Publication
Working with ESP32 Audio Sampling
https://www.toptal.com/developers/embedded/esp32-audio-sampling
Ivan is currently unavailable
Ivan Voras, PhD
Verified Expert in Engineering
CTO Developer
Zagreb, Croatia
Toptal member since August 26, 2014
Bio
Ivan has a Computer Engineering PhD. He has worked as a CTO and a system architect, founding multiple projects and businesses. He has experience architecting and implementing server-side solutions, including distributed platforms, such as blockchains, chat servers, and game back-ends. He helped establish the Toptal blockchain specialization, served as a tech screener, and lectured for Toptal Academy.
Portfolio
ThoughtLeaders Ltd
ELK (Elastic Stack), Data Pipelines, Data Engineering, Python, Django...
Equinox Vision d.o.o.,
Go, Unity, DevOps, Management, PostgreSQL, HTTP API, Crypto, Scraping...
Ideja na kvadrat (Self-employed)
PostgreSQL, Python, Go, C, Database Design, Django, Blockchain, Cryptography...
Experience
- Web Application Architecture - 20 years
- Database Design - 18 years
- Python - 15 years
- CTO - 11 years
- Business Services - 10 years
- Go - 6 years
- AI Pipeline - 3 years
- Large Language Models (LLMs) - 1 year
Preferred Environment
Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Go, Git, GCC, Linux, Python, Back-end Development, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Ollama, vLLM
The most amazing...
...thing I've created is the Augmented Reality platform Equinox XR, bringing the virtual and the physical with GPS-based AR content.
Work Experience
Data and DevOps Engineer
2023 - PRESENT
ThoughtLeaders Ltd
- Developed an AI data processing pipeline for detecting brands in scraped content of the open web and media platforms.
- Made the AI data processing pipeline horizontally scalable, using AWS services and Elasticsearch.
- Developed tools for modifying and maintaining data in Elasticsearch to support business processes and decisions.
Technologies: ELK (Elastic Stack), Data Pipelines, Data Engineering, Python, Django, Databases, AWS Lambda, DevOps, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning, Elasticsearch, Applied Cryptography, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), AIOps, ChatGPT, Zapier, OpenAI GPT-4 API, Server Infrastructure, Auto-scaling Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Computing, Cloud Infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence (AI), AI Agents, Code Review, Scalability, Authentication, Third-party APIs, AI Pipeline, API Gateways
CTO | Founder
2019 - PRESENT
Equinox Vision d.o.o.,
- Architected and developed a highly scalable back-end architecture to handle hundreds of thousands of users for the global AR platform the company is developing.
- Assembled a team of developers, designers, and marketers to launch the company as a startup.
- Managed the startup's founding team for the early stage of the company.
Technologies: Go, Unity, DevOps, Management, PostgreSQL, HTTP API, Crypto, Scraping, System Architecture, Software Architecture, CTO, API Design, Architecture, Databases, Kubernetes, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, API Integration, Technical Leadership, Team Leadership, SaaS, APIs, Augmented Reality (AR), AR Interfaces, REST APIs, Financials, Back-end, Scripting, Docker, Docker Compose, Web Security, REST, Scalable Architecture, Due Diligence, Distributed Systems, Puppet, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), Solution Architecture, Email, OpenAI GPT-3 API, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Machine Learning, ChatGPT API, ERC-20, .NET, Leadership, Web Architecture, Web Application Architecture, Business Services, Full-text Search, Data Scraping, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Blockchain Platforms, Server Infrastructure, Auto-scaling Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Computing, Cloud Infrastructure, Project Management, Cloud Architecture, Code Review, Software System Architecture Development, Scalability, Communication Protocols, Full-stack, Authentication, User Authentication, Third-party APIs, API Gateways
Consultant | Blockchain Developer
2015 - PRESENT
Ideja na kvadrat (Self-employed)
- Developed the back end for a Bitcoin explorer tool with PostgreSQL, Redis, and Python.
- Handled DBA and DevOps for large companies and startups.
- Worked with a self-employment company as a consultant and freelance in web app architecture, big data processing architecture, and high-performance network services.
Technologies: PostgreSQL, Python, Go, C, Database Design, Django, Blockchain, Cryptography, Web Services, HTTP API, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Ansible, Linux, Security Policies & Procedures, Linux Servers, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Crypto, ARM, Makefile, CMake, Amazon Web Services (AWS), PCB Design, Scraping, Data, System Architecture, IT Consulting, Cloud, Software Architecture, CTO, MySQL, Technical Writing, API Design, Embedded C, Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Microcontrollers, Architecture, Databases, Kubernetes, Flask, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, API Integration, Web Development, Technical Leadership, MQTT, Cassandra, Solidity, API Development, Team Leadership, SaaS, APIs, Open Source, REST APIs, API Documentation, Back-end, Scripting, Data Pipelines, Apache Kafka, Swagger, Docker, Docker Compose, REST, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, Ethereum, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Ethereum Smart Contracts, Software Design, Scalable Architecture, Web Scraping, Data Engineering, Distributed Systems, Container Orchestration, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), Solution Architecture, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Email, Google Workspace, SMTP, IMAP, Raspberry Pi, Internet of Things (IoT), Embedded Linux, LAMP, Database Performance, ChatGPT API, ERC-20, Business Services, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Elasticsearch, Large Language Models (LLMs), Data Scraping, Blockchain Platforms, ChatGPT, OpenAI GPT-4 API, Server Infrastructure, Computer Networking, Auto-scaling Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Computing, Cloud Infrastructure, Decentralized Systems, Project Management, Cloud Architecture, Code Review, Software System Architecture Development, Scalability, On-premise, Hardware Engineering, Communication Protocols, Hardware Integration, Arduino, I2C, Authentication, User Authentication, Third-party APIs, API Gateways
Open Source Developer
2000 - PRESENT
Freelance
- Authored dozens of open source projects, including applications and libraries.
- Created a faster, faster, high-performance memory cache server with more features than Memcached.
- Built a module for PostgreSQL (written in C) to extend the full-text-search facility with support for the Croatian language.
- Developed a module for PostgreSQL (written in C) to support on-the-fly.
- Created a client-side public key encryption module in JavaScript and PHP for secure user authentication without SSL.
- Developed a fixed-point header library in C for environments without floating-point support (e.g., embedded).
- Created an encrypted notepad app for desktop and Android editing, directly saving encrypted files.
- Updated a blog regularly at http://ivoras.net/blog/tree/.
Technologies: Java, PHP, Python, C++, C, Database Design, System Administration, Embedded Software, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Linux, Crypto, System Architecture, IT Consulting, Software Architecture, MySQL, Technical Writing, API Design, Django, Architecture, Databases, GNU Debugger (GDB), Valgrind, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, API Integration, SaaS, APIs, Open Source, REST APIs, API Documentation, Back-end, Scripting, HTML, Apache Kafka, Swagger, Docker, Docker Compose, REST, Microservices, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, Smart Contracts, Software Design, Distributed Systems, Container Orchestration, Solution Architecture, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Email, SMTP, IMAP, Raspberry Pi, Embedded Linux, LAMP, ERC-20, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Full-text Search, Large Language Models (LLMs), Minimum Viable Product (MVP), OpenAI GPT-4 API, Server Infrastructure, Computer Networking, Auto-scaling Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Computing, Cloud Infrastructure, Decentralized Systems, Security Compliance, Cloud Architecture, Code Review, Software System Architecture Development, Scalability, Communication Protocols, Hardware Integration, Arduino, ESP32, Authentication, User Authentication, Third-party APIs, API Gateways
Solidity Developer
2022 - 2023
Tinloof GmbH
- Participated in R&D on managing communities on the blockchain.
- Created complex community management smart contracts on Solidity.
- Developed a prototype using a miniaturized version of generative AI on the blockchain in Solidity using the Markov Chain algorithms.
Technologies: Solidity, Python, Tokenization, Blockchain Platforms, Scalability
Senior Back-end Developer | Big Data Architect
2021 - 2023
OpenNovations
- Created an extremely performance optimized log processor in Go for anomaly detection in lab systems, capable of analyzing tens of gigabytes of data per second.
- Troubleshot the DevOps setup for a new product using Ansible.
- Troubleshot PostgreSQL deployment and performance issues.
Technologies: DevOps, Big Data Architecture, Big Data, Go, Cloud Architecture, Code Review, Software System Architecture Development, Scalability, User Authentication, Third-party APIs, API Gateways
Senior Lead PHP Developer
2016 - 2021
Foothold Technology, Inc.
- Troubleshot performance issues and daily database issues for a large web app.
- Worked with and consulted the DevOps team in closing hard-to-catch issues relating to the Linux kernel and PostgreSQL internals.
- Participated in planning and designing sysadmin/ops activities and requirements.
- Managed a data processing pipeline using Airflow and Snowflake.
Technologies: PHP, SQL, PostgreSQL, Snowflake, Embedded Software, System Architecture, IT Consulting, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Software Architecture, Architecture, Databases, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, Web Development, Technical Leadership, Data Pipelines, Web Security, REST, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, Data Science, Scalable Architecture, Data Engineering, Solution Architecture, LAMP, Performance Tuning, Database Performance, Web Architecture, Web Application Architecture, Code Review, Scalability, User Authentication, Third-party APIs, API Gateways
C Developer
2015 - 2018
EvoBits Information Technology SRL
- Developed the back end for a blockchain explorer product using Python and PostgreSQL.
- Created a system that periodically imports blockchain data into PostgreSQL for analytics purposes.
- Developed forks of the Bitcoin codebase to work as altcoins.
Technologies: C, Bitcoin, Unit Testing, CentOS, Bash, Python, Bitcoind, IT Consulting, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, REST, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, Smart Contracts, Software Design, Distributed Systems, C++, Puppet, Performance Tuning, Database Performance, Blockchain Platforms, Software System Architecture Development, Scalability
CTO and Founder
2014 - 2016
Akira Industries
- Developed multiple iterations of a PCB board for an IoT product.
- Assembled and tested pre-production PCB boards and made them ready for production.
- Managed PCB manufacture and assembly of pre-production PCB samples with a Chinese manufacturer (JLCPCB).
Technologies: Electronics, Digital Electronics, PCB Design, CTO, Embedded C, Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Microcontrollers, Architecture, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, Renewable Energy, Technical Leadership, Team Leadership, REST, Software Design, Container Orchestration, Puppet, Raspberry Pi, Internet of Things (IoT), IoT Protocols, Performance Tuning, Database Performance, Leadership, Web Architecture, Web Application Architecture, Business Services, Elasticsearch, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Cloud Architecture, Software System Architecture Development, Scalability, On-premise, Hardware Engineering, Communication Protocols, Hardware Integration, Arduino, ESP32, I2C, Full-stack, Authentication, User Authentication, Third-party APIs, API Gateways
Kernel Developer
2007 - 2015
FreeBSD
- Wrote kernel-side code dealing with storage systems (GEOM).
- Designed and implemented a device-level journaling module.
- Designed and implemented a virtual storage module.
- Gave talks at annual FreeBSD conferences about my work with storage systems (GEOM).
- Participated in the vibrant international community of users and developers.
Technologies: C, SQLite, FreeBSD, System Architecture, Software Architecture, API Design, GNU Debugger (GDB), Valgrind, API Development, REST APIs, API Documentation, Back-end, Scalable Architecture, C++, Raspberry Pi, Embedded Linux, Performance Tuning, Database Performance, Software System Architecture Development, Scalability, Communication Protocols
Internet Services Architect
2001 - 2015
University of Zagreb
- Designed and implemented the core of a web content management system back when they were a new concept (2001-2002).
- Designed the faculty web and student information systems as a technology and product architect.
- Designed a very modular web application framework.
- Designed and optimized the design of the database to include recent PostgreSQL features.
- Designed and implemented the server-side environment based on FreeBSD for high performance and uptime.
- Spearheaded the implementation of new technologies into existing products and processes.
- Completed a PhD in an efficient multithreaded client-server architecture.
Technologies: PostgreSQL, PHP, Database Design, System Administration, Security Policies & Procedures, Architecture, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, Technical Leadership, API Development, Team Leadership, Open Source, Web Security, REST, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, Software Design, Scalable Architecture, Email, SMTP, IMAP, Performance Tuning, Database Performance, Leadership, Web Architecture, Web Application Architecture, Full-text Search, Elasticsearch, Computer Networking, Security Compliance, Cloud Architecture, Full-stack, Authentication, User Authentication, API Gateways
Experience
Daisy Blockchain
https://github.com/ivoras/daisyA private blockchain where blocks are SQLite databases, in Go.
A Book About Running an Early Stage Startup in Eastern Europe
https://www.amazon.com/European-VC-Funded-Startup-Guide-Eastern-ebook/dp/B0C2XT3BV1?crid=3UR2IQ4LWZD2ZExplore the startup landscape of East European countries and review the differences in the concepts of limited liability companies and company equity in approaching the market. This quick reference guide is structured around the primary author, Ivan Voras, with additional chapters written by guest collaborators. The chapters are concise and focus on overcoming the various obstacles startups may face. You'll benefit from regionally relevant advice on finding problems worth solving as a startup, how to hire people, how to raise investment rounds, and how to find and communicate with investors.
ESP8266 3LED
https://easyeda.com/84e3e8ee/ESP8266_3LED_1_3-9442fb3e6844443299208137daf8dcdaAn IoT board around ESP-12S module (with ESP8266) powered by a 9V-18V DC jack, with three signaling WS2812 LEDs, two buttons, an OLED display, a beeper, and a temperature and humidity sensor. The board is meant to act as a hub and connect to other devices with more sensors.
My Electronics Blog
Since late 2015, I've been doing an increasing amount of work with Arduinos and similar-style electronics. I've created a blog to share what I've learned and to learn from the comments!
I'm currently interested in low-power design and solar power.
I'm currently interested in low-power design and solar power.
Bullet Cache
A memory cache server faster than Memcached (in its timeframe) and with more features, such as cache record tagging and tagged expiry. It also has more flexible operations on multiple cached items.
Publication
Guide to Multi-processing Network Server Models
https://www.toptal.com/developers/software/guide-to-multi-processing-network-server-models
Publication
Software Development Anywhere: My Distributed Remote Workplace
https://www.toptal.com/developers/remote/software-development-anywhere-my-distributed-remote-workplace
Publication
Installing Django on IIS: A Step-by-Step Tutorial
https://www.toptal.com/developers/django/installing-django-on-iis-a-step-by-step-tutorial
Education
2006 - 2011
PhD in Computer Engineering
University of Zagreb - Croatia
Skills
Libraries/APIs
API Development, REST APIs, Social Media APIs, LibC, Sockets, HTTP API, POSIX, vLLM, Arduino RTC, Python Imaging Library, LocalStorage, AES, Puppet.js, Social APIs, Pygame, FFmpeg, SDL, Google API, pcap, ZeroMQ
Tools
Ansible, PuTTY, ChatGPT, Vim Text Editor, Git, Apache, GitHub, Django-admin-tools, Trac, Subversion (SVN), Bitbucket, KVM/Qemu, NGINX, Mercurial, SQL Prompt, VirtualBox, Makefile, CMake, Valgrind, MQTT, Docker Compose, Puppet, AI Prompts, Claude Code, Apache Airflow, Postfix, Notepad++, MediaWiki, HSQLDB, cURL Command Line Tool, Trello, GCC, VPN, GNU Debugger (GDB), Google Workspace, ELK (Elastic Stack), Zapier
Languages
Go, SQL, Python, C, Snowflake, Stored Procedure, Regex, PL/pgSQL, Embedded C, Solidity, C#, PHP, Java, Bash, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, C++
Frameworks
Django, Knockout (Knockout.js), Flask, Bootstrap, Swagger, .NET, .NET Core, Unity3D, Unity
Paradigms
Concurrent Programming, Back-end Architecture, Database Design, REST, Hosting, Web Architecture, Web Application Architecture, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), DevOps, Socket Programming, Microservices, Real-time Systems, High-performance Computing (HPC), Refactoring, Clean Code, Data-driven Programming, Object-oriented Design (OOD), Management, Unit Testing
Platforms
Blockchain, Ubuntu, Linux, LAMP, Raspberry Pi, BSD, Red Hat Linux, Debian Linux, CentOS 6, CentOS, Kubuntu Linux, Linux RHEL/CentOS, Unix, FreeBSD, Arduino, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Docker, Ethereum, Embedded Linux, Ollama, Blockchain Platforms, Xen, Django CMS, Raspbian, Kernel Programming, Keychain, Kubernetes, Apache Kafka, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Tezos, Hyperledger, AWS Lambda
Storage
PostgreSQL, Database Performance, SQLite, Memcached, Cache, FlatFile, Database Administration (DBA), Databases, SQL Stored Procedures, Database Modeling, NoSQL, LevelDB, DB, Redis, smbd, MySQL, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Data Pipelines, Elasticsearch, Auto-scaling Cloud Infrastructure, On-premise, Cassandra, SQL Performance, MySQL Daemon, Internal Databases, Database Replication, JSON, Apache Derby, Firebird, LVM, CouchDB, Berkeley DB, MongoDB
Industry Expertise
Project Management
Other
Performance Tuning, Software Architecture, Cryptocurrency, Cryptocurrency Development, Architecture, Version Control, IMAP, SMTP, TCP/IP, SSL, Bitcoind, Back-end Development, System Architecture, HTTP, Open Source, Bitcoin, System Administration, SSH, Memory Mapped Files, IT Consulting, Software Engineering, Linux Servers, Data, CTO, Technical Writing, API Design, API Integration, Web Development, Technical Leadership, SaaS, APIs, API Documentation, Back-end, Scripting, Software Design, Scalable Architecture, Solution Architecture, Email, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Podcasting, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), AIOps, OpenAI GPT-4 API, Server Infrastructure, Cloud Computing, Cloud Infrastructure, Software System Architecture Development, Scalability, Third-party APIs, API Gateways, Game Back-end, Documentation, White Papers, Security Policies & Procedures, ESP8266, Hardware, Electronics, Firmware, Network Programming, WebSockets, Bluetooth, Distributed File Systems, Cryptography, Ethernet, Networks, Web Services, UDP, Encryption, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Embedded Systems, Site Speed Optimization, Public-key Cryptography, SFTP, FTP, GNU, Unix/Linux Virtualization, RSync, Multithreading, Writing & Editing, iSCSI, Hash, Regular Expressions, HTTP Server, Data Structures, Prototyping, Embedded Software, Crypto, Cryptocurrency APIs, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, Scraping, Cloud, Team Leadership, Augmented Reality (AR), AR Interfaces, Web Security, WhatsApp, Smart Contracts, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Ethereum Smart Contracts, Web Scraping, Data Engineering, Distributed Systems, Container Orchestration, Non-fungible Tokens (NFT), Computer Science, Internet of Things (IoT), IoT Protocols, OpenAI GPT-3 API, ChatGPT API, ERC-20, Leadership, Business Services, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Full-text Search, Large Language Models (LLMs), Data Scraping, Social Media Analytics, Large Language Model Operations (LLMOps), Prompt Engineering, ChatGPT Prompts, Applied Cryptography, Computer Networking, Decentralized Systems, Security Compliance, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), AI Agents, Cloud Architecture, Code Review, Communication Protocols, Hardware Integration, ESP32, I2C, Authentication, User Authentication, AI Pipeline, OpenClaw, Qwen, Data Warehousing, Data Warehouse Design, Consulting, Digital Electronics, Algorithms, ARM Embedded, Apache Cassandra, Electrical Engineering, System Design, NFS, Unix Shell Scripting, Genetic Algorithms, RPC, Memory Profiling, Social Media Integration, Single Sign-on (SSO), Protocol Buffers, RSA, OAuth, Peer-to-peer Networking, Lean Development, Embedded Hardware, Software Consulting, Technical Consulting, ARM, PCB Design, Printed Circuit Board (PCB), Microcontrollers, Renewable Energy, Financials, Data Science, Due Diligence, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Machine Learning, Polygon, Tokenization, Big Data Architecture, Big Data, Hardware Engineering, Full-stack
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