Hi, I am Frank Carolan,
an Senior IT Professional
with 15 years of industry experience living in Dundalk, Ireland.

The stuff i know.

I have been working in IT for nearly 15 years in Ireland. I have extensive knowledge of Systems Administration, Microsoft Windows Server, Active Directory, Linux (Ubuntu, Red Hat and Susie). In addition to IT Administration and Support.

I am also a Front-End Web Developer using CSS3, PHP, HTML, MySQL and Javascript.

Check out some of my work.

The things i do.

Here are some of the technologies I know:

Systems Administration and IT Support Knowledge.

I have been using VMWARE for about 3 years now. I have extensive knowledge building VMWARE Environments and supporting the day to day running of the environment.

I have excellent knowledge of ESXi V4.1 / 5, vCenter 4.1 / 5, vSphere 4.1 / 5, VMWARE Support and Backup with SAN Storage Systems and Enterprise Tape Drive Systems.

In my current role as Senior IT Officer within Aramex Ireland I use VMWARE on a daily basis. I have also used VMWARE in other roles such as ABP Food Group.

Tags: VMWARE, ESXi 4.1, ESXi 5.0, vCenter, vSphere, Veem Backup, Symantec Backup Exec, Server Maintenance, IT Support.

I have about 7 years experience using Red Hat Linux in an Enterprise Environment, mainly in a support function.

In the past i have setup Linux Servers and added them to Linux Domains, Added Services and added Red Hat Servers to Windows Domains.

My knowledge of Linux would at the moment would be quite strong, but I would be the first to admit that a refresh of my skill would not hurt. :-)

I used Red Hat Linux in iQon Technologies were I became a qualified Linux Administrator, I also used Red Hat Linux in ABP Food Group as our main development server for Progress 4GL.

My preferred distro of Linux would be Ubtuntu Linux, Im sorry if that dissapoints many....

Tags: Linux, RED HAT, ABP, iQON, ubuntu.

From the moment I set foot into the IT arena until the present day I have been using some release of Windows Server, from Windows NT 4, Windows Server 2000 up to an including Windows Server 2008 R2, I have not got my hands on Windows Server 2012 as of yet, but soon...very soon.

Every role I have been in has used Windows Server in some form, from Domain Controllers, File Server, Exchange Server and Print Servers, there is always a requirement for Windows Servers.

I have 15 years experience using Windows Servers from fresh install, setting up new domains, creating Exchange Server, creating File Servers and creating Windows Deployment Servers, Print Servers, Clustering, Application Servers and Development Servers.

Tags: Windows, Microsoft, Linux, Exchange, Active Directory.

Where I go when i get up in the mornings....Work.

Job Title: Senior IT Officer / Developer

No of Staff: 115

Industry: Transportation / Logistics

Main Duties: IT Support / IT Manager

Started Date: March 2011
Leaving Date: November 2013

Web: http://www.aramex.com

I am responsible for the running of all IT operations within Ireland and report directly to both the European / N. American IT Manager and the CEO of European Operations.

My duties are to ensure IT operations for all staff members within the Irish Operations and that the business can continue and re-act at a moments notice when requried.

The main technologies are Windows Server, Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory, VMWARE, Hyper-V, Windows Deployment Services, Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8 Enterprise, PHP, VB.NET, Microsoft SQL Databases.

Tags: Microsoft, Aramex, VMWARE, PHP

Job Title: IT / Network Engineer

No of Staff: 80+

Industry: Events / Hospitality

Main Duties: IT Support

Started Date: January 2014

Web: http://www.theccd.ie

I am responsible for the support of inhouse corporate networks and systems while also providing Event support for our corporate customers.

Tags: Microsoft, TheCCD, VMWARE, PHP

Job Title: Senior IT / 4GL Developer

No of Staff: 500+

Industry: Meat Industry

Main Duties: 4GL Development / IT

Started Date: Dec 2009
Leaving Date: March 2011

Web: http://www.abpfoodgroup.com

ABP Food Group is Europes Largest Meat Processing Company.

While working in ABP i was responsible for Progress 4GL Development and IT Support of 6 Meat Processing Sites in Ireland.

I used the following technologies while working in ABP.

- VMWARE, Windows Server 2003, 2008 R2, RED HAT Linux, Progress 4GL and Database Technology, Cisco Networking Hardware, PHP, VB.NET.

Tags: Progress 4GL, Red Hat Linux, Microsoft, Cisco, ABP Food Group.

Job Title: Systems Administrator

No of Staff: 100+

Industry: Computer Industry

Main Duties: Supporting IT Infrastructure

Started Date:Sept 2005
Leaving Date: March 207

Web: http://www.iqon.ie

I started working in the Customer / Technical Support Department in September 2005.

After a couple of months I moved to a Systems Administrator Role where i was responsible for looking after the IT infrastructure for iQon Technologies such as Windows Server 2003 Servers, Windows XP Desktops, Symantec Endpoint Antivirus, TCP/IP Networking and PC Repair.

I setup the new corporate network in iQons new premises in the summer of 2007.

Tags: iQon Technologies, Microsoft, Red Hat Linux, Symantec.

Things I do outside of Work - My Projects

Technologies: PHP, Javascript, MySQL, CSS3
Web: http://www.uswapped.com

I built uSwapped.com initially as a test to see how far i could develop a project and it has grown into its own monster.

The concept behind uSwapped.com was to bring back to art of Swapping Items and Services with the users of the site.

It would be a mix between eBay, DoneDeal.ie and BuyandSell.ie.

I used PHP 5.4, MySQL, CSS3 and Javascript to build this website.

Tags: PHP, MySQL, CSS3, Javascript, uSwapped, DoneDeal, eBay, BuyandSell.

Technologies: PHP, Javascript, MySQL, CSS3
Web: http://www.onedayfest.org

OneDay is a music festival that brings together the best that the Irish Music Industry has to offer.
The festival is in aid of the Irish Cancer Society and all proceeds will go to benefit the charity.

Contact me if you want to get involved.

Tags: PHP, MySQL, CSS3, Javascript, OneDayFest.org

Technologies: VB.NET, PHP, MySQL, Javascripit, HTML
Web: http://www.zinoko.com

I designed the Zinoko Web Browser for Children to address an issue that I recognised with children in my family and their activity on the internet.

There is little or no supervision for children on the Internet and the majority of parents would allow their children to surf the internet unsupervied.

Therefore I designed Zinoko to address this. Zinoko is designed to allow parents to enter a list of blocked web links, keywords and websites, then Zinoko will monitor and block the actual links on the webpages.

Zinoko will also save the internet information while the children are surfing the Internet, this information is accessible to Parents online.

Tags: Internet, Safety, Zinoko, Security

We all use computers but less than 30% of us can program them, Learn to Code.

I started programming with Visual Tools in my college days were I learned VB6 and some Visual C++.
C++ and I never really got on together but VB and I became the best of friends.
I used VB6 for about 8 years until I found .NET and swiftly moved over to using VB.NET and the .NET Framework.
I have used VB.NET is a couple of roles in the past but more notably in my current role in Aramex.

I help to develop a means of sending Proof Of Delivery Document in Base 64 / XML format from the users computer to our Backend Webservices.
I also used VB.NET to develop the Zinoko Web Browser for Children.

VB.NET would be my .NET language of choice. Maybe one day C++ / C# will become friends again... never say never.

Tags: Microsoft, Aramex, VB.NET, XML

I started using PHP in 2009.
I came up with the idea for uSwapped.com and decided that I would develop the website myself, but I didnt know a dynamic programming language that I could use.

So I taught myself how to use PHP.
I use PHP almost everyday in my personal time and it is my Web Language of choice.

I am currently using a couple of version of PHP, 5.3.x in Work whenever I need to develop a website, 5.4.x on my own testing environment and 5.5x on my hosting environment.

I recommend learning PHP to everyone who wants to develop for the Web, it is easy to pick up and very powerful.

Check out PHP Academy on YouTube for great tutorials.

I started using CSS around the same time I was learning PHP. At the time it would have been CSS2 and then I moved into CSS3.

I would recommend to all "wanna be" developers to learn CSS. It is a must.

Every project I have developed for the Web uses CSS for formatting and animation.

For more information visit the W3 tutorial website, I am not affiliate to any tutorial website but they are a must for learning the technology.

I would also recommend learning HTML 4 or HTML 5 to complement this language because you can do some cool stuff with CSS3 and HTML.

Tags: W3

I started using CSS around the same time I was learning PHP. At the time it would have been CSS2 and then I moved into CSS3.

I would recommend to all "wanna be" developers to learn CSS. It is a must.

Every project I have developed for the Web uses CSS for formatting and animation.

For more information visit the W3 tutorial website, I am not affiliate to any tutorial website but they are a must for learning the technology.

I would also recommend learning HTML 4 or HTML 5 to complement this language because you can do some cool stuff with CSS3 and HTML.

Tags: W3

Have a Question? Drop me a Message.

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Hi, I am Frank Carolan, an Senior IT Professional with 15 years of industry experience living in Dundalk, Ireland.

Hi, I am Frank Carolan,
an Senior IT Professional
with 15 years of industry experience living in Dundalk, Ireland.