University of Rochester

Linux Systems Administrator Job ID 225818

Location

Central Administration

Full/Part Time Full-Time

Regular/Temporary Regular

Opening

Full Time 40 hours Grade 054 CIRC

Schedule

8 AM-5 PM; OCCAS WKENDS

Responsibilities

POSITION SUMMARY:The Center for Integrated Research Computing (CIRC) is seeking a full-time experienced Linux Systems

Administrator to support a Linux-based research computing environment. The candidate should have 3 or more years of experience as a Linux Systems Administrator, preferably in a high performance computing (HPC) environment. Reporting to the Assistant Director, the position requires the candidate to configure, operate, and maintain the technical computing, network, and storage resources for CIRC and affiliated partners. The candidate must have the ability to do the following tasks: perform system builds, deploy system software, perform software integrations, work with vendor technical resources, and monitor server, network, and storage performance. Familiarity with a parallel storage system (GPFS, Lustre, BeeGFS, etc.) is highly desired. Similar familiarity with on-premise and cloud-based virtual machine environments (VMWare, AWS, OpenStack, Azure, etc.) is also highly desirable. The candidate must be able to meet with members of the research community, gather requirements, and suggest possible solutions and/or assist in using CIRC resources. The ability to evaluate new storage architectures, systems, and software tools to determine the best techniques for achieving performance and to identify future acquisition objectives is required. The successful candidate must be able to respond to emergency situations involving system troubleshooting, debugging, and monitoring triggers. Creating and maintaining documentation aligned with CIRC’s workflow tracking is also critical. Candidates must be able to work in a team environment and be able to adapt and deploy new technologies, as appropriate.

GENERAL PURPOSE:

The Center for Integrated Research Computing supports the University of Rochester’s research mission by providing technical computing services to the institution’s research community. These services include high performance computing, visualization, large, fast, reliable storage systems and hundreds of software packages used by researchers to analyze data. CIRC also provides assistance with using these tools via workshops, classes, tutorials and consulting services. This position is important due to the indirect and direct support provided to the researchers in achieving and maintaining a high level of satisfaction by the research community.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:Under direction of the Assistant Director and with latitude for the exercise of independent judgment and initiative:30% - Maintains operating systems and other system support programs, which requires being responsible for more than one operating system

25% - Will assume responsibility for applications dealing with the overall operating system or with complex sub-systems of the operating system, such as parallel file systems, file management routines, copper and fiber networks and advanced mathematical/scientific software packages

25% - Responsible for supporting the administration of the on-premise and cloud-based virtual machine environment for CIRC’s research community and affiliated partners leading to the coordination of other programmers assigned to projects while providing technical direction and guidance and maintaining a high level of satisfaction regarding end user interaction by working effectively in a team environment

10% - Keeps abreast of trends as they relate to the technical computing field, with particular emphasis on high performance computing environments, by self-study, attending job related seminars, courses or conferences which enable personal development and strengthens the user service function

10% - Performs other related duties, including presentation of seminars, supporting courses and instruction of technical computing related services in support of the research community, as required.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

Bachelor's degree in related discipline such as Computer Science, Business, Statistics, Science or Engineering and 3-4 years of related experience; Preferably with 1-2 years in supervisory capacity; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Master’s degree preferred.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Linux systems administration - 3+ years

• RHEL/CentOS expertise

• Ability to write scripts and tools for system monitoring and maintenance

• Competence in one or more scripting/programming language (Perl/Python/Java/C)

• Experience with the installation and configuration of web and application servers (e.g. Apache httpd and Apache Tomcat)

• Ability to install, maintain and backup complex Linux applications (databases and other system applications)

• Experience with virtualized environments like VMWare, KVM, etc

• Knowledge of Linux system security, e.g., authentication, port blocking/forwarding, firewalls, ACLs, etc.

• Experience with storage hardware management - disk arrays, NAS systems, object- based storage systems

• Strong oral, written, and team communication skills, effective questioning, listening, and analytical skills

PREFERRED SKILLS:

• Experience with high performance computing systems, including Linux computing clusters, job resource managers and schedulers

• Experience with parallel file systems, standard RAID and de-clustered RAID technologies

• Knowledge of InfiniBand network technology

• Experience with container technologies (Docker, Podman)

• Knowledge of DevOps methodologies (Ansible, CI/CD pipelines)

• Proficiency with cloud- based technologies like AWS, Azure, and local cloud

• Demonstrated proficiency in the creation of system and user documentatio

• Experience in working in a research computing environmen

• Knowledge of scientific and technical computing applications

Center for Integrated Research Computing (CIRC)

The University of Rochester established the Center for Integrated Research Computing (CIRC), focused on the themes of computation and analytics, to provide researchers across the Medical Center and River Campus with resources necessary to utilize high-performance computing (HPC) and data analytics technology in all areas of academic scholarship. CIRC currently maintains systems with an aggregated computational performance of approximately 630 TFLOPS, 4.5 PB of disk storage, and a variety of scientific software applications and tools, supporting over 60 departments and research centers. Resources that ensure access to the technology and knowledge for effective computational and analytics research include: computer systems, software, storage, experienced staff, student assistants, information sharing, collaboration tools, and an education and training program. From novice users, unfamiliar with the command line environment of a Linux cluster, to research associates who have compilation and optimization questions about custom-developed software, CIRC is uniquely positioned to collaborate with faculty and students in computational research design and realization, software implementation and lifecycle management, application porting and tuning, data visualization and analysis techniques, and development of new computational technologies, methods and instructional resources.

How To Apply

All applicants must apply online.

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