Jerald A. DeLong

Network & datacenter operations engineer with 20+ years building and running carrier‑grade networks and colocation environments. Specialties include BGP/peering (route‑servers, communities, filtering, max‑prefix), Cisco IOS XR/NX‑OS/ASA, L2/L3 fabrics, IPv6, service hardening, and automation. I design for reliability first: clear change control, strong observability (SNMP/NetFlow/syslog), and repeatable runbooks backed by scripts. Comfortable from rack/optic to route‑policy to dashboards and incident response.

Recent focus: Tampa DC IX/peering and customer turn‑ups for AS16724/AS29881, modernized monitoring with custom dashboards, and an automation toolkit for DNS/DHCP/LDAP reporting, DHCP scope capacity checks, and network health probes—replacing manual procedures with repeatable, testable workflows.

Engineer II, Svc Infra & Appl
WOW! Business (Tampa Datacenter)
March 2015 – Present
Tampa, FL

• Operate and evolve WOW! Tampa Datacenter network (AS16724) spanning ASR 9000 (IOS XR 4.3.4), Nexus 9K/7K/3K (NX‑OS), ASA 5505/5506‑X/5580, and mixed Catalyst access.
• Build and maintain BGP route‑server and customer policies for AS16724 and AS29881 peers (IPv4/IPv6): communities, TTL security, max‑prefix, inbound/outbound filtering, route‑maps, and prefix‑lists; troubleshoot sessions and routing anomalies.
• Design and execute migrations from Catalyst to Nexus fabrics (vPC/LACP), Port‑Channels/MLAG remediation, balancing, and capacity planning.
• Implement and maintain security controls: ACLs, VRFs, IPsec/SSL VPNs, TACACS+/RADIUS; harden management planes and enforce change control.
• Create operational tooling and audits in Bash/Python/Go: DNS zone/PTR audits, reverse/forward record checks, DHCP scope capacity checks via nrcmd, LDAP group reporting (CSV/PDF), parallel SSH health probes for caching DNS servers, and SLA monitors.
• Deploy and tune monitoring/telemetry: SNMP/NetFlow/NfSen, syslog pipelines; Cacti (aggdash); speedtest server instrumentation; custom HTML5 dashboards.
• Own incident response/on‑call, RCAs, and configuration/firmware baselines (iDRAC, network OS), backups, and golden templates.
• Support colocation customers with custom L2/L3 designs, firewall/VPN setups, BGP turn‑ups, and low‑downtime migrations.

Selected operations highlights

• Standardized IOS XR 4.3.4 route‑server/reflector context templates and community sets for consistent peering policy.
• Proxmox HA cluster (3× Dell R430) for monitoring and internal services; scripted deployments and updates.
• DNS/DHCP toolchain: zone audits, Kea DHCP DORA analysis, and capacity alerting for proactive remediation.
• Peering/transit separation hardening (AS16724 ↔ AS29881) to prevent IX peers from hair‑pinning via transit; prefix‑list/route‑map enforcement.

IT Manager
Physicians Toxicology
February 2014 – March 2015
Tampa, FL

• Managed IT services for email, internet, applications, backup, and security. Liaised across departments to resolve issues.
• Monitored infrastructure hardware end‑to‑end; drove best practices and continuous improvement.
• Maintained network (WatchGuard firewall, VPN links, MS 2012 file/print server, MS 2008 Terminal Server, LIMS).
• Maintained cloud‑based VOIP and Cisco IP Phones, Sophos AV, Hyper‑V, NAS, Access Control, Exchange 2010, Desktop Support.
• Managed cloud hosted products (WordPress, OSTicket, external DNS).
• Implemented email encryption to meet HIPAA/HITECH transmission security requirements.
• Implemented Mirth Connect HL7 integration to interface EMR providers.
• Handled vendor management, business cases, estimates, requirements, risk, and oversight.

Systems Administrator
Acquirgy Inc.
July 2011 – Feb. 2014
St. Petersburg, FL

• Managed 500+ external domains, IIS/Apache web servers, firewall policies, and Microsoft 365; led Exchange decommissioning.
• Oversaw internal/external network infrastructure: servers, switches, firewalls, load balancers.
• Negotiated purchases, reviewed contracts, and integrated technology.
• Maintained a secure IT environment via monitoring, documentation, and firewall policy.
• Administered 60 co‑located heterogeneous servers in a SAS70 DC; led PCI DSS level 1 hosted network and /56 IPv6 plan.
• Implemented open‑source IDS for log analysis, integrity checking, policy monitoring, and active response (PCI).
• Delivered two‑factor authentication to meet PCI DSS requirements at minimal cost.

Network Manager
Acoustiblok Inc.
November 2009 – May 2011
Tampa, FL

• Directed all IT strategy, aligning goals with budget and business strategy.
• Redesigned and documented LAN; upgraded from 10/100 to Gigabit; implemented SonicWall TZ‑100 with AV/IPS/CF/VPN.
• Managed 50+ domains/websites including SEO; implemented Linux for internal DNS and Squid proxy.
• Maintained Exchange 2003 and Barracuda spam filtering; Windows 2003/2008 servers.
• Migrated Windows Server 2003 to 2008 and Exchange 2003 to 2010.

Sr. Field Engineer
Insight
February 2007 – October 2009
Clearwater, FL

• Managed 4 remote sites in a PC life‑cycle program (Essilor USA, RD division).
• Asset management, new PC deployment, and support for 500+ PCs.
• Second‑level problem determination; maintained SLA adherence.

Sr. Systems Administrator
Cryo‑Cell International
April 2006 – February 2007
Oldsmar, FL

• Maintained network infrastructure: Check Point cluster firewall, Cisco 2610, Catalyst 2950, Citrix PS 4.0, Exchange 2003, Fax server, Windows 2003 servers, Nexus 2000 phone switch, TippingPoint IDS, access control; implemented 24/7 monitoring.
• Stabilized 35 IBM servers and improved security; set strategy and budgets.

Sr. Systems Administrator
Metal Industries
February 2005 – April 2006
Clearwater, FL

• Maintained network (PIX, MPLS, Windows servers, Terminal Server).
• Integrated RightFax with ordering system; implemented backups with Veritas/Repexec.
• Implemented anti‑spam/anti‑spyware strategy for Sendmail systems.

Network Manager
Southwest Signal Engineering
October 1999 – July 2004
Jacksonville, FL

• Managed hardware support team (4 reports). Planned and executed DC relocation of 40 servers in < 24 hours.
• Maintained T1 Internet connections; administered VPN links to 5 satellite offices.