Hello

I'm Tommy van Extel

Linux Specialist and DevOps Engineer

  • Age 34
  • Address Arnhem, NL
  • E-mail tommy.van.extel@gmail.com
  • Phone +31 (0)6 28 50 78 37
  • Languages Dutch, English

Download my CV

Expert in RHEL, Automation (Ansible), Middleware, Containerization and more.

Introduction

My professional journey began when I started working as a Service Desk employee, where I handled a wide range of workplace IT tasks. Shortly after, I delved into the realm of System Management, specializing in servers and other backend systems. 

It was during this time that I developed a strong affinity for Linux, which eventually led me to a consultancy role primarily focused on Linux and Open Source tools.

I also gained experience with various Windows environments and even managed one at a certain point. However, my passion for Linux was unwavering, and I soon found myself seeking a position as a Linux Engineer.

As a Linux Engineer, I continued to refine my skills and eventually became a Linux Specialist, combining my expertise with DevOps practices.

Today, I still find immense satisfaction in working with Linux platforms and tools in various forms, including physical, virtual, and containerized environments

Professional Skills

Linux
MySQL / MariaDB
PostgreSQL
Ansible
Docker
Kubernetes
Git
AWS
NGINX
Atlassian

Work Experience

Dec 2022 - Present

Hosting Infrastructuur Linux Specialist

At the Politiedienstencentrum (PDC) i'm responsible for daily Linux system management, resolving incidents, applying changes (w/ Impact Analysis) and problem management

Jan 2022 - Dec 2022

Linux Engineer

At the Shared Service Centre Campus i was responsible for incident- and change management on RHEL Linux systems. I rolled out VM's with Satellite and configured them with Puppet and Ansible. I was also responsible for maintaining Jira and Gitlab and the migration of several RHEL6 systems to RHEL8

2019 - 2021

DevOps Engineer

At Avisi I was responsible for the installation, configuration and quarterly maintenance of Atlassian tooling, on-premise (with Ansible) and within Kubernetes clusters (Docker and Helm)

2017 - 2018

Technical Expert (Linux Engineer)

At ATOS I managed RHEL and SUSE systems - virtual and physical - for the Cloud Infrastructure Services team. I also managed the AWS environment for a large customer and was overall responsible for monitoring, incident- and change management

2012 - 2017

Medior Consultant

At AnyLinQ (TenICT) I was a consultant at the Midrange Management (UNIX/Linux, Open Source and Storage) business unit

2014 - 2016

Technical Application Manager

At ASML, department O&I, I was responsible for implementing a new SCOM monitoring environment (High Available and Disaster Recovery ready) for IT-components and applications (RHEL, Solaris, Windows Server)

2014 - 2014

Support Engineer

At ASML, department SEI, I performed third level incident coordination for the RHEV Red Hat environment. I also installed and configured VDI’s and created Puppet building blocks

2012 - 2014

Monitoring Engineer

At ASML, department O&I, I was responsible for monitoring the virtual infrastructure and middleware environment. I also did incident coordination and troubleshooting on Windows and Linux server systems

2012 - 2012

Web Operations Analyst

At Reed Business Media I managed and monitored Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems and clusters running Tomcat and Apache websites. I registered and applied changes with Git and Puppet

2008 - 2012

System Administrator

At CVIS I managed and monitored Linux, Windows and VMware ESX vSphere systems

2010 - 2011

Service Desk Employee

At Silicon Hive (Intel UMG) I managed and monitored Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, NetApp filers, DELL server hardware and a broad spectrum of software (middleware)

2006 - 2010

Service Desk Employee

At Philips PGIS TAS i started with workplace management but thereafter at Philips Applied Technologies i managed Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems and DELL/SUN hardware

Work Experience - Atlassian

Technical support and maintenance for Jira and Confluence

Technical support and maintenance for Jira and Confluence

Technical support and maintenance for Confluence

Technical support and maintenance for Jira

Technical support and maintenance for Confluence

Technical support and maintenance for Confluence and Crowd

Education

2015

HBO ICT & Management and Security (Bachelor)

Fontys University of Applied Sciences

2013

HBO Associate Degree ICT Service Management

Fontys University of Applied Sciences

2011

MBO 4 ICT Administrator

ROC Eindhoven

2010

MBO 3 Assistant ICT Administrator

ROC Eindhoven

2005

VMBO Kaderberoepsgericht (Pre-vocational education - middle management track) ICT

Pleincollege De Burgh Eindhoven

Certifications

2023

Linux Foundation Certified IT Associate (LFCA)

2021

EDB Certified Associate - PostgreSQL 12

2021

Red Hat Certified Specialist in Linux Diagnostics and Troubleshooting (EX342)

2021

RHCE 8 Red Hat Certified Engineer (EX294)

2021

RHCSA 8 Red Hat Certified System Administrator (EX200)

2020

Red Hat Certified Specialist in Advanced Automation: Ansible Best Practices (EX447)

2020

Red Hat Certified Specialist in Ansible Automation (EX407)

2020

AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (renewal)

2019

ACP-500 Atlassian System Administration

2017

AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate

2016

RHCE 7 Red Hat Certified Engineer (EX300)

2016

RHCSA 7 Red Hat Certified System Administrator (EX200)

2013

LPIC-1 Linux Professional Institute 1

2013

SUSE CLA SUSE Linux Administrator

References

  • Tommy is an excellent Linux engineer for whom quality results are of the upmost importance. He shows great determination and is fully dedicated to both customers and colleagues. He’s also very funny and a pleasure to be around!

    Yanne Veronneau Commercially minded entre(intra)preneur
  • I have worked with Tommy at Avisi and I agree with the recommendations of my colleagues!
    But more importantly, I think that as a colleague and also as a future client, you can trust Tommy to complete the given detailed task. Always nice to be able to trust someone when carrying out work! Also, it is special that he makes the complete and clear descriptions of how his Ansible/Kubernetes scripts work, which most technicians cannot do very well.

    It was nice working with you especially considering your sense of humor :)

    Thijs van Amersfoort Technical Consultant & Integration Expert
  • Tommy is an excellent Linux / DevOps engineer. Give him a task and you know it is finished perfectly and in time. Tommy helped us tremendously in improving our Ansible provisioning system. Furthermore he was responsible for the operational work on our Kubernetes-based hosting platform. He is able to make technical difficult configurations easy to maintain and deploy, hiding the difficult parts in scripts and configurations and providing easy to use runbooks and scripts.
    Tommy will make sure he is always up-to-date with the latest certifications and developments in his field so you can be sure to have the latest updates of your system.
    In short a valued colleague working accurate and independent.

    Sander Brienen Customer Success Manager EMEA at Gitlab
  • When Tommy just joined our Atlassian consultancy team, we were doing installations and upgrades manual which are error prone. Tommy has been main responsible for implementing Ansible scripts for new installations and upgrades of existing environments, including customer specific requirements. This has helped us to not only be more efficient in doing these tasks but also to make fewer mistakes.

    Next to that, Tommy has been responsible for hosting our customers managing a Kubernetes and Docker based environment.

    Tommy is a fun and relax guy to have around in your team and most definitely will add some humor as well. It has been a pleasure working with you!

    Patrick van der Rijst Atlassian Certified Master
  • Tommy is a very valuable contributor to a team. Independent, yet a team player. He thinks "solutions", not "problems". His comprehensive knowledge is enormous - and he picks up quickly and proactively on anything he doesn't know. Never tired of answering questions, always willing to walk the extra mile.

    Besides this, Tommy is a wonderful and very humorous person to work with. I'd recommend him for any team!

    Bart Muijzer Consultant at Sue B.V.

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