Storage Area Network Administrator L2

Role Summary

The L2 SAN & Storage Engineer is responsible for the day-to-day operations, provisioning, maintenance, and troubleshooting of enterprise shared storage devices, fabric networks, and backup technologies. This role provides Level 2 escalation support to ensure the demanding up-time, responsiveness, and performance of production storage and backup environments. The ideal candidate brings strong hands-on experience with Dell PowerMax, Dell Unity, and Data Domain, combined with deep knowledge of iSCSI protocols, VMware host environments, and solid ITSM practices.

Technical & Process Profile Summary

Storage Technologies: Dell PowerMax, Dell Unity (File & Block)

Backup Technologies: Dell Data Domain, Veeam, Oracle RMAN

Protocols & Networking: iSCSI, Fibre Channel (FC)

Host & Virtualization: VMware vSphere (ESXi), Windows Server, RHEL/OEL

Monitoring Tools: SolarWinds, Splunk (Log analysis & dashboard tracking)

Ticketing & Operations: JIRA (Incident, Change, Service Requests), ITSM Framework

Shift Timings: 24x7 Operations (Rotational Shifts)

Key Responsibilities

Storage Administration: Perform day-to-day provisioning and allocation of storage, including creating Storage Groups, Aggregates, Volumes, LUNs (Thin/Thick), and managing Storage Virtual Machines (SVM) across Dell PowerMax and Dell Unity platforms.

Host Connectivity & Virtualization: Configure, map, and troubleshoot host-side storage connectivity within a highly virtualized VMware ESXi environment, including cluster configurations, multi-pathing (PSP/NMP), and datastore management.

Protocol Management: Implement, manage, and troubleshoot storage connectivity using iSCSI (software/hardware initiators, network binding, CHAP authentication) and Fibre Channel fabric protocols.

Enterprise Monitoring: Proactively monitor storage array health, replication status, and fabric alerts using SolarWinds. Leverage Splunk to track alerts, analyze system logs, and review dashboards to investigate storage performance anomalies.

ITSM & Queue Management: Own the operational queue within JIRA, acting as the L2 technical owner for Incident Management, Service Requests, and Problem Management. Ensure all operational activities strictly follow organizational ITSM frameworks.

Backup & Recovery Operations: Administer and monitor enterprise backups utilizing Dell Data Domain and Veeam. Triage backup failures for business-critical volumes and databases (SQL/Oracle via RMAN).

Lifecycle & Maintenance: Coordinate with hardware vendors (e.g., Dell) for physical component replacements (disks, controllers, SFPs) and assist L3/Architecture teams with storage microcode/firmware upgrades and data migrations.

Required Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, IT, or equivalent practical combination of education and experience.

Experience: 5-7 years of dedicated experience in enterprise SAN/NAS storage and backup infrastructure support.

Storage Expertise: Proven hands-on administration experience with Dell PowerMax and Dell Unity storage arrays.

Network & Protocols: Direct hands-on experience configuring iSCSI storage networks alongside traditional Fibre Channel switching.

Virtualization Exposure: Operational knowledge of VMware vSphere environments, focusing on how ESXi hosts interact with shared enterprise storage.

Tools & Processes: Practical experience tracking work via JIRA and a strong foundational understanding of ITSM methodologies (Incident, Change, and Problem workflows).

Monitoring Skills: Experience using SolarWinds for infrastructure health monitoring and Splunk for analyzing technical logs.

Collaborate with client, network, server, database, and application teams to resolve storage and connectivity issues.

Participate in change management, patching, upgrades, and maintenance windows.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Excellent communication and documentation skills.