Marius is currently unavailable
Marius Ducea
Verified Expert in Engineering
DevOps Engineer and AWS Developer
Austin, TX, United States
Toptal member since July 24, 2020
Bio
Marius is an accomplished DevOps engineer with 10+ years of experience designing and implementing automated, secure, and reliable systems for companies such as AdMob, Thumbtack, and Zillow. He specializes in DevOps culture building through build, package, and release automation; infrastructure coding on AWS; Kubernetes; Terraform; and configuration management, monitoring, and instrumentation.
Portfolio
nClouds
ARM, ARM Linux, AWS Graviton2, AWS Fault Injection Simulator (FIS), Linux...
nClouds
Amazon Web Services (AWS), DevOps, Amazon EKS, Python, Terraform, Terragrunt...
Omnyway
Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS Lambda, Serverless, AWS Fargate, ECS, DevOps...
Experience
- Linux - 15 years
- DevOps - 10 years
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) - 10 years
- Security - 10 years
- Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) - 8 years
- Terraform - 5 years
- Python - 5 years
- Kubernetes - 4 years
Preferred Environment
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kubernetes, Terraform, Vim Text Editor, Git, MacOS, Python, GitHub
The most amazing...
...project I've worked on is AdMob—from the first server deployed to the end—when we had thousands of servers before the Google acquisition.
Work Experience
VP of DevOps Practice
2020 - 2021
nClouds
- Developed new services and capabilities for the DevOps practice related to Graviton2 migrations and chaos engineering solutions (based on AWS FIS).
- Helped position nClouds as a thought leader in the DevOps space and supported related activities, such as webinars, blog posts, and podcasts.
- Participated in nurturing a critical partnership relationship with AWS.
Technologies: ARM, ARM Linux, AWS Graviton2, AWS Fault Injection Simulator (FIS), Linux, Kubernetes, Terraform, Helm, AWS DevOps, Ingres, Datadog, Continuous Delivery (CD), Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Continuous Integration (CI), CI/CD Pipelines, Linux Server Administration, GitOps, Amazon EKS, Docker, Cloud Security, Monitoring, Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), Ubuntu, Open Source, GitHub, Git, ECS, AWS Fargate, Amazon EC2, DevSecOps, AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK), DevOps Engineer, DevOps, Amazon CloudWatch, System Administration, Linux Administration
Senior DevOps Engineer
2020 - 2020
nClouds
- Planned and implemented application modernizations and migrations to container-based workloads on Amazon EKS or self-managed Kubernetes clusters, in a well-architected, self-healing, and scalable way for nClouds customers.
- Improved 20 custom Terraform modules, including EKS, ECS, ECR, VPC, SQS, RDS, OpenVPN, and Elasticsearch, by setting up a CI/CD pipeline based on GitHub Actions to validate and test the modules when new changes were submitted.
- Set up a CI/CD pipeline for a Terraform-based IaC deployment to automatically test and push changes in AWS environments. The production environment required manual approval.
Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), DevOps, Amazon EKS, Python, Terraform, Terragrunt, ECS, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR), Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS), AWS Lambda, Amazon RDS, Continuous Integration (CI), Continuous Delivery (CD), Jenkins, Git, GitOps, GitLab, GitLab CI/CD, Kubernetes, Docker, Pulumi, Prometheus, Grafana, Helm, Linux, Security, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Networking, AWS DevOps, Ingres, Datadog, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), CI/CD Pipelines, Linux Server Administration, Chaos Engineering, Serverless, Cloud Security, Monitoring, Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), Debian, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu, Open Source, GitHub, Databases, AWS Fargate, ELK (Elastic Stack), AWS Fault Injection Simulator (FIS), ARM, ARM Linux, Amazon EC2, DevSecOps, AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK), Packer, DevOps Engineer, Amazon CloudWatch, System Administration, Linux Administration
Senior DevOps Engineer
2017 - 2020
Omnyway
- Designed and implemented Omnyway's next-generation infrastructure—deployed in redundant, multiple active-active AWS regions and built on modern technologies like API Gateway, Lambda, Docker, and ECS/Fargate.
- Built infrastructure as code (IaC), using Terraform and following best practices for Agile teams. Automated the process of bringing up entire AWS accounts and environments.
- Implemented security solutions for a highly secure PCI environment, using cloud-based tools such as AWS Lamba, GuardDuty, and Dome9.
Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS Lambda, Serverless, AWS Fargate, ECS, DevOps, Terraform, Linux, Security, Docker, AWS DevOps, AWS CloudFormation, Kubernetes, Python, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Networking, Datadog, Continuous Delivery (CD), Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Continuous Integration (CI), CI/CD Pipelines, Linux Server Administration, Chaos Engineering, Cloud Security, Monitoring, Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), Debian, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu, Open Source, GitHub, Databases, Git, Amazon EC2, DevSecOps, Packer, DevOps Engineer, Amazon CloudWatch, System Administration, Linux Administration
AWS Consultant
2016 - 2018
Zillow
- Advised and assisted various teams during Trulia's migration from a data center to AWS. Trulia is a subsidiary of Zillow.
- Implemented Terraform-based workflows, designing and creating most base modules (e.g., VPC, ALB, Kafka, Hadoop, EMR) that enabled multiple teams to reuse and share Terraform code, which sped up internal onboarding and management of Terraform code.
- Led cost-saving initiatives across all Trulia teams, such as using open-source tools, like Cloud Custodian, to take advantage of cloud-based elasticity and on-demand, automated shutting down of unused resources during off-hours to save costs.
Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), EMR, Apache Kafka, Hadoop, DevOps, Terraform, Linux, Jenkins, Serverless, Docker, AWS DevOps, AWS CloudFormation, Security, Python, Networking, Ingres, Datadog, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Linux Server Administration, Amazon EKS, Cloud Security, Monitoring, Debian, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu, Open Source, GitHub, Bash, Databases, Git, Amazon EC2, Packer, DevOps Engineer, Amazon CloudWatch, System Administration, Linux Administration
Site Reliability Engineer
2015 - 2017
Thumbtack
- Provided AWS expertise and cloud-based automation during Thumbtack's migration to AWS. Designed and implemented AWS account separation for a secure and reliable environment.
- Optimized system security with proactive changes, such as automated Linux system upgrades that were staged and controlled in various environments.
- Tuned system performance to optimize the efficacy of new and existing ELK clusters. Automated ELK cluster deployment with Terraform.
- Increased the availability of the infrastructure through planning, thorough testing, automated implementation, and chaos engineering.
Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), ELK (Elastic Stack), Security, Puppet, DevOps, Linux, Jenkins, Terraform, Docker, AWS DevOps, AWS CloudFormation, Python, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Networking, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Linux Server Administration, Chaos Engineering, Cloud Security, Monitoring, Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), Debian, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu, Open Source, GitHub, Bash, Databases, Git, Amazon EC2, DevSecOps, Packer, DevOps Engineer, Amazon CloudWatch, System Administration, Linux Administration
Founder, Principal Consultant
2013 - 2016
Opscale, LLC
- Founded Opscale to help startups in the Bay Area with their infrastructure automation challenges. Grew the firm to a six-person consultancy focused on bringing value to our clients and being very involved in the local DevOps community.
- Consulted to clients such as eBay/Paypal, Deutsche Telekom HBS, Electric Cloud, Balanced, and Continuuity, helping them manage and automate infrastructures using configuration management tools like Chef and Ansible on cloud solutions like AWS or GCP.
- Implemented Docker-based solutions that helped clients take advantage of cutting-edge technologies to achieve speed and portability for their businesses.
- Spearheaded DevOps community involvement: co-organized DevOpsDays Silicon Valley, organized the Bay Area Chef Meetup group, founded the Infracoders Bay Area Meetup group, and presented topics like configuration management and monitoring to Meetups.
Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Docker, Puppet, Ansible, Chef, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), DevOps, Linux, Jenkins, Security, AWS DevOps, AWS CloudFormation, Python, Networking, MongoDB, Datadog, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Linux Server Administration, Chaos Engineering, Cloud Security, Monitoring, Debian, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu, Open Source, GitHub, Ruby, Bash, Databases, Git, ELK (Elastic Stack), Amazon EC2, Packer, DevOps Engineer, Amazon CloudWatch, System Administration, Linux Administration
Senior DevOps Engineer
2009 - 2012
Promet Source
- Assisted clients in managing and automating their infrastructures: AdMob and Episodic (both acquired by Google), Card.io (acquired by eBay), Demandforce (Intuit), ChooChee (Deutsche Telekom), and Zuberance.
- Assisted in building scalable solutions by using cloud infrastructures, such as AWS or Rackspace, for most projects.
- Performed configuration management, using tools like Opscode, Chef, and Puppet.
- Built a solution for a scalable private cloud based on OpenStack and automated the cluster setup and high-availability deployment.
Technologies: Chef, Puppet, Security, DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Linux, Python, Amazon EC2, Amazon Web Services (AWS), HAProxy, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Bash, Boto, Networking, Git, GitHub, AWS DevOps, Linux Server Administration, Cloud Security, Monitoring, Debian, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu, Open Source, Ruby, Databases, DevOps Engineer, System Administration, Linux Administration
Linux System Administrator
2006 - 2009
NetForce
- Managed high-traffic sites for various clients, configuring high-availability solutions, load balancing, and various clustering solutions, using open-source implementations.
- Ensured application scalability and conducted performance tuning on various systems, using Apache and PHP; Lighttpd; Nginx; and MySQL clustering, replication, and proxy.
- Managed security and monitoring for Linux servers and Cisco firewalls and routers.
- Worked on various flavors of Linux distributions, including Debian and Ubuntu; Red Hat, CentOS, and Fedora; SUSE; Slackware; and Gentoo.
Technologies: Linux, Linux Administration, Shell, Shell Scripting, Security, Python, HAProxy, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Networking, Bash, Bash Script, Git, GitHub, Linux Server Administration, Monitoring, Debian, Red Hat Linux, Open Source, Ruby, Databases, System Administration
Experience
Knife-Backup
https://github.com/mdxp/knife-backupKnife-Backup is a Knife plugin that helps users back up and restore a Chef server. This can be useful when migrating from one Chef server to another during upgrades or to back up current objects on the Chef server for disaster recovery purposes.
aws-env
https://github.com/mdxp/aws-envaws-env makes it easier to work with multiple AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) profile keys and configs. It allows easy switching between different AWS profiles by simply running: aws-switch profile_name. It's very useful for anyone who has more than one AWS profile in their local config.
Certifications
AUGUST 2018 - AUGUST 2024
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional
AWS
MARCH 2018 - APRIL 2024
AWS Certified Security – Specialty
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
NOVEMBER 2017 - NOVEMBER 2020
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Terragrunt
Tools
Terraform, Chef, GitHub, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Git, Vim Text Editor, AWS Fargate, AWS CloudFormation, AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Amazon EKS, Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR), Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS), Boto, Shell, Packer, Amazon CloudWatch, Puppet, Ansible, Jenkins, ELK (Elastic Stack), GitLab, GitLab CI/CD, Grafana, Helm, AWS Graviton2, AWS Fault Injection Simulator (FIS), AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK)
Languages
Python, Bash Script, Ruby, Bash, SQL
Paradigms
DevOps, Continuous Delivery (CD), Continuous Integration (CI), DevSecOps
Platforms
Linux, Kubernetes, Docker, Debian, Red Hat Linux, Ubuntu, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Unix, MacOS, Amazon EC2, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), AWS Lambda, ARM Linux, Apache Kafka
Storage
MongoDB, Datadog, Databases, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, Ingres
Frameworks
Hadoop
Other
Security, Open Source, Serverless, Networking, AWS DevOps, System Administration, Linux Administration, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), CI/CD Pipelines, Cloud Security, Linux Server Administration, Monitoring, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, Amazon RDS, HAProxy, Shell Scripting, AWS Certified Solution Architect, Chaos Engineering, DevOps Engineer, ECS, GitOps, Pulumi, Prometheus, ARM, EMR
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