Delotha I.T. Consulting
One Sysadmin's Life
This website is owned and operated by Ryan Loudfoot
Key Skills
Technical
- Troubleshooting and repairing computer hardware and software across desktop and laptop, in corporate environments
- Providing first- and second-level technical support for end users, including non-technical staff
- Administering and supporting Microsoft 365 applications and user administration
- Configuring and troubleshooting TCP/IP networking, DHCP, and related network protocols
- Installing, cabling, racking, and maintaining servers and network equipment in data centers
- Diagnosing and replacing defective hardware components in desktops, laptops, and servers
- Administering and supporting mobile devices, including configuration, troubleshooting, and user support (Android and iOS)
- Writing and troubleshooting scripts in Bash and Python to automate tasks
- Installing, configuring, and administering monitoring platforms (Zabbix, Nagios)
- Implementing configuration management and automation tools (Puppet/Foreman, Ansible, SaltStack)
- Implementing and maintaining backup and disaster recovery procedures
- Managing user accounts, permissions, and resources in Active Directory and SharePoint
- Maintaining asset management systems and conducting hardware audits
- Proficient with remote desktop tools and remote user support technologies
- Experienced with Agile and Waterfall methodologies for project management and service delivery
- Performing computer imaging and deployment
- Diagnosing, maintaining, and repairing printers and peripheral devices
- Supporting Linux desktop and server environments (Ubuntu/Debian, CentOS)
- Deploying and managing web applications using WordPress and Joomla
- Experience with a variety of ticketing systems, including ServiceNow
- CompTIA A+ certified
Management
- Participate in recruitment tasks (reviewing resumes, phone interviews, and face-to-face interviews)
- Rewrite of the entire interviewing process (with a glowing approval from my team lead)
- Learn effective leadership tools and principles from Manager Tools podcast
- Apply effective network building from Career Tools podcast
- Learn about motivation and demotivation from talks by Dan Ariely
- Provide peer leadership to help build my team at Q9 Networks
- Perform my own quarterly reviews and have them reviewed by my supervisor
- Leverage peers’ to use their strengths to improve relationships
Other
- Very proactive, extremely motivated to resolve root causes; I own my problems and my problems get solved.
- Exceptional problem solving skills, utilizing thorough analysis as well as both deductive and inductive reasoning to determine a most likely cause, and work through likely solutions.
- Able to write documentation and policy/guidelines so they aren’t ‘what to do’ and instead are ‘expected outcome’. This allows autonomy/ownership in the process while still ensuring company goals are achieved. Implement peer coaching to help each of my co-workers learn additional skills
- Everyone should be able to be promoted with minimal pain caused to the team left with a vacancy
- Excellent team player, including using independent research to improve relationships
- Comfortable learning from my failures. We all fail sometimes, but learning from our failures is what sets us apart and allows us to grow and succeed in the future.
- Extensive use of a pump truck
- Train new team members from day-1 to productive peers
- Effective at advanced-but-simple security teaching tools
- Audit and order office and coffee supplies on a yearly budget
- Build relationships with individuals in other departments so I can resolve issues when my department doesn’t have the knowledge. This means being the primary contact for my department, so those people know that I give my time and knowledge to them when requested.
- Full clean Ontario driver’s license
- Valid Canadian passport
Career Summary
ServiceNow - Data Centre Operations Engineer - April 2020-current
- Team lead for all major projects for all ServiceNow Ontario sites, including managing new builds/expansions
- Perform hardware replacement for servers
- Assist in maintaining accurate inventory management, and order supplies
- Assist in writing documentation for my position
- Physical deployment and decommissioning of new racks within the data centre
- Diagnose and troubleshoot connection issues
- Primary trainer for new employees
Delotha I.T. Consulting - Server Administrator/Technical Consultant - February 2004-current
- Maintain Linux servers, including Apache, PHP, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and FTP
- Provide support to website developers in managing and securing their Linux servers
- Manage domains, DNS, and SSL certificates, including monitoring renewal dates
- Provide recovery consultations after disasters and implement new procedures
- Plan and implement disaster-recovery and backup procedures
- Perform telephone-based technical assistance and training
- Code and operate Discord bots for small communities
Q9 Networks Inc - Data Centre Technician = July 2015-March 2020
- Installed and cabled rack-mounted hardware, including fibre and copper cross-connects
- Created postmortem reports and recommended procedural improvements
- Became team lead, including conducting interviews, participating in hiring decisions, and mentoring team members
- Train and mentor new employees, including rewriting training documentation
- Coordinated with cross-functional departments to resolve customer and internal issues
Playfair Coffee Distributing - Website Designer, Service Technician, Delivery Driver - July 2004-July 2015
- Update and maintain website
- Set up and maintain web store
- Manage hardware and software, including upgrades and migrations
- Diagnose and service coffee equipment
- Deliver coffee supplies and maintain customer relationships
Simmons, DaSilva & Sinton, LLC (Co-op, 2002)
- Manage hardware and software, including upgrades and migrations
- Provide on-location help desk support
Blaney McMurtry, LLP (Co-op, 2001)
- Joined help desk team
- Major success: Reverse-engineered Melissa virus and remediation
- Manage hardware and software, including upgrades and migrations
- Provide on-location help desk support
State Street Canada (Co-op, 2000-2001)
- Joined help desk team
- Manage hardware and software, including upgrades and migrations
- Provide on-location help desk support
- Part of the team that handled the weekend maintenance upgrading all PCs to Windows 2000 before Y2K
Education and Qualifications
- College Diploma: Systems Analyst Co-Op Program - Graduated in 2001 - Sheridan College, Brampton, Ontario, four-year program
Certifications
- A+ (CompTIA, 2005)
- Worker Health and Safety Awareness (Ontario Government, 2014)
- ITIL Fundamentals (2016)
- Linux+ Fundamentals (2016)
- Certified Data Center Management Professional (CDCMP, 2020)
- Certified Data Center Environmental Sustainability Specialist (CDESS, 2024)
Recent Online Courses
- AWS Essential Training for Administrators (LinkedIn Learning, 2025)
- Trusted member (and moderator) of Brampton Coffee & Code group, which is a public meetup of like-minded people anywhere in their tech journey
- Maintain a growing home lab, including:
- Home router running pfSense, configured with VLANs and firewall rules for primary LAN, IoT, camera, and work-device networks
- Dell and Lenovo mini PCs running Proxmox VE and Proxmox Backup (upgraded from Raspberry Pis)
- Dell PowerEdge servers running ESXi (decommissioned these in 2023 in favour of more power-efficient mini PCs)
- Designed and built my own home camera system running completely locally with Blue Iris and PoE cameras, for a completely cloud-free home security system