned the system architecture to streamline the server estate and improved availability by introducing hot failover capability between servers.
- Managed and optimized MySQL databases to ensure optimal uptime and performance.
Technologies: SQL, Xen, Perl, RHEL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, Database Performance, Database Optimization, Database Design
Software Developer
2002 - 2004
Billco Group
- Developed and maintained software for client's internal use.
- Architected the platform for a new group-wide data and document-sharing project.
- Handled systems administration of FreeBSD servers running a Coda distributed file system and MySQL-backed metadata storage.
Technologies: SQL, Perl, FreeBSD, RHEL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Database Administration (DBA), Database Design, Database Optimization
Software Developer
2002 - 2002
InterClubNet
- Developed a sports management system for the clients' foreign customers.
- Managed systems administration of Linux server infrastructure underpinning the software platform.
- Oversaw database administration of MySQL server infrastructure underpinning the software platform.
Technologies: SQL, Perl, RHEL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Database Administration (DBA), Database Design, Database Optimization
Software Developer
2001 - 2001
The Real Adventure
- Improved reliability and performance of the legacy systems.
- Resolved and mitigated complex issues surrounding the legacy code's inability to cleanly handle transaction interruptions.
- Managed database administration of MySQL and PostgreSQL database underlying the internal software platforms.
Technologies: SQL, Perl, RHEL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Database Administration (DBA), Database Optimization, Database Design
Software Developer
2000 - 2001
Selected Financial Investments
- Developed software for heavily customizable news data aggregation.
- Built software for aggregation and analysis of stock market data.
- Administered and optimized MySQL and PostgreSQL database systems.
Technologies: SQL, Perl, RHEL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MySQL DBA, Database Administration (DBA), Database Optimization, Database Design
Experience
RedSleeve Linux
https://github.com/redsleeve-linuxI was the first to put together the RHEL 6 port for armv5tel hardware architecture. I also worked on putting together the CentOS 7 port for the armv5tel. This involved putting together and developing patches for many software packages included in the distribution, which didn't build or work on armv5tel out of the box. Over 100 packages in EL6 had to be fixed to make them work. This reduced significantly in EL7 as more upstream developers started paying attention to the ARM port.
ROLE: Founder
ROLE: Founder
ZFS FUSE
https://github.com/gordan-bobic/zfs-fuseA FUSE-based port of ZFS. It is mainly intended for use on platforms where a native port isn't available, such as armv5tel.
I backported support for pool versions 27 and 28 from OpenZFS (ZFSonLinux and Illumos), so zfs-fuse is now at parity with other implementations (OpenZFS and Solaris) in terms of maximum on-disk format interoperable with other implementations. This is particularly useful when attempting data recovery, where other implementations cause a kernel crash when importing a pool. I also backported the mount.zfs helper and added support for using zfs-fuse as the root file system.
ROLE: Current maintainer
I backported support for pool versions 27 and 28 from OpenZFS (ZFSonLinux and Illumos), so zfs-fuse is now at parity with other implementations (OpenZFS and Solaris) in terms of maximum on-disk format interoperable with other implementations. This is particularly useful when attempting data recovery, where other implementations cause a kernel crash when importing a pool. I also backported the mount.zfs helper and added support for using zfs-fuse as the root file system.
ROLE: Current maintainer
SSM (Shattered Silicon Monitoring)
https://github.com/shatteredsiliconAdvanced monitoring and alerting system for Linux servers and open source databases, based around the Prometheus/Grafana stack. It includes support for monitoring Linux, MySQL, MariaDB, ProxySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB, including AWS RDS variants.
Education
1997 - 2000
Bachelor of Science (BSc) Degree in Computer Science
Royal Holloway, University of London - Egham, Surrey, England
Certifications
OCTOBER 2012 - PRESENT
Certified MySQL Developer
Oracle
OCTOBER 2012 - PRESENT
Certified MySQL Database Administrator
Oracle
Skills
Tools
*nux Shells, VMware, KVM/Qemu, RPM, Systemd, Docker Hub
Languages
Perl, SQL, Bourne Shell, Stored Procedure, C++, C
Paradigms
Database Design
Platforms
Linux, Linux RHEL/CentOS, Percona, Unix, CentOS, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Solaris, Xen, FreeBSD, KVM, ARM Linux, CentOS 6, Fedora, Docker
Storage
MySQL, PostgreSQL, Linux File Systems, MariaDB, SQL Stored Procedures, SQL Triggers, Database Triggers, InnoDB, MyISAM, Databases, Database Administration (DBA), Database Replication, DRBD, MySQL Clustering, MySQL Server, SQL Performance, Database Performance, DB, MongoDB
Other
RHEL, ZFS, Shell Scripting, Triggers, Galera Cluster, MySQL DBA, VMware ESXi, XFS, Relational Database Services (RDS), RPM Packaging, Performance Optimization, Query Optimization, Performance Tuning, Optimization, Computer Science, Amazon RDS, Data Recovery, Big Data, Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS), Database Optimization
Collaboration That Works
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring