Opening of an LD post in ST: Storage Specialist

Type of notice
Internal Mobility

The IT department will publish soon on the CERN job portal the following Computing Technical Engineer job:

Storage Specialist in the Storage Group (ST), File systems and Disks Operations section (FDO)

Work with us to extend our data handling systems for the LHC physics programme and the whole of CERN. CERN is the  birthplace of the world wide web and one of the world leading laboratories for particle physics! Join CERN's Storage Group in the IT department as a storage specialist for a unique challenge as the next step in your career!

The CERN IT Storage Group (ST) is responsible to enable data access for the laboratory, most notably to archive, preserve over the long term and distribute to the worldwide scientific community the LHC experimental data. Today we operate a disk/tape hybrid system (CASTOR: cern.ch/castor optimised for archiving), several large disk farms (EOS: cern.ch/eos for data analysis) and user-oriented repositories (Linux home directory: AFS; cloud storage: CERNBOX). In total ST handles more than 200 petabyte of data across about 2,000 data servers (30,000 disks) and 20,000 high-capacity tapes.

The present data infrastructure is being evolved to extend its functionality and rationalise its deployment. New access protocols (POSIX file access, WebDAV) have been added to simplify data access for our clients (Linux, Mac and Windows), to increase the user experience (disconnected operations, cloud synchronisation, flexible web access) and to enable new way to process data combining local access, batch processing and web-based data systems. The next phase is the migration in the new infrastructure (including the AFS phase out for Linux users and absorbing some of the DFS usage of Windows users).

The primary focus of the activity will be to bring in production a uniform multi-platform data access. The selected candidate will contribute to the operation and support activities of the Filesystems and Data Operations (FDO) section.

Functions

As a Computing Technical Engineer in the Storage group, the successful candidate will:

  • Contribute to the validation and testing of the new system.
  • Prepare the roll out of the new system and support it the massive adoption phase, mainly from AFS and to a certain extent from DFS.
  • Contribute to the development of the tools and procedures to facilitate the migration into the new system.
  • Install, operate and support the software components of the FDO services, as well as participate to the on-call duty (support and incident response). 
  • Maintain/improve system documentation (procedures; regular reports; incident analysis; user documentation) together with other members of the FDO section. 

Qualifications Required

Bachelor's degree in the field of Computing (or equivalent).

Experience and Competencies

The candidate should have demonstrated practical experience in at least some of the following areas:

  • Linux and Windows operating system administration
  • In-depth practical experience in scripting languages, as PERL or Python programming
  • Experience with testing and troubleshooting distributed systems.

The following additional experience would be an asset:

  • Large disk storage systems; external storage networking; global filesystems or object stores; disk hardware technologies (SAS/SATA HD, SSD) 
  • Linux cluster management, automation and monitoring tools;
  • Database technologies (SQL);
  • Kerberos based authentication, Public Key infrastructure and X-509 certificates.

The technical competencies required for this post are:

  • IT Operations: handling incidents and requests, executing changes, providing information and feedback to the service managers
  • Systems installation/decommissioning
  • Systems integration
  • Usability evaluation

The behavioural competencies required for this post are:

  • Achieving results: delivering high quality work on time and fulfilling expectations
  • Communicating effectively: providing others with timely information
  • Demonstrating flexibility: adapting quickly and resourcefully to shifting priorities and requirements
  • Working in teams: working well in groups and readily fitting into a team; participating fully and taking an active role in team activities
  • Working in the interest of the Organization: behaving consistently with CERN's values and goals

The language competencies required for this post are:

  • Good knowledge of English is required; Ability to draw-up technical specifications and/or scientific reports and to make oral presentations. Basic knowledge of French or an undertaking to acquire it rapidly.

If you are attracted by this post please discuss your interest directly with Massimo Lamanna.

Not for you? You can nevertheless help the Organization finding the right candidates by talking to your internal contacts and/or signing up for eqipia (link is external), our employee referral support tool which will make it easy for you to publicise these jobs in your network.

Don’t hesitate to contact our HRA, Isabel Pumares Arguelles if you have questions or comments.

Expiry date
Last modified
10 Feb 2017