Welcome to BrianAlcorn.com!
I am an IT Professional in Greater Cincinnati, OH with nearly two decades of experience. I currently specialize in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ansible and Ansible Automation Platform, and Python Development.
With educational roots in programming Visual Basic, C++, and Java, I started my career in IT infrastructure as a Windows Desktop Support professional, before moving to System Operations, where I administered Active Directory domain users, groups, and distribution lists. It was during this time I started getting familiar with server hardware, buying used enterprise-class hardware for my first home labs. I quickly transitioned to Microsoft Active Directory Domain Administration, where I authored and implemented group policy to orchestrate patching schedules leveraging Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). In this position, I also corrected a software bug in a VBScript web application for a vendor product we were trying to implement to support an international office.
Another rapid pivot introduced me to enterprise Linux system administration of the CentOS operating system. My first project involved the implementation of a FOSS email-to-fax product, integrated with telephone and mail systems. As a part of this project, I became intimately acquainted with postfix, which has served me well ever since.
My next shift was into a supervisory role, which offered a mix of hands-on and leadership opportunities. I managed various teams responsible for Windows and Linux endpoints, supporting IIS and Apache web servers, mail relays, Linux software repository mirrors, and monitoring infrastructure.
After five years in a leadership role, I moved back into an individual contributor role to focus on and hone my Linux skillset further. My next assignment was Red Hat Enterprise Linux administration and patching automation, which introduced me to Satellite 5 and 6, CloudForms, Identity Management, and Ansible Core, the free and open-source automation framework available from Red Hat.
Once again, I moved to a new position which continued my growth within the Red Hat ecosystem, including further exposure to Satellite 6, Identity Management, and generally more responsibility and freedom to guide FOSS adoption. This position also thrust me into the forefront of configuration-as-code and automation with Puppet Enterprise, which needed a full modernization when I arrived. I stood up the infrastructure, updated and adapted the aging codebase and orchestrated the client cutover for around 1,000 agents. I provided documentation, training, and mentorship for Puppet Enterprise through its entire lifecycle.
Most recently, I have returned to Ansible by engineering and deploying infrastructure for Ansible Automation Platform 2.4. This effort included a full migration of the Puppet Enterprise codebase to Ansible standard roles and playbooks, which was quite extensive. To streamline the migration, I turned to Python to pull in the Puppet Enterprise code, perform a multi-step conversion, and output Ansible-ready roles and playbooks into a waiting code repository. As a last step, I leveraged Python again to interact with AAP’s API to programmatically create job templates and associate them with the proper inventories, playbooks, and targets.
Outside of my career in IT, I’ve had many hobbies, including freshwater and saltwater aquariums, Ham radio, fishing, and vintage and modern audio equipment, to name a few. I’m an avid reader, though I “suffer” from Tsundoku, a Japanese term that refers to the practice of buying reading materials and allowing them to accumulate without being read, much to my wife’s chagrin.
On BrianAlcorn.com, you will find tech articles of all types, with other topics that grab my interest sprinkled throughout – Because we’re living life in a tech-filled world. You can also find me on LinkedIn and Facebook.
The author explores upgrading their vintage stereo system by adding a Dayton Audio subwoofer while switching to a Yamaha receiver after the Sansui failed. The Yamaha enhances sound quality significantly.
