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Şenol Çolak, DevOps Engineer and Developer in Berlin, Germany
Şenol Çolak

DevOps Engineer and Developer in Berlin, Germany

Member since September 21, 2022
Şenol has worked in IT since 1993, developing software, creating and managing teams, and acquired C-level experience. From a technical perspective, he defines himself as a good site reliability engineer (SRE). Şenol likes to create incredible and stunning technical solutions. There are still running systems he created decades ago, and the professionals he mentored are all in the industry.
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Portfolio

Experience

  • Linux 20 years
  • IT Service Management (ITSM) 14 years
  • KVM/Qemu 12 years
  • ITSM 12 years
  • VyOS 10 years
  • Kubernetes 6 years
  • Ansible 5 years

Location

Berlin, Germany

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

MacOS, Linux, Kubernetes, Cloud Computing, Python

The most amazing...

...thing I've built is a giveback platform called acikkaynakfikirler (AKF). A community with 8,000 subscribers. I often send newsletters and mentor people there.

Employment

  • Chief Executive Officer

    2022 - PRESENT
    Kubedo GmbH
    • Created a company from scratch with ITSM and an inventory system. Hostbill, a CRM implemented with back-end services and product development.
    • Developed MVP for cloud management services. Automation and back-end configurations implemented.
    • Acquired new customers and implemented features. After the launch, we had eight paid customers.
    Technologies: Django, Python 3, Ansible, Ansible Tower, VyOS, Terraform, Linux, IT Service Management (ITSM), Kubernetes, ITIL, Team Management, DevOps, Firewalls, Security, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), GitOps, OpenStack, Hypervisors, Docker, MySQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cloud Computing, Architecture, Cloud, Continuous Deployment, HashiCorp, Ubuntu Linux, Proxy Servers, Python, VPN, Networking, Ubuntu, Back-end, IT Infrastructure, Ceph

  • Founder

    2020 - 2022
    Acik Kaynak Fikirler (AKF)
    • Created opensource courses for IT, including Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Ansible, and Scripting.
    • Built a community of around 8,000 subscribers and educated more than 10,000 people for the prepared hands-on laboratory courses.
    • Developed a course environment on Play-with-Docker and online Docker in the Docker Linux console. Keycloak and the Docker-in-Docker environment were prepared from scratch.
    Technologies: Education, Training, Content Creation, VyOS, Firewalls, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Hypervisors, Docker, MySQL, Architecture, Cloud, Continuous Deployment, Ubuntu Linux, Python, Ubuntu, Back-end

  • Cloud Systems Architect

    2017 - 2020
    unbelievable Machine
    • Provided %99.998 SLA to our customers within six months. Before my services, the SLA with the *um Cloud was around %98. During my management of it, SLA was stable.
    • Migrated Spectre-meltdown of around 3,000 virtual machines from Xen to KVM. I developed a conversion script for Xen to KVM libvirt patch for hypervisors.
    • Created Kubernetes best practices on KVM hypervisors.
    Technologies: Ansible, KVM/Qemu, OnApp API, oVirt, Kubernetes, Xen, Citrix XenServer, VyOS, Team Management, Ansible Tower, DevOps, Firewalls, Security, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), OpenStack, Hypervisors, Docker, Elasticsearch, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cloud Computing, Architecture, Cloud, Ubuntu Linux, Python, VPN, Networking, Ubuntu, IT Infrastructure

  • Chief Technical Officer and Co-founder

    2014 - 2017
    Hundertserver
    • Created a DevOps-as-a-service product and a company that provides services around that. The company had grown from 4,000 MRR in 2014 to 120,000 MRR in 2017.
    • Built the central hyper-converged system on XenServer. We used GlusterFS, DRBD, and Vyos routers on the hypervisors. I designed and implemented the systems, and my design managed more than 5,000 systems.
    • Developed a fully managed backup system for our customers. I used Bacula and Bareos backup tools and puppet automation to deploy our solution.
    • Created a ground-breaking hypervisor router environment. Each of our hypervisors had a Vyos virtual router. We scaled our infrastructure on three different continents and 10 different data centers.
    • Implemented OpenVPN mesh network and scripted and integrated Vyos.
    • Configured Mikrotik and Vyos for the customer Meinhotspot. Its 5,000 mini access points ended on our Vyos router and firewalls to reach the internet.
    • Developed the Hundertserver HS+ product. I created an automation interface in Python for our product. Puppet and Scala frameworks were used for DevOps-as-a-service environment creation.
    • Converted XenServer hypervisors to Proxmox environments. Licensing benefits on 200 servers.
    • Implemented ITSM by adopting iTOP into service management. KPI and service desk analysis began to be used as metrics for the company.
    • Introduced OKRs to the company, two cycles run before the leave.
    Technologies: Puppetlabs, Ansible, Linux, Proxmox, XenServer, VyOS, MikroTik, MySQL, Elasticsearch, Checkmk, ITSM, IT Service Management (ITSM), Kubernetes, ITIL, Team Management, DevOps, Firewalls, Security, OpenStack, Hypervisors, Docker, Cloud Computing, Architecture, Training, Cloud, Ubuntu Linux, Squid Proxy Server, Proxy Servers, Squid, Python, VPN, Networking, Varnish, Ubuntu, IT Infrastructure

  • Technology Renewal and Technology Consultant

    2013 - 2014
    KoçSistem
    • Led a datacenter migration project for an insurance company called Allianz. We migrated the 50-racks datacenter uninterrupted, including the legacy mainframes and Oracle Exadata. A €2 million budget project was done for €250,000.
    • Acted as joint project manager for an insurance customer, BNP Paribas. Migrated their datacenter to another provider and managed Oracle, storage, and Network operations.
    • Consulted on technology renewal and governance for a pharmaceutical wholesaler company. After the consulting, the company invested €20 million less for its five-year plan. The customer was using SAP with Oracle DB and had huge performance problems.
    • Provided technology renewal and analysis consulting for a big retail company. We offered the company to use open-source alternatives on their enterprise technology stack. By consulting, they decided to use alternative databases to Oracle.
    Technologies: SAP, Storage, Hypervisors, ITIL, Firewalls, Cloud Computing, Architecture, Training, Cloud, Proxy Servers, VPN, Networking, IT Infrastructure

  • Chief Technical Officer

    2011 - 2013
    Tüm Eczac Kooperatifleri Birlii
    • Migrated legacy ERP system to SAP ERP system on a 2,000-employee organization.
    • Used open source enterprise technologies for the technology stack, including Xen, Vyatta, and Mikrotik. TCO increased by %90.
    • Managed 23 different city teams in coordination. Led technical involvement and deployment of the software in 50 branch offices.
    • Mentored and led the use of open source technologies, including Linux, Xen, KVM hypervisors, Vyatta (Vyos), Bacula backup, Openvpn, l2tp, Postfix, Samba, MySQL, Nagios, and PostgreSQL.
    Technologies: SAP, IT Project Management, ITIL, IT Service Management (ITSM), Oracle, ITSM, VyOS, Firewalls, Security, Hypervisors, MySQL, Architecture, Education, Squid Proxy Server, Proxy Servers, Squid, VPN, Networking, Ubuntu, IT Infrastructure

  • Chief Information Officer

    2005 - 2011
    Farmalojistik A.S.
    • Implemented Oracle RAC for the company databases. Oracle 11g.
    • Managed Postfix mail server and OpenBSD packet-filter firewall implementations.
    • Wrote outbound integrations on Python and Bash scripts.
    Technologies: Linux, ITSM, IT Project Management, Team Management, Oracle DBA, SAP Basis, Xen, Oracle PL/SQL, Oracle, IT Service Management (ITSM), ITIL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), VyOS, Firewalls, Hypervisors, MySQL, Architecture, Education, Squid Proxy Server, Proxy Servers, Squid, Python, VPN, Networking, Ubuntu, IT Infrastructure

  • R&D Engineer

    2004 - 2005
    POS
    • Led development and R&D of software for gas stations.
    • Maintained software for Turkish Lira. A 6-digit reduce operation. All the statically configured values on the point-of-sale hardware were converted to use fewer digits.
    • Managed R&D using Linux on POS software. Introduced OSS to the commercial use cases.
    Technologies: Python 2, C#, Delphi, MSSQLCE, Oracle, Proxy Servers, IT Infrastructure

Experience

  • Kubedo Engine | A Cloud Agnostic Managed Services Platform
    https://kubedo.com

    A Django-based application allows clients to register Gmail and GitLab and use their Cloud credentials to deploy their infrastructure to their cloud environment.

    I fully designed and implemented the software. The software triggers server-side operations via using Ansible playbooks. Monitoring is also initiating AIOPs operations by looking at the use patterns.

  • Hundertserver HCI Infrastructure and Creating Managed Services Company
    https://hundertserver.de

    I co-founded a company called Hundertserver GmbH. I was the chief architect responsible for creating our hyper-converged infrastructure.

    I created a hyper-converged solution from open source tools. We used XenServer/Proxmox/KVM, GlusterFS, DRBD, VyOS, BGP, OpenVPN, Checkmk, ELK, and Ceph storage. Our solutions include managed Kubernetes and database (MySQL/PostgreSQL). I created automated cluster services on these technologies. We deployed the solutions via Puppet and Ansible. We implemented ITSM solutions around iTop.

  • SAP Infrastructure with Xen Hypervisors

    I created the biggest architecture in the volume of billing transactions (creating 5,000 bills per hour) in the SAP R3 environment. SAP did not have a customer like that; I designed a dispatching and load balancing mechanism for SAP R3 instances. On the back end, I used Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC), and later we migrated to Oracle Exadata.
    Starting from the sizing of the environment, all the management and the R/D of the environment were created small scale. We created an IT department of 20+ people for the SAP implementation project. We managed a $60 million budget in six years.

    Highlights:
    I designed and implemented a very efficient and open-source infrastructure. I used Xen/Hypervisor and MikroTik routers, which saved us around %90 of the planned investments.

Skills

  • Languages

    Python, Python 3, Python 2, C#, Delphi

  • Tools

    Ansible, Ansible Tower, KVM/Qemu, Squid Proxy Server, Squid, Terraform, HashiCorp, VPN, Varnish, Citrix XenServer, Checkmk, Keycloak, OpenVPN, Puppet, iTop, Oracle RAC

  • Paradigms

    DevOps, Continuous Deployment, ITIL

  • Platforms

    Linux, Kubernetes, OpenStack, Docker, Ubuntu Linux, Ubuntu, Oracle, Amazon Web Services (AWS), MacOS, oVirt, Xen, Proxmox, XenServer, Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

  • Storage

    MySQL, Elasticsearch, Ceph, Oracle DBA, Oracle PL/SQL, MSSQLCE, Oracle Cloud, DRBD, SUSE

  • Industry Expertise

    Security

  • Other

    Computer Engineering, VyOS, Education, Training, Hypervisors, ITSM, Team Management, Firewalls, GitOps, Cloud Computing, Architecture, Cloud, Proxy Servers, IT Infrastructure, Kubernetes Operations (Kops), Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Networking, Back-end, Software Engineering, Computer Science, Content Creation, MikroTik, SAP, Storage, IT Project Management, IT Service Management (ITSM), SAP Basis, SAP R/3, NFS, High Availability Disaster Recovery (HADR), IT Management, Failover Solutions, Oracle Data Guard

  • Frameworks

    Django

  • Libraries/APIs

    OnApp API, Puppetlabs

Education

  • Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering
    1996 - 2001
    Eastern Mediterranean University - Famagusta, Cyprus

Certifications

  • Certified Kubernetes Administrator
    JUNE 2021 - JUNE 2024
    Linux Foundation

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