MAHMOOD MUSTAFA
Calgary,AB
Summary
Experienced Network Engineer with over 10 years of expertise in deploying and managing secure, standardized, and automated infrastructure across multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud environments. Proficient in AWS and Azure network cloud services, as well as traditional on-premises networks. Adept at ensuring seamless connectivity, optimizing performance, and driving innovation in network architecture and security.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Cloud Network Engineer
Best Buy
04.2021 - Current
- Created an Azure landing zone, establishing seamless connectivity from on-premises to Azure through Express Route and IPSEC VPN, ensuring a smooth transition
- Designed Azure dashboards to enhance network component visibility and troubleshoot issues promptly, leading to improved performance monitoring
- Collaborated with governance and compliance teams to optimize Azure costs, resulting in cost reductions of up to $5000 per month by eliminating redundant resources and enhancing cost efficiency
- Leveraged Python scripts within Azure Cloud Shell to automate daily operational tasks, such as UDR modifications and DNS record creation, significantly reducing workload
- Quickly acquired DevOps concepts, adopting Terraform best practices to efficiently manage infrastructure as code, under the guidance of orchestration and DevOps teams
- Developed Ansible AWX jobs to backup and restore Azure firewall rule collections in Bitbucket, enhancing disaster recovery capabilities and minimizing recovery time
- Implemented a standardized process using Azure Terraform modules to provision and manage firewall rules, significantly streamlining rule creation and maintaining rule-as-code practices
- Successfully planned and executed the migration of Azure firewalls to enable IPS on both regions as requested by the security team, achieving compliance without disrupting production traffic
- Conducted thorough research on new Azure features and services, with a notable contribution being the identification and documentation of the benefits of the policy analytics feature for improved Azure firewall rule visibility
- Led the Azure firewall policy audit initiative, optimizing and reducing rule count from 1400 to 400 rules, enhancing firewall performance and accelerating rule deployment
- Collaborated across teams, employing agile methodologies through Jira and sprint reviews to successfully complete tasks and achieve project milestones
Network Engineer
City of Vancouver
11.2020 - 04.2021
- Effectively managed and operated a range of on-premises appliances, including Fortinet firewalls, ASA devices, F5 load balancers, Infoblox DNS, and DNA Center
- Being on on-call shift schedule to work on critical network emergencies
- Contributed to the City of Vancouver's network modernization by upgrading network infrastructure and configuring smart traffic light switches
- Successfully replaced over 30 switches citywide, including those connected through single-mode fiber to fire stations, as well as legacy copper switches utilizing telephone lines
- Produced comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documents to guide junior analysts in their tasks, streamlining knowledge transfer and ensuring consistent practices
- Created clear and informative Visio diagrams depicting the city's network layout, aiding in better understanding and maintenance of the network architecture
- Played a key role in managing and updating core switches for the city, ensuring their optimal functionality through regular software updates and maintenance activities
Senior Network Engineer
Government of Alberta
05.2014 - 11.2020
- Manage and operate large-scale network for the government of Alberta 3 data centers and more than 500 remote offices
- Contributed significantly to the Government of Alberta's data center modernization initiative, successfully migrating network infrastructure to ACI across three data centers
- Managed staging, configuration, and oversight of over 30 leaf switches
- Led the creation of ACI objects, application profiles, and endpoint groups, facilitating application deployment over controllers for enhanced network visibility and management
- Collaborated on the implementation, deployment, and management of ACI switch ports using Ansible and Python scripts, in conjunction with Cisco's advanced deployment team, ensuring seamless workload migration
- Participated in the integration of Cisco Tetration, effectively analyzing workflows and mapping application dependencies for improved insights into network operations
- Worked on the successful implementation of Cisco SD-WAN and VMware Velocloud proofs-of-concept, catering to the unique needs of the Government of Alberta
- Collaborated closely with the team lead to establish L2 extension OTV across government data centers, enhancing connectivity and data sharing
- Instrumental in the implementation of Quality of Service (QoS) on remote DMVPN sites, skillfully shaping traffic across WAN sites for optimized performance and efficiency
- Expertly diagnosed and resolved issues with networking devices and infrastructure, guaranteeing smooth operations province-wide
- Utilized protocol analyzers to analyze data traces, promptly identifying anomalies and devising effective solutions
- Successfully tackled over 1000 incident tickets, collaborating with diverse stakeholders and service providers (IBM, CGI, Axia) to swiftly resolve network problems
- Skillfully executed more than 200 change tickets, meticulously navigating through change approval processes to implement new solutions and impactful changes
- Played a pivotal role in the deployment, operation, and maintenance of the DMVPN network, seamlessly connecting over 500 remote sites
NOC Engineer
EarthLink
06.2013 - 05.2014
- As a NOC engineer working 24x7 shift work schedule, responding to customer's problems within 15 minutes and repair incidents without escalation 80% of the time
- Meeting or exceeding customer expectations for incident resolution and change SLAs
- Tracking and staying on top of all Open Issues by case Reference numbers in remedy
- Working closely with network, server and exchange engineers to troubleshoot and fix issues
- Performing pre-engineered scheduled changes to customer network and server architecture
- Supporting medium to small size customer networks WAN and LAN and server infrastructure, following escalation matrices and escalating to service providers for site outages
- Working with a wide range of products from Cisco routers, Riverbed WAN accelerators, and to Checkpoint firewalls
- Experience supporting and troubleshooting Windows servers and core applications
Project Engineer
University Malaya
03.2011 - 05.2012
- Contributed to the implementation of the latest 5520 wireless controllers with high availability pairs in two data centers, enhancing network resilience
- Played an integral part in the migration and integration of various ministries into the government network, effectively refreshing and modernizing the network infrastructure
- Led the update of ISE deployment software for the government network, creating additional rules and policy sets for heightened security and functionality
- Designed and implemented VPN solutions for multiple ministries and clients, ensuring secure remote access
- Conducted comprehensive network performance evaluations to optimize traffic flow, enhance security measures, and streamline processes
- Monitored network service metrics and produced weekly reports, providing valuable insights into overall performance and trends
- Demonstrated exceptional troubleshooting skills, promptly identifying malfunctioning network devices including firewalls, routers, switches, and wireless access points, and taking immediate corrective actions
Education
Master of Science - Internetworking
Dalhousie University
Halifax, None06-2013
Bachelor of Science - Telecommunications Engineering
IIUM
KualaLumpur, Malaysia06-2008
Skills
Cisco Networks
Azure Cloud Network deployments
AWS Cloud Network deployments (POC)
HCL Terraform
Cisco ACI
Fortinet Firewalls
Python Scripting
Ansible AWX
Atlassian JIRA, Bitbucket, Confluence
Languages
English
Elementary
Certification
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Network Engineer Associate
- AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
- AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate
- HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate
- Akamai Web Application & API Protection
- Cisco CCNP
Timeline
Cloud Network Engineer
Best Buy
04.2021 - Current
Network Engineer
City of Vancouver
11.2020 - 04.2021
Senior Network Engineer
Government of Alberta
05.2014 - 11.2020
NOC Engineer
EarthLink
06.2013 - 05.2014
Project Engineer
University Malaya
03.2011 - 05.2012
Master of Science - Internetworking
Dalhousie University
Bachelor of Science - Telecommunications Engineering
IIUM
Similar Profiles
Rafael LopezRafael Lopez
Sales Advisor at Best BuySales Advisor at Best Buy
Kim HansenKim Hansen
Best Buy Customer Care Internal Site Admin at Best BuyBest Buy Customer Care Internal Site Admin at Best Buy
Griffin HayGriffin Hay
Service Advisor at Best BuyService Advisor at Best Buy
Keevon JenkinsKeevon Jenkins
Retail Sales Associate (Seasonal) at Best BuyRetail Sales Associate (Seasonal) at Best Buy
Pranjali AmbekarPranjali Ambekar
Senior Manager at Capgemini Canada INCSenior Manager at Capgemini Canada INC