Senior Storage Infrastructure Specialist (IBM DS8000 & SAN)

Job Description: Senior Storage Infrastructure Specialist (IBM DS8000 & SAN)

Experience: 8–15 years

Rate: USD 30/hour

Specialization: Enterprise Storage, SAN Infrastructure & Disaster Recovery

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Storage Infrastructure Specialist to manage and support mission-critical banking storage environments. The role focuses on IBM DS8000 (DS8K) storage arrays, IBM iSeries (IBM i/AS400) and Power Systems workloads, Metro Mirror/Global Mirror replication, Cisco MDS and Brocade SAN fabrics, and Cyber Vault solutions with immutable storage capabilities.

The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on expertise in enterprise storage administration, SAN connectivity, disaster recovery, and cyber resilience, ensuring high availability, data integrity, and business continuity across production, disaster recovery (DR), and Cyber Vault environments.

Key Responsibilities

1. IBM DS8000 Storage Administration

• Administer and support IBM DS8000 storage systems across Production, DR, and Cyber Vault environments.
• Perform storage provisioning, configuration, capacity planning, and performance optimization.
• Monitor storage health, utilization, and performance metrics.
• Coordinate firmware upgrades, maintenance activities, and incident resolution.
• Monitor and integrate storage devices using IBM Storage Insights.

2. Storage Replication & Disaster Recovery

• Configure, monitor, and troubleshoot IBM Metro Mirror and Global Mirror replication between primary and secondary sites.
• Support disaster recovery testing, failover, and failback activities.
• Validate replication status, data consistency, and recovery readiness.
• Develop and maintain DR procedures, recovery runbooks, and operational documentation.
• Support business continuity requirements and recovery objectives.

3. SAN Infrastructure Administration

• Administer dual-fabric Cisco MDS SAN environments, including zoning, VSANs, Inter-Switch Links (ISLs), and multipathing.
• Configure and manage Brocade SAN switches, including zoning, ISLs, and Monitoring and Alerting Policy Suite (MAPS) policies.
• Troubleshoot Fibre Channel connectivity, fabric performance, and SAN-related incidents.
• Maintain SAN availability, redundancy, and connectivity across storage and host environments.

4. IBM iSeries & Power Systems Storage Support

• Support storage integration for IBM iSeries (IBM i/AS400) and IBM Power Systems workloads.
• Troubleshoot storage connectivity, performance, and provisioning issues affecting IBM i environments.
• Collaborate with infrastructure and systems administration teams to ensure storage availability and performance.

5. Cyber Vault & Cyber Resilience

• Support Cyber Vault infrastructure and immutable storage capabilities.
• Maintain storage protection controls designed to safeguard critical data against ransomware and unauthorized modification.
• Support cyber recovery procedures, recovery validation, and resilience testing.
• Contribute to secure storage architecture and data protection initiatives.

6. Operations, Compliance & Incident Management

• Participate in 24/7 production support, major incident management, and scheduled change implementations.
• Follow ITIL-based incident, problem, and change management processes.
• Develop and maintain operational procedures, technical documentation, and recovery runbooks.
• Support banking compliance requirements, internal audits, and infrastructure governance.
• Collaborate with vendors and cross-functional teams to resolve complex storage and SAN issues.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• 8–15 years of experience in storage infrastructure, SAN administration, or enterprise storage operations.
• Strong hands-on experience administering IBM DS8000 (DS8K) storage systems.
• Practical experience with IBM Metro Mirror and Global Mirror replication.
• Experience supporting IBM iSeries (IBM i/AS400) and IBM Power Systems storage environments.
• Strong knowledge of Cisco MDS and Brocade SAN switch administration.
• Experience with SAN zoning, VSANs, Fibre Channel, ISLs, and multipathing.
• Hands-on experience with disaster recovery, replication management, and business continuity.
• Knowledge of Cyber Vault architectures, immutable storage, and ransomware recovery concepts.
• Experience with storage performance monitoring, capacity planning, troubleshooting, and incident resolution.
• Familiarity with ITIL-based incident, problem, and change management processes.

Preferred Qualifications

• IBM DS8000 or IBM Storage certifications.
• Cisco Data Center or MDS certifications.
• Experience in banking or financial services environments.
• Exposure to IBM Copy Services Manager (CSM), PowerHA, and IBM Storage Insights.
• Scripting and automation experience using Shell, Python, or Ansible.

Work Environment

• Mission-critical enterprise banking infrastructure.
• Production, disaster recovery, and Cyber Vault environments.
• Participation in 24/7 support rotat