ابرار أحمد

• Lead implementation for enterprise deployments of Dell PowerMax and PowerStore, improving performance, resilience, and operational efficiency across customer environments. • Directed SAN modernization program (Gen5 → Gen7 directors & FCIP), ensuring zero-downtime migration and future-proofing fabric scalability. • Designed and operated enterprise DR environments using SRDF, enabling predictable RPO/RTO and audit-ready resilience posture. • Led large-scale data migration initiatives from legacy arrays to PowerMax, ensuring integrity, performance continuity, and risk-free cutovers. • Architected ObjectScale for S3 workloads and integrated cloud pools for PowerScale, enabling hybrid-cloud data lifecycle management. - Unstructured data design and architecture for AI infrastructure. • Established enterprise-wide best practices for storage operations, connectivity, and data flow governance. • Delivered Data Domain refresh and integrated with Commvault, Avamar, and PPDM to strengthen backup success rates and restore SLAs. • Defined backup strategies aligned with industry standards, cybersecurity requirements, and customer governance frameworks.

• Architecting SAN, NAS, VMware & Backup infrastructure • Experience in storage provisioning, masking, zoning, replication, upgrades, performance management • Achieved storage effective utilization & consolidating of storage capacity & its management • Configured failover & failback -Business continuity operations for Isilon File share using Superna - Eyeglass • Leading migration of production workload from legacy 3-tier architecture to HCI - Simplivity • Working towards migrating Physical Isilon to Isilon SD Edge & cloud solutions • Transformation of Infrastructure services from physical data centers to cloud solutions • Experience in Azure - VM, Storage, Network, Backup center & Azure File share migration (PoC) - IaaS & PaaS • Experience in Azure Migrate, Azure site recovery, Azure Cost management, Advisor, Monitor • Plan and build disaster recovery & business continuity for Isilon File Share, centralized Backup • Proof of concept for Azure File sync & Nutanix file share • Architecting Backup strategies, types, schedules and retention policies for Physical servers, VMware & SQL • Experience in Datacenter management activities • Perform cost-benefits & return on investment analyses and aid management in making implementation decisions • Executing Risk management and Vulnerability treatment plan & its execution • Achieved 100% KPI in Backup and recovery services • Installation, configuration, administration and troubleshooting of VMware • Working & architecting of ESXi, vCenter, SRM, DRS, HA, Resource pools, VMware Networking • Attaining In-depth Proof of concepts from multiple vendors for Hybrid Cloud, centralized backup, HCI & Isilon • Prepare RFP/RFIs, SoW, technical evaluation & managing budgets - CapEx & OpEx for Storage & Backup • Creating Architecture diagram about the Data Center environment, cabling plan and building rack elevation

• Managing 12 storage infrastructure customers which includes banking customers namely HDFC, Axis, KBT, Yes Bank etc in India, Bangalore
• Designing, installing & configuring of storage arrays infrastructure
• Work closely with Sales team in client engagements, Deliver demos to prospective clients and engage in functional level discussions on product aspects, features and benefits.
• To prepare architecture, design, and presentation of solutions to meet the customers’ needs on Product details, DC environment setup and best practice solution.
• Implementation and firmware upgrades of Hitachi Enterprise and Modular Storage - VSP G series, VSP, HUS VM, HUS etc.
• Implementation and administration of Hitachi Content platform (HCP).
• Working with HDS presales designing team to build the solution.
• Working on Proof of concept and product demo to the clients.
• Implementing replication techniques and storage migration as per Customer requirements
• Executed storage virtualization technique in storage arrays
• Executed storage migration from modular storage to Enterprise storage.
• Racking and stacking of Storage arrays and SAN switches in Data center.
• Installation of VMware ESXi in CB series server and execute firmware upgrades in it.
• Verification of Bill of Materials and storage systems shipped in DC
• Verification of storage infrastructure by visiting the DC site often.
• Implementation, firmware upgrade and performance tuning of SAN switches.
• Creating Architecture diagram about the Data Center environment, cabling plan and building rack elevation diagram for the devices to be racked in the Data Center using Microsoft Visio
• Performance analysis and performance tuning of the Storage systems and SAN switches.
• Coordinated with multiple teams during requirement elicitation, business process design, development and testing stages
• Review weekly/monthly meetings with customers regarding best practices and to improve the storage array performance


Roles and Responsibilities as VMware administrator: 4 years

• Installation, configuration, administration and troubleshooting of ESXi 5x, vCenter, vSphere and Site Recovery Manager
• Upgradation of VMware ESXi servers.
• Configuration of recovery plan in Site Recovery Manager for Disaster Recovery solution
• Creating clusters for high availability (HA) and distributive resource scheduling (DRS)
• Creating and managing virtual machines and templates
• Migrate physical servers to virtual server using VMware converter (p2v converter)
• Configured Resource pool, vMotion, alerts, alarms, NTP
• Converting P2V and V2V using VMware Standalone Converter.
• Creating duplicate Virtual Machine’s using cloning technology (hot & cold)
• Creation of Virtual Switches, Ports and Port groups and setting up Layer 2 Security Policies for Virtual Networks
• Performance tuning of VMware servers and management of server resources between Virtual Machines
• Migrating of virtual machines using vMotion and datastore migration using storage vMotion
• Performing snapshots, cloning, cold migrations and hot migrations
• Creating templates from VM’s, deploy VM’s from templates and allocate resources
• Monitoring of virtual machines & ESXi servers (CPU, memory, disk and network utilization) for security.

• Responsible for managing 86 Hitachi storage arrays of totally 13 PB storage capacity.
• Working with Datacenter implementation team for racking, staking and cabling of servers and storages arrays.
• Creation of work order and action plans for a storage migration & upgrades
• Implemented storage virtualization technique in Hitachi VSP storage array
• Execution of LUN migration from one storage pool to another storage pool in order to increase the performance of the LUNs
• Executed migration from AMS array to G1000 array.
• Implemented Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning pools in Hitachi G1000, VSP
• Created and expanded storage pools in Hitachi G1000, VSP
• Implementation of Shadow-Image and Copy-on-Write Snapshot in Hitachi arrays
• Executing zone in Brocade switch.
• Creation of vfabric with respect to business design and its needs.
• Performing Migration and Decommission of the storage arrays
• Creating & updating standard operating procedures (SOPs) and operational Run-books
• Creating Architecture diagram about the Data Center environment, cabling plan and building rack elevation diagram for the devices to be racked in the Data Center using Microsoft Visio

• Responsible for managing sixteen storage arrays of total 3000 TB storage capacity spanning across five Data Centers globally
• Implementation of Storage Area Network (SAN) by the phase of zoning in FC switches
• Designing, installing & configuring of storage arrays by creating Fast cache, Storage pools and Host groups in EMC VNX series
• Planning & selecting appropriate disks for creating Storage pools for obtaining maximum efficiency from the storage array
• Testing different storage arrays with various sets of parameters using IOmeter for calculating IOPS, Throughput and comparing the output with existing Storage array.
• Calculating IOPS, Throughput, Disk utilization & Responsive time of the array using IOmeter and then implementing RAID for data protection
• Implemented VNX Snapshot in EMC VNX series
• Planned & executed SAN copy for migrating data from EMC VNX 5400 to VNX 8000
• Configured Shadow-Image and Copy-on-Write Snapshot in HUS 150
• Implemented Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning (HDP) technique in HUS 150 for Thin provisioning
• Worked as a part of Datacenter implementation team by racking and cabling of 7 Cisco UCS, 2 Nexus 5k switches and 1 EMC VNX 5400 in Sify Data center, Bangalore.
• Creating Recovery plan and consistency group for data replication in Recovery Point Appliance (RPA) &IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC)
• Worked on clustering, pairing, failover & failback operations in virtual Recovery Point appliance (vRPA) and also Image access (ATOT) & Direct access (ATOD) in vRPA.
• Executed storage virtualization technique in IBM Storwize V7000 by virtualizing EMC VNX 5400 behind IBM V7000
• Storage arrays capacity planning for all the Customers of around 2100 TB of total storage size across three Data Centers and thereby analyzing their data growth proactively for eliminate the bottleneck scenario in future
• Administration, Troubleshooting and Performances tuning of Storage arrays and Brocade switches
• Coordinated with multiple teams during requirement elicitation, business process design, development and testing stages