Gargi Guru

Shared Services Projects:

Clients: Bridgestone, TC Energy, Lendlease (Storage Administration)

Client: Huntsman (Storage & Backup Administration)

Daily Operations and Storage Health Monitoring:

• Performed daily health checks and monitored storage utilization using NetApp Active IQ, OnCommand System Manager, Pure1, and FlashArray GUI.
• Created and managed aggregates, volumes, and LUNs in ONTAP environments based on project needs.
• Provisioned block storage and mapped volumes to hosts/host groups over Fibre Channel protocols.
• Enabled and managed snapshot copies, SnapMirror relationships, and reverse replication for data protection, disaster recovery, and failover scenarios.
• Monitored array health, performance metrics, and alerts via Pure1 and FlashArray GUI.
• Provided support for FlexClone volumes for dev/test environments.
• Performed volume expansion, thin provisioning, and storage reclamation to optimize storage array capacity.

Provisioning and Access Management:

• Collected zoning, multipathing, and OS compatibility details before provisioning storage to hosts.
• Facilitated communication between the network and storage teams for setting up iSCSI/FC access.

Maintenance and upgrades:

• Participated in firmware upgrades, controller replacements, and disk replacements.
• Executed Cloud Volumes ONTAP (CVO) upgrades to keep cloud storage infrastructure updated and compliant.
• Performed controller upgrades to improve performance and lifecycle management.
• Upgraded NetApp Active IQ to the latest release to enhance monitoring and automation.
• Managed CA-signed and self-signed certificate installations to ensure secure communication and SSL compliance across storage platforms.

Migration and decommissioning:

• Led NetApp-to-NetApp migrations using SnapMirror and volume move operations.
• Executed Pure-to-NetApp migrations with minimal disruption, and ensured data integrity.
• Handled Pure Storage and NetApp node decommissioning, following best practices for data offload and shutdown.

DR, Backup, and Data Recovery:

• Coordinated with backup and DR teams to ensure correct snapshot, replication, and backup configurations.
• Participated in DR drills and provided storage-level support during failover and restoration tests.

Request Handling and Ticket Management:

• Coordinated with the application, server, and DB teams to gather requirements for storage provisioning.
• Logged, tracked, and closed storage-related incidents and service requests using ITSM tools (e.g., ServiceNow).
• Ensured SLA compliance through timely ticket resolution and effective communication.
• Engaged vendor support (e.g., NetApp, Pure) for high-severity issues or hardware failures.
• Coordinated with internal teams and vendors to gather logs and complete root cause analysis (RCA) for storage incidents.

Change Management:

• Participated in weekly Change Advisory Board (CAB) meetings and obtained the necessary approvals for storage-related changes (volume expansion, snapshot creation, DR testing).
• Coordinated downtime windows with business and application owners for non-disruptive storage activities.
• Ensured rollback plans were in place and communicated for all planned changes.

Monitoring and Capacity Reporting:

• Scheduled regular review calls with infra teams to discuss storage utilization trends, alerts, and potential issues.
• Shared periodic capacity and performance reports with infrastructure architects, or capacity planners.