About me and this blog
Who am I to write a blog about Systems Administration? That’s a good question which deserves an answer.
Profile/Career
I am a 33 years old German, ran my own business in Germany (Systems Administration on a call-in basis, providing managed web servers for business customers, selling additional products like domain services, SSL certificates). Before I quit in order to take a new challenge in the UK, I handed over a triple-digit number of servers to my companion, who I ran the company with. Apart from a majority of more or less plain LAMP installations, there were also some very special setups which I set up for our customers, including but not limited to clusters, storages, and very individual configurations. To give some keywords (each keyword means at least several months if not years of active experience):
systems administration Linux/Unix (Debian, RedHat, Fedora Core, Solaris, FreeBSD), voice over IP (Asterisk), server cluster, virtualisation (VMware, XEN, OpenVZ), network storages (e.g. NetApp, clustered filesystems), VPN/IPsec, data security, firewalls, failover strategies, web and database servers (LAMP, Apache, PHP, MySQL), mail servers (Postfix, Courier, anti virus, spam filter), Java application servers (SunONE, SJSAS, Tomcat, JBoss), and many more
The reason why I decided to quit my old company was that I wanted to take a completely new challenge. It has been a dream of mine for many years to live and work in London. That’s why I moved here in January 2008. A company which runs different unique information services and portals for real estate agencies offered me an interesting job. So I started to work there mid January 2008.
In August I accepted an interesting offer from a London-based educational TV channel. There, I am mainly responsible for the integration of Autonomy®/IDOL®, the implementation of a proper software release process (using SVN, defining clear policies etc.), and the coordination of an asian development team.
Moreover, I am running my own part-time business, called The Ally London, which is focused on BSD/Linux Systems Administration, Consultancy and Support.
Private/Activities
When I am not sitting in front of a computer, I like to explore London (preferably with my girl-friend), play Snooker or Billards, watch movies or DVDs, listen to music (Punk, Rock, Metal), meet other people (for example from the German community in London). I consider myself quite laid-back, take neither life nor myself too seriously.
When I moved to London, I planned to stay here for at least six months. To be honest, after seven months I still cannot imagine to go back at all. I refuse to make long-term plans (experience taught me, that unexpected things will always invalidate those plans). But if I were asked for a long-term plan, I would answer: “Time will tell. I am more than happy how things develop here.”
Organisation memberships
The Linux User Group of London
The UK FreeBSD Users’ Group
Disclaimer/Copyright
All articles in this blog represent my sole opinion and/or experience. They shall not be considered generally applicable. I will not be held responsible for any damage or data loss or other problems caused by using information contained in any article of this blog. This blog does not follow any business objectives. It is my individual point of view, without any commercial interest.
If you think that this disclaimer sounds dodgy, you are probably right. I am not going to copy any disclaimers from other people’s websites nor will I hire a solicitor to write a proper disclaimer. This is my diary. Nothing more, nothing less. 
Needless to say that copying content from this website is not allowed, unless you request and receive a written permission. Feel free to link to this blog or certain articles, if you are too lazy to request a permission to copy content.
Thanks for reading this blog and this page.
Carsten Heesch
Senior Systems Administrator, London